#from my understanding i think we even get more rewards than we do in base game (heavy on i think)

[callilouv]

yipee season of strike controversy solved ty devs >:)

[caffichai]

Food Bank Fundraiser

Hi everyone!

First of all, I want to say thanks to everyone who's been leaving such nice tags/comments on stuff I've posted! It's been really encouraging (o^▽^o)

Anyway, I think we all know it's very dark days on the economic front for many of us. So as such, I'd like to help raise some funds for Food Banks Canada! In exchange for you making a donation to the food bank, I will draw a character suggestion!

I know this is not really the sort of thing I normally do or post here but... many folks are struggling to put food on the table right now, and the food bank is a source of support for many and provides an absolute necessity. I've seen many people struggling in my own city, and food security has become an even bigger issue than it already was in the last couple of years with the food bank struggling to keep up with demand. Of course, food security is an issue across the whole country that's putting a huge strain on food banks, with nearly 5% of the entire population making use of food banks monthly, and 23% of the population reporting food insecurity (CBC, 2024; Global News, 2024). Unsurprisingly, those who are already most disadvantaged suffer the effects of food scarcity even more (Statistics Canada, 2023). To make matters more desperate, Canada's food bank system is on the brink of collapse (CTV News, 2024).

I know this isn't going to something big enough to change the world or anything, but being able to make even a small impact for individual people is important too!

✨Incentives✨

Of course, I'm sure people aren't just in it for a reward, but rewards make things all the sweeter, right?

For those who want to contribute, I'll take a character suggestion and add it to a poll (depending on the number of contributors, it may be split up into multiple polls), and then I'll draw as many as I can from top to bottom ranking! If you contribute, please send me a DM with your donation receipt and your character idea! They won't necessarily all be drawn in the same style, and they'll be done according to how much time I've got. (I know that commissions are probably the biggest incentive, but realistically, I struggle to get them done quickly and they're probably not that affordable to everyone)

If you prefer SFW or NSFW, you can let me know (But NSFW will be posted to Cohost). If you make a bigger contribution, I'll reach out to you and ask if you wanna see more specifics/details in your piece. How's that for sweetening the pie? :3

For those who can't make a donation (which is completely understandable), simply spreading the post is also helpful, and I appreciate that greatly as well!

Don't forget that giving a donation allows you to get a tax break based on the amount donated as well!

Alternatives?

If you'd rather donate to your own local food bank, that's great too! You can DM me and send me a pic of your receipt and I'll still add your suggestion to the poll.

If you REALLY want a commission, you can also DM me and I'll do my best to fulfil it! I won't be taking commissions for this till/if there's at least a couple of items on the poll though. The proceeds will go to my own local food bank. The commission will be done later though, and may take some time to fulfil. I take payment only after starting.

When do we start??

I guess once there's a good number of poll options? I have no idea how long that will be, but rest assured I'll keep you updated!

Where do we contribute?

You can make your donation to Food Banks Canada! They really need it!

Alternatively, you can make a donation to your local food bank or equivalent charity.

Other Questions?

Feel free to send me a message or an ask! I'll get back to you ASAP. If I need to include more details or clarify something, let me know! It's my first time doing this!

TL;DR

I want to help raise money for food banks! Anyone who contributes to Food Banks Canada (or donates to their own local food bank or equivalent charity) can DM me with their receipt and give a character to add to the poll. Poll characters will be drawn in order of their ranking, as many as I can manage, over as long a period of time as I can manage!

No pressure to donate of course, I just figured this would be a fun way of raising a bit of money to help out, and allow us to donate more than what I personally can

Current Contributor Count: 13

Suggested Characters:

Imagine your beloved, obscure or popular character here on this poll list! Oooooooh, how lucrative :3

Total funds raised:

780.36$!!!

[rey-jake-therapist]

i will chirp in if i may 🙋‍♀️

from my perspective, since sauron = power for galadriel, i think her feelings will always be a bit contradictory for him even if she strongly rejects him all the time. that connection they share forever means always hungering for a shadow of him.

i do understand that some might dislike the idea of gal having a shaky marriage, but i think that's more interesting, idk? though yeah, after all is done and hopefully after the numenor sinking, teleporno can be like a supportive calming presence for gal, her trophy/reward by the end of the show.

as for her becoming a mormon caricature of feminine purity - that's not tolkien's galadriel. she is a powerful witch who leads her own kingdom as she wields power using nenya and is sauron's biggest adversary.

smn said that there is probably smtng unsettling about galadriel for humans since they are scared of her. and i agree bc while she is wiser and more at peace, it's bc she grows into smn rather unhuman. she embodies the light in the same way sauron embodies the dark - she is not a saint, she is this supernatural being possessing unimaginably strong power and high authority even for the elves such as her husband. the ring bearers are on the entirely different level.

and i want to see that transformation. i want to see her become someone interesting rather than simplistic, yk? i agree that maybe the mind-palace theory is hopeful thinking on our part, but i have my fingers crossed that morgoth's stab established a bond between them and the door is still not closed and that will play a central role in s3 🤞

(+ a reminder that the actors don't know where s3 is going. they were probably told how to react to certain questions but the details gotta be unknown for them yet.)

Yes, I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said!

Regarding her marriage being shaky, really I'm not sure right now how I feel. I think I'm not enough interested in the subject to hope or fear for anything tbh. I only know I don't want Galadriel to be sidelined in Lothlorien while "men" do all the cool stuff outside, that's all. For the rest... I trust the writers and will get along with pretty much everything they can come up with, really.

My idea about the bond, which I'm writing in my fic anyway, is that:

Sauron can mind talk to Galadriel now; if he can do it while she's next to him, he can probably do it even if she's on the other side of Middle-Earth as well.

Considering that he's able to cast an illusion built around a person's memories when they're next to him, I could see him do the same with Galadriel, even if she doesn't stand next to him, thanks to their connection.

It would be different from the Reylo bond, as 1) he could control it (and Galadriel could learn how to control it as well), 2)unlike Rey and Kylo, they would see their surrounding, but it would be an illusion based on memories, and not a real place, where they would be at the moment.

I keep reading that Sauron can read people's minds, but this is not at all my understanding of the scenes we saw. If he could really read people's minds, he wouldn't have had to torture Celebrimbor for the location of the rings, he would have just probed his mind for the information. So, I think it's rather a case where he has flashes and ideas of a person's true desires and fears popping up in his head, and only when this person is open to him, like it seems to be the case for Galadriel in LOTR. I think that regarding Galadriel, however, he may be able to read in her like in an open book, because of the bond. At least, up until she finds the way to resist him and shut that door for good. Anyway, they can make something really interesting.

And I don't seriously hope that they will do that, but I want to write it in my fic because it's fun: at some point, Galadriel could turn the tables, learn to cast illusions built around HIS memories, which she would have access to, and force him to confront memories of his past with Morgoth, the stuff he'd rather forget, if you see what I mean. Yeah, I really want Gal to make this bitch cry...

[psycheetamore]

Another escape, another hunt 

Summary: Our lord has managed to get his Fremen prey into his palace. But she will not succumb to his desires so easily, even if her body wishes to do so. How he loves his game.

Tags: MDNI, Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen Is His Own Warning, anticipation of smut, predator/prey - the author regrets nothing

Part 2 of 6 of my contribution to the predator/prey thrope for Kinktober of @lady-phasma - nr 1-4 are chapters of 1 story (1-3 Feyd/OC hunt related, nr 4 is the reward for our lord), and nr 5-6 is me sharing my favourite chapter that I have written to date with the hunt between Rabban/OC. The 6 bits will be posted through daily posts.

Word count: 1.8k

Losely based on chapter 11 of Choosing to Follow Destiny

His slaves were standing outside of his quarters, as the na-Baron sought entrance. 

“Is she readied?” 

“My Lord…” and the slave paused. “My lord, we could not get the cuffs on” as she fell to her knees and started to grovel asking for forgiveness.  

He kicked her to the floor and proceeded: “you are lucky. I am in a good mood.” 

Several minutes ago, the terrified slaves that had dressed the new interest of the lord Harkonnen, locked her up in a separate room in his quarters. It did not take a lot of effort to force the lock. She felt vulnerable, dressed in clothing that did not deserve that word considering how little of her frame it covered and that could be meant only for ladies of the Harkonnen night. Feeling the mark he had left on her neck, which seemed to have been treated. Her braids loosened to have her long black hear flow across her back. Horrible shackles the slaves tried to put on her. She could not allow herself to think what he was planning to do. For her sanity, and to keep control over her physical urges that seemed to long for him. She could still feel his strong fingers gracing her lips. Yet, it could not distract from the recognition that she needed to move. The longer she was in his vicinity, the more difficult it would be to escape.  

Feeling her heart throb in her throat, against the healing wound he had left, she surveyed his chambers for any weapons or other tools that could help her gain some leverage. But it did not come at a surprise that nothing was present. It could not be anything else than that he prepared for roaming around here. Fear started to seep into her bones as she started to understand the gravity of the situation she was facing. The second-best option was looking for heavy blunt objects. Something that could allow her to issue a blow and try to get away. As she was scouring as quickly as she could for such objects, she heard him arrive and talk on the other side of the door. She grabbed a plaid laying over his bed and scooted softly to hide in the darkness next to the door.  

She noticed a body drop and the door opening. This was her one chance. As he walked in, she threw the plaid over his head and pushed him, making room to run away.  

Surprisingly, he was disconnected for a blink of a moment, just enough. She did not wait for a second opportunity, and dashed.  

The hallways were as dark as his room, the night having fallen and scarcely lit. There was no distinction between the left and the right side of the hallway, so intuitively she took off to the left. 

From a distance she heard him shouting: “run. Run as far as you can. Challenge me. We both know you will end up chained to my bed.” Shivers flowed over her back. 

She ran and ran. She should find some light coming from the moons anytime now. That would give her guidance on where to go. It felt like she ran for hours, probably mere minutes. Corridors went up and down. What was this place other than a maze, she thought, completely lost and getting out of breath. Functioning on pure adrenalin she forgot her fatigue and anything else holding her back. She just ran. 

Suddenly she heard footsteps coming from a corridor she was running towards. With muted steps she backed up against the wall, carefully peaking around the corner. A chance to sip some air, and perhaps more. A guard, dressed in a black Harkonnen uniform, was paroling. He did not seem to be on high alert. Perhaps her escape did not yet reach everyone. She pressed herself against the wall, waiting for the guard to walk past, so she could overtake him. Completely oblivious the guard walked past her. It took her one well-placed kick to the backside of his knees to get him to fall on the ground. He fell on his hands and knees, but it still made a terrible noise. This would surely attract other guards or Feyd-Rautha himself, so she immediately started kicking him to the head, bruising her feet, adrenaline masking the pain it caused. It took a few kicks for him to lay flat on the ground, allowing her to grab the bat and dagger he was carrying. She started to run in the direction he came from. 

After yet another corner she took, she lost the little sense of direction that had remained. But there was no time to worry. 

She continued to run until she abruptly recognised an imposing figure in the shadows from afar. The stance, the body, the clothing: it could be no other than her captor who had spotted her, staring at her with a tilted head and black smile on his face. She stopped, froze for a second, turned around and started running the other way around. Even with her newly acquired weapons she was aware that she would hardly be a match for him in these circumstances. 

Feyd-Rautha chuckled. Feisty and spirited. He was happy to see that she lived up to his expectations. He did anticipate she would free herself from the first room, and try to make a run for it. There was a reason he did not bring guards. He had, however, imagined that he would be able to keep her in, as he had carefully removed all sharp and heavy objects. A true fighter he was dealing with. And, by god, she even managed to obtain some weapons. Lovely. She clearly had not given up just yet, just like he asked.

His hunter instinct was kick-started by seeing her flee away. How he loved a game like this. With his longer legs, boots, and overall better condition, it did not take too long before she was within an arm's reach of him. 

She heard him gaining distance on her. His footsteps grew closer and closer. She gave it her all. She needed to outrun him. Her heart was throbbing in her throat from exhaustion. She needed to push through. Or find a way out. But where? No tangible options presented themselves. A sudden ambush perhaps. Short term, but still. 

He was just steps away from her, she could hear it. She decided to push for a last final sprint, to get him to speed up as much as possible, allowing her to suddenly divert her track and use his momentum against him. In the process, she managed to dart around him, while brushing the dagger across his arm. Now standing behind him, he turned to face her. Wearing his evening clothing, but still with boots and a belt with weapons, he showed her the blood on his fingers, which came from the wound she inflicted. Yet another wound he would have her repay.

“It is a dangerous game you play, little one. I have killed for smaller offences” he said menacingly, although his face gave away the joy he felt. "How is my mark on your neck feeling?"

“Kill me” she taunted. “Let's get this over with.” 

“No” he answered. “We both know I won't do that. You are far too lovely to meet such an end. In any case not such a quick end” as he grabbed a knife from his belt in a leisurely pace. He started to walk towards her, shifting his head from left to right, seeing straight through hear face into the inner workings of her brain.

She tried to maintain their distance by moving back as he closed in on her. But there was only so much space, as she was backed against the wall.  

He tigered around her, managing to get her into a corner. “Your strike, lovely lady. I will give you one strike” as he invited her through a gesture to come at him.  

She looked in his eyes and saw darkness. This was a dangerous man, with dangerous games. He was in control. Her only way out would be to disarm him, and hold him hostage until she could get out.  

She decided to make a go for it. Holding the club in her right hand and the dagger in her left hand, her strategy would be to get him to focus on her left hand, lose the club, switch the dagger to her other hand and strike.  

But her eyes gave her away. As she tried to execute this plan, he knew what was coming. He had seen every step that she had anticipated, and before she knew it, his hard chest, just covered with an evening tunic, had pinned her against the wall. She could feel his heart beat through the nothings they both wore. She could feel the heat flowing from his body to hers, as he kept her legs in check by pushing one of his between hers. His growing groin pressed against her bottom. Her body started to respond involuntarily, creating the moisture he craved. Forcing her hand to open, he managed to release the remaining weapon and kick it away. Only now did he turn her to face him, while holding her shoulders with an iron grip. 

She tried to kick him, causing him to push his entire body against hers to keep her still. As response, she pushed her hands on his upper arms. His strength was felt as she was pinned against the wall. His solid arms, his muscular torso, the growing excitement in his nether regions. It caused a further growing excitement in her nether regions as well, the likes of which she had never encountered before.  

“Why do you resist me? You belong here. You want to be here. You want to kneel before me and take everything I have to give to you.” Vile, tainted words came out of his mouth as honey, while his lips touched her neck and ears. He started to kiss, nibbling on her ears, allowing his warm tongue to roam over the ridges of the wound that was sure to become a scar from her ear to her shoulder, claiming her, marking her as his, while holding her head still. “Don't resist” he said with a chanting voice, feeling how her breathing located to the top of her chest. With nearly nothing covering her, she started to fear he would feel the warmth and wetness radiating from her body onto the leg that he had positioned so strategically against her most sensitive area. He wrapped his arms around her back to press her against him, as he softly bit on her neck. “Don't resist. Succumb to me” he continued to chant. He felt she was slipping away, as if her legs were not providing support anymore. 

“I can't” a small voice said with a deep sigh. His mouth on these sensitive areas, his vicinity, all the vile words that had left his sculpted mouth; she started to loose control. Breathing more heavily and rapidly, which he could feel through his chest that still forced her against the wall. 

He knew she was starting to break. All it took was a bit of affection. It was quicker than he had anticipated.  

He softly replied: “you can. And you will” as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. Pinching her bottom, awfully near her core with a mind of its own, he said: “you want to submit to me.” 

+++

Next parts listed on my pinned post

[blairdii]

i’m a psych student, so i did some analysis of behaviour. i’ve got an exam tomorrow, but clearly, this is more important to me.

a study on andrea’s stella’s negative and positive reinforcement approaches, and is it working?

now, we’re aware that andrea stella never praises lando in the media, and constantly praises oscar. even when lando performs beautifully, andrea has nothing good to say. when oscar performs terribly, andrea puts the blame on the car, and not the driver. lando performing terribly, andrea blames the driver.

andrea does a lot of negative reinforcing towards lando. like, if he continued to not praise lando, he will eventually be the best and reach his highest potential. while that could be a motivator, i do believe that andrea also needs to understand the driver and person that lando is. we’re aware of how lando is an over thinker and struggles with mental health. we’re aware that he constantly criticises his own skills and just believes that he’s not good enough. negative reinforcements work to a certain level. i have a negative reinforcement technique where i hate it when my enemy in college does better than me in exams. that’s how i motivate myself to study and get good scores. but, im also an overthinker and struggle with mental health and think that im not good enough, that when i do well, i need someone tell me that i did a good job, or get a reward in some form or the other. if lando does have a negative reinforcement as a motivator technique, and andrea is the one who gives that negative reinforcement, it’s also necessary that andrea gives a reward to his driver when he performs well. right now, for lando, the positivity or the positive reward comes from his friends and family. but, it will still stick in his brain that his team principal doesn’t think he’s good enough.

at the same time, andrea does a lot of positive reinforcement with oscar. maybe it’s what motivates oscar. being told that he can do it, and that he’s a good driver, and that something wasn’t his fault is his motivator. which is maybe what andrea is doing with the constant praises. yet, it doesn’t change the same thing as before, that if oscar does perform bad, a punishment, or a negative reaction must be given to maintain that balance. constantly giving positive reinforcements will not lead to an improved driver or an improved result. it leads to the driver not understanding what they’re doing wrong and how they can fix it. oscar is an amazing driver, don’t get me wrong, i’m merely pointing out the difference in reinforcement approaches. oscar needs to receive praise where it is due and receive criticism where it is due. if it’s only praise, it will never benefit him. as long as andrea continues with the positive reinforcements, oscar will continue to think that he’s doing everything perfectly.

now, i don’t know what happens behind closed doors, obviously. it’s very possible that andrea praises lando and criticises oscar during their team meetings and stuff. but, from a fan point of view, based on what we’ve seen and we’ve heard with the interviews and stuff, this is what i’ve noticed.

i personally believe that andrea needs to find a balance for both drivers. if he’s going to be team principal for mclaren for a while, i do believe that he needs to find a balance of praise and criticism between both drivers to really push them to achieve their full potential. and if andrea doesnt do it, we will have one driver on his high horse, never unlocking his maximum potential, and the other driver putting in all the works and falling deeper into a spiral of never being enough.

anyways, you don’t care, i just wanted to tell someone, and i decided to trouble you!

- wyr anon

OMG NO I DO CARE!!! this tickled and triggered the past psych student in me (i did it for a levels like.. 2 years ago. i barely remember jack thought so ntm on me 🙏)

me personally, i see all of andrea's treatment as both positive punishment and negative reinforcement. negative reinforcement in which andrea takes away 'praise', with the (futile) attempt to get lando to perform better, but also the fact that he's solely doing positive punishment to discourage the behaviour of lando performing well, which, in turn, leads him into performing...inadequately (more on this later).

(little visualisation; credits to b.f skinner🙏)

i am very sure that andrea knows what he's doing to lando. there's no way that he thinks this entire negative reinforcement system would work (????) on him, even given that there is nothing for lando to change.

now, we all know that is not lando's case. matter of fact, he should be in all of andrea's good books by now. and i think there are reasons to why andrea is doing this, but i will focus on one; warning, take this with a grain of salt, because obviously, i don't know what's going on inside his head, and i can only infer from what i perceive from what he shows us.

andrea is doing this with the intention to depreciate lando, this is where positive punishment comes in. i know it sounds a bit of a stretch, but when i'm weighing my options and really observing stella's behaviour, there is no other way i can perceive this. lando performs extremely well, for someone who has just gotten a good car after 5 years driving a tractor, occasionally putting it on pole, and even winning from it twice, and the other time he didn't, he drove superbly from p5 (if i recall correctly) to win the race. what could guarantee the need of positive punishment, public bashing, if not to bring him down.

again, could be argued that lando would benefit from it, perform even better (in a sick way, i know, but that's mainly the incentive behind positive punishment) but with someone already giving it their all, and on top of all that, is very open about his anxiety and overthinking, it's too far-fetched to think that it would be helpful in any way.

could this be a twisted method of manipulation? maybe yes, maybe no. but no one uses positive punishment without the intention for the behaviour to change; normally, this would mean, lando would stop performing 'bad' and start improving; yet, there is no 'bad performance', is there? so, in this process, andrea has (knowingly, unknowingly, who knows) used reverse psychology and inflicted the opposite of what positive punishment usually does.

(i think i should mention that positive punishment doesn't always work, not even taking into account whether the person has good mental wellbeing or not. in some cases, it can trigger the person to do worse just because they have, probably, received positive punishment their entire lives and so, with no substantial support, they end up doing the antithesis of what p.p is intended to do. kind of like a big fuck you. but anyways.)

andrea is aware that lando constantly does better than oscar; and his [not-so discreet] favouritism is inciting him to act this way, perhaps with the purpose of inculcating more doubt into lando, so that it appears that oscar is better. no better way to do this, than have the tp themselves tell the public that they think a driver isn't driving well.

we mustn't forget that everything in f1 is calculated. i am very aware my point is a stretch, but andrea can't be doing this for any other reason.

unto oscar's positive reinforcement treatment:

you've said all i have wanted to. this method only encourages behaviour, instead of discouraging like positive punishment does. it gives oscar a big wad of entitlement, especially since he is not being told where he goes wrong, and this praise is done so publicly, so it's even more long-lasting.

positive reinforcement will keep oscar at where he is, giving him that privilege of thinking lando owes him wins and places (which, i think, is so cruel; if oscar really thought that him helping lando with one point earned him that win, then he didn't do what he did in the brazil sprint out of the goodness of his heart.), whilst lando's negative reinforcement turned positive punishment will end depleting his performance. he'll not stop thinking that he needs to do better for the team, keep repaying favours, keep sacrificing himself, and with his own tp not praising him for all of these, he may end up seeing that even his good deeds aren't cared for.

[utilitycaster]

Wow your Orym tags really are an eye-opener. You are totally right and now I understand the bitterness about this character a little better. I've seen a lot of "...but C3 is supposed to be this and that" takes and I guess a lot of people think they are owed a certain storyline?

Yeah. People feeling as though they're owed a certain storyline is not new nor exclusive to Critical Role; it's been pretty common in fandom for years (see this excellent post that I still think about). But the particular blame being placed on Orym is a fun new twist on this theme.

I'm sure there's people who hate Orym for other reasons; shipping wank is another very common form of entitlement to a particular storyline. I must admit when it comes to Twitter I think some people just yell random lies out into the void to hear their own voice because there is no underlying logic to any of it. But I do think a large number of people who have been blaming Orym for everything for what is now the majority of the campaign are doing so because he has consistetly refused to entertain the idea that Ludinus makes any valid points from the start, and the narrative has pretty much only rewarded him for that.

A lot of people really thought that Campaign 3 "all bets are off" didn't mean like, messing with the narrative structure (they hate when that happens by the way. they acted like Downfall and the Solstice Split and the fact that this has been a very plot-driven campaign rather than one about character backstory are all fucking violations of the Geneva convention the way they carried on, and I say this as a person who can complain) but rather that Critical Role, a D&D-based fantasy, would shed those pesky two previous campaigns of canon (unless of course earlier canon helps them make a point. I truly cannot believe someone made like 5 alts and harassed me and all my mutuals for an entire evening over hypocrisy for...liking one ship more than another when these idiots exist) in order to become some kind of deeply pathetic "French Revolution Except Instead Of Kings It's Gods" historical re-enactment.

We're at the point where like, nothing has validated them and everything they've claimed the gods have done, Ludinus or the Weave Mind have done like, tenfold. As mentioned, the people who were like "oh my god STOP SAYING HUBRIS anyway obviously Bells Hells would NEVER see the gods as relatable" just watched Laudna and Imogen be like "wow, they're flawed and conflicted and a fucked up family just like us." I shit you not, I saw someone criticize FCG's relationship with the Changebringer because "he had to work for it" as if that's not like...how literally all relationships work if you're not an utter black hole of entitled self-absorption. The Kreviris Imperium wants to straight up colonize all of Exandria but they turn a blind eye. There's someone out there talking about putting Rashinna's head on a pike for being willing to endanger the poor Ruidusborn children that...Liliana (probably to some extent coerced by Ludinus to be fair) could have left alone to live out their lives on Exandria. People genuinely channel some anti-abortion "but What About The Disabled Children? Shouldn't Pregnant People Be Forced To Carry And Parent Them" style arguments at Alma's "hey, we have people delay birth for like half an hour so their children don't have The Psychic Migraine Disorder That Made Imogen Possibly Suicidal". The arguments have devolved into "well, canon isn't real" and "but the status quo" as if there aren't ALIENS FROM SPACE SPEAKING AT THE DRAGON VATICAN. How STUPID do you have to be to think that wouldn't change the entire world. Or, to get back to this ask, how desperate are you to maintain the illusion that you are going to get a wish-fulfillment campaign that never once existed? So yeah. They blame Orym because otherwise they have to blame literally the entire cast, and themselves.

[coconox]

my 2 cents on the state of whb

i've been contemplating about my thoughts on this game since i never really sat down and processed it, and a month of not playing the game and just keeping up with fandom content/official game news i think i can properly format my words (hopefully idk lol)

if you're looking for a specific section dw i'll properly format everything under the cut so you can just scroll till you find whatever you're looking for (also head's up it's insanely long i'm sorry but kinda not sorry i wanted to just put all my thoughts into one post rather than multiple)

SMALL INTRO

for some context on my experience, i have been playing this game everyday since launch/day 1, i was f2p up until i got juno's card, which i'll talk about later, but just know in advanced that juno was the only case where i've spent money. i uninstalled around the time the announcement was made in regards to no posting full stories of paid content, so almost month ago, and only reinstalled recently to grab certain items to add to the spreadsheet that i've been maintaining since november (aka a month after launch)

i've said it privately to a couple of close friends but i'll say it publicly here: imho, i think they released the game way too early even with the fact that they delayed launch 3 times.

i understand a handleful of bugs are from the fact that the public servers are significantly larger than test servers, but playing this game after the servers kinda stabilized feels like we are the test players, like we're constantly given rough drafts rather than the final copy.

the localization is rough to say the least, but i think i've been so used to it from other gachas that i've played that it didn't really ruin the experience for me,,, except when the text would switch to an entirely different language HJGFDHJGK

from visual bugs to gameplay bugs to voiceline bugs, there's been a lack of communication in terms of what has been fixed and what is still a wip. instead the players just have to "fuck around and find out" in terms of whether something has been fixed or not.

as i continue to state the issues with this game and its direction i'd like to put a disclaimer that i am by no means an expert in any of this stuff lol. i'm just a guy who nerds out over math, spreadsheets, and video games and everything i'll be saying is my personal opinion based on what i've seen/experienced.

THE ISSUE(S)

SOLOMON SEALS AND GACHA

i think the first mistake was them adding solomon seals in the first place. based on what packs in the past looked like, it looked like red keys were originally designed to be for debut characters, but instead they throw a curve ball and add ANOTHER gacha currency that was essentially p2w only up till some point early this year. this ultimately led to there being 2 standard banners, both of which essentially do the same thing except one doesn't have A/B/C-ranks. the fact that now even with realm of seraphim, in order for f2ps to have enough to guarantee with seals, they need to save for a year and a half. that is WAY too long for ONE character. this is of course worst case scenario of needing to hit pity, i'm aware you can get characters early but you should never always expect you'll get early in gacha games, i learned that the hard way during my idk how many years i've been playing gachas lol

i personally think that there's no winning across any of the gacha banners. there's no pity for either of the standards, and debut L/S-ranks have imo too high of a pity for what we're actually receiving per week. we essentially get more or less 1 pull per week in terms of red keys, yellow keys, and seals through dailies/weeklies alone, though of course that can vary cause of the rng key boxes, monthly login rewards, etc.

PANCAKES

there seems to be a general pattern that i've noticed of rather than confronting an issue directly they try to create something new in hoping that fixes the issue instead. an example of that would be the pancake shop.

the old pancake shop was fine as is, we could get a multi for relatively cheap price and get pie boxes everyday (albeit they're rng but pies are pies). what they could've done was add the L-ranks and skip tickets or whatever new thing they wanted to add into that old shop, adjusting the currency wherever necessary. yet instead they just remove the old system entirely and replace it for a new one that no one really asked for? while having the L-ranks in shop are nice, an entirely new system wasn't necessary to make that one relatively small addition. having A+-ranks and lower give gold and books was also not necessary, we have resource stages containing those 2 things and it's very accessible to everyone. what resources we are lacking in however are tears and pies, which are arguably more important than gold and books since those 2 currencies are the core to ascending/lvling characters and their skills.

PIES

i've emailed pb in the past in regards to if there will be other permanent methods for obtaining pies, and their response was holy coin portal and events. those two are NOT stable enough for pie income considering the prices of skills. if there's instances in unholy board where we need to level a character's skills, i'd expect there to be some sort of resource stage that would allow us to get pies so that we can easily obtain that skill level requirement.

"META" GAMEPLAY

i'll explain the quotes in a bit but i do want to put a disclaimer that whb was the first time i've experienced a full on tower defense style gameplay for gachas. i was already familiar with how it works kinda because of neural cloud even though the game as a whole is more like an auto-chess game of sorts, but some story gameplay had tower defense mechanisms and i learned a fair bit from playing that. personally i also haven't played arknights since i'm trying to cut down on the amount of gachas i play but i am aware of its playstyle through friends who like to attempt to drag me into playing it cause of certain characters that i might simp over (*cough flamebringer cough insider cough chongyue cough*)

disclaimer aside, trying to piece together what characters work and what don't genuinely hurts my brain. i put "meta" in quotes because realistically there's only 1: all L-rank light types, ideally at least 1 tank, maybe 1 healer (though a tank can act as both), rest be whatever dps you'd like really (preferably satan considering the fact he can be extremely reliable without his ultimate unlike a few characters). of course, everyone will have a different opinion on what they deem as meta, but that's the general idea i'd personally follow based on what kind of battles have been given to us, what characters are available, etc. the rest tbh are just "cope and seethe" for lack of a better term.

there's a huge type advantage with light and dark types, and i really wish they could buff the other elements more just show they have some spotlight too. i also wish there were more non-light L-ranks. as of making this post, out of the 23 L-rank characters there is currently only 1 non-light L-rank, and it's juno, an L-rank fire marksman.

the part that really "hurts" me the most (don't really know what other word to put here LOL) is the fact that this game is going in a very specific direction of just dps'ing through everything and hope you clear the stage before the enemies kill you.

this game has a huge and imbalanced ratio between dps characters and support characters regardless of element. the fact that we only have 5 healers (NOT including lucifer (victory) considering he's technically a marksman and the healing is from his artifact and not in his skills) and 8 tanks, whereas marksman and close-rangers have twice or thrice the amount is absurd. what pains me more is the fact that for tanks, if you don't have mammon, you're screwed. arguably the best non-mammon option players have that's accessible is bimet. valefor and eligos share the same kit with the fact that their downfall is the possibility that they could be instakilled the second they pop their ult. healers on the other hand are somewhat more lenient. if you don't have lucifer, marbas is your next best, then gamigin (marbas and gamigin can technically be placed interchangeably since their healing differs by 0.1%, it just depends on who you have), then morax, then maybe buer but he only heals 1 unit at a time rather than multiple but i digress. healers still have multiple and very reliable non-L-rank alternatives whilst tanks really only have 1. i really, really hope there's more support units in the future cause man this sucks.

NIGHTMARE PASS

spending $50-$70, on paper, is significantly better than spending ~$400 for a character, and that's really the only "good" thing about it 💀

$50-$70 may feel like nothing to some players, but to a majority, that is a portion of a cost towards food, groceries, rent, etc. basically, i'd assume a majority of people would prioritize surviving than watching pixels on a screen.

i understand at the end of the day pb is running a business, but for kings to be fully locked behind a paywall knowing for a fact that a majority of the player base are 1. casuals/f2ps and 2. are here for the kings is absurd. plus with the fact that typically nightmare pass characters aren't added to standard and aren't always 100% guaranteed to rerun in the future just puts the nail in the coffin for me.

i think it makes more sense for non-kings like juno to be in nightmare pass because it's just additional fun and silly content that arguably won't be tied to the main lore and whatnot, maybe referenced as a silly bit here or there but it'd be more of an easter egg than something important that you absolutely need to know.

personally i bought juno's pass because i love his design, kit, and voice. story was kinda meh for me personally but i really just cared more about the va and gameplay. gameplay-wise, he certainly does not disappoint as a gehenna support unit. but do i regret purchasing him? yes and no. oddly enough this was probably the first i've ever felt guilty in terms of buying something i wanted in a gacha game. yes i regret it in terms of i'm no longer really playing this game anymore, which is unfortunate considering i barely made it through half a year of this game's release. yet at the same time, no i don't regret it because he is a really fun unit. for example, when it's gabriel's rotation in realm of seraphim, juno's, leraye (nostalgia)'s, and leraye's ultimates absolutely DESTROY gabriel in a matter of like <10 or so seconds and it's so satisfying to see. i also just really like his va, scratches a very particular itch in my brain.

anyways before i get sidetracked over appreciating juno, the fundamental flaws of nightmare pass are essentially

you shouldn't need to buy both tiers to get the character. you should realistically need to buy the highest tier and by default it unlocks all previous tiers below it

ui is a bit confusing. i still don't get why f2ps have to unlock parts of nightmare pass that they can't even access/obtain. there should be a clear separation between what f2ps get, what advanced tier gets, and what premium tier gets.

it's too expensive. most bp's i know are ~$10 at the highest tier, though that's considering the fact that bp's i'm familiar with only give cosmetics rather than actual units

from what i've heard through the grapevine, beel (bath) is basically in the same formatting as all the other currently existing bath cards, which are all currently obtainable through gacha. beel has no reason to be in nightmare pass. it genuinely makes no sense as to why pb put him there aside from getting money and that in-turn alienates a majority of the fan base since we can't even view the prologue of card stories if they're a nightmare pass character.

when nightmare pass was first released during christmas, everything was in chaos. the fact that a nightmare pass character needed the other two limited gacha characters gameplay-wise is absurd (mind you, this was before we were given the chance to earn seals through weeklies). everything was too expensive, and rather than an enjoyable christmas event it felt like a "merry christmas, now give us money" kind of situation. i think nightmare pass should not be happening as frequent as it is now. the gap between gabriel and juno was perfectly fine (4 month gap btw), but for a nightmare pass to happen back to back on top of gacha events is too much for both f2ps and p2ws.

the point of buying packs, bp, anything that costs real money in a gacha game is so it makes your gameplay experience easier, paying shouldn't be the main component of your game. personally based on what i've experienced through playing gacha games you should theoretically be able to pull for almost every character on debut just by playing dailies/weeklies/events, yet here we get a bit over a multi per patch (this includes playing realm of seraphim).

DICTATING FANDOM INTERACTIONS

i wholeheartedly believe a fandom is what keeps a game alive. a hindrance to the fan base is a hindrance to the game, which can be seen with the aftermath of pb announcing that legal action will be taken if full stories of paid content are shared publicly. while i understand from a business standpoint that pb would want to enforce the "no sharing full story" thing for paid content since they want players to yk, buy the card, like i mentioned in the previous section, the majority of the player base just cannot afford it.

the people who posted full stories wanted to share to those who cannot afford it, some people may not want only tidbits of the story but rather the whole context, especially those who enjoy dissecting character lore but don't have the irl funds to fully experience it themselves. some people may even want to archive it, cause honestly no one knows how long this game will stay up and we want to archive story so that it's something we can easily look back on. to essentially make players borderline terrified on trying to figure out whether or not it's ok to publicly post stuff in relation to any sort of story content is absurd.

there is also that loophole of what is defined as a paid story. when events end and get put behind a paywall, does that now count as paid story or is that still ok? what about debut L-ranks that are behind seals and there's a 3 month downtime till they're added to standard? or is it just referring to nightmare pass characters? paid stories in the context of the state of the game right now is insanely broad, it's practically at least 50% of this game (i'm exaggerating (or maybe not i wouldn't be surprised if that was actually the case)).

i understand no datamining, while it technically speaking isn't illegal, it's disrespectful to the devs, but a lot of these call to action methods they're announcing are rather extreme imo.

with the most recent cards either being put to standard 3 months after their banner ends or flat out paywalled and not 100% guaranteed to have a rerun, story content as of late has been very sparse. what people want most is a main story update, which we were originally promised to be updated every 3 months and it is now month 6 and we still have nothing.

EVENTS AND EVENT STORIES

event stories being locked behind a paywall after the event ends is probably the first time i've ever seen a gacha game do this. most of the gachas i've played either don't archive event story at all and just rerun it every year, don't rerun or archive the event at all (i.e. if you miss it, cope and seethe), or they archive it for FREE. it feels insanely greedy how EVERY event story needs payment if you ever want to backread an old event.

what also concerns me is the fact like instances like gamigin's event or beleth's event carry so much lore for their respective region and that may never show up in main story, which then screws new players over in not knowing the full context behind every region. events like minhyeok's or bimet's are fine in the sense that it doesn't carry that much lore in comparison to the more recent events. the first few events were like silly banter and getting to know a bit more about the cast.

also changing the event shop from daily pies to a set limit per account was an awful choice it just emphasizes my point earlier of how unstable obtaining pies are in this game.

FULFILLING PROMISES

i think while it was a smart move to list what's gonna be implemented throughout the year, they shouldn't have stated deadlines on when they're doing so.

the following are the things that still aren't implemented yet as of making this post:

new daily chats (expected within february)

friends system (expected within march)

birthday system (more specifically celebrating your bday) (expected within april)

new main story chapter (new chapter expected every 3 months)

if pb were to just say "here's what to expect in 2024" and NOT give specific months, that's fine, but giving these specific months sets an expectation that they would complete it within that timeframe. main story for example is probably the one people have been anticipating the most. by now as of july, if we were to follow the expectation pb gave us, we would currently be on chapter 7, or at the very least chapter 7 would've been released some time this month. we have not even gotten chapter 6 yet. chapter 5 was released in january. it has been 6 months since the last main story update. failing to meet these timeframes will make people upset, because it was mentioned in the announcement that it's 1. a promise (i hope i'm not the only one that takes promises seriously) and 2. in bold yellow text, "what we can realistically expect to see in 2024." the only promises that were fulfilled on-time were the ones in january, the rest have been delayed by at least a month. if you're giving a timeline of what's happening, announce if there's any changes to that timeline, because not doing so will make players believe you were lying to them even though you probably aren't and are instead just falling behind schedule.

i think what hurts more to me is the fact that they aren't publicly communicating these delays. it shouldn't be our responsibility to find out why or when something isn't happening within the timeframe they promised (e.g. by emailing them), it should be up to the devs to communicate that publicly to us. i'm not saying they should overshare what's going on behind the scenes, it can simply just be a simple announcement of "hey, we're very sorry but we're having some technical difficulties with this certain feature and we need more time. here is some compensation in the meantime, thank you for your patience and again, we're very sorry." it's that simple.

FINAL THOUGHTS

i mentioned back in my intro that i feel like this game was released too early purely because the fundamentals of making a bare minimum decent gacha game are just not there. if every patch update has people complaining on what's just recently been added/removed, you're not fully listening to what the audience wants. while i understand pb is a small business, a business is still a business regardless of size and criticism/feedback is necessary especially in a game dev setting.

i've followed this game's news ever since it was teased, which was december of 2022, i've lurked/participated in the fandom (on here at least) ever since september of 2023. i've felt a rollercoaster of thoughts and emotions of "omg this is so great" to "why is this even a feature," hoping that over time the game would get better, but the only thing that's improved was server stability (and even that's still a bit rocky 💀).

a huge part of my stay was just being a lurker in the fandom. i genuinely appreciate all the creatives who fulfill asked prompts of characters, make ocs, fanart, write theories, reactions + many more. i love seeing other people's works/opinions and having just a lively fandom made it all more fun.

but at this point this game is just not for me. i've really only stuck around to read mammon's lore but since main story hasn't been updated in 6 months i'll really only chime back in when there's finally an update. it still amazes me to this day that my patience lasted this long. i think i've covered everything i wanted to cover but my memory is swiss cheese so if i forgot something,,, woops 💀

as for the future of the spreadsheet for those who check back on it, it's still being managed by myself and windy, who has been a huge help since day 1 of creating the build lists and team comps and i honestly can't thank her enough for also enduring this pain of a game with me as we've worked on this spreadsheet together hgjdfgh (luv u bestie 🫶). though it's written in the narrative that both of us will eventually quit updating it entirely if this game persists on not having any signs of improvement. when that day comes i'll make sure to post an announcement about it.

as for myself i'm probably still gonna lurk in the fandom/keep an eye out on game news. i doubt i'll be making any fanart anymore unless if i really have the motivation/boredom for it, but currently i'm revamping the "aesthetics" of this account so nothing's really set in stone. maybe i'll make a few whb rambles here or there if some game news really irks me but for the most part i've already been in the process of moving on to other things.

if you've stuck around this long to read this mess of a post, thank you for sticking around and have a cookie, you deserve it 🫴🍪

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Jonathan Cohn at HuffPost:

The questions surrounding the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson are going to take a while to answer definitively, even if police in Pennsylvania have now arrested and charged a man in connection with the shooting. The question of how Americans feel about the health insurance industry, on the other hand, leaves little room for doubt. On social media and in everyday conversations, Americans have joked about last week’s shooting in New York ― and in some cases even suggested that Thompson deserved to die ― because of what they say his company and his industry have done to stop people from getting health care. As HuffPost’s Jennifer Bendery and Arthur Delaney reported last week, lots of people wrote variations on “thoughts and prayers are out of network,” invoking a familiar piece of insurance terminology. Under an item where New York officials sought tips on finding the killer, one commenter said “my regular insurance doesn’t cover vision so I can’t really see” while another wrote “we need prior authorization first” — once again, using insurance company lingo.

You don’t have to be a corporate shill to find that reaction dehumanizing and disturbing. Taking satisfaction in somebody’s killing feels like the sort of thing that was clearly out of bounds before social media made it easy for people to express their worst instincts aloud and then be rewarded for it with even more attention. “In some dark corners, this killer is being hailed as a hero,” Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.) said in a Monday news conference detailing the latest developments on the case. “Hear me on this: He is no hero. ... In America, we do not kill people in cold blood to express policy differences or a viewpoint.” But you also don’t have to condone the online reaction, let alone the killing itself, to understand where it came from or why somebody associated with the insurance industry would inspire such hostility. And you don’t have to think commercial insurers are primarily responsible for the problems of American health care to spot the role they’ve played in its well-documented dysfunction.

How And Why Insurers Became So Unpopular

That role starts with the limits on medical care that have been the reference point on social media for the past week. More than half of Americans with private insurance say they’ve had trouble using their coverage ― like running into treatment denials or struggling with small provider networks ― according to polling from KFF, the California-based health care research organization. The number is even higher for those who say they have health problems, which suggests the people most likely to encounter these obstacles are the ones who need health care the most. These obstacles have existed for a while, and this is not the first time outrage over them has spawned a broader conversation about whether to curb insurance industry behavior. Back in the late 1990s, Congress spent several years debating whether to pass a “patient’s bill of rights” that would have given everyday Americans more power to challenge treatment decisions and even sue insurers in court. You could tell the idea was popular by looking at the polls, which showed strong support from across the political spectrum. Or you could just go to the movies. In a key scene from the 1997 film “As Good As It Gets,” a main character played by Helen Hunt cursed insurers as “fucking … bastard pieces of shit” because they had denied tests and treatments for her asthmatic son. Audiences around the country broke into spontaneous applause.

At the time, the insurance industry and its allies argued that their limits on care were cutting down on unnecessary, sometimes harmful treatments that people didn’t really need — and, more importantly, holding down the cost of health care. If not for tools of what became known as “managed care,” insurers said, Americans would have to pay even more when they went to the doctor’s office, hospital or pharmacy, and many would have to skip care altogether. Insurers and their allies make the same arguments today. And they are not exactly wrong when it comes to the deeper problems of American health care or the role insurers can play in addressing them. There are reams of data to suggest the system is rife with mistreatment and over-treatment, and that the main reason American health care costs so much is that the providers and producers of care have so much power to set such high prices.

[...]

How Insurers Behave Today

You can still see vestiges of that approach in organizations like Kaiser Permanente, the nonprofit descendant of those shipyard clinics. And while it’s hard to quantify insurer performance, one telling measure is the rate of treatment denials — which for Kaiser, according to a recent report from the website ValuePenguin, is just 7% of claims. But the industry average is 16%. The industry leader at 32% is UnitedHealthcare, the company Thompson led. And it’s not just the volume of denials raising questions about the conduct and priorities of big commercial insurers. It’s the nature of the denials, which have come to light through legal proceedings, congressional testimony and journalistic exposés. Among the latter was a monthslong ProPublica investigation of algorithms and other tools United was using ― as the report put it ― to “police mental health care with arbitrary thresholds and cost-driven targets.” United told ProPublica its practices were “an important part of making sure patients get access to safe, effective and affordable treatment.” Providers, patients and mental health care advocates who the reporters quoted in the article disagreed, arguing the limits routinely deprived people of care they needed. That is the very same thing Miranda Yaver, a health policy professor at the University of Pittsburgh, found in her research for a forthcoming book about American health insurance companies and the ways they restrict treatment.

[...]

How Insurers Helped To Build The U.S. System

Reformers have been trying to create a system like that here in the U.S. for nearly a hundred years. They’ve never been able to overcome the political opposition. Whole books have been written on the complex story of why this kept happening. A big, politically inconvenient part of the saga is that most Americans have health insurance and, notwithstanding their feelings about the industry as a whole, are wary of giving up what they have. But another big part of the story is the opposition of industry groups that profit from the status quo. That very much includes health insurers, who eagerly joined the fight against Harry Truman’s national health insurance proposal in the late 1940s, led the charge against Bill Clinton’s ill-fated universal coverage plan in the early 1990s and pushed back on the (far more modest) reforms that eventually became the Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare,” in the late aughts.

[...] The data backs up that claim: Administrative costs in the U.S. health care system are the highest among economically advanced counties. The same goes for the salaries of American insurance executives that at the high end of the scale can exceed $20 million a year. Again, none of that justifies celebrating one executive’s slaying, let alone the killing itself. And depending on your political priors, it may not even justify forcing insurers to change their behavior. But making the case that their practices are beneficial means convincing skeptical Americans who were clearly angry at insurers before Thompson’s killing and are unlikely to change their feelings any time soon.

The killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson at the hands of Luigi Mangione reveals a dark underbelly about the legitimate frustrations aimed at health care insurers, who hand out routine denials or delays of service to its customers.

[578memorylane]

watched the pmoon anniversary stream. ramblings are below if you care about that

DON QUIXOTE MANAGER OF LA MANCHA LAND YIPPEE YIPPEE YIPPEE....animations look super cool and i love how they change based on the other bloodfiends in the party. must pull on aesthetics alone though im sure she'll be super powerful. must complete the lamanchaland quartet

not sure how i feel about the dispenser change. i do think people are a little too quick to doompost about it - all in all, waiting one week to dispense new ids is not a huge deal and is still leagues more generous than most gachas. but i also understand people being frustrated about it. its one of those things i think we have to see an official announcement on before we come to conclusions. as a whole as long as this doesnt spiral into greedier decisions i think i can live with it

intervallo reruns are cool! its neat that they'll be adding additional ego and announcers too. obviously its nothing new story wise but its pretty standard for a live service game and gives them more time to work on new stuff. and if the rewards are the same it means more tickets heheheheheh

WALPURGISNACHT theme is...full stop office? did not expect this tbh but its a welcome surprise, i like giving the spotlight to less popular characters. i do wish we got a different ego instead of der freischutz though. i love der bro but we just got two ego for an aberration of him + outis magic bullet id...yesod gets all the luck. i want my magical girls ego

very interested in the new intervallos. i wonder if we'll get sweeper IDs? maybe new lcb IDs for the lcb regular checkup? man we havent gotten lcb IDs since season 1...that's crazy...

i am very afraid for next railway that's all i will say for now

ARKNIGHTS COLLAB IS MENTAL...i dont play arknights and dont plan to but the fact they scored a collab is pretty awesome, especially considering the games are friendly fandoms? true limited ego is a bummer but not surprising considering licensing is an issue with things like this. probably not a must pull for me but depends on the designs. also im curious how they will justify this in canon (if it even is canon).

pmoon. pmoon if you are reading this. PLEASE make an online merch store. pmoon i would spend an unreasonable amount of money on it. i need that lcb zip up hoodie. pmoon please. PLEASE. I NEED OFFICIAL PROJECT MOON MERCHANDISE. PLEA

reducing the amount of 00 ids is a bummer and a lot more of a negative to me, i hope they reconsider it. i understand they may be less fun to design from a gameplay perspective but i think they are important to keeping the game f2p/low spender friendly. like i am a low spender (usually just buying bp) and i almost never pull on banners with just 000s/ego unless it has something i really want on it. so i dont really know if it will really increase profits? it depends what the future banner schedule will look like

identity skins are interesting? not sure how to interpret it tbh. feels like it would be kind of hard to implement with things like multi coin attacks and aoes? but i guess thats why its more of a stretch goal.

overall pretty banger stream 8/10 i love the city i live in

[bluiex]

I got to pirates smp an hour late and then had to dip before the stream ended nonetheless I was watching Scar's POV and now I'm having Scarian thoughts.

Mostly spoiler free all I really share is a mention of Scar's faction.

-@scitties-enjoyer

---

Scar drops the anchor on his boat. It's not much now, but one day he'll have something grand, he's sure of it. He hops down onto the rocky shore and picks his way inland.

In hindsight, maybe a single knife was not the right weapon, but Scar doesn't have anything better. Yet.

Scroll, scroll.. where was- Ah

Scar spends more than a moment reading the piece of paper... 'return to the mainland with the head of the isle's monster for 300 gold'

Yep, that's a good deal. Hopefully.

Unless it's something really vicious in which case, Scar is absolutely being ripped off here. Goddamn inflation.

Again, all he has is a knife.

This is... fine, probably.

Scar can hear Jellie meowing from his ship "I'll be back before you know it!" He reassures his cat.

It takes hours. He scours the island at least twice, with no success.

Then he spots a cave he didn't notice before, stepping in to an animal den of some kind where... a bird creature is goring the wolves.

Yeah this is ... fine actually. Mhm, definitely fine. Definitely not terrifying.

It's even more fine when the creature looks up at the sound of Scar's presence, dark eyes locking with his before it scrambles back in fear, wings braced around itself as if that can possibly protect it from him.

Scar makes a reckless decision, carefully putting his knife down behind himself. He's not completely stupid, if the bird-thing makes a lunge for his knife, he's dead.

Scar had been expecting an animal, not something that had the intelligence of a human. And Scar knows what it feels like to be hunted - or, knew once - so in a moment of uncharacteristic gentleness he's opening his heart to this so-called monster.

"Do you understand me?" Scar asks, softly.

The creature flinches at the sound of his voice. So it's that bad...

"I was sent to bring back your head. But neither of us want that."

The thing curls tighter around itself.

"My name is Scar. If we play our cards right we can get the reward money without you getting hurt."

The bird hisses. Which is progress, in Scar's eyes.

"I know how you feel, I do. If you come with me- if you come aboard my ship, you'll be safer." Scar feels a little faint, thinking of how mercilessly some of the other pirates would no doubt have already slaughtered this bird in Scar's shoes. "You could be my bird! Every pirate needs a bird!"

---

It's three days back to the kestrels' tavern base of operations. Or, it should be. It ends up taking Scar around a week, because Grian - the bird creature has a name! - doesn't quite have his sea legs yet so they have to stop at this island and that island and then Grian has to hide from other pirates

.Grian had gotten washed up after they left the cave, and it turns out that he's completely adorable under all that blood and viscera. Scar thinks it's very unfair that he can't just spend hours watching Grian, and instead has to steer his little ship.

Grian spends his time on the boat playing with Jellie, and honestly it warms Scar's heart.

It's one such stop where Grian finally accepts more than the bare minimum of physical contact necessary from Scar. It's particularly cold that night, sleeping under the stars, and Grian huddles up to Scar for warmth, burying his face in Scar's hair.

After that, it's like a switch has been flicked in Grian's brain. He's constantly latched onto Scar's arm, or perched on top of his hats, or his shoulder, asking questions.

---

Insert continued falling in love here I've run out of traction. Anyway the quest loophole Scar had *worked* so they do get the reward money

OOOOH BROOO THIS IS SO CUTE. PIRATE SCAR TAKING A CONTRACT TO KILL A CREATURE

And it being birb Grian- AAAAH this is so good Scitties. I love it so VERY MUCH

It takes awhile for Grian to come out of his shell fully and start speaking to Scar- he's started with the physical touch and protectiveness because Scar's his flock now

[sesshy380]

Oooooh for your prompt thingy...

Orange + Indigo + 2

Have fun <3

I hope you like Deathshipping, because that's exactly what you got! And as for the prompt...

Results below the cut!

Amir had followed his quarry far beyond the safety of the market to their perfectly secluded spot deep inside the forest.

He crept among the shadows of the trees, making his way ever closer to his prey.

His hand quietly unsheathed the dagger at his side, his heart racing as he pictured the fear and hopelessness in the eyes of his mark as he toyed with their life.

When the moment was finally right, he struck.

As expected, his target fell easily to the ground, and Amir wasted no time drawing the blade to the man’s throat while wearing a sadistic grin.

Unexpectedly, however, the man didn’t react by panicking or begging for his life. Instead, he lay there for a moment, not the slightest bit surprised, then burst into a fit of laughter as though he’d just been caught in a game of tag.

This annoyed Amir.

“What is it? What’s so funny?” he demanded to know.

The man’s laughter dulled to an amused chuckle.

“An impostor sits upon my throne, and wears my crown. I was simply thinking how long it will be before they regret taking my place.”

Amir furled his brow and blinked in confusion.

“Um…I’m here to kill you…” he stated, weirdly feeling the need to clarify his motives.

“Oh, I know,” the white-haird man said with a smile. The smile then fell to something a bit more neutral. “Can you make it quick though? I’d like to get supper started. You’re more than welcome to join me.”

Amir stared in disbelief.

“Why-...?? What-...???” he stuttered, unable to vocalize his confusion.

The man sighed, appearing bored all of the sudden.

“You took the job from the wanted poster thinking it would be easy money, just like every adventurer and assassin that came before you. What the poster neglected to mention is that I can’t die.”

Amir hesitated a moment, wondering if the young man was telling the truth.

“...can you elaborate?”

The man sighed boredly again, as though he’d grown weary having to explain things.

“I did as many royals do when the weight of the crown becomes a bit too much. A few weeks ago I disguised myself and slipped out of the castle to get away for a bit. I eventually found myself in the forest, talking with a complete stranger, and venting my frustrations. At some point I said something along the lines of wishing I could trade places with the stranger. Like I said, it was just me venting. Next thing I know, there’s a poor copy of me sitting on my throne and no one recognizes my face. Not even a day later, posters appeared around the kingdom giving a reward for proof of  my death…and well…”

The man then gestured around to his current predicament.

Amir slowly removed the blade from the man’s neck and sat up.

“What’s your name?”

The man blinked in surprise then smiled.

“Ryou.”

Amir stood then offered a hand to help Ryou up.

“Well, Ryou…today is your lucky day. I don’t like being tricked. I was promised a reward, and I’m going to get it. If you can’t die, then I guess a bad copy will have to do…that is, assuming you’ll honor the bounty placed?”

Ryou’s eyes lit up in understanding as he took the offered hand and stood. The way he smiled was different from before, and it sent a shiver down Amir’s spine.

“I’m certain we can work something out…but I don’t want the false king to die just yet. If I’m not mistaken, based on your disappointment earlier, you like to make your marks beg for mercy.”

His eyes narrowed, the overly-pleasant smile becoming even more threatening.

“Make him beg for mercy.”

It was then that Amir understood: Ryou was never prey. He was the patient hunter lying in wait. An unsuspecting predator. A wolf wearing sheep’s wool.

Amir found himself filled with awe and reverence at the man before him, falling to one knee and bowing in respect.

“I will do anything that you command, my King.”

Mystery Prompt Game

[greenerteacups]

ravenclaw harry is probably the house I find hardest to reconcile with the rest of the canon story. would love to hear your thoughts bc I totally agree that he would have made himself fit into any house as a first year. slytherin harry has a lot of fanon exploration which has had interesting results for sure! hufflepuff harry resonates with the sense of belonging and warmth he was likely yearning for….same actions seem likely to me still. but ravenclaw harry and the friends he’d make (or not make! outcast ish harry being friends with luna and the other alternative-esque ravenclaws?) not sure how that would go! intriguing for sure

housing 11 year olds based on personality is strange business (and all the main characters being in one house is just eh) which is why I love works like lionheart switching that up!

First and foremost, if you want an excellent Ravenclaw!Harry, may I recommend this fic by one of my favorite HPfic authors of all time? It's not quite a Sorting AU, but it's still immaculate, and it's my favorite R!Harry of all time.

I think Houses are first and foremost tools of community and socialization — they're a way to get a bunch of terrified eleven year-olds to make friends, and to break down the immense project of getting to know [INSERT MYTHICAL HOGWARTS DEMOGRAPHIC STATISTIC] people in your cohort at once. The point of doing a Sorting on the basis of personality is to find the place that's going to suit you best; for Slytherins, that's the place that represents their community, their heritage, and their own (fucked up) social set. For Hufflepuffs, that's a really friendly place that focuses on personal development. Gryffindors are adventurers, trailblazers, and explorers; Ravenclaws are inquisitive and interested in deep thinking. To that extent, I can understand why you'd set all of your characters in one house early on, but as the story goes on, it becomes apparent how much the failure to socialize between Houses hurts inter-House relations. It creates much stronger "types" than you might if you just let everyone socialize together.

When Harry is Sorted, we don't know a lot about the dude. We know he's pretty resilient, amicable, and overall nice to people (is immediately on-board and makes friends with Giant Dude Who's Basically Kidnapping You, even though in fairness, he's getting rescued from an abusive home, so — not surprising!) but for the most part, it just gives Normal Guy. It takes a while for Harry's specific brand of introverted weirdness to manifest in the story, and even then, because we're in his POV, we don't see how incredibly awkward he actually is — rereading his dates with Cho is a gauntlet of cringing. He locks on to the people close to him and integrates himself with their group, then basically maintains trajectory until something forces him to stop. He's a really passive dude; 9/10 of the series his him going "what fucking NOW" and running off to put out whatever fire is happening that he's inexplicably implicated in. (He's still heroic, ftr; he does make the choice to risk his life for people, and he does the right thing. But you get the feeling that he would be much happier if he could take a break once in a while and let some other Chosen One take on the serious stuff.)

Apart from the one rec'd above, I can't think of many Ravenclaw!Harry fics that actually take the Sorting as a character challenge. Ravenclaw gets flattened to "the smart House that does great in school" in a lot of fanon — which is kind of strange because the two nerdiest characters, Hermione Granger and Ernie Macmillan, are a Gryffindor and a Hufflepuff, respectively. The few Ravenclaws we do get to know, Cho and Luna, are much more defined by their passion for their chosen hobbies than by any scholarly aptitude. Of the few Ravenclaw Sorting AUs out there, a lot of them end up being those Redditor-beloved "Harry Potter but the characters make decisions I think are smarter and then reward them by artificially making those solutions 100% effective" fix-its. A.K.A. fics where the real point is for the author to flex about how smart they are for "getting" the "science" behind a magical storybook world. (No, I don't have strong feelings about these at all, why do you ask?)

[queenmuzz]

So I saw this tweet that @dmbakura had made (please check out her art), and it has been rotating in my head like a rotisserie chicken for over a day.

Based on what we gleaned from Vellioth’s skull, Cazador had a particularly shitty spawndom, with the punishments listed being incredibly cruel.

There’s a theme in bg3 about the cycle of abuse, of either perpetuating it, or breaking it, and this is a very blatant example.

But, there’s a high probability that Cazador wouldn’t make Astarion thank him for his punishment out of cruelty. He probably actually thinks he’s doing a kindness. That Astarion is lucky to be his spawn.

Look at it this way. There’s many abusive parents out there who got their asses beat with belts, with wooden spoons, burnt with cigarette butts. There’s the old tales dad’s tell about how their father would make them go to the woodshed to get a whippin’, or being forced to choose which implement they were gonna get beaten with. Which is why their kids should be lucky that they ‘merely’ get spanked with an open palm. They literally think they are better parents than the previous generation, while still being abusive. Their kids have it soooo easy! Why don’t they understand? Only bad parents beat their kids! They don’t even leave bruises!

Cazador’s inability to understand why Astarion isn’t grateful for his treatment isn’t due to ‘stupid evil cannot comprehend good’. It’s more that he literally thought he was a good master. He gave his spawn rooms! He rewarded some of them, in order to encourage the other to work harder! Sure, there was the one time he HAD to lock Astarion up for disobeying him, but it was ONLY for a year! He could have done so much worse to him! He only gave him four measly rules, and the spawn keeps disrespecting him! He gave him a choice between death or spawndom, many spawn don’t get the choice! Astarion doesn’t know how good he had it.

Which makes Ascended Astarion’s behaviour understandable. It’s not the ritual that turns him into a power hungry abusive bastard, it’s him getting to be the ‘parent’ now. He’ll be better than Cazador. He’ll only make his spawn drink from rats if they misbehave. He’ll only beat them until they apologize for putting the cutlery on the wrong side of the plate. He’ll be a kind master, only denying them food when he deems they’ve committed a GRAVE offense.

Whereas Spawn Astarion recognizes that he still has the physical and emotional scars from his abuse, and that it will take time, and freedom to recover from them, that having power over others is not the solution.

[thousandsonny]

I legit just woke up from a dead sleep and started doin Bogard headcannons again, so I wanna share what I do have for him:

Bogard joined the Marines at a very young age, like Z and Coby, I believe he joined anywhere from 14-16, and was almost automatically a prodigy with a sword. He rose through ranks incredibly fast and by 17-18 was already pushing Commodore/ Rear Admiral status.

I do not believe Garp chose Bogard, or vice versa. Bogard is incredibly quiet and shows little to no emotion at a lot of times except a scowl, and I like to believe it's due to anxiety. He was good off the bat, and it garnered him a lot of attention. He felt the pressure of not wanting to mess things up or let his peers and allies down and it led to him kinda shutting himself in as to not warrant anymore than he already had. The higher ups noticed this, and who better to attempt to break someone like that out of their shell than Garp. Garp is the hero of the Marines, but he's also kinda a brat, he does what he wants when he wants, and yet he's still loyal and is regarded with so much respect, the exact opposite of how Bogard felt it was to be done.

I like to believe when he was first placed beneath Garp, he hated Garp. He thought Garp was lousy, noisy, far too crude in his teachings, he couldn't understand how a man like this had done so much. But then, just like we see with Koby and Helmeppo, he got to know Garp and he got to see how he functions. It's incredibly difficult, but incredibly rewarding to be placed under Garp, finally he had a challenge and wanted nothing more than to prove himself to the Hero of the Marines, and he does.

I also like to think that they compliment each other well and it's a main reason as to why the two stuck together. Bogard is very level headed, very strict, very much so work heavy. Be it we're talking about the anime or Opla, he almost never interacts outside a work based relation, except for Koby and Helmeppo who are literally kids, but even then keeps that stern, no nonsense attitude about himself. Going back to my, I believe he has anxiety, Garp is a perfect match because when Garp's around, all eyes are on him. He's loud, he draws attention, Bogard doesn't have to force himself where its not needed. My interpretation of Bogard has him very easily flustered and rather soft and sweet behind that hard exterior, but it takes so much so see, and having seen it Garp also purposefully draws that attention to him as to not horribly stress Bogard out either. Besides Garp stresses him out enough himself, and don't get me started on Koby and Helmeppo down the line.

[silviakundera]

Joy of Life S1 Ep 42 liveblogging

watching for the 1st time, so don't tell me secrets ;)

Fan Xian seems really sure he's the emperor's son. Hmmmm Do I feel confident the emperor likes him, as much as a selfish schemer of his kind can like anyone? Sure. Do I feel confident at this point that the emperor thinks FX is his illegitimate kid? IDK because this could be another cover and he was actually helping her hide something. I'm just not at the place yet where I am taking that as an irrefutable fact.

The look on FX's face when Xiao En says as long as he knows he's a Xiao. Good acting! You can see the compassion FX has for him. He's not only ruthless and vicious.

"Don't bury me. I don't want to be underground anymore." 😢😔

"I am sorry I am not your grandson. Sit tight. You won't be bothered anymore." All of his dialogue in this scene is simple but full of sincere feeling. FX is not as wholly dark as he thinks he is. What a fantastic, complex character. I really like him.

That secret was indeed underwhelming for me but Xiao En had a fantastic arc.

Chen Pingping always has like 5 reasons for anything he does. Love that about him.

LMAO Chen Pingping even set up things so evil Princess' plot ended up giving FX a chivalrous bestie. (He reminds me a lot of Korn, the mafia kingpin from Kinnporsche. Can't predict everything but makes great bets based on all the variables he can control and his understanding of people's hearts. Willing to risk it all for the reward.)

Hi Gao Baokun! Ohhhhhhhh now FX is on the trail of Chen Pingping's 5th Reason. Teng Zijing was set up to be in that village! Hand selected to be positioned into FX's life. Just a pawn.

Gao Baokun is just a random loser who got dragged into the mud (but wait--we already knew he didn't try to kill Teng Xijing's fam in the end, and that part was the Bureau? Or at least I thought we knew that.)

It's touching that after all FX still trusts Teng Zijing. His one true friend! ❤

ahhhhhhhh Fan Xian is super pissed at his uncles. Guys you may have miscalculated this. Like my beloved Korn from Kinnporsche, Chen Pingping & Emperor want it all and are betting big that they can have their power AND their chosen people. Or at least the Emperor really wants both. Korn won the day in that drama (tho fandom keeps punishing him in fanfic). We'll see if FX can eventually forgive.

His Majesty is actually calling it out that they say to each other & perhaps even to themselves that they see Fan Xian as their baby boy and yet.... I like the emperor for his self awareness and inner conflict about his hypocrisy

Does Fan Jian truly think of FX wholeheartedly as his foster son? Are Chen Pingping and His Majesty actually having real trust issues..? Remains to be seen.

We're back with Yan Bingyuan and FX admitting this was a test for him.

Who's Xiao En's real grandson? Yan Bingyuan? ....... LMAO that took the drama like 3 min to answer. Yep it's probably him.

nah don't tell Bingyuan any disabling shit before you are out of the country 🙈 this man is already like an anxious chihuahua

I believe the emperor sees what I do: that a fealty to Qing & determination to make it the most powerful does not necessarily = fealty to the current emperor. Saying Chen Pingping is dedicated to the best for the country does NOT read like perfect loyalty to His Majesty. It's not that he's against the emperor or FX and doesn't gaf, it's just that his obsession for the bigger goal is what it is. A common fear that cdrama royalty has to grapple with. They both hunger for personal loyalty & can't trust it.

oh is it Shen sister? She's way more fun than her erstwhile boyfriend, let her in!

lol that's right Bingyuan, give us nothing

FX just watching the drama because Bingyuan is too obvious

So..... Now Fan Xian wants to be the Investigations Bureau head and a top official.... to find out how mom really died and get revenge? 🤔

[dailyanarchistposts]

Outro

This is a book that does not have an ending. It is a definition that negates itself in the same breath. It is a question, an invitation to discuss.[174]

—John Holloway

It can be difficult to talk about the ways that radical milieus can be stifling and rigid: how we don’t always treat each other well, how we hurt each other, and how shame, rigidity, and competition can creep into the very movements and spaces that are trying to undo all this. Of course there are tangles of despair, resentment, pleasure, and pain. Of course shitty encounters provoke anxieties and frustrations. Of course people bring their scars and fears. In his interview, Glen Coulthard put his finger on something we have carried with us throughout this process, about the way that sadness and anger often stem from love:

I think that for the somber, melancholic militant, I get it. I understand it. How could you not be? And this is my point—the only way you respond to the world like that is because of some base sort of individual and collective self-respect. Some love for oneself and others, or the land, that you see being violated in a profound way. This produces melancholy, anger, whatever. They’re not separable. So when we’re leveling our critiques, you just have to understand that yeah, it’s a rational response to an irrational, violent, unthinking machinery. So how do we direct that in ways that are able to topple these power relationships? And that’s when the kind of navel-gazing, defensive, puritanical radical becomes an obstacle, even though they may rightfully be that way, because of the position that they occupy. And the process of redirection comes from community, a community that we aspire towards and is always already there. So that’s the question: What do we do with that situation? How do we make that community stronger? I don’t know what the answer is, but the question is there, or else we wouldn’t be having this conversation. We need it to be there more, with more people.[175]

We have attempted to approach rigid radicalism with care, so that we wouldn’t just be finding movements lacking in a whole new way. We have tried to convey a conversation, a set of questions rather than a set of answers. How do we talk about rigid radicalism in a way that doesn’t just heap more shit at the feet of those who are already fighting? What can support conversations that provide space to think and feel through all this in milieus and movements? How can we pull each other into other ways of being together?

We have suggested that rigid radicalism is not a solid thing outside of us, but an affective tendency we are amidst. It circulates, constricts, suffocates, recirculates. It brings its own pleasures and rewards. Maybe it is driven in part by a desire to heal.

The real enemy is Empire itself, and rigid radicalism is a poisonous reaction that presents itself as the cure. As such, rigid radicalism is one of the ways that Empire calls forth some desires and attachments and conjures away others, keeping its subjects stuck in a desolate form of life. In the twilight of Empire’s legitimacy, it has become more and more difficult to sustain the fantasy that capitalism is good for us, or that elected leaders represent us. Governments announce sustainability initiatives alongside new forms of resource extraction, multiculturalism alongside militarized policing. But Empire doesn’t need our faith, only our compliance. As Empire’s subjects, we are increasingly fastened to an automated, industrialized infrastructure that consumes and poisons the living world. Through the glow of our screens, we are induced to express ourselves in perpetual performance and collective surveillance. The crisis is not coming: it is already here. It has been here for a long time, and Empire is administering the wreckage. We are permitted to be as cynical and pessimistic as we want, as long as we remain detached from capacities to live and relate differently.

In this sense, Empire cannot be confronted only by inculcating others with the right set of anticapitalist and antistate beliefs. People do not need some special training or education to be capable of transformation. On the contrary, we are constantly trained away from aliveness to change. It is not a question of being right, but of assembling enabling ways of thinking, doing, and feeling in the present. This is most palpable in exceptional situations of disaster and insurrection, when everyday people have a little space from Empire’s exhausting anxieties and routines. Amidst a lot of suffering and scarcity, there are upwellings of mutual aid and connection. This is not evidence of some innate altruism. For us, it is evidence that everyone is capable of joyful transformation, and the ongoing disaster is the brutal isolation and exploitation of life organized by Empire. An increase in the capacity to affect and be affected—joy—means being more in touch with a world that is bleeding, burning, screaming.

Transformation might begin with rage, hatred, or sorrow. Refusing to “get over” some things can cut against the grain of obligatory productivity and optimism structuring capitalist life. Shared power might arise from accepting, refusing, hanging on, or letting go. This is the wiggle-room of freedom: not the absence of constraint, or a do-what-you-like individualism, but an emergent capacity to work on relationships, shift desires, and undo ingrained habits.

We believe that close ties of friendship and kinship, far from isolating us into cliques or enclaves, actually enable people to better extend themselves to others and participate in transformative encounters. Close friends and loved ones are what enable us to gripe and vent so that we can be more compassionate and patient with those who don’t know us as well. They help us process fears and anxieties so that we are better able to trust people up front and move towards trouble and discomfort. They sit with us when we inevitably fuck up and flail. In turn, transformative struggle can deepen these bonds and generate new ones.

We have suggested that the challenge is not to build a unified consciousness or position, but to find ways of coming together, collaborating, fighting, and discovering shared affinities. This is not about everyone getting along and becoming friends. Vulnerability is important, but also risky, and needs to be selective. As Coulthard said, “Some relationships are just bullshit and we shouldn’t be in them. We should actually draw lines in the sand more willingly.” Joy needs sharp edges to thrive. How to create spaces, then, where vulnerability can happen and joyful encounters can take place? When to be open, and to what, and how to create and maintain boundaries? What can we do together? How can we support each other? How to create space for consensus and dissensus and difference? How to ward off imperatives to centralize and control things, without creating new divisions and sectarian conflicts? How to ward off rigid radicalism and its attachments to purity and paranoia?

These are all ethical questions that people are exploring rather than answering once and for all. We have suggested that in the space between abstract morality and vapid individualism, common notions can help us remain open and responsive.

In a world of crushing monopolies, where so much is done to us or for us, some people are recovering the capacity to do things for themselves. From barricades to kitchen tables, they are generating collective forms of trust and responsibility. If such forms make people feel alive, if they deepen bonds of trust and love, militancy tends to grow along with them because people are willing to defend these emergent powers. Every moment that people find trust in each other and in their own capacities is precious. Through these messy struggles, people are becoming powerful and dangerous together.

To be militant about joy means forging common notions that can enable, sustain, and deepen transformation here and now, starting from wherever people find themselves. Common notions are not a means to a revolution in the future, but the recovery of people’s capacities for autonomy and struggle here and now. This tends towards breaking down old divides between organizing and everyday existence, and opening the question of collective life itself in all its expansiveness. Nurturing common notions means refusing to separate the effectiveness of any tactic or strategy from its affectiveness: how it makes people feel, how it nurtures autonomy or dependence, what it opens up and what it closes down.[176] It means letting go of practices or ideas when they stagnate, and generating new ones together. Rather than fixed values or positions, in common notions we find ways of doing, thinking, and feeling that sustain the growth of shared power.

With the concept of joyful militancy, we have tried to affirm these other ways of being without pretending that we have discovered the answer to undoing Empire, warding off rigid radicalism, or ushering in some world revolution. There is no single answer. We have tried to avoid setting up joyful militancy as a new ideal to embody, or a set of duties. It would be disappointing if the notion of joyful militancy ever became a handbook for transformation because it lives in questions, experiments, and openings—not answers, blueprints, or necessities.