#but anti-hero is the worst offender of them all

[wutheringmights]

@meanlesbean you're so right it's disgusting

listen, if listening to tswift on loop is going to get me through the last bit of this chapter then it's what i gotta do

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Angelique Chrisafis at The Guardian:

Dominique Pélicot, one of the worst sex offenders in modern French history, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for drugging his then wife, Gisèle, and inviting dozens of men to rape her in her home in the south of France over almost a decade. The historic trial of 51 men was held in public after Gisèle Pélicot waived her right to anonymity so that “shame could change sides”. In her first public comments after the verdict, Gisèle Pélicot said she had found the trial “very difficult” and thanked all those who had supported her. She said she respected the court and its decision, and that in waiving her anonymity she had been thinking of her grandchildren. “Because they are the future, it is also for them that I led this fight,” she said. “I’m also thinking of the many victims who are not recognised, whose stories often remain in the shadows. I want you to know that we share the same battle.” Crowds outside the court in Avignon greeted her with cheers as she left the building. Alongside Dominique Pélicot, guilty verdicts were returned on Thursday for all the accused men including a nurse, a soldier, a journalist, a prison warden and delivery drivers, aged from 26 to 74. Forty-seven were convicted of rape, two of attempted rape and two of sexual assault. Pélicot’s co-defendants received jail terms of between three and 15 years. Two of these men had their jail terms suspended. Some of the sentences handed down by the panel of judges were lower than those that had been suggested by the state prosecutor. “Shame!” shouted one feminist campaigner outside the court as the sentences were delivered. Gisèle Pélicot, a 72-year-old retired logistics manager, looked on with her sons and daughter as the head judge read out the men’s sentences. She has been hailed as a feminist hero worldwide for opening the doors to the trial, and members of the public outside the courts have cheered daily for the woman who said she was “determined that things change in this society”, in particular the “macho, patriarchal society that trivialises rape”. Dominique Pélicot, 72, a retired electrician and former estate agent, was given the maximum sentence of 20 years for drugging and raping his then wife and inviting men to rape her when she was in a comatose state. The court heard that he crushed sleeping tablets and anti-anxiety medication into her mashed potato, coffee or ice-cream and invited dozens of men to rape her over a nine-year period from 2011 in the village of Mazan, Provence, where the couple had retired.

In the Gisèle Pélicot rape trial, her ex-husband Dominique was sentenced to 20 years of jail time (too light, IMO). Dominique Pélicot and 50 other men were found guilty in their roles in the rapes.

See Also:

AP, via HuffPost: Gisèle Pélicot's Ex-Husband Found Guilty Of Rapes, All Other Charges Against Him In France

[were-wolverine]

Birdflash Week (Day 4)

Villain AU

@birdflashweek

Wally watched as Batman pulled up a profile on the screen at the front of the Watchtower’s conference room. According to the Bat’s reports, there was a new Rogue on the loose that knew the Justice League’s secret identities. So far they hadn’t gone to the media, luckily, but in the meantime they had built up quite the reputation in Gotham (along with a pile of bodies).

The profile showed a masked man, likely about Wally’s age, in a black and blue suit. There was a symbol on his chest, and two stripes of color down his arms and gloves. That was all he could tell from the extremely blurry photo, though. Apparently he went by the alias ‘Shadow’ and had been traveling the world quite a bit before settling in Gotham.

“Do we know how he find out our identities?” Superman asked, tone grave.

To any normal person it would look like Batman replied with a simple “No,” but with his superspeed Wally was able to catch the briefest hint of hesitation before the man responded. Which was… unsettling. Batman never hesitated, ever. Something was definitely up with this Rogue.

Batman continued to brief them all on the situation, but seemed fairly confident the masked man wouldn’t reveal their identities to the public. That, at least, was comforting. The rest, not so much. It seemed like this Rogue was taking more of an anti-hero approach at least, only killing criminals that were repeat offenders or the worst of the worst. Of course, killing was always bad, but at least this guy wasn’t harming civilians or heroes.

As the meeting dispersed and Wally zeta’d back to Keystone, he couldn’t help but wonder about the new Rogue, and how exactly he knew the League’s identities- which was one of the most carefully kept secrets in the entire world- and why he (however thankfully) hadn’t just released them to the media.

His thoughts about the man kept him distracted enough that he didn’t notice someone else was in his apartment until he was already in it with them. And, because he had shit luck, it was the Rogue he had just been wondering about. Eh, he was never one for subtlety anyway.

“Hey, why didn’t you release our identities to the public?” he asked the man, who cocked his head and studied him before replying.

“I don’t actually want villains to hurt you or your loved ones. I was just proving a point to B, telling him something only I would know,” he explained, much to Wally’s surprise.

“…Oh. Um. What?” Wally asked, beyond confused.

“Plus I wanted to mess with the League a bit I suppose. Not you though, Wally,” he smiled warmly at the speedster and Wally felt a rush of familiarity at the sight.

“Have we… met? Before?” the redhead asked somewhat desperately. There was something about the man before him that Wally just recognized on a bone-deep level. The man’s kind smile turned into a delighted grin and he pulled a stunned Wally into a hug.

“I knew you would remember me! I told Dami but he didn’t believe me. We were best friends for almost a decade, of course you’d remember me,” he rambled excitedly. The speedster froze in his arms and sucked in a sharp breath, pulling away to face the man once more.

“…‘Wing?” he asked, voice breaking at the end.

Nightwing nodded enthusiastically and was pulled back into a crushing hug.

“I thought… everyone assumed you were dead but I refused to believe it, but then so many years passed and Batman never said anything… I’m so sorry,” Wally whispered.

“Hey, hey no it’s not your fault. I should have told you all that I was leaving after Jay died, I’m sorry. I wasn’t in a good headspace and it only got worse and then… after everything I’ve done… I didn’t think you would want me back,” Dick admitted softly.

“Of course we would, dumbass. Of course I would,” he emphasized, leaning his forehead against the shorter man’s.

“I’m sorry I left,” Dick replied, holding him tighter.

“It doesn’t matter. You’re back now, and nothing is going to come between us again,” Wally promised, and leaned down to press a kiss to the other man’s lips, which was eagerly returned.

[doodlegirl1998]

Wtf is happening in the manga!!??? I just went to anti bakugou/izuku deserves better tags to get my weekly dose of justified character criticals, and see how All might might be dead and does a homage to Bakugou in his final moments?? I am not touching that can of worms until later and never have been so glad to stop reading manga.

However, right now I want your opinion on vigilante Midoriya fics. This interesting concept unfortunately falls into the popularized trope, so most fics are almost the same. I did my own rant in my vlog, but am curious about what do you think of it as you are much more experienced in the criticism of mha

Hi @venting-ghostwolf 👋,

I know ☹️ so much has happened in the manga that I dislike at the moment that I don't blame you for giving up reading.

Also second, don't put yourself down I like reading you critiques and seeing your thoughts and posts too 🤗.

As for vigilante Midoriya fics, I like the premise of a Midoriya (usually quirkless) being a vigilante I feel like that's in character for him. But what I resent about them is the usual All Might Bashing / Dadzawa coupling that usually comes with it with an OOC Aizawa saying that "Of course you can be a hero while quirkless, problem child."

A few things:

Are we going to pretend this response is in character for Aizawa? This guy threatened to expel Izuku because OFA broke his arm! Canonically, he'd expell a quirkless student the first chance he got therefore with a quirkless vigilante he would encourage them to stop before they got themselves killed at minimum if not turn them into the police. Aizawa certainly wouldn't aid in Vigilante!Midoriya's activities like I've seen a few fics make him do.

I can read Dadzawa in a fic, it can be done well but what I resent is the large amount of AM bashing that usually comes with this trope. I can't stand it. Vigilante and Villian Midoriya fics I've seen are some of the worst offenders at this.

To add on to this, I can't stand it when fics have ALL MIGHT someone canonically disabled and who began his life quirkless act OOC levels of ableist, quirkist, awful or stupid to justify Dadzawa (and insert another mentor here in some cases) telling him off.

This scenario can lead to some good #Bakugou faces consequences outcomes if done right especially if Izuku gets some vigilante justice on him. But it also can be done very wrong with Izuku in some scenario's still admiring Bakugou and thinking he'll be an awesome hero which is gross🤢. Or Izuku 'taking the high road' and forgiving him, which is a...choice but after everything Bakugou has done to Izuku I feel like it falls flat.

However there's sometimes #good friend Bakugou which is wildly OOC - just make an OC to support Midoriya at that point because BAKUGOU wouldn't do it being the POS he is.

A lot of the time Inko is also either OOC levels of abusive or dead to justify the existence of vigilante Midoriya which I personally don't like much in a fic - the latter can be done well in some cases, the former is harder to do well and makes me nope out of a fic more often than not.

To be honest I haven't read a vigilante Midoriya fic in some time, I like the trope but I kept running into severe AM bashing and Inko being OOC levels of awful which made me annoyed.

[bluehairlaunch]

7 Worst Dragon Ball Characters (objective)

Honorable mention, Master Roshi. So here's the deal, I actually like Roshi. I actually like Roshi A LOT when he's being the offbeat martial arts master, but for the most part he's a serial sex offender, and the anime adds even more sexual assault for lulz.

Like a bad relationship, I try to remember the good times

Oolong

So y'know how I basically said there were aspects to Roshi's personality I really enjoyed, which is why he's not on the list proper? That's not the case with Oolong. There are definitely aspects to Oolong I like -- I like Piggy from Journey to the West and I think it's hilarious that Toriyama dressed him (and Mai, for some reason) like Chairman Mao. I also have to credit him with saving the world, although idk how Pilaf would have actually held onto his world empire with people like Goku around. Regardless, his character is another vehicle for sexual assault humor.

And yes, the English dub fucked up and made him sound like an adult. The joke is that he's a child that acts like a perverted adult, but because he's a child, he's just kidnapping girls to clean his house and be his mom, basically (Bulma pretty much even adopts him). Sexual assault humor is still sexual assault humor, though, so Oolong sucks

Bacterian

He's just gross. I really hate this dude

Garlic Jr.

Who stans a poser? In DBZ Abridged, they rip on Lord Slug for being EXACTLY King Piccolo, but the only difference between Slug and Garlic Jr. is that Lord Slug knew his place well enough to stay out of the anime.

Lemme start tho with the things I actually like about this guy. 1) he's a demon, I think. Toriyama introduced the concept with King Piccolo, backtracked, then reintroduced it with Dabura. Dragon Ball Xeno Heroes or w/e later realized this was free real estate and expanded on the idea to the point of nausea, but until then, Garlic and his henchmen and Dabura were your only demons, if that's something you found dope.

Other than this, Garlic Jr. steals Pilaf's design, but instead of remaining a lil' gremlin, he goes the filler route and beefs up like a Broly. He has a past connection with Kami like King Piccolo and successfully uses the Dragon Balls like King Piccolo. He then uses the Jr. like Piccolo. Get your own fucking thing. ALL YOU HAVE IS BEING THE SON OF KAMI'S RIVAL

And what really gets me is that he would be an okay filler villain if he wasn't just a chimera of better, actually canon characters, but as he is, the only things I like about his movie and arc have nothing to do with him.

Fwiw this is the only character on this list that's filler/not a part of Toriyama's original run. If this included GT, then there would be nothing but GT. As far as Super goes, I like the characters or at least their concepts (looking at you Zamasu), and the shit part is in the execution.

Spopovich

He and Yamu serve to showcase Babidi's power of mind control, but in doing so we're forced to witness the most pointlessly brutal, one-sided beatdown in all of Dragon Ball. I think the anime even devoted an entire episode to this ffs

We later learn that you have to already be a prat to fall under Babidi's powers, so there's nothing even tragic about his brainwashing and ultimate demise. He sucked before, he sucks now, he's a bad character.

Idasam

First off, it really doesn't make sense that a kid's division was introduced, does it? Most of the top fighters in the World Martial Arts Tournament were underage

Second, look how cute that girl in the top right is

Ok ok. As I made this list I began to realize there weren't a lot of characters in Dragon Ball that I actually hated. Some I definitely liked less than others, but few were so bad that I would remove them if I could. This chick is definitely one of them tho.

The Anti-Chi-Chi, Idasam raised two little brats that ig she loves and supports, which is the only thing she has that going for her. Besides that, she's mean to Bulma and even tried to physically assault her until the Mother of our Saviour Chi-Chi stepped in

Pirate Robot

Admit it, you thought he was filler. He looks like Third Form Frieza fucked some Saiyan armor. I've seen people try to salvage pirate robot by saying he's Android 2, but no, he's not, General Blue had no idea about this underwater pirate cave, and it doesn't make sense for Dr. Gero to squirrel away a dragon ball down here. Sometimes the things you love just disappoint you

Super Buu

I'm not sure this if this is a controversial opinion, but Super Buu is trash, his arc is trash, and everything he does will be done better later by Janemba in a fucking filler movie.

Before his introduction, Gohan failed, Vegeta failed and failed and failed, Gotenks fucked around and found out, and Goku wasted his time on a useless transformation like Future Trunks did in the Cell Saga (if he had been alive, Gohan would be trained and he would have realized SSJ3 wasn't a real transformation). Then Hercule came along and WON. The champ did it, he beat Majin Buu (with kindness). And that's great. If the Buu arc ended there, it would've still had several loose ends, but Z has loose ends as it is (imo another saga was needed to complete Gohan's character arc).

But then Toriyama (I'd rather blame his editors, but I've never seen anyone credit Super and Kid Buu to editorial interference) Ctrl-Z's Hercule's victory and we get Super Buu, a Perfect Cell wannabe that does nothing but crack his neck and murder Marin and everyone else too ig with his admittedly dope human extinction wave.

I have nothing but issues with this guy. His arc is way too long, his design is generically cool like a filler character, he steals Cell's powerset, he steals everybody's clothes, and he murders most of the cast while having little to no personality, so I can't even hate him for it

Go crack your neck more, you're the worst character in Dragon Ball

[the-bensolos]

Nancy drew suffers from something similar to protagonist centered morality where the morals of a story are dictated by the hero instead of the actual world around them. In this case it's something akin to that in the context that the entire nace relationship is built on Nancy's terms, and I get that she's the protagonist but writing a love story should involve both characters just as much. It's always what she feels what she wants what she thinks what she needs and I'm talking about protagonist centered morality bc it's all the characters acting in this context, everyone being anti nace and pushing them but especially her to date including his supposed best friend, the story pushing her time and time again into the arms of another man through supernatural shenanigans but the worst offender is the writing for poor sweet ace where they've made him entirely for the benefit of Nancy and her needs and wants. I really really hope that he starts doing his own thing in general and also has fun with someone else and that it's Nancy who fights for them bc I'm sorry I'm gonna need her to actually prove she loves him as much as she claims she does bc I am not seeing it but I won't hold my breath...

For sure that’s definitely a issue it’s been weirdly heavy handed all of the you gotta move on, there are other people out there nonsense they’ve been saying it does feel strange and out of place. Especially with Nick saying to Ace this episode that maybe him and Nancy have always been more than friends it feels like this story is being told on two separate tracks. Like we tried to break the curse ep 3 and it has not been mentioned since that feels weird. I’m not going to talk bad about Nancy I think she’s a wonderful protagonist and a really refreshing female lead my problem lies more with the writers contradicting the things that make her a refreshing lead with less than original story beats. And Ace he’s great he’s the beating heart of the show I think it’s incredible to have a male lead with as much kindness and compassion and empathy as him he does deserve to be treated as such within the narrative. I feel like he’s been pushed to the side in his own death curse which I cannot imagine is the desired outcome. So I have to assume something bigger is coming.

[enigmaris]

Danny hadn't actually wanted a Fright Knight. The old one had been freed from his servitude to the king when Danny took over. The guy seemed a lot happier just being a spirit of halloween. Picking a ghost to be his eternal servant was not his idea of a good time.

Besides, it wasn't like he couldn't take care of himself! He was a hero! A pretty powerful one to boot, he hadnt lost a fight to a ghost yet.

But the observants had insisted that he *must* have a fright knight. They pushed and pushed and pushed, demanding to know who would be his hero. Getting woken up in the middle of the night by a giant eyeball enough times and the name just fell out.

When they asked if he was certain that a mere human was worthy of such honor Danny got offended enough to Double Down. He was nothing if not stubborn.

In the end he figured that it wouldnt even matter, he would never get hurt enough to instinctively summon the guy, and he would definitely figure out a solution to the whole 'eternal servitude' thing before his new knight kicked the bucket.

It was a perfect, if temporary, solution.

Until it absolutely wasn't.

Being taken by the GIW hadn't been in the plan. His parents being the people who gave him to the GIW? Absolutely not part of the plan. He got thrown in a cell, chained to a device that locked his powers away.

Danny tried to escape, he really did. But the ankle brace drained him to the point of numbness. He was tired and weak and frightened. His friends didn't know where he was. His parents hadn't believed him when he told them he was still their son. Were they even his parents anymore?

The GIW scientists got as far as slicing down his chest before chaos broke out. A huge flash of green light filled the room, blinding everyone. Agents removed their weapons and pointed it at the source of the light. They shouted, ordering the entity to stand down in accordance with the Anti-Ecto Acts. Danny twisted his head as far as he could, fearing the worst. That one of his friends from the zone had come and they were about to get caught too.

Batman stood there in all his glory. Danny's favorite hero when he was a little boy, the one he'd seen on TV and dressed up as when he was 8. He was here! Tears pricked his eyes as he made eye contact with the white glass of the infamous cowl.

"Help me!"

DPxDC Prompts #21

A series of circumstances makes Bruce inherit the mantle of the Fright Knight, and with it the Fright Knight's unerring servitude to the malevolent Ghost King. Terrified at the thought of some being having control over him, Bruce creates contingency after contingency to either: break the bond, contain himself, or kill the ghost king. But there's only so much he can prepare for when he's never seen the ghost king, and any information on what the ghost king even is is buried in misinformation or difficult to acquire. Yet all his sources say the same thing: The king is powerful, cruel, and nigh impossible to defeat.

Inevitably, he's summoned by the Ghost King. He's prepared himself for a lot of things, but he wasn't exactly prepared for who he saw on the other side of that summoning circle.

[biromanticwritergal]

IDK if anyone else does this but writing your novel out of order is kinda a pain in the ass. I wrote based on my inspiration and now I’m dealing with three piles of hot mess that I have to sort through. So many contradictions and issues. Ugh. 

But on the flip side, I am pretty close to finishing my first draft of my novel from my NaNoWriMo 2020. Like, maybe all this effort and obsession over an AU about dead writers and politicians will be worth it after all. Who knows? =p

[sky-berrie]

How would the batboys react to a female SO with Paranoid Personality Disorder?

Hi there!

Thanks so much for the ask. I hope this is okay :)

-Sky

Bruce

As a person living with paranoid personality disorder, you might be terrified that people are out to harm you. Your place of residence, Gotham city, does nothing but exacerbate your paranoid thought patterns, since criminals run rampant through the streets. It’s hard to distinguish between paranoid thoughts and substantiated concerns. Is that sketchy person with the full face covering one of Black Mask’s False Face Society members sent to abduct you, or are they just a conscientious citizen taking extra precautions to avoid contracting or transmitting the COVID virus? Being in a state of constant fear prevents you from living your life to the fullest. Luckily, your S/O happens to be Batman in his free time.

Bruce eases your mind just with his presence. He’s probably the smartest, strongest, and most resourceful person you know and being with him makes you feel safe. Bruce is the kind of person who you’d blindly listen to during an emergency – if he told you to jump out of a burning plane, you’d do it without a second thought because he’s never let you down in the past and you’re confident that he never will in the future. If you’re feeling fearful in public, Bruce will grab your hand or put an arm around you securely and soothingly whisper in your ear that he’s right here and there’s nothing to worry about. Having paranoid thoughts means that it’s difficult to reason with you, so you probably aren’t convinced that there is no threat, but you do experience some relief from his soft touch and gentle words. He’ll ask if you want to leave and he’ll take you to your safe space. If you’re feeling fearful in private, Bruce will hold you close and rub your back to reduce your anxiety. If you’re by yourself and start to have those racing, panicked paranoid thoughts, you can always call Bruce. He’ll drop whatever he is doing and come take care of you.

Bruce will teach you self defense to help you feel more comfortable around people. He won’t arm you with any dangerous weapons because he doesn’t want an innocent person to get hurt if you get spooked. Bruce will ask if you want to move into the manor since it has strong security and comes with several vigilantes. If you would rather stay at your own place, Bruce will install a variety of safety systems to make you feel protected. He’ll even spend most nights at your place so you can sleep peacefully. Overall, Bruce is like your lifeline. He’ll know just what to do to help you through your difficult thoughts.

Dick

Dick is a social butterfly who’s had his fair share of romantic partners in the past so it’s natural for you to feel jealous when he spends time with other people. Dick will adamantly declare that he’s with you and only you. At first you might try to ignore the prickly feeling of jealousy because you don’t want to come off as a possessive S/O, but the clues accumulate and suggest that he’s cheating on you. For example, he’ll rarely spend the night with you. You’ll catch him sneaking into bed at ungodly hours of the morning. When confronted, he’ll make up an excuse that he just went to get a drink of water or use the bathroom. You’ll spot bruises scattered over his chest knowing you definitely did not leave those there. He’ll play it off as a gym injury.

When you raise your suspicions, Dick is hesitant to explain. You take this as confirmation of infidelity and you’re ready to walk out. At that point, he has no choice but to come clean about his secret identity as Nightwing. That sounds farfetched and you likely think he’s a pathological liar. Finally, Dick proves it to you and explains that he didn’t want you to be dragged into his dangerous nightlife. While you accept that as the truth, you’ll always wonder if he’s hiding more secrets. Furthermore, you’re probably pissed that he was gaslighting you. Dick will do everything he can to make it up to you. He’ll apologize profusely and in extravagant ways, be more transparent, and shower you with excessive love and affection. It might take a long time, but eventually Dick will worm his way back into your good graces.

It doesn’t take long for the green-eyed monster to rear its’ ugly head again. Now that you’re in the know, you’re hyperaware of the attractive vigilantes that Dick works with and it’s emotionally draining to be jealous all the time. You don’t want to be the type of person who tries to control their partner’s life, but when the suffering becomes too much to bear, you might ask him to stop seeing certain people. Dick will calmly assure you that there isn’t anything going on with any of his vigilante friends. If that doesn’t appease you, he’ll suggest that you hang out with the team and get to know them. He hopes that you’ll see that there aren’t any romantic feelings between them. Whatever you do, please don’t force him to choose between you and his hero life. It will tear him apart.

Jason

Trust is very important to Jason. He doesn’t trust many people as it is and needs a S/O who he can trust wholeheartedly and who will trust him in return. He believes that this relationship will fail if you don’t have confidence in each other. He’ll take it personally if you distrust him. Jason will get defensive and frustrated if you accuse him of being unfaithful, especially if you don’t have a shred of evidence to support your claims. He’ll be offended and deeply hurt that you think so negatively of him but once he’s had some time to cool off, he’ll be able to process everything more objectively. He’ll accept that you can’t control the way you feel. You’d explained it to him once that you do trust him, but there’s a separate voice in your head that tells you otherwise. Jason won’t give up on you though. He’ll come up with a proposition - he’ll agree to install a tracking app on his phone so you can monitor his whereabouts if you’ll promise to work on learning to trust him, whether it be via professional psychotherapy or reading self-help books.

On the other hand, if Jason is one of the only people you trust, he’ll be elated to know that you two have built such a strong connection. It’ll be easy to confide in him because he’ll gladly listen to your worried thoughts with no judgement. At first, he’ll reassure you that nothing bad is going to happen to you – he’s Red Hood and nobody is going to pull anything on you if they value their life. Eventually he’ll realize that trying to reason with you isn’t helpful so he’ll stick to active listening when you’re experiencing paranoid thoughts.

However, if Jason is fresh out of the pit and emotionally unstable, you two will probably bond over your mutual distrust and cynicism about the world. Although you and Jason will get along exceptionally well, it’s possible that your irrational thoughts may feed each other’s paranoia and exacerbate the feelings of mistrust and suspicion. If you find yourself unable to let things go, feel free to vent away when you’re with Jason. He is the king of holding grudges, so he’ll probably support you and even join in on trash talking that person with you when you’re angry. Learning to forgive and forget is something you and Jason can work on together. In a way, it brings you two closer together since you understand each other on a level that others can’t begin to comprehend.

Tim

Tim very compassionate and patient; however, he’s afraid of triggering you so he’s often walking on eggshells around you. He just wants to be the perfect supportive S/O for you and doesn’t want to mess up the relationship. His worst offense (in your eyes) is using ambiguous language that lends to multiple interpretations. For example, he might innocently compliment your clothes/hair/makeup and you might assume that he only likes you for your appearance or that he’s implying that you’re vain for wanting to look nice. The moment you shoot him daggers, he’s realized his mistake and starts to furiously backpedal. He tries to explain himself, but he usually ends up digging himself a deeper hole. Eventually, he gets better at expressing his thoughts carefully so that they can’t be misconstrued.

Tim diligently tries to learn your other triggers and how to help. When you’re stuck in a cycle of paranoid thoughts, Tim will get you to focus on what’s real instead of trying to make you see sense. He’ll help you relax by walking you through breathing exercises, playing soothing music, or whatever strategies you find helpful.

Tim isn’t proud of this, but he’s resorted to deceiving you when necessary. For instance, if you’re experiencing paranoid thought patterns and want to be alone, Tim will hesitantly leave, but he’ll probably secretly monitor you only because he’s worried about your safety. If you’re afraid that others are reading your mind, he might pretend that he invented an anti-mindreading helmet to ease your suspicions. He knows you would feel betrayed if you ever found out about his dishonesty, but he reasons that your safety and comfort are more important in the moment.

Damian

Arguments with Damian are brutal. No matter how insignificant the disagreement is, Damian refuses to back down when he believes he’s right. Paired with your own stubbornness and contentiousness, these quarrels generally result in an impasse. Eventually your anger subsides and the depression sinks in. You might assume that Damian doesn’t love you anymore and that fight was the end of your relationship. Maybe you start packing your belongings to move out right away. Damian comes up behind you and asks what you’re doing. When you tell him that you’re leaving because he doesn’t want you anymore, he’s instantly remorseful. He takes your bags out of your hands and proceeds to pull you in close as he tells you how much he loves you. He assures you that two people can disagree and still love each other.

Damian doesn’t want to argue with you and he certainly doesn’t want to see you upset so he’ll always excuse himself before the argument becomes too heated. He hopes that some time apart will allow you both to calm down and come to a compromise, but it’s never that simple. Most of the time, you’ll need a third-party mediator, like a therapist, to resolve your dispute. The act of seeking out a therapist will be a huge accomplishment for your relationship. Damian likes his privacy and doesn’t want someone else in his business and you might be afraid to share intimate information with a stranger in fear that it will be used against you. Nevertheless, you both want to make this relationship work, so you’ll continue to seek help.

Damian has a habit of being blunt. He doesn’t mean to criticize or insult you – in his mind, he is only stating the facts or his opinion for the purpose of helping you improve. Despite his goodhearted intentions, it’s easy for you to take his comments the wrong way and perceive it as a personal attack. If he sees that his remarks have upset you, he’ll acknowledge all the positive aspects of your performance. Still, you might cling to the disparaging comments and ignore the praise. Going forward, Damian will try to be more encouraging and constructive and will only express feedback if you invite him to do so.

[gascon-en-exil]

Welp, looks like the Khalidstans have realized that 3H isn't the only FE game to have things they find morally objectionable with the Jugdral incest. Is that going to stop their performative moralist behavior? Personally, I don't think so but it is kinda funny to see them pop their monocles.

Of course it isn't. If the incest, sexism, racism, etc. of FE games actually offended them as much as they claim it does, they wouldn't be giving IS money (the ones who actually play the games, that is) or giving their properties exposure on social media.

It's incredibly obvious that IS doesn't especially care about toning down the series's less tasteful elements, not when they take every opportunity to bring stuff like that up in Heroes. Just last month I saw some discourse over the new Sothe alt having lines that are all about Micaiah, his girlfriend and surrogate mother/sister...and before that everyone was a pedophile because summer Claude is too young-looking...and before that I believe there was something about spring Maria being loli fetish bait. IS doesn't care, and the fandom is at best indifferent and at worst openly mocking of that sort of mentality when we've collectively known since 2003 or so that FE is just Like That.

To be fair FE antis first emerged when Fates was current (and the precursor of that mindset was around during Awakening concerning characters like Nowi and Tharja), but because the discourse surrounding that game was and still remains generally negative their complaints about it being an incest-based dating sim were lost in the sea of everything else people criticize Fates for. I assume that Echoes turning Clair into a Lachesis archetype and adding Conrad apparently for no other reason except incest subtext also flew under the radar with that game's much more serious issues of misogynistic writing - and also fandom just...not caring very much about Echoes for more than like two months. It was with Three Houses though that the fandom splitting itself into factions and generating all manner of wank from all sides that FE antis became more of a distinctive entity, which is probably part of why they're turning their criticisms to older games now that the usual Houses/Hopes battles - Dimigard, Rhealeth and Rhea in general, Dimiclaude sometimes - are virtually exhausted.

[a-room-of-my-own]

The gunman who killed five people in a mass shooting in Plymouth ranted at a 16-year-old girl that “women are arrogant and entitled beyond belief” in some of his final online exchanges just a few days before he embarked on Britain’s worst mass shooting in more than a decade.

Jake Davison, 22, told a US teenager on a subreddit forum that he was “bitter and jealous” and that women “treat men with zero respect or even view them as human beings”.

In the online messages posted days before he killed five people, including his mother and a three-year-old girl, Davison’s adherence to “incel” culture is starkly evident.

(...)

In the messages, obtained by the Observer, sent five days before the killings, Davison told the random teenager he was “entitled” to a “16 17 year old GF [girlfriend]”.

In another entry that underscores his misogynistic worldview when the teenager questions why Davison would pursue young girls, he replies: “If I were to walk into my room and find a 16-year-old spread wide on my bed yeah I would have sex with her.”

(...)

The Observer has learned that the Home Office’s office for security and counter-terrorism was already investigating the incel movement in the context of an emerging threat. In particular it is looking at the profile of possible violent offenders, links to the far right and what factors can mean feelings of frustration morph into harmful acts.

The home secretary, Priti Patel, has said the government would ensure it addressed any issues about online activity from incels following the Plymouth shooting.

The extent of the issue became evident after Davison was immediately hailed as a hero by incels who flocked to his YouTube account, prompting calls for the platform to remove hateful misogynist content urgently.

Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Centre for Countering Digital Hate, said: “Incels are terrorists. They seek to teach women a lesson, to remould society, to change through violence that which they could never possibly achieve through the ballot box or persuasion.”

Ahmed said that ungoverned online spaces were allowing hateful views to propagate and radicalise new followers.

“Male supremacist incel communities form specifically to share and deepen one another’s hatred of women. There, they undergo a process of radicalisation unchecked by broader social norms because of these digital spaces’ isolation from the rest of society’s tempering institutions and forces,” he added.

Experts also point out that followers of the extreme end of incel culture share conspiracy theory-like views with the far right.

Leading incel experts including Lewys Brace of Exeter University, who advises the government on the issue, said there was a strong overlap between the movement and extreme rightwing ideology.

“We realised just how potentially violent this could be and how easily it could be exported from the US,” said Brace.

One concern for police and the security services, according to Brace, is that the pandemic, lockdown and the impact on social isolation – which Davison himself mentions – will undoubtedly have led to more men joining the online incel community.

Ahmed added: “That so many malignant ideologies – from anti-vaxxers to antisemites to incels – are accelerating their radicalisation and developing violent mobilising elements is a function of both the ease with which they can build their communities online and the inherently radicalising nature of those spaces.”

He said the UK government and police needed to view such ideological communities as a “serious terrorist threat” that would inevitably lead to more attacks.

Ahmed added: “It is up to government to protect society from the threat posed by twisted, violent male supremacists who even today are whispering words of encouragement to groom the next terrorist attacker on platforms we all use.”

[witchqueenvisenya]

@/stargareed reblogged my post and in the time I was responding to it, deleted their reblog and made a separate post LMAO

Anyway, here is their post. Screenshots because they could have deleted again :-D

First of all, why did you come onto my blog and get worked up over an untagged post that didn’t even name you? I referred to your takes, and called you an incel because that’s what you sound like. First, can we not call people “x” because we disagree with them?: You say, while claiming Dany stans live in an echo chamber, and that we condone things IRL just because we happen to talk about a fictional character doing those things in a fictional world. You make posts about being curious about people’s real life personalities because of their fictional preferences, and I am supposed to refrain from calling you out? You kinda did that yourself by reblogging my post.

I say you are a supposed Jonerys shipper because I have read your posts and you seem to have a very off-the-mark understanding of her show and book character. You got offended by posts saying Jon Snow was the worst thing to happen to Daenerys and then you say that Jon deserved better than a “mass murderer” who “wouldn’t threaten his family” and that Val, is such a character. Firstly, Jon himself has been in battle and committed mass murder. Secondly, Daenerys never followed through on actually harming Jon’s Stark family even when they were flouting all sorts of courtesy and social navigation in dealing with her, someone who had come to their home, to help them defend it. You seem to forget that Daenerys herself is Jon’s family, so Daenerys definitely deserved better than someone who wouldn’t give her the slightest appreciation or favour when faced with what his sisters would think. She deserved better than someone who didn’t bother to set people straight when they claimed her achievements for him (see Tormund at the feast) and who lied to the whole of Winterfell about why he had bent the knee.

Jon Snow doesn’t have any problems with embracing his “fire and blood” side. He is hailed as a hero, a badass warrior who “did what was necessary” by the general fanbase. And who, in the books, likes it when Val is violent. He doesn’t have any problem with women committing murder (even mass murder or raids, see Ygritte lol) and getting their hands dirty. You are implying that Dany in the whole of s8 embraced “fire and blood” which is just false. Even before the penultimate episode, show!Jon proved extremely unsupportive as a partner (in s8) and that’s what people usually mean when they make posts about Dany deserving better than s8 Jon.

Daenerys gets into battle and antis start applying all sorts of buzzwords and wild takes to justify their hate, instead of just saying that they dislike the character.

You know what, every point you’ve brought up has already been debated to death and I don’t have the energy to get into a debate with someone who has trouble separating fiction from reality. You seem to think that Dany stans support her burning KL down, and that we live in an “echo chamber” because we criticize show!Jon. You’re a fan of Jon Snow, which means you’re a fan of fictional mass murder yourself, but that’s not what you want to examine is it? You just want to pin every war crime ever on Daenerys and say her fans condone it, never mind that war crimes aren’t really a concept in ASOIAF, and funnily enough it is Daenerys herself who forbids war crimes (as the term applies IRL) such as rape.

And LMAO. Book!Jon himself would have helped Val bury his show counterpart (from s8), thank you very much. What I meant by Dany not going for s8 Jon, is that she fell in love with someone who stood up to her but also was courteous and considerate to her, as in s7. Her actually sticking by s8 Jon is wildly out of character and the fact that this pricked you so much does say something about you, decent human being that you are.

Lastly, about using Val and Sansa to put Dany down. You did that in two separate posts, and I am mainly concerned about the Sansa one, because that is proof enough for me that Dany makes you intensely uncomfortable. Funnily enough I used to defend Sansa before I interacted with her fans and wasn’t as protective over Dany.

This is what you said: “working within the system” vs “breaking the wheel” & “diplomacy” vs “fire and blood” implying that Daenerys doesn’t know how to navigate the system of oppression she spent so many seasons in Essos trying to dismantle and then reconstruct. Implying also, that Dany doesn’t know diplomacy, and only knows how to burn shit down using brute force. And if you think that Sansa knows diplomacy anywhere on the show, then I’m sorry but that’s really a very simplistic take. Daenerys exhibited more diplomacy and wrangling with the system in her whole arc than Sansa ever has, even in the books. The first time I read that post, I legit thought a Jon/Sansa shipper had made it. That’s how bad your takes were. And I have seen most of their takes, so this claim that Dany stans stay within an “echo chamber” really sent me because I have seen all sorts of takes about Dany and all sorts of arguments and now, when Dany stans refuse to take shit from people who include caveats in their arguments and have to claim “oh, I am actually a Dany stan but—” you think we don’t know what takes people have or that we refuse to accept her flaws, etc.

You use US laws to support your takes about fictional incidents, and that’s a red flag if ever I saw one. Start seeing fiction through a fictional lens, I promise, everything will make more sense.

Again, if you are so sensitive about what people are saying about you because of your posts on a public platform, while you make all sorts of generalisations about fans then you need to log off and take some time off. I wouldn’t have given a flying fuck about whatever clownery you do on your blog but no, you had to go and tag it so everyone saw it and then when they talked about it, you got offended.

Anyway, I didn’t ask for your views about Sansa. I think her show counterpart is absolute trash and her book counterpart is better, but I dislike even the latter because her fans have hyped her up beyond reason using the exact phrases that you did. “Diplomacy. “Soft power”. Etc. Etc.

Merry Christmas.

[yamayuandadu]

For the character breakdown, I’d love to see hadad, anat, shapash, yam, mot, athtar, kothkar and khasis... really any of the ugaritic pantheon, of course you don’t have to do all of them >.<, I’d just love to see your hot takes

I shall rise up to the challenge! I’m the only person on this site obsessed with Ugarit as far as I can tell... I covered everyone you asked for plus Ashtart and Yarikh. As much as I like burrowing through jstor and academia edu and persee and so on, I kind of wish there were more people approaching Ugaritic, Mesopotamian, Hittite etc. myths the way many do with Greek ones tbh - sometimes i’d just like to see which figures people think would be into gossiping and so on or which tacky modern fashion they think suits them equally as much as I want to find out if Yarikh’s portrayal in Ugaritic poetry owes more to Nanna/Sin or to the Hittite moon god. ALSO as far as this sort of light hearted takes go, there are two japanese artists on twitter who draw Baal cycle fanart: here and here.

Hadad: How I feel about this character: one of my fave mythical protagonist. I think I genuinely only like Inanna more. Going from a very relatable desire to get his own house to triumph over death is quite the journey. The relative powerlessness many interpreters point out is interesting, too - the fact he mostly gets somewhere because of allies and because even if El was the king of gods, Hadad’s attributes made him the king of people’s hearts arguably, so he has to win against overwheming odds. All the people I ship romantically with this character: Anat, Ashtart/Astarte/however we transcribe her name this week... Kothar? My non-romantic OTP for this character: given the Seth-Baal equation in Egypt and the uncertaininty over whether Astarte papyrus is about Seth or Baal under Seth’s name it’s funny to imagine them as friends. Also I’ll talk about it more underneath but since Dagan was a god with similar purposes further inland (and is attested earlier iirc) and Ugaritic texts - even though they rarely feature him - call him Hadad’s father - it would be cute to assume he also taught Hadad everything. My unpopular opinion about this character: I’m a Dagan parentage truther against all odds. It was the norm outside Ugarit! I think “Dagan isn’t in Ugaritic myths because they take place in Ugarit but people thought Dagan lives further inland in Tuttul based on prayers etc.” is enough to explain his absence from myths, and also note that in the epic Baal is “Dagan’s son” even when he’s at a low point (ex. when Yam demands he gives up his freedom or when he’s dead) and only El’s and Asherah’s son when he’s victorious for the most part (ex. during palace construction) - imo this makes it plausible that Dagan is his real dad and El and Athirat are only his parents in the way vassal rulers called emperors fathers. Likewise I think any references to siblings can be interpreted in the light of ex. kings of Ugarit calling kings of Carchemish or Alashiya brothers. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I really like how corny the Hittite/Hurrian storm god cycle is with Kumarbi constaly raising new challengers to attack Kummiya and dethrone Teshub/Tarhunna, I actually wish the Ugaritic one was longer too via a similar plot device. Also I wish Dagan actually appeared in myths alongside his son - Noga Ayali-Darshan had a theory he was in some oral tradition predating Baal cycle as the god announcing Yam demands a tribute since in Hurrian “Song of the sea” and in Egyptian “Astarte papyrus” a grain deity does this but a possible reconstruction isn’t much... Anat How I feel about this character: well, she’s not Inanna, but she’s still pretty good. I mostly like the parts of the Baal narrative which show her unpredictable character, like her probable parents being afraid of her, listing various never shown enemies she vanquished, or Mot’s death. Aqhat myth doesn’t interest me much. That myth fragment where she and Ashtart pity Yarikh because other gods treat him poorly is interesting, too. All the people I ship romantically with this character: Baal, Ashtart, that’s it I think. My non-romantic OTP for this character: she seems to get along really well with Shapash during the segment of the Baal cycle where Baal is dead. My unpopular opinion about this character: I really hate the speculation popular among bible scholars which amounts to making her, Ashtart and Athirat interchangeable to justify her irrelevance in the iron age. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: honestly? I wish an “Anat cycle” existed. She pretty clearly had a fair share of own adventures considering Baal enlists her help on the account of past accomplishments. Yam How I feel about this character: out of all antagonists in the basic middle eastern “storm god vs sea” narratives I think he has the most fun personality - Hedammu is barely a “character” and Tiamat lacks the more human dimension Yam has. All the people I ship romantically with this character: nobody, he has to move past the Astarte papyrus characterization and learn some respect for that smh My non-romantic OTP for this character: his nameless rude messenger who refused to bow down when speaking to the assembly of the gods My unpopular opinion about this character: contary to what this (very good) paper says, the Yam battle is more thrilling than the Mot one - the strength of the Mot part of the narrative comes from the visceral descriptions of Anat’s emotions but Mot is a flat villain compared to Yam. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: he had a seemingly positive role in cult and there are 13 known people with Yam theophoric names (out of 6000 or so people from Ugarit known by name) so I sort of wonder if there’s some lost myth where he’s the hero or something. Mot How I feel about this character: if nothing else, feeling offended by being offered bread and wine instead of corpses is pretty funny and a great introduction. And the pathetic attempt at a comeback shut down by Shapash is All the people I ship romantically with this character: unshippable by design tbh. My non-romantic OTP for this character: if the theory about Horon - the god from the “anti-snakebite text” and the “may horon crack your skull” curse - being a cthtonic god too - just a generally benign one - is true I think they could have a lot of comedic potential. My unpopular opinion about this character: I don’t understand where the idea of a nonexistent myth about Mot kidnapping Shapash and Yarikh comes from and I wish it wasn’t all over the place online. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: some more detailed description of the afterlife - Mot, rephaim, Horon if he really lives there - would be useful... Shapash How I feel about this character: she seems severly... underrated? There are maybe two papers about her (and one underlines the fact there isn’t much research on her) and yet she’s the second most prominent goddess in the Baal cycle AND has her own narrative in the anti-snakebite texts! She might actually be more remarkable than her Mesopotamian counterpart - with all due respect for Utu/Shamash, in myths he’s the boring sibling between himself and Inanna/Ishtar... All the people I ship romantically with this character: I don’t have any real ideas, some papers assume she and Horon were a thing but this is disputable and Horon is pretty nebulous himself... My non-romantic OTP for this character: “Kothar - your close friend!” from that one hymn has that covered. Since she’s basically a divine herald perhaps they travel together? My unpopular opinion about this character: I suspect the reason why she isn’t studied more is because many researchers are stuck with some sort of false “good mother goddess - evil sex goddess” dichotomy of ancient middle eastern religion and while you can force Athirat, Anat and Ashtart into these roles, Shapash with her aura of a divine equivalent of a mundane earthly official doesn’t fit into it and as such is ignored. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I said I hate the false Mot myth spreading online but I actually do wish there was a myth or at least a cult text of some sort showing what sort of relation existed between her and Yarikh - safe to say it didn’t mirror Shamash and Sin... Kothar-wa-Khasis How I feel about this character: huge fan of artisan gods and he seems genuinely nice. One of my Ugaritic b-list favorites. I like that he’s a reneissance man - armorer, architect, even a musician... The theory that he was developed based on Ptah since Memphis had a large foreign population is great. All the people I ship romantically with this character: Baal sort of? I imagine Baal is actually relatively knowledgeable about architecture given the length of the window debate in the Baal cycle... My non-romantic OTP for this character: Shapash, as I said earlier. My unpopular opinion about this character: based on the tale of King Keret some researchers argue he’s meant to be ugly like Greek Haephestus, but since I like the Ptah theory and his appearance isn’t described elsewhere AND King Keret might be satire where everyone is their worst self possible, I prefer to imagine him as handsome One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: supposedly from Caphtor and yet we never see Caphtor (Crete) in Ugaritic myths... come on, ancient scribes, surely someone went there? Maybe even recorded some proper Minoan myths? Ashtart How I feel about this character: she’s my favorite Ugaritic figure of limited relevance. An Ishtar/Inanna equivalent who seemingly curses other gods and presides over political pacts is a pretty solid premise! And it’s funny she rebukes Baal seemingly for insufficient dedication in battle. I wonder if the Egyptian fragment which implies Yam acted lecherous towards her is a factor in this tbh. Perhaps an earlier oral tradition had both these elements...? All the people I ship romantically with this character: Baal (her title is “face of baal”/”of the name of baal”, c’mon...), Anat (almost always listed together!) My non-romantic OTP for this character: Keret curses his son with a formula invoking both Horon and her so perhaps that’s who she’s learning curses from. My unpopular opinion about this character: I hate that “Astarte is Asherah” is widespread just because people want to defend the historicity of the biblical Jezebel narrative which probably even the biblical compilersdidn’t view as historical. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: I wish she didn’t vanish from the Baal cycle after Yam’s defeat :C Attar How I feel about this character: this sure is... a guy. He’s so pathetic in the Baal cycle it’s hard to even see him as an antagonist - sorry, Handbook of Ugaritic Studies... All the people I ship romantically with this character: nobody, Shapash points out he’s single as the reason why he can’t rule and i don’t think that changes in any subsequent texts? But then Marriage of Nikkal and Yarikh iirc mentions he has a daughter... My non-romantic OTP for this character: again, nobody. My unpopular opinion about this character: he’s actually a pretty vital part of the Baal cycle and the fact he gives up on own accord makes him more interesting than the other “failed god” in a similar narrative, Ashtabi. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: a god with the same name was prominent in present day Yemen so I guess finding some direct connection would be nice - it fits with him leaving to “rule elsewhere” in the myth! Yarikh How I feel about this character: he’s so pitiful in the fragment which compares him to a dog begging for scraps... His main myth is pretty good too, tbh it’s the best middle eastern marriage myth imo - I actually don’t care for Dumuzi much, but Yarikh is cool. All the people I ship romantically with this character: only Nikkal-wa-Ib My non-romantic OTP for this character: given his mistreatment and Nikkal’s father(?) saying he could be a son in law of Baal I assume that in some unknown texts they must have been allies. Note that the Hittite storm god has the sun and moon gods acting as his metaphorical eyes warning him against Kumarbi’s new plots in song of Ullikummi. Also I assume Anat and Ashtart must consider him a friend given how they help him when nobody else does? All around he feels like a god in Baal’s orbit even though we have 0 direct proof for it. My unpopular opinion about this character: I think trying to correct him to Nanna is a doomed endeavor tbh. Their wives have similar names but Yarikh doesn’t give the impression of a “Father of gods” type deity in what little we know about him. One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: more myths. None we know show him as the moon even though it’s literally his name! I am afraid I don’t have anything interesting to say about El and Athirat. Handbook of Ugaritic Studies has an amazing El summary that I generally stick to, I can post a cap if you are interested.

[dangermousie]

2019 END OF YEAR KDrama Post

Wow, I haven’t made one in years. This is going to involve only dramas that came out in 2019 because I watched a hell of a lot dramas made prior to that and trying to figure out which ones will give me a headache.

DRAMAS WATCHED (In order of liking from most to least as opposed to pure quality; I am including if I’ve seen at least two eps AND feel it was enough to make up my mind; yes I realize that’s inaccurate, but that’s my list)

Extraordinary You -  A philosophy and religion course AND a love story, and perfect at both.

My Country - a brutal, passionate, intense masterpiece of a sageuk. This is how they should be.

Crash Landing On You - the two eps that have aired brought my joy in watching kdramas back to me so vividly. This is everything. 

Encounter - the perfect noona romance of the year for me. It seems to have little plot (powerful older woman, idealistic younger man) but the characters made me love them with an unhealthy amount of attachment and the mood is just perfect. 

Haechi - smart traditional sageuk with a heart. This one will make you love it but also respect it in the morning :)

Queen: Love and War - Period, romance, mystery, helpless king and feisty heroine. It’s everything I love in one package. 

Chocolate - if, like me, you like slow old-school melo with genuine grown-ups, this one is for you. Ha Ji Won and Yoon Kye Sang are both incandescent in this. 

One Spring Night - a rare slice of life that worked for me so so much. I rooted for the main OTP like crazy (I did skip all the sister stuff though because boring to me.) It’s just a breath of fresh air.

The Tale of Nokdu - a rare funny youth sageuk that worked for me (except, ironically, for when they tried to be politics-heavy and serious about it.) Wonderful OTP, funny situations and just generally a delight. 

Memories of the Alhambra - I can hear people screaming that I put this so high, but this is a faves ranking, not objective one, and I loved the unusual premise (it ultimately fell apart but it tried), and Hyun Bin’s performance was out of this world and the aaaaagnst and I enjoyed waiting for it each week until almost the end. That ending though!!!!!

Psychopath Diary - this is black comedy at its best and hysterical and smart and somehow got me invested in the hapless protagonist. 

Hotel del Luna - clever and funny and smart. Hong Sisters largely back to form. I found the sageuk parts more engaging than modern ones, but what else is new.

Search WWW - some parts of it worked for me more than others, but it had solid writing and cool characters and some interesting OTP(s). 

Love is Beautiful Life is Wonderful - has the weekend drama slowness but it lovely and fun. 

When the Camellia Blooms - it was well made and the OTP was great and the acting top notch, I just don’t tend to go gaga for slice of life dramas, especially ones involving market ladies, much. 

Flower Crew Joseon Marriage Agency - competently done, pretty period piece about nothing. It was enjoyable and forgettable at once.

Catch the Ghost - I put it as high as I did because the OTP really did have lovely chemistry but the story was a complete mess, the police work made no sense and the heroine’s character was like nails on a chalkboard for me.

Joseon Survival - I got about four episodes in and liked it a lot but then Kang Ji Hwan turned out to be a convicted rapist, they replaced the lead and I didn’t go back. I kind of want to because I liked what I saw and I am madly curious as to whether they changed the main character or just said he had a different face now, no explanation. 

The Last Empress - pure inconsistent trash but so entertaining!

Vagabond - I made it eight episodes in before I realized that I would have as much fun staring at traffic. It’s a competently done actioner but without more, actioners never work for me, so this was a viewer/drama mismatch.

Arthdal  Chronicles - incoherent, visually odd and boring, this is arguably the worst drama this year but I am giving it higher place because the cast really tries (even if it tends to fail because it has nothing to work with) and because it attempted something different even if it failed spectacularly. SO BAD.

Melting Me Softly - yes, my brain was fully melted by this soulless, charmless waste of Ji Chang Wook and my limited free time.

VIP - Any drama that makes the main mystery and thrust of the story who the husband cheated on his wife with is BORING. Seriously, this is not exactly Hercule Poirot. They wasted their cast - I have NO idea why Lee Sang Yoon agreed to be in this as a one note character and Jang Nara is playing a second scorned wife in a row but without even the entertainment value of her previous outing.

Abyss - aptly named. The best thing I can say about it is it didn’t offend me but oh boy was it dull.

Absolute Boyfriend - I loved the manga but it’s time to accept this can never be adapted well. They wasted the cast and that ending was just an insult on top of a trash heap.

The Lies Within - you cast that cast and deliberately have no romance. You are dead to me. 

Woman of 9.9 Billion - competently made, but it’s everything I dislike - dour unpleasant bored people behaving as if they are in a particularly dreary art-house French movie but without any nuance or interest the latter came provide. 

Love with Flaws - shrill, dumb, neither acted nor written by anyone trying at all. 

Rookie Historian Goo Hae Ryung - objectively, it’s not the worst drama on the list, but it’s everything I hate in one package - willfully ahistorical but not cleverly so, male lead incapable of acting, the characters so one-dimensional they disappear, this purports to be a period drama but about as period as a space ship. God, I loathed this. 

FAVORITE DRAMA

Extraordinary You - smart (so mind-bendingly smart) and moving and totally unpredictable and with so many things to say about free will and religion and self and nature of memory and narrative, this had an insane impossible premise and yet somehow managed to do it full justice and stick the landing. 

WORST DRAMA

People with Flaws - this is different from least favorite because even if I loathed e.g., Rookie Historian or Woman of 9.9 Billion, I recognized some positive features; it’s just certain things really rubbed me the wrong way due to personal preferences. But this shrill hot mess of a drama is really everything that’s wrong with dramaworld.

FAVORITE MALE CHARACTER

Prince Yeoning, Haechi - fiercely smart, strong, tormented by the duality of his birth (royal father, servant mother) but not letting this distract him from his purpose, loyal to the bone, and with integrity nothing can shake but where you can feel that it’s not easy and that it costs him.

FAVORITE FEMALE CHARACTER

Eun Dan Oh, Extraordinary You - a go-getter who remakes the world (literally); smart, cheerful, strong, beautifully human. She feels so real and yet is larger than anything around her. 

NEEDS TO BE MURDERED

Yi Seung Gye, My Country - a sociopath destroying lives in his quest for power and control, even the destruction of his own family barely gives him anything but momentary pause. He is the reason for the tragedy of MC. 

FAVORITE SHIP

Eun Dan Oh x Haru, Extraordinary You - their love is literally universe and god-defying. They have loved each other as different people in three separate worlds (and counting), and have defied loss of memory and even loss of self as well as death, the end of worlds, and their god and the narrative and literally anything and everything, to be together.

Runner Up: Soo Hyun x Jin Hyuk, Encounter: tender and decent and his bringing her back to vivid life and the way they love and support and compliment each other.  

Probably gonna be on list if doesn’t go haywire: Crash Landing on You: she is a SK heiress, he’s a NK officer, they have mad chemistry and so much potential.

NOTP:

Tae Mi x Morgan, Search WWW - love the actors, love the chemistry, love the characters in terms of the way they are written, but they are absolutely wrong for each other and there is no future of any sort but misery ahead. None of their issues are resolved but are swept under the rug. It’s a cautionary tale, not a romance. I did a long rant before so not repeating. 

BEST SECONDARY OTP

Scarlett x Ji Hwan, Search WWW - they stole the shippiness in the drama for me. Cooky and adorable and noona romance done right.

FAVORITE SCENE

Haru’s final disappearance, Extraordinary You - the lights start to go out, the world literally dissolving, Eun Oh and Haru clinging to each other, with his telling her she was his beginning and the end. His name, the one she gave him, is the last thing he hears. In a drama full of amazing scenes the very gist of which was defying the very creator and universe and meaning of existence, this was the one that stayed with me the most.

BIGGEST CRUSH

Seo Hwi, My Country - I have a thing for deeply honorable, deeply tortured period badasses with long hair and a death wish (see Choi Young in Faith etc.)

BEST SCENE STEALER CHARACTER

Yi Bang Won, My Country - he started out as an antihero and ended up as arguably a tragic villain (or maybe still an anti-hero) but oh boy, was he magnetic and fascinating and sucking out all the oxygen whenever he was in the scene.

NEEDS A SEQUEL

Memories of the Alhambra - WTF ending was that?! All that misery and no real resolution?! Dammit!

TROPE THAT NEEDS TO DIE

Youth Sageuk - I hate most of them! They are anachronistic and dumb and honestly, what is the point of having fully modern people in period clothes? Just make a modern show and call it a day.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Melting Me Softly - Ji Chang Wook’s first project back from the military was an unfunny, unmoving, pointless mess with not an ounce of genuine enjoyment despite the excellent pedigree of everyone involved in front and behind the camera.

Arthdal Chronicles - the makers made excellent Queen Seon Duk, Tree with Deep Roots and Six Flying Dragons. The cast was uniformly A grade. The result was an open-ended, boring, incoherent mess that looks like a bad sort of a drug trip and made about as much sense. 

BIGGEST GOOD SURPRISE

Extraordinary You - I had zero interest in yet another high school drama with no actors I recognized. By the end, EY was an emotional brainy twister of a marvel that became my favorite drama of all time. I’ve been watching dramas for over 13 years so that’s saying something.

2019 DRAMAS I HAVEN’T SEEN THAT I MOST WANT TO WATCH

The Crowned Clown - I love sageuks and cast and it looks so smart and emotional

Angel’s Last Mission: Love - my next contemporary - I watched a little and loved what I saw

Fates and Furies - I saw a few eps and classic melo is so up my alley.

Clean with a Passion for Now - I like the cast and it’s a year of falling for hot weird bosses apparently.

Graceful Family - I love makjang and Im Soo Jung.

The Secret Life of My Secretary - downmarket Beauty Inside and I loved BI.

Love Affairs in the Afternoon - artsy adultery FTW

Item - I don’t like crime stuff but I am here for Joo Ji Hoon.

My Strange Hero - seems a little cooky but I am fond of Yoo Seung Ho.

MOST ANTICIPATED IN 2020

King: the Eternal Monarch - Lee Min Ho and Woo Do Hwan and parallel worlds and written by Kim Eun Suk. Yes Please.

I should probably make one for cdramas too though that one would be rather shorter.

[sayedhusaini]

Democrats and Media Do Not Want to Weaken Facebook, Just Commandeer Its Power to Censor

by Moderator

📷(Stock Catalog / Flickr)By Glenn Greenwald / SubstackMuch is revealed by who is bestowed hero status by the corporate media. This week's anointed avatar of stunning courage is Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager being widely hailed as a "whistleblower” for providing internal corporate documents to the Wall Street Journal relating to the various harms which Facebook and its other platforms (Instagram and WhatsApp) are allegedly causing.The social media giant hurts America and the world, this narrative maintains, by permitting misinformation to spread (presumably more so than cable outlets and mainstream newspapers do virtually every week); fostering body image neurosis in young girls through Instagram (presumably more so than fashion magazines, Hollywood and the music industry do with their glorification of young and perfectly-sculpted bodies); promoting polarizing political content in order to keep the citizenry enraged, balkanized and resentful and therefore more eager to stay engaged (presumably in contrast to corporate media outlets, which would never do such a thing); and, worst of all, by failing to sufficiently censor political content that contradicts liberal orthodoxies and diverges from decreed liberal Truth. On Tuesday, Haugen's star turn took her to Washington, where she spent the day testifying before the Senate about Facebook's dangerous refusal to censor even more content and ban even more users than they already do.There is no doubt, at least to me, that Facebook and Google are both grave menaces. Through consolidation, mergers and purchases of any potential competitors, their power far exceeds what is compatible with a healthy democracy. A bipartisan consensus has emerged on the House Antitrust Committee that these two corporate giants — along with Amazon and Apple — are all classic monopolies in violation of long-standing but rarely enforced antitrust laws. Their control over multiple huge platforms that they purchased enables them to punish and even destroy competitors, as we saw when Apple, Google and Amazon united to remove Parler from the internet forty-eight hours after leading Democrats demanded that action, right as Parler became the most-downloaded app in the country, or as Google suppresses Rumble videos in its dominant search feature as punishment for competing with Google's YouTube platform. Facebook and Twitter both suppressed reporting on the authentic documents about Joe Biden's business activities reported by The New York Post just weeks before the 2020 election. These social media giants also united to effectively remove the sitting elected President of the United States from the internet, prompting grave warnings from leaders across the democratic world about how anti-democratic their consolidated censorship power has become.But none of the swooning over this new Facebook heroine nor any of the other media assaults on Facebook have anything remotely to do with a concern over those genuine dangers. Congress has taken no steps to curb the influence of these Silicon Valley giants because Facebook and Google drown the establishment wings of both parties with enormous amounts of cash and pay well-connected lobbyists who are friends and former colleagues of key lawmakers to use their D.C. influence to block reform. With the exception of a few stalwarts, neither party's ruling wing really has any objection to this monopolistic power as long as it is exercised to advance their own interests.And that is Facebook's only real political problem: not that they are too powerful but that they are not using that power to censor enough content from the internet that offends the sensibilities and beliefs of Democratic Party leaders and their liberal followers, who now control the White House, the entire executive branch and both houses of Congress. Haugen herself, now guided by long-time Obama operative Bill Burton, has made explicitly clear that her grievance with her former employer is its refusal to censor more of what she regards as “hate, violence and misinformation.” In a 60 Minutes

interview on Sunday night, Haugen summarized her complaint about CEO Mark Zuckerberg this way: he “has allowed choices to be made where the side effects of those choices are that hateful and polarizing content gets more distribution and more reach." Haugen, gushed The New York Times’ censorship-desperate tech unit as she testified on Tuesday, is “calling for regulation of the technology and business model that amplifies hate and she’s not shy about comparing Facebook to tobacco.”Agitating for more online censorship has been a leading priority for the Democratic Party ever since they blamed social media platforms (along with WikiLeaks, Russia, Jill Stein, James Comey, The New York Times, and Bernie Bros) for the 2016 defeat of the rightful heir to the White House throne, Hillary Clinton. And this craving for censorship has been elevated into an even more urgent priority for their corporate media allies, due to the same belief that Facebook helped elect Trump but also because free speech on social media prevents them from maintaining a stranglehold on the flow of information by allowing ordinary, uncredentialed serfs to challenge, question and dispute their decrees or build a large audience that they cannot control. Destroying alternatives to their failing platforms is thus a means of self-preservation: realizing that they cannot convince audiences to trust their work or pay attention to it, they seek instead to create captive audiences by destroying or at least controlling any competitors to their pieties.As I have been reporting for more than a year, Democrats do not make any secret of their intent to co-opt Silicon Valley power to police political discourse and silence their enemies. Congressional Democrats have summoned the CEO's of Google, Facebook and Twitter four times in the last year to demand they censor more political speech. At the last Congressional inquisition in March, one Democrat after the next explicitly threatened the companies with legal and regulatory reprisals if they did not immediately start censoring more.A Pew survey from August shows that Democrats now overwhelmingly support internet censorship not only by tech giants but also by the government which their party now controls. In the name of "restricting misinformation,” more than 3/4 of Democrats want tech companies "to restrict false info online, even if it limits freedom of information,” and just under 2/3 of Democrats want the U.S. Government to control that flow of information over the internet:

The prevailing pro-censorship mindset of the Democratic Party is reflected not only by that definitive polling data but also by the increasingly brash and explicit statements of their leaders. At the end of 2020, Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), newly elected after young leftist activists worked tirelessly on his behalf to fend off a primary challenge from the more centrist Rep. Joseph Kennedy III (D-MA), told Facebook's Zuckerberg exactly what the Democratic Party wanted. In sum, they demand more censorship:

This, and this alone, is the sole reason why there is so much adoration being constructed around the cult of this new disgruntled Facebook employee. What she provides, above all else, is a telegenic and seemingly informed “insider” face to tell Americans that Facebook is destroying their country and their world by allowing too much content to go uncensored, by permitting too many conversations among ordinary people that are, in the immortal worlds of the NYT's tech reporter Taylor Lorenz, “unfettered.”When Facebook, Google, Twitter and other Silicon Valley social media companies were created, they did not set out to become the nation's discourse police. Indeed, they affirmatively wanted not to do that. Their desire to avoid that role was due in part to the prevailing libertarian ideology of a free internet in that sub-culture. But it was also due to self-interest: the last thing social media companies wanted to be doing is looking for ways to remove and block people from using their product and, worse, inserting themselves into the middle of inflammatory political controversies. Corporations seek to avoid angering potential customers and users over political stances, not courting that anger.This censorship role was not one they so much sought as one that was foisted on them. It was not really until the 2016 election, when Democrats were obsessed with blaming social media giants (and pretty much everyone else except themselves) for their humiliating defeat, that pressure began escalating on these executives to start deleting content liberals deemed dangerous or false and banning their adversaries from using the platforms at all. As it always does, the censorship began by targeting widely disliked figures — Milo Yiannopoulos, Alex Jones and others deemed “dangerous” — so that few complained (and those who did could be vilified as sympathizers of the early offenders). Once entrenched, the censorship net then predictably and rapidly spread inward (as it invariably does) to encompass all sorts of anti-establishment dissidents on the right, the left, and everything in between. And no matter how much it widens, the complaints that it is not enough intensify. For those with the mentality of a censor, there can never be enough repression of dissent. And this plot to escalate censorship pressures found the perfect vessel in this stunningly brave and noble Facebook heretic who emerged this week from the shadows into the glaring spotlight. She became a cudgel that Washington politicians and their media allies could use to beat Facebook into submission to their censorship demands.In this dynamic we find what the tech and culture writer Curtis Yarvin calls "power leak.” This is a crucial concept for understanding how power is exercised in American oligarchy, and Yarvin's brilliant essay illuminates this reality as well as it can be described. Hyperbolically arguing that "Mark Zuckerberg has no power at all,” Yarvin points out that it may appear that the billionaire Facebook CEO is powerful because he can decide what will and will not be heard on the largest information distribution platform in the world. But in reality, Zuckerberg is no more powerful than the low-paid content moderators whom Facebook employs to hit the "delete” or "ban” button, since it is neither the Facebook moderators nor Zuckerberg himself who is truly making these decisions. They are just censoring as they are told, in obedience to rules handed down from on high. It is the corporate press and powerful Washington elites who are coercing Facebook and Google to censor in accordance with their wishes and ideology upon pain of punishment in the form of shame, stigma and even official legal and regulatory retaliation. Yarvin puts it this way:However, if Zuck is subject to some kind of oligarchic power, he is in exactly the same position as his own moderators. He exercises power, but it is not his power, because it is not his will. The power does not flow from him; it flows through him. This is why we can say honestly and seriously that he has no power. It is not his,

but someone else’s. . . .Zuck doesn’t want to do any of this. Nor do his users particularly want it. Rather, he is doing it because he is under pressure from the press. Duh. He cannot even admit that he is under duress—or his Vietcong guards might just snap, and shoot him like the Western running-dog capitalist he is….And what grants the press this terrifying power? The pure and beautiful power of the logos? What distinguishes a well-written poast, like this one, from an equally well-written Times op-ed? Nothing at all but prestige. In normal times, every sane CEO will comply unhesitatingly with the slightest whim of the legitimate press, just as they will comply unhesitatingly with a court order. That’s just how it is. To not call this power government is—just playing with words.As I have written before, this problem — whereby the government coerces private actors to censor for them — is not one that Yarvin was the first to recognize. The U.S. Supreme Court has held, since at least 1963, that the First Amendment's "free speech” clause is violated when state officials issue enough threats and other forms of pressure that essentially leave the private actor with no real choice but to censor in accordance with the demands of state officials. Whether we are legally at the point where that constitutional line has been crossed by the increasingly blunt bullying tactics of Democratic lawmakers and executive branch officials is a question likely to be resolved in the courts. But whatever else is true, this pressure is very real and stark and reveals that the real goal of Democrats is not to weaken Facebook but to capture its vast power for their own nefarious ends.There is another issue raised by this week's events that requires ample caution as well. The canonized Facebook whistleblower and her journalist supporters are claiming that what Facebook fears most is repeal or reform of Section 230, the legislative provision that provides immunity to social media companies for defamatory or other harmful material published by their users. That section means that if a Facebook user or YouTube host publishes legally actionable content, the social media companies themselves cannot be held liable. There may be ways to reform Section 230 that can reduce the incentive to impose censorship, such as denying that valuable protection to any platform that censors, instead making it available only to those who truly allow an unmoderated platform to thrive. But such a proposal has little support in Washington. What is far more likely is that Section 230 will be "modified” to impose greater content moderation obligations on all social media companies.Far from threatening Facebook and Google, such a legal change could be the greatest gift one can give them, which is why their executives are often seen calling on Congress to regulate the social media industry. Any legal scheme that requires every post and comment to be moderated would demand enormous resources — gigantic teams of paid experts and consultants to assess "misinformation” and "hate speech” and veritable armies of employees to carry out their decrees. Only the established giants such as Facebook and Google would be able to comply with such a regimen, while other competitors — including large but still-smaller ones such as Twitter — would drown in those requirements. And still-smaller challengers to the hegemony of Facebook and Google, such as Substack and Rumble, could never survive. In other words, any attempt by Congress to impose greater content moderation obligations — which is exactly what they are threatening — would destroy whatever possibility remains for competitors to arise and would, in particular, destroy any platforms seeking to protect free discourse. That would be the consequence by design, which is why one should be very wary of any attempt to pretend that Facebook and Google fear such legislative adjustments.There are real dangers posed by allowing companies such as Facebook and Google to amass the power they have now consolidated. But very little of the activism and

anger from the media and Washington toward these companies is designed to fracture or limit that power. It is designed, instead, to transfer that power to other authorities who can then wield it for their own interests. The only thing more alarming than Facebook and Google controlling and policing our political discourse is allowing elites from one of the political parties in Washington and their corporate media outlets to assume the role of overseer, as they are absolutely committed to doing. Far from being some noble whistleblower, Frances Haugen is just their latest tool to exploit for their scheme to use the power of social media giants to control political discourse in accordance with their own views and interests.

Correction, Oct. 5, 2021, 5:59 pm ET: This article was edited to reflect that just under 2/3 of Democrats favor U.S. Government censorship of the internet in the name of fighting misinformation, not just over.

[qqueenofhades]

I'm listening to the History on Fire podcast by Daniele Bolelli which is FANTASTIC for many reasons, but especially notable for me as an American is listening to American history as taught by a European who doesn't flinch from calling a spade a spade or Woodrow Wilson a white supremacist. It's startling and refreshing to not have that texas schoolboard whitewashed veneer applied to some of the Really Bad Shit done by Americans in our history.

Okay but like.... Woodrow Wilson was a white supremacist, we know this, right?

Princeton University has now taken his name off their school of international affairs, which frankly I was not expecting them to do, because when this issue first arose in 2015, they did the usual hemming and hawing about how he had contributed to the nation, etc. But as noted when this protest first arose, Woodrow Wilson was super racist you guys. Aside from admiringly screening the KKK propaganda film Birth of a Nation in the White House in 1915, he was actually quoted in it (as noted in the link above). He resegregated the US civil service and threw civil rights leader Marcus Trotter out of the White House because “[Trotter’s] tone offends me.” He had managed to win the black vote in 1912 with vague promises to make things better, and then.... did not do that. His administration was also heavily staffed with white supremacists.

Wilson admittedly did try to enact economic protections for working-class Americans against large corporations, and he has a luster as a progressive international statesman because of WWI, but while his racial legacy abroad (and particularly in the context of colonialism) is complex, it’s still... well, extremely racist. The period between 1877 (the end of Reconstruction) and 1923 (after the end of the Wilson presidency) has sometimes been called the nadir of American race relations, as all the gains from Reconstruction were rolled back, violent incidents including lynching became the norm (as well as the Tulsa Race Massacre in 1921 that we all just heard about thanks to the Orange One), and the Klan was politically empowered across America (not least by Wilson himself).

I think it’s important to note these things because Wilson would probably not come up on most people’s lists of racist or objectionable political figures, because a) as you note, Americans aren’t taught about this in the first place, and b) we like the idea that only the egregious George Wallace-esque types are or were actually racist, rather than examining it in the context of otherwise admired statesmen, as Wilson’s general legacy still is. I would also like to note that Abraham Lincoln, who is practically a figure of hero worship in American politics, remained far more concerned about the political Union than he ever was about black people, and used the Emancipation Proclamation to put pressure on the Confederacy, not because he was an anti-racist. He expressed opposition to slavery as an institution and by the time of his death was coming around to the idea of black citizenship, but he also said that “if I could save the Union without freeing one slave, I would do it, and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves, I would do that.” In other words, Lincoln’s attitudes on slavery and race also need closer study and awareness, and he is, after all, pretty much as uncontroversially saintlike as American presidents come.

The fact is that white Americans have been so coddled and pampered and shielded from reality that even discovering these very basic facts has come as a shock. You’d really think that in 2020 this wouldn’t be so goddamn controversial, but if nothing else, the sheer depths of this historical (mis)-education are now being brutally exposed, and everyone gets to see for themselves how a country full of “me-firsters” are now responsible for the dubious honor of the worst coronavirus response in the world/highest caseload. These two things really are connected. Ideology has almost completely replaced history, and while Trump has obviously accelerated and exposed that effort, America’s departure from reality has been going on for a long time. I’d like to say that will actually change now, but.... mmm.

Anyway, I’m glad that this podcast has been useful and enlightening to you. As you may know, I’m sitting over here as a historian watching all this happen with a mix of incredulity and despair about the way this country has simply not dealt with any of its shit because “we’re number one!” In general, Americans need to hear more about America from people outside it, because.... yeah. Yikes.