#counterarguments to 'prove' their points

[cepheustarot]

Warning from the Universe for you

Attention! This reading is for entertainment purposes only. This tarot reading does not give a 100% guarantee that all the described situations will occur or being ultimate truth. You build your own life and destiny and only you know yourself best.

Paid readings

Pick a pile. Choose one or more pictures. Trust your intuition.

Pile 1: For those who work, you may have difficulties in terms of work. Some of you are waiting for a career promotion or an increase in your income in the near future but force majeure may occur and this will happen due to the fault of one of your colleagues, as there is a possibility that he may frame you and get your place. There may also be problems with competitors and if you were ahead before, now this will change and competitors will go ahead, because of this business may fail or a deal and profits may drop significantly, you may be cut at work. You can also make a deal with a not very honest person and, accordingly, you can be cheated for money so be careful!  As for those who study, your academic work can be stolen, plagiarized and passed off as their own. It will be very difficult to prove his guilt here, since the person will have competent counterarguments and it may turn out that you will end up guilty. In addition, there may have been mutual hostility between you and this person for a long time, you may hate each other for certain reasons.

Pile 2: Here you can have a strong relationship with someone, for example, with someone from your family, you can have a best friend with whom you have been communicating for a long time and trust each other 100%, you can have a loved one with whom you are in a strong and stable relationship. And here everything is fine between you for quite a long time but at some point a situation will suddenly arise when a person can bully you, speak rudely and you will quarrel because of this. You will have a very heated argument, you will both be angry for a long time and not admit your guilt because of this you will be visited by thoughts about ending your relationship, ending communication, you will want to distance yourself from this person as much as possible. But here the cards say that it is better to make a decision not under emotions, here it is necessary to find a way out of this situation, to make the best decision first of all for yourself. Third-party interference is also possible here so be careful! Make decisions based on your feelings, not the words of others.

Pile 3: Here the universe warns you that you may miss the best chance to realize your desires, your plans, as you may succumb to pressure from a person who is an authority figure for you, an example to follow. It can be either someone from your family, or your mentor and teacher, who has his own views on your work and you may not find support from him, you may be criticized. This may also apply to people who exhibit their work publicly, you may be criticized or negatively commented on, but this should not stop you from continuing to do what you like, what you sincerely want to do in life. The emphasis here is precisely that you must defend your opinion, position and do as you want, however you see fit — then other doors will open for you, you will have more opportunities for implementation, you will banally increase your self-confidence.

Thank you for reading! I will be glad of any feedback 🖤

[fanaticsnail]

Every day I wake up and think "Why is there no Childhood Friends Doflamingo x Reader fics?" and every day one of my Discord friends tell me "because Kid Doffy would literally treat Kid Reader like someone beneath him cus everything is still fresh for him" but I bring you counterarguments for the Childhood Friends Doflamingo x Reader story:

1. He meets Reader after his house gets burned down. Reader is Rosinante's age, so eight years old. It's when DQ brothers are being beaten by the thugs; kid Reader gets a bat and protects him and Rosinante from the thugs who were beating on them over bread

2. she brings them food from the restaurant her parents own - home cooked - and meets Homing & Mrs Donquixote, who encourage Doffy & Rosi to befriend her but Doffy remains careful

3. Doffy has confused feelings about Reader but she's only ever treated his injuries (the first human not to hurt him) so he decides Reader is "his human to protect" not "human to enslave" yep he has groups in his mind, little crazy baby flamingo boy

4. Reader teaches Doffy & Rosinante to climb trees. Doffy comments that's what monkeys do, but Reader teases him that whether it is what monkeys do, he still can't reach her if he doesn't climb. Doffy accepts the challenge. He doesn't take long to get the hang of it. Right when he is nearly at the top, he nearly falls but Reader grabs his hand and pulls him onto the branch. I think this is where Doffy starts having a little crush on Reader. He doesn't realise that's what it is.

5. I don't know Ace, Sabo, Luffy I know Doffy, Rosi & Reader. Sure they would not be as wild as ASL since the thugs in North Blue are probably much more deadlier than in East Blue, but they'd be good thieves.

6. Reader is so gentle with Rosi and Doffy gets jealous and says his brother is a crybaby and Reader shouldn't help him, he needs to learn on his own. Reader just blows Doffy a raspberry which makes Rosinante giggle - the first time Rosinante has laughed since their house burned down

I just think if we just put in some thought, it can be plausible for Kid Doffy to have Kid Reader as a friend in his childhood days. He'd feel challenged by a "human", someone younger than him, and want to prove his heavenly status, why he's better. Reader just nods along with it and is kind to them both. They don't do any sort of competitions, they just co-exist.

Kid Doffy is like a street cat. He bites and scratches, and tries to claw your face off, but it's cause he's been through terrible shit and he doesn't trust strangers. He needs patience and kindness.

The fic would require just some patience and kindness I think, for the childhood part of their story, so Doflamingo by the end of it considers Reader precious to him to the point he thinks he is the best person to protect her. That it's his duty. He'd probably call himself her heavenly guardian or sth in his mind when he reaches that point.

Of course, that then can turn into him becoming very possessive of Reader as they grow up (Doffy even when becoming the young 10-11 year old leader seems to stick to one headquarters in that timeframe) and his crush from childhood evolving through time from protectiveness into a wish for a romantic relationship.

Anyway, kid Doffy & kid Rosinante deserve to have a friend during that terrible time, and they both latch onto that little amount of kindness, they appreciate it a lot. Doflamingo only realises it later down the line how much it meant for him Reader supported him.

They show appreciation for that differently later. Doffy comes into the restaurant Reader inherited from her parents all the time and makes sure everyone in the North Blue knows that's his territory, and the place where his crew gathers to celebrate things. He always sends Reader gifts such as jewelry, and kisses her on both cheeks whenever he sees her, using the excuse of it being a custom in Dressrosa to his advantage. Rosinante shows his love with hugs. When he sees Reader when he's Corazon he just hugs her. He doesn't give a shit.

Also, Reader & Kid Law & Baby 5... Reader would feed them all the food and pamper them.

Doffy can't go without Reader's home cooked meals. Food is very important to him, I think, after experiencing starvation. He probably invites her to join the crew as their chef cook when they head for the Grand Line. If not...

Well, kidnapping you is always an option 🤣

(he would lie about what happened to Rosinante. either that or get completely drunk and cry in your lap, confessing everything. You know what, I like the latter. Let the big man cry. I love pathetic drunk Doffy.)

- Yandere Doffy Anon

Okay okay okay okay okay. This was gorgeous. I am in love, and all of the relationships with all of the kids, and the coddling of Rosi. Yes. Please. I love their relationship, the silent confusion in the "what is this feeling" -> it's addictive, and I love it. "My human to protect" WHERE DO I SIGN UP????

Here is my interpretation of what childhood friendship would look like with Doflamingo.

What about a young son of a celestial dragon having regular interactions with a contractually bound daughter of another celestial dragon? And then he's taken away from you by his father? Doflamingo x f!reader image.

Your parents schedule regular playdates with one another so your faces do not grow lost on you both over time. From toddlerhood, to childhood, your friendship grew with your betrothed spouse as you both read with one another, and made puzzles and sculptures together. He pulled your hair, you brushed off his glasses, he bit you on the hand, and you cried to your maid.

You are a bit stuffy and spoilt, but what child of the pinacle of society isn't? Similar to Doflamingo, it is your birthright to be treated with the utmost respect and worshipful adoration.

But your heart becomes kind.

When becoming lost in a crowd of unfamiliar faces, the kindness of a stranger who knew nothing of your face changes you from a prissy young miss to a girl spun in webs of charity and compassion.

It makes the young Doflamingo disgusted seeing you interact and thank his servants when they fix you and him lunch. Conversing so freely with the chaperone, asking questions about his children, it makes the eight year old sick. He'd rather trick them into being scolded and thrashed.

When Donquixote Homing defects, the ties that strung you together lay severed and desolate. The friendship between you forbidden, but your mind often wanders into what had become of him. You both had this unspoken hatred and the closest friendship with one another any two children could have.

Inseperable.

Until you were separated.

It took four adults to restrain you from running to him in the council chambers. Hearing Doflamingo had returned with Homing's head, you had nearly lost yours with glee at his return. When he was denied a rise in reinstating his former title, you were overwhelmed with a grief beyond your years in capacity.

Over the decades, you wondered what had become of him. Your heart had been broken when your father renounced your coupling. Each time a potential spouse was presented to you, you would shut it down with haste. Although you were only young, you spoke with such indignation regarding your disdain for such an alliance. What if this one was taken from you too? Nothing would ever match up to him.

They would never be Doflamingo, and you refused to be the spouse of anyone who didn't meet his equal. His insanity mirrored a darkness in your heart that you had since clothed in kindness. He was your absolute, the stop at the end of the line. He was yours, and you were his completely.

When Tsuru had invited you to the first gathering of seven warlords of the sea, you had no idea what to expect. No matter what you prepared yourself with, your readiness mattered not for the sight that was to welcome you in. Charity was your character, and your humility is what made you the chosen celestial dragon the world government asked to converse with the most.

Pink feathers, rosy glasses, blonde hair, and a sinister grin you had long since burried, had your chest swell and eyes flood with every emotion. Silence was all you offered in your shock, your face shrouded behind a veiled cloth you often travelled with.

You knew exactly who you were looking at, and he had no idea it was you. The way his presence demanded attention, his sinister playfulness with Sir Crocodile and Tsuru, the way he openly taunted the former Marine Hunter Mihawk: each motion captured your soul and held you hostage.

It was only when Tsuru had asked you to speak did you stifle the warmth in your chest. You knew Doflamingo would likely hold disgust for the Celestial Dragons due to their lack of restoration, and you chose to ignore him - just as he ignored you.

When your attendants removed the veil from your extravagant headpiece, the first sound to travel through the realm was a collective gasp. You were young, a woman, and incredibly beautiful. Nothing any of the seven warlords were expecting was anything amounting to a single scrap of you. And you chose to play coy to the slack-jawed blonde in the corner.

After speaking your well rehearsed speech, Tsuru thanked you with her head bowing low, encouraging the other marines to pay their respects in kind. Sir Crocodile offered you a polite bow alongside Kuma and Jinbe. Mihawk tipped his hat to you, which you nodded in kind.

Immediately rising to his feet, Doflamingo's arms hung limp as his lips lay parted and almost quivering. His hands shook, his shoes feeling like lead in lieu of leather, and he finally stood before you. Your attendants sprung up to your side, your guardians guiding their hands to the hilts of their weapons: only ceasing when you hold up your own hand to stop them.

With that same hand, you hover it in front of Doflamingo's face, guiding it in an intimate expression without ever colliding with his skin. He rises his own, mirroring your motions and causing your eyes to flutter shut. An inaudible movement of your name courses through his lips, no sounds to voice them other than a single breath.

"Time has not been kind to you, mi amor," you whisper, Doflamingo's knees buckling at the tone your voice had grown into. It was the greatest symphony he had ever heard, the voice of his childhood friend blossoming into the bloom of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

"Time saved all it's kindness for you, mi querida," he managed string together beneath his petrification.

The room was silent, all watching in awe as the most detestable inhabitant in the council chambers was brought to his knees with a single look from a powerful woman. The familiarity had Tsuru's stomach tighten, wondering if extending an invitation to you was in her best interest. Although, seeing Doflamingo behave with his absolute best manners had her lip twitch up at the corner.

He was yours again. A man who was once everything, became nothing, and built himself up to something again. And he was yours.

And he couldn't be happier to be in your presence once more. Why else would he have fought so hard to rise to the top? For mere power alone?

No. That is far too simple. He is far from simple. It was for the chance to be once again worthy to stand in your presence and kneel at your feet as an equal in potential matrimony. But would you still have him after all the time that had passed between you?

Only you held that answer.

Edit to add, I got distracted by the roast chicken and forgot to add the tag list. I'm sorry everyone.

Tag list: @mfreedomstuff @daydreamer-in-training @since-im-already-here @gingernut1314 @writingmysanity @sordidmusings @i-am-vita @indydonuts @feral-artistry @the-light-of-star @empirenowmp3 @racfoam @sunflowersatori @carrotsunshine @skullfacedlady

[autisminabox]

I’m going to be discussing spoilers from the new update, specifically entailing Eddie. Spoilers are below the cut, so, like. Spoiler alert

One thing that stuck out to me right before Eddie “goes to Toyland” (which is what’s implied to happen) is the anger he felt. To me it felt incredibly out of place. Out of place for what’s supposed to be a children’s show, and out of place for Eddie.

We’ve seen Eddie in situations substantially worse for his staying focused on the job than people not having any mail. We’ve seen people jump at him, get pressured into literally lifting other people (and possibly a fucking house), and was too nervous to speak up for himself. We’ve seen him take a lot of shit from both Howdy and Barnaby in the audios, and he more or less took it on the chin. Julie overwhelmed him with her business game, and instead of getting frustrated, he just kind of… curled up.

So this strikes me as particularly odd. There are two explanations I can think of to explain why it happened. The first is a theory I’ve seen floated around about the puppets slowly deviating from the in-universe writers’ design. We see this contrast between how everyone acts in the books and ads and how they act in the bug audios; Barnaby had a twinge of meanness, Julie had a personality beyond being ADHD incarnate, Frank expressed kindness. It’s not out of the question. The second theory is based off of a few observations from earlier on: Eddie is notably from out of town, and is loosely implied to have moved in last out of the main cast. It wouldn’t be absurd to say that this leads him to being “not with the program”, even if him being the newest addition is only in-universe for the show (as opposed to him being literally constructed and written last)

The second thing that was prominent to me was Home’s response to Eddie entering Toyland. This is quite plainly conspicuous and intentional, but I wanted to bring attention to it because of the interesting implications of it. First off, Home is pretty much confirmed to be sentient now. I’ll be damned if there’s any coherent counterargument that doesn’t boil down to going “nuh-uh”. Second, Home is at minimum recognizing that something is happening to Eddie. It’s not clear whether Home is aware of what specifically is happening to Eddie, or whether or not Home had a hand in setting off the incident, but the fact that home recognized that something was happening to Eddie nearly instantly solidifies how intelligent and aware Home actually is. This isn’t inherently surprising, since we’ve already gotten word-of-God confirmation that Home has repeatedly beaten Frank at chess, however, this is the most pointed and direct example that we’ve seen in the actual project.

Third, the fact that Eddie specifically had The Horrors™��� enacted upon him first specifically (at least, as far as we’re explicitly aware of; It’s unclear whether Wally counts as having experienced The Horrors™️ or if he is the arbitrator of them. More on that later) lends to some very interesting suggestions. Five possible explanations I can think of work as follows: One, he knew too much about either the nature of whatever specifically is weird about Home (town), whether that be Home (house), Wally, another character, the monsters of the night, something else about the night, or he knew too much about his nature as a fictional character. There is some speculative support for this; first, the aforementioned outsider angle that he’s been played with, and second, his parallels to the scrapped character Sunny. Sunny was the most recent to move in within the beta continuity, he was the love interest for Frank, he was smart and likely knew too much, and he disappeared first. Two, his outburst earlier in the day proved to be too out of character and thus a risk and liability to whoever was in control of what happened to him. Aside from my above breakdown of that scene, and from the fact that there’s very prominent examples of Playfellow and Marlo (or perhaps Wally, if for whatever reason Evil Wally ends up being true) blatantly straightwashing characters and possibly suppressing free will of the characters, assuming that’s what we’re meant to take away from the bug audios. Three, Eddie realized the actual absurdity of the Pea On A Plate and “woke up”, lucid dream style. I don’t really like this interpretation, since the fact that it’s in several promotional materials and companion merchandise suggests that it was an absurdist humor bit in-universe, which isn’t farfetched considering how children’s shows tend to be. Four, there’s another reason that’s yet to be revealed as to why Eddie got selected first. To be a total Devil’s advocate, we’re still relatively early in what’s looking to be a very slow-paced story. We’re not gonna have all the details, and red herrings are going to pop up, intentionally or otherwise. Five, Eddie was selected randomly or with no actual reason.

There’s also a few possibilities for who sent Eddie to Toyland, which is interesting to me. First, it could be Home. It wouldn’t be surprising considering its mysterious and noted uncanny nature, and its prominence during that scene. Second, it could be Wally. While I personally don’t find it to be the most reasonable, since something of this magnitude being perpetrated by a character we have a face to would likely involve that character, there’s enough evidence of Wally acting aware and generally odd where it isn’t completely absurd. Additionally, it’s entirely plausible that Wally’s conspicuous absence during the entire arc is indicative of some sort of guilt. Third, the show writers, someone at Playfellow, or another party along those lines somehow caused it, either by technological or supernatural means we don’t know about or by some accidental bout of supernatural fuckery, such as rewriting something and it having bizarre effects on the characters. It’s out there, but not out of the question considering the weird shit they’ve done. On top of that, it’s not impossible that another entity or force somehow caused this that either hasn’t been revealed or explained yet.

As to what Toyland actually entails, I’ve concocted a few theories. One, he literally got up and mentally teleported to a land of giant toys. Two, it’s full Star Trek mode and there’s Horrors™️ so mentally stimulating that the only way it could be perceived by either us or Eddie that that’s all it can be perceived as. Three, Going To Toyland is some sort of initiation, rite of passage, or method of psychologically controlling the cast that everyone else either doesn’t realize is happening or has their memories of it forcibly suppressed. This could be supported by the aforementioned “Eddie is an Outsider” and it’s possibly his first Homewarming since moving to the area. After all, a housewarming is a celebration that welcomes and initiates someone to the neighborhood; would it be that odd that Homewarming is a twisted version of that?

Anyways. Those are my observations and a bunch of interpretations. Part of why I love this project so much is how mysterious and unclear the exact details are, creating excellent suspense and a drive to theorize, and leading up to a truly gobsmacking reveal or conclusion. This update certainly delivered. Whatever the answer is for any of the branching paths I described, it’ll almost definitely reveal how truly fucked up the perpetrator is (or, alternatively, how utterly fucked up the situation is in general, if there ends up not being an instigator) for, y’know, doing that. Clown and Co., you’ve certainly outdone yourselves, and the wait was worth it; this speculative theorycrafting this update has provided is absolutely incredible.

[utilitycaster]

I’ve previously covered the issue of people making false accusations that the fandom’s opinions are based in bigotry. Let’s talk about a related issue: the impossible-to-prove hypothetical.

The statement that the fandom would support the statement that the strong will survive and the weak will be remade if the Wildmother said it is an example of this. She didn’t say that, and Ka’Mort did, so even if she were to say it in the future I think most people would recognize that the problem is the message, not the person delivering it. I don’t think the claim the fandom would blindly support the Wildmother if she said something with such a fascist tinge is true, though I certainly can't confirm it (which again, may be the goal of those who make this sort of unprovable claim). More importantly, it attempts, poorly, to sidestep the actual critique: that saying the strong will survive a cataclysmic change and the weak will be "remade" is extremely in line with real world far-right groups talk about ethnic cleansing, and that Ashton seems to have no issue with vast power differentials and immortal beings who have previously aligned themselves with the gods and intended the destruction of mortals (and from EXU Calamity we know this is not merely a history written by the victors) as long as it's the power he can access. This isn't about breaking thrones: it's a coup, not a revolution.

This sort of...I can't call it an argument, because it's not one, but I suppose it is an attempt at one - often goes unchallenged because there’s no way to debunk it, even though it's ultimately a "what if the world were made of pudding." If canon were different, it sure would be different. Is the problem that the statement "If they're strong, they will. If not, they'll be remade into something stronger" in response to the question of whether mortals will survive a massive upheaval is one with concerning implications? If so, then why endorse it when Ka'Mort says it? If not, then why would it be a problem if the Wildmother had said it instead? Notice how the person making this "argument" actually does exactly what they're accusing the fandom of doing. They are clearly basing their judgment not on whether or not this is a problematic statement, but rather either the source of said statement, or the person to whom it's being said.

The "look at Ashton’s shoelaces" argument is the same exact problem - it doesn’t address the actual issue of "Ashton seems to be receptive to the idea of the elimination of 'weak' mortals." Indeed, it strengthens the counterargument, that many punks are more concerned with aesthetics and appearance than actual support, and that the fans invoking the fact that Ashton is a punk, or disabled, or nonbinary are focusing only on what they are (with an unstated assumption that these identities automatically lend them validity, which they do not) and not what they do or believe.

The problem is what they are doing and believing. Who they are is not important; what they are doing is. I don't want to make a call re: stupidity or malice here, but if the former, if you cannot understand the point of contention, you are not qualified to engage in this discussion, and if the latter, well, no use listening to a bad faith argument.

[atamascolily]

In the first meta essay I wrote back in 2022 speculating on Walpurgisnacht's identity, I primarily emphasized her thematic and visual parallels with Homura, with the possibility of her being a corrupted Law of Cycles mostly as an afterthought. Lately I've been wondering if I was too hasty about that--which is not to say that I've changed my mind about Homura and Walpurgisnacht being connected. Rather, given the complex nature of personhood in PMMM, I think it's likely to be more of "both/and" than "either/or" situation.

Or, to put it slightly differently: following her wish at the end of the original anime, there is no meaningful distinction between Madoka Kaname and the Law of Cycles; they are the same entity with two different names. However, at the end of Rebellion, Homura splits them, so there now exists a "Madoka Kaname" separate from the Law of Cycles. This raises some fascinating questions about identity and personhood--are they really two different beings now or fragments of a whole?--that Rebellion ends before it can really address, but I hope this issue will be taken up again in Walpurgis no Kaiten, because I'm very curious about the answer.

I don't think it's controversial to say that Homura and Madoka are parallels and foils to each other, or that Walpurgisnacht is the dark mirror of the Law of Cycles. From there, I think it's not unreasonable to suspect that Homura--who has set herself up as Madoka's opposite as a deity--might be to Walpurgisnacht what Madoka is to the Law of Cycles. [In mathematical language, it's the classic ratio, "If A:B::C:D, then A:C::B:D. Will this prove to be the case in the narrative, which follows its own rules? We'll see.]

There are other entities that exist within the Law of Cycles that are not Madoka--all of the magical girls who Madoka has saved from becoming witches by absorbing their curses into herself--but Madoka, while not the entirety of the Law, serves as its primary avatar. Even after Homura rips the "human" portion of Madoka away, the Law of Cycles still retains Madoka's face and appearance, but with empty eyes to suggest that no one is really home. This in turn suggests a vacuum that someone else could fill--something that Homura or her double might well take advantage of. [The ending of Rebellion is notoriously ambiguous about the mechanics, but FWIW some fans believe that Devil Homura has already taken over the Law of Cycles by the end.]

The Law of Cycles was born out of Madoka's wish and thus resembles her because the Law of Cycles is Madoka. What would happen to it if someone else was in charge? What would it look like then? What form might it take? A corrupted Law of Cycles would be a conglomeration of witches that takes on a single form--which sounds like Walpurgisnacht or something very much like it. And if that's the case, who would be the most likely avatar for it? A self-proclaimed devil, perhaps? Or that devil's double? And is there really a difference?

(Side note: another possibility I considered in my original essay was that Walpurgisnacht was another version of Homura. Back then, I was envisioning a Homura from another timeline rather than a shadow/witch/alternate self born from her repressed emotions, but either way, I will laugh so hard if all three answers end up being technically correct.)

The obvious counterargument here is that Walpurgisnacht in the original anime looks nothing like Homura--which, fair enough. But given that one of the show's major themes is "illusions/appearances vs. reality"--and there's reason to believe this theme will be especially relevant in Walpurgis no Kaiten--that's not enough for me to automatically rule out some kind of connection. There has to be more to Walpurgisnacht than what's visible on the surface, or what's the point of bringing her back for a new movie in the first place?

On a narrative level, Walpurgisnacht's true identity and origins only matter if she is a person or concept the audience is already familiar with, otherwise the big reveal won't be much of a twist. On a meta level, Gen Urobuchi uses this same trope--that the enemy is not who you thought they were and was hidden in plain sight the entire time--to great effect at the end of Thunderbolt Fantasy season 3, which suggests it's a theme that interests him and thus one we may well encounter in again in his other works.

Unless Walpurgis no Kaiten introduces more characters or concepts beyond what we've seen already, that means Walpurgisnacht has to be part of the established cast or worldbuilding in some fashion. Unless Walpurgisnacht is some Incubator plot gone horribly wrong--or horribly right, depending on your point of view--the most likely candidates are (in no particular order) original Homura, doppelganger Homura, and the Law of Cycles. Which brings me right back around to my opening question--to what extent are these four separate entities vs. different versions or parts of the same thing?

"Of course they're all completely different," you might say, but in a world where magical girls become witches, Homura herself became one without (consciously) realizing it, and both the story and animation repeatedly question the nature of reality itself, forgive me for not immediately being convinced without further evidence.

[singularsoldier]

Why Scout and Miss Pauling are a terrible ship

Alrighty, if you’ve been into tf2 for awhile, you’ve definitely seen this pairing pop up. This whole thing is probably gonna sound like I’m beating a dead horse, but I wanna give my full two cents on these two using canon material (comics, game, and Expiration Date). Before I dive in, my stance on these two is 100% never gonna change. Save the counterarguments and keep scrolling

VOICE LINES

In the game, Miss Pauling has a lot of voice lines both towards the individual mercs and to the player themselves. However, how she speaks to Scout vs everyone else is drastically different. Let’s look at Scout’s when given a contract:

Starting off, Miss Pauling is…pretty rude towards him. “Wrap up whatever you’re bragging about” “I’m assuming you’re talking right now. Please stop” and others. It’s evident that she doesn’t want to hear a word out of his mouth. As we all know, Scout talk A LOT, but if she liked him to any degree, she wouldn’t be this mean towards him. If anyone even tries to say “well maybe she’s mean bc she likes him” no. Sorry, not how healthy relationships work. If anything, that further proves my point on why they’re terrible together.

Now, lets look at other lines (I’m too lazy to add everyone):

See the major difference? Miss Pauling isn’t mean, rude, or dismissive. She’s friendly! She’s joking! Lines like these show that Miss Pauling considers Engie (and everyone else) her friends. Scout gets nothing like that.

By the way, Miss Pauling canonically hangs out with the mercs (and Saxton’s assistant Bidwell). When you look at her contract lines with everyone else (including Bidwell), she’s cheerful and having fun. Scout on the other hand? She’s a frustrated dungeon master because Scout wants to make a muscle wizard and won’t stop flexing.

My experience with dungeon masters has been “fuck it, be whoever you want”. I had the dumbest, weirdest characters, and the DMs didn’t care! That’s the fun of d&d (g&g for tf2). Miss Pauling not letting Scout have a buff wizard, and Scout not even trying to follow the rules, shows how incompatible they are. Neither of them are willing to make a compromise especially because of the fact that Scout’s a pretty narcissistic guy. He’s a pathological liar in the comics (which are coming up) to impress people. Who wants to date that?

Onto the congratulations:

Pretty standard, right? Nothing extraordinary or, honestly, anything outside of standard professionalism. Scout gets a quick thanks and the line goes dead.

For anyone else:

The other classes get something Scout doesn’t: enthusiasm. Miss Pauling is beaming in her lines for the other classes. Also, Scout has the least amount of congratulations (only 5) out of everyone. Miss Pauling also says to a few other classes “i owe you one” and “i knew you could do it”. Again, ten times friendlier than how she speaks to Scout. If she liked Scout, she would have similar lines or ones that are even a bit flirtatious. Nope. Nada.

COMICS

If you’ve only played the game, you’re missing out! The comics are great (and unfinished), and they also reveal more of how Miss Pauling engages with Scout. For example:

Immediately stopping him from talking again, and straight up letting him get hanged. If that was my crush, I would, you know, not let go so they don’t die. She has very little regard for Scout outside of “annoying guy I work with”. Hell, she canonically spends more time with virtually every other class (aside from Engie obviously and maybe Medic) than with Scout. Another thing in the comics:

This right here. Scout has been working for Mann Co. for six years (meaning he joined at 21). In six years, Miss Pauling has made zero indication of liking him. What person goes six years without even trying to flirt or even hit on with their crush? Especially when Scout is VERY LOUD about his infatuation. Even the biggest introvert would jump on that free chance.

Oh, another thing! When Scout tries to get some alone time with her (while fighting for their lives) she turns him down. Pauling would rather watch Soldier and Zhanna fight naked while cover in honey than go with Scout (who wouldn’t?) which, when you think about it, caused Scout’s death because he faced the Spy bots alone. Sorry Scout, ass and tiddies are more important than you!

EXPIRATION DATE

The long adored sfm video. While the video pretty much cements Scout’s feelings for Miss Pauling, it also cements her lack thereof. Lets dig in:

First off, we know that Scout only had the bravery to ask her out because he thought he was dying. How does he invite her? By setting off the briefcase alarm!

As Miss Pauling says, it’s “the one button he’s never supposed to touch”. Not only that, but it wasted her only day off of the year. A fact she is visibly pissed about and refers to a couple times. Scout was pretty selfish to do that. Another thing, Pauling repeatedly refers to the “date” as a prom. (“Are you guys having a prom?”) She literally had no idea Scout was asking her out. Why? Lets face it, she would say no or dismiss him yet again. Even Scout knew that, so he faked a literal emergency that forces her to visit. Once again, lying to try and impress her with a date.

So, Scout comes up with an elaborately self centered plan to get Miss Pauling to come to the base, and when she wants to storm out, he desperately tries to save face with dinner. Cue our bread monster fight where Scout confesses that he likes her. And her response? Nothing. Throughout the whole sequence, Miss Pauling doesn’t answer or even respond to a word he says. You’d think if you were in mortal danger, you’d tell your crush “i love you! Now help me kill this bread monster”

At the end, Scout says “so its a date?” To which our beloved Miss Pauling says, “well, no. You did waste my one day off”. Not only that, but Pauling even offers for him to join her on missions, which he instantly says no to. Idk about you, but I’d bury bodies with my crush any day of the week. The fact that Scout was offered multiple chances to even be near Miss Pauling willingly, yet turned them down, is pretty telling of his character.

Scout wants a date, yes, but how he envisions it. Typical candles and pretty lights with a pretty girl. Meaning, what he enjoys and what he sees their romantic life being like. Not shaving off fingerprints or hiding bodies. Things Miss Pauling does literally 24/7. You know, things she likes doing. Its evident in her vacation lines that she wants to go back to work and that she isn’t a fan of vacations. Once again, Scout’s selfishness stops him from getting anywhere near the girl he’s obsessed with.

So, we have: Pauling doesn’t want to hear Scout’s voice, she’s barely cordial with him, she sees Scout as at best a coworker, and she was, indirectly, responsible for his death. (Note: not making this into A Point, its just fucking hilarious).

All in all, these two have no chemistry. Scout has a six year long obsession, and Miss Pauling has a six year long distain for our quirked up white boy. Their whole dynamic is the age old “dumb jackass loser wants pretty girl” and lets face it, we’re sick of that. Scout couldn’t even come up with a reasonable, honest way to see Miss Pauling in person. He selfishly wanted a date (that fits his myopic view of what dating Miss Pauling looks like) and didn’t care how he got it.

I’m not trying to attack anyone with this post. Its a ship analysis, and I hope it at least points out the major flaws between them. Unless Scout changes his entire personality (he won’t), Miss Pauling is never gonna like him.

[boreal-wood]

Alright wise guy, what are your thoughts on the theme(s) of the first Mistborn book. This is literally an excuse for you to ramble about it, have fun.

VOID I LOVE YOU SM

So spoilers for Mistborn: The Final Empire! If you haven't read it, please beware because under the cut, Here There Be Spoilers (and also beware, Very Long post under the cut!)

The big running theme in The Final Empire is trust. Who can one really trust? Is it worth it to put your life in the hands of other people? What says they won't betray you as soon as it becomes favorable to do so?

Honestly this really is what Vin's character arc in the first book is about. At the beginning of the book, she's trapped in a low-level street gang where everyone is always out to get everyone else. Heck, the second time the audience ever sees her use her powers is when she is helping her boss betray a business partner.

Vin's brother has beaten into her the idea that she can trust nobody, not even him. Everyone is always out to hurt her or take advantage of her, and if she does not prove her immediate worth to her group, then at best she will be kicked out.

This, of course, is not helped by the fact that she is part of the literal slave class! Which is a whole nother essay tbh.

Then Kelsier takes her in and everything changes. There's a scene early on in the book, after vin formally joins the crew, where Kelsier and his men are all laughing and enjoying themselves while plotting their Big Plan™. And Vin, who does not trust any of them, is on the outside, quite literally. She's outside the room, watching them plan, wishing she could be included but not allowing herself to, because at this point in the book she still thinks they could betray her at any time.

I think now is a really good time to mention that being a Mistborn is built on secrecy and paranoia. Mistborn are literally the nobility's assassins. They hide their identities under hoods that blend into the mist so as not to be seen. So their powers cannot be used against them or their Noble Houses. In broad daylight they have to pretend to be normal people, or at best, regular Mistings. They can't trust anyone with the truth that they are Mistborn.

(Heck, even a quarter of their powerset- Copper and Bronze- create mistrust. With Bronze, after all, one can hear the allomantic pulses of burning another metal. Copper, on the other hand, blocks that; the use cases for these two metals lies in paranoia that someone else can use their Allomantic powers against you.)

Anyways! So we've explored some of the different aspects of mistrust in Mistborn, so what's the counterargument?

In a word: Kelsier.

Kelsier shakes up everything that Vin believes about how relationships work. He introduces his crew as something different- despite being a thieving crew, they operate under a principle of trust and camaraderie. "My crews rely on trust," Kelsier says at one point. In direct contrast to the dirty, paranoid crews Vin worked with before, Kelsier's crew is welcoming, understanding, and trusting of her.

But Kelsier's trust isn't just talk, either. When we learn that the crew believes Mare betrayed them in their last heist, Vin asks Kelsier how he could love Mare even though she betrayed him. Kelsier answers that given the choice between loving Mare and being betrayed or never knowing her, he would choose loving her. "I'd rather trust my men than worry about what will happen if they turn on me."

In the same passage as above, Kelsier poses a question to Vin: where has she been happier? with the old crews that we built on lies and suspicious, or with Kelsier's crew, who trusted each other and let their guards down? It's a rhetorical question, and the meaning is clear: Vin and Kelsier both are happier for risking themselves in order to be loved.

I don't think I've nearly done this topic justice. There are a million more points I could pull out and point to, but I want to end with my favorite quote from The Final Empire. It's from Vin, in Chapter 32. She says:

“Once I may have thought you a fool, but… well, that’s kind of what trust is, isn’t it? A willful self-delusion? You have to shut out that voice that whispers about betrayal, and just hope that your friends aren’t going to hurt you... Distrust is really the same thing, only on the other side. I can see how a person, given the choice of two assumptions, would choose to trust.”

[zvtara-was-never-canon]

sorry if this is a question out of your jurisdiction but i always see z*tara shippers and generally anyone not into kataang use meng's crush on aang being dismissed as a sign that the same should've happened with aang's crush on katara. i think that's bullshit but my best argument is that katara & aang are friends and actually KNOW each other, while meng only starts liking him for having big ears, so it's never meant to be a "lesson" or whatever. idk if that's really that good of a counterargument, but you seem to have good takes on this stuff generally

The show itself proves that "argument" is bullshit - we are shown, on-screen, the very moment in which the thought "Maybe Aang and could be more than friends someday" crosses Katara's mind for the first time.

She had not truly considered that possibility before, just like Aang had not considered that Meng had a thing for him (or even existed), but we are SHOWN when that stopped being the case. Meng is there for a bait and switch. It LOOKS like Aang's crush is doomed to be one-sided too, then the show explicitly says "Nope, it'll happen eventually, just not right now"

And I find it extra funny when ZUTARIANS are the ones trying to push that argument. Katara basically stating, on screen, for everyone to hear, that she is at the very least CONSIDERING Aang as romantic possibility? Them being super close friends through the entire show, with LOTS of flirty moments and even kissing twice? Her explicitly telling him on Ember Island "I'm confused, but I did NOT say that nonsense the play pushed of you being just a little brother in my eyes"? NONE of that is enough to justify a Kataang endgame according to them.

But Katara HATING Zuko's guts for 5/6 of the show? Trying to convince Aang to leave him to die in the North Pole? Zuko siding with Azula in Ba Sing Se then sending an assassin after the Gaang?Katara threatening to kill him if he hurts Aang? And even once they're friends they're BOTH very uncomfortable when people assume they're dating, to the point that they feel the need to not even be NEAR each other because the simple thought of being mistaken for a couple is that gross and weird to them? Now that is foreshadowing, setting up and developing a romance - are you fucking serious?

[darkfrost-star]

A little rant regarding Leaf in Pokemon Masters

I honestly really hate it when people try to use the metronome event to debunk the idea that Leaf getting a clefable as her lodge pair proves that her and Green are the same character.

Like first of all, the Metronome Event was a one off event that involved RENTAL Pokemon, which heavily implies that the trainers involved would've kept the mons involved TEMPORARILY. So really, given the nature of all those togepis and clefairies being one off partners, do you really think that any of the trainers would've kept any of them permanently, including Leaf?

And also, what Leaf says during the event with her April fools clefairy doesn't necessarily imply that she didn't have one at that point. She only gushes over the clefairy (as she does with any cute pokemon) and then states how she used to travel all over Mt Moon hoping to find (and presumably catch) the species.

If anything, from my observation it just seems like she's just reminiscing how much effort she put into finding the clefairy/Clefable that she already has, as a way to express her love for the species, not to say that she didn't have one at all up until the event. If that's what her line of dialogue was trying to imply instead, the writers would've made her say "I'm so glad that I finally have one!" But they didn't.

I know clefairy is a somewhat rare pokemon but it isn't THAT rare that it's possible that Leaf went through all of Mt Moon without even encountering one. I remember encountering and catching clefairy at Mt Moon without even trying during my playthroughs of FRLG.

And this is exactly why I don't think this counterargument works and is basically just mental gymnastics done by Leaf ≠ Green people to deny the fact that Leaf's lodge pair being a Clefable proves that her and Green are the same, as so far the lodge pairs have been consistent with what mons the characters have in the mainline games. There I said it.

[horizon-verizon]

It’s insane how they tried all season to make Alicent look like a good mother so that in the final chapter she decides to abandon her sons (including Daeron, her only good son) and TRIES TO ESCAPE FROM WHAT SHE HERSELF CAUSED.

It think the HotD writers have been studying up on what some people here on Tumblr and Twitter have said to counterargue a lot of what they perpetuated about Rhaenicent's relationship, alicent's justifications, etc. to replant them into showRhaenyra's mouth for the finale. Despite what condal says in that BigThink article Because....huh?

This is not a compliment, btw. I'm pointing out how unfit they are and how this would prove they are. If you truly understood & valued these points all along, you'd have not made some very problematic decisions in your 1st season! And you wouldn't be writing Rhaenyra as a "cult leader".

[rayrayvan]

Mirrorball

Shuri x fem!reader

warning: abusive parents, abuse like being struck, anxiety attack, mentions of anxiety, angst, curse words

When Shuri first met you, it was way back in college. She viewed you as someone selfish and competitive because, during one of the lectures, you always would answer even though you aren’t called or you answer someone else’s question.

She is viewed as a selfish and self-centered person. Who only takes pleasure in seeing others fail and so she became your academic rival. Challenging you during recitals or experiments.

It’s known throughout campus about the rivalry between the princess of Wakanda and the “self-centered” bitch. You were hated by your peers, even in the early stages of life. “I’d rather be called a bitch than be a people pleaser” You pointed out when Shuri would pick a fight with you.

“I mean does it hurt your pride to be a little considerate towards your group mates?” She asked “I mean really, it doesn’t even kill you to be kind to them? Are you that of a bitch? Was your childhood that awful to you that you had to take it out on other people?” She was agitated because she learned that you dropped all your group mates and she didn’t know the true reason

“You crossed a line there” Tear stains were visible on your face “You want a real answer to that, I didn’t drop them for no fucking reason. They didn’t even bother to help and went out partying all night. So yeah I’m that bitch who wouldn’t have to put up with lazy people who don’t bother to raise their grades. I care for my grades cause that is all I have to prove I’m not a fucking disappointment to my oh-so-perfect family!” You shouted back but Shuri was far too angry to let your words sink in. To her, you still are an inconsiderate bitch.

The rivalry continued. There was this debate that your professors arranged for. If you win the debate, you’d have the highest grade but if you don’t win… who are you kidding? You always win

Your parents were one of the board members and your mother was one of the judges that were invited to observe and grade the debate.

The debate was perfect and just how you planned it. That all shifted when you came face-to-face with Shuri during the rebuttal round.

Arguments and counterarguments were thrown left to right, time was ticking. You were confident enough that you’d win this but when you were halfway done with your counter-argument, the judge shouted “Time’s up” in return you begged them to let you continue the claim, which was also the reason you can outdo Shuri. You were disappointed and mad about it and when the scores were tallied, the professor told you who the winner was.

“It is the Affirmative side” Affirmative side? Shuri’s team? No there has to be a mistake

You were beyond shocked to hear the winner and you saw your mother eyeing you with disappointment lacing through her eyes “No there has to be a mistake!” You shouted “No dear, there isn’t,” The professor told you apologetically

“Accept it loser,” One of Shuri’s teammate told you but you could care less when your mother told you to come with her.

Shuri was out in a hallway when suddenly she heard a slap. It must be pretty hard how much noise it caused. When she looked around the corner, she saw you holding out your cheek.

Shuri couldn’t believe her eyes to see you struck by your mother. “You truly are a disappointment,” Your mother told you calmly like it was natural, and felt like she said that to you multiple times “You could’ve won it easily but you’ve gotten too weak. Your grades have been declining as well. I expect you to keep them in check next semester, you have just brought shame in our family name by not winning. Do it better next time” Your mother calmly added and was about to walk off but stopped and looked at you with no emotion “We’re going out for the holidays you’re staying at your grandparents' house” And with that, she walks off.

You stood there not even crying like it was something you had to keep up with every day. So with a reddened cheek, you walked off as if nothing happened.

Shuri watched the scene unfold and she felt bad for saying all those things to you. She felt bad cause she feels that you experience this every single day of your life. Your competitiveness had a reason, everything you did had a reason, she just didn’t realize that now.

Now as she returns to your dorm room, she spotted you pressing and holding a cold compress to your cheek and reading the future lessons. She approached you and asked, “ Do you experience that every day?” The question made you puzzled “What are you talking about?” You asked “I saw what your mother did to you” The revelation made sense now and it made you want to avoid the subject “I will not discuss anything with you about it” You calmly said and were about to stand up when Shuri held your wrist stopping you from your tracks. “I know it’s a sensitive subject and I respect that but I need to know, do you experience that every day?” She asked, trying to give you comfort but with how she treated you several months ago, you pulled your hand away from her grasp “You don’t get to ask me that, considering how you treat me several months ago. And since you want to know, yeah I get treated like that.” Tears were evident in your eyes and blurred your vision but you didn’t bother to wipe them off.

“Let’s talk about it-“Talk about it?” You interrupted her “Talk about what? Who are you to demand I talk to you about how my family treats me? For what? You didn’t bother to be my friend, I’ve made the perfect essays, and the perfect grades, woke myself up early in the morning for ballet classes then after school, drag myself out to participate in violin lessons. I got into this university to follow my plan but you came and wrecked it. I wanted to have the position you have right now but you’re here and I can’t seem to get that anymore.” You broke down for the first time, your chest felt heavy and your head was thumping, you were having an anxiety attack. Breathing seemed heavy, your mind was clouded, and you were frantically looking everywhere. Shuri was by your side and she kept whispering about following her breathing but you couldn’t hear anything so she place your hand on top of her chest and told you to follow her heart rhythm.

Later when you calmed down a bit, you were a bit embarrassed by how Shuri helped you. Shuri was just fetching some water and when she went back, she saw how avoidant you were with her. So she gave you the glass of water and sat down beside you, a little too close for your liking but you were blushing lightly. She looked at how you were drinking the water and clasped the empty glass and set it aside. Silence surrounded the atmosphere when you were about to apologize to her she held your hand tightly. “Hey, you don’t have to apologize for being like that, don’t also be embarrassed by it. I should be the one to apologize to you since I misjudged you and for that, I’m so sorry. I’m also sorry that you had to experience something like that” Shuri told you apologetically. When you gazed up to meet her eyes, she saw you smile and that melted her heart. You were finally smiling and that made her heart skip a beat.

You hugged her and she hugged you back. You whispered a thank you and she rubbed your back in a comforting manner. Let’s just say the hate that Shuri supposedly felt was turning into something different.

note: don't hesitate to correct me and please if there are errors and typos mention me so I'll be able to edit it thank you so much

[fipindustries]

man im still triggered by that tweet about the teacher who refuses to teach their students about devil's advocacy because like, even beyond the lofty enlightened idea of having empathy for your opponents and understanding their humanity and what not, from a pragmatical sense, when you want to argue for a cause you have to be able to argue both sides of the matter, you have to be able to anticipate the counterarguments, you have to be capable of understanding and thus dismantling the most persuasive, reasonable objections of your opponents, otherwise you are going to be caught flat footed against points that you have no good response to.

i dont trust that if i were to face the smartest flat earther in the world id be able to prove them wrong, because i dont actually know what they might argue, i dont know what a flat earther might say, they can always come up with something that i just did not anticipate and if that happens im caught with my pants down. if i were to try and debunk the flat earth i would have to go out of my way to become adroit at everything a flat earther believes and why it sounds good and then i can start dismantling it, otherwise all i have left is trying to discredit the other person which, fine, can work, but it can only take you so far in the eyes of others if you cant answer their questions and generally out of principle i dont like to do

[hindulivesmatter]

Ask for a source and you link a notorious right wing propaganda magazine known for spreading misinformation and yall are supposed to be taken seriously? And the way you keep on harping about Marxism you’d think we’re living in Mao’s China 😭

Please read political works that aren’t laced with hindutva/nationalist propaganda, even something “basic” like 1984 or Brave New World might be a good start lol

The magazine may be right-wing, but I think the article was pretty factual. We do not have the same religious freedom that other religions do. We are not allowed to teach our history in schools. Show me the lie.

I see you haven't added any facts, simply saying an article is propaganda article doesn't change or alter its contents. Unlike Al Jazeera, there are actual sources there. As I mentioned I was exhausted at the time else I would've compiled a list.

First, you ask what's discriminatory in the constitution then you don't have any counterarguments so you say that's right-wing? What a joke.

Speaking of Marxist Historians, it seems like you were grown on NCERT like basically everyone. NCERT has been proven to have information with no backups (see : Aurangzeb, Jahangir’s RTI, I hope you're aware of that at least?) Marxist Historians HAVE played a major role in hiding, distorting, and sanitizing history, it might not be Mao's China yet but there's good enough reason to call out historians like them.

You might wanna tap into Sita Ram Goel's Hindu Temples What Happened To Them Vol 1+2 (they're written with sources, Sita Ram Goel has taken up parts from invaders' biographies to prove his point unlike your Marxist historians who have a narrative to fulfill)

[Exhibit 81]

[mithliya]

Don't be a pendant and a hypocrite. On the one hand you always accuse Israelis of being Europeans (European Jews who lost two thirds of their population) and now you are pretending Israelis (almost 75% Jewish) were affected by holocaust is a lie. And if you are going to deflect by pointing out that Israel has unequal wealth distribution (like literally every other country in the world) to criticize Israel, meanwhile Hamas has a revenue of hundreds of millions of dollars and their leaders are billionaires yet Gazans rot in poverty. And there's a difference between Israel attacking Hamas targets hiding among civilians too take them out vs Hamas attacking Israeli civilians because they want to genocide the Jewish population. You don't understand the difference between war and genocide and everytime someone points out the double standards you tokenize a few Jews to keep doing the hypocrisy.

i wrote a whole thing but tumblr glitched out and honestly someone as dishonest as u doesnt deserve my time so let me summarise

true: israel was formed by european jewish people, and zionism is a european ideology.

false: israel was formed by holocaust survivours

also false: zionism was formed by holocaust survivours

also false: zionism was an ideology that came as a result of the holocaust

true: there are holocaust survivours & their descendants who live in israel today

false: the holocaust was an attack on israelis, a group of people who didnt even exist when the holocaust was ongoing

true: a huge percentage of the european jewish community was killed in a genocide (the holocaust)

false: a huge percentage of the israeli population, who again didnt exist as an entity during the holocaust, were killed in a genocide.

to anyone with two brain cells to rub together, theres an obvious distinction between claiming israel lost 2/3rds of its population to the holocaust and claiming european jewish people, many of whom are not israeli, lost 2/3rds of their population to the holocaust. the former is intentionally misrepresenting history to justify an ongoing genocide, the latter is the reality of the situation.

when you can only justify israel by pointing at hamas, then you’ve already lost. i already oppose hamas, so your counterargument doesnt work. if the bar is so low that you can only justify yourself by pointing to an extremist islamist group then perhaps you already know how morally decrepit you & your genocidal movement are. dismissing the same holocaust survivours you pretend to care for by saying its mere “income inequality” that 1/3rd of holocaust survivours in israel are impoverished shows exactly how much you care about holocaust survivours. its beyond sick using survivours of a genocide to justify another genocide, while proving that you actually dont care for those survivours to begin with.

hamas didnt exist when israel raped and massacred and expelled palestinians in 1948. it doesnt exist in the west bank, where thousands of palestinians were kidnapped & 100s killed & thousands displaced due to settler violence that is backed by the IDF. israel choosing to attack UN buildings, schools, residential buildings, hospitals, and the same “safe routes” they tell palestinians to do to with no attempts to minimise civilian casualties isnt somehow justifiable when you pretend its all done to get hamas. israel killing palestinians and injuring many more in 2018 when palestinians protested peacefully cant be justified by hamas. starving all of gaza and withholding water & fuel & electricity cant be justified by hamas. several israeli politicians outright calling for the genocide of palestinians in gaza isnt somehow justified bc of hamas.

“few jews” please keep pretending like jewish people are all pro-genocide and occupation while pretending like im the unreasonable one here.

people like you who justify genocide in the face of this much evidence are monsters, plain & simple. you are disgusting.

[self-spaghettification]

Because we might find out today as the new missing scene is shown, I need you to know that I think

Why I'm Confident Viren is not dead and I will die on this hill Unlike him Part 2 Electric Boogaloo

This time with a more evidence backed and clearly stated argument

Whether you like Viren or hate his guts or just find him an interesting character, I still think it’s going to be interesting for all of us, and ultimately more satisfying than his death alone.

Let’s get into it.

Primary Evidence

Aaron’s reply in a Twitter Q&A

Devon’s comment on the short reflections story, strangers

TDP Official Discord Q&As after S4

We know it’s not about the short story between them because that story primarily delves into the introspection behind the scene that was “not a very satisfying moment.” Aaron even says yes, Soren and Viren will get a chance to straight up confront each other outside of that moment in the reflections, and that the most meaningful interactions are yet to come.

It says most meaningful interactions, plural, so I don't think it's possible that's the only one.

Counterargument:

While that's true, I think it'd be a dissatisfying ending and there's more potential to his arc, especially reconciling his mistakes/failures with his children rather than escape through death as a martyr of sorts, and l'd be glad if Wonderstorm chose to explore that.

Additional Points:

Summing up the photos above: Aaron and Devon also been very clear on how Viren and Soren will have more interactions plus at the very least, mysterious/open ended on whether he will survive, while in comparison, after S1 they were straightforward and shot down theories that Harrow would survive (re: Pip the bird)

Meanwhile, there are like 10 different ways Viren could survive/be revived. (Claudia, in one way or another. Sir Sparklepuff. Kim’dael blood pact. A storm. The sun not rising. Some other dark or star magic. Some loophole in what was said. A metaphor. Maybe him even changing his mind. Who knows. Point is, it’s still possible.)

Additionally, the whole villain martyr thing has already been done plenty a time (looks at Shadow Weaver and Darth Vader immediately) and I don’t think it’s the direction they have to go with Viren.

We also have the whole redemption themes, picking a third option instead of believing you “have no choice” or are at “a horrifying crossroads” like, no. You have “two cakes” so I believe they will deliver on that.

P.S. They have done fake outs and cliff hangers several times in TDP before. This would not be an outlier.

Conclusion

A redemption arc would just be cooler to see, and I feel like if any show can pull it off, it’s TDP. Give me all of the awkward moments of reconciliation. All the pain and crying together. All the attempts to prove yourself that aren’t immediately accepted because you’ve still done terrible things in the past. All the distrust and vitriol. All the guilt being confronted. It’s going to be delicious and I am so here for it.

[antiproshipconfessions]

Hey there! I was the proshipper who made the post about Nazi OCs. I see you antis talked about it, and I’d like to reply to the anon who said "i checked that nazi link and it was an autistic person with a special interest in history and wwii who made nazi ocs when they were 13"

First of all, my special interest is WWII history, not general history. Second, yes, I created nazi OCs as well as soviet OC's when I was 13, and I still create them. So what? That’s not the point of my original post, and I find it interesting how you completely missed what I was actually trying to say.

My post wasn’t about me being autistic or about my OCs. It was about censorship in fiction and how no one has the right to dictate what others can or can’t create. By ignoring that core argument and focusing on irrelevant details about me, you’re not only proving my point but also making it clear you had no real counterargument. The fact remains: you have no right to control what others create, enjoy, or explore in fiction. If someone’s fictional creations don’t glorify or condone harmful ideologies, you have no justification to tell them to stop creating their content.

If you had genuinely read my post, you would’ve seen that I was discussing how antis constantly try to police others’ creative freedoms. You deliberately avoided discussing my actual argument about creative freedom just to make me look bad, and that’s exactly the kind of behavior I was criticizing in the post. You don’t have to like what I create, but your personal preferences do not give you the right to impose rules on others or dictate what is "acceptable" in the realm of art and storytelling. So next time, I suggest you engage with the actual argument instead of misrepresenting it to make yourself look like the right one. If you want to engage with the actual topic, I’d be happy to discuss it. Otherwise, cherry-picking irrelevant points only weakens your position.

why nazi oc's though, like, I'm dead ass surprised, I'm not even Jewish and I was offended when I heard that