#don't believe everything you read

[sunnyschristiancottage]

The number of people blindly believing all these Palestine GoFundMe accounts is honestly sad. Like, have these people never heard of a scam before? Do they not know to be careful with their money? Clearly not. There is no way every single one of those accounts are real. If I'm gonna donate for a cause, I'm gonna at least make sure that it's not just some scam. These people really can't think for themselves

[jediaxis101]

There's many articles of fake news on X

For example, this 1 person posted: a video of a man with a medium size travel bag and claimed an 12yearsold human was inside with this really sick details of what happened

But

This guy on X could have made the whole thing up as his own little fantasy and because he listed it as News for his "Story" is legal otherwise it would have been illegal to make a story like this...

Again

1 person posts about fake news that my mother's church believes as truth

For example: We all know Trump was shot by 1 sniper

But

"The fake news saying there was 2 snipers that shot at Trump"

The REAL News is that the Sniperer attacking Trump and the crowd, empty is magazine before he was shot dead by the USA Secret Forces Sniperer.

[thenasmithsstuff]

Whatever you do, don't take the blue pill

I'm afraid. 

I'm afraid of fame. of the people who run the industry. 

yeah, fame and money and designer shit sounds nice but what about your soul. 

What do you think happens to your soul? The stuff you're gonna have to do in order to be famous is something that should be against your morals. 

The truth is the industry is crooked. You think your boss is mean and unfair, wait till you meet their boss. 

It doesn't matter if they have money or a big house or designer shit, they are not happy, and they never will be. 

when you see actors and you tell me "oh they look happy don't you see them smiling?" they're actors, they've been trained to do that, it's their job. 

I cannot explain the rabbit hole of videos I scrolled through, so many, and people still have their eyes closed. 

They always tell the truth, in movies, tv shows, music. 

You can't trust no celebrity, no matter how nice and genuine they are, even if they are speaking truth. They're a puppet told to say that, some though, some fight through the Mk Ultra and tell the real stuff.

when that happens, and it does, they get silenced.

They lose everything, the money, fame, house, voice, family. 

There is a level of success and Jay-Z and Beyonce are at the top. you get to their level, you got nothing to be afraid of. At that point the demons have taken control of your body and your soul is crushed. 

and no you can't literally sell your soul, it's energy. Your soul is still a part of you, you just have to sacrifice something or somebody. 

It's not just celebrities that do it. 

For example, let's say your friend. They want to love somebody and they want somebody to love them. They will sacrifice something or somebody for that to happen. It could be an animal (most likely a snake, goat, lamb, chicken) or maybe reptiles. Or you. Their mother, father, brother sister, the list goes on. 

You don't have to kill animals or people, there are many other ways to devote yourself to the devil. 

I would personally advise you not to do everything I had just exposed you to. 

On TikTok there’s an account @acensionrise1 , the account is very underrated and there's stuff on there I didn’t even know existed! Those videos can explain this better than I can. 

The videos are about: Occult Sciencetists, SRA, Exposing The Golden Dawn, Exposing The Monarchy, Transhumanism Agenda, Occult Law & Property, Exposing O.T.O, Hollywood Clone Factory, Television Brainwashing, etc. 

All I ask is you open your eyes and see the truth that’s in plain sight. 

and do not, no matter what, take the blue pill. 

[sarahthecoat]

i figure, from aziraphale and crowley's pov, the bible is pretty much RPF, so i will take their version of events (as eyewitnesses) over it any time.

So, thanks to a friend, I just discovered that in the Bible there were relations between angels and humans that resulted in giants called Nephilim. How would that work in the GO universe?

Incredibly awkwardly.

[cocoelle]

KANE LAWLER LEAD SINGER FOR SAPPHIRE SKIES SEEN LEAVING HOTEL WITH UNKNOWN MALE COMPANION ON TWO DIFFERENT NIGHTS.

Previous / Next

[delafiseaseses]

Y'know, it is always important t' not believe everythin' y'read as true. Because people make mistakes, wires get crossed an' sometimes things just ay true.

Oddly specific example

T' give a very oddly specific example, in Grand Theft Auto (the first 'un - GTA 1 y'may say) there's a character known by the name Dumb Kurt (GTA 1's name for 'im not mine) who very briefly appears. In the mission generally called 'Heist Almighty Porka Turbo'. After helpin' a lad wi' a bank job yer boss says this

'An overrated hitman called Dumb Kurt just hit town. Hit him with a rigged car.'

Now, y'don't actually needa kill Kurt wi' a rigged car. You can just shoot his car an' blow it up an' it'll work. As long as Kurt dies yer boss says

'Murdered Dumb Kurt? I'm prouda ya. Now, if only we could get rid of The Man...'

So, Kurt 'as a very, very simple story. Two sentences an' a bloke in a Beast GTS. 'ow much misinformation can there be, 'ey? Well, I've checked out three wikis on GTA (all Fandom, I'm sorry t' say). An' there's some words that aren't true there.

First result on the Google search 'gta 1 dumb kurt' 'as the first quote an' the first paragraph of it is accurate in that it jus' says he's a minor character from GTA 1.

Then things go down'ill as the next paragraph labelled 'Background' says 'No background is given to Dumb Kurt. He is described as an "overrated hitman" and nicknamed "The Man".'

Kurt is never called The Man, The Man brought up in the second line is like the phrase 'stick it to The Man'. The Man is a concept our nameless boss in Bubby's gang is dreamin' of gettin' rid of.

So, that's a shame. Then there's a headin' labelled 'Events of Grand Theft Auto' where it says 'In 1997, the GTA Protagonist is hired by the Vercotti Crime Family contact to kill Dumb Kurt for being a major threat to the family. The protagonist locates the hitman and uses a car bomb to kill him.

Alternatively, the player can simply blow up his blue Beast GTS in northeast Kings with gun shots to complete the mission.'

That's also got some issues. It's got some truth in it an' Kurt's car is indeed a blue Beast GTS an' I appreciate the fact it references the fact that the car jus' needs t' be destroyed, but 'a major threat'? The Contact calls Kurt 'overrated' specifically. Which makes it rather unlikely that that was the motive. There's no real reason given for why Kurt got taken out, as I showed via those game quotes. This wiki also 'as a lista all the named characters killed by the Protagonist on which it says 'Dumb Kurt - Killed for being a threat to the Vercotti Crime Family.' an' I still disagree wi' that extrapolation.

So, that was a wiki, luckily there's two more wikis I've found on this first page. Next 'un first calls Kurt jus' Kurt before sayin' 'better known as Dumb Kurt' in its openin' line an' while its not directly said that his name is just Kurt an' 'Dumb' is a nickname, I think we can all agree its prob'ly a nickname due t', well, the fact that 'Dumb' would be a rather unusual given name an' its an adjective (though its unknown if Kurt calls himself that or its a mean-spirited nickname by our unidentified handler, so I've decided I shall only call 'im Kurt for the most part). So that's fine.

In the brief 'Character history' 'owever it says this 'Dumb Kurt is, in 1997, a Liberty City resident who is killed by the protagonist.'

Now, it might be a bit of a nitpick, but considerin' that our mission-giver explicitly says that Kurt 'just hit town' I don't really agree wi' him bein' a resident of LC. It's not clear if Kurt was there t' stay, there on a job, jus' passin' through, attendin' a wedding or whatever else. There's two sentences.

An' the final Wiki I found on the front page of Google 'as an entry on Kurt as parta a 'Characters in GTA 1' page wi' his entry 'aving his name, the fact he has no known Associations an' the brief description 'Dumb Kurt is a hitman who is killed by the protagonist.' which is accurate an' I 'ave no debate with.

Conclusion

So, yeah, that was a very frivolous example, I'm sure yer'll agree. I don't think this random hitman who gets hit from GTA 1 is very important an' I jus' wrote all that, but it highlights somethin' important.

Not all information out there in the world is accurate. Primary sources am better than somebodies words. I day provide any sources that what I jus' said is true, so I might be misleadin' ya meself. Maybe there's a line if y'some'ow fail the mission where there's a line line "Great job, kid, now Dumb Kurt is going to be a problem for us. I'm gonna hit you with a truck." or somethin' like that. I've not actually checked an' I'm admittin' that.

[hellsquills]

Disclaimer: I know about the duffle bag Filbrick threw at him, but you can ignore that if you want

My thoughts below the cut! (this turned into a whole ass fic lmao)

My personal headcanon is that Filbrick is as much of a coward as he is of an asshole. Therefore, he wouldn't have kicked Stan when he did in canon. Probably not for a while after that.

However, he does try to send him to military school. He keeps talking about how this kid needs to learn discipline and respect, and if he's not gonna bring money to the house, then he should at least bring some honor to his family.

Stan obviously does NOT want to go. Not only because it's a pointless war ("what've the vietnamese done to us anyways?") but because he remembers his mother's face when Shermie got drafted and he will NOT make her go through that hell again. Also, he doesn't wanna die!!!! Hello?????

He talks it out over the phone with Ford, who's obviously just as against it as he is. He tells Stan that, if he gets into a PhD program, he could skip military. Stan laughs in his face. It'd be easier to jump off the plane without a parachute.

And so, he comes up with a plan. When he goes to take his physical, he tries his best to botch it. If he is bad enough, if it looks like he can't do it, maybe he won't have to. Unfortunately, the recruiters are far too used to this by now, and they don't buy it. Stan goes home with a recruitment letter hidden in his jacket.

Everything goes downhill after that. He runs away from home, changes his name several times, does some crime here and there... The military is after him, and it doesn't take rejection kindly.

Stan stays out of contact with his family for a few years. He can't risk getting them involved in this mess. They don't deserve it. So he just leaves, without saying a word, in the middle of the night. No phone calls, no notes, nothing. Not even he knows where he's going. But if it just looks like he abandoned them, maybe they'll hate him. That will make them sound more believable with the police. They aren't covering for him, because they genuinely have no idea where he is. It's the best way to keep them safe.

In that time, Ford doesn't stop looking for him. He finds him every once in a while, but only his phone number, and he knows that could give away his brother's location and get the family in trouble. So, against his deepest instincts, he doesn't call.

One, three, five, seven years pass. Stan has been around almost all the country, and is genuinely considering leaving it. Maybe going to Mexico, or Colombia. Those sound nice. Maybe they'll be nicer to him.

He's passing his time and thinking about this in a small town restaurant in wherever he's in (somewhere he's not banned from, yet), when a family enters. He doesn't make eye contact, but he can't help but stare at them: a man and a woman, probably in their 50s, with 7 kids; one must be older than him, the second one around his age, the third one a little younger, the fourth one a teenager, and the last three between 10 and 15, no more. Except for the last three, they're all taller than him, even the mother, and they have various degrees of blond hair. Their clothes (overalls and plastic boots) suggest they must work in one of the farms he's seen around the state. They don't wear any accessories, except for the glasses that the father and four of the kids have. They're talking loudly and laughing. They look exhausted from a morning of hard work. They seem happy. They... look nothing like his family, and yet, he can't help but think about it.

He can't help the sob that comes to his throat. It's loud and messy from trying to suppress it, which obviously makes it worse. He covers his mouth immediately, and at that point he notices the tears that have run down his cheeks. "Great", he thinks, "that will make it easier to hide, for sure".

He doesn't move. He wants to escape, but that will draw even more attention to him, and he hasn't even paid for the food yet (normally he'd leave without paying, but the old waitress was kind enough to give him some extra food when she saw how little he ordered). He settles for not moving, lowering his head and covering his face, hoping that no one heard (unlikely) or cared (very likely).

"Ya'lright, son?"

The voice startles him. I wasn't very deep, but it was close enough to send his body into immediate danger mode. He looks up at the man towering over him, who's standing in front of him at a prudential distance.

"Y-Yeah, yeah, no worries."

He hates how broken his voice sounds. He's spent more than enough time sweet-talking his way out of trouble, he should be better at this by now. The man looks about as convinced by it as he is himself.

" 'lright then. Can I help ya?"

Damn villagers and their welcoming demeanor. If he wasn't a wanted man, he would appreciate it. But right now, it couldn't be worse timing.

"Come get ya food, kids!" The waitress' yell yanks him out of his thoughts.

"No", he blurts out, and he turns to the man. Least he can do is show him some respect and look him in the eyes. "I'm fine, thank you."

The man smiles lightly and nods. "Okay. Welcome to the town."

Stan watches as the man goes back to his table. He wishes he had been more polite, the guy was just worrying about him, but he can't afford it. They already know his face, he can't risk anyone else recognizing him-

"Sweet Mother of God almighty."

Stan turns to his right. One of the kids, the one about his age, is looking at him like he just grew a second head. He's frozen in place, his eyes wide as plates behind thick glasses. He doesn't say a word, and it's getting increasingly unnerving. Was the bruising on his face still visible? Maybe it's more apparent in broad daylight than in the shitty light that last motel had in the bathroom.

"I'm sorry, I- Can I ask your name?"

The fuck?

"No", answers Stan. Considering how nice his dad was, this guy is pretty rude.

"Son, leave him alone." The mother seems to have manners too, good to know.

The guy does pretty much the opposite. He comes closer to him, until he's right in his path, blocking his exit. That can't be good. Stan feels trapped.

"Are you Stanley Pines?"

Well, that's about it.

Stan tries his best to stay still. This guy doesn't look like a cop, not even an undercover one. But he knows his real name, so maybe someone in his family or friends works in the police; or worse, in the military.

"Listen man, I don't know who you're talking about, but that isn't my name. See?" He reaches for his wallet. He pulls out an ID, with a very clear Jackson Cage on it. He makes a mental note to change it soon, just in case his hunch is right and this guy has connections. "Now, if you excuse me, I'd like to pay for my food and leave. Move."

Stan is already on his feet, but the guy hasn't moved. Stan looks him up and down, trying to appear threatening despite his face probably still being a little red from before. He also gauges how feasible it'd be to escape if things turned bad; the dude is taller than him, sure, but he's also as thin as a toothpick, and by the anxious look on his face, he doesn't seem eager for a fight. The real problem would be evading the restaurant's staff and the other costumers, which include eight carbon copies of the guy in front of him. Probably better to try to de-escalate the situation.

"I- I can't let you leave. Please. I know who you are."

This man is making it really difficult to believe he's not a cop.

"No, you don't. I'm new in town. Move."

"Listen, I-"

"Move out of my way."

"I know your brother."

The words are like a bullet between his eyebrows.

"You look just like him-"

Against his better judgement, he quickly grabs he guy and pins him to the wood in between the booth benches, arm to his throat. If he knows Ford, he knows too much. God he just wanted to have lunch.

The commotion is immediate. He doesn't break eye contact with the guy who's grabbing his arm, whose strength is frankly surprising. He can hear, however, the screams from the dad and the siblings, as well as a couple of gasps from the other costumers. This is not going to go well, but fuck that. He's escaped worse.

"Stop!", the guy shouts as he keeps Stan's forearm from blocking his airway. "Don't hurt him! Don't get closer!"

It takes Stan a second to process what he said. The first part, sure, who wouldn't shout 'stop' when you're being attacked? But the second half doesn't make sense. Is he protecting him? The attacker?

Whatever it is, it works. The family stops in their tracks, still very ready to attack if needed. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see the three younger kids moving closer to their mother. For a split second, he feels a pang of remorse for the scene he just caused.

"Hang up the phone, Clarisse, it's okay. Please."

Stan looks in the direction the guy was talking to. Right behind him, the waitress reluctantly puts the phone down.

He looks back at the guy. He looks a little shaken up, probably from the impact his back (and his head?) made with the wooden plank, but he doesn't look scared. He almost looks... sympathetic? Stan is confused as hell.

"I know who you are", the guy whispers, low enough for Stan to hear alone. "You're Stanley Pines, and you have a brother named Stanford. I know him, okay? He's my friend. I met him a few years ago in a quantum physics congress and we've been talking ever since. He told me about his family in New Jersey, and about you. About how he hasn't seen you in years, and how he was trying to find you, to no avail."

Stan is gradually loosening his grip on the guy's neck, who takes a deep breath. He should know better, but- shit, hearing that Ford was looking for him was not what he expected. Even if he doesn't know yet if this guy is lying out of his ass, it's enough to make him doubt.

"I know you were called to Vietnam. He told me. I spent a week with him in his place when he found out, he was unconsollable. When you ran away, he called me. He knew what it meant for you and he thought he'd never see you again, whether you got caught or not. All because of that stupid war." Stan is now trembling a little, he knows it. This guy must know it too, with how close they are. If he stays here any longer he'll break down, but he can't move. Anything to hear his brother's name a little longer. "I know what it's like. Three of my cousins were drafted last year, and I know at least one of them won't be coming back home. Please... let me help you."

Stan meets his eyes. They're green and brown-ish, not unlike the immense fields he's seen in his last journey, the one that led him to this town. With the years, he's learned not to trust beautiful eyes, because they are better at hiding. These ones, however, seem serene and honest, just like his words, and he can't help but believing them. This guy, whoever the fuck he is, knows just about enough.

Stan lowers his right arm. The guy still has his hand on it, but this time is much less defensive and much more comforting. He doesn't complain.

"My name's Fiddleford McGucket, and I'm gonna help you find your brother."

______________________________

Essentially, after this Fidds calls Ford as if nothing happened (per Stan's request, since he's still paranoid about the police tracking his calls) and asks him to come to Tennessee. Ford argues that he's very busy and all, but Fidds convinces him in the end.

Obviously the twins have a dual breakdown and cry their heart out. In this AU they're much less emotionally constipated lol

Ford tells Stan that he's gonna build a house in a small town in Oregon as a part of his research, and asks him to move in with him once it's finished. Stan, of course, accepts.

In the meantime, Stan stays in the McGucket farm and helps them out as a way of laying low. He has a great relationship with his family, and they're very proud of him for what he did (i believe that the McGuckets are hippies at heart, and they're VERY anti-war, especially when it already took three of them)

I don't know how much of the canon storyline would this AU follow, but it's pretty much your average Mystery Trio AU with some different backstory

[canisalbus]

translated by GT

Today I learned that the Pope has the right to appoint secret cardinals, and even the cardinals themselves may not realize that they now have a new position. Popes have the right to make the name public at any time, but if the Pope dies before the Cardinal's name is made public, the individual ceases to be a Cardinal.

Yes, Catholicism is weird.

But more importantly, there is only one person in the world who can prove that I am not a cardinal.

.

[azaracyy]

a lesson on good karma digimon survive week 2024 day 4: supporting characters

[demaparbat-hp]

For the Spirits—

Chapter VIII: Make You Stay

And I'd do anything to make you stay

No light, no light

Tell me what you want me to say

—No Light, No Light by Florence + The Machine

.

Ming had experienced so many different, wonderful things. She had lived, truly lived, and allowed herself to dream of things that had been impossible back in the Academy. Endless possibilities now seemed to lay gently in the palm of her hand. But she would give it all away to vanish the shiver that tore its way down her spine at Yoi’s words. The Prince has genuinely gone mad. He—didn't you hear?—he insists on going on this mysterious quest on his own.

[zombie-philosopher]

This is taught in journalism. It's called framing if I remember correctly from my time at uni. Deliberately manipulating the headlines to subtly change the way people see a situation. The people writing this know exactly what they're doing, as a journalist we are TAUGHT how to do this! Don't let western media trick you into sympathizing with the enemy.

[bagheerita]

So I read A Stitch in Time and one result of that which I was certainly not expecting was that I feel so much sympathy for Enabran Tain. Garak's life is a tragedy, but Tain's is a fucking black comedy.

I mean, he's a terrible person and an absolute shitbag, but can you imagine? You have this kid. You go to all the trouble of arranging for him to be raised in a family situation where he won't be rejected from society for being your bastard. You get him into the nicest indoctrination school where he can hobnob with plenty of uppercrust kids. You get him a job in your Order and all the proper training. And he's actually, like, really good at it. But he has this fatal flaw of being completely incapable of not making stupid, short-sighted, emotional decisions.

A scene I imagine has to have happened just prior to Garak and Tain's confrontation at the end of part II:

Like goddamn. When Tain asked "what's your plan for getting rid of her husband?" and Garak's just like "plan what plan." Dude. I'M disappointed, I can only imagine the guy who's job it is to know and plan for everything isn't at least as disappointed.

I know he didn't actually, but do you think there was ever a time when Tain wanted to be like, You know what. Just go back to Tolan and become a gardener. Join that illegal hippie cult. It's fine.

[rmbunnie]

Red Hood Characterization

This is really long so I'm putting a cut here, I've been thinking about Jason Todd's character motivations and the question of whether or not his actions are based in a Moral Code (I don't think so, not to say he's without any morality) and I talk about that in more depth here.

I saw someone say on here that Titans: Beast World: Gotham City was some of the best Jason Todd internal writing they'd seen in a while, and I've been a Red Hood fan for 8 years or so now? pretty much since I read comics for the first time, so I went and checked out and I thought it was good! The way the person I saw talking about it as if it was rare and unusual made me wonder though, because as well-written as i thought his stances on crime were, there wasn't really anything in it that went against the way I conceptualize Jason?

This kinda plays into a larger question I've been thinking about for a while with Jason though, which is that, do people think that the killing is part of a fundamental worldview that motivates him a la batman, and that worldview is the reason he does the things he does?? Because 8 years ago i was a middle schooler engaging with fiction on the level that a middle schooler does, so I simply did not put much thought into it beyond "poor guy :(" but ever since I actually started trying to understand consistent characterization, I don't really see Jason as someone who's motivated by a moral code in his actions the way batman or superman is!

tbh my personal read is that he's a very socially-motivated guy, his actions from resurrection to his Joker-Batman ultimatum in utrh always seemed to me like every choice made leading up to his identity reveal was either a. to give him the leverage and skill necessary to pull off his identity reveal successfully, or b. to twist the knife that little bit more when he does let Bruce find out who he is. Like iirc there's a Judd Winick tweet like "yeah tldr he chose Red Hood as his identity because it's the lowest blow he could think of." And I think that's awesome, I think character motivations rooted so deeply in character's relationships and emotions are really fun to read! I also think it's where the stagnation/flatness of his character comes from in certain comics, because if his main motivation is one event in one relationship that passes, and he is not particularly attached to anything in his life or the world by the time that comes to pass, it's a little harder to come up with a direction to go with the character after that, because there isn't much of a direction that aligns with something the character would reasonably want? But I do think solving this by saying "all of the morally-off emotionally driven cruelty he did on his way to spite Batman was actually reflective of his own version of Batman's stance that's exactly the same except he thinks it's GOOD to kill people" isn't ideal. To be fully honest, it seems to me like he never particularly cared one way or the other about killing people to "clean Gotham of crime," he just did everything he could to get the power necessary to pull off his personal plans, and took out any particularly heinous people he encountered along the way (like in Lost Days.) Not to say I think the fact he killed people keeps him up at night anymore than everything else in his life events, I just never really thought he was out there wholeheartedly kneecapping some dude selling weed or random guy robbing a tv store for justice.

Looping wayyy back to my question, Is this (^) contradictory to the way he's written/the overall average perception of the character? Because like I enjoyed his writing in Beast World i have zero significant issue with anything there, I just didn't believe it would be a hot take, like yeah, that is Jason. It's been a while since I've read utrh and lost days, but I don't think my takeaway directly contradicts either of those too bad iirc. Idk all this to say I think Jason killing and being alright with killing is an obvious and objective fact, but i guess i've always seen it as more of a practical tactic than a moral belief, and I think taking the actions made during the lowest points of a character's life where he is obsessively focused on this ONEEEE thing and trying to apply it as a Motivating Stance to everything he's done after that, doesn't really follow logically for me.

[hanzajesthanza]

"the michael kandel translation of "the witcher" short story can't hurt you!!"

the michael kandel translation of "the witcher" short story:

[sarahthecoat]

exactly.

Hello, Mr. Gaiman!

As known from Ars Goetia, Shax is a Great Marquis of Hell, "with power over 30 legions of demons on evil horses", and Furfur is an Earl of Hell, ruler of 26 legions. But by 1941 they both are mere receptionists at the Admissions, although Shax retained her connections in the Council. Was there something that caused them to be demoted, or did they have no titles at all in this version of Hell?

Thank you!

Things like the Ars Goetia get written by credulous humans. If you were Furfur and you'd wound up talking to some humans, are you going to tell them you're working a desk with little opportunity for advancement, or that you're an Earl of Hell and ruler of 26 legions, and wishing that you'd also thrown in the evil horses?

[silusvesuius]

this tree from my new drawing looking goated afffffff 👑👑