#but other than that this is IT this is the trajectory

[reasonsforhope]

100% have been perusing your climate change masterpost, and understand you're probably swamped so feel free to delete of course. But if you can find the time, is there any kind of hope to give in fighting climate change now? Can we save ourselves against the oncoming steamroll?

You hang in there too. Thanks for finding the hope among everything else. It feels so bad rn but I have to believe it can change. I hope it can.

Yeah actually I do think there is hope.

Things are going to get rough. Things are going to get worse before they get better, both for the climate and for people living in the US (and for people living in lots and lots of other countries that will be affected by the US election results/the ways the climate will worsen as aa result).

I haven't posted about this yet because I didn't want it to come to this, but now that it has, here's something that people have been quietly saying/research has been showing for months:

-via Reuters, November 6, 2024

Renewables, especially solar, are just too powerful to be stopped. They just too much cheaper and too much better, and that's only going to become more true, not less.

Also, I think (and hope) it's actually inevitable that at some point, we'll get to net negative carbon emissions. I think it's like solar: the technology, cost, and planet all make it feel like an inevitable technological trajectory, the same way solar tech is on an exponential trajectory. (IF WE WORK FOR IT, OBVIOUSLY, but also so, so many people ARE working for it, have dedicated their lives to working for it)

I sure fucking hope that's the case, anyway.

(You can find my masterpost on going net negative on what that actually means here)

It is gonna happen more slowly and shittily than I hoped, but I do think it's going to happen.

And if we can get to net negative emissions in time to save ourselves (which I think we will, the rates of advancement in many of these areas are very impressive), then we'll be able to slowly start to undo and heal lot of the damage.

[ramenheim]

Op you. You realize the entire point of this moral exercise is to force you to confront the reality that BOTH OPTIONS LEAVE YOU WITH BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS, yes?

With the two options being: TOUCHING (& diverting the violence of the status quo onto a NEW TARGET THAT WAS *SAFE* BEFORE, orchestrating their death by your own hand) or NOT TOUCHING (& allowing the status quo to continue its trajectory of violence against the multitude of ppl it's STRUCTURALLY INTENDED to target— but without bearing the personal burden of choosing to kill someone, instead bearing the "'lighter'" burden of passive negligence/ignorance).

This exercise HAS NO CORRECT ANSWER bc it's not INTENDED TO ELICIT A '''CORRECT''' ANSWER— YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO INTERROGATE PERSONAL CULPABILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS & THE HARM THAT COMES OUT OF THAT CHOSEN (IN/)ACTION.

I think you're dishonestly framing this as Voting Blue = Lesser Evil = Pulling Lever when both parties are **well within the status quo**, except Repubs want to multitrack drift to maximise damage.

Voting NOT REPUB means less blood is on your hands; not voting at all likely means more blood than voting against Open Fascism; but voting Covert Fascism is **still voting for the status quo** bc your dems are a centre-right & moving rightward party THEMSELVES.

Your 'first past the post' system means that by any other nation's definition? You are already not a democracy. You need to stop having a kneejerk defensive reaction everytime somebody expresses this opinion of your country. You need to rehaul your entire electoral system for personal voting to have the impact your magical thinking claims it does— & pretending otherwise is /choosing not to engage with the problem/ & turning your back on the lever so you at least don't have to Watch the Outcome.

All y'all fuckers when you say you ain't gonna vote

[sp00kymulderr]

it might be nice

Dieter Bravo x f!reader

Warnings/Tags/Notes: 18+. FEELINGS. Angst. love. just...feelings. Mention of f receiving oral, reader is a not a us-citizen (visa stuff), commitment and intimacy issues all round, did I mentioned feelings? This just kinda started writing itself, i appreciate there isn't enough Dieter in it but it is what it is. Unedited, unbeta'd.

Words: 1.1k

Summary: It's more than enough. Having what you have with him now.

"We could get married"

You look up from your book, drawn back from your far away to the sound of his voice. Dieter is looking at you expectantly.

Your eyes widen as you process the four words that just left his mouth.

"Dee, we…why would we…" You trail off, drawing your legs up and out of his lap, his thumb presses down on the arch of your foot once more before he lets it go.

The conversation had moved on hours ago. Over takeout you'd mentioned trepidation over being able to stay in the country, struggling with your visa and having no sponsorship since you couldn't seem to get a fucking job right now.

Dieter had listened, sympathised, and then eaten you out for dessert just to make you feel better about your situation.

It helped. He'd been pretty mediocre but extremely enthusiastic when you'd met, but now you'd taught him some tricks he knew just how to turn your mind off for a moment.

The conversation was finished the moment he put his mouth on you, or so you thought. He could help you pay for an extension but he wasn't influential or wealthy enough to sway the embassy into letting you stay longer.

"I'd bribe the fuck out of them if I could, you know that"

You did know that. You knew he'd do anything for you. He'd been saying it since the day he met you, once famous (more like infamous) movie star now a rehabilitated recluse with no one willing to be by his side.

He'd met you in a Dennys, of all places. 3am waffles served to his lonely little corner booth because he found it hard to sleep these days, and he got hungry at random times. You took the late shifts because they paid the best, and you could be available in the day for calls from your agent that never came.

It hadn't been sexual at first. It hadn't been anything but a displaced, alone man and an exhausted, untethered waitress sitting in a booth and sharing free fries because chef made too many and they'd only go to waste. It had been whispered giggles, and sharing ridiculous Hollywood horror stories, and 'same time tomorrow' over and over again.

No one in LA had made you laugh. Not until you met him.

Dieter hadn't heard genuine laughter in years. Now he got to hear it every night.

Back in the now, you shake your head. He's being silly. He's trying to make you laugh again.

"Don't be stupid" You playfully shove his shoulder with your foot, but his face falls into a frown, and you feel a little crack in your heart at the sight. You watch as he stands, rubbing fingers across his forearm and muttering a little 'Stupid, yeah'. The tremor you feel inside you is nameless, and you will it to remain that way.

In the last six months of your knowing each other, there have been times when you've felt this same feeling. An ache at the thought that he could be anything other than happy. You'd long since left Dennys for the upward trajectory of the Cheesecake Factory but still when the late shift rolls around you feel a tug at your lips and a name on them, even when you'd seen him only hours before.

You're not an item, that's the thing. You're not a couple. Neither of you have ever said the words outright, no 'I want to be with you', 'I want to be yours'. Not to each other, at least.

It's more than enough. Having what you have with him now. It's enough, it's enough, it's enough. Enough that he will sit up all night long and read lines with you again and again and again. Enough that he tells you not to come over on his bad days but you do anyway, and hold him while he cries.

It's enough to be just this. Because more would only make it hurt more when he relapses, when you have to leave.

When you have to leave…

You close your book, set it down on the table that's strewn with pages for your latest audition. Last night he'd coached you through every single line, and then told you with passion just how perfect you were. You can hear him in the kitchen, and you know he's making himself a decaf latte with way too much caramel syrup and a dash of the kitkat sprinkles because that's what he always makes when he might be starting to crave something else.

That's how you know he wasn't making a joke. That's how you know your hurt his feelings. That and every look he's ever given you, every smile that lights up his eyes that's only been for you. That and the way his hands never stray far from you, always grounding himself with the touch of your skin to his.

"Dee…" You pad up to him slowly, watch as he tenses at your presence. Another prickle in your chest, you can't let him think you don't feel...what it is that you feel.

"Would it be so bad?" He asks without turning, the tinge of dejection in his tone making you reach out. "I'd treat you good, you know. We wouldn't even have to live together or anything…it can just be a way for you to stay. That's all. I didn't think it would be so bad for you"

God, you've had him right in your grasp this whole time. The two of you dancing around your feelings all because of fears you didn't even fully realise you had til now.

"I'd- I wouldn't even tell anyone you were my wife, if you didn't want me to. I wouldn't expect anything from it. I just…fuck,"

You turn him around with a pull to his arm, shake your head and bite back something hopeful and beautiful that inches up your throat,

"I don't want you to go"

Your arms are around his middle, a stifled sob as you bury your face against the soft, worn fabric of his favourite t-shirt - your favourite by extension because everything he loves you love too. He smells like him.

You breathe him in.

He smells like home.

You look up at him and smile. Not the pretty smile you give to casting agents - the one that makes you look perfect - but the big, happy, loving one he saw the very first night you two met in that Dennys at three in the morning on a random Tuesday. The one he gives you back is the same; he's smiled a thousand times on camera, in films and press appearances and award shows. No one else but you has ever seen this smile.

You take a deep breath. The crack in your heart starts in fusing back together.

"We could get married"

[imustbenuts]

nuts reads trigun in jp 14 - trimax' vol 1 theme is big on family

i mean, thats obvious, but it didn't ping on my radar as much until im sitting here chewing on what im reading.

ive written in part 7 with the first hint of filial piety, 12 with a lost in translation bit about vash calling sheryl and lina his family, and 13 where wolfwood comes across as a guy who is taking someone's child(daughter) away to elope for marriage. the tl;dr of all of this is that trimax' vol 1 seems to be a set up for exploring themes and what "family" can be defined as.

i uh, suspect japanese idea of 内外 uchi-soto is at play here. (ie in-group and out-group but family) it seems to be lowkey tied to that and the themes of 'otherism'. the kanjis for them means, in 内, and out 外.

the uchi 内 is the 'us', and it is most commonly used in the context of home and family.

the soto 外 is the others, the ones who aren't part of the family.

there's absolutely more ways uchi-soto can be used than just family. village, organization, etc.

so while i dont have a concrete answer of how fucked family dynamics exactly are in japan, i can say its at least pretty fucked in a lot of asian countries affected by ww2. this is further compounded by a lot of classism, traditionalism, trauma, shit mental healthcare, absurd rapid economic growth, the whole turd rainbow, that its not uncommon for many born in say 1900s to 1980s to be... pretty messed up.

i mean, the long term results of gunboat diplomacy, opium wars and colonialism will do all of that, yeah.

i think its why knives here vaguely gives me that abusive old asian turd vibe:

domestic abuse is... not exactly uncommon, honestly. again, dont live in japan so i wont pretend to know for sure, but similar culture and the same capitalism trajectory makes me think its got similar trends. also a lot of these DVs can rooted in toxic masculinity, power trips, ego, and anxiety surrounding productiveness/money.

yeehaw:

(quick note: another reading of 内 uchi can be nai. is that why studio orange named him nai....??? 🤔 and gave him a onesies pajamas and made him a hikkikomori?)

so thats knives. he kicks and slaps his little brother around and even cuts off his arm to the point that a lot of vash's behavior can come across as an abuse victim survivor. he shares the uchi with vash and their sister plants, while everyone else alive on NML is the soto. the outsiders.

and then vash seems to define his own 'uchi' as... the entirety of humanity, or at least an uchi with no 'soto'. no outsiders than maybe himself. its debatable if you want to read this as a result of his abuse, if vash inherently leans towards this, or a mix of the two. like how things are depicted in stampede.

i think the characters that highlight these themes nicely are Sensei/Doc and Brad. im skipping and not rehashing stuff from my prev post, but yeah its. all there.

.... Of course I would We're family (身内). And it's all the same to him. Vash The Stampede's concept of "family (身内)" is absurdly wide.

i mean, check out brad's bubble in here where the Family is expressed as 身内 miuchi. more in the tone of "one of ours". nightow could have just used a bunch of other words like 家族 kazoku, 親身 shinmi, 親戚 shinseki that leans closer to blood family, but nah. nightow just picks 身内, with the 内 to highlight the in group out group family culture dynamic going on.

this is then followed up with this panel

man.

i wanna whack knives with a steel chair.

[isawjamfirst]

the two anime woofwoof

[beepborpdoodledorp]

I keep seeing people theorizing that the Checkmates socks are foreshadowing Kinger's death so I'm just gonna be a filthy Occam's razor-loving loser and say the most likely explanation for Kinger-themed abstraction socks is that they just wanted to make matching socks with Queenie's.

I've only seen one or two people bring it up and I'm kind of shocked that it hasn't been discussed more, but unless something happens in the next couple episodes that drastically alters Kinger's character (unlikely since the upcoming episodes are focused on other members of the cast), Kinger actually seems like the least likely of the main cast to abstract. He has a few screws loose, sure, but as a result of that he doesn't seem to fully grasp the gravity of the situation he and the others are in, when abstraction is the result of not just acknowledging, but giving into the despair and existential dread that comes from being locked in the circus. Not to mention, during the periods he is lucid, he typically seems quite calm and hopeful - as opposed to someone like Ragatha who, on the other hand, if she thinks about the reality of their situation for just a bit too long starts going into a downwards spiral.

Anyway thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[cal-cium-the-nerd]

Almost as soon as they spotted the platform, the people stationed on it spotted them too. Once again, the sphere was forced to dodge and weave between attacks, but it continued its rapid descend towards their target. Zorian mentally prepared himself for touchdown, but it seemed Zach had a better idea than simply depositing them in the middle of a hostile throng of mages. The sphere was just about to collide with the surface of the platform when it rapidly changed directions and slammed into the gathered defenders, trying to fling them off the edge of the platform. Loud, panicked screaming erupted from their targets, many of which were too slow to realize what was happening and found themselves stepping into thin air and plunging into abyssal darkness of the Hole. The sphere quickly circled the entire platform, flinging more people into the dark abyss surrounding the platform. Even more were simply knocked down by the movements of the sphere or dazed and wounded when it impacted them at high speeds. Finally, the sphere ground to a halt and flickered away, depositing Zach, Xvim and Zorian near the center of the platform. “That spell really takes a lot from me,” Zach said, stumbling slightly. “Take care of me while I recover a bit, okay?”

(chapter 60)

Actual footage of Zach's egg spell vs the cultists:

[ilynpilled]

I think what bugs me the most about the type of analysis that is common in this fandom is that sometimes people are obsessed with not actually looking at choices being made by characters and instead try to project extra-textual symbolism/parallels they pulled out of thin air or use essentialist arguments to predict a certain character’s trajectory. There is already a weird tendency to blame bloodlines instead of institutions, oppressive/destructive social constructs/systems, and abusive cycles. This series repeatedly deconstructs bio essentialist ideas in a multitude of ways. Characters being viewed as monsters for the way they are born is a concept that is repeatedly torn down. There is a combination of nature & nurture at play with these characters, I admit, but it is nuanced. Your environment and your nature are in constant conversation with each other. Certain environmental factors will worsen certain attributes, while repress others etc. Your blood is not evil, nor is it pure, it just is, and your nature will be affected by your rearing, tragedies you face, and the environment you live in. Monsters are created and developed, not born. This whole concept is apparent with all the siblings in the series. Dany & Viserys are drastically different people, and make different choices despite having similar experiences and the same blood. Same can be said for Joff, Myrcella, and Tommen. Another very good example are the Lannister siblings. The twins’ idea of “one soul in two bodies” is deconstructed, and they are faced with how dissimilar they actually are. All three siblings have differences in nature, as revealed by their behavior as young children & their current values and motivations, and they are all shaped very differently by their environment. Cersei is affected by the oppressive system of the patriarchy, Jaime by the trauma due to the violent construct of knighthood, and Tyrion by the rampant ableism of the world around him. Tywin also shapes them by giving each of them their own flavor of parental abuse based on the role he wants them to play in his legacy. It is so apparent just how these characters became what they are, and how they navigate their world as a result of a nuanced combination of nature and nurturer. But in the end, it comes down to choices that they keep making. Characters on the right path can also falter sometimes, weigh their values wrong, and make bad decisions at certain points. Not to mention how thoughts and words do not speak as much as actions and actual choices that are made do. You all take bio essentialist arguments that some characters in the text make at face value, even when it is obviously bullshit. Any analysis that hinges entirely on “this character is the son/daughter of this character”, or “this thing on the surface parallels this other thing from something I read/watched”, “this character is a dragon. Dragons plant no trees”, “this character is a monster”, “this character is from this house”, “this character is related to this character” etc instead of actually looking at what said characters do or try to do is gonna lead to unconvincing arguments that are antithetical to one of the main ideas that this series is built on. To me it feels like these books are communicating that in spite of your birth, your origin, your trauma, your prophecies, etc it is primarily your choices that lead you to where you are and the legacy that you create. Cersei’s prophecy will come true as a result of the choices she makes. Dany’s many prophecies are also as a result of choices she makes, she was not just gifted with everything that she has achieved, she is an active agent who makes choices that push her a certain direction. This is also why it is weird when everybody wants to make characters have a predetermined trajectory solely based on “what” they are, or who they are related to.

Not only does George say this in interviews, it is an explicit thesis statement in the text itself:

This is the concluding statement of Jaime’s ASoS arc. Like “The things I do for love”, “So many vows...”, and “The heroes […] the best and the worst, and those who were a bit of both”, as extremely relevant it is to him in specific, it is a major thesis statement for the series as whole, and overlaps with many characters, just like how other characters also have a bunch of these overlapping arc theses. So can we please primarily look at the choices characters make and what ultimately motivated them to make these choices rather than thinking their ending and what they “are” as characters is set in stone because of the reasons mentioned. I feel like how you all engage with some of these characters contradicts the deconstruction of this kind of essentialism that is so apparent in these books.

[townofcadence]

He'd hoped that the fucking thing's human half would leave him a cindering stain on stone floor. Or cooked meat he could feast on, before using at least one of these bodies to learn someone new inside his cavern or something. But seeing him standing, smoldering, still very much alive and unscathed has him throw up his head with the most agitated, hard swing in the sheer frustration he was levied with at the sight. This bug would. Not. DIE.

The strike he aims at Butch misses when he comes close with that knife, but the explosion is unexpected. The blade buries in his scales and he hisses, before he too is knocked back from the force. He recovers faster than Butch, doesn't take to rolling with his size and the stability of a massive body like his own. He looks at the knife, considering pulling it, and then back at Butch with a venomous glare. But now the little rat's unarmed, and bleeding again. Between all of it, it's only a matter of time before he passes out and then he could really take his time picking him apart.

But getting his blood pumping would mean he kills him, or he runs on empty enough to pass out. So with slit eyes, he begins to move towards where Butch was recovering off the floor.

The fireball makes that hard.

He's resistant to fire as well, of course, but bright light in his eyes is blinding. It scatters in the air around him and swallows him in bright reds and oranges and yellows-- the heat does not hurt, but the impact and the light slow him down and throw off any trajectory. He rears back, swatting at embers. A second one hits and he lets out a bellow that has no words but echoes through the blood and veins from how deep it rumbles.

He slaps the next one before it reaches his face. He has every intent to move forward.

And then pain rips through him, like he was made of paper and someone too scissors through his body. Resonance doubles at the feeling, rasping as black ooze bubbles and froths from his mouth, pouring from his lips like blood as much as it expels from his eyes, his nose, his ears. He bends further over, curving and spattering the ground with ichor. Nothing the brat did could've done this! What--

The voice is quiet, but it bounces in the cavern. His puppet is there, nearish the fucking worm who started this all. He can see him from this angle, speaking low and clinging to a stalagmite with a bloody hand. His one eye is black with a green ring, spilling equally acid tears, while the other is an amber gold. He is looking right at him as he speaks.

The bitch is alive? Alive and ---- .

He feels another arc of pain sear through him.

...Alive and trying to fucking cast some kind of binding?

On him?

Resonance bares his teeth, jaw asynchronously flexing. Butch is still there, in his peripheries, but he sees it. His puppet. Some freak with wings and powers who won't stay dead.

A way out.

He does not hesitate, the scales scrape almost like metal as they screech against the cavern floor. Trailing sparks, he barrels towards Artair.

The cowboy feels those claws graze him, just enough to shred a slice of fabric at his side as he jerks away, effectively evading what could have been a nasty deep cut. He remains in the area instead of running off to hide this time; it’s a dangerous game he’s playing but Resonance deserved a taste of his own medicine.

“I’d like t’see ya try, freak!” He continues to taunt.

He puts some space between the two of them despite the beasts advances, ignoring his vicious threats but it’s all for naught. Resonance opens that maw and bright green flames pour out, and he’s not fast enough to avoid the attack before they effectively consume him. Or so it seems—

Just when Resonance is probably sure that he’s reduced Butch to ashes and he finally relents, once the smoke subsides, he would find the tiny cowboy still standing, relatively unaffected aside from some burns in his clothing. That’s right, as a demon hybrid, he happens to be immune to all forms of fire—though he usually doesn’t realize until after it’s happened that he’s not actually hurt and it’s much of the situation here. Butch looks down at himself, inspecting his form frantically before his eyes snap back up at the monster with pure hatred burning deep within them. His mind is far too loud to let him think, so he acts instead!

Butch grips the handle of that blade and rips it from his shoulder with his good hand in one fell swoop, knowing that if he hesitated that he wouldn’t be able to do it. A agonized groan escapes him through gritted teeth at the searing pain aching in his shoulder and his knees go weak for a second—still, he manages to keep upright. He holds that blade, still dripping with his own blood, out towards Resonance before abruptly racing in his direction, his intent being to leap and stab.

What he doesn’t expect is the flood of warmth coursing through his veins, a vaguely familiar feeling akin to the first time he’d accidentally expelled fire in a fit of rage. He was feeling much of the same hurt, much of the same anger, and he needed an outlit.

Running as quickly as those boots can carry him, he darts off of the ground with incredible momentum, rearing his good arm back before thrusting that blade into any area of Resonance he could reach. He ends up plunging it into the beings mid-section, and upon impact, it’s as if an explosive was set off. Golden red fire concentrated into the tip of the knife combusts the moment it makes contact, sending Butch flying backwards with surprised eyes. He doesn’t catch his footing, instead falling to the ground in a roll but he’s quickly to right himself and find his balance again. Feelings concentrated into the essence of burning flames; fire permeates from either of his hands and before Resonance can think to lunge for him again, he swipes an arm of his with force, hurling a ball of fire directly at Resonance. He’s not sure how long this would last but he has no time to be surprised by it if he wants to live to see another day.

“Eat SHIT!”

[hnyibee]

wonder how priest feels knowing she has some of the coolest women ever in her character roster

[krys-does-art-stuff]

Still need to finish up some areas and then do some outlining, but page six is fairly close to being done!

April 2024

[cagedchoices]

@killjoysanonymous

[mxtxfanatic]

I really dislike the Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan are the same person the fandom somewhat has going on sometimes. They are not. That's the point.

Shen Jiu was traumatized and took that out on kids, Shen Yuan got traumatized over the course of the books (the plants growing in him and him having to rip them off of him while he has to carry Luo Binghe's unconscious body really is terrifying and that's just one exemple) but he never takes it out on anybody. LBH fell in love with him because he is kind when the other was not, that's the point (and a common theme in the mxtx novels when I think about it). He was awful.

Shen Yuan is natural at teaching and Shen Jiu is awful and should not be near children in a tracing position.

I always feel a bit insulted on SY's behalf when I see that take.That doesn't mean SY doesn't make mistakes but not this. The first thing he tries to do is to stop Luo Binghe from being bullied, something Shem Jiu encouraged.

I’ve only seen people conflate the two when they want to milk sympathy for Shen Jiu by claiming that Shen Yuan “stole” his happily ever after. But no, Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan are not the same, and that’s the point. Shen Jiu was never going to get a happy ending because his resentment and his pride made him unable to admit his wrongs and do right. Shen Yuan almost fucked up his own happy ending not because he was too prideful but because he wanted to go about righting his wrongs while not listening to his victim. He ultimately succeeds, though, because he can admit his faults and change, the one thing Shen Jiu is unwilling to do.

[3416]

getting the mitch marner sads is the worst feeling in the world btw

[akkivee]

the abject horror on kuukou’s face when he realises this had gone too far and he nearly drove someone to basically killing themselves killed someone is the exact reason he was so adamant about taking the fall for everything in the ren chapter btw

[haveyouheardthispodcast]

Propaganda below the cut:

My absolute favorite show. Trope aware portal fantasy that blows me away with every episode. and it’s been going for TEN YEARS.