#despite the horrific atrocities committed by and for them

[llycaons]

shopping for postcards for beloved mutuals and realizing how much I really really don't like this city

[girlfictions]

something i’ve been thinking about lately is like. growing up muslim right after 9/11 is something i’d never really reflected on much because it was all i’d ever known — at 5, my friend’s mum didn’t let her invite me to her birthday party because i was the only brown girl in our class, at 12, my classmates would joke about my family being part of isis, at 16, my dad was interrogated by american airport security for hours — and it always stung and it always hurt but it was just the way things were because the western world hated muslims. but i don’t think i’ve ever fully comprehended the extent to which we were hated until now.

palestine is being turned into a mass graveyard. every single day there are new photos of the atrocities being carried out against them and videos of them pleading for help and still those who can actually intervene turn a blind eye. israel is claiming to only be targeting hamas “terrorists” while bombing a refugee camp. israeli police raided and assaulted a non-zionist jewish neighbourhood. israeli soldiers are posting tiktoks of them torturing captured palestinians. this is not a complicated issue and it never has been. ethnic cleansing is being committed right in front of us. and yet the western world leaders refuse to call for a ceasefire.

and while zionist organisations accuse pro-palestine demonstrations of anti-semitism, while zionist celebrities insist that they’re afraid to leave their mansions in los angeles, a six year old muslim boy was stabbed to death and his mother wounded in the same attack in chicago. a muslim doctor was murdered while sitting outside her apartment complex in texas. hundreds of peaceful protesters have been arrested (many of whom have been jewish). despite what zionists want you to believe, this is not a jewish/muslim conflict. i have so much love and gratitude to my brave jewish brothers and sisters all over the world who are condemning israel for their actions.

ultimately, israel have been granted impunity by the west. they have slaughtered thousands upon thousands of innocent palestinians. they have bombed hospitals and schools indiscriminately. they have used white phosphorus, violating the geneva convention. they have completely eradicated nearly 900 bloodlines. how many more need to be wiped out? how many more children need to be buried underneath the rubble? how many more doctors need to be confronted with the bodies of their own family members? how many more journalists need to detail the horrific acts of violence they are witnessing? what more can be done to the palestinian people that has not been done already?

i truly believe that palestine will be free one day. i believe the palestinian people will receive the justice they finally deserve. but what breaks my heart is how much they have suffered and will continue to suffer before they are deemed worthy of help. and it would be to all of our detriment if we ignored how much of a factor palestine being a predominantly muslim state has played into the way the world has reacted to their genocide.

[eemamminy-art]

I was talking about this in a server but I wanted to put the thoughts here too

I think Zenos being the way he is stems so much from Emet-selch's beliefs that sundered people are lesser. Like it's the generational trauma that made Zenos that way in the sense of Solus' cruelty to Varis led to Varis' cruelty toward Zenos, but I also think that the loss of the ancient world and the contempt Emet-selch holds for humanity is also something he instilled in both Zenos and Varis. The notion that humanity is just inherently corrupt and evil, and that people will always resort to violence and harm toward one another because he's seen so many conflicts and nations that rose and fell over the millennia.

So in his kin, that sentiment is passed on. In Varis' case, he is aware of his grandfather being an ascian and is very much like, "I will be the exception to the rule, I will be the example of mankind standing above the ancients." Except, of course, Varis uses this mentality to justify some of the most horrific atrocities a person could commit, such as mass genocide through black rose, or killing his own family members in the civil war that followed Solus' death. Varis has this notion that he's an example of a "good" human, despite doing all of the terrible things that Emet-selch ascribes to humanity as a whole.

In Zenos' case, he was groomed to be a living weapon and has come out the other side of it with this bleak outlook. If humans are inherently cruel and evil and corrupt, why does anything matter? It made his baseline assume the worst in everyone, including himself, so his apathy is all-encompassing. There is no right or wrong, everyone kills everyone and it's all fucked up, so why bother trying to be "right"? What even are "right" and "wrong" anyway? It allows him to be someone who does horrific things, while searching for some kind of purpose or meaning. I wish we had gotten to see more of Fandaniel and Zenos interacting, because I think they are so similar in the sense of wanting for meaning and purpose but being so disillusioned with the world and with the cruelty of others that they themselves became cruel.

I think long before the "would you be happier had I a good reason?" speech and Alisaie's rebuttal to it, Zenos had this curious little seed embedded in him by his encounters with the warrior of light. It's not unlike how Lyse spends much of 4.0 both hating Fordola, and also being fiercely curious as to why she is the way she is and seeking to understand her. With Lyse though, she is guided by her strong sense of empathy and the notion that all of her people deserve their homeland returned to them regardless of their actions, while Zenos lacks empathy completely and up until now didn't really think about anyone, not even himself. But that curiosity is there, deep down, and I think it is a major driving force in keeping him going forward.

You could argue that Zenos' motivations are selfish: he does say himself that he is chasing the high of battle with a worthy opponent, and I think on some level that is true. But there is something deeper to it, something that really makes him question all he's known: "In that transcendent moment, what was it that I sought in you? And what was it that you sought in me?" He's seeking purpose, he's seeking the reason for what motivates people like the warrior of light to do good, and what "good" even is. It's so contrary to everything he's known, but it grabs hold of him until it becomes an obsession.

I think it's further elaborated on with some of Zero's story arc where she's learning about empathy, although her reasons for being that way are somewhat different from Zenos, I think they are similar on some level in that they can't really understand empathy or inherent goodness. She does eventually learn it, of course, and I'd like to think if given the chance to survive beyond the battle with the Endsinger, that Zenos could have gone on a similar journey too. That's what I envision anyway.

[blasphemousclaw]

honestly i think the most that can be assumed from hornsent wearing the caterpillar mask is that hes okay with the jarring process, since it has such heavy connections to bonny village+the gaols, plus i think itd make an interesting parallel to marika where you have these two traumatized characters who lost everything to horrific acts of violence whod them go on to condone OTHER horrific acts of violence just because it happened to The Other Guy (hornsent losing his family to the crusade, being okay with jarring shamans cuz its an important ritual of his people and he desperately struggles to retain any last connection he can to them; marika losing her family to jarring, sending messmer to crusade against the hornsent without caring about his methods just so shed have her vengeance)

theres even something to be drawn about marika from how hornsents quest ends ("if miquellas redemption would quell the desire for revenge i feel, then i dont think i want him to redeem anything after all" <-poorly summarized dialogue lmao) wherein, combined with the shaman village lore, we can draw the parallel that marika didnt *want* her thirst for vengeance slaked, because much like how killing messmer didnt bring back any of hornsents people, becoming a god was equally disatisfying for marika. in much the same way marika tramples over corpses to become a god, hornsent metaphorically walks over messmers corpse to try and take his place as crusader, this time against the people of the erdtree.

it also paints messmer in a REALLY interesting light. hornsent is so consumed by revenge he doesnt focus on anything else beyond a nostalgic reminiscence. miquellas goal, as told to him, is to give the hornsent a chance at peace and to rebuild, and hornsent would rather sacrifice that to feed his own flames of vengeance. similarly we can assume marika never told messmer the location of bonny village or the gaols because theyre untouched by the crusade, despite definitely knowing where they are, and the gaols indicate that even after bonny village stopped sending jars, they remained in use by utilizing prisoners (potentially even prisoners of war+deserting soldiers) for at least SOME time before we find them. indicating that also, to marika, it was the death that was important. the fear, and the killing, and the slaughter. messmer by contrast sets up a clinic for the jarred shamans, is capable of being convinced against crusading and burning certain areas such as salza arguing in favor of sparing rauh, and has a library dedicated to the people hes genociding that stores information about their culture and anatomy (judging by the models he has hanging in the storeroom).

messmer, who places himself symbolically between the hornsent and marika to spare her the shame of being the face of the crusade, committing atrocities out of sympathy and love for his mother, vs hornsent who desires to commit atrocities out of an overwhelming need for revenge, vs marika who DID commit atrocities for revenge and desired them to never stop even if it meant losing the things she cared about (despite initially showering messmer with blessings and affection and special physiks, eventually she stopped saying anything at all about the war without grace or honor, and only miquellas prying reveals it all again, including the son she loved and left behind)

like UGHHHH i LOVEEE when characters have foils and you can use the patchwork of lore to help fill in the blanks about everyone theyre connected to

oh Hornsent and Marika are ABSOLUTELY meant to be parallels… both are on revenge quests where their goal is to keep killing and killing until every single person related to their enemy is dead. Marika has Messmer burn the Hornsent cities to the ground in vengeance for her murdered village, but most of these people were civilians, farmers… familes and their children who had probably never even seen a jar — their only crime was to be part of the same society.

Hornsent, though he despises Marika and Messmer for burning his family to death, does exactly the same thing that she did: he vows to kill Marika and ALL her kin, and he goes after us even if we helped him simply because we are one of Marika’s chosen. It doesn’t matter that we gave him scorpion stew and that I’m sure deep down he wants to like us, we were always marked for death in his eyes just because of who we are.

This is exactly the purpose of the caterpillar mask… feeling any guilt or regret about his actions would get in the way of Hornsent’s sworn mission. Hornsent having this mask implies that he had some knowledge of what the potentates did and sought out their attire for their violent rituals as a touchstone for his own violent quest. A lot of people act as if the jarring process was something the entire hornsent population explicitly believed in and supported, and it’s true that the practice is basically built into the society’s entire prison system, but the ritual slaughter and jar worship are implied to be esoteric practices carried out only by specific groups of people… I highly doubt this is a practice that every Hornsent knows of intimately and enthusiastically supports. And we know some did explicitly oppose the jar rituals; the greater potentate who wrote the cookbooks we find was disgusted by the practices of his village. So Hornsent finding and wearing the potentate mask is like him knowingly embracing the darkest, most violent parts of his society in order to use them against their enemies.

Messmer’s position in this story really is interesting because with Hornsent’s quest, he’s set up to be like his “final boss,” the guy who cruelly slaughtered his people and called them savages. But when we actually get to Messmer, he’s so much more subdued then we’d have thought, like an apathetic shell of his former self… he doesn’t even verbally acknowledge Hornsent’s presence, like he means nothing to him. The war against the Hornsent was never Messmer’s war, it was Marika’s. Messmer carried out this violence in vengeance for his mother and her village, but when Marika stops speaking to him altogether, the war starts to feel more and more like pointless violence, like he’s just going through the motions.

I won’t go so far as to say that Messmer had much sympathy for the Hornsent he was murdering; the specimen storehouse was more of a project said to be created by his fire knights who were uncomfortable about letting an entire society’s knowledge go up in flames (but chose to burn it anyway). but he absolutely has a different attitude than his mother… he feels more like her tool… used up and discarded

and lol no worries

[mendokayalways]

I think we're forgetting in the whole idea of Cassida's tragedy and the Society of Primes in their devotion to the deities despite the anti-god stance of most Aeorian mages (I know they were already discovered by the Aeor govt but beyond that) before they tested it on any god - there was a in-world theory that Aeor was going to test the Malleus Factorum on another magocracy before any actual divine entity. They were gonna Death Star a civilization of mortals before they took out any Prime OR Betrayer. Aeor's Downfall was a tragedy but that doesn't mean that Aeor wasn't a horrifying place with horrifying ideals with just as little regard for mortal life as the Gods. The magocracies in general - we see it with the Ring of Brass and how they view "terrestrials". The way when Aeor comes to "save the refugees" only people who can contribute labor/materials to their society are valued - everyone else is left to die on a scorched Exandria. It's the same folly with Ludinus who refuses to see that he is no better than the Gods because he is making a huge gamble with the existence of the entire Exandrian AND Ruidian population, he has destroyed a city for an experiment, a communion. It's one thing to resent the gods for their horrific actions - but to commit the same atrocities in a war against them and declare yourself morally superior because of your hatred of them is just fucking hypocritical.

[grimalkinmessor]

Not to keep harping on it but Death Note has plenty of fridge horror to go along with the unintentional humor and romance.

Like,,,the ENTIRETY of Wammy's House is such a fucked up concept. An orphanage where they crank out genius kids into the world by...what? What are they doing with those kids? What do you mean one of them died in there? Wait—and the second one is a serial killer? And one joined the mafia? What—WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THOSE KIDS—

Not to mention the intricacies of L and Watari's relationship. He's seen as a butler/father figure until you find out that he's an inventor/war vet who took in an orphan with the express purpose of making him useful. No wonder Wammy's runs the way it does when the og, the man it is named after sees children as tools and means to an end. And, given that L has already made them so much money playing stocks that it doesn't even matter anymore (Mr. Builds A Skyscraper To House Five People), why is Quillish still with him? To keep an eye on him? To make sure L doesn't forget where he came from? Out of some sort of guilt for never teaching him how to take care of himself because those weren't the skills that Quillish thought it important to cultivate? Or maybe even to keep him dependent on Quillish to keep functioning properly.

And then there's the horror of L himself. Not even the implications of him, but the proof of who he is and what he can do. The thought of a man with so much money and power and influence that if he wanted to make you disappear, if he wanted to torture you or hold your loved ones hostage or kill you and everyone that's ever shaken your hand he could and no one would fucking bat an eye—that's fucking terrifying. (Where the fuck is Beyond—) And, not only does he have the power to do all that; no one would question it because he's part of Law™. His every action can be excused as being part of the Greater Good, despite the fact that L himself has admitted that everything he does is for his own benefit and/or entertainment.

Light, of course, is an obvious horror—but one of the most horrific things about him is glossed over. I'm not someone who personally believes in the Death Note's corruptive powers or aura or whatever, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the fact that, once you give up the Death Note, your memories of it are erased. All the people you've killed, all the things that you've seen, you've still seen and done all those things, you just don't remember it. There's a hole in your mind, and all that prickly, thorny mess that grew in you when you were a killer is still there, choking you—you just don't know why. Why are you so unfazed by death? Why don't you cry when your mother dies? Why are you so afraid of being something that looks like you? Will you ever be certain of anything again? Will you ever, truly, know yourself when you can't remember all the atrocities you've committed? Can you ever change and grow again if your roots are gone? Or are you stuck in stasis forever now, your mind stalling in one place in order to keep you from remembering the people you've killed?

[fuckyeah-bears]

Genuine question. What was it about Hamas breaking into homes, doing war crimes, killing civilians, raping women, killing and possibly beheading babies made y'all break your "no politics" rule to post support about it?

Condemning one side for genocide while ignoring the other side chanting "gas the Jews" is a special kind of irony.

i don't have the energy to respond to this right now. i never once said i approved of or condoned hamas. hamas is a terror organization and any and all killing of human beings is wrong. however you are listening to propaganda. most of the sensationalized headlines about hamas, specifically the beheading one have all been proven to be fake and have literally no evidence. hamas does not represent the palestinian people or the people of gaza. and yet the genocidal israeli government has decided to indiscriminately punnish all 2.1 million people living in gaza for the horrific actions of hamas. this is called collective punishment and it is literally defined as a war crime. gaza's population is 50% children. gaza is the world's largest concentration camp and open air prison. it has been under military blockade for the past 16 years. israel controls the food water electricity fuel movement of people and everything else going in and out of gaza.

this is a walled off open air prison that is extremely densely populated, extremely poor, and full of children. and israel is depriving the entire population of food, clean water, electricity, and carpet bombing them, using banned illegal chemical weapons, refusing to allow in humanitarian aid. they have bombed hospitals, bombed residential buildings, bombed people fleeing after israel told them to evacuate (but joke was on them because they can't evacute since there's no where to go because israel controls all the check points and refuses to let palestinians out, instead trapping them in gaza while there's still no electricity or water or food or any other supplies coming in.

and then don't even get me started on the propaganda israel has been using to demonize and dehumanize palestinians. the defense minister literally called all palestinians "human animals" and said israel would treat them as such. top government officials have released images depicting palestinians as cockroaches and insects needing to be exterminated. they have referred to all gazan's as terrorists to justify their massacre of them.

this is fucking genocide. this is exactly what the nazi's did to jewish people. this is genocide. this is genocide. this is genocide. i have not heard a single palestinian person directing hatred at jewish people. (which is not to say that there has been no antisemitism going on, because there absolutely has, and I wholeheartedly despise it). however i have heard them criticize the israeli government for its depravity and cruelty and literal fucking war crimes it is gleefully committing.

criticizing israel for committing genocide is not antisemetic. criticizing a government for doing horrific evil highly illegal things against international law and against literally all moral humanity and human decency is not antisemetic. it is literally the morally right thing to do. what israel is doing is evil.

there are jewish people who agree wholeheartedly that israel's illegal occupation of palestine and their apartheid and ethnic cleansing are horrific. because they are.

and don't talk about irony. israel is the biggest fucking hypocrite in the entire fucking world. surviving a genocide does not give you the fucking right to perpetrate another genocide. but here israel is. and despite everything they do, they somehow always always play the victim despite the fact that they are the oppressor. israel will always say that any criticism of them and their actions is antisemetic. when in fact, it is entirely justified criticism of a deeply awful and morally bankrupt governnment that is and has been perpetrating heinous atrocities against the people of palestine for decades.

israel gives all jewish people a bad name. because real jewish people know that genocide is never okay. real jewish people know that israel's actions against palestinians are horrific and in no way justified. real jewish people stand with palestinians and support a free palestine.

all this and more is why it is the morally correct thing to do to support palestine and take a stand agains israel

and because you asked, the reason i'm breaking the 'no politics' rule is because of the responses from people like you. so many people have bought into israel's propaganda and their dehumanization of palestinians. there is so much islamophobia that any time people hear a single critique of israel, they jump in to condemn hamas and say 'oh so you support hamas' 'what about hamas' 'so you approve of people wanting to kill jews', demonstrating the insane racist mental gymnastics they are doing by literally mentally equating all palestinians with terrorists who deserve to be killed. and this is so widespread. people and all the world governments are sitting back and watching as this happens without lifting a goddamn fucking finger. with ukraine and russia, everyone jumped in to defend ukraine and support them and condemn russia. immediately. but it's radio fucking silence for palestinne. because of racism and islamophobia and because people are too cowardly to take a stand and risk pissing off all the masses of misinformed racist islamophobic biased people who support israel. and not only are people not fucking talking about it (or only talking about poor innocent israel and their right to 'defend themselves' which is the biggest fucking load of shit ever), almost all of our governments are actively funding israel's military. the very same fucking military that is literally committing a genocide right now.

if you're not horrified by all of this, then you are not a human being. if you do not stand with palestinians as israel blatantly to tries to annihilate them, then you do not have an ounce of humanity left in your soul.

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

[the-irreverend]

As a big fan of the Fallout show (and an even bigger fan of Undertale lol), I couldn't help but notice some very interesting parallels between Barb and Asgore:

A) They love and care about their family very, very much, so much that it ultimately ends up being the reason they do the horrific things they ultimately do. Barb did those things to protect her family from tragedy, while Asgore did so to avenge a tragedy.

B) Ironically, what only adds to their respective tragedies, in attempting to do (what they think) is best for their family, their actions only end up damaging their family as they drive a wedge between themselves and their spouses. Toriel becomes embittered with Asgore for seeking to destroy humanity, and Cooper becomes embittered with Barb for succeeding.

C) Although they still fully commit to the atrocities they're guilty of, it brings them an unfathomable degree of heartache, pain, and regret. They do the things they do not because they believe it's the best choice but because they believe they have no other choice.

D) Despite wielding a great deal of power and influence in their position, it's a prison for them. Neither of them can't just simply escape or walk away. If Asgore abdicated the throne, it would mean leaving his people unavenged and without hope for freedom. If Barb left her position at Vault-Tec, it would mean leaving her loved ones at the mercy of the bombs (or worse, Vault-Tec themselves.

E) Although they are both far from being good people, they still have an EXTRAORDINARY amount of complexity and nuance, which makes it all the more disappointing when I see fans mischaracterize/demonize them.

[utilitycaster]

fascinating how some people are acting like Liliana’s one of the vulnerable teenagers the RV has recruited and not a powerful, presumably level 20 general who’s committed horrific atrocities in the name of predathos. it’s like saying alex jones is a victim of qanon instead one of the primary peddlers of it. I get having sympathy, especially for for the troubled young mother 25+ years ago, but genuinely. what is going on here?

Hey anon,

Something I've noticed in fandom, not exclusive to this campaign, though perhaps heightened, is that a lot of people really struggle with the concept that victimhood does not absolve you of wrongdoing. It provides context; but it doesn't take away what happened to others as the result of one's actions, even those actions were taken under extenuating circumstances.

Caleb Widogast is perhaps one of the most stellar examples of this in Critical Role. There were many extenuating circumstances. He was an abused and manipulated teenager. His parents are dead by his hand. These are both true statements. Part of what makes Caleb so compelling is that he is, on an intellectual level, well aware that he was pushed into this in many ways both psychological and magical, and that he was a child. He also acknowledges - truthfully - that it was still him putting the pieces together of "my parents are traitors, and so I should do as I'm told here." The story is about him finding a way to move forward and live his life, but the victims - his parents - cannot forgive him, and the campaign indeed ends with a very clear message that what is done cannot be undone.

But not everyone liked Caleb's story. Some felt he should have been less forgiving of others and killed the entire Cerberus Assembly for letting it happen. Some felt he was unforgivable even by himself for his actions. And some disagreed with him - including in-world - and argued he bore no responsibility, and, notably, Caleb consistently pushed back.

I don't think Liliana is quite at the level of Alex Jones (who is, in my opinion, pretty much wholly unsympathetic; I've read through some articles regarding the Sandy Hook defamation trials and this guy just wants to sell supplements and will do anything to do so). But yes, she is comparable to someone actively pushing dangerous conspiracy theories and bringing others in. That is, again, the thing about cults. Even if you're not at the top, if you're recruiting others, or, in the case of cults that do harm to those other than just members - which the Vanguard undeniably does - participating in harmful external actions, then you are perpetrating violence. You are also a victim. These can coexist, but victimhood does not negate the harm done. Liliana is sympathetic. She is also actively making the lives of many people worse.

Now, some of the problem is that there are people who think releasing Predathos is not, in fact, bad, and so to them Liliana is not complicit in a sufficient level of harm. I'm not really interested in wasting my time on them; that line of thinking is pretty fundamentally at an impasse with mine and as discussed previously I find it rests entirely on incoherent and presumptive arguments linked only by broken metaphors and rank hypocrisy. But moving on, I think some of the other people arguing in defense of Liliana not just as a sympathetic character (which, again, she is) but as someone blameless and deserving of endless patience are perhaps struggling to separate "it is not helpful to endlessly flagellate yourself over past wrongdoings if you have truly made a turn for the better" with "some people will not forgive you, ever, because you have undeniably harmed them, and you are not owed anything from them." You have to live with yourself; of course you should grant yourself patience. Those hurt by you do not need to do so. If someone is brainwashed by a cult and they kill someone, the relatives of the murder victim might forever hold this against the murderer despite the brainwashing, and I, personally, do not believe this is wrong of them. I don't believe it's "inspirational" to forgive someone who hurt you sufficiently badly except in the sense that it would be put in the "inspirational" section of an airport bookstore that really means "extremely Evangelical Protestant in outlook." I don't think you should hurt them back once they've stopped doing harm, but you might never want to speak to them or interact with them again and I think you are valid in that choice. I certainly believe that any forgiveness can only come after a sustained pattern of change.

In short: I think people want a very Good or Evil narrative about Liliana when the answer is "she's a victim and she's also victimizing others, and it's valid for those harmed by her or by those she works with closely to say "I am deeply sorry you fell into Ludinus's clutches but the devastation you are leaving in your wake isn't something I can ignore or, at this point, forgive." As Ashton says, the fact that Liliana is deep in a cult doesn't negate the fact that there's a very real chance that same cult will kill her daughter - indeed, they came within a hair's breadth of doing so - and that that hasn't stopped her.

[radmalenia]

Most retarded zionist shit I've seen. Cringe settler moment

Ah...wow. This response will be a little lengthy. There is a shit ton to unpack in these two braindead sentences and I won't even get to it all here.

So first off, you used an ableist slur. Great start /s.

Second, you must have seen a post on my blog earlier with a message that boiled down to - "Hamas have done Very Bad Things, and intend to do more if they can (specifically to Jewish Israelis;) and so they must be seen for what they are and stopped" - Because that's all I can remember reposting in the last few weeks concerning this conflict. So apparently you decided that wanting them stopped is "Zionist"?? Not only that but some of the most dumb "Zionist" shit you've seen?

...I'm not buying that. It feels like you're just saying bullshit to be inflammatory.

And it seems you wouldn't know genuine Zionism if it smacked you in the face. Because you just think "Zionism" is anything that says something else beyond a simple "free palestine". Right?

It's telling how people like you never want anyone to discuss anything else - you want the discussion to simply be "Palestine good, Israel bad, no other players involved and no further nuance". You never want people to freely discuss Hamas... even as Hamas harms Palestinians all the time. If people try to you call it "zionism"; trying to shut it down on the spot.

- Would you even believe it if you were shown proof of Hamas stealing trucks full of food and aid meant for palestinians? Of them shooting any palestinians who tried to get to the trucks first?

- Would you even condemn the horrific rapes and murders they committed against innocent festival goers back in October; or would you ignore it? Or dismiss the horrors they committed as lies or exaggeration? Despite all the nauseating, traumatizing video and photo evidence? Despite a photo of some of them with their boots on the corpse of a woman they gangraped and murdered, literally winning a fucking "photo of the year" award?? Or worse, would you maybe argue it's "justified" because they've "had their land stolen and been oppressed for decades" or some such bullshit?... Because I've read people say that more than once now.

And if so, you should go die; because that would make you a vile disgrace - seeing how plenty of people have been terribly oppressed and yet never turned to violently raping and torturing to "protest" it or to "defend themselves". Seeing how rape is never self defense. And how there is never any justification for rape. Period.

So! We can and should criticize Hamas. And that is not fucking "Zionism" - it's criticizing terrorists. Hamas also wishes to wipe out all Jews; if somehow they won this conflict they would carry out genocide in Israel against the seven million Jews there. Whatever you believe Israel is or is not doing; they do have to contend with this threat. Palestine needs to be freed from this mess, but its freedom cannot come at the cost of the psychopathic rapist monsters who believe they have a religious mandate to wipe out Jewish people (and ideally other non-believers too;) being allowed to enact their sick intentions.

Speaking about this is no indication of Zionism OR anti-Zionism, it is simply the truth. Regardless of whatever the current actions of the Israeli government are; the truth about Hamas remains the same - that they are an Islamic terrorist organization who has committed atrocities, abuses israelis and palestinians alike, and says how they intend death to all Jews. An organization who are run and funded by a group of multi-billionaires who live safely in Qatar and have worked with media and other sources around the world for years now to make it so that, once this happened; many people would fucking defend Hamas instead of condemn them for the monsters they are.

They've gotten people like you to talk like criticizing them is some fascist action. To throw around shameful nonsensical things like "criticizing Hamas...is a settler mindset" .

Your brain is more twisted around than a complicated knot. At best you are deeply cringe and embarrassing and are projecting that onto others. At worst you might defend horrific atrocities and do apologetics for violent rape; and therefore are someone who would be better off not wasting oxygen.

Hopefully it's just the former.

Either way, you've just made a complete fool of yourself here in my ask box.

I hope if you read this then at least it will untie the knots in your brain a little.

[shirtlessradfahrer]

So I've been politically active since before I was even eligible to vote. I've followed North American politics near religiously since 2014, and I've been a card-carrying member of my country's most prominent left-wing party since before the start of the pandemic. I barely slept at all during the week Ukraine was full-scale invaded, and I've been stressed about it every day for the last two years, given that my grandfather was born there and I've very much wanted to visit someday. And this was all before the horrific debacle of October 7th, and the subsequent atrocities committed against Gaza practically every day since. Lately I've weaned myself off a lot of international news and been more active in local politics because that's where I feel my efforts have been more effective, but...

...the reality is I am tired. I am so fucking tired.

I blacklisted just about everything remotely political when I made this blog because I wanted this space to be my escape from all of that. He is my escape from all of that. A badly needed one, because between the state of the world, the state of my country, the state of my workplace and the state of my personal life, my mental health has been....not very good for most of this decade and last.

I know this is unhealthily cynical, but as someone who had some pretty shitty friends in the past, and continues to have some incredibly shitty family members, including my own father (who, despite having Käärijä levels of charisma and putting on an excellent act in public, has repeatedly hurt me and let me and others down when we needed him most)....I expect famous people I admire to disappoint me. I very much expect famous men I admire to disappoint me. It may be in three days, or in three months, or in three years, or in thirty years, but it will happen at least once, if not multiple times.

Which is why I don’t-and never have-looked up to musicians or any other celebrity for guidance on my political or moral beliefs. It's a surefire way to set yourself up for not only disappointment but feelings of betrayal towards someone who was never "loyal" to you in the first place. And I wish so many people didn't learn that lesson far too late.

I don't like Jere Mikael Pöyhönen because of his insightful commentary on the state of geopolitics. To be extremely blunt, I like him because he's hot and he entertains me, both of which bring me happiness. Once I no longer feel that happiness, I'll move on to other interests, just as I always have. It would be very nice, however, if that day came in thirty years rather than in three. Which is why I felt relief when he expressed his wish to remain politically neutral, even regarding politics in his own country.

That being said....am I disappointed he went to you-know-what? Yes, for reasons both political and non-political. Am I disappointed that he willingly interacted on camera with you-know-who? Yes. In fact there are several things he has done and people he has associated with that I'm not particularly happy about. But in this case do I understand WHY he went and why he interacted with them? Also yes.

I don't believe he had any malicious intent, quite the opposite. His kindness is both his greatest strength and his greatest weakness-he is kind to the point that he foolishly undermines his own credibility. I don't know if there's an equivalent of Hanlon's Razor in Finnish but it goes "never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity".

And.....well. This is a guy who couldn't tell the Ukrainian esc23 representatives from the Greek ones. Who didn't know what the trans flag was until he was personally handed one last year. Who, AFAIK, has never received any sort of higher education (vocational school would still sort of be considered such where I live, but whatever) not that that automatically makes someone "smart" and others "stupid", but it can and often does help with understanding international issues. And based on my overall experience with hockey fans/players (of which he's both)...they typically aren't terminally online debating anything besides individual player and team statistics.

So I'm not shocked that he didn't think about how Just Being Nice on camera with that representative would look to others outside of his own bubble. How that would not have looked particularly "neutral". But he should have, considering this isn't the first time he's had to deal with angry internet mobs coming after him for a relatively minor mistake. Considering his favourite band got into very hot water last year and dealt with the controversy very poorly for too long.

Is it fair that I can block some tags, turn off the tv, and get on with my day, while he has to worry about his image the moment he leaves home? No. But...this is the inevitable downside of the life he wanted. Unlike me, he now has an audience of millions, a not-insignificant number of whom are going to be thinking about this stuff, meaning he needs to as well. And if not, he needs to pay someone to think about it for him. Goodness knows he can afford it now. I can do without all that pyro if it means none of us have another week like this one.

[good-old-gossip]

Israeli army commits horrific massacres in western Gaza, burning homes and destroying health institutions

During the four-day invasion, the Israeli army The violations committed willful killings, extensive destruction and burning of civilian buildings and homes

Palestinian territory - During its four-day incursion into the western parts of Gaza City, the Israeli army committed horrific atrocities against Palestinian civilians, including willful killings, extensive destruction and burning of civilian buildings and homes, and forced evacuation as part of the ongoing crime of genocide for the tenth consecutive month.

After invading the area at dawn on Monday, 8 July, Israeli army forces began to withdraw early on Friday, 12 July, from the Universities Area and the Sinaa’ Area, west of Gaza City. During this time, they launched numerous fire belts and engaged in indiscriminate shelling, stormed homes, and harassed residents. Reports indicated that over sixty people had been killed, with many bodies found in the streets and alleys, some of which were charred.

Euro-Med Monitor field crews are investigating reports that the Israeli army forces committed extrajudicial killings and unlawful executions of numerous residents, the majority of whom were women. These victims included two sisters, Maysoon Yaqoub Al-Ghalayini and Arwa Yaqoub Al-Ghalayini, as well as their sister Rafida Al-Ghalayini, who was left bleeding to death for two days without the Israeli forces allowing medical teams to reach her.

According to preliminary reports, the Israeli army killed entire families after raiding their homes in the Al-Sina'a area west of Gaza City. Those killed included Mustafa Ahmed Zaidiyeh, the two brothers Imad Khaled Zaidiyeh and Mahmoud Khaled Zaidiyeh, Abu Youssef Nasser Zaidiyeh, Fahmi Lulu, Jamalat Al-Shawa and her two sons, Ahmed Maher Al-Badri and Suha Maher Al-Badri, as well as six members of the Al-Khatib family.

Euro-Med Monitor teams documented the Israeli army torturing and severely beating Khaled Darwish Muhammad Zaidiyeh, 58, while he and several of his relatives were besieged in his home close to the industrial area, which was the army's point of incursion on Monday, 8 July.

Khaled Zaidiyeh stated the following in his testimony to the Euro-Med Monitor crews: "(The soldiers) peed, put coffee on their urine, and made us drink it." The children and women were forced out while crying. We were tortured and tied up, and the scars from the chains are still visible on us.  My nephew Mustafa, who was killed, asked to have his handcuffs taken off or loosened. But the soldiers refused and beat him all over his body. Anybody attempting to speak would face severe beating.”

He went on, "One of the soldiers put his leg over my head and started repeatedly stomping on it with full force. He then went to torture one more of the twenty-one people there before returning. My nephew’s face has swollen, despite suffering a heart problem, while the second who has special needs and was permitted to accompany the women. While I was lying on my stomach, one of the soldiers got up on top of me and began hitting me with his combat boots. I tried to calm down and be patient, but he kept jumping on top of me with his heavy weight and pressing his legs, aiming to break my bones."

The soldiers then got a call and began to withdraw, while one of them threatened to return to me. All we could hear was our own voice as the soldiers broke the window glass of one of the houses. I thought they would make us step on the shattered glass, but they started shooting. Then they withdrew and left the area, threatening to kill us with quadcopters and snipers.”

A woman who wished to remain anonymous told the Euro-Med Monitor team: "The army opened fire on the house. We opened the door while raising the white flag. They forced the men to take off their clothes and assaulted them in front of us. My son was tired, so they beat him severely. Without bringing anything with us, we were forced to flee to the southern part of the Gaza Strip."

According to documentation provided by Euro-Med Monitor teams, the Friends of the Patient Hospital was destroyed by the Israeli army for the second time, following its restoration approximately one month ago to serve the Gaza residents’ medical needs. The Israeli army also bombed the Al-Salam clinic, the only health centre in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood, south of Gaza City.

Along with demolishing and setting a number of homes on fire, the Israeli army also destroyed UNRWA schools near the industrial area, extensively damaging the classrooms, particularly the ground floors.

Based on observations and follow-up conducted by the Euro-Med Monitor team, it appears that the lack of equipment is making it difficult for rescue workers to recover victims from under the debris of the homes and buildings that were targeted by the Israeli army.

Additionally, testimonies were provided to Euro-Med Monitor regarding widespread thefts and robberies by Israeli army forces during home raids and forced evacuation of the locals, including large amounts of money and valuables.

The Israeli army has been looting gold jewellery and cash from homes it raids and from residents it forced to relocate to the south of the Gaza Valley, where they were forced to leave their bags and all of their belongings seized by the soldiers. These operations have been routinely carried out by the Israeli army when storming residential areas, raiding homes, and initiating random arrest campaigns against civilians.

Families Khudair and Jadallah members told the Euro-Med Monitor team that the Israeli army forces amassed and pilfered their personal belongings in bags, beating and detaining the men before driving the women and children out of the area and forcing them to evacuate to the central Gaza Strip.

Since the early hours of Monday, 8 July, the Israeli army has been waging a war of intimidation and forced displacement against the people of the Gaza City and its northern region. This has resulted in yet another massive wave of forced evacuation following military assaults and intense raids that the army has carried out as part of the genocide it has been committing since 7 October.

Under heavy rocket and shell fire in the industrial area, the Israeli army launched a ground incursion, directly targeting the nearly completely destroyed UNRWA headquarters and the headquarters of several other destroyed universities in western Gaza.

Subsequently, the Israeli army ordered the evacuation of large areas of Gaza City and forced the staff of the "Ahly Baptist" hospital to leave the area entirely. As a result, the only major hospital operating in Gaza for months was turned out of service.

Based on the aforementioned, all nations are required to fulfil their international obligations by enacting strong sanctions against Israel and severing all other types of political, financial, and military support and cooperation. This includes immediately halting arms transfers to Israel, including export permits and military aid; otherwise, these nations will be held accountable for the crimes that have been committed in the Gaza Strip, including genocide.

In order to ensure accountability, a comprehensive and impartial international investigation is required into the serious crimes and violations committed by the Israeli army forces against the Gaza Strip's population and their property. These crimes and violations amount to fully-fledged, self-contained war crimes and crimes against humanity that cause serious harm and destruction to civilians and their livelihoods without justification or military necessity,

Additionally, the International Criminal Court ought to keep looking into any and all crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip; broaden its investigation into criminal responsibility, in order to hold all perpetrators accountable; issue arrest warrants for those responsible; and acknowledge and address Israel’s crimes in the Strip, as they are international crimes that fall under the purview of the International Criminal Court and are clearly crimes of genocide.

[ladyofthebears]

Listen- i will be the FIRST person to admit and especially condemn any and all atrocities, war crimes, or abuse committed by ANY member of team black no matter how much i love them, and that has always made me willing to interact w people on team green despite me definitely not being on team green. But unfortunately interacting with said posts makes more team green content appear on my page until the rabbit hole goes so deep that i am suddenly seeing people fantasise about castrating children and commit horrific acts. So to protect my peace, i am just pushing not interested on almost all team green posts. Sorry loves, especially people willing to have civil convos, i just cant with this stuff rn

[yesimtrashforit]

Ok, first and foremost, Rest In Peace Liam Payne. I was never really a listener of One Direction, but you can't deny that he had a wonderful talent and made an impact on so many people's lives. He made so many people happy and that is a beautiful thing. I really wish his family and friends comfort and peace during this hard time. The stuff that TMZ did was absolutely disgusting, by the way. Completely inhumane and disrespectful. Losing a family member, a friend, a brother, is one of the hardest things in the world and that happening with media swarming over every detail is not normal. My condolences to them.

Now, as a long-time fan of Stranger Things, I recently heard that SOME people are saying some absolutely terrible things like "why liam, it should've been noah schnapp." I know I've avoided posting about Noah's whole controversy because I know that it's a touchy subject for so many people and the reason I usually come on here is to provide a break from that chaos and bring people together.

It is my opinion that no matter what you think of Noah and what he has said or not said, it is certainly disrespectful to Liam Payne's family, friends, and memory to rope in a completely unrelated situation to all this.

I think it's somewhat pointless to even form a strong opinion on his situation, considering that these are people most of us have never and will never meet or know personally. These are real people. I can't believe that is something that gets confused and forgotten.

Putting that somewhat aside for a second, I just feel so strongly about standing up to hate and prejudice especially when it results in bullying. You may agree with what I say, you may disagree and that is fine. But at the end of the day, if you're wishing someone you don't even know dead, you're a part of this problem.

Like I said, I obviously don't know Noah personally, and I'm not going to be the person who's like "well, he clearly has good intentions!" because I don't know that. Taking a surface-level opinion on this, I think it is kind of understandable for people to think of him as a bit ignorant for what he's said or done. We're human beings, we're judgy as hell. Despite that, it is unjustifiable to send homophobic and anti-semetic messages to anyone. No one deserves that. I really hope that Noah is staying safe through all this. I wouldn't wish this upon anyone. This conflict overseas is messy and complicated and I believe it is counterproductive to focus on people's opinions about it, rather than the issue as a whole.

Whether he likes it or not, Noah has influence and it's a tricky thing. No one is perfect and we should stop expecting that from people who we don't know. And that's that. Things may or may not have been misrepresented or misconstrued, but that is irrelevant in this case. He's a young actor with a platform and he has used that to voice how he feels. He may or may not fully understand what the implications of that are and that is not my place to judge. Has his opinion on this conflict changed the fact that hundreds of thousands of people for the past year have been massacred and are going through unimaginable suffering? Likely, no.

But I understand people's anger.

Like so many of you, I am absolutely appalled and disgusted and heartbroken by the loss and pain that has been happening overseas and I am deeply frustrated and angered that the IDF and Hamas are committing and have committed these atrocities against innocent people. Families that have been torn apart, homes and businesses and schools gone. Words cannot express how unbelievably horrific that is. From human being to human being, I sincerely and deeply hope that this will end. Every human life is so precious and valuable. Please please please remember that.

To anyone in Gaza or anyone who has been affected by this, I can't imagine what you're going through, but know that there's millions of people overseas who are praying and hoping for your safety and happiness. Everyone deserves a chance at a safe, healthy and secure life.

No matter where you stand, I implore you to not get caught up in petty drama and remember what really matters: donating, memorializing people who've lost their lives, supporting others in need and spreading peace and love in the face of violence.

Violence is never the answer.

Be kind and respectful to one another.

Once again, rest in peace Liam. You are very loved and missed.

I know I mainly focused on Noah's situation here, but that is not what matters right now. I just wanted to get that out there. Instead, let's remember a great and talented musician today, okay?

-Allie

[sepublic]

I've noticed that for three GEverse arcs, I have this 'lens character' with their own storyline parallel to the main protagonists. They're someone who's living with the main antagonist(s) when they're not out and about doing evil, and they act as a way to see this antagonist from a different angle, exploring the villain's motives, worldview, their issues, etc.

This lens character doesn't really meet the protagonists until like, the very end or climax of the story. Pretty late, at least. They might know of the protagonists and vice-versa. And they all have this parallel beat of seeing the villain as a friend and/or someone they can at least reason with, sympathize with... But inevitably, the true colors are revealed, and the lens character realizes that the two sides they're seeing, the 'good and bad' aren't contradictory; But the presence of the 'bad' kinda eliminates any relevance the 'good' might have in the end.

Because what does it matter, if you're still hurting people? Horrifically dehumanizing them? Going out of your way to be awful? You were nice to me, so you CAN be nice to others. You just won't be. How am I supposed to tolerate that?! My sympathy's dried up real fast. And so they're kind of like, the other side of an ideological argument at times. The villain is of course disappointed that the lens character doesn't see their side, and does no self-reflection in shunning them. The lens character might encounter the main protagonists later, maybe even bring them up as being right just to piss off the villain.

So there's Esther for Shogaken, a recently-deceased soul turned into a Skull Kin by him; We see how he rules his domain within the Spirit Currents, where the Skull Kin come from and operate. She does research and learns Shogaken's past, that this place of torment was supposed to be a place of healing... And despite her softening and offers to be more sympathetic, he just continues to be a mediocre, unimpressed prick, and eventually Esther realizes there's nothing she can do to change his mind; Shogaken doesn't actually want help, he just wants to do whatever he wants and take his anger out on others because it's easy.

And she gives up on the guy, especially since by the end of the day, Esther's main priority was making things better for her fellow Skull Kin; She hoped showing compassion to their tyrant might help with that, but alas, people who do that sort of thing are gonna be committed, they have to be. And when Shogaken is reduced to a skull thanks to the protagonists, he's left at the mercy of his Skull Kin, who opt to take agency into their own hands and run the place together. Shogaken is buried, just as he buried dissenting Skull Kin, with plans to eventually dig him up and keep him around in a weakened state. But for now, his once-tormented subjects let themselves be vindictive.

There's Kita for Majikus, whose mother is the warlock's sister. After years of pestering her sister into letting Kita come over, Majikus somehow pulls it off and it seems like an initial rags-to-riches, discover your hidden heritage in a magical world sort of adventure! Kita learns magic from each warlock and sees how they operate, what their motives are, etc. But she also notices more and more the atrocities that her Aunt Maj is willing to commit, how she's obsessed with creating 'order'. And there's a lot of pressure on Kita to continue that legacy when the role inevitably has to be handed on, and Kita realizes she doesn't want this power, to be special; She just wants to live her own life.

And Majikus takes this badly, with Kita beginning to understand why exactly her mother was on such bad terms, why she hesitated to let them visit. Deep down, Kita had a feeling that Majikus would kill her (exaggeration) for not living up to her expectations, for not being a tool to further her dictatorship; She isn't sure now if Majikus will actually do that, but she knows Majikus will kill a lot of innocents minding their own business. So what difference does it make? She stands up to her aunt despite being so hilariously out-classed, but her defiance does prove vital to the Monster Fighters, whom she is aware of and hopes will prevail in the end. And Ruby, later, thanks Kita personally. They may not really have 'known' each other at all up until now, but in a way they're kindred souls.

And then we have Emily Walker, whom I'll elaborate more in some future posts about her relationship with Maerco. But at this point, you probably get the idea.

Point is, I wonder if I should do something like this for the rest of the arcs; With a pattern established, it could be a lot of fun. But I also consider that it might get repetitive. But then maybe I just need to find a way to mix things up? But it might still be the same at its core, and thus still repetitive. I'll think about it, esp since I don't exactly, necessarily have pre-existing characters to choose from for this role, with the exception of at least one for the Escapees; That could be the fourth. So I might make some up, we'll see.

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 4.5/5

Book Blurb: June Hur, bestselling author of The Red Palace, crafts a devastating and pulse-pounding tale that will feel all-too-relevant in today’s world, based on a true story from Korean history. Hope is dangerous. Love is deadly.

1506, Joseon. The people suffer under the cruel reign of the tyrant King Yeonsan, powerless to stop him from commandeering their land for his recreational use, banning and burning books, and kidnapping and horrifically abusing women and girls as his personal playthings.

Seventeen-year-old Iseul has lived a sheltered, privileged life despite the kingdom’s turmoil. When her older sister, Suyeon, becomes the king’s latest prey, Iseul leaves the relative safety of her village, traveling through forbidden territory to reach the capital in hopes of stealing her sister back. But she soon discovers the king’s power is absolute, and to challenge his rule is to court certain death.

Prince Daehyun has lived his whole life in the terrifying shadow of his despicable half-brother, the king. Forced to watch King Yeonsan flaunt his predation through executions and rampant abuse of the common folk, Daehyun aches to find a way to dethrone his half-brother once and for all. When staging a coup, failure is fatal, and he’ll need help to pull it off—but there’s no way to know who he can trust.

When Iseul's and Daehyun's fates collide, their contempt for each other is transcended only by their mutual hate for the king. Armed with Iseul’s family connections and Daehyun’s royal access, they reluctantly join forces to launch the riskiest gamble the kingdom has ever seen:

Save her sister. Free the people. Destroy a tyrant.

Review:

A girl willing to go to great lengths to rescue her sister from an evil king soon finds herself working together with the king's half brother in order to stage a coup and destroy the king. Based and inspired on real historical events/figures, the story is set in 1506, Josean, in which the evil tyrant King Yeonsan rules. Known for his cruelty and horrific abuse of women and girls, King Yeonsan will kidnap married women and young girls to abuse, traffic, and use as playthings. When seventeen year old Iseul's older sister is taken to become the king's latest prey, Iseul will do anything to get her back. The king's power is absolute and to challenge him would mean certain death. Prince Daehyun has not only witnessed but committed many horrifying acts in order to simply survive in his half brother's rule. He has been forced to shut his emotions off in order to just survive... having to watch King Yeonsan's rampant executions and abuse of people... and Daehyun has been bidding his time, patiently waiting to stage a coup and dethrone his brother. Daehyun and Iseul's path cross and despite their dislike for one another, their deeper hatred for the king will bond them together as they seek to free themselves of this monster. All the while a different monster is on the loose, a killer known as Nameless Flower, prowls the street, leaving behind dead bodies and messages to the king. Can Daehyun and Iseul make it out alive or were their chances impossible to begin with? This was such a heart wrenching and brutal read, especially since it is based on real history and on real atrocities committed. I cannot even begin to imagine the horrors that had occurred. The story was a fantastic look into this moment in history and despite how hard it was to read at some points, I was absolutely gripped until the very end and was so happy with how things turned out. I would absolutely recommend this for anyone who enjoys stories based on history, heart wrenching stories, and just a good read!

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group | Feiwel & Friends for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*