#fighting fascism with the power of 'i have a question or really more of a comment...'

[fenrislorsrai]

This also includes "don't give them a loan". They want a policy enforced and they want your local people to do it? Sorry the budget has already been set... you need to come up with the money to do your fascism. And it needs to be in our hands before we do anything. (which then of course gives time for things to be challenged/overturned)

Large US cities you generally don't get a chance to vote directly on the city budget. Towns and other types of incorporated areas often DO let you A) go to meetings about the town budget and B) you might even be able to do a voice vote at the meeting to remove a line item C) you're voting on budget as a whole as a referendum

The smaller the town, the more effective that "We can't afford that, the federal government needs to give us money to do that" is. Even red areas will get itchy about property tax increases for stuff.

Most municipalities will be making their 25-26 budget right now, so check in now with Board of Finance and Board of education. (they often do town and school budgets separate, and the budget is timed that way because of the school year)

Do things like make sure the special education budget and library budget for school is intact. Make sure they aren't cutting the ESL instructor. If the police are "oh we need extra money for border enforcement here in Nebraska. we need overtime money :) :)" you tell them to STFU and maybe even push to reassign some of that existing money to social services. Oops, sorry, police have no extra money to be assholes with! too bad, so sad.

The smaller the town, the more effective showing up at meetings is. I'm in a town of 20K and generally "routine" meetings might have one or two people in the audience. Show up, bring a friend. Oh shit, the two of you now make up 2/3 of the crowd so you have an extremely outsized effect on the committee. (they can still blow you off, but they are required to take minutes and possibly full recordings so it's now On File there were Objections and Concerns Raised. you can also send in letters they have to enter into record!)

This ONLY works for a town you live in!

also, if you yourself can't go because it's not your town, offering to babysit a friend's kids in that town so they CAN go raise hell is a powerful move! low income parents are often shut entirely out of the process of determining school budget and policies because they can't afford childcare. Offer to make the kids Mac & cheese at home while their parents go fight for their local rights.

As we see a barrage of evil executive orders come in, they are not immediately enforceable and will takes months or years to implement.

That’s still not great, but don’t let these pile up to the point of hopelessness. Take a breath, and look community leaders who will fight it every step of the way.

[demonking-propaganda]

13 spoiler-free reasons why you should read Mairimashita! Iruma-kun

...if you haven't done so already 👀 (With "spoiler-free" I mean I'm not describing plot points or characters, but under the cut I'll discuss the overarching themes, so be warned if that's too much for you. The first 7 reasons may be enough lol)

It's both funny AND wholesome. I literally can't read it without laughing out loud, and there are a bunch of chapters that make me cry every time I read them.

It's clever! The Japanese version contains several puns based on the kanji "魔" (read "ma", = devil, demon), starting from the title, but it's a recurring pun. The English translation adapts them pretty well. Plus, there are some of the best plot twists in recorded history (IMO). And the names and characteristics of most characters are based on real-life demonology.

It's queer AF. Like, really gay. There are explicitly homoromantic relationships and several nonbinary and gender non-conforming characters. One of these is the best unashamedly nonbinary character ever written. Plus, the manga premise can be seen as an allegory of hiding in the closet. The only thing that made me uncomfortable because of cisnormativity (boys in drag as a joke) is completely fixed in later chapters, and very well so.

It's feminist, without being preachy or paternalistic. Simply put, the women/girls are three-dimensional, complex characters, as the norm should be. And there are lots of them, without it being a harem (...the harem trope is actually used as a joke).

It's spooky and adorable, imagine Halloween vibes all year round. Both main and background characters are super diverse, and if you like monsters there is stuff for you.

Most characters are neurodivergent-coded. It's basically the autistic/ADHD manga.

The art is phenomenal. It's especially good to see the improvement of the art style over the years (the first chapter was published in 2017 and the manga is ongoing). Some panels are really breathtaking.

8. The story is about personal growth - like most shounen manga, fair enough. But the protagonist, Iruma, is so far from toxic masculinity I dare say he's the antidote to it.

9. It's also about found family, the discovery of unconditional love, and trust, and healing from familial trauma.

10. It's about finding a group of friends you belong to, and transforming your weirdness into a strength, identifying and cultivating what you're good at instead of fitting into a mold.

11. It's about the beauty of learning in your own way, and the importance of education and the shaping of future generations.

12. And the reason why I opened this blog: it's about fascism and fighting against it. I mean real fascism, as in "a powerful individual/group wants society to be hierarchical and oppress certain minorities, elevating a specific subset of the population based on intrinsic characteristics which are being misleadingly treated as merits". Ethno-nationalistic stuff. More specifically, it's about being a somewhat politically illiterate person, who learns about systems of oppression beyond personal injustices. It's about questioning what is the best way to arrange society.

13. Most importantly, this manga gives you hope about the future, something I find harder and harder to have. Hopelessness is dangerous - as people without hope stop fighting. This manga makes me actively feel better. Since it's ongoing I can't ensure it will always remain that way, but I've come to trust the author enough that I expect it to.

[starry-bi-sky]

For the Danyal Al Ghul AU: How would Danyal react to other canon events like when Sam wishes she never met Danny, Tucker wishes for powers, the christmas episode, or other DP canon events?

(Also, I assume Danyal's cover is blown by the reality Gaunlet event.)

Ohooho I love this question. So im only gonna respond to the episodes you mentioned, since it's been a while since i actually watched the show and I don't remember all the episodes. And also since I don't remember them fully, I'm gonna get details wrong. I am fine with that, it still gets the gist down lol. I've got the tvtropes recap page pulled up, so i'll be using that to try and hit the major points it mentions.

So, Memory Blank! Man I've thought about that one, and its the one I'm frankly most excited to answer because it gets to show just how much of a positive impact being friends with Sam and Tucker had on Danyal. So where to start? Their fight goes differently than in canon, but I'm going to start from after Sam makes her wish.

Firstly; she and Tucker are friends, but the two of them are not friends with Danny. He's on his own. In this au, the three of them became friends when they were 11 and Danny's been in Amity Park for about a year.

They met in the beginning with Sam trying to befriend him at first because she realized that they shared similar ideals on environmentalism, but he rebuffed her pretty harshly due to a combination of grief over leaving his home, trying to process the fact that he can never return and will never see his brother again or meet his father, and just plain League arrogance lmao. He really hated being in Amity Park just in general because it wasn't his home and it was the city too.

So he was really rather unapproachable in the beginning. People kept a pretty wide berth of him due to Fenton association and his own vibes.

But Danny's still a kid, and they want socialization with their peers. At 11 he didn't have any friends, and was frankly quite lonely. He decided to approach Sam and Tucker after deeming them "acceptable allies", although Sam wasn't really interested at first up until he did the equivalent of apologizing. Tucker warmed up first afterwards, but Sam really wasn't too far behind.

So thats how they became friends, post-wish though? Lets say that Sam didn't accept the apology and rebuffed Danny, and kinda intimidated Tucker into doing the thing. Danyal closed down, backed off, and then never approached them again because he decided right then and there he wasn't going to chase it. Wasn't worth his effort or time.

Then he just. never approached another person after that because he didn't want to get rebuffed again (he wouldn't admit that it hurt a bit), and he could already tell his efforts wouldn't work. He turned his attention to other stuff. In this timeline it wasn't too difficult to find him at events dedicated to combatting climate change, deforestation, light pollution, animal cruelty, etc. the LOA is an environmentalist group, after all. They just also happen to be eco-fascist assassins-for-hire.

In summary, Sam and Tucker helped Danyal realize the flaws in some of the League's beliefs (the fascism) to the point where he could deconstruct it on his own. Being friends with them made him realize that, frankly, genocide was not the answer to environmental equilibrium, and that the people outside of the League had lives worth living. They also helped quell his arrogance, and just in general influenced him to become kinder even if it doesn't look like that all the time to other people. Sam and Tucker make him laugh, and smile, and just happy.

OG Danyal: wears pretty casual teen clothes. More punky-aesthetic. Has multiple ear piercings. These were self-done. Will have a lip piercing by the time he reunites with Damian, mark my words. Can and will wear muscle tees. Makes puns, jokes, is generally sassy with his friends. Can, will, and has climbed shit he shouldn't be because he enjoys the challenge of scaling a building. It's also very funny seeing Tucker and Sam reenact the "Gregory! HOW DID YOU GET UP THERE?!" meme. Still has a questionable moral compass, but like, he's not an eco-fascist.

This Timeline Danyal: dresses much more sophisticated; dark academia vibe. Closed off, cold. Is 2x more likely to kill someone than OG Danyal, who was frankly, pr kosher with murder already but only if he deemed it extremely necessary. Still an eco-fascist.

Danyal without Sam and Tucker? Still believes in the teachings of the League because he has not been really challenged on them. In fact, he has doubled down on it, actually. Living in the city, growing up estranged and ostracized by his peers, has only strengthened his resolve that all of humanity minus the league (and the Fentons) deserves to be wiped out. He is disgusted by the people around him and desperately wants to go home, even more than the last timeline. The only reason he hasn't is for Damian's sake, but he's been checking in with mother whenever she visits and asking to find a way to come home. She's been steadily wearing down on it; her child is miserable here.

This version of Danyal should not have powers, and is, essentially on the fast track of rejoining the league -- doubly so when he hears Damian is living with father. Clearly it's safe enough for him to be with father, if mother allowed it, and father has become safe enough for Damian to live there. Good. With the threat of two heirs being in the League gone, Danny can return with Mother's permission. And. he probably takes Jazz (and the Fenton parents) with him. Forcibly if he has to.

So Sam has her work cut out for her here, a lot more than in canon, because even when she does tell him that they used to be friends in another timeline, and he believes it, he is not going to give a shit. Clearly they were not as good of friends as she thought they were, if she had wished they never met in the first place. Good riddance, then. This Danny is cold, incredibly hurt, and very closed off.

He is a cave wall in comparison to the Danny Sam knew, and talking to him feels like walking into one. Because he is looking at her with just utter disgust and disdain, keeping a distance like he is revolted by her presence and allergic to her and everyone else's touch.

Which really, really fucking hurts when she knows that in their last timeline, he would actively seek out her and Tucker's company and affection. Sam could read her best friend like an open book, and now its like she's trying to read one in another language she barely speaks. This boy used to smile at her, he used to laugh at Tucker's jokes, and he was so passionate about the things he enjoyed. Now he looks at her like he wants nothing more than for her to drop dead on the spot.

It hurts even more knowing that her last words to her Danny were the words, 'some days i wish we never met'; the way he looked at her afterwards haunts her. For a split second, he looked completely crushed and heartbroken, before his entire body language and expression shut off and he totally closed down on her.

Because by this point in his friendship with her and Tucker, he's told them, he has told them, in a very intimate moment of vulnerability, that they are one of the best things that's happened in his life -- right there alongside the day he first met his baby brother. They are very important to him, and he has finally felt comfortable enough with telling them. There's not a day that goes by that he isn't grateful for their friendship.

So to hear Sam say that some days she wishes they never met? well. That breaks his heart. Just- just a little bit. Sam regrets it the moment it leaves her mouth, and she immediately tries to apologize, but Danny immediately spits back; "Well. I hope you get your wish." and then stalks off.

I'm warring with myself here trying to decide whether or not this new timeline Danyal is at a "point of no return", where nothing Sam says is going to make him attempt to reignite that friendship. Clearly that will end badly anyways, if this is the result of that friendship. He's cut all ties from these people; he feels no prerogative to fix things she broke.

Like, the version of Danyal I'm thinking of here has no close bonds with anyone in the city sans Jazz -- and she? has her own life outside of Danny. She is not his keeper, not his caretaker, and certainly not his therapist. (which i have beef about too, considering how she gets boiled down to 'therapist with no life of her own' but im not going into that.) She has some influence on him, but frankly not enough to really make him challenge his beliefs. Danny cares about her that, if he returns to the league, she is coming with him. Or at the very least, will be spared from the League's goals.

Mmmm. I can't make it a total point of no return though. Sam's very stubborn, and she knows Danny. And while this Danny is still very different, he is still Danny. She'll try and befriend him insistently in a way that might annoy him, but at least not push him away further.

(Tucker, meanwhile, is just soo confused about Sam's very random, very abrupt switch up. Cuz girl he thought you hated this guy? Why are you suddenly trying to get all buddy-buddy with the terrifying Fenton kid. Have you been possessed? Is this some kind of crisis?)

(Sam drags Tucker into befriending Danny because he is the only person she knows that can get him to belly laugh. Tucker is mildly terrified but going along with it.)

Anyways this does end with Sam befriending Danny, or at least getting him to like her long enough that he'll pick up a ghost weapon and face off against Desiree. There's no way in hell he's walking into that portal, that last timeline might have been a 1/billionth chance of it happening and he's not dying for the chance to get powers. And frankly with his training -- which he's probably kept up with even more than the old timeline because he had no one to spend his time with -- he doesn't really need them to be good at fighting them. Just show him how to ghost proof a weapon and he'll handle the rest from there.

But Sam does end up undoing the wish and getting back to her own original timeline in the end. It's the morning after her fight, and the literal first thing she does that morning is get her shoes on and fucking sprriiint to the fenton house. Bursts into tears when she sees Danny and apologizes over and over again. She swears she didn't mean any of it, and to please believe her, and Desiree's still loose and they need to stop her, and she's had the worst time.

She does tell him about the other timeline she just went through, and she hopes that, if it still exists, that that Danyal manages to find friends in the Sam and Tucker there after this. And if not them, then anyone.

Danny's still pretty hurt by what she said, it cut really deep, but he forgives her.

-----

Tucker getting his powers! Frankly things gooo... relatively the same as canon, I think? Actually, no. Danny probably figures out the whole Genie "i wish you would go back into your lamp" thing faster than canon danny since he's not a C student lmao. TV.Tropes doesn't give me too much specifics for a recap on the plot, so we're gonna wing it. For the plot I'm going to say that Tucker gets his powers before Danny figures out the "i wish" thing, which happens relatively quickly.

Danny tries to be... rather supportive of his friend getting powers? Especially since, in comparison to Danny, it was rather painless. However, he's also very suspicious. He doesn't trust the source of Tucker's powers, and warns him to be careful and to let Danny know if he feels off in anyway.

Tucker does end up helping Danny a few times, but the quick progression of his powers and Tucker's willingness to use them more often than not worries him. He reminds him a handful of times that Tucker shouldn't rely on his powers to help -- not even Danny does that. He prefers to use his weapons and martial arts to fight instead. Tucker doesn't listen.

And they end up fighting anyways. Things get resolved, everything turns out okay!

------

Christmas episode straight up just. doesn't happen. Danyal doesn't care enough about the Fenton arguing or about Christmas to be upset about said arguing. He thinks its really childish, but he's not a grinch about all of it.

--------

Okay it wasn't explicitly mentioned but i have thought about TUE. And I'm trying to think how that would go because it's the result of Danny getting his hands on the math answers and cheating. Which Danyal would not do.

And someone mentioned in the comments on my ao3 under the oneshots there that TUE might just straight up not happen. Which makes sense, Danyal is so different from canon that things don't have to always happen like it did in canon. So that's something I need to chew about, cuz if it does happen, then I'm going to figure out a different way for it to.

[omegastation]

Not related to this blog's topic but I need to say it once (also in case you're wondering where I stand with everything that's happening):

I told you a week or so ago that things didn't go well at work. And truthfully, it has hurt me deeply. My work has to do with a form of activism, so what happened has nothing to do with my job being on the line or people not being happy with my work, it's because of external factors involving lies, manipulation and a lot of other things I can't talk about that will have a direct and negative impact on people. I'm still trying to recover from what happened. I don't handle repeated injustices well, so I had a severe shutdown this time.

At the same time, a lot happened in the world. I've been scared for months, because the patterns are there. A lot of people have died, a lot of things that I never expected to see in my lifetime have happened. Fascism has always been there, of course, but it feels like it's getting way worse because those who have power, money, infrastructures and who control the algorithms are making sure we now see fascism as a normal part of our daily lives. But it is not normal. It can't ever be normal. So now I'm even more scared. I think it's going to be harder and harder to tell the truth and to resist censorship, in the media but also online. It brings a lot of questions about what we should do, where, how, when. And after the week I had? I've seen how easy it is to manipulate others. 

This blog will not feature posts related to the state of the world, it will stay focused on the game. But if you're wondering, I'll be busy elsewhere dealing with that. I'm always dealing with it one way or another. Like I said, my work is already linked to activism. It takes a lot of my time. I have donated and will keep donating whenever I can. But I feel more should be done. Thankfully, a lot of people are doing some good work already and explaining what can be done, so that will be helpful to me in the coming months. I'm meeting with activist friends next week, I'll ask them. I want to do things that are really helpful.

I've seen some good arguments about staying on platforms, being outspoken, and to keep talking about what matters. A creator I really admire also said we need to keep talking about stories. They have been used and are still used as tools to fight censorship. They inspire and teach us. I agree, obviously. I think the past has so much to teach us, and stories will also be crucial to understand our world right now. It will just require us to be a bit more critical.

[maxdibert]

Sirius is my favorite character after Snape, but it's so funny when people try to elevate him to some huge figure in the war? A war hero? 💀like, the small amount of information we have about the first war indicates that the order was losing BADLY basically the entire time, and maybe I forgot something but I can't recall a single thing that he did?? We know that Moody killed Rosier (and maybe Wilkes? idk) and then proceeded to arrest a bunch of DEs, but I really, really don't remember hearing about Sirius doing much?

He was fighting for the Order and putting his life on the line from the get-go for a cause that didn't really concern him, and that is noble onto itself! There's no need to invent delusions about him being some kind of big, classical hero, especially since HP doesn't do those, like, at all.

Also, Snape being called a child murdering fascist is so funny for some reason. WHOSE child did he kill, what

One of the things that bothers me the most about the new fans of the Marauders is their view of Sirius Black because they basically strip away all the interest from his character. I mean, they transform a character with plenty of issues and highly questionable attitudes—someone who is capable of following the "good guys" from the start despite his sadistic impulses and elitism, someone who can love people deeply and hate just as intensely, who can be an amazing guy to those he considers his own and a true monster to those he doesn't—into some sort of rich hero for the working class, who, if he doesn't have two hundred medals for heroism, it's only because the world is cruel. Damn, let Sirius Black be Sirius Black. Let him be a shitty guy, because that's what makes him interesting. We know he was a powerful and talented wizard; we know he showcased that talent during his years at Hogwarts by creating a map and becoming an Animagus; he doesn't need to take credit for others' deeds during the war years. I mean, Sirius was just a kid during that time, and we don't know if he did much more than being a soldier for Dumbledore. In fact, if he had been crucial to Dumbledore, he wouldn’t have been allowed to go to Azkaban so easily. We know how Dumbledore operates in these matters; he can be very cynical and hypocritical if it suits his plans.

No, Sirius wasn't a war hero, and that's one of his great tragedies, which is one of the things that makes his character not flat. Sirius wanted to distance himself from everything his family represented, but he continued to behave just as violently as his family toward those he didn't deem worthy of his sympathy and empathy. Sirius got involved in a cause that didn't really concern him because it was a way to continue opposing his family’s values, and despite being a powerful wizard, despite his talent, despite having the name, the blood, and everything in his favor, he ended up losing his friends, losing his youth, and finally relegated to being a poor man locked up in the house he hated so much, unable to contribute a damn thing to the war, watching everyone else bust their asses while he stayed locked in his mother's room, only to die impulsively and recklessly in a ridiculous way, ironically, at the hands of his own cousin. Sirius wasn't a war hero, but that's precisely why he's interesting, because his path was supposed to be that of a war hero, and he didn't achieve it. And it's much better this way, because his tragedy stems from his pathetic nature, and pathos is wonderful for a character. I mean, we truly don't need perfect characters or for them to be turned into lambs or social justice icons. We need characters to be as they were conceived, with their good parts but also their bad ones.

Well, calling Severus a fascist is itself amusing because it shows that these people have no fucking idea what fascism is and, incidentally, once again exposes how these people dedicate themselves to twisting, manipulating, and arbitrarily changing the narrative to make him look like the ultimate villain because they need excuses to hate him openly.

[wavesoutbeingtossed]

ramblings about the nonsense today that I didn’t think I have strong opinions on but am now feeling like spitting out to contextualize idk it’s under a cut for a reason

(In other words, nonsense about media and politics and discourse to reiterate that everything is a distraction and don’t let internet outrage get you down or pull your focus from what is really happening)

First of all, I resent being presented with any of this information about football and its participants in the first place MY LIFE WAS SO MUCH QUIETER BEFORE ARGH. (Kidding) (Well kinda not lol.)

OK here’s the deal: I frame my feelings in two ways, personal and contextual, and spoiler alert, they are directly opposed.

Personally, as an individual answering a singular question, I thought Travis gave a lousy answer. In a time where the US is openly descending into fascism, with the Despot in Chief hollowing the country out from the inside at breakneck speed, even a “respect the office of the presidency” type answer annoys me, especially coming from a privileged white man, even though I understand it in theory (if we weren’t living in fascist times). Do I think Travis voted for or even likes the man? Absolutely not. Do I think a “what a privilege to play in front of the president no matter who he is” type of answer is harmful in these times? Yes. Do I think there are other ways he could have side stepped the question without unfortunately sounding like he was placating a wannabe dictator? You betcha.

Guess what, I was also frustrated with (actually infuriated at) his answer about Butker last summer. Ultimately, his keep-the-peace answers to these issues reek of extreme white male privilege because of course, he’s not a person who’s ever going to be harmed by these policies. These answers are ignorant and speak to a larger dismissal of the severity of the meaning behind these words.

But here’s the thing: what I think doesn’t matter; what I feel has no impact on this person’s life nor does what they do on mine. They are free to say what they want, and nobody online, least of all me, has any right to infringe on that. Just because I personally don’t agree as an individual response doesn’t mean they aren’t free to feel the way they do or express themselves the way they do as long as it’s respectful.

NOW THAT THAT IS OUT OF THE WAY.

Contextually, his answer makes a lot of sense. And I’m not saying I like it or agree with it or am excusing it. Because I don’t, I wish he’d had a different response, one more measured. (Not the least reason being to avoid such discourse.) What I’m saying is that nothing exists in a vacuum, and that while nothing justifies the placating (and I’m not trying to… This isn’t my fight, they’re not my words), there are reasons around it that at least make it understandable for someone like him.

And that context is that the Despot in Chief always seeks to inflict maximum chaos, especially now. It’s in the fascist handbook. He’s trying to enrage and distract to pillage with impunity, while also being reminded of his own self-importance. He wants to do whatever the fuck he wants. And this stunt with going to the Super Bowl as a sitting president is part of that: he wants to lord his power around, he WANTS the attention of going to the game and having all eyes on him, he wants the chaos of the security measures that will need to be in place for him, and most importantly for the purposes of this tempest in a teapot, he wants people talking about him.

He wants people to come after him, so he can bully his way into “owning” them. He’s spoiling for a fight.

And unsurprisingly, the media is playing right into it, because, obviously.

The media doing these junkets during the Super Bowl ask outrageous questions of the players as a matter of course, trying to get a good sound bite for their stories. And obviously the Despot’s upcoming attendance plays right into that. Instead of seeing right through it, of course they’re going to use it to goad players into an answer. The only thing that will get more clicks than asking players in the Super Bowl what their quirky pregame superstition is or whether they’re allowed to have sex before a game or whatever is asking them what they think of the most controversial president in history watching them do it.

In other words, they’re fishing for a controversy for headlines.

And what they’re looking for specifically is one of two scenarios, largely: either players who bend the knee, or even better, ones who come out strong against the president. The first will flatter, the second will draw rage. Which will draw attention.

I’d wager that most of these organizations don’t want to draw that kind of attention in either direction, for the most part— even the ones whose values align with the Despot’s. Coasting in a relatively neutral/placating stance is the path of least resistance. It’s not necessarily the right (or righteous) one, to be clear, but it’s the one that allows everyone to mostly just get through the day.

Within the current climate, though, it’s even more loaded, because te Despot in Chief is also demonstrably keen to use his position and resources in office to go after people. The cruelty is always the point, and he is always looking for a new target. He also has a cult of armed followers who will demonstrably commit crimes, including undertaking violent acts, in his name.

And not to make everything about Taylor, but Taylor is undoubtedly on his hit list, and he’s looking for the first opportunity to set his sights on her. For instance, he used the White House’s official account to go after Selena Gomez last week after she posted a video about the plight of migrants. That is not nothing; that is a shot across the bow. That is a threat, even if it seems like internet nonsense. It’s the beginnings of political retaliation against private citizens for speaking out, let alone those who may actually be taking actions to fight. There will assuredly be more threats like this in the future.

So Taylor, the most famous woman in the world at the moment, a billionaire in her own right, a woman who moves world economies and whose words reach millions, is everything he hates in an opponent. And on top of that, she has made her opinion known that she hates him. It’s everything he can’t stand, and he’s just waiting for new fodder to use to go after her, the way he has Selena, the way he will countless others in the coming weeks and months.

So any answer that Travis would give indicating he was displeased with the president’s attendance would play right into that. And who knows, maybe Travis really doesn’t care that the president is there— maybe he is glad. I’d like to hope not, given his curt answer about the Kanye question which shows how he feels about someone else who has threatened Taylor, but you know, I’m not him, and I’m not here to analyze or defend him.

The other factor in all this is that Taylor has legitimate and increasingly serious security threats against her, both the ones we know about or can infer and I’m sure far more we will never know about. We got a glimpse into it in Vienna, and it’s been evident in so many ways since her endorsement of the Dem ticket in the fall. We know it’s a factor into why she hadn’t gone to away games all season. We can visibly see an increased security presence around her at public events which I’m sure is a fraction of that which we don’t see. There’s that bit by the analyst today who detailed the security measures around Taylor just to attend that baseball game in the fall. The implication is that there are also threats against her on a regular basis that are directly spurred on by the politics she’s chosen to share, which are opposed to those of the president’s and his followers who are primed to act. (Let’s also not forget that the Despot’s head crony also publicly threatened to impregnate her and the violent implications thereof.)

So bringing all of this together: you have Travis who is asked a leading question by media that is primed to play into the Despot’s attention-seeking behaviour because it also serves their stakeholders’ priorities. (E.g. more clicks/eyeballs on their content.) He is also probably been given a script by his organization’s PR team to avoid as much controversy as possible. And unlike anyone else on the podium, he has a partner at home who is in the crosshairs of the most powerful man in the country who is already under considerable pressure on a normal day, let alone in these trying times.

(Yes, she is incredibly privileged herself, I know this. But that doesn’t mean her safety isn’t threatened as a result of her position.)

I have no idea if the answer he gave is actually what he believes as an individual. Maybe he does truly not mind the Despot in Chief’s attendance and does think it’s an honour. (Again, I’d tend to doubt it, if not for political reasons then at least for how the president and his cronies have threatened his soon-to-be wife partner publicly, based on his reaction to others.) Or maybe he does truly just want to toe the party line and not rock the boat with his team. But I would wager that when it comes down to it, his priority is Taylor’s safety, and that like most people, he’d do whatever he could to keep his loved one safe to the extent of his abilities. And if that means pissing off an army of chronically online TwitterWarrior5697s in order to spare his family the wrath of a vindictive political figure with the weight of the highest office in the land and his own militia behind him, I would also bet he gives absolutely zero fucks.

I’m not saying this is some altruistic gesture or totally justifiable or likable. What I’m saying is that these situations are so charged and we’re in unprecedented times where there are going to be more and more situations where this kind of mental calculus is going to be involved in what opinions you can share. TwitterUser5697 can tell the president fuck off or say that the fucking hate that the president is coming to watch the Super Bowl. Hell, Player 78 from Team Sports Ball can maybe even say he’s embarrassed to play in front of the president and might get some backlash that will quickly be forgotten in the next news cycle once they win a trophy. Taylor Swift’s soon-to-be husband Boyfriend is in a different boat, because what he does ends up implicating her. He might never say her name in the conversation, but his firmly standing against the president means a greater risk to his family’s safety, and while some may believe that trade off is worth it or righteous, we’re ultimately not the ones in that position.

So the TL;DR is that this nothingburger of a quote is really like the confluence of celebrity, media and politics. A boneheaded answer on the surface actually speaks to a whole system in place around it that both drives it and twists it into a much deeper issue. And the reason why I wrote this long winded post about something I did not care about ten hours ago is because this kind of media and political literacy is going to be SO important, now more than ever, in the coming weeks and months and years, given everything that is happening in government, in media and online. People need to understand how social media platforms are going to be used to enrage and distract from the real issues at play, and learn how to parse what’s really happening.

The fascist handbook is to distract by throwing as much shit at the wall while they pillage. The Despot in Chief going to the Super Bowl is exactly part of that because it’s meant to draw a reaction. And he wants someone to fight him so her can fight back and prove he can “win”. (Look at the posturing over the tariffs with Canada and Mexico this weekend where he scored an “deal”… Which is exactly what was already in place.) And the media is playing right into it by asking players about him. So sure, roll your eyes at your fave’s fave’s conciliatory answer, but the real issue is what the Despot is doing to distract and pull attention in the media, and what that often is is finding another celebrity feud while he has his cronies do whatever the fuck they are with no one to stop them. Meanwhile, they’re also threatening private citizens with the weight of the White House accounts and will keep doing so as long as all the checks and balances of the democratic process are dismantled.

The personal is political, but the political is personal, and everyone needs to weigh these things for their own survival, including billionaire pop stars and their millionaire partners. Don’t let online discourse that will amount to nothing but noise in 48 hours distract you from what the people in positions of power of what you see are trying to hide from you. It’s all connected. I’m begging people to stop reading into an offhand comment by a football player and focus on the person who is driving the reaction in the first place, because that is where the real ire should be directed.

*also I know I’m joking about Taylor and Travis’ relationship status here but it’s actually vital to understand, because the seriousness of their relationship is exactly why they’re both at risk in these situations. And these people are going to use that relationship to get at both of them by poking them like this. Travis isn’t just a football player in the big game, he’s an individual man whose beloved life partner can be put under threat by his actions, even in one as innocuous as a sound bite for his big game. I absolutely don’t use the familial terms lightly actually. It’s a signifier of motivation and the things at stake in this calculus for the people involved if you catch my drift.

[sinfiltrate]

Act 3 spoilers

I just wanted to voice my opinions on the entirety of act 3, I will be making another post focusing on Jayce because I am disappointed with his story specifically.

Let's start with what I'm happy with!

The display of Mel's magic was amazing. All her scenes were so powerful.

CaitVi is canon! (which was predictable for obvious reasons but i'm still happy for them)

The music choice was perfect, as well as the quality of the episodes, as expected. No matter the storyline's flaws, the art style itself is undeniably gorgeous.

Maddie dies IMMEDIATELY after betraying Piltover, so I'm happy with that. Don't get me wrong, I think the season looked rushed, but the instant karma of that scene was enjoyable. It's well executed shock value.

The Caitlyn/Mel and Ambessa fight sequence was SICK. They really emphasized Ambessa's strength and battle IQ here, and while I dislike her, it was satisfying to watch.

The JayVik ending. Now, I am very conflicted with this, but I'll focus on the positive part. THIS MOMENT WAS SO TENDER!! It revealed how much Jayce truly loved and cared for Viktor, and that Viktor thought Jayce to be the only person who could ever make him acknowledge the importance of humanity. Jayce was his last and only hope, and Jayce proved Viktor right in every timeline.

Jayce defenders, we won. We got an entire episode dedicated to what Jayce and Ekko/Heimerdinger went through, and it proved that JAYCE WAS RIGHT AND HIM AND EKKO ARE OUR SAVIORS THANK YOU 🙏

Jayce looked fine asf. That is a beautiful man and I'm expecting many more edits (pretty please).

Alright, now let's get to what I'm upset about.

Jayce's wasted potential. The way I see it, they just reduced him to a pawn in Viktor's character arc, considering that his life begins and ends with Viktor. It's sweet, yes, and can be counted as a win for JayVik shippers, but I really wanted more for Jayce. And yes, I will most definitely come back to this on my Jayce-centric post.

The lack of reaction to Jinx's and Jayce's "death". I'm honestly not sure if either of them are dead (I am also somewhat in denial). Mel lost her lover, of whom brought out a softer side of herself that she didn't even know existed, and there's no reaction? Not even a scene of her finding out? The same goes for Caitlyn, since she literally saw Jayce as an older brother. Then there's Vi, who's seen completely fine with Caitlyn, and Ekko, who's having the only appropriate reaction, but even so, it's too calm. We'd have to assume that there's been another timeskip, but it couldn't have been long since the war. ALSO XIMENA, Jayce's MOTHER, she's seen putting a paper of Jayce's name to burn and honor him after his supposed death, but her expression is blank. Just simple resignation. I don't know, the lack of reaction had me questioning why I was sad.

No proper reunion scenes besides Ekko/Jinx and Mel/Jayce?????I actually liked Ekko and Jinx's reunion, but Mel and Jayce? Not even close to what I expected or wanted.

This season was rushed; that's something everyone can agree on. I think it was very focused on action rather than the complexity of these people's relationships and minds, while the first season had a balance between both. There just wasn't enough time for that balance with all the information they had to give us.

Honestly, and this is gonna sound horrible but hear me out, I would've preferred it if they had episode 6 be the last episode instead, and used the act 2 to explore Caitlyn's dictator arc and truly emphasize how long Jayce, Ekko, and Heimerdinger had been gone. I know how this sounds, but I really wanted to see more of Caitlyn and her mindset during the whole fascism plot rather than have her throw it all away three episodes later. It would've helped others understand her more, while also acknowledging how blinded she had become with anger and sadness. Also, this would've given more time for people to grow an attachment to Isha and see how she reminds Jinx of Powder!!! Just imagine it, the season closing with Jayce "killing" Viktor, no sign of Ekko or Heimerdinger, and Isha dying would have been even MORE devastating; the ultimate cliffhanger. There's no denying people would've been angry and shocked, but it would've made us want more, just like the first season did. I would be 100% willing to wait 3 or more years for the next season than have such an underwhelming ending.

Okay, I think that's it. Might add more to this post later if I come up with any other critiques, be prepared for the Jayce post because I NEED to talk about him.

[milf--adjacent]

Genuine question—I see where you’re coming from with voting third party but I’m still on the fence. Is it really worth voting for a better candidate like Jasmine Sherman or Jill Stein if we know they’re not gonna win anyways? (Sorry if this sounds a little defeatist, that’s not my intention at all I’m just curious)

Like I understand it sends a message that we’re not falling for neoliberals’ bullshit anymore and it might give progressive candidates a better chance in the future. But I’m also worried about stopping republicans from getting into power and stacking the courts again, because Project 2025 is genuinely terrifying and seems like it could really happen.

If winning is all that matters, are you engaging in politics or are you a football fan? If you want to stop fascism, you have to stand against it however you can. It's more than just voting: 3rd party campaigns serve to connect you with all kinds of genuinely like-minded people who won't abandon you after the presidential campaign. Letting the democrats know that they can't keep pandering to fascists and ignoring leftists is key to moving our culture out of the far right hellhole we find ourselves in. Harris won't stop Republicans at the state level implementing the policies you fear just like Biden hasn't. Quit politicking out of fear and stand for what you claim to believe in. Fight and organize even when it's not a presidential election year. Get ready to protect people if/when your fears are realized.

Basically, stop pretending moral cowardice is thoughtfulness. Put your money where your mouth is or accept your complicity in social fascism.

[ultfreakme]

Hi, Riki! How are you? Now that you've finished Arcane, what are your top 5 fav moments from the series (you can pick top 5 each for s1 & s2 or top 5 from s1 + s2)? Also, who are your top 3 fav characters? Which do you like best s1 or s2? Why?

So, I'm kinda confused, can I ask why are there so many hate for CaitVi & JayVic ships? Sorry if I ask too much....

Hi!!! I'm doing good~~ Thanks for asking anon!

Hmm, this is hard, I think I overall liked S1 better, so top favorites scenes:

Vi parkouring through the Undercity: I am a sucker for Vi, I just like seeing her happy and that was the happiest we ever see her.

Vi + Jayce taking down the Shimmer manufacturers. The fight was too cool.

Sevika + Jinx vs. Smeech: I love the song and the fight is just fun

Ekko in the final fight rewinding time: I have a huge soft spot for him and I am so happy he got his moment. That sequence where he's fighting the robots and keeps turning back time to redo things was amazing.

Jinx & Isha montage when Isha took the shot against Vander: Super painful, but also beautiful

Favorite characters!

Vi, easily my favorite from the entire show. She always was and she always will be. She has so much love inside her, and she keeps loving people and protecting people. It's to her detriment, but it's a part of her to be a protector. I wish the narrative would've let her love without hurting for once.

Ekko: I don't post about him often, most of my arcane posts are like, jayvik, but that's primarily because i have a hard line between personal stuff and fandom stuff. Ekko is who's going to stick with me for a lifetime. His leadership, the things he stood for, and his heart are simply beautiful. A person who saw all the darkness the undercity had to offer and decided to make something beautiful anyways. Someone who'll never, ever give up on hope. I wish I could be like him. I love characters who can hope despite the bleakness of the world because I can't, and I hope I can learn from them.

Viktor: Idk his arc is just very compelling to me and made me see things from a new perspective. It's kind of an overdone story but the way it was written explored him really well.

Season 1 is easily my favorite. I liked Arcane because of the classism and ableism discussion but that died down in S2. I still had hope for the liberation of Zaun, Vi was the MC, there seemed to be hope for a revolution.

Okay so the hate for CaitVi and Jayvik...

CaitVi:

To keep it short, a lot of people have issues with Caitlyn's barely addressed fascism and the large class and power difference between Cait and Vi. Caitlyn gassed the undercity, she was about to shoot a child when Vi was telling her to stop, then hit Vi, and she never apologizes for any of it directly. No one even really confronts her about ti and the one person who does is framed by the narrative as being just as awful as her(Jinx, also I think Jinx is a lot more forgiveable). She also calls Zaunites animals & got Vi to be an enforcer when they're the ones who killed her parents and locked her up in prison.

The tone-deaf writing of the class issues and police brutality, when many people are still watching people who look like Caitlyn do things that caitlyn did as an enforcer during real-life protests. The story equates Jinx's grief & Zaunite's violence born primarily as a form of protest and a way to fight back as equal to Caitlyn going into dictatorship after one tragedy. Specifically, POC have major issues with CaitVi because of this.

JayVik:

They're now trending and getting far more attention than CaitVi. People are saying it's fandom misogyny in play again, which definitely plays a role. A lot of JayVik fans post a lot of racist takes on Mel or completely mischaracterize her. Same for Sky. The POC women getting sidelined for the men.

There's also, like homophobes pissed off that people are saying jayvik can be read as romantic. One of the head writers, christian Linke, said stuff that just made the "Is jayvik canon?" question worse and there's lots of infighting. Or there was, it seems to have died down a little bit afaik.

That's all from me!!! DW about the questions I love answering asks!!!! Hope the last bits gave an idea of what's happening rn?

[oddygaul]

Starship Troopers

This was the first time I’ve watched this since probably high school, and definitely the first time since having read Heinlein’s original Starship Troopers. It’s definitely a fun time, although thematically I felt it’s a bit weaker than folks let on.

Most of the modern reads of this movie praise its satirical elements, while noting how they seemed to go over the heads of most critics on its release. And, I gotta say, halfway through the movie, I was totally on board with this. From their philosophy class to basic training, every second of the movie is silly as fuck, and really beats you over the head with its satire.

The thing is, the second half seems to forget about this and mostly just turns into a big dumb action movie? It stays pulpy, sure – our mobile infantry are still running in and out of scenes with laughter and childlike glee, and we still get lines like “They sucked his brains out!” – but it otherwise plays things pretty straight as a heroic military scifi movie.

mfw they sucked his brains out

The disastrous assault on Klendathu feels like it ought to have been the turning point, our big denouncement of Starship Troopers’ rampant fascism. This segment firmly presents the counterargument for the Federation’s militarism: all of the hot-blooded, propagandized soldiers are suddenly presented with the harsh reality of war, the lack of glory in death, and the uncaring, inhumane system that’s feeding them into the meat grinder. Rather than take this pivot as an opportunity for our characters to question their actions, though, Starship Troopers doubles down, showing this as the moment our protagonists become hardened soldiers who are truly devoted to the cause.

I get that the intended tack here is to show how easy it is to fall for fascism: Rico, Carmen and Carl’s story is a cautionary tale of three normal classmates becoming fully ensconced in military fervor. The assault was a voluntary offensive action by the Federation, its disastrous casualties the result of callous strategic planning, yet it’s still used by the soldiers as their Pearl Harbor, the cornerstone of their ironclad motivation to keep fighting. We’re supposed to see the back half, then, as a tragic ending for characters who will never realize the dark fate that’s befallen them.

The thing is, I don’t think that approach works that well, because Starship Troopers cares too much about its main characters, consistently setting them up for big hero moments and heartwarming reunions. Rico’s big heroic speeches, the glowing reverence the movie shows for Rasczak’s return to service, Zim’s heroic demotion to private, done with no regrets due to his unwavering dedication to the Mobile Infantry – all these moments are played perfectly straight, swelling orchestras and all. This leaves the second half of the movie feeling like a pretty boilerplate military fiction story highlighting the glory of being a rank and file soldier.

I dunno, to me, after nearly a full hour of cool action scenes and wholesome barracks bonding, it loses its “war makes fascists of us all” bite and starts feeling more like “ok but also, fighting bugs in space is cool innit”.

(I mean, it is.)

—

I was wondering why Zander looked so familiar… y’all! It’s Sinbad! Crab! Big crab!

Having read the original book, while the tone / message switch was a good call, some of the changes surprised me. Namely, it’s kinda wild to have taken Starship Troopers, which has its place in history as the progenitor of the whole concept of power armor, and turn its soldiers into flak-jacketed mobs of mooks. It makes total sense thematically – Heinlein’s image of an unstoppable, armored, one-man-army is a potent metaphor for the righteousness and power of militarism, while the bumbling hordes fits much better in a satirical send-up of the story – it’s just wild to throw away arguably the most iconic part of the license you’re adapting.

Look they’re all hamming it up, but I think the cast did great with what they had – Ace, Zim and Dizzy all consistently made me laugh with their reads

[bossbutch]

umineko- between ch7 & 8

tw for sexual assault in this one again. long post. let's get Political! i wasn't aware umineko is 55 dollars on steam. i know its a lot of words and they've got music and voice acting and two sets of art but, thats a lot of fucking money for a fiction book. the steam release doesn't even include the side stories.

umineko has a lot of dubiously canon side content released at conventions and promos and such, and of course bundled in japanese Special Edition rereleases. the LP im reading puts all the side stories at the end (all the question arc ones together and all the answer arc ones together) even when they're set and released between episodes. i think they're all fan translated? in the question arcs, the side stories were pretty superfluous but still fun. there was a little interview with gohda, and a silly story about valentines day and white day so i read some of them now and. man.

there's one, "game master battler", set when he's preparing episode 6. the characters react to an out of universe character popularity poll and they're all asking battler to give them a good part in ep 6 so they become more popular. which is a fine premise, its very muppet show, and the same silly tone the valentines day story had. you can guess the conclusion of course, battler asks everyone for ridiculous favors but then he cant possibly make a story that highlights everyone at once. but like. when he asks for favors, he asks All of his aunts for sex acts. (as payment for both them And Their Families getting better parts.) and the seven sisters have to massage him or they wont be included at all. and six of them hold lucifer down while he assaults her. he doesn't explicitly rape her but the metaphor is clear. and like. what the hell!

when he perved on jessica it was one thing. he wasn't God Of The Setting at the time for starters. and yeah the seven sisters murdered him repeatedly in eroticized ways, but they're evil demons that were acting as extensions of beato. the idea that battler Would be a rapist or coerce people into sex if given the power is. not funny obviously, not matching the lighthearted tone they're going for, and most unfortunately, in character??? he's a rich boy who comes from a family where abuse and punching down are the rule, who grabs women's breasts so much it's a move in the fighting game. they make a lot of parallels between kinzo and battler and i guess Rapist is one of them. which is a Real Bummer! he's the protagonist! i think. they might decide in ep 8 that ange is the protagonist. i Want To Like Him and the titty grabbing previously had his Weird Maladjusted Logic that was so ridiculous it kinda softened the blow, and the erotic violence performed On him has the caveat of, in a non fantasy perspective all that happened in his imagination, and in a fantasy perspective its being done by Bad People

you could say "oh its just a side story its not canon" but like. everyone acts roughly in character, in an exaggerated comical way not unlike the valentine's day story. sure this event can be understood to "not really have happened" but it still says something About battler's character. the very next side story expands on ange's motives, it says that bernie made ange promise not to love or trust eva, and their Beef was entirely because of that. that's tragic and realistic (in an understanding where bernie isnt Real, she can represent a part of ange that blames eva using mystery-logic) and goes together with the ep 7 ending in a really nice way. i haven't had a place to talk about the Politics of umineko. kinzo and bici's connections to fascism aren't really remarked on by anyone else, but kinzo isn't really portrayed sympathetically. like he talks about how the main family didn't really believe in him and he went to war to die, but this is shown after six long chapters of him being pathetic and abusing Every Other Character. and he was already married with kids when he met bici... and the adults follow from him, right. like him abusing his kids is echoed throughout the family, yknow cycles of abuse. and someone like rosa is not /excused/ for abusing her kid, but we are still shown the circumstances that allow her to do it. so umineko is "anti family" if you want to be extremely reductive and that's so rare in Popular Media. umineko isn't really anti capitalist, but you could make an anticapitalist reading of it. like kinzo is a shithead and his treatment of workers is presented as Bad but this isn't shown as a systemic thing. well kyrie's family is also kinda awful. but like worlds where kinzo Isn't a shithead are happy healthy places. theres a lot of show of Ranks and Bureaucracy in Magic Land but its mostly like, flavor, nothing really comes of it. at least from my reading. another one of the side stories shows one of diana's minions being a hardass about The Law when she joins the magic cops. and trying to get the other cops to practice Law And Order by not drinking or smoking or going to the halloween party, and never using vernacular, which all goes poorly for her and its funny. its not deep social commentary or anything its kinda dilbert level. all that said... umineko Is, more than anything else, unambiguously pro autism!

[warwickroyals]

so the ruby article got me curious... there's a section about "husband's sexuality" and "relationships" as well as "anti-fascist and socialist ties" 👀 what was ruby and george's relationship/marriage like, and are these things related to why they never had children? hypothetically, if george had survived and became king, would louis (his nephew) ended up as king eventually anyway because of this? was 1930s sunderland society more left-leaning or were ruby and george kind of unusual for their anti-fascist and socialist beliefs?

I'm going to answer this question in chunks because that's what's easiest. This is actually really helpful because next year I plan to do story posts about past generations of Warwicks! I have a bunch of notes:

George's sexuality: He was most likely bisexual and had some gender/cross-dressing stuff going on. Ruby knew about this and so did members of his direct family. The public did not know. His mother, Queen Anne, treated it as a weird but harmless quirk, his grandmother Matilda Mary encouraged the cross-dressing as a form of artistic expression, but his dad . . . uh, wasn't so understanding. George was prohibited from expressing his gender and sexual identity the way he pleased, but Ruby was generally supportive of George, and he was attracted to her. They were very much a love match. So she wasn't, like, his beard, she was just in a relationship with a bisexual man who maybe sometimes liked wearing pantyhose. They still faced some prejudice from upper-class circles: Katherine and James mocked Ruby about George's sexuality even decades after George's death.

Kids with Ruby: I think they would have had children. As I said before, there was intimacy between the pair and Ruby wanted kids. The main reason they didn't have any was because George was killed before she could get pregnant, just three years into the marriage. I feel like George, even if there was no attraction there, would have kids to prevent James (his brother and polar opposite) from reaching the throne. George and Ruby were probably waiting to have kids once the War was over, and when the world was a more stable place. They were looking forward to their future together.

1930s Sunderland: Was not left-leaning in the lead-up to WWII, in fact, the previous King Nicholas had cracked down massively on leftist political movements on both an institutional and grassroots level (all behind closed doors, of course). Nicholas hated communists more than anything and tried really hard to uproot them from Sunderlandian society. This would ultimately create the social conditions that would lead to George's assassination, as Sunderland became dominated by moderate Conservatives who were toothless against the spread of fascism. This doesn't mean everyone was a Nazi sympathizer, but they had sort of an indifference that made them complicit: The average Sunderlandian wanted to stay out of the war, they didn't want a repeat of WWI, and although they were allies with the British and French, direct involvement didn't seem worth the risk, even if it meant not standing up to the far-right extremists in their communities. Plus, their opposition to the Axis powers was more circumstantial than ideological, let's say. I mean let's take a look at the United States of America in the 1930s and 1940s. Did America ultimately fight against the Nazis? Yes. Does that mean they were friendly to leftist ideology and had no ethno-nationalist movements of their own? Absolutely not. Sunderland was much of the same, they had their own issues with far-right politics becoming mainstream. The tide only turned after Pearl Harbour, when it became clear North America was not safe from an invasion. Standing up to the Nazis became its own Nationalists movement.

Ruby and George being socialists: These were rumours because they were so outspoken about the Nazis and fascism in general. Also, Ruby having Jewish ancestry made her an easy target of anti-Semitic Cultural Bolshevist narratives. I think Ruby and George hung out in more progressive and radical circles than most of the royal family, but weren't officially socialists. Their outspokenness was unprecedented for members of the royal family. The rest of the family, mainly King George II and Prince James, were reluctant to voice any political opinions (this was more out of a fear that they would instigate things against the Axis powers than any personal political beliefs). Their fears were justified: George was the one who was vocal against Nazi Germany, George was the one who pushed his father out of his Isolationist mindset following Pearl Harbour, George became the scapegoat for Sunderlandian racists and fascists, George was the one who was shot dead as a direct result.

[msfbgraves]

Are gender roles ever questioned in Mob Verse? Do you think there's things happening politically such as "Omega Rights" groups? If Terry and Daniel saw or heard this sort of discourse, what would their reactions be?

My personal view is that Terry and other Alphas he mixes with would find it bewildering and silly. Terry believing that a mated Omega should be protected and cared for, Daniel too. Why on earth would they want to be "equal" to Alphas, to work, to provide etc. I wouldn't imagine either of them are very "woke" 🤣.

You must indeed consider their environment. This is likely set somewhere that would be pre-war for us, though it isn't certain that there ever would be a Second World War in their 'verse. Maybe they were smarter about fascism, who knows. I do know that Terry's not a War vet, but maybe his Daddy died overseas. Then again, an Alpha with a family would be hard pressed to go fight, so it could be a factory accident that got him.

Which gets me to my main point: omegas needing any rights for Alphas would be synonymous with severe, terrible hardship. Alphas do not leave their mates, not really. That's some beta bullshit. Living with them can be difficult for betas, and you see that most beta women with Alphas are pretty fiery themselves, or they are near omega like in their sensibilities. There's a lot of beta women that find Alphas too Extra to bear. The fact that John and Betsy work is largely due to John being rather stoic.

For Terry an omega needing rights is apocalyptic. Of course he doesn't want that. A beta is one thing but an omega. Jaysis, Mary an' Joseph that is some famine and plague shit. Could we not. We're at dinner here. O my God.

Daniel's... ambivalent after he lost his heart to Kumiko. His whole world is littered with tales of why two omegas together without an Alpha spells disaster, but... There's a song, called the Children's Balad (I'm basing this off a poem by Dutch writer Gerrit Komrij) in which two omegas sneak off to have the sweetest love story at dawn where a boy told a girl 'words of wonder, so beautiful even the grass was listening. And the barley said: "be welcome", and split for them, like The Red Sea had too'

Until the boy ends up brutally murdered and 'nobody would ever tell /the heartache of sweet Annabelle'

Yet the sea remembers all...

If it didn't happen more often, why are Alphas so concerned? They doth protest a lot... He's fine, he is, but he wonders... Yet he knows that wondering may not help too much. Alphas are more powerful, and that makes the world run. Look at his marriage. Besides, Kreese's Johnny Lawrence seems much happier now he has the protection of an Alpha again. Anyway, he's busy, he has five pups with another on the way.

But don't leave him alone with Amanda. She was not indoctrinated to be an omega, so there are those that go against type in temperament and worldview. If anyone is knee deep in a movement, it's her. She has nannies to take care of the puppies, and takes no shit.

Terry thinks it's spoiled. Amanda says he set her up. Olivia, her Alpha, laughs with Terry about how they like fire in an omega. Daniel asks, privately, about meetings, but doesn't do anything... yet.

Those pups will grow up too, one day, and who knows? He does read the pamphlets, and thinks about the situation of his people. Talks about it, a little, with his friend Jessica, Vinny and Lisa, and Lucille, but doesn't want to upset his Pop or Terry.

[akajustmerry]

Latest anon here. Thanks for the reply! I actually came across your other post that didn't have links. ("I need people to stop posting essays on why Harry Potter...")

Before sending the ask, I spent a decent amount of time combing google and reddit results before turning to tumblr. The only definite evidence that I could find of a jkr donation was to Allison Bailey, which wasn't a big donation, and for that women's shelter that excludes trans women. I was hoping for more evidence, which is why I asked, and honestly, I don't think it exists. I watched the video you linked in your other post, and I'm pretty sure my family member would dismiss it as circumstantial for the donations aspect. She's only starting out on the terf path, and if I can prove that jkr is also "classically" transphobic and not just "protecting women and children" or whatever, I might have a shot of getting her off that path. I'm going to try the guilty by association argument, but I'm not that optimistic. Yeah, jkr probably does donate because most rich people donate to what they believe in, but there's no hardcore evidence.

You're right about the other bigotry stuff, but I'm taking baby steps with my family member. She's the type to believe something isn't antisemitic unless they blatantly say "Jewish people suck". That's what I'm working with. 😬

shit I'm sorry, I have about 3 viral jkr posts atm and I assumed you were referring to the most popular one. look, one thing you need to understand about ppl in the alt-right pipeline is that evidence that contradicts their beliefs is only going to push them deeper because no one likes to feel wrong or stupid. take it from someone with 2 close relatives in this process, you're better off researching how to speak to someone being radicalised. there are plenty of articles, threads, books, etc written by people who have been deradicalised, explaining things that will help with deradicalising and things that don't. a common one is how someone in the process of being radicalised isn't going to be susceptible to evidence because they're being conditioned to distrust sources outside their circles. one thing that helps is to ask them non-confrontationally about their beliefs, which is hard, but it means they're the ones reflecting. questions like, "that's interesting, where did you read that?", etc. It's important not to be combative because in their minds they're already in an us/them fight and framing them as the loser only further disenfranchises them, pushing them further into fascism. I really strongly recommend looking into deradicalising and de-escalation strategies over evidence for your relative because they're not looking for debate they're looking for a scapegoat for power. Wishing you all the best with it because it's rotten exhausting work, but it's worth it so there's one less radicalised bigot in the world. x

[iloveabunchofgames]

#JakeReviewsItch

Aerannis

by ff

Price (US): $4.99

Included In: Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality

Genre: Action

Pitch: A stealthy action-platformer with a 32-bit pixel aesthetic about a pink-haired assassin in a purple-drenched, matriarchal future.

My expectations: It's incredibly hard to stand out in the crowded world of indie, pixel-art metroidvanias. I hope that's the only reason I've never heard anything about Aerannis. If the game matches the quality of the screenshots, this could be something special.

Review:

Reviewing a different indie game every day can be exhausting (see: most of the reviews on this page), but then, out of nowhere, comes a game like Aerannis.

Aerannis claims to be a game like Metroid or Castlevania, and I can see the connection. It’s a side-scrolling platformer where new powers are acquired, which can be used to reach previously inaccessible areas, but that’s only a sliver of the pie.

Most of the action takes place in discrete, linear stages. Some focus on fast-paced jumping and shooting, along the lines of Metroid or Mega Man, while others are strict stealth challenges. Most often, they’re a blend of the two—stealth is the safest approach, but a quick trigger finger is usually a viable alternative when things go bad. Just don’t expect to make it through a fair fight without taking some hits.

Aerannis ate most of my day, and if I hadn’t forced myself to stop and write this review, I wouldn’t have quit until I reached the end. It’s a successful blend of genres, with terrific variety and style, and it hates bigots who think we can’t tell the difference between feminism and fascism.

+ An incredible blend of stealth and action. I haven't even mentioned the boss fights! + Looks great, sounds great. + I'm hesitant to comment too much on the story since I haven't finished the game, but I can't wait to see if it answers all my questions. If it ends up with some kind of both-sides, horseshoe-theory garbage, I'm coming back and re-writing this whole review, but I think it's commentary on fascism—whether it's addressing litigious transphobes or the Bush administration—is going to land on the correct side. + New abilities, new environments, new enemies, and new types of stages give the game fantastic momentum, hour after hour.

– Despite nailing a million little details throughout its enormous world, there are a few basic oversights that really bother me. The main character should have one more animation pose when launching into a jump. There's a stamina bar that recharges after dashing, but it's this teeny thing way off in the corner—it should make a noise when it's full, or the character could blink, or anything that would let me know she's ready to dash again. Switching between different types of grenades through a radial menu makes the character walk left and right. – Navigation. Characters tell you where to go next ("west of here"), but if you don't retain that dialogue, good luck making sense of the pause menu's clue ("go to the office"—okay, but which office, in which city?) Fast travel locations are often in weird spots. The radar's useless. The space between action levels provides a nice reprieve and good world building, but a map would have been nice. – Could probably stand to be an hour or two shorter. I can't think of a specific section I would cut—none of it's bad—but i know some of these rooms could go, and I wouldn't miss them.

🧡🧡🧡🧡🤍 Bottom Line: Play the danged game. This isn't "good compared to most of the Itch games I play." It is good. Play it. Buy it for your friends. Jumping, shooting, sneaking, and making fun of bigoted fascists—Aerannis has it all.

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[tornad001]

ok so i can try and address this with the nuance it deserves. to your first point, why DON'T we fight to inaugurate a new system which categorically excludes fascists? well, simply put, its not an option on the table. its just not. in order to really upend things in a meaningful way, one of two things has to happen. either, we have to electorally attain a break from the 2-party, first past the post system, OR one of the 2 parties has to fail/crumble, which would lead to the aforementioned breaking of the 2-party system. it may not be ideal that the only departure from neoliberal hell on offer is fascism but it do be that way sometimes.

what you're getting at with your second point is something Jews have been struggling with since the holocaust. which is: when is violent resistance justified? which is really the same question as: when is violence useful or politically effective? if ur a Jew in the early 1900's weimar republic, when during Hitler's rise to power was the right time to fight back? was it the beerhall putsch? was it the construction of the first camps? was it the implementation of the final solution? or was it maybe earlier even? just like the rise of US fascism can realistically be traced back to Reagan or even all the way back to failed reconstruction, perhaps you think it was the end of WWI? maybe it was the assassination of archduke ferdinand? unfortunately, wherever you draw the line, you're wrong. name any time along the way where YOU PERSONALLY would draw the line, look back in history, see that there WERE groups that decided then was the time. and none of them worked. because you need institutional support to make institutional change.

see, as radicals, we tend to glorify political violence, but electorally speaking, liberals tend not to be huge fans of it. the symmetry breaker is that the liberal right is permissive of fascist political violence in a way that the liberal left isn't with respect to leftist political violence. there's loads of reasons for this, primarily the learned psychopathy of minority-focused bigotry, but it is in fact the case

and i don't claim to have all the answers. nobody does - the chaotic nature of human societal behavior makes it impossible to predict what outcomes will result from what action. but there's certainly more and less likely outcomes we can analyze. and no matter how you slice it, the calculus ends up being that a blue vote is a vote for harm reduction and a red vote is a vote for accelerationism, which is perfectly fine if you're personally at peace with potentially throwing minority groups under the bus on the extremely slim off-chance that it might accelerate things in a direction you want rather than the more likely outcome of fear and uncertainty and misery.

now ill ask you some questions in return. what is this "other system that categorically excludes fascists from access to political power" and how precisely (or even imprecisely) do you plan to bring it about? and then, in what way is this plan furthered either by not voting blue come november, or by encouraging others to do the same? what is your alternative? do you have one or is there just a generalized distaste for the system as it stands with no realistic and actionable plan for how to achieve it? just an honest question, even if it might not seem like it but thats just my honest feelings about campists :3 uwu

I really do have an honest question for libshit voteblues, and it seems like it isn't an honest question because that's what I call them but it's merely an honest descriptor:

Anyway, two questions.

Question the first: If Republicans have managed to game the formal structure of the democratic system so that they threaten to end it each and every election cycle, and the proximate consequence is transition to a fascist dictatorship under God Emperor Trump and his Project 2025, then what the FUCK is the appeal of democracy supposed to be? Why are we supposed to fight to keep this system in place instead of inaugurating some other system that categorically excludes fascists from access to political power?

And closely related question the second: if you really believe, if you really, really believe that the Republicans are getting ready to send my family and me back to the plantations and open up death camps for every central American immigrant and Muslim in the country, then why aren't you moving to make the Republican party fucking illegal? Why aren't you firebombing their offices or assassinating their ideologues? Because that's what people have done in the past in similar situations and your insistence on simply forestaying their sweep into power until 4 years later is not commensurate with the seriousness of the consequences in imminent loss of life that you're claiming to believe is at stake.