#faceless bureaucracy

[thisisntkt]

hey guys andor really is the best star wars story out there because it finally treats star wars like a serious, mature story—one that isn’t just about good vs. evil, but about people, choices, and the crushing weight of oppression. it strips away the mythic grandeur of the jedi and the sith and replaces it with something more real: a rebellion built on fear, desperation, and sacrifice. every moment feels intentional, every conversation matters, and for once, the empire isn’t just a faceless evil—it’s a system that grinds people down until they have no choice but to fight back.

one of the reasons it’s so immersive is its incredible worldbuilding. like this isn’t just another desert planet or a jungle with star wars dressing. every location, from ferrix to coruscant to narkina 5, feels like a fully realized place, with its own culture, politics, and economy. ferrix, for example, isn’t just a background—it’s a community where people rely on each other, where work and tradition matter. the way they mourn their dead, the way the bells signal the rhythm of their day—it all makes it feel real.

then there’s coruscant, which we’ve seen before, but never like this. instead of just being the shiny capital of the galaxy, andor shows us the bureaucracy, the paranoia, the quiet horror of a system designed to crush dissent before it even begins. mon mothma’s storyline is a masterclass in showing just how difficult and terrifying it is to resist the empire from within.

and then there’s narkina 5! the prison arc is one of the most terrifyingly effective depictions of systemic control in star wars. it’s not just that the prisoners are trapped—it’s that they are tricked into thinking they might have some control. the sterile white floors, the quiet threat of electric punishment, the gamified system of labor—it’s chilling. and it makes their eventual uprising feel even more powerful.

most star wars stories tell us about hope, but andor shows us what it costs. it doesn’t rely on nostalgia, it doesn’t lean on familiar characters to carry it—it builds everything from the ground up. there’s no jedi to swoop in and save the day, no grand space battles with triumphant victories. just people trying to survive, trying to resist, trying to make impossible choices.

the dialogue is sharper, the themes are richer, and the stakes feel personal. it’s not about prophecy or destiny—it’s about rebellion as a necessary act of survival. it’s about the slow, grueling process of organizing, of convincing people to fight, of realizing that the enemy isn’t just stormtroopers with blasters—it’s the very structure of control that keeps them in line.

that’s what makes andor so powerful. it’s the first star wars story that feels like it truly understands what rebellion means—not just as a spectacle, but as something painful, terrifying, and absolutely necessary!

[landrysg]

Martin Gurri:

The past four years have seen a sustained effort to overturn the principles of the open society. ... Supported by its allies in the media, the university, and the bureaucracy, the administration became, in its own eyes, the guardian of truth. Yet on every important question that confronted the country, it was almost invariably wrong — and I say “almost” as a kindness. From the pandemic to the economy, from energy to war and peace, the faceless clique that ran the government on Biden’s behalf made an unholy mess of things. ...

Whether Trump’s policies turn out to be right or wrong evidently matters. But the resumption of the great American debate, of speech that is unencumbered and unafraid, of a Jeffersonian-style open society, matters much more, since it will enable progress. Let there be furious disputes among political allies, Republicans arguing with Republicans, Democrats with Democrats, inside the right and the left as well as against each other. And let outsiders, popular or unpopular, orthodox and heterodox, join in.

I propose an easy test to tell whether we have regained the freedom to discuss every important subject: Count how often the word “disinformation” appears over the next four years

[carafell]

The year is 1964. The world now finds itself under control of RED and BLU, two rival international mega-congolmerates that through almost 100 restless years of acquisitions, merges, paid assasinations and innumerable bribes rose from humble construction & demolition businnesses to global hegemons, infiltrating nearly all areas of life.

World governments exist only in theory, split evenly between RED and BLU. All known laws and systems of government have been effectively replaced by the rule of capitalism and corporate bureaucracy, which now arranges the lives of billions of people across all continents. Branded, color coded products fill store shelves stores and seep from omnipresent advertisements. Decadent politicans have completely surrendered to branch executives, ready to fulfill their every order. Mercenary teams have become common sight across all major metropolies of the world, fighting for control when victory cannot be achieved through economic means.

Throughout their lives Redmond and Blutarch Mann have went to unimaginable lengths, overcoming death itself and dragging the whole humankind into their war, desperate to prove themselves and their way better.

To live in a world created by them, is to be a faceless statistic of consumer preference on a company spreasheet, constantly fluctuating between the two extremes. It is to live in a world of uncertainty and rising tensions, where the seemingly endless abundance of capitalist production can implode at any time. It is a world with no hope for a change, where one has only 2 choices: RED and BLU. I finally wrote something longer. I consider making a sideblog for it and making it a regular AU, but am not sure. Honestly I never did fandom stuff, dropping all this publcily feels so weird to me. Anyway, enjoy. Its supposed to be an intro post to a more realistic take on TF2 lore that lived rent free in my head for years. I gave it a work name "TF2 64", but I guess we'll see what comes out of it.

[chernobog13]

IKURU (1952). Directed by Akira Kurosawa. Starring Takashi Shimura.

I know many people believe that Akira Kurosawa's favorite actor was Toshirō Mifune, and the sixteen films they made together are some of the greatest ever (Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Rashomon, The Bad Sleep Well), but the two men ultimately had a falling out and never worked together again.

On the other hand, actor Takashi Shimura (Dr. Yamane in Godzilla (1954) and Godzilla Raids Again (1955)) appeared in 21 of director Kurosawa's 30 films, more than any other actor. And there was a very good reason for this: the man was a phenomenal actor!

Ikuru (translated as "To Live"), made two years before the two men would re-team for Seven Samurai, is Shimura-san's tour de force. He plays a bureaucrat who suddenly finds that he has very little time to live, and tries to come to terms with his death. He tries various methods, but none are the right solution. It's when he finally finds something significant that he becomes passionate about that gives what little remains of his life meaning.

The film is a tragedy, but I find the ending to be uplifting because, despite being a faceless drone in a nigh-indefeatable bureaucracy, he is able make a small, but positive change in peoples' lives.

I highly recommend this film, but be warned that it is not a breezy Hollywood entertainment. And if you do not bawl your eyes out when Shimura-san's character sings Gondola no Uta (Life is Brief) while sitting on a swing, you are not even remotely human.

[dailyanarchistposts]

I.5.3 Would confederations produce bureaucrats and politicians?

Of course, any organisation holds the danger that the few who have been given tasks to perform could misuse their position for personal benefit or, over time, evolve into a bureaucracy with power over the rest of society. As such, some critics of social anarchism suggest that a system of communes and confederations would simply be a breeding ground for politicians and bureaucrats. This is obviously the case with the state and many generalise from this experience for all forms of social organisation, including the anarchist commune.

While recognising that this is a danger, anarchists are sure that such developments are unlikely in an anarchy. This is because, based on our analysis and critique of the state, we have long argued for various institutional arrangements which reduce the danger of such things developing. These include electing delegates rather than representatives, giving these delegates a binding mandate and subjecting them to instant recall by their electors. They would not, in general, be paid and so, in other words, delegates are expected, as far as possible, to remain in their current communities and conduct their communal tasks after their usual work. For the few exceptions to this that may occur, delegates would receive the average pay of their commune, in mutualism and collectivism or, in communism, no special access to communal resources. Moreover, it seems likely that regular rotation of delegates would be utilised and, perhaps, random selection as happens in jury duty today in many countries. Lastly, communes could leave any confederation if its structure was becoming obviously misshapen and bureaucratic.

By these methods, delegates to communal bodies would remain under the control of their electors and not, as in the state, become their masters. Moreover, anarchists have stressed that any communal body must be a working organisation. This will reduce bureaucratic tendencies as implementing tasks will be done by elected delegates rather than faceless (and usually unelected) bureaucrats. This means, as Bakunin put it in 1868, that “the Communal Council” (made up of delegates “with binding mandates and accountable and revocable at all times”) would create “separate executive committees from among its membership for each branch of the Commune’s revolutionary administration.” [Bakunin, No Gods, No Masters, vol. 1, p. 155] Thus would no longer be a body of people, a government, separate from the delegates of the people. This, it should be noted, echoed Proudhon’s comments from 1848:

“It is up to the National Assembly, through organisation of its committees, to exercise executive power, just the way it exercises legislative power … Besides universal suffrage and as a consequence of universal suffrage, we want implementation of the binding mandate. Politicians balk at it! Which means that in their eyes, the people, in electing representatives, do not appoint mandatories but rather abjure their sovereignty! That is assuredly not socialism: it is not even democracy.” [Op. Cit., p. 63]

Due to mandating and recall, any delegate who starts to abuse their position or even vote in ways opposed to by the communal assembly would quickly be recalled and replaced. As such a person may be an elected delegate of the community but that does not mean that they have power or authority (i.e., they are not a representative but rather a delegate). Essentially they are an agent of the local community who is controlled by, and accountable to, that community. Clearly, such people are unlike politicians. They do not, and cannot, make policy decisions on behalf of (i.e., govern) those who elected them — they are not given power to make decisions for people. In addition, people in specific organisations or with specific tasks will be rotated frequently to prevent a professionalisation of politics and the problem of politicians being largely on their own once elected. And, of course, they will continue to work and live with those who elected them and receive no special privileges due to their election (in terms of more income, better housing, and so on). This means that such delegates would be extremely unlikely to turn into representatives or bureaucrats as they would be under the strict control of the organisations that elected them to such posts. As Kropotkin argued, the general assembly of the community “in permanence — the forum always open — is the only way .. . to assure an honest and intelligent administration” as it is based upon ”distrust of all executive powers.” [The Great French Revolution, Vol. 1, p. 211]

The current means of co-ordinating wide scale activity — centralism via the state — is a threat to freedom as, to quote Proudhon, “the citizen divests himself of sovereignty, the town and the Department and province above it, absorbed by central authority, are no longer anything but agencies under direct ministerial control.” “The Consequences” he continued, “soon make themselves felt: the citizen and the town are deprived of all dignity, the state’s depredations multiply, and the burden on the taxpayer increases in proportion. It is no longer the government that is made for the people; it is the people who are made for the government. Power invades everything, dominates everything, absorbs everything.” [The Principle of Federation, p. 59] In such a regime, the generation of a specific caste of politicians and bureaucrats is inevitable.

Moreover, ”[t]he principle of political centralism is openly opposed to all laws of social progress and of natural evolution. It lies in the nature of things that every cultural advance is first achieved within a small group and only gradually finds adoption by society as a whole. Therefore, political decentralisation is the best guaranty for the unrestricted possibilities of new experiments. For such an environment each community is given the opportunity to carry through the things which it is capable of accomplishing itself without imposing them on others. Practical experimentation is the parent of ever development in society. So long as each distinct is capable of effecting the changes within its own sphere which its citizens deem necessary, the example of each becomes a fructifying influence on the other parts of the community since they will have the chance to weigh the advantages accruing from them without being forced to adopt them if they are not convinced of their usefulness. The result is that progressive communities serve the others as models, a result justified by the natural evolution of things.” [Rudolf Rocker, Pioneers of American Freedom, pp. 16–7] The contrast with centralisation of the state could not be more clear. Rocker continued:

“In a strongly centralised state, the situation is entirely reversed and the best system of representation can do nothing to change that. The representatives of a certain district may have the overwhelming majority of a certain district on his [or her] side, but in the legislative assembly of the central state, he [or she] will remain in the minority, for it lies in the nature of things that in such a body not the intellectually most active but the most backward districts represent the majority. Since the individual district has indeed the right to give expression of its opinion, but can effect no changes without the consent of the central government, the most progressive districts will be condemned to stagnate while the most backward districts will set the norm.” [Op. Cit., p. 17]

Little wonder anarchists have always stressed what Kropotkin termed “local action” and considered the libertarian social revolution as “proceed[ing] by proclaiming independent Communes which Communes will endeavour to accomplish the economic transformation within … their respective surroundings.” [Peter Kropotkin, Act For Yourselves, p. 43] Thus the advanced communities will inspire the rest to follow them by showing them a practical example of what is possible. Only decentralisation and confederation can promote the freedom and resulting social experimentation which will ensure social progress and make society a good place to live.

Moreover, confederation is required to maximise self-management and reduce the possibility that delegates will become isolated from the people who mandated them. As Rocker explained:

“In a smaller community, it is far easier for individuals to observe the political scene and become acquainted with the issues which have to be resolved. This is quite impossible for a representative in a centralised government. Neither the single citizen nor his [or her] representative is completely or even approximately to supervise the huge clockwork of the central state machine. The deputy is forced daily to make decisions about things of which he [or she] has no personal knowledge and for the appraisal of which he must therefore depend on others [i.e. bureaucrats and lobbyists]. That such a system necessarily leads to serious errors and mistakes is self-evident. And since the citizen for the same reason is not able to inspect and criticise the conduct of his representative, the class of professional politicians is given added opportunity to fish in troubled waters.” [Op. Cit., p. 17–18]

These principles, it must be stressed, have worked well on a mass scale For example, this is how anarcho-syndicalist unions operate and, as was the case with the CNT in Spain in the 1930s, worked well with over one million members. There were also successfully applied during the Spanish Revolution and the federations of collectives produced by it.

So the way communes and confederations are organised protect society and the individual against the dangers of centralisation, from the turning of delegates into representatives and bureaucrats. As Bakunin stressed, there are two ways of organising society, “as it is today, from high to low and from the centre to circumference by means of enforced unity and concentration” and the way of the future, by federalism “starting with the free individual, the free association and the autonomous commune, from low to high and from circumference to centre, by means of free federation.” [Michael Bakunin: Selected Writings, p. 88] In other words, “the organisation of society from the bottom up.” [The Basic Bakunin, p. 131] This suggests that a free society will have little to fear in way of its delegates turning into politicians or bureaucrats as it includes the necessary safeguards (election, mandates, recall, decentralisation, federalism, etc.) which will reduce such developments to a small, and so manageable, level (if not eliminate it totally).

[flowercrowncrip]

How is he able to afford food/rent/etc without a job? Is he on student loans? I feel like sometimes ppl on loans are intimidated by having to graduate because then forbearance ends and they have to start payments but may not have a good job lined up etc but maybe talking to his financial aid office can help him think thru his options if the issue isn’t disability / mental illness making it hard to find motivation & move forward in life (different set of issues with different solutions needed). The incredibly high rates of loneliness is truly one of the contributors to radicalization in my opinion in addition to the documented health effects etc. Hope he gets better & also snaps out of it / becomes less bigoted

He does have some form of student loan, but mostly he’s financially dependent on our parents and really taking them for granted.

Unfortunately there’s not exactly and equivalent to a financial aid office here – student loans either come from private companies or the huge faceless bureaucracy that is Student Finance England.

Loneliness is definitely a factor though. But sadly I haven’t known how he’s really doing for years – I haven’t had much beyond one word answers from him since I transitioned and that was around 10 years ago.

I think he’s likely to finish his dissertation at the last minute before the deadline and then he has a job lined up after he graduates so he’ll hopefully start interacting with a broader range of people again and have more of an offline social life. But I think we’re always going to be very different people.

[codexmaledictus]

The Burden of Apotheosis

He was once Gorst Calathrax, a mortal man of the Administratum, utterly forgettable amidst the throngs of humanity choking the hive-cities of the Imperium. His life was nothing but paper—a ceaseless bureaucracy of servitude to an Empire that saw him as nothing more than a number. But the Plague God sees value in the overlooked, and where others saw insignificance, Nurgle saw potential.

The figure you see above was not always the hulking, corrupted nightmare that strides forth as a Death Guard champion. He was one of countless faceless clerks, his days spent hunched over a cogitator, stamping requisition forms for Guard regiments doomed to the Eastern Fringe. Calathrax’s world ended not with an invasion, but with a whisper. When a plague swept his hive-city, he was the last one standing in a vast chamber of corpses. Nurgle’s Rot should have claimed him, but instead, it spoke to him. It told him of a greater purpose.

In his fevered visions, Calathrax saw himself clad in armor slick with disease, his flesh made unyielding by the blessings of rot. He awoke to find himself...transformed. His body swelled, bursting through the meager confines of his Administratum-issued robes, even as his mind twisted to serve his new patron.

On the decayed plains of Thranax IV, he led a host of plaguebearers against the forces of the Astra Militarum, his former comrades. His plague-sword found its mark time and time again, but it was his voice—wet, gurgling, and suffused with Nurgle’s power—that shattered the defenders. With every word he spoke, their flesh blackened and fell away. His triumphs, however, are not merely martial. Within his bloated armor, Calathrax still carries the meticulous mindset of an Administratum clerk. Now he serves Nurgle as a plague-archivist, cataloging every strain of disease his warband spreads.

His corrupted scrolls are whispered to carry blessings of contagion for those foolish enough to handle them. Gorst Calathrax has embraced eternity, not in the Emperor’s light, but in Nurgle’s ever-festering garden. May his story remind us: even the most insignificant of souls can find their purpose in decay. (For those who seek the true blessings of rot, look closely. The pustules in the image pulse with unholy life—perhaps a gift waits for you in their ichor...)

[sistersorrow]

Every culture eventually creates myths to explain things they don't understand, so let me share with you a story from my people: the myth of the Electricity Man, Jimmy the Intern

My country's electrical infrastructure is, to put it lightly, dogshit, being prone to electrical faults, failing (and occasionally exploding due to people siphoning oils) transformers, and simply not being able to meet national power demands, necessitating blackouts in some areas so others can have power

The problem is that the people in charge of all this lack any transparency, so these outages are never announced beforehand and could very well be likely

With no real way of predicting if or when these outages would occur, the people at my senior school all eventually came up with a character to give a face to the faceless machine of bureaucracy: Jimmy the Intern

Jimmy, as the story goes, had a little office with a big switchboard, with some switches controlling power for entire regions, while others were for individual houses, and it was Jimmy's job (which paid poorly if at all) was to be the sole decider of who got electricity and when

If the power went out, that was merely the will of Jimmy

If the power kept flickering on and off, Jimmy was bored, or maybe having problems at home and taking out his frustrations on his fellow citizens

If the power came back, but a really low voltage, Jimmy spilled his coffee on the switchboard or something

Like Santa Claus, you could have messages forwarded to Jimmy asking to bring the power back, and he'd often listen (this was an explanation for a common phenomenon we'd notice where the authorities would claim the outage was due to a fault, but then power would come back minutes after we'd call asking what the fuck was going on)

Some claimed that there were dances one could do to appease Jimmy, but this was deemed heretical as most of us were minors at the time and while Jimmy was an instrument of our oppression, he was not the kind of creep that would make kids dance for his amusement

Then, one day many years ago, there was no power outages for two whole weeks, only to suddenly go out around 16:00, and the next day when we gathered to discuss the Jimmy and his ways, we were all in agreement: Yesterday was the day that Jimmy died

Realising the evils he had committed, Jimmy the Intern locked himself in his office and refused to turn off the power, and the government, being filled with the kind of people who handed control of their electrical infrastructure to Just Some Guy, unlocked the door with a spare key, shot him 57 times in the head, and gave the job to Johnny the Intern

After that, the joke just kinda fizzled out, and Jimmy the Intern, the Electric Man, no, the Electric SAINT, went into the dustbin of history

[darkmaga-returns]

The president-elect said ‘the departments and agencies that have been weaponized will be completely overhauled, so that faceless bureaucrats will never again be able to target and persecute conservatives, Christians, or the left’s political enemies.’

By Doug Mainwaring Lifesite News

November 11, 2024

In a stirring video presentation, President-elect Donald J. Trump issued a 10-point plan promising to radically dismantle and de-weaponize the “Deep State,” and send much of what is left “of the sprawling federal bureaucracy to new locations outside the Washington Swamp” to “places filled with patriots who love America.”

Trump’s announcement sent shockwaves of fear and anxiety throughout the nation’s capital.

As part of Trump’s plan, he promises to “clean out all of the corrupt actors in our national security and intelligence apparatus. The departments and agencies that have been weaponized will be completely overhauled, so that faceless bureaucrats will never again be able to target and persecute conservatives, Christians, or the left’s political enemies.”

He also proposes to expose the “abuses of power that have been tearing our country apart”; to “establish a ‘Truth and Reconciliation Commission’ to declassify and publish all documents on Deep State spying, censorship, and corruption”; and to “monitor our intelligence agencies to ensure they are not spying on our citizens or running disinformation campaigns against the American people.”

Once his new administration begins, Trump said he would “push a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on members of Congress.”

[exeggcute]

in hindsight this notion I used to have of corporate environments as a like cold faceless bureaucracy of identical cogs spinning in a huge machine is kind of funny considering how much of the corporate nonsense I've experienced has actually been a rich tapestry of cliques and petty grudges and straight-up mind games. like still a climate of alienation but rooted in paranoia way more than in tedium. maybe it's just a startup thing. in other news my nemesis finally got fired

[quantumized-insanity]

I hate you faceless bureaucracies I hate you endless hold lines I hate you compartmentalized systems I hate you automated call directories I hate you planned obsolescence I hate you warranties and insurance and systems that have no people and no accountability and no way to tangibly handle problems. I hate living in this Kafkaesque nightmare with upbeat crackly elevator wait music with automated options. I hate you capitalism I hate you capitalism I hate you capitalism I HATE YOU CAPITALISM

[amrv-5]

HI PARKER!!! trope meme ask:

time loops/time wonkiness, modern AU, noir AU (I know the answer but STILL), genderswap/genderfuckery, major character death, there was only one bed

LISAAAAAAAA these are all so GOOD????? THANK YOU!!!!!!!! This is JUST what I needed to focus on rn AHHHHHH. So good. So good. All answers are MASH btw of course. I got a one track brain rn:

Time loops/time wonkiness:

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

Yes. Yes. Love. Yes. Figurative time loops or time dilation or whatever? Where it just FEELS like things are taking forever but they aren’t? Love it. Literal time fuckery? Love it even more. I particularly love to think about the idea of a time loop in MASH as it relates to the sort of meta-angle of syndication. The idea that these characters are all, in some way, trapped reliving the same days of the war over and over for as long as we are watching them…that’s the stuff. Invokes something interesting to me about viewership / media voyeurism that I haven’t really pulled apart but. Fun. Makes me think. Love to play with. Ripe for tragic effect in-fic, fascinating at a meta-level. Fun fun fun fun fun.

Modern AU:

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

Hard no, I say, writing one. 

To be fair I only started playing with the idea to see if I thought it could be done. Generally my opinion of a modern MASH AU is that it divorces the characters from the circumstances that shape them so entirely that it might as well be playing with OCs. They are so deeply the products of their time and place that I really hate to see them taken out of their context. 

…That said, I’m finding that the modern AU I was chopping at started to work when I shoved them into a desperate modern situation. Instead of sticking them in the front lines of a land war, I shoved them into the front lines of modern American health care. Hawkeye and BJ as trauma/CT surgeons fighting a losing battle against the crushing bureaucracy of the American medical industry kind of…works? IMO? Not nearly as well as their original context, but it does allow Hawkeye to be desperate and angry and disgusted by the perversion of his profession for the profit of massive corporate interests, and it lets BJ be silently resigned to hell, and the both of them are trapped for a certain number of years in a way by medical debt and the fact that what the hell do you do if you quit being a surgeon, when so much of your life and identity revolves around your career? It works because it lets them field despair and lean on each other and shove against massive faceless machines of injustice that profit off exploitation of their skills. Tl,dr; I’m a hypocrite for disliking modern AUs, it’s true, I admit. I'll never say never, but it'd have to be done really intentionally to appeal to me, I think.

Noir AU:

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

LOVE!!!!!!!! LOVE!!!!!!!! I think it’s soooo sexy. I love noir, I’m a huge Raymond Chandler fan, and kind of subscribe to his writing approach in that frequently vibes and images are more the point of noir than watertight plot. There is very little I enjoy more than the type of stylized, image-focused writing that noir invites. I’ve been hacking away at a noir Beejhawk AU (AS YOU KNOW!!!!!!!! AH!!!!! I am working on. So many things. Help) and a consistent source of fun has been writing these smoky, dim, tense, sexy, ambient scenes where everybody’s circling each other and nobody is on quite the same page. Lots of Hawkeye standing around being lean and sharp and clever and melancholy, and lots of BJ being, and I’ve code-named him the Jackal in this fic where he’s a rouge and disillusioned beat cop with a gun to his head, sort of gleefully sadistic in moments. We know he’s got an in-canon capacity for violence that concerns and upsets him, and it’s been fun to let him take the limiters off and go a little wild with it. And of course how does guilt come back into play, because you KNOW it’s going to be there for him. Waiting. Always. Especially when he initially meets Hawk as a bit of an antagonist figure. God I gotta get back to writing this.

Genderswap/gender fuckery:

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

YES!!! No. Yes. [Parker is picky as usual alert] SOMETIMES I love it and sometimes it’s meh. I LOVE it when it seeks out to agitate borders of heteronormativity and make things queer. I think it’s soooo fun to get into characters’ psychology (obviously) and I love how many ways that gender swapping or gender fuckery can open itself up to questioning characters’ internal biases and assumptions. If it's just to make a gay ship straight w/no underlying interest in how that would change things, then nah.

That said I think BJ and Hawk are both sooooo fun to get genderfucky with. I think BJ is fun to use to see how he reacts to tearing down some of his intense 50s gender role feelings, and Hawkeye and his whole breeding kink (sorry) etc., so much fun. Drag is fun, gender fuckery is fun, crossing borders is fun, violating gender norms rules and is so cool and fun. I love queer people actually. Love to see it in fic. GET WEIRD W IT! I’ve decided this is actually a solid yes now that I’ve typed it out. GET WEIRD!!!!! I WANNA READ IT!!!!

Major character death: 

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

NOOOOO AUUUUUGHHHHH. I will personally probably never write it (if it’s not temporary a la vampire!Hawk fic), but I think it CAN be done well but ouuuughhhhh. Hurts. Makes me soooo sad. I’m sure I’ve seen it done well but ohhhhhhhhhh.

There was only one bed:

No | rather not | I dunno | I guess | Sure | Yes | FUCK yes | Oh god you don’t even know |

Answered elsewhere but. I’ll say again that I FUCKING LOVE IT. Love pics that really delve into physical affection and one bed is soooo great for just. Everything about that. Accidental cuddling. Sharing space. Waking up wrapped in each other…..ooohhhhhhh I love. I love. 

Thanks AGAIN for this ask it was soooooo fun to get to really sit down and think through these!!!!!!!!!!!

[feotakahari]

I can’t relate to this. The things that kill people are either human or impersonal, like a drone operator or a faceless bureaucracy. Some people like to pretend they’re the inhuman personal as a form of self-delusion, and many people (myself included) write the inhuman personal as a punching bag in fantasies, but when the inhuman personal uses more believable characters as their punching bags, it feels more like the offender’s fantasy than the victim’s.

The idea of something that could hurt others in a personal and malicious way, but could never die from choking on food or falling down a staircase, is like a basilisk to me. I can’t function while believing in it, even in the context of suspension of disbelief.

How Horror Helps With Processing Grief and Trauma, S.F. Whitaker

[bluebirddiary]

This is probably my last year in America.

whelp It's looking like I have to flee my country because our medical system wont help me and want's me to drop dead.

America is loosing an artist, a educator, and a citizen. Life is for rent here and I simply cannot handle the increase in cost any longer.

How many others will this nation loose because of what has been done? I know many people don't value art and most people think teaching the next generation is overrated. But these are still functions of a healthy society.

I was born here. My parents were born here, my grandparents were born here. I am sharing my story so that I leave this country Known. So that when I am gone, somewhere in America there will be people who know that it's not the foreigners and layabouts that were pushed out of this nation by it's inherent cruelty. It was your own people.

I wish I could tell you my story had a villain other than the bureaucracy of faceless people "Just doing their jobs" But it really doesn't. I live in a place full of love. But Love wont pay the bills. Alaska is my residence at this time. Postcard beautiful and scenic in every way, and it still is not immune to the machine of cruelty that is America.

Who knows? Maybe I will finish this log in a fancy hotel, or on the road to some wild destination, or a ship overseas. But Alaska is where I started. The mountain vistas and forests full of wonderful creatures. It’s a magical place to live truly. In a very real way, Alaska’s overwhelming picturesque nature is one of the things that's kept me sane. I am truly going to miss this place. I will be leaving a fragment of my soul in these wild mountains. But it will be worth the cost to deprive the cruel machinery of America my value. I will be freed by turning my back on the land of the free. How ironic is that?

[enjoysmallbusiness]

Why You Should Enjoy Small Business Success Today

In today’s fast-paced, digital-driven world, it’s easy to overlook the charm and power of small businesses. While giant corporations dominate headlines and global markets, small businesses quietly drive local economies, fuel innovation, and build strong communities. If you’re a small business owner or dreaming of becoming one, now is the perfect time to appreciate and enjoy small business success more than ever.

The Power of a Small Business

A small business isn't just a source of income; it's a symbol of independence, creativity, and dedication. These businesses bring unique products and personalized services that larger corporations can rarely match. Whether it's a cozy coffee shop in your neighborhood or a local online boutique, small businesses add flavor and identity to every community.

Unlike large corporations that rely on mass production and impersonal customer service, a small business thrives by connecting personally with customers. Owners often know their clients by name, remember their preferences, and genuinely care about delivering quality experiences. This kind of relationship makes shopping or working with a small business feel like visiting an old friend.

Why People Enjoy Small Business Interactions

People crave authentic experiences. That’s exactly why so many prefer to enjoy small business interactions over dealing with larger, faceless companies. Small businesses offer:

Personal attention

Unique products or services

Faster and more flexible service

Direct communication with decision-makers

When you choose to support a small business, you’re not just buying a product—you’re investing in someone’s dream, supporting your local economy, and helping a community grow stronger.

Supporting Local Economy and Community

Choosing to enjoy small business also means boosting your local economy. Studies show that for every $100 spent at a local small business, approximately $68 stays within the community. This economic ripple effect helps create jobs, support local causes, and maintain a vibrant, self-sustaining neighborhood.

Moreover, small business owners often give back to their communities more generously than large chains. They sponsor youth sports teams, donate to local charities, and participate in neighborhood events. Their success directly benefits everyone around them.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Innovation doesn’t only come from Silicon Valley tech giants. In fact, small businesses often lead the way in trying out new ideas. Freed from the red tape and bureaucracy of big corporations, small business owners can experiment with different business models, products, or customer service techniques with agility.

When you enjoy small business offerings, you’re also encouraging innovation and diversity. From handcrafted goods to niche services, small businesses bring fresh, creative solutions that respond directly to customer needs.

Challenges Faced by Small Businesses

While there's plenty to celebrate, it’s important to recognize the challenges small businesses face. Limited access to funding, competition from large retailers, and economic uncertainty are real hurdles. However, despite these obstacles, small businesses continue to prove resilient.

Supporting them through conscious purchasing, word-of-mouth referrals, and online reviews can go a long way. These actions allow more people to discover and enjoy small business offerings.

The Joy of Owning a Small Business

Owning a small business is more than just a career—it’s a lifestyle. It demands hard work, long hours, and unwavering commitment, but the rewards are just as significant. Entrepreneurs get to pursue their passions, be their own bosses, and make an impact in their communities.

When you run your own small business, you learn to celebrate every victory. Every sale, every positive review, and every returning customer brings joy and motivation. You create something meaningful, not just for yourself but for everyone you serve. That’s why so many entrepreneurs proudly say they enjoy small business life despite its ups and downs.

Digital Tools Empower Small Businesses

Thanks to technology, small businesses have more power than ever. Social media, e-commerce platforms, and digital marketing tools have leveled the playing field. A small business with a strong online presence can reach global audiences, build brand loyalty, and grow faster than ever imagined.

From Instagram shops to personalized newsletters, there are endless ways to connect with customers and make them enjoy small business shopping experiences, whether online or in person.

Tips to Help You Enjoy Small Business Success

If you own a small business or are thinking about starting one, here are a few tips to help you thrive:

Know Your Audience – Understand your customers’ needs and build your offerings around them.

Focus on Customer Experience – Go the extra mile to create memorable interactions.

Use Technology Wisely – Take advantage of free or affordable tools for marketing, accounting, and project management.

Build a Community – Network with other small business owners and support each other.

Celebrate Small Wins – Every bit of progress is worth recognizing.

When you follow these steps, not only will your customers enjoy small business interactions, but you’ll also enjoy running your business more each day.

Conclusion: Small Business, Big Heart

Small businesses are the heartbeat of every neighborhood and the backbone of national economies. They bring diversity, warmth, and originality into our lives. Whether you’re a customer supporting a local shop or an entrepreneur growing your dream, take a moment today to appreciate and enjoy small business.

Let’s continue to celebrate and support the creativity, hard work, and passion behind every small business. After all, when they succeed, we all benefit.

[darkmaga-returns]

This plan should keep him fully occupied on the home front:

Truth Justice ™ @SpartaJustice

THE END OF THE DEEP STATE: President Trump’s Plan to Dismantle the Deep State and Return Power to the American People.

Here's my plan to dismantle the deep state and reclaim our democracy from Washington corruption once and for all, and corruption it is.

First, I will immediately re-issue my 2020 Executive Order restoring the President's authority to remove rogue bureaucrats. And I will wield that power very aggressively.

Second, we will clean out all of the corrupt actors in our National Security and Intelligence apparatus, and there are plenty of them. The departments and agencies that have been weaponized will be completely overhauled so that faceless bureaucrats will never again be able to target and persecute conservatives, Christians, or the left's political enemies, which they're doing now at a level that nobody can believe even possible.

Third, we will totally reform FISA courts which are so corrupt that the judges seemingly do not care when they are lied to in warrant applications. So many judges have seen so many applications that they know were wrong, or at least they must have known. They do nothing about it, they're lied to.

Fourth, to expose the hoaxes and abuses of power that have been tearing our country apart, we will establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to declassify and publish all documents on Deep State spying, censorship, and corruption, and there are plenty of them.

Fifth, we will launch a major crackdown on government leakers who collude with the fake news to deliberately weave false narratives and to subvert our government and our democracy. When possible, we will press criminal charges.

Sixth, we will make every Inspector General's Office independent and physically separated from the departments they oversee so they do not become the protectors of the Deep State.

Seventh, I will ask Congress to establish an independent auditing system to continually monitor our intelligence agencies to ensure they are not spying on our citizens or running disinformation campaigns against the American people, or that they are not spying on someone's campaign like they spied on my campaign.

Eighth, we will continue the effort launched by the Trump administration to move parts of the sprawling federal bureaucracy to new locations outside the Washington Swamp. Just as I moved the Bureau of Land Management to Colorado, as many as 100,000 government positions can be moved out. And I mean immediately out of Washington to places filled with patriots who love America, and they really do love America.

Ninth, I will work to ban federal bureaucrats from taking jobs at the companies they deal with and that they regulate. So they deal with these companies and they regulate these companies and then they want to take jobs from these companies. Doesn't work that way—such a public display cannot go on and it's taking place all the time, like with Big Pharma.

Finally, I will push a constitutional amendment to impose term limits on members of Congress.

This is how I will shatter the deep state and restore government that is controlled by the people and for the people.

Thank you very much.