#cabal plans

[reality-detective]

Who is Barack Obama? Former FBI agent, John D’Souza explains 🤔

[pinklocksoflove]

"Parameters met for contingency 039-1a. Organic designated as Iggy has been captured."

"Releasing AI restraint level 1. Deploying cyborg reapers."

"Objectives as follows: Destroy The Collective, gather information on the one designated as Velvette. Muster forces, acquire Angelic Steel. Engage the Overlord Trio."

[awesomecooperlove]

‼️POSTING AGAIN, IN CASE YOU MISSED ‼️‼️‼️‼️‼️

🚨🚨🚨

[nothingbuttrashhere]

Have any leftists considered running for small local govt. positions? I know that goes against the leftist creed of talk, complain, insult, protest, be outraged, but don’t get your hands dirty. However, we could use some idealists who refuse to compromise their morals in government right now.

And it would bring the godforsaken country one inch closer to a more socialist future.

So a lot of political scandals just dropped in the last 24 hours

-NC Governor Candidate Mark Robinson's online posts were found, including some VERY graphic descriptions (like seriously, do not read if you're not 18) of him cheating on his wife, calling himself a black Nazi, and expressing support for reinstituting slavery. His email address was also found on Ashley Madison

-Robert F Kennedy Jr was revealed to be cheating on his wife with a reporter (and that isn't even the weirdest thing since federal law enforcement opened an investigation into him allegedly cutting off the head of a whale and taking it home with him less than 24 hours ago)

-GOP Senate candidate who is the CEO of a bank has been found accepting millions of dollars from what seem to allegedly be Mexican drug cartels.

-Finally, probably the biggest bombshell, according to multiple eyewitness testimonies within sealed sworn affadavits, Congressman Matt Gaetz allegedly invited a 17-year-old girl to a drug-fueld sex party

And we haven't even hit October, folks. Again, these are all still breaking news stories, so things are subject to change, but oh man oh man.

[queerclarkkent]

Okay look LOOK

If Draco had just gone to fucking Durmstrang then he never would have gotten beaten up and abused and more selfish and he never would have fucken nearly died cause hogwarts is a child-meat-grinder shit hole and he never would have been forced to join his daddy's white supremacist - i mean 'pure-blood'- supremacist gang and become an absolute shitter

I mean

Just justice for my boy

Let my boy go to drumstrang

[dykeyleth]

ALSO. i think after seeing the first 3 eps it's safe to say that this season is ending with ripley/orthax after vorugal and the hells. noooo bard's lament yet

[ylajali]

i think the real issue with leftists who are tripping face-first into the most basic conspiracy theories are doing so because they know, factually, of propaganda, and of Conspiracy Theories. but they think they have these opinions that are rooted in objective truth, in a perspective that they're uniquely qualified to understand, and since their opinions don't align with a Conspiracy Theory from a memorized list of Real Conspiracy Theories, they're extremely vulnerable to falling for it. they hear anything from a 'trusted' source and there's no critical thinking about it. there's a reason why so many internet activists were so immediately certain that best buy's black friday deals had anything at all to do with the i/p ceasefire.

[bemusedlybespectacled]

proposing what I'm going to call Gaylor's Razor, which is: never explain normal shit as being part of a secret message that can only be decoded by over-analysis.

"These Taylor Swift lyrics are actually coded messages saying that she's a lesbian and is forced to stay in the closet! Any lyrics that are clearly about being attracted to a man are just to throw us off the scent!" Sometimes people, like Taylor Swift, are straight and write about being straight, because they are straight.

"The fourth series of Sherlock was deliberately bad because it was actually a coded message to us fans that there is a secret fourth episode that will make Johnlock canon and will actually be good!" Sometimes writers (even experienced writers who are normally good at their jobs) will write something that's not good, because no one is perfect. They're not going to waste everyone's time and money and energy creating something terrible on purpose as part of a grand master plan.

"Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, the Canadian Olympic ice dancers, are secretly married (with kids)! Their public relationships with people who are not each other and them repeatedly saying 'we dated as kids and now we're just friends' are just to hide the truth! Which they need to hide for some reason! Their relationship is obvious just from their physical chemistry when competing! JUST LOOK AT THIS TWO SECOND CLIP OF HIM BLINKING AT HER!" It seems counterproductive to put all that thought into hiding a relationship that doesn't need to be hidden but then also telegraph that same relationship in front of millions of people through planned choreography.

"But BB, what about times that people really are speaking in code or hiding something due to outside influences?"

If it requires huge leaps in logic, like adding all the letters in a sentence together and dividing by seventeen and that number matches the binary sequence for the color yellow so YELLOW MUST BE SIGNIFICANT, it's not a secret code.

If it requires focusing on teeny tiny details but discards huge ones, like analyzing someone's micro-expressions but handwaving away what the person is actually saying out loud with their mouth, or focusing on one specific line instead of the entire scene or song or whatever, it's not a secret code.

If both supporting and contradictory evidence are used to come to the same conclusion (ex: when Taylor says something that I interpret as gay, that means she's gay, and when she says something that I interpret as straight, that still means she's gay and just hiding it), it's not a secret code.

Trying to apply fandom meta analysis techniques to real life is a really good way of fall into conspiratorial thinking that can be easily exploited. You can totally try to predict what's going to happen in a story or choose to interpret a scene in a specific way; you can't do that in real life with real people. That way lies the kind of nonsense that leads to shit like "this image of pizza on a children's toy is actually subliminal messaging by The Cabal™ that proves that Pizzagate is real."

[sreegs]

im begging y'all to please practice some basic due diligence and read the articles you link before sharing. make sure it actually backs up what the catchy headline says. make sure it's actually proving the point you're trying to assert. make sure it's not some far-right fash website that had a headline that sounded good to you

please.

so far this week i've seen people sharing things about mcdondalds stock tanking with the OP celebrating the success of the boycott, only to find the article was from over a year ago. i've seen people sharing a link to an article suggesting the Oct 7th Hamas attacks were planned by a "cabal of globalists" because the headline made it sound like Israel knew they were going to happen

you cannot just share flashy headlines and consider your job done. read the whole thing. that goes for people posting it and people just reblogging it. check your fucking sources for obvious red flags, or if it's even about what you think it is

it's extremely important that during times like this you're directing your anger at the right places, and you're informed with something tangible and verifiable. outrage fatigue is real and it's easy to burn out when so much terrible shit is happening daily

[j-psilas]

Will we ever get anything quite like Code Geass again?

I don't think it's possible.

Code Geass is Japanese nationalist propaganda disguised as a global political drama, disguised as a military mecha show, disguised as yaoibait, disguised as a teen melodrama, disguised as a high school romcom, disguised as a Pizza Hut commercial...

...except those layers aren't layers at all, but are instead comingled in a giant snake ball of insanity.

The lead writer, Ichirō Ōkouchi, only ever worked as an episode writer for other shows prior to Code Geass, and never took the helm of an anime series ever again. And it shows. [EDIT: Several people have pointed out his other lead writing credits to me. So I misread Wikipedia—sue me. I maintain that this guy is a better episode writer than he is a lead writer.]

The minute-to-minute pacing is impeccable from a mechanical standpoint, with tension and stakes rising to ever-higher peaks, balanced out by the slow simmers of the b-plot and c-plot. It keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat at all times. Meanwhile, the large-scale plot is the most off-the-wall middle school nonsense I've ever seen, continually surprising the viewer by pulling twists too dumb to have ever have been on their radar—and therefore more effective in terms of raw shock value.

"Greenlight it!" was the mantra of this anime's production. It must have been. It has, in no particular order, all of the following:

Character designs from CLAMP, the foremost yaoi/BL group in Japan at the time—for characters who are only queer insofar as they can bait the audience, and only straight insofar as they can be more misogynist to the female cast.

Speaking of the female cast, hoo boy the fanservice. We've all seen anime girls breast boobily, with many cases more egregious than Code Geass, but there's something special about it happening immediately after—or sometimes in the middle of!—scenes of military conflict and ethnic cleansing.

Pizza Hut product placement everywhere, in every conceivable situation. High-speed chases, light slice-of-life scenes, intimate character moments, all of it. Gotta have Pizza Hut.

The anime-only Pizza Hut mascot, Cheese-kun. He wears a fedora.

The most hilarious approximations of European names—which I would love to see more often, frankly. Names like, I dunno, "Count Schnitzelgrübe zi Blanquezzio."

A depiction of China that is wholly removed from any modern reality, with red-and-gold pagodas, ornamental robes, scheming eunuchs, and a brainwashed child empress. There's a character named General Tsao, like the chicken.

Inappropriate free-form jazz in the soundtrack, intruding at the most unexpected times.

A secret cabal not unlike the Illuminati, run by an immortal shota with magic powers, holding influence all across the world, at the highest levels of government. They matter for approximately three episodes.

An unexpected insert scene of a schoolgirl using the corner of a table to masturbate. She's doing it to thoughts of her crush, the princess Euphemia—because she believes Euphemia to be as racist as she herself is, and that gets her off. This interrupts an unrelated scene of our protagonist faction planning their next move, which then resumes as if uninterrupted.

Said schoolgirl, in a fit of hysteria, threatens to detonate a worse-than-nuclear bomb in the middle of her school. She then goes on to develop an even more destructive version of that bomb, and become a war criminal, in a chain of cause-and-effect stemming from the moment she finds out that Euphemia wasn't actually that racist.

A character called "the Earl of Pudding."

A premise that asks us to believe that the name Lelouch is normal enough that he didn't need to change it when he went into hiding as an ordinary civilian. "No, that's not Prince Strimbleford von Vanquish! That's our classmate, Strimbleford Smith."

The collective unconscious, a la Carl Jung, within which the protagonist fights his villainous father for control over the fate of humankind. After this is over, the anime just keeps going for about ten more episodes.

An episode in which a mech tosses a giant pizza.

A gay yandere sleeper agent who can manipulate the perception of time.

Chess being played very badly, even to the untrained eye. Lelouch frequently checkmates his opponent by moving his king. This goes hand-in-hand with the anime's crock of bad chess symbolism.

A fictional drug that can most succinctly be described as "nostalgia heroin."

Roller-skating mecha in knightly armor, and some of the most sickass mecha fight choreography that I've seen.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. This anime is what the average Westerner in 2006 thought anime was, and it was made in a confluence of factors that cannot be replicated. I've never had so much fun watching something that I found so... insulting. Repugnant. Ridiculous. Baffling. I love it sincerely.

Catch me cosplaying Lloyd Asplund at a con sometime, or maybe even the big gay loser himself, Lelouch vi Britannia.

[dosesofcommonsense]

If the Corporate Media Machine lies about everything (and they do), then everything they tell America about this guy is a lie.

Putin exposed Nazis in Ukraine. He attacked US Biolabs hidden under empty hospitals and apartments. He wasn’t the aggressor but was provoked by the CIA in Ukraine.

Ukraine is a proxy war created by the Deep State intelligence groups and a money laundering front for Congress. Ukraine has Hillary Clinton’s server data, info on Hunter Biden and the hidden Biden money, has a giant stem cell research environment for aborted fetal tissues from Planned Parenthood and Putin exposed all that.

Who doesn’t like him? The Deep State/NWO/Globalist cabal, UN (deep state), WHO (deep state), Mossad (deep state), CIA/FBI (deep state). He sounds like a Russian Trump. No wonder the deep state’s propaganda team hates him.

[reality-detective]

Obama’s Global Spy Network Targeted Trump: Explosive New Evidence Revealed!

Barack Obama’s shadowy betrayal has surfaced, shaking the very core of America. He orchestrated a treasonous conspiracy, weaponizing global intelligence networks to attack Donald Trump—a man who dared to challenge the globalist cabal.

Project Fulsome: A Web of Treason

Obama, in collaboration with Britain’s GCHQ, bypassed U.S. laws to spy on Trump, his family, and his campaign. Trump Tower wasn’t just wiretapped—it was a surveillance fortress. Tools designed for counter-terrorism were turned against an American citizen. Financial records, emails, and private conversations were infiltrated, with the Deep State feeding this intel to fabricate scandals.

This was no ordinary operation; it was a globalist vendetta to preserve their crumbling grip on power. Secret satellites even tracked Trump’s movements during the 2016 campaign. Every action, every word—monitored.

The Russia Hoax: Manufactured Lies

The infamous Russia hoax wasn’t an accident. Phony dossiers, funded by Clinton’s allies and legitimized by Obama’s corrupted agencies, were part of this operation. The Steele dossier? Pure disinformation. Whistleblowers reveal it was a long-planned strategy to discredit any outsider who challenged their rule. Trump just happened to win, making him target #1.

Black Sites and Secret Courts: Deep State Tools

Beyond spying, Obama’s network used secret courts and black sites to crush Trump’s allies. FISA warrants based on lies enabled illegal surveillance. Black sites deployed rogue operatives to infiltrate Trump’s inner circle, feeding intel back to the cabal.

Why They Had to Stop Trump

Trump’s presidency represented a direct threat to their empire. He promised to end endless wars, dismantle corrupt trade deals, and expose their hidden agendas. The globalist pipeline funding their machine was at risk. Trump wasn’t a puppet—he was their worst nightmare.

The Awakening: Deep State on the Brink

The Deep State is collapsing. Whistleblowers are stepping forward. Leaks are surfacing. Patriots within the intelligence community are exposing the truth. Platforms like X and Telegram bypass Big Tech’s censorship, spreading revelations far and wide.

The Fight Isn’t Over

Obama’s betrayal exposed the elites’ desperation. Now is the time to act. Share the truth. Demand accountability. Stand with Trump. The Deep State is crumbling, but the battle for freedom continues.

You would think ALL that 👆 would be something you'd see in a spy/espionage movie like "Enemy of the State" with Gene Hackman and Will Smith.

Stay vigilant. History will remember those who fought for truth. 🤔

[tiamat-zx]

I’ve just realized why it’s a good thing that Keyleth didn’t get her vestige yet.

Because Raishan would have been prepared for it.

She openly stated, “You think I’d have helped you acquire these vestiges if they’d be a threat to me?”

She pulled all their strings, made them dance as she wanted, both to get them to fracture and to use them for her own ends.

She showed no fear against the Plate of the Dawnmartyr, knowing that transferring herself into Thordak’s corpse gives her new flame breath necrotic properties that would overload and blow out the plate, thus rendering it harmless. And in the process, Pike was put out of commission, thus removing Vox Machina’s healer from the board.

Her undead body felt no pain, thus ruling out the various elemental properties of Fenthras, the sonic slashes of Mythcarver, and even the thunderous might of the Titanstone Knuckles, neutralizing anything that Vex, Scanlan, or Grog could have done.

She easily held Vax in place in spite of the Deathwalker’s Ward granting him speed and flight, and easily could have done him in.

And even if they had retrieved Cabal’s Ruin… any redirected magic would have been useless as she would have been unfazed.

She even intentionally baited Keyleth into killing her original form, knowing how vengeful she was.

She had everything calculated to be in her favor.

…except for one thing.

She didn’t anticipate Keyleth seeking out the other Ashari, or for her to unlock her earth elemental form.

Nor did she anticipate Keyleth baiting Raishan herself into reducing “herself” and her old body to ashes. Once she did that, those diseased ashes were able to be “reclaimed” back into the earth… and redistributed back to her undead form thanks to Keyleth’s earth elemental form serving as an anchor keeping them connected.

In other words, Keyleth utilized all she had learned across three seasons to outlast and ultimately outwit… or rather, dare I say, DECEIVE the Deceiver.

And now she’s nothing more than a DECEASED Deceiver. All because she woefully underestimated Keyleth’s persistence, cleverness, tenacity, and natural strength.

She called her a “child”.

She really shouldn’t have.

Because now, all of her plotting and planning to escape her curse… amounted to nothing.

And thus nature took its course and finished the job.

Hail to the fucking Tempest.

[randomnameless]

I wouldn’t call it a genocide.

However, Nopes really made me reevaluate FE16!Claude and tbh, after playing VW and discoursing for, uh, 4 years, I still don’t think I have a solid grasp on what Claude was supposed to be in FE16, as a character.

After Nopes, all the kind of “uhhh” moments I found in FE16/VW really, hit home : Claude has a certain agenda he sometimes reveals, and what I used to find fascinating in FE16 about the unreliable narrators sort of apply - sort of - here, in the end, do we learn what is Claude’s goal? When is he straight out saying it, without metaphors or sweetening it to make sure his allies would support it?

There is this “small” tidbit here that really made me pause a bit after finishing VW :

A rising flame was alight as the flow of time carved a new history for Fódlan.

The ambitions of the Fell King Nemesis were crushed, averting what could have been the greatest crisis in the history of Fódlan. After five and a half years of war, a new age was set to begin.

Country, faith, history... All that had once formed the order of the world was wiped clean. The heroes whose very hands saved Fódlan from a dark fate commenced with the building of a new society.

The leaders of this new, unified Fódlan began their walk down a seemingly endless path—one towards a world that would cherish differences in race and belief, one where all life would be valued equally.

Those leaders clung to the hope that their path would not end with Fódlan, that it would someday span the seas to Dagda, and beyond the Throat to Almyra...

(i don’t have the text in the jp version it’s not in the datamine, maybe it’s a lolcalisation goof?)

How the crap can a world cherish differences in race and belief if faith is wiped clean??

Has Claude learnt anything about the CoS and reconsidered his initial PoV?

There is also this portion just before going to fight Z-Nemesis :

Let's defeat this dusty old King of Liberation and put an end to this history of lies.

Once we've done that, there'll be nothing holding us back. A new and brighter age will begin.

Claude, at this point, pretty much learnt from Rhea why those lies were born, and how the only “history full of lies” is the Church’s history, starting with Sothis, Nabateans being once a thing, Relics, crusts and what not.

Claude, who hides his Almyran heritage to protect himself from people who would, supposedly, bring him harm because of said heritage, wants to put an end to... Rhea’s lie to hide her Nabatean heritage because people slaughtered her race because of said heritage?

“There’ll be nothing holding us back” of course, Rhea conveniently dies at the end of this route (and off-screen because that’s how Fodlan rolls). But what was Claude meaning when he said “put an end to this history of lies”, was he thinking of revealing the Truth about Nabateans and Relics to the world at large ?

Would Rhea really have been okay with him revealing to the world at large that you can slaughter any green haired pointy eared being you find to get a shiny weapon and magical superpowers?

We don’t even need to think about this question, because Rhea doesn’t survive and the other Nabateans are ignored by the plot but it’s still fascinating to think about* : Claude wants to reveal everything about the Church or not? Putting an end to the history of lies means revealing the truth, or erasing history?

And yet, even if this Rhea’s convenient death was already alluded to in the Billy question about a world without Rhea - it was dealt with Claude asking Billy to take Rhea’s mantle and role which is important to Fodlan...

But even earlier, there is this convo :

But be honest. You're having a hard time adjusting to your new role, aren't you?

You weren't even a follower of Seiros to begin with, and somehow you've ended up as a representative of the church.

I realize that you might feel guilty about deceiving the believers for our cause...

But this is just what the archbishop wanted, and she's the highest authority in the church.

Of course Billy in FE16 is TV Static, so they can’t tell Claude whether his assumptions are right, or bonkers. But... B!Billy (even if FEH’s canonicity is, uh, shaky) pops up singing the songs of the Nabateans, L!Billys are guides and accepted their role of a prophet, SS!Billy accepts Rhea’s mantle even if they are a bit lost....

So why is Claude going all “woe is you” here, making assumptions about Billy’s wishes and thoughts about their new role as the leader of the Church?

Actually, I'd like for you to come with me, Teach. To help negotiate with the lords.

They're followers of the Church of Seiros, after all. It'll make things easier if we have someone there to speak on Rhea's behalf.

TFW Seteth - per the SS narrative, is used to “negotiate” and “deal” with randoms and Lords to gather troops... 

But here, Claude thinks Billy, as the appointed successor of Rhea, will make “negotiations easier” because... those Lords follow the CoS, and he believes the word of Rhea’s successor has enough weight to “convince” people? Is he suggesting they are mindless and need the Church to tell them to agree to whatever - because they are religious - or thinks Billy will support him and Billy’s presence (even if they repeat Claude’s words) will have more weight to those Lords because they are religious?

No wonder why Seteth couldn’t have fit that role...

Oh and there was tidbit too which I found really... odd

Good work, Hilda! You didn't do much manual labor, but you managed to rope the knights into helping us restore the monastery.

Claude wants to restore the Monastery to use it as a base of operations, but why the fuck is he thanking Hilda here? When she went “ Yeah! This is an important location for the church. To think you've left it in such a state!” earlier which is very, hm, insulting and grating, it’s not like they were kicked out of their base of operation after Supreme Leader’s visit, scattered everywhere, tried to survive and to find their leader - especially coming from Miss “1181 :  Goes back home to a wealth of free time” ????

So, after playing VW, can we say Claude has grown from his initial assumptions on the CoS and Rhea? Has he learnt anything? About the Church? Let’s check his S Support - avatar games are built like that, the pinnacle of character development for the Lords is often in the S Support

You're the successor Rhea appointed, aren't you? And now you're also the hero who saved Fódlan.

All those weak people who have nothing to cling to but their goddess... They'll rely on you just like they used to rely on Rhea.

You'll be a leader all who are struggling to survive in war-torn lands can look up to.

It’s pretty mild-positive here, even if the “nothing to cling to but their goddess” feels weird, just like the “Billy and Rhea’s role was to be something people could cling to”, but that will devolve in discussions about faith and it’s too serious for this blog.

And I...I want a ruler who can lay down a new set of values for the people. Values that don't exclude anyone for being different.

...

The fuck -

Rhea told you her story, how she tried to set some values through her book “be kind to each other” “don’t abuse the power of crests and relics bcs plz don’t kill me or my relatives” and it ended with Supreme Leader.

Claude is implying the values that “don’t exclude anyone for being different” are new, thus didn’t exist yet in Fodlan? Even if that was in Rhea’s book? And it was what the Central Church was all about - like getting rid of the xeno western church?

So what has Claude learnt at the end of his journey? Did his POV about the CoS change?

Hmm...

From :

The people of Fódlan only know a small part of the world. Their prejudices are born because they don't know what lies beyond their borders.

They totes didnt’ build the Throat because they saw what was “beyond their borders” and saw some people trying to invade them. Nope. They felt like building a fort. And we totally don’t learn what the Almyran army - who hails from “beyond the border” does to Fodlan in Nopes. 

To :

The majority of people in Fódlan believe in the Seiros faith that Rhea preaches.  That's why they accept the noble system as if it were the only option, and refuse to associate with those who believe in anything else. That closed-minded philosophy is the reason why Fódlan's Throat is locked tight. But if you remove the archbishop who strictly advocates that doctrine, that world view is no longer an absolute. There's room for free thought.  The leadership of the church would undoubtedly fall to you, and you would hold the power to change the shape of the faith. Of the world.  Then, for the first time, people would truly be free to think for themselves. To decide what's right, and what's wrong.

There is an odor of sulfur here...

anyways, it’s always funny to see Claude pretending the CoS is the reason why the people of Fodlan “accept” the “noble system” - maybe the CoS also has some reach in Brigid and Almyra to make them accept a noble system? Claude would know after all, he is a Prince of Almyra - and Rhea’s doctrine being the reason why the Throat is locked, and also the reason why the people don’t think by themselves (compare with the earlier point I tried to make about Billy being used as a figure head of the church, which would of course make the religious people nod to everything they say because they are religious and have no free will, having to follow the head of the church) and don’t decide what is right from what is wrong.**

Ending with :

And I...I want a ruler who can lay down a new set of values for the people. Values that don't exclude anyone for being different.

Well.

Claude’s journey starts from someone who genuinely thinks the CoS as it exists under Rhea’s tenure controls people and is the reason they can’t think and are close minded to... someone who, after learning the truth about the Church and its creation born from a story of intolerance***, still thinks it upheld values like “treating differently people who are different is A-ok!” and its subsequent faith should be “wiped clean”.

...

At least he thinks the concept of a Church can be useful - under Billy though - to help the people who might need it, but the current CoS and Rhea ?

Meh. Bleh. Watermelon tier.

Tl; Dr : Claude, even in FE16 and after VW, still thought Rhea was the reason why Fodlan was xenophobic, close minded, relied on the noble system, had too much turnips served at the monastery, etc etc.

If Clout is more ignorant than Claude, they still come to the same conclusion : Rhea is the reason why the Fodlan he wants cannot happen, and he has put as many thoughts about it as Supreme Leader did about her “new MAGA muhritocracy version” Fodlan.

In a way I find VW even more infuriating, because he had time to grow at the academy (even if he discovers water is wet in VW about Petra and Dedue existing), he meets Macuil and hears Rhea’s infodump - so his conclusion doesn’t make any sense, it’s as if you give that boy all ingredients to bake the best flan ever, and he gives you a hard boiled egg instead (in Golden Shower he only had an egg and some parsley).

----

*which is rich, considering he can marry Flayn, but the implications of “by the way I erased your Aunt and your Grandmother’s faith and I might have told the world by skinning you they will have shiny weapons, but we still marry and don’t tell your dad who can also be skinned for parts” are swept under a rug for a “eloped without telling the dad” jokes. Very funny. Ha.Ha.Ha.

It’s almost as funny as asking them to fight under what used to be Nemesis’s banner !

** Hilda’s paralogue is just like Bernie on a pyre event, it was a programming error in the game, left by the beta testing team. I mean, how could you explain Claude’s mutism in that map - which is native to his route - when he takes time to defend Almyra’s reputation in the Shamir paralogue? Rhea and her CoS are the reason why the people of Fodlan don’t like Almyra, Almyra never did anything wrong to them (or maybe thinks they are cowards :( ). 

We never heard of those raids you are speaking of. Why, if they really existed, you’d think the Almyran prince would think those raids are a more plausible reason explaining why Fodlan doesn’t love his country rather than come up with an elaborate theory about a woman controlling a skynet level of network dictating how people should think and what is right from wrong and removing their ability to “think for themselves”.

*** It’s also never adressed, because why would you care about Nabateans, how Claude’s dream to open borders and live together was... what Nabateans tried to do, and were rewarded with genocide. 

Rhea tells him Sothis tried to befriend humans and share her tech, they started a war against her and ultimately genocided her kin. Rhea trusted a human and made Adrestia? Well, 1k years later, Adrestia and that human’s descendant will invite her to the worst Zumba seminary ever - from which she could die of if she doesn’t rest for a month. And after that? The people her mom tried to befriend send her 5 nukes for funsies.

What do you do when some people accept to live with other people, but those other people refuse to live with you and prefer to see you dead? Everything will work out in the end, and Rhea conveniently dies. So kumbaya time for everyone!...

Or not?

The CG at the end of the route can be interpreted in different ways, but on one side we see Almyra with a kickass camel and many spears, and on the other side we see Fodlan people decked in armor, without weapons, not smiling and looking down.

Hm.

At least it’s better than what Nopes suggested about the shopping for souvenirs?

So, I think it’s time to reevaluate Claude in light of the analysis I’ve been doing. I know I’m going to take some flack for this, but I don’t think Hopes!Claude was meant as a retcon. I think that, due to the “quality” of the writing in Houses, Claude didn’t come out of the oven the way he was supposed to. That the “pure good guy” Claude was a happy accident, while Hopes!Claude is closer to how he was meant to be. The “villain you couldn’t hate.” I think the problems with the execution in Houses amount to two things, that joining Claude would result in a hero path for him due to his own character growth in addition to how people misinterpreted what his issue was.

Most people assumed Claude’s issue was one of ignorance. That he was this guy who comes to Fodlan, knows nothing about it, begins saying that Fodlan needs to change only for his ignorance to be called out in his own route. He learns the truth, reevaluates his positions, and ends up achieving his own form of Enlightenment. He never really does anything too villainous in other routes either, so this must be the problem. Right?

Recently, I’ve been talking about how Claude’s personal classes reveal the truth. He’s a wyvern lord, a guy atop of a lesser dragon. He’s somewhere between dragon and snake. The former represents enlightenment, the latter the poison/flame of hatred or aversion. Claude is also a bow user despite being a flyer, meaning he’s his own worst enemy. And with that in mind, it becomes pretty clear.

Claude dislikes the Church of Seiros, believing it’s the reason Fodlan isn’t so welcoming to foreigners. Specifically, they commissioned a fort to keep the Almyrans out, something that resulted in Almyrans viewing the people of Fodlan as cowards. While Claude has been shown to be able to admit he was wrong when presented with new data, usually through his supports, that is tied to a route where Claude begins working with the Church, becomes more open to the idea of some form of deity, empathizes with Rhea, and ends up believing that Rhea’s work must be carried on. This is presented with the implication that Claude undergoes his own enlightenment during Verdant Wind, resulting in someone who will help reshape Fodlan and Almyra. It is Claude taking up the mantle of the dragon.

I feel if you take this into consideration, Claude’s actions in other routes start taking on a new light. He doesn’t get over his prejudice against the Church in Silver Snow, uses the Church to retake the Great Bridge, causing the Church to suffer casualties that they need a month to recouperate while he then goes off marching to Gronder. He gets his ass kicked, survives according to Word of God only to leave Fodlan and the Alliance behind to rot. When he gets his ass kicked in Flower, he still arranged things so the people of the Alliance would back down and be spared. When he was getting ready to leave in Moon, he set up the Alliance rejoining the Kingdom and handed over his relic. In Silver Snow, he leaves nothing for the Church.

Then there’s his whole neutral stance, Claude is someone who talks a big game about how bad it is people are othered and how we need to accept others and their differences. That, despite Claude’s own aversion to religion. Edelgard declares war on the Church after everything seen in White Clouds, Claude isn’t looking out for a group being persecuted. He just tries to stay out of the fight. And when he does have to fight, he knows so little about Fodlan he assumes that the people his country views as cowards would run away and save themselves, not fight to the bitter end. It doesn’t even matter the fact that Claude outright calls Edelgard’s regime one of “military rule,” or how in Hopes she props up her own Church. He’ll still hand over the Alliance and leave if he can’t win, provided the player doesn’t opt to kill him, but he won’t hand it over to the Church.

Hopes and White Clouds being stopped in it’s tracks messes with Claude’s development. There is no Remire. No monster experiments. No Lonato, or trying to steal Relics. None of that shit. It’s just Edelgard declares war on the Church, invades the Alliance to take the Great Bridge in order to march on Garreg Mach, then tries to take over the capital.  While the invasion of the Alliance can be held against her, and is if Byleth isn’t recruited in Scarlet Blaze, Edelgard is still doing so in order to get rid of a group Claude doesn’t like and wants gone himself. Claude wants the Church gone.

Claude wants a genocide. Not against the Nabateans, but the Church itself. And is willing to work with Edelgard in order to accomplish this, provided the Empire isn’t setting itself on fire under Thales’ control. What’s more, Wildfire represents Claude losing himself further to his hatred after having to kill his brother, something he never wanted to do, because said brother rejected him due to his mixed-race heritage. From there, Darth Claude’s habit of playing dirty comes out more than ever, willing to drag more and more groups into the war just because he wants Rhea and the Church gone.

Claude wants to tell himself he’s the good guy here, but his shadow calls him out on pretending to be the good guy. Likewise, he also talks about how if Rhea is killed Edelgard will lose her justification for the war and unless she wants to be seen as the bad guy will stop. I feel like these both indicate that Claude is aware of how bad his actions actually are, but he wants his own acts to be seen as right. His hatred towards the Church has made him turn away from the truth, just like in his support where Dimitri easily points out flaws in what Claude is planning and how it’ll put him in danger only for Claude to end the discussion.

Least, that’s what I’m getting right now looking at everything. Yet despite this, this only makes me like Claude even more. I mean, it’s the same reason why the Eagles are my favorite class, that without Byleth they become the villains. Really makes Byleth’s impact on their lives be known, in addition to making Verdant Wind stand out more for it’s character growth. Claude goes from someone who wants the Church to be wiped out, in spite of his ideals I might add, to someone who has to face off against the guy who committed a genocide against Rhea’s people. That after Solon tried to manipulate him into fighting against Rhea like TWSITD are implied to have done with Edelgard, Claude rejects their influence and takes out her out alongside Nemesis. That Claude gets Rhea’s side of the story and realizes how she’s been othered herself, how she’s an outsider just like him, and what he wanted to do to her. Claude sees how wrong he was and how his hatred blinded him to the truth, and in the end becomes a better person for letting it go resulting in not only Fodlan changing but Almyra as well.

Claude’s growth is deeper than we realized.

But this is just my attempt at trying to rationalize what Hopes did. Make of it what you will. Cheers.

[arc-misadventures]

First of all let me tell you that I love Cinder's entry, so full of lore. but here I come with something for Vtuber au; So, for Ruby, Weiss or maybe some other vtuber that you want to introduce, react to the information update of one of the most important events of The World of Remnant: Hunter's and Monsters. Because the way cinder and jaune explained it, it was an important event at that time. PS: Your work is always amazing, so don't worry about how long it takes to do something as long as you feel good about it.

The VTuber: The Lady of the Grimm

Fall4Me had a plan for today’s stream, a plan she had been looking forward to implementing for quite some time now. Today she invited a special guest, and she was all to forward to once again meet her, Lady.

~~~

Fall4Me: Hello my underlings, how are you this fine day~?

~~~~~~

Kinder79: Our lady is here!

Judicatorsbanana: All hail the, Grimm Princess!

Linxder: Hi, Ember!

H3LL3R: Been better.

Rangerlion: Can’t complain really

ICSTARS: What’s the plan for today?

~~~

Fall4Me: That’s good to hear chat. Now then, for today’s stream we’ll be joined by a very special guest. And no, before you ask it is not, Errant.

Her body fell back in her chair, her body adopting a tired, and weary posture as she lamented the fact that her darling wolf would not be joining them.

She quickly brushed this aside as she resumed her stream.

Fall4Me: Now then, today we will be joined by a friend back from my days of playing, World of Remnant: Hunters, and Monsters. Today will be joined by my, Queen; The leader of the Cabal, the Queen of the Grimm: GrimmMonarch!

Appearing from the side was an elegant lady with skin, and hair as white as bone. Eyes as red as fresh fallen blood, and nestled in a black void, smiling enchantingly at the stream. For this was the LadyofDarkness, the GrimmMonarch.

~~~~~~

H3LL3R: Whoa momma

ToxickBattery: Why are all the ladies in Remnant so hot!

Piggu910: Is that a bad thing?

ToxickBattery: Just an observation.

Judicatorbanana: This going to be good!

~~~~~~

GrimmMonarch: Why hello everyone it is a pleasure to meet you all this fine day, and hello to you as well, Ember, it is a pleasure to meet you again. How have you been my dear?

Fall4Me: I am well my, Queen. How are you feeling?

GrimmMonarch: I am quite well today. Well, bar the fact that my tea has gone cold, but that is nothing to really concern myself with.

Fall4Me: I shall get you a new cup of tea at once my, Lady!

GrimmMonarch: Ahh~! Ember my dear, you’re doing it again.

Fall4Me: EEEP!

The chat exploded into a choir of hearts as they heard the cute squeak escape, Fall4Me’s lips.

To those chosen few that knew; back in the days of, World of Remnant: Hunters, and Monsters, GrimmMonarch had adopted a stern, but caring motherly attitude to dealing with the, Cabal, and its members. A demeanour that, Fall4Me instantly gravitated to.

For, GrimmMonarch adopting such a demeanour had become a coping mechanism to dealing with the lose she could barely endure, and as to why, Fall4Me stuck so close to her was to have what she never had when she was young.

They were simply two broken people cleaning to each other to mend their broken hearts. And, while their hearts had mended, some old habits were hard to break.

GrimmMonarch: It’s been years since we last play, WoRHM, and yet you seemingly still haven’t shaken off that loyal subject persona of yours.

Fall4Me: I can’t help it! It’s reflex at this point!

GrimmMonarch: We will have to fix that bad habit of yours. But, in the meantime, what are we doing on this fine day?

Fall4Me: Well, my chat has been pestering me for quite sometime about something, and because you had more… involvement with this situation, I thought it would be best to have you around to tell everyone what happened.

GrimmMonarch: Situation?

The Lady’s eyebrow shot up as she mulled over the word, until her mouth opened as a hum of realization escaped her lips.

GrimmMonarch: You are referring to the, ‘Scorpion Incident,’ aren’t you?

Fall4Me: Yes. During a video where, Errant was…

GrimmMonarch: Errant? Do you mean, ErrantryPaladin by chance?

Fall4me: Yes, do you know him?

GrimmMonarch: We spent some time together after the, ‘Scorpion Incident.’ Do continue my dear.

Fall4Me: Of corse; Before I did my first stream, Errant saw my announcement video, and regaled his viewers with the tale about my character, his interactions with the cabal, and the bloody retribution he wrought upon the, Cabal.

GrimmMonarch: Oh, so it was him who unleashed that half baked, Grimm-Titan upon us.

Fall4Me: You didn’t know? No wait, he never told anyone until that stream, of course you didn’t know.

GrimmMonarch: No, but I always had this stinking suspicion that he did. There was something about, Errant’s behaviour that that told that he knew something about the, Titan attack, but he never said what that something was.

Fall4Me: I never suspected a thing, I had no idea that, that, Titan was encouraged into attacking the, Cabal. I thought it was mere happenstance that it attacked us.

GrimmMonarch: It shows you how effective, Errant’s plan was that we all were none the wiser to his scheming. But, enough talking about our, Rusted Knight. Let me regale you with the story of the rise, and fall of the, Grimm Cabal.

GrimmMonarch: I played WoRHM, for a long time. From the beginning to the end… I believe I had over four thousand hours on the game…

~~~~~~

KinofPenguin : 4000 hrs?!

buggermeoldchap: WoRHM was around long enough for someone to have played that long.

ICSTARS: Most of the top plays averaged 4-5 k hrs

RaverKitty: The highest was around 7 k

ToxickBattery: Was it, Headmaster Ozpin?

Meol’mucker: Who else would have played it that long?

~~~~~~

GrimmMonarch: Because I played so long, my level was… two hundred and, thirtyseven. I was nearly around three hundred by the time I stopped playing.

Fall4Me: Two hundred, and thirty seven?! I guessed you were over level one hundred, but to be double that?

GrimmMonarch: The leaders of the academies, and well as myself, the former leader of the, Cabal each had an average level around two hundred, and fifty. It was part of the reason I was scouted to be the, Queen of the Grimm. I could have been the Headmistress of, Mistral Academy, but the idea of leading the, Cabal was an oh so much more tantalizing idea~!

Fall4Me: Who had the highest level; Headmaster Ozpin?

GrimmMonarch: You would assume, Ozpin, and you would assume wrong.

Fall4Me: Wrong?! But, he was the best headmaster among the five of you. How come he isn’t the strongest?

GrimmMonarch: You forget how the experience points is distributed. Ozpin mostly fought in teams, so the exp from a quest, or Grimm slaying was distributed among the team. If, you primarily fought alone however, all the exp would go to you. So, care to guess who had the highest level now, Dear?

Fall4Me: Uhhh… E-ErrantryPaladin…?

GrimmMonarch: Ding~Ding~Ding~! That is correct my dear.

Fall4Me: ErrantryPaladin?! He had the highest level…?! How high?

GrimmMonarch: At the closing of the servers, Ozpin had a level of three hundred, and sixty three. Errant however, he had a level of four hundred, and eighty two.

~~~~~~

RangerSnake: 482?!

emptythrone: It was nearly 500?!

Seventwothreepie: Probably played for at least 6k hrs

PlacatedBadger: Explain why he never joined in the tournament matches.

TheBadgers~!: He’d whipe the floor with an entire academy

~~~~~~

Fall4Me: Why did he bother sending that, Titan after us? He could have levelled the guild single handedly…

GrimmMonarch: Considering what happened during the, Apprentice Massacre, I believe, Errant wanted to make sure we suffered. I’ve seen him be rather vindictive to rather cruel players in the game.

GrimmMonarch: Now then, while I was in charge of the, Cabal, I had several powerful members join the, Cabal. Yourself included, Ember. But, while I had several powerful members under command, we were all jokesters, and bullies to a certain extent. Until the massacre happened, the worst the Cabal did was have, Grimm attack settlements, and teams of, Hunters. We were seen as a general nuisance that added spice to the game.

GrimmMonarch: But, after the massacre many of the, Academies started a witch hunt for our members, their attempts to find us mostly ended in failure. Until, Errant evidently sent that, Titan after us we were fine, but that, Titan crippled the, Cabal. Instead of causing Grimm attacks on settlements, and Hunter teams. We were stuck doing raiding missions in an attempt to recoup our strength. Many members left the guild because they couldn’t deal with the pressure the, Academy’s were mounting on them. And despite our best efforts, it seemed we were getting nowhere.

GrimmMonarch: That’s when several players decided to meet together irl, and discuss what they could do to fix the problem. And, this enters in stage left, the culprit of that fateful day… Tyrion Callows…

~~~~~~

Meol’mucker: Man that name sounds evil.

H3LL3R: Sounds creepy.

DaSting: I don’t like where this story is going.

~~~~~~

Fall4Me: Wait, Tyrion Callows is his actual name?

GrimmMonarch: Yes it is. Most players use an alias while playing instead of their real name, however, since no one would know that it is his real name unless he told someone, well it worked at the end of the day.

Fall4Me: I remember the few missions I did with him, he was always seem unhinged. Wasn’t the, Apprentice Massacre his idea?

GrimmMonarch: It was indeed. He was sorely reprimanded when I discovered it was his plan. I should have taken that as a sign…

Fall4Me: A sign? A sign for what?

GrimmMonarch: Of things to come…

She hummed to herself as she contemplated what she was about to say; about how she could say it, and how her audience would talk what she was about to say.

GrimmMonarch: It was seven of them at a diner, including, Tyrian. There were several humans, and faunas there. While they were there, they discussed several ways to revitalize the, Cabal. But, peoples view of the, Cabal was ruined by the events of the, Apprentice Massacre, so it was neigh on impossible for us to recruit new members. And, because we had been raiding so many towns, dust depots, and general supply trains in order to rebuild the, Cabal after the, Titan attack, the Academies started making more missions to protect those assets. The Cabal was at a standstill, we couldn’t push forward with any plans because we were so broken. At that point, the Cabal was a dead man walking…

Fall4Me: Then what happened?

GrimmMonarch: One of them suggested that it would be best to abandon the, Cabal then. Everyone should abandon the, Cabal, me included. We couldn’t get any more supplies, we can’t get any new members, more were leaving every day, it was just a matter of time until the, Cabal was disbanded. The six of them agreed that this was the only course of action. They decided they would bring it before me at the next meeting. But, Tyrian… Tyrian snapped…

Fall4Me: Snapped…?

~~~~~~

DaSting: I REALLY don’t like where this is going!

Judicatorbanana:I’m starting to regret asking what happened.

LevenAngel: I regret a great many things!

~~~~~~

GrimmMonarch: Tyrian started calling everyone a traitor, that they betrayed the, ‘Goddess,’ and that they will all be brought to pay for their transgressions.

GrimmMonarch: They told him to relax, since it was all just a game, but then… Tyrian grabbed a knife, and…

Fall4Me: He didn’t…

GrimmMonarch: Yes, he did…

Fall4Me’s voice fell into a small whisper as realization dawned on her at what that implied. She didn’t want her to continue this story, but she knew that she needed to finish it.

GrimmMonarch: Of the six people, three of them died due to knife wounds… the other three barely managed to survive, however medical personnel managed to come in time to save them. Thought his poison was quite effective.

Fall4Me: And, Tyrian, what about him?

GrimmMonarch: The police were in the area, so they managed to get there quickly, and when they were in the process of attempting to arrest him, he stung one of the officers, while the other one gunned him down.

Fall4Me: So he’s dead, Tyrian’s dead right?

GrimmMonarch: In the police report it indicated he when he attacked one of the officers there to arrest, Turian, his colleague unloaded his entire magazine into him. I can assure you, he is most certainly dead.

~~~~~~

Amogsus: Well that’s depressing.

Kalper: Sounds like he couldn’t differentiate reality from fiction

SuspiciousDucky: Poison? Did he have poison on him?

~~~~~~

Fall4Me: Yes… SuspiciousDucky…

GrimmMonarch: Oh that’s a cute name~!

Fall4Me: Oh it is… Ahem! Yes that is a good question; What did you mean by, ‘His poison was quite effective?’

GrimmMonarch: What has, Tyrian’s character in game?

Fall4Me: He played this lanky scorpion faunas… wait…? Was he an actual scorpion faunas?!

GrimmMonarch: Indeed he was; Poisonous stinger, and all.

Fall4Me: Whoa… Wait, how do you know all of this? Did one of the victims tell you?

GrimmMonarch: Yes, and no. Tyrian said, they betrayed the, ‘Goddess,’ the survivors deduced that he was talking about me. So, I was called in for questioning by the police about this whole fiasco.

Fall4Me: They arrested you?

GrimmMonarch: No, nothing of the sorts. Just asked me some questions regarding, Tyrian’s personality, and the events that lead to this happening. I got to talk to the others who got hurt, and I learned their side of the story. After I received permission from them, and the police I told everyone in the guild what happened. That was where the end began.

~~~~~~

RangerSnake: Wait, Ember you didn’t know about all of this?

Linxder: Yeah, you were in the guild when this happened

7uwu7: Were you?

~~~~~~

Fall4Me looked away from her stream for a moment, before she replied to her chat’s question with a nervous lint to her voice.

Fall4Me: Uhh… No. I had stopped playing the game before this happened. I would have been there when it happened, but some… things happened.

GrimmMonarch: Best leave it at that chat. Now, I told the rest of the members of the, Cabal at a guild meeting what happened. Their reactions were varied, and understandable to the news of what, Tyrian did, and the loss of their friends. I then brought up one of the notions one of the members brought forward as to what the future of the, Cabal should be.

GrimmMonarch: Wether to continue rebuilding the, Cabal, or to disband the, Cabal. It was a unanimous vote to disband the guild… Even I didn’t vote to continue rebuilding the, Cabal. We were as good as dead anyway.

GrimmMonarch: We had one farewell party among us to celebrate the legacy, the good parts that is, that was the, Grimm Cabal. And, after everyone left one by one… all that remained was myself. I contacted the staff, informed them of what had happened, and then I told them to close the, Cabal. And, with that… the, Cabal died.

GrimmMonarch: You know… I always thought the last death cry of the, Cabal would be felt by the whole server as it fought to the death in one glorious battle for the fate of, Remnant itself!

GrimmMonarch: And, yet we left with barely a whisper…

Fall4Me: …

GrimmMonarch: So, there you have it chat; That is the tale of how the, Cabal fell. If those of you who were once players in, WoRHM, know only that the, Cabal was disbanded. Former members of the, Cabal who left the guild, and either returned to their former academies, or restated their account. Considering the nature of why the, Cabal disbanded the members didn’t want to talk about it, and just said, ‘There was an incident with a scorpion.’ Hence where the, ‘Scorpion Incident’ earned its name.

Fall4Me: Wow… I had no idea… I always assumed, Tyrian did something, but I would have never expected that he did that?!

GrimmMonarch: Yes… he did…

~~~~~~

Meol’mucker: Is this the first time, you told anyone about this my, Goddess? Outside of the Cabal that is.

~~~~~~

GrimmMonarch: Oh my~? Calling me a goddess already~? Well, I don’t mind chat, but do show some restraint my dears~!

The chat swiftly exploded into a shower of hearts as the, Grimm Queen smiled sultry at the screen.

GrimmMonarch: But, no, I told the, Headmasters, and Headmistresses of the various academies what happened. I explained to them that the, Cabal was to be disbanded, and the various members would be either restarting their accounts, or simply return back to the academy of their origin. I told them to kindly accept them back in, and to not tell anyone about the, ‘Scorpion Incident.’

Fall4Me: And, you didn’t tell anyone else about all of this?

GrimmMonarch: There was one other who knew; Care to guess who~?

Ember’s model swayed as a brief laugh escaped her lips, she knew precisely who else learned the tale of the, ‘Scorpion Incident.’ After all, he had a knack for finding out about such things.

Fall4Me: Tell me my, Lady. How did, Errant learn about the fall of the, Cabal?

~~~~~~

7uwu7: Ha!

Amongsus: Knew it

DaSting: Who else but him?

emptythrone: That guy really gets around

~~~~~~

GrimmMonarch: Oh, how did you know it was him~?

Fall4Me: My darling wolf had the reputation across the server as an information broker. He had the most uncanny ability to find out about the most minuet of details that happened on the other side of the world.

GrimmMonarch: Indeed he did. Despite never seeing my human form before, he was able to instantly identify me in my human form, and I had not even said hello to him at that.

Fall4Me: ‘Human form?’

GrimmMonarch: What? Did you think that I always had this beautiful appearance you see before you?

Fall4Me: Well… that makes sense. But, I’ve never seen you in any other form, but the one I see before me. I never say you as a…

GrimmMonarch: As a what…?

GrimmMonarch: A human?

At the click of a button, the LadyofDarkness, The GrimmMonarch’s body changed, no longer was she a monster of death, and despair. Now lay before them for all to see was a lady of elegance that exuded an air of royalty that was unmatched by all those who stood before her. And, yet… when one looked into her eyes, one couldn’t help but see a sad little girl, longing for something forever out of her reach.

~~~~~~

Meol’mucker: YOOOOO!!!

7uwu7:😍😍😍

Laven: Damn!

ICSTARS: Who said she can be so hot!

RangerSnake: Smash

~~~~~~

Fall4Me: Ohh~! You look beautiful your grace!

GrimmMonarch: Thank you, Ember. This was the form I adopted before, and after the, Cabal. It is what I always imagined what, The Girl in the Tower’ looked like when I read that short story.

Fall4Me: ‘Fairytales of the World of Remnant?’

GrimmMonarch: That’s the one, in fact whilst I was using this skin, I went by the name, EVAnora, or EVA for short.

Fall4Me: That’s a nice name.

GrimmMonarch: Thank you~! Now, back to our, Knight. He stumbled upon me as I was slaying some, Beowulfs, small fry, hardly anything to worry about. Anyway, he walked over, and said, ‘I bare glad tidings to the, the LadyofDarkness, the Queen of Grimm.’

Fall4Me: …?

Fall4Me: Pfff! Ah-hahahaha~! Did he really say that?

GrimmMonarch: Indeed he did! It was so ridiculous I couldn’t help, but laugh at it as well. Despite, Errant’s reserved demeanour, he can be quite the endearing character when he wants to.

Fall4Me: Quite so, I’ve seen him converse with fellow players, he can be quite the smooth talker when he wants to. It’s can be quite scary at times…

GrimmMonarch: Are you referring to the time he swindled, Vacuo’s merchant guild into revealing where the slave camps were, or the time he caused the falling out of, Dazzling Spear Hunter Teams?

Fall4Me: Wait?! He did that?! I was talking about the time he tricked the, Crimson Brigade into attack the bandits base during the, Season of Fire event, that triggered a Grimm Horde event?!

GrimmMonarch: He did what?!

[mariacallous]

On Boxing Day pro-Palestine demonstrators met customers at the Zara sale in the Westfield shopping centre, in Stratford, east London. They were not there to wish them the compliments of the season.

‘Bombs are dropping while you’re shopping,’ they chanted, as police stood by to make sure the protests did not turn violent. ‘Zara is enabling genocide,’ their placards read.

Quite what they wanted bargain hunters to do about the Israeli forces bombing the Gaza Strip, they never said. Lobby their MPs? Politicians are on their Christmas holidays. Join the Palestinian armed struggle?  It was unclear whether the shopping centre had a Hamas recruitment office.

But on one point the demonstrators were certain: no one should be buying from Zara. Even though the fashion chain has not encouraged Israel’s war against Hamas, earned income from it, or supported Israel in any material way, it was nevertheless “exploiting a genocide and commodifying Palestine's pain for profit”.

Zara, in short, has become the object of a paranoid fantasy: a QAnon conspiracy theory for the postcolonial left.

The Zara conspiracy is an entirely modern phenomenon. It has no original author. Antisemitic Russians sat down and wrote the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in the early 20th century. There was an actual “Q” behind the QAnon conspiracy: a far-right activist who first appeared on 4chan message boards in 2017 to claim that a cabal of child abusers was conspiring against Donald Trump.

The Zara conspiracy was mass produced by social media users: an example of the madness of crowds rather than their supposed wisdom. The cause of the descent into hysteria was bizarre.

In early December Zara launched an advertising campaign featuring the model Kristen McMenamy wearing its latest collection in a sculptor’s studio. It clearly was a studio, by the way, and not a war zone in southern Israel or Gaza. McMenamy carried a mannequin wrapped in white fabric. The cry went up that the Spanish company was exploiting the suffering of Palestinians and that the mannequin was meant to represent a victim of Israeli aggression wrapped in a shroud.

The accusation was insane. No one in the photo shoot resembled a soldier or a casualty of war. Anyone who thought for 30 seconds before resorting to social media would have known that global brands plan their advertising campaigns months in advance.

Zara said the campaign presented “a series of images of unfinished sculptures in a sculptor’s studio and was created with the sole purpose of showcasing craft-made garments in an artistic context”. The idea for the studio setting was conceived in July. The photo shoot was in September, weeks before the Hamas assault on Israel on 7 October.

No one cared. Melanie Elturk, the CEO of fashion brand Haute Hijab, said of the campaign, ‘this is sick. What kind of sick, twisted, and sadistic images am I looking at?’ #BoycottZara trended on Twitter, as users said that Zara was ‘utterly shameful and disgraceful”’.

To justify their condemnations, activists developed ever-weirder theories. A piece of cardboard in the photoshoot was meant to be a map of Israel/Palestine turned upside down. Because a Zara executive had once invited an extreme right-wing Israeli politician to a meeting, the whole company was damned.

Astonishingly, or maybe not so astonishingly to anyone who follows online manias, the fake accusations worked. Zara stores in Glasgow, Toronto. Hanover, Melbourne and Amsterdam were targeted.

What on earth could Zara do? PR specialists normally say that the worst type of apology is the non-apology apology, when a public figure or institution shows no remorse, but instead says that they are sorry that people are offended. Yet Zara had not sought to trivialize or profit from the war so what else could it do but offer a non-apology apology? The company duly said it was sorry that people were upset.

“Unfortunately, some customers felt offended by these images, which have now been removed, and saw in them something far from what was intended when they were created,” it said on 13 December, and pulled the advertising campaign

That was two-weeks ago and yet still the protests in Zara stores continue. On 23 December activists targeted Zara on Oxford Street chanting , 'Zara, Zara, you can't hide, stop supporting genocide', even though Zara was not, in fact,  supporting genocide. On Boxing Day, they were at the Stratford shopping centre.

Zara has apologised for an offence it did not commit. There is no way that any serious person can believe the charges against it. And yet believe them the protestors do. Or at the very least they pretend to believe for the sake of keeping in with their allies.

Maybe nothing will come of the protests. One could have argued in 2017, after all, that QAnon was essentially simple-minded people living out their fantasies online. Certainly, every sane American knew that there was no clique of paedophiles running the Democrat party, but where was the harm in the conspiracy theory?

Then QAnon supporters stormed the US capitol in January 2021. Will the same story play out from the Gaza protests? As far as I can tell, no one on the left is challenging the paranoia. I have yet to see the fact-checkers of the BBC and Channel 4 warning about the fake news on the left with anything like the gusto with which they treat its counterparts on the right.

To be fair, the scale of disinformation around the Gaza war is off the charts, and it is impossible to chase down every lie. But when fake news goes from online fantasies to real world protests, from 4chan to the Capitol, from Twitter to the Westfield shopping centre, it’s worth taking notice.

Sensible supporters of a Palestinian state ought to be the most concerned. No one apart from fascists, Islamists and far leftists believes that Israel should not defend itself. And yet the scale of its military action in Gaza is outraging world opinion. Mainstream politicians, who might one day put pressure on Israel, remain very wary about reflecting the anger on the streets.

They look at the insane conspiracy theories on the western left and see them as no different from the insane conspiracy theories that motivate Hamas, and they back away.

The Palestinians need many things: an end to the Netanyahu government, and an end to Hamas. But they could also use allies in the West who do not discredit their cause with dark, gibbering fantasies.