#continuous collaboration

[miyoriia]

this is my tower! please feel free to make yourself at home below

[uncanny-tranny]

A vital part of political knowledge (and knowledge in general) is knowing when to say, "I'm not educated enough to make a statement about this topic."

It's okay if you don't know every little detail of every single issue at hand. But it won't help if you refuse to acknowledge where you lack information, where your blindspots are, and what you just don't understand. It's okay to not have an answer.

[checkadii]

Thinking about this old ass screenshot . I don’t even remember which video that’s under and I’m frankly too lazy to redownload tiktok

[lord-squiggletits]

Thinking about IDW Optimus again and the fandom's aversion to even acknowledging he exists bc he's a cop or whatever and like. Most of the time people literally just replace him in fic with some white bread knockoff archivist/librarian, not even bothering to keep in IDW OP's personality (which just bolsters my theory that the problem isn't him being a cop the problem is that he's too multifaceted but I digress).

And it's annoying because you could totally write IDW Optimus as not a cop while still keeping his canon personality. You just have to realize that the reason IDW OP became a cop in the first place is because his formative experiences when he was young shaped him to basically have two priorities: 1. To help people and 2. To do it by being on the ground actively doing something about the bad things happening to people.

IDW OP would not be a fucking librarian or archivist because even though those are noble pursuits that can help people and change the world, and Optimus is educated/smart enough for the profession, he wouldn't be satisfied just teaching people or spreading information about activism or social-historical studies or whatever. He's a mech of action: he needs to be doing things right now, in front of him, to people he sees/interacts with in his own eyes, improving society with concrete actions rather than indirect action or abstract inspiration.

So basically the alternate job ideas I can think of for IDW Optimus are something like being a firefighter (or any first responder really) or even whatever the equivalent would be to international charity organizations, those ones that send volunteers across the world to do stuff like build housing/infrastructure or distribute food or whatnot. I mean I can't imagine that the equivalents to these things would be exactly the same in IDW Cybertron, so you'd have to get a little creative with it, but these are just some ideas of jobs that would fit IDW Optimus' personality while still filling the niche of "not a cop" for people who are just that opposed to it.

Though I think the revulsion against coptimus is annoying in general tbh because IDW is already a continuity that rejects the idea of easily defined good/evil people or groups. It feels like people really want Optimus to be a good person in a very sanitized and academically approved way, so he has to be nice and squeaky clean but also like, a perfect leftist who knows theory and holds the most progressive opinions on every single issue....

There is no room for the idea that good people join bad institutions, there's no room for the idea that the reason people think cops are good guys who help people is bc of the government propaganda everything is saturated with. Hell there's even later issues of the Optimus Prime series by John Barber where Optimus like, MULTIPLE FUCKING TIMES, is shown in flashbacks grappling with the fact that he as a cop/Zeta's regime that he works for might not actually be improving society like they say they are, and dealing with the fact that he feels more like a lesser evil compared to the Decepticons (perhaps not "lesser" at all).

It's like there's this idea in fandom of like, fictional media and opinions on media having to strictly adhere to progressive ideals at all times. So people just go "cops bad, this character is a cop, therefore they suck" without being willing to engage with the idea of like. IDW OP is born wanting to fight injustice and protect people -> a good way to protect people is to fight the people who are hurting them and committing crimes -> surely following the law is a reliable moral code to guide him in this -> becomes a cop because he's been indoctrinated into a society (much like our own) where he was told that the state/the law exist to protect the people and being a cop means you get to fight bad guys that hurt people. There's really so many interesting concepts there that could be (and CANONICALLY IS) explored about how good, well-intentioned people can be led to harmful actions simply because they have been fed the idea that the things they're doing are good/helpful/noble. Which is especially important for a character like Optimus, I think, who has a cultural icon status as The Irrefutable and Perfect Good, so it's really important actually to use IDW Optimus as an example of how even the most noble people you know have held problematic beliefs or done bad things at some point in their life. You know, because no one is born perfect and ideologically pure, and in fact society is constructed in exactly a manner to make people drink the kool-aid and believe that the systems designed to hurt them/others are just a normal, if flawed, society.

I mean the writing in IDW literally has Optimus deal directly and indirectly with the harm he's done as a cop and how people don't/didn't trust him because of that. I don't know what the fuck else this fandom wants if the source material literally saying "OP realizes that cops suck and he hurt people and earned their disdain by doing the things he did" doesn't stop them from going EW cop bastard sucks and is the worst Optimus. Like the narrative barely stops short of outright saying ACAB and Optimus himself would agree with this sentiment.

At that point, the collective fandom beef with IDW OP isn't because he's a cop and the narrative didn't do enough to condemn that. The problem is literally just that people don't read and don't care

TLDR: Consider the fact that good people can do bad things sometimes especially when living from birth in a corrupt society that thoroughly disguises its vices/oppressive structures as completely normal parts of existence

[minhosimthings]

Just a little reminder to everyone not to stream Stray Kids' new song "Lose My Breath" which contains a collaboration with a zionist who supports the unthinkable horrors going on in Palestine right now.

[creepyscritches]

Man it is worth pointing out that the ACA is a living piece of legislation. Like every year updated protocols and guidelines release to the whole industry from CMS (gov oversight) and I educate professionals in my field on the changes each time. It was built intentionally to be an evolving and improving system that can handle more and more people each year. The ACA is not a stone tablet; it's an arm of federally protected benefits like Medicare that is inherited and maintained and built up by sequential administrations. It is WORKING, it's so reassuring to see it become so intertwined with our American health care model that an entire wing of the industry is now dedicated to the ACA.

Yeah, we want a better health care system, of course we do!! That's why so many people dedicate their careers to supporting the ACA!!! THIS is the fish crawling onto land that can eventually become a health care system that treats us with dignity. We just have to keep evolving it into a more equitable and accessible option. I vote with my head mostly tuned into future health care + research policies and it makes my goals much clearer. Biden has spent 2 separate administrations leading the Cancer Moonshot research funding initiative that has contributed significantly to the boom in cancer breakthroughs. Trump suggested we drink bleach for covid. I trust one significantly more than the other to continue funding ACA and NIH initiatives and interests 🤷

[sundayrobin]

going thru my screenshots from 2.3 while waiting for the update (because i stupidly didn't pre-install them) and this might be my favorite part of the tb mission.

himeko is telling us that at its core, humanity is rooted in storytelling and the nameless’s mission to travel across the galaxy embodies this spirit. their journey centers around exploring new worlds but the significance of their travels goes beyond mere exploration; it's about encountering diverse stories from different people and places. it's in the "miniscule". it's in the individual tales that contribute to a grander tapestry of human existence which they strive to remember and honor. it's in how the nameless creates a shared experience that they carry along with them to other planets they visit. it's how they're able to create connections that transcend the vast distance it probably takes for the astral express to traverse from one planet to another. exploration becomes merely the means to achieve their true goal: to forge connections via the star rail through stories they encounter. it's why i think it's very fitting that the trailblaze is considered the one closest to humanity. in a world that extends as vast as the cosmos, they choose to ground themselves in these stories, to remember them when no one else would. because it's these individual tales and the ongoing dialogue between them that creates a continuous, living narrative that binds living species across the galaxy together.

[mogspawner]

On the 29th of Feburary, in the year of 2024; Mogswamp joined Legundo on an epic fishing quest. The rod was cast 360 times, 274 items were caught and many of those were books. But alas, no mending was found. To be continued…

[kindahoping4forever]

my ultimate wish for this next era is they finally let Ryan go like they did Andy. I'm so sick of not getting the content we deserve. All the gatekeeping of tour diaries and now the crumbs of concert footage in that "documentary" yesterday. he was working for months on that? that's why we didn't get tour diaries? all that footage just goes in his vault now? Please.

Hello! I'm sorry to hear you felt disappointed by yesterday's special. However, I feel compelled to comment on a few objective points in your ask.

- "Live & Backstage in Amsterdam" was directed by James Tonkin, the same director (and production team, Hangman) they worked with on "The Feeling of Falling Upwards" (and the unreleased "Live in Brixton" special). Ryan was credited as director of the documentary footage and as a contributing editor (1 of 3) but the live footage and overall final program was not his work.

- Regardless of the particular creatives involved here (or in any given project for that matter), the fact remains that any directors, producers, photographers, etc are all hired hands operating with full input and specific direction from the band. The band chose to make this a hybrid concert film/documentary. The band chose to condense the setlist the way they did. The band chose this format over the traditional tour diaries. What happens to the unused footage will be determined by the band. Ryan is a friend but he is first and foremost an employee and the band owns that footage. (Likewise, the MYT diaries are not sitting on Andy Deluca's hard drive because he's "gatekeeping" or too lazy to edit it. If the band wanted them released, they'd be released.) All this to say, of course you don't have to agree with the decisions but it's important to clarify who your complaint is with.

- This concept of the band or their collaborators "gatekeeping" and fans not getting what we "deserve" is, to be blunt, entitled and immature. Being a fan does not make an artist indebted to you. They make music, if you feel so inclined, you listen. That's it. That's the extent of the contract. Anything beyond that is optional for both parties. Any content an artist chooses to release is not out of obligation or generosity, it's part business strategy, part artistic vision. Artists do not owe you anything. This band does not owe you anything.

[sunnibits]

is anyone else like a huge fan of various medias, huge fan of characters, loves exploring plots and themes and character development, genuinely very enthusiastic about storytelling in general… but like, somehow physically incapable of making plot lines you care about with your own original characters. or like straight up being unable to create ocs you’re actually invested in???

like, you know what you like, you enjoy so many stories, you spend so much time digging into and delighting in the themes and tropes you like, and yet every time you try to make an original concept yourself it’s just impossible to make something compelling to you???? which makes no damn sense bc it’s literally coming from your own head so wouldn’t it be as self indulgent and perfect for you as possible??????

or is this just a unique me problem bc I swear to god it’s driving me insane

[vermillioncrown]

my former deskmate (graduated 3 yrs before me) is my co-worker once again and we're both falling back into our mutual side-eye habit

had the sudden realization he was/is essentially my work spouse

[zorosnavigator]

People going mad that it's the final chapter...but ngl if they succeed to fit all the right storyline and manage to get all the characters arcs done in a way that make sense and not rushed, ( which I totally trust they'll get right since...yk s1 is proof enough) I will be totally satisfied, and really happy they don't milk the serie/characters for the sake of money etc etc...

On another subject look at this TOTALLY GORGEOUS NEW ART FROM FORTICHE STUDIO FIRST OG PRODUCTION ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL??!

[mewtwo24]

I just watched s2 episode 10 in the english dub and I have to say. Nothing could have prepared me for Howard's delivery of that final scene where Xie Lian gets worked up about the truth coming out.

The just...sincerely agonized delivery of "That my words were the empty ramblings of a sad child!!" shook me to the core. The absolute self-loathing in that line, the raw emotion. The way concealing the truth was done to spare Lang Qianqiu but also at its heart was about Xie Lian's unresolved feelings of humiliation and shame, the way [redacted] did everything in his power to make Xie Lian lose faith in himself and the possibility of good prevailing in the world.

The way TGCF keeps me up at night, man...

[dungeonmalcontent]

A story yet unnamed

There are a number of beasts that patrol the compound. Well, patrol is a more intentional word that what actually happens. They wander. They all have purposes, of course. They've all chosen purposes. And whoever it was that brought them here gave them little collars and name tags, and I suppose this is why they have the names they do. My favorite is an old tortoiseshell cat with the name Watchman on his collar. It's a nice sleek red collar, probably made of some kind of insect repelling material, and the placard on it is a finely stylized embossed platinum strip. It's funny, the placard with his name is always perfectly visible on the back of his neck. I always know when it's Watchman following me around, because I can read it. I think I see that first and then his little orange and brown fur patterns second. And he does follow you around. It's his job on the old compound, you see. He watches. And when you leave, or try to leave, he watches. And when you come in, or try to come in, he watches. He's quite good at it. I don't think I've come or gone without him seeing me, or at least I've seen him every time. And who knows what he does with what he sees, maybe he tells someone. Maybe there's a chimpanzee somewhere in the compound that I've never met and he has a little necklace with a tag that says Recorder on it and he writes it all down on a paper. It's a big compound. Sometimes I see new animals. They have names like Fisher and Puller and Pusher and Driller and Spinner, and I suppose those names all make sense in the context of where they usually are. But I only ever see them while they mill about, probably on break, while their feet tap or slap or pad about on the cracked gray granite floors or as they scrape across the weeds growing through the cracks or when they splash through some partly flooded corridor. Sometimes I imagine that I have a little bracelet with a platinum strip on it, carefully embossed with design and the word Tenant on it and that is why they never bother me. But they don't seem to mind that I don't have a name like they do, that I never chose or was given a purpose. Maybe they think that my purpose is to be purposeless, to wander. But then I'd have a name tag with that on it. And, after all, I'm the only person I ever see. And that tracks, it's not a particularly safe place. I've seen at least one tiger (named Dancer) and there is a very large bird I don't know the name for, or what type of bird it is, that gets quite agitated whenever it sees me. I'm never harmed, and I don't think any of them are meant to harm anyone. But all the same, no one else wanders these ruins.

---

Advance the story. What happens next.

[thebeatles]

I miss the summer of 2023 (Barbie summer).

[rainedroptalks]

Someone let Blinky’s employees unionize. Please. A woman’s jaw was broken on stage at least give them healthcare