#due to their understanding of the subject.

[creepyscritches]

I read your post about open enrollment for the ACA and was hoping you might expand on why you believe it would take years to dismantle. I've been terrified that with a Republican house/senate, Trump could just snap his fingers and make it go away within months of taking office. I'd love some reassurance that that's not possible.

Hiya, sure I can share some thoughts on the matter! First, it's very important to understand the ACA is a huuuuuuuuuuuuge system with subject matter experts in dozens of places throughout the process. I'm one of those SMEs, but I am at the end of the process where the revenue is generated, so my insight is limited on the public facing pieces.

What this means is that I am professionally embedded in the ACA in a position that exists purely to show what conditions people are treated for and then generate that data into what's called a "risk score". There's about 6 pages I could write on it, but the takeaway is that the ACA is

1) intricately interwoven with the federal government

2) increasingly profitable, sustainable, and growing (it is STILL a for-profit system if you can believe it)

3) wholeheartedly invested in by the largest insurance companies in the country LARGELY due to the fact that they finally learned the rules of how to make the ACA a thriving center of business

4) since the big issuers are arm+leg invested in the ACA, there is a lot of resistance politically and on an industry level to leave it behind (think of the lobbyists, politicians, corporations that will fight tooth and nail to protect their profit + investment)

The process to calculate a risk score takes roughly 2 years. There is an audit for the concurrent year and then a vigorous retro audit for the prev year - - this is a rolling cycle every year. Medicare has a similar process. These are RVP + RADV audits if you would like the jargon.

Eliminating the ACA abruptly is as internally laughable as us finishing the RADV audit ahead of schedule. If Trump were to blow the ACA into smithereens on day 1, he would be drowning in issuer complaints and an economic health sector that is essentially bleeding out. You cut off the RVP early? We have half of next RADV stuck in the gears now. You cut off the RADV early? No issuer will get their "risk adjusted" payments for services rendered in the prev benefit year (to an extent, again very complex multi-process system).

The ACA is GREAT for the public and should be defended on that basis alone. However, the inner capitalistic nature of the ACA is a powerful armor that has conservatives + liberals defending it on a basis of capital + market growth. It's not sexy, but it makes too much money consistently for the system to be easily dismantled.

Or at least that's what I can tell you from the money center of the ACA. they don't bring us up in political conversation because we are confusing to seasoned professionals, boring to industry outsiders, and consistently we are anathema to the anti-ACA talking points.

I am already preparing for next year's RVP for this window of open enrollment. That RVP process will feed into the RADV in 2026. In 2025, we begin the RADV for 2024. If nothing else, the slow fucking gears of CMS will keep the ACA alive until we finish our work at the end of the process. I highly doubt that will be the only reason the ACA is safeguarded, but it is a powerful type of support to pair with people protecting the ACA for other reasons.

I work every day to show, defend, and educate on how many diagnoses are managed thru my company's ACA plans. My specialty is cancer and I see a lot of it. The revenue drive comes from the Medical Loss Ratio (MLR) rule stating only 20% MAX of profit may go to the issuer + the 80% at a minimum must go back to the customer or be invested in expanding benefits. The more people on the plan using it, the higher that 20% becomes for the issuer and the more impactful that 80% becomes for the next year of benefit growth. It is remarkably profitable once issuers stop seeking out "healthy populations". The ACA is a functional method for issuers to tap into a stable customer base (sick/chronic ill customers) that turns a profit, grows, and builds strong consumer bases in each state.

The industry can never walk away from this overnight - - this is the preferred investment for many big players. Changing the direction of those businesses will be a monumental effort that takes years (at least 2 with the audits). In the meantime, you still have benefits, you still have care, and you still have reason to sign up. Let us deal with the bureaucracy bullshit, go get your care and know you have benefits thru 2025 and we will be working to keep it that way for 2026 and forward. This is a wing of the federal government, it is not a jenga tower like Trump wishes.

[stellamancer]

flips and shit (katsuki bakugou + reader)

notes: more stuff inspired by things that happen in my kitchen. name me me attempting to flip scallion pancakes. it's been a while since i had one of these actually. part of the kitchen adventures series. mostly unedited.

wc: 1k

contains: gn!reader, pro-hero bkg (not actually mentioned) neighbor au.

You have never asked Bakugou to teach you anything before. 

Mostly because there’s never really been anything you’ve actually wanted to learn. Despite his griping, you think you're honestly a pretty decent cook. Sure, you may prefer taking convenient shortcuts over doing things the proper way, but it's not like it's the worst thing in the world. Still, Bakugou’s taken it upon himself to teach you in order to prevent you from committing what he considers to be kitchen atrocities. Admittedly, your knife skills have improved and you don’t hear your fire alarm going off as often (which you suspect is more due to Bakugou changing the whole thing himself in a fit when it dared to screech as he was broiling some fish during one lesson), but there are some things, like your instant miso soup, that Katsuki Bakugou can pry out of your cold dead hands. 

“Hah?” Bakugou whips his head around to face you, his expression twisted into his own special brand of confusion, eyes narrowed in an aggressive form of bewilderment. 

“Can you teach me how to flip things in a frying pan?” you repeat slowly.

His mouth twists, “Why? Usin’ a spatula not good enough for you?”

“It's not that,” you say. Bakugou shoots you an expectant look and you clear your throat as you elaborate. “It just looks cool is all.”

 “Y’got bigger things to worry about than lookin’ cool in the kitchen. Why’re y’worrying about that kinda crap anyway? Got someone to impress?” 

Grumbling, you say “Not really, but since you mention it, it would be nice if I were able to impress my smartass neighbor even just once.”

Bakugou snorts. “Maybe y’d impress me if you finally threw away those damn instant soup packets! I taught you how to make it yourself! Why do you still have them?”

You roll your eyes. What about cold dead hands does he not understand? You try to get the subject back on track. “Are you teaching me or not?”

He stares at you for a minute before shuffling past you into the kitchen proper. “Fine. Even an idiot like you should be able to do this much.” 

Feeling smug, despite his insult, you follow after him, watching as he pulls out your frying pan from a cabinet. He’s come over enough that he’s familiar with the layout of your kitchen, no longer needing to ask you where you keep this or that. It’s nice in a way, though you’re not entirely sure why. That said, you can’t help but be confused when he grabs one of your kitchen sponges and tosses it in the pan. Is he—

“Bakugou, I’ve got some frozen scall—”

“We’re using this first!” he barks at you. “No point in risking you flipping perfectly good food onto the kitchen floor!” 

You wince. It wouldn’t be that bad. You’ve tried flipping things before and the worst that’s happened is that the pancake flipped over on itself. 

Bakugou moves over to the stovetop, his arms gripping the frying pan’s handle. You stare at his arm— he’s in a black t-shirt today. The sleeves are loose, but you can see the defined shape of his arm muscles, from the near scandalous peek of his biceps down to the taut lines of his forearms. Maybe you’re staring a little too much, though, because you don’t quite catch what he says as he flicks his wrist. 

“What was that?” you ask. You could try to wing it and guess what his instructions were based on observation alone, but if you get it absolutely wrong he’ll scold you.

Though, since it’s Bakugou, he’s going to scold you either way. “Are you even listening?”

Now you are. “Yeah?” 

He eyes you suspiciously, but doesn’t mention if he noticed you oogling his arms. “So all you gotta do is just flick your wrist, but y’gotta do it like you’re shoveling dirt or some shit.” He does the motion a few times to show you, and you think you get it. It’s kind of like a flick and scoop. Watching him do it makes it seem easy, but you’ve learned that Bakugou makes a lot of things look effortless. 

He flips the sponge a few times before handing you the frying pan. The handle is still warm. Gruffly, he says, “Now you try.”

“Okay.” You try to mimic his motion, and the sponge goes up… but just falls back onto the pan without flipping over. 

“Weak,” Bakugou scoffs and you scowl at him, but he ignores you as he continues. “Try again, idiot, but put more force into it.” 

“Okay…” You do as he says and the sponge flies higher… before flopping onto the floor. Too much force.

“Not everything’s gonna weigh the same,” Bakugou says. “Y’gonna have to judge how much force to use for yourself.”

Right. You reach down and grab the sponge to put it back in the pan. It’s pretty light. You flick your wrist a couple times, not so much to flip but to get a feel of how much force you’ll need to flip it. When you think you’ve got an idea, you move your wrist and swoop your arm a little, sending the sponge up. It flips over and while it does catch the edge of the pan it still manages to land in it.

Grinning widely, you turn to Bakugou. “Look! I did it!” 

“Barely,” he says and while his mouth is curved down in a frown, there’s a sparkle in his eyes that makes it look like he’s trying to fight off a smile.. “Do it again! Make sure the flip is perfect this time!”

“Okay!” You try again and after a couple times you manage to flip the sponge perfectly. When you look at Bakugou for approval, he gives you the ghost of a smirk back, this time looking almost legitimately pleased.

But it only lasts for a moment before he switches out the sponge for a slightly heavier package of instant ramen. 

“Time for the next level, nerd,” he says, his eyes glinting dangerously. “We’re not stopping til every flip is perfect!” 

[pokegyns]

well, i’ll start off by saying that i’m not fighting bio-essentialism to “prove the tras wrong”, and quite frankly, i couldn’t give a damn what people think about me, or my movement. i will try to make them understand my movement, and try to help them reach it, because i generally believe it is for the greater good for humanity– but at the end of the day, if they just aren’t willing to listen, there’s only so much i can do.

i’m aware that males seem to have biological advantage over us. in no way am i trying to disprove that. i also am aware that male hormones can, to a degree, play a part with male aggression. however, it is also important to acknowledge that overemphasizing of this can become quite dangerous, dangerous to the feminist cause. there has been a study that showed that from -1 to 1, male hormones seem to affect aggression only 0.08. books by Cordelia Fine, such as “Testosterone Rex” and “Delusions of Gender”, as well as “The Gendered Brain: The New Neuroscience that Shatters the Myth of the Female Brain” by Gina Rippon, uncover & expose neurosexist & bio-essentialist beliefs & theories. scientific misogyny cannot liberate us, and by declaring males as inevitably biologically violent, we are also declaring females as inevitably biologically doomed. we are declaring males as inherent predators, and females as inherent prey. this is not only counterrevolutionary, but also counterevolutionary. even if males are naturally predisposed to violence as the result of the male sex being genetically secondary, we cannot treat the human animal as akin to all the other animals. the human animal has intellect. intellect, wit, reason. the human animal wasn’t made to dance to its’ dna, and no one is inherently biologically doomed. we cannot treat the human male as a lost cause, as something monstrous to be distanced from. we cannot go from treating separatism as a good temporary tool that can help us work things out for the time being, to seeing it as a sacred method for total sex-segregation and separation. we cannot dream of a male-less “utopia”. we just cannot. we have to think realistically; and, to me, active organizing & collaboration seems far more reachable. not kind pleas, not compromise, don’t get me wrong; i said active organizing & collaboration, not passively begging men to cooperate.

“how did patriarchy begin?” is a very complex subject, one that feminists need to be educated in. the formation of the woman-class takes shape in four stages:

in the natural state, where power relations between men and women do not exist, there are neutral anatomical differences. these anatomical differences are a biological and scientific phenomenon, genetically being able to be backed up with tangible proof.

with the accumulation of wealth at the time of the neolithic revolution, the ruling class used these anatomical differences as a weapon to enforce the division of labor and maximize profits. since women were considered incompetent when 1.) menstruating 2.) pregnant and 3.) in the weeks following childbirth, all women were assigned the task of reproduction and banished to different compartments while their state of “incompetence” lasted. on the other hand, the male body was seen as “capable” and therefore “default”, and because of this, men were associated with productive work. due to the need to generate profit, women were also forced to perform productive work.

in order to legitimize the economic exploitation of women, an ideological-cultural system was created that aimed to prove women’s inferiority: that ideological system is gender. female and male children are socialized to adapt to this system. this births the feminist theory of socialization.

to neutralize gender as the leading model of society, sex categories were created: a systematic/taxonomic categorization of biological characteristics, which was exploited for the purpose of proving male superiority, although it has a scientific basis. in this way, neurosexism was able to flourish, grey areas such as hormones were strictly placed in the rigid sex-gender boxes, and later the brain as well, following completely neutral human aspects such as emotions, thoughts, hobbies, and personalities. while every single cell in our body [is sexed], we cannot deny the utter damage this caused.

gender roles have changed over time, influenced by social movements, economic changes, and cultural shifts. this historical perspective indicates that misogyny and sex inequality can evolve and be challenged, rather than being fixed due to biology. furthermore, psychological research tells us that children learn about gender roles through observation and reinforcement. this process supports the argument that misogyny can be learned and unlearned, as opposed to being a biological inevitability. gendered behavior is often reinforced through social rewards & punishments, further illustrating the impact of socialization on attitudes toward gender. education and awareness programs that challenge traditional gender roles have been shown to reduce misogynistic attitudes, stabilizing the idea that socialization plays a key role in shaping beliefs.

while inherent biological differences may influence certain aspects of behavior, the theory of gendered socialization provides a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of misogyny. it recognizes the significant role of culture, history, and social interaction in shaping gender dynamics, highlighting that attitudes and behaviors can be learned, challenged, and transformed. by focusing on socialization, we can better address the roots of misogyny and work towards rehabilitating society, instead of engaging in feminist nihilism & biological determinism.

– mod zoroark

radblr hot takes? 🔥

what nuanced take do you feel easily shamed for on radblr?

[pinata-candy]

Charts relating to my WOF rewrite that I’ve been chipping away at in my brain! More details below <3

I have 1001 gripes with Pantala and arc 3, which. I know, not an original thought, but still. And I’m getting this out of the way immediately:

there is no dragon slavery in my rewrite.

I am in no position to tackle such a topic and in my opinion, neither was Tui, which may be a bit mean. I think she did a great job creating a series that so many people love but the dragon slavery is not needed and it is handled sloppily at best and very, very inappropriately at worst. I am not willing to fumble my way through a topic that is so heavy and that I do not fully understand the ramifications of and cannot ever fully understand the ramifications of. I don’t know how to write dragons dealing with being enslaved and having to figure out how to dismantle the entire social structure that did this to them and no, I don’t think saying it was a few bad dragons with some evil plant is a good enough answer for all of it. So it is being cut from my rewrite and the focus of Arc 3 (so far, always subject to change) will be just the Othermind.

But those points aside, let’s get into my Pantala thoughts!

Pantala always felt so empty to me compared to Pyrrhia, it just feels undercooked. It’s a continent of the same size but it feels like we see none of it, none of the landmarks other than the jungle, the hives, and the pit where the Othermind is feel memorable. Partially I think Pantala just was underdeveloped- the first book of arc three and the last book of arc two came out within a year of each other, it wasn’t given enough time to work itself out it seems. Another reason I think it feels so empty is because there are only three dragon tribes on it- while again, Pyrrhia is the same size and is hosting seven different tribes. Having three tribes is limiting, especially when two are living in the same environment together and the other is pushed to the furthest corner of the continent away from everything else. All action then either has to occur in the jungle or in the savanna as those are the only population centers anywhere, that’s pretty limiting- so limiting that one of the books took place BACK ON PYRRHIA because there seemed to be just so little to do on Pantala. Working out things like towns, important landmarks, etc is something I’m working on but expanding the tribe list will help me do so.

NOTE: WITH ALL THE FANTRIBES IM SURE THESE NAMES HAVE BEEN USED BEFORE AND ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Pantalan Tribes:

SilkWings- Colorful, four winged dragons that live in the mountainous forests on the ‘wing’ of Pantala. They can produce silk from their wrists. They undergo metamorphosis to get their wings at 7 years old

Queen: Monarch

HiveWings- Four winged dragons that do not undergo metamorphosis. They are often yellow, orange, red, or black. They have stingers on their tails and in their wrists. They live in the savannas of Pantala

Queen: Wasp

LeafWings- Two-winged dragons that live in the jungle on the head of Pantala. They come in greens and browns and are known for their Leafspeak. They are also mildly poisonous and can produce a foul-smelling mucus from their mouths.

Queen: Sequoia/ Belladonna

BeelteWings- Two-winged dragons, easily mistaken for four-winged due to their Elytra. These colorful dragons live on the 2nd wing of Pantala and are known for their strong, armored scales. They can produce a hot, acidic liquid from their tails if threatened, but this is very taxing on them.

Queen: Scarab

DamselWings- four-winged dragons, live on the tail and the tips of the claws of Pantala. These dragons come in blues, greens, purples, and pinks. They are incredibly fast, fastest of all Pantalan tribes, they have no natural defenses beyond their speed.

Queen: Meadowhawk

WebWings- no-winged dragons that live in the massive tunnels beneath Pantala. These dragons traded their flight ability for stronger silk and sturdier bodies. They come in blacks, grays, and browns. They have a venomous bite.

Queen: Widow

The tribe name for BeetleWings is also subject to change as I’m not huge on it but we’ll see.

Right now in my mind- The main conflict, prior to the discovery of the Othermind, is the HiveWing's constant grab for power. They've chased the other tribes to the edges of Pantala/ down into their tunnels through violence and shady territory deals. This issue was started by Wasp's grandmother and has persisted into the modern age. The other tribes are beginning to feel the pressures of being so condensed, their resources beginning to dwindle. Truthfully I don't have much yet. I think developing Pantala, it's tribes, and whether I'm going to take away/add tribes has to come first and all that <33

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

Joint statement of revolutionary organizations in Russia: THE REVOLUTION NEVER GETS OLD!

Comrades! Today we stand together against the capitalist system, for the conquest of power by the workers and for the deprivation of this power from the bourgeois exploiting class. The reference point and beacon for us in this struggle, the best proof of the rightness and necessity of our cause, is the main event of the twentieth century – the October Socialist Revolution of 1917.

Great October is already 107 years old, but since this event is epochal, determining the main vector of development of human history for centuries to come, it is not subject to any aging. Let us repeat what is well known and obvious to everyone who looks at the process of world development objectively, and does not distort it to please the bourgeois class.

The significance of October is that for the first time in history, power was taken by the oppressed and exploited, workers and peasants, dispelling the myth that only representatives of the propertied classes can rule. This became possible thanks to the revolution carried out under the leadership of a proletarian party, seasoned in class battles – the Bolshevik Party.

The immediate consequence of the seizure of power by the workers was the construction of a socialist state. In this state, thanks to the liberation of labor from the yoke of capital, there was an unusually rapid and comprehensive rise in productive forces, which made the economically and politically backward country the flagship of world development. A socialist society was created -- a society of people of high culture, high level of education, high civic morality. This is the basis on which the Soviet people were able to achieve the Great Victory over fascism. They were able to be the first in space and nuclear energy. They were able to ensure peace for the world in the period after the Second World War.

The bourgeois counterrevolution of the late 1980s - early 1990s destroyed all these achievements, destroying the socialist social system, the socialist state -- the USSR -- and demonstratively shooting the remnants of Soviet power in 1993. Bourgeois propagandists today are trying to prove that the counterrevolution took place due to the unviability of socialism. Lies! The bourgeois revolution became possible as a result of the ruling CPSU ceasing to express the interests of the working class and all workers, and stooping to accepting and implementing the restoration of capitalism under the guise of "perestroika" and the "market" course.

The list of bitter and gloomy things that capitalism has brought to our land and our lives is endless. Suffice it to say that it has created a monstrous stratification between rich and poor, made people’s position in society and their very lives (medicine is now paid for!) directly dependent on the thickness of their wallets, deprived the workers of all rights and all opportunities to influence the fate of their country.

Capitalism has literally showered us with the most disgusting vices of bourgeois society, and also drawn us into an endless series of conflicts and bloody wars on national grounds, the largest of which, the current war with the Nazi regime in Ukraine (and that regime arose only thanks to capitalism), is unfolding before our eyes.

The longer this goes on, the more obvious it becomes that the only way out for the workers is to achieve a new socialist path of development, to break the bourgeois system. No reforms or elections will change anything here. And so our eyes are turned to the example of the Great October.

The bourgeois government understands all this very well and strives to nip any movement toward a new revolution in the bud. Repressions against activists follow, bans on peaceful public events under a variety of pretexts, as well as any manifestations of protest in general. There is a desire to ban the very political literacy of the opponents of the bourgeois regime -- the teachings of Marxism-Leninism-- equating it with "terrorist" and "extremist" ideologies. But we know from the experience of the 1917 revolution that the thicker the lid that the bourgeoisie tries to push on the cauldron of workers' protests, the stronger the explosion will be.

Long live the 107th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution! Long live the coming October! Happy Revolution Day!

Central Committee of the Russian Communist Workers’ Party (RKRP-CPSU) Presidium of the Central Committee of the United Communist Party (OKP) Central Committee of the ROT FRONT Executive Committee of the Labor Russia movement

Translated by Melinda Butterfield

[freckliedan]

we live in a mono-normative society. polynormativity does not and can not exist. this is a very personal subject and i will not answer insensitive asks about it.

[noperopesaredope]

The point on the clones and the Jedi is one I'm delighted to hear someone repeat since I thought I was alone in that sentiment. Honestly, while working on the AU, I realized it would make more sense if the clones took more elements from JEDI culture, since not only would they have been exposed to that far more, but they clearly have a very deep respect for the Jedi. Throughout canon, we see the clones admire the Jedi a lot, with many being deeply loyal to their Jedi generals. The Jedi also influence the clones' perspectives on themselves and life, encouraging them to be themselves and find a sense of individuality. If the clones were to look to anyone as an example, it would be the Jedi, and thus, they would take after them in a lot of ways.

I even have a whole thing I wrote out on how, while the Jedi believe in no attachments, the clones tend to act on this philosophy to the fullest extent even without realizing it. I saw another person make a post clearing up some misconceptions on that philosophy, explaining it through the lens of Buddhism, and how "no attachments" is different from "no connections."

I noticed that the clones move on very quickly from death (which is likely partially due to their mental health stuff but that's another topic-), but also seem to have incredibly deep bonds with each other due to their inherent connection via being literal clones. They share these deep emotional attachments, but when one dies, they grieve very briefly, then move forward because they understand they have a mission to complete and war to win. They hold deep bonds, but do not stay attached and are able to let go.

This is just one example of how the clones would take after Jedi culture, though I have a lot of thoughts on the subject and am working on a whole section in my writeout for the AU.

As a whole, I think that even if they took some of the more artificial elements of Mando culture, the clones would have very different philosophical/cultural beliefs and values. Even if they didn't take after Jedi, they very much have their own thing going on. For example, while found family/adoptive family is apparently a big thing in Mando culture, I have been working on a whole explanation on how that would be basically the opposite for the clones.

I think most of the similarities they would have with Mando culture is less due heritage and more due to them both having militaristic elements (though even those elements would be different). So while I find them taking bits and pieces of Mando culture (just little pieces, like certain words (not the whole language)) could be cool, they have such a different experience as a people and as a SPECIES (the clones are lowkey their own species at this point) that they would end up not having that much in common with Mando culture outside of artificial similarities that might not even be that meaningful to them.

Meanwhile, the Jedi have a much deeper influence on the clones, and I wish we saw more headcanons on how the clones would take after Jedi culture.

(Also, small sidenote on the food thing, but one of my favorite things to headcanon is that, if they made their own society, the clones would not know what they are doing in regards to food because they have spent most of their lives eating rations. Thus, I assumed they would make food concepts from hell because they are excited to eat anything with even a hint of flavor. However, the idea that they would have 0 tolerance to spiciness is even funnier to me, so them creating the blandest food imaginable is another good option for Clone Cuisine™)

I've decided that Rex is the one who paints Kanan's eye mask with his bird of prey design.

Kanan's feeling pretty low still just after Malachor, he's still distancing himself from everybody, and Rex decides to go try to talk to him at one point and the first thing he comes up with to say is to point out that his new mask is pretty plain. It's awkward, he regrets it immediately, but then Kanan says that it gets the job done and Rex is abruptly reminded of himself so so long ago back at the beginning of the war.

He sits Kanan down and tells him a story about how, at the beginning of the war, only a few of the clones had paint on their armor, to designate things like rank and battalion in order to make it easier for officers to find them in the middle of a busy battlefield. The paint was practical and it was limited to a very select few. But the Jedi almost immediately started trying to encourage the clones to utilize the paint less sparingly, suggesting that maybe everybody could wear at least a LITTLE paint and use more individualized designs so that it was still easy to tell the commanders and captains apart from the others when needed.

Some of the clones had taken to it with gusto, but others had been more hesitant, and Rex remembers having been one of them. He remembers telling Obi-Wan that there was no real REASON to paint everyone's armor and especially not to come up with personal designs. The armor was practical and it served its purpose with or without the paint and special designs. But the Jedi had insisted on at least TRYING to come up with his own design and if he didn't like it, he could always take it off, so Rex had given in and chosen something to paint on the armor. And, somehow, it felt a little lighter the next time he put it on. It didn't erase the horrors of war or the pain of loss or anything like that, but it helped.

He tells Kanan that the mask right now is just a reminder of the pain of the injury and whatever other feelings he's still got all caught up in the Malachor mission (guilt over what happened with Ezra, grief over Ahsoka's loss). But if he puts his own design on it, it might turn the mask into something other than a constant reminder of something bad. Instead, it's a reminder of who he is, the combination of the person he once was and who he's become. He is more than just his injury or this mission and he can use the mask to declare that if he wants to.

Kanan says he never realized Rex and the other clones had cared so deeply about their armor and Rex says that the armor itself was meaningless. It's better than what's being handed out to stormtroopers, but not but a LOT. It was the design on it that had meant something and, more than that, it was what the design REPRESENTED: having a choice about how you were perceived by others.

Kanan asks why Rex had chosen his particular designs, the bird of prey eyes on his helmet in particular. Rex explains that he chose it because he liked birds and thought it looked cool, but he's kept the helmet for as long as he has because it's come to mean something ELSE now. It's not just a cool-looking design, it's a reminder of a better time in his life. It's a reminder of when he'd been a part of something greater than himself, with the other clones and the Jedi. It's a reminder of a time when he'd had hope that he and his people could one day come out the other side of this war towards a brighter future.

Kanan looks at the mask he'd grabbed from storage somewhere or something just to keep light from hurting his eyes as they recovered and to cover up the injury from other people's stares (even if he couldn't see them staring), then hands it to Rex and asks if Rex minds sharing that symbol because he'd like a reminder of that, too. Rex remembers the 332nd and their helmets that they'd painted to look like their chosen Jedi, almost blindly giving away their individuality in favor of that loyalty that had been stripped from them anyway. And then he looks at Kanan, choosing to make himself look LIKE REX, someone who had shared his face with millions once, because he wants to honor both the connections he'd lost as well as this new connection the two of them have built together now. And Rex says he'd be happy to share.

[skunkes]

[gibbearish]

kinda frustrating how we've spent the last few months acknowledging how a lot of well intentioned but guilt trippy social justice posts are like specifically designed to worm into ocd ppls brains and then now every single post abt palestine is "i dont care how bad your mental health is, i dont care how bad looking at all this makes you feel, if you don't read every single post you see on this topic in full you are a horrible person and directly contributing to their deaths. 'waaaah my mental health' well at least youre not being bombed, did you think about that??" and its like. i absolutely get where youre coming from but you dont get to complain that guilt tripping is bad then turn around and use it anyways because you think the cause youre using it for is worthwhile. like. everyone thinks the cause theyre using it for is worthwhile, thats why theyre using it. but its still a shit way to do it

[clown-activist]

i think some ppl are using autistic literal think as a shield to dismiss the fact that they have zero want to read things as contextual or learn how things connect, especially in stuff like art

we all know its hard to "read in between the lines" and interpret tone and stuff with that, but why do people post like autism stops them from recognizing patterns. The fucking pattern recognizing disorder.

[pluralprogramming]

Why does Alan force me to debate whether or not entire populations of the human population "have souls" or "are evil" by nature?

Why is every conversation with our father lately a damn debate? I do not enjoy debating the existence or "inherent morality" of minority groups.

[designernishiki]

aight im just gonna say it. some folks really gotta stop treating nishikiryu like they’re actually related and considering anyone who’s so much as Okay with them as a pairing of being incest apologists. like. that’s a legitimately fucked up and serious thing to accuse someone of just because of your view of two factually unrelated fictional characters.

[levia-kun]

"Missspelling names is considered rude, so I think it's rude to do so when you dont want hate posts about said character in their dedicated tag" This is why fandom sucks ass at tagging their shit

[artemistorm]

My geology class is the most chaotic class I've done so far. There's no pattern to the labs and quizzes we do, they're all random and there's no warning of when there will be one or when it is due. Every week in the moodle are like 8-12 videos/articles/documents to look at but there's always a couple of them that aren't for this class at all and I have no idea why they're there. I can't even figure out what the main point is we're supposed to be learning each week. There's a textbook but he never tells us what we're supposed to be reading from it and it looks like not even a real textbook but like its random geology rambling written by some guy.

[yuyusuyu]

i just finished writing the last chapter of blurred lines and lies 💔 time for the endings 🙏🏼

[vengeful4ever]

tbh the only reason why I'm not skipping every math lesson and actually giving it ago is bc I know Alan Turing would be disappointed