#have any form of literacy on any level

[night-circus-clown]

✨Media literacy is dead!✨

[visenyaism]

do you have any ideas about why so many students are struggling with literacy now? I know that illiteracy and reading comprehension have been issues for years and most americans read at like a 5th grade reading level but I’m curious why it seems to be worse now (pandemic? no child left behind?)

It is everything. There’s not one answer. I could talk about this forever so instead I set a five minute timer on my phone and wrote a list of as many of the many things that are causing this on a systemic level that I could think of:

It’s parents not reading with their kids (a privilege, but some parents have that privilege to be able to do this and don’t.)

It’s youtube from birth and never being bored.

It’s phasing out phonics for sight words (memorizing without understanding sounds or meaning) in elementary schools in the early aughts.

It’s defunding public libraries that do all the community and youth outreach.

It’s NCLB and mandating standardized tests which center reading short passages as opposed to longform texts so students don’t build up the endurance or comprehension skills.

It’s NCLB preventing schools from holding students back if they lack the literacy skills to move onto the next grade because they can’t be left behind so they’re passed on.

It’s the chronic underfunding of ESL and Special Ed programs for students who need extra literacy support.

It’s the cultural devaluing of the humanities in favor of stem and business because those make more money which leads to a lot of students to completely disregard reading and writing.

It’s the learning loss from covid.

It’s covid trauma manifesting in a lot of students as learned helplessness, or an inability to “figure things out” or push through adversity to complete challenging tasks independently, especially reading difficult texts.

It’s covid normalizing cheating and copying.

It’s increasing phone use.

It’s damage to attention span exacerbated by increased phone use that leaves you without an ability to sit and be bored ever without 2-3 forms of constant stimulation.

It’s shortform video becoming the predominant form of social media content as opposed to anything text-based.

It’s starting to also be generative AI.

It’s the book bans.

what did I miss.

[dragoneyes618]

During Hitler's first five years in power, the Nazis did a great deal to make the lives of Jews miserable. They revoked their citizenship, ejected Jewish students from German schools, boycotted Jewish stores, and banned Jews from a large number of professions. On occasion, individual Jews were sent to concentration camps; the Nazis, however, had not yet created death camps and, remarkably enough, people were sometimes released from concentration camps and allowed to go home.

On the night of November 9-10, 1938, the Nazis' discriminatory policy toward the Jews changed to wholesale violence as they carried out the largest pogrom in the history of the world. The official pretext for this action was the killing in Paris of a low-level Nazi diplomat by a seventeen-year-old Jewish boy, Herschel Grynspan. The boy's Polish-born parents had been deported several weeks earlier from Germany back to Poland. The Poles, however, refused to accept Grynspan's parents, along with seventeen thousand other Polish-born Jews deported by the Nazis. These unfortunate Jewish refugees were left to rot, penniless, in the no-man's land separating Germany and Poland. Cut off from contact with his parents, Gwynspan shot the German official in retaliation. When the man died, the Nazis decided to punish all of German Jewry for Grynspan's deed.

The pogrom that ensured became known as Kristallnacht, the night of the broken glass. On that night, the glass windows in almost every German synagogue, and in most Jewish-owned businesses, were shattered. Shattered, too, were the lives of almost all German Jews. Ninety-one Jews were murdered during Kristallnacht; thirty thousand more were arrested and sent to concentration camps, where hundreds of them died.

World leaders denounced the Nazi pogrom, and American Jewry reacted by forming the United Jewish Appeal, which soon became the greatest fundraising organization in Jewish history. The Nazis scoffed at the protests. They announced that Kristallnacht had been carried out in honor of the birthday of Martin Luther, the sixteenth century antisemitic religious reformer whom Hitler greatly admired. The Nazis also announced the imposition of a one-billion-mark fine against the Jews; they would be forced to pay for the damage the Germans had inflicted on their synagogues and property.

German Jewry now knew that their situation was hopeless. While large numbers of them had left Germany during the first five years of Nazi rule, half of the community of 600,000 had remained, hoping that Nazi antisemitism would moderate. After Kristallnacht, they recognized that such thinking was illusory; between that event and the outbreak of World War II, less than ten months later, virtually every Jew in Germany tried to emigrate. Few countries, however, were willing to accept them. The British imposed a White Paper in Palestine to ensure that it not become a haven for Jews fleeing Hitler. Some of the Jews who tried to emigrate to the United States succeeded; most did not. In Canada a high government official was asked how many Jewish immigrants the country could accommodate. "None is too many," he answered.

It is no coincidence that Kristallnacht brought about the formation of the United Jewish Appeal, later to become a major financial supporter of Israel. More than any other event of the time, Kristallnacht converted large numbers of Jews into Zionists; the price of not having a Jewish state, they realized, was too, too high.

- Jewish Literacy, Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, pages 390-391

[vexwerewolf]

I’m suddenly getting swathes of Lancer hate across my feed… Has something happened in the fandom? “Union is ______ how could they paint them as even remotely good. They allow _____, and I hate the devs they are ______. The whole thing is just 40k with communist veneer”.

Like am I taking crazy pills…? I thought that all of the problems were literally like right there on the tin “we are a utopia in progress! We will obtain it by any means possible even if it means being everything we say we are not/fighting against. As the player you decide what is right. How much will you ignore for someone else’s idea of utopia?” Like doesn’t it mean all the tools to actually change are there and that is the HOPE aspect of all of this?

(Sorry if this in incoherent grammar is a weak point and I pulled something in my back simply standing up. Now I am sad and crook backed in spasmodic pain)

This isn't an argument I feel super enthusiastic about stepping into, because it gets the most annoying sort of people in your mentions eager to maliciously misrepresent what you say.

However, yeah, there are some pretty terrible readings of Union floating around. I'd invoke "media literacy" because think that a lot of this comes from people not really holistically engaging with the fictional future history of Lancer, but also from a sort of dogmatic purism that requires future societies to be flawless, else they're irredeemable.

It is important to note that ThirdComm is the direct descendant of two highly imperfect societies. FirstComm was formed as a response to the Three Great Traumas of discovering the Massif Vaults (and thus that they were the inheritors of a fallen world), the wars over the Massif Vaults, and the discovery of the lost colonies, all of which collectively showed humanity how close it had come to total extinction.

FirstComm decided that it had a responsibility to ensure that humanity never risked extinction again. It manifested this by trying to colonize every habitable planet it could find, pumping out ship after ship to seed the cosmos with as much human life as it possibly could. This led to problems when it encountered civilizations like the Karrakin Federation and the Aun, who had been carrying humanity's torch just fine by themselves, thank you very much.

SecComm was an Anthrochauvinist fascist state. The book defines it thusly:

We can see a lot of Anthrochauvinist historical romanticism in the mech naming schemes of Harrison Armory, SSC and IPS-N - the fact that Harrison Armory names its mechs after great military leaders of pre-Fall Earth history, IPS-N does the same with naval figures, and SSC uses the names of Earth animals. Even the GMS Everest is named for a mountain on Earth. It's very Cradle-centric.

Anthrochauvinism was, to be clear, largely just an excuse for colonialism and hegemony. Atrocities could easily be justified under by stating that whoever they're being committed against were a threat to the Continuance of Humanity - a term that SecComm got to define.

It's also at this point that we have to zoom in from broad sociopolitical points to address one very specific piece of history: the New Prosperity Agreement. This was signed to prevent the outbreak of a Second Union-Karrakin War, and mandated that the Karrakin Houses would maintain privileged levels of autonomy within Union, and that they would be granted colonial rights to the entire Dawnline Shore. This agreement, struck in 3007u, basically defines much of the current political situation today.

ThirdComm was a final and inevitable reaction to the atrocities, abuses and excesses of SecComm. The unspeakable horrors of Hercynia were the spark, but I need to stress how little Hercynia actually mattered in the larger Revolution - at the start of NRfaW, it's explicitly stated that almost nobody in the galaxy even knows where it is, let alone what happened there. The Revolution was a generalized response to SecComm's tyranny, with no single rallying cry.

The Revolution might also have failed entirely, but for a critical error by Harrison Armory: pissing off the Karrakin Trade Baronies. After getting kicked off Cradle, the Anthrochauvinist Party organised a fleet at Ras Shamra to try and retake Cradle. Simultaneously, however, they were attempting to secure protectorate agreements to steal worlds in the Dawnline Shore out from under the KTB. Putting these two together and making five, the KTB assumed that the fleet was pointed at Karrakis, and started the First Interest War.

The First Interest War initially favoured the KTB. They smashed the fleet above Ras Shamra and simultaneously conquered the moon of Creighton in the Dawnline Shore. However, they underestimated just how ruthless Harrison I was - he "retook" Creighton by relativistic bombardment, and then conquered four of the 12 worlds of the Dawnline Shore with mechanised chassis, a technology the KTB had not adopted and had no counter for.

To prevent further loss of life, Union was eventually forced to broker a peace agreement that saw Harrison I handing himself over to Union justice in return for Harrison Armory's continued sovereignty, and the KTB joining Union as a full member state.

So, with that historical context out of the way, let me get to the second part of this absurd essay I'm writing.

Third Committee Union isn't a civilization that arose from whole cloth. It's shaped by five thousand years of Union history, six thousand years of post-Fall history, and six thousand years of pre-Fall history before that. It is, ultimately, an extremely well-thought-out and well-worldbuilt fictional polity, in that all of its imperfections come from traceable root causes in its history.

Why does ThirdComm permit the abuses of the KTB? Because to stop them, it would likely have to go to war, and such a war would butcher billions. Worse, to do so, it would probably have to ally with Harrison Armory and make horrific concessions.

Why does ThirdComm permit the expansionism and cryptochauvinism of the Armory? Because to stop them, it would likely have to go to war, and such a war would butcher billions. Worse, to do so, it would probably have to ally with the KTB and make horrific concessions.

Nobody in CentComm likes that Harrison Armory are empire-building expansionists. Nobody in CentComm likes that the KTB has a hereditary nobility and enforces blockades against planets that rebel against it. The problem is that ThirdComm is, in historical terms, still relatively new. They've been around five hundred years, and compared to the 1600 years that SecComm was around and the 2800 years FirstComm existed for, that's not very much.

ThirdComm is attempting to decouple itself from the Cradle-first politics of its predecessor, and to amend the many, many atrocities committed in the name of Humanity. It is not easy to do any of these things. SecComm was defined almost entirely by the fact that if it didn't like what you were doing, it would send in the military as a first response. Every time ThirdComm chooses to do the same, its legitimacy erodes, because the mission of ThirdComm is to prove that diverse, vibrant and compassionate human civilization can exist without devolving into war and bloodshed. ThirdComm always tries diplomacy as a first response because if it doesn't, millions of people could die.

[psychotrenny]

It’s fucking insane to me how normal Yankee Liberals are about Hawaii. As in like the way they just treat it as an unremarkable fact that their nation controls the island. Like the annexation of Hawaii wasn’t just any old example of Settler-Colonialism, the subjugation of a decentralised non-urbanised people that could be just dismissed as mere “tribes” or what have you. Not to say that such forms of “typical” Settler Colonialism are any less abhorrent or disgusting, just easier to justify from a Liberal point of view. Easier to claim that they weren’t *really* using the land properly or that they were an hopelessly and eternally backwards who only really benefitted from their conquest or that they were doomed and dying anyway and their fate was a mere tragic inevitability not worth dwelling on or… Point is all these arguments are all wrong and stupid and cruel but they can serve well enough to downplay or justify such atrocities in the eyes of Imperial Core Liberals.

But like with Hawaii you don’t have that. The Kingdom of Hawai’i was a sovereign state that was internationally recognised as such by the Great Powers of Europe even at the very height of Western Imperialism. Literacy rates were high and compulsory education was introduced in 1841 (pre-dating the US by 77 years), healthcare was given to all Hawai’ian subjects free of charge, Christianity was dominant (so even the most ardent Imperialist couldn’t claim that the people were in the thrall of some “barbaric superstition” that necessitated the “civilising influence” of empire) and it had a well-developed Capitalist economy dominated by Sugar production.  Like even if we take the Western model of statehood as the be all end all of what separates the civilised from the savage (to be clear hear you really fucking shouldn’t, but many people do so for a second that’s the frame of reference we’ll employ) then Hawai’i was very much unambiguously the former.  But that didn’t stop the US from shamelessly interfering it’s politics Indeed those aformentioned markers of Western-Style “civilisation” and “development” came with the price of allow US missionaries and investors to settler in the islands and become very wealthy and influential. For decades the US used the threat of force to influence the policy decisions of the kingdom, going as far as to regularly send warships in a classic display of “gunboat diplomacy”. In 1887 a US settler militia called the First Honolulu Rifles staged a coup where they forced Kalākaua to accept a new Constitution that heavily favoured the interests of USamerican settlers who had grown very wealthy through their investment in sugar production on the island.  It stripped the Monarchy of much of its power and introducing requirements for voting that heavily favoured US settlers; re-introducing wealth/property requirements that were now higher than even, allowing resident aliens to vote and just outright banning any Asian immigrants from voting (which at that point had as much to do with plain racial hatred as it did to any acting threat they might have posed). This wasn’t enough for the Yanks and 6 years later a group of 13 US settlers known as the “Committee of Safety” outright overthrew the newly crowned Queen Liliʻuokalani when she refused to co-operate. It existed briefly as an “Independent” USamerican dominated republic before the US government decided to official annex it in 1898 (similar to what you saw with Texas or California).

While incredibly controversial at the time due to both strategic concerns with the annexation of ultramarine territories and some level of outrage at the shameless take-over of a sovereign nation (hence the time gap between the coup and the actual annexation), nowadays Yanks enjoy their control over the island without the slightest care in the world. They even turned it into a tourist destination, a heavily romanticised one that not only receives many millions of visitors every year but is constantly mentioned in the popular culture the US then proceeds to export all over the world, literally revelling in their land that is by literally any definition (even the most nakedly pro-imperialist) stolen. The land itself is severely exploited to the point of significant ecological damage, the indigenous peoples too are exploited as many of them live in poverty while US investors grow wealthy from their land and labour. Even their very culture is stolen and monetised, the most marketable parts bastardised into cheap kitsch and the rest of it left to rot, only kept alive through over a century of continued resistance from the indigenous peoples. It’s a very common story of course, but I think it stands out with how utterly ghoulish it is even under the most Liberal of consistently applied worldviews. It would be like if in say 2007 someone set up Disneyland in Bagdad. And yet by the vast majority of the US (and by extension the vassals states whose view of the situation is filtered through the lens of US media and propaganda) it isn’t seen that way. Hawaii is just the 50th state, the only state outside North America and in the tropics (hahaha ain’t that a neat little fact. Geography is so fun J), an island paradise perfect to visit with the whole family and yet still as American as Apple Pie. Even many self-described “progressives” talk about it in this way, at most mentioning the plight of the indigenous Hawaiians with minimal though as to how this situation came about. Like while the story of Hawaii is far from unique; even in terms of the US doing colonialism to Westernised peoples you examples such as the ethnic cleansing of the Five Civilised Tribes from the Eastern USA, it still stands out to me with the sheer level of international recognition and Western-style development that the Kingdom of Hawai’i possessed. Like it’s just such an obvious example of the naked greed at the heart of the USamerican empire, and how utterly bullshit talk of a “civilising mission” and “spreading democracy” is. No matter what they may claim, no matter what excuses they may trot out, Imperialist rapacity has no limits.

[mixterglacia]

Hey, for my writers out there.

Remember that even an audience with impeccable media literacy needs SOME direction to follow your intended path.

You can't just assume people will understand when you never give them anything. You can't get mad when they come to a conclusion you don't want when you don't give them any clues.

It doesn't have to be over the top. Hell, things like Eggers films are extremely subtle. But if you're paying attention, you'll get it.

Audiences can't read your minds. They can only work with what they're given. You can't get pissy and claim you have to spoon feed people when you don't even have the food on the table in the first place.

Two brilliant examples currently running are The Amazing Digital Circus and Monkey Wrench.

While we don't fully understand what's going on, there's a fairly reasonable pathway you can find if you're paying attention.

There's something wrong with the company Pomni was at. Obviously you would typically lock up the kind of tech that causes someone to be trapped in the Circus. So either they intentionally made her put on the headset, or they allowed her to find it. (I'm leaning towards the latter.)

Beebs is from an extremely traditional society where strength and stature are obviously valued. His house is clearly in a bit of a shakey state, and his mother is a notable point of contention. To the extent where I wonder if she's even Walrinean (sp?) in the first place. Or if she was a runt so to speak.

Another example is the Crewniverse's FLAWLESS execution of the Pink Diamond, and Gravity Falls Stanford reveal. Both were incredibly subtle, but made perfect sense upon confirmation. Because they'd been quietly nodding at it since the earliest parts of the series.

Then you have things like the Helluverse, where they keep having to explain things on Twitter and Blue Sky, because they either over explain it or not at all. That's not your audiences fault. That's on the writing team.

Of course, there's always going to be things that aren't clearly understood. It happens. Sometimes people are looking too hard into things, and you didn't realize that you kinda fucked up. See the Peridot Canada Theory for an example.

But when it keeps happening, you need to put more care into how you drop hints to your audience. They shouldn't have to look for external sources to understand. See Rise of Skywalker's novelization trying to retcon the Reylo kiss as platonic. See Helluva having to explain Satan's whole deal on Twitter.

Also, don't fucking contradict yourself in the course of your own show. Get a continuity editor for the love of the gods.

Yes, there's a media literacy crisis right now. But there's also just straight bad writing. I find it extremely frustrating when people are out here calling critics stupid for not knowing something that was only mentioned in a one minute segment, of a five hour podcast, from six years ago.

I'll also throw Viv and Co a bone here with my favorite subtle nod of theirs that actually works.

In the pilot, there's a moment where Angel offers to blow Alastor. Unlike some of the other characters he's done this to, who usually react with a benign no? We hear the sound of glass breaking before Alastor regains his composure and dismisses him.

That is a great example of something that seems like a joke in the moment, but makes you think more deeply. One that also makes you curious as to why he was so defensive. There's a few conclusions you can draw without looking at external media from that.

One, he's a prude.

Two, he has some form of trauma.

Three, he's got a problem with Angel specifically.

Or Four, he's not into sex.

Several of those are at least partially correct. Those were my thoughts when all we had was the pilot alone. They later confirmed he was touch repulsed aroace.

We didn't inherently need the word of god to come to that conclusion. But that's the level of work you need to put in before you can bitch about people missing the point.

What I'm trying to get at, is if you have a regular problem of being misunderstood, or people being unable to follow your character arcs, you might want to review what information you're sprinkling in.

External media should simply deepen our understanding. Not be required reading.

[joisbishmyoga]

A sudden realization:

Iruka works the Mission Desk (and in a lot of fics he's also an assistant to the Hokage) bc he's experienced with the handwriting quality of small children. One of the most skilled in the village at reading that quality of writing tbh. So when you get jounin idiots trying to write their reports with a truckload of poisons/meds in their veins a/o not nearly enough of their blood there, or the guy who wrote his report while crouched at a 75' angle upside-down in the attic struts of his apartment building in a fit of PTSD, or the guy with undiagnosed dyslexia, or fucking Kakashi who graduated at six and never got formal training in things like how to hold a pen -- literacy is one thing, he's just great at literacy, he's one of those geniuses that had a functional reading level at age four but writing is considerably more guesswork about how to form the letters. He did get decent training in seals much later, but that just means he writes like he's trying to make the report explode and doesn't actually know the difference.

So one day Kakashi finally loses his temper at Iruka losing his temper, and bitches him out right back about how poorly the forms are designed, nothing is in the right quadrant much less in proper order, he has to pre-plan the writing for three hours and how the hell does everybody else make these deadlines it's like they're just writing the forms left to right and top to bottom all in rows.

And Iruka just. Stops. Slow dawning horror sizzling across his face like the lit fuse to a bomb.

The Ninja School Board is about to have a Very. Very. Bad. Day.

Addendum: Kakashi doesn't read Icha Icha for the plot; he reads them for the seals he thinks are encoded on the pages. 'Funny' part is, he keeps finding new ones. Jiraiya is not actually putting any in.

[the-overreactress]

I didn’t watch Gilmore Girls as it aired, and there are definitely people out there (likely some of my mutuals!) that watched it in 2000-2007. (For the record, I started watching it in syndication sometime around 2008.) But the thing is…I notice more and more that the show is intentionally misinterpreted or dissected using the standards and ideals of the 2020s. And you know, that tracks because it happens a lot with shows made during the 90s and early 00s. (Looking at you, 7th Heaven 😬)

I just…I feel like we also have to understand the cultural context for why a show like Gilmore Girls or any of the other WB teen dramas were made. The WB channel was created in the mid-1990s for several business related reasons, but one of them was to compete with teen programming made by UPN and Fox. The WB went through a lot of iterations (e.g. picking up Sister, Sister, original: the Jamie Foxx Show, Buffy, Felicity, Dawson’s Creek), but it’s primary focus at the time was making content for teenage girls. Gilmore Girls was the channel’s saving grace after a dip in viewing in 1999 until 2006 when the CW was formed with CBS.

Everyone has likely heard the story that ASP actually came up with the premise of Gilmore Girls on the spot when in a pitch meeting at WB, and it all evolved from there. The thing is…I just…other than the Connecticut setting and the WASP-y Gilmores, the references, music, and jokes of Gilmore Girls are entirely unique and pay homage to a bygone era of comedy. They’re also products of their time, both in positive ways and negative ones (i.e. any of the fatphobia jokes).

However, there’s not anything basic or cliched about having the likes of The Shins or any of the other alt/indie bands Lane, Rory, Jess, et al. listen to on a tv show in that era. In terms of music/soundtrack, Gilmore Girls is actually fucking stellar and better than the vast majority. You have to imagine Amy and the other music supervisors really knew what the fuck they were doing. (I’d kill for a biopic showing the making of Gilmore Girls from this angle!) Lorelai has peak Gen X taste, while Jess, Rory, and Lane are part of that really cool generation of Gen X/Millenial cuspers who got the best of the 80s, 90s and 00s underground.

Watching Gilmore Girls practically requires you to build up a certain level of pop cultural literacy. It’s actually why re-watches of the show are so great. You see and hear things you may not have seen or heard when you were 11, 15, 18, or even 28. I just wish this part of the show was given more attention and credit, in addition to the plots, characters, and fashion. It’s just as much part of the iconography of Gilmore Girls as the other things (if not more!)

[racefortheironthrone]

What differs a Bronze Age Monarchy from a Feudal or Modern State Monarchy? For whatever reson I have always been given the impression that Bronze Age Monarchy is the ancient version of either the former or the later, but that does not sound right.

Yeah, that would be a major misconception.

Bronze Age monarchies:

were far more centralized than medieval monarchies, with large, year-round palace complexes that functioned not just as fortresses but also as judicial centers, religious centers, storehouses, state planning apparati, and so on. To operate all these various functions, they employed a large bureaucracy that had, if not a monopoly, something of an oligopoly, on literacy, numeracy, and higher learning.

were highly involved in planning the economy, from organizing irrigation and other labor-intensive farming practices to keeping detailed records on production and taxation to coordinating the complex network of international trade that regulated the flow of both key commodities like tin but also luxury goods.

had more of a monopoly on military force, especially when it came to elite units like chariots. Training an archer and a driver to work in unison with a team of horses specifically bred to the task and custom chariots was a long and expensive process that only a monarch could provide the necessary surplus food and other resources for.

were not Christian. I can't stress enough how important this was as a structural force - Bronze Age monarchs did not have to deal with a large, European-wide, literate bureaucracy, with immense cultural power, that owned more land than they did. This isn't to say that there was no interaction between the temples and the state - I've talked recently about the tendency of Bronze Age monarchs to either be god-kings or priest-kings - but that the terms of interaction between the two much more heavily favored the state.

By contrast, medieval monarchies - and I'm aware that the term is something of a moving target, because what it meant to be a king in CE 600 is very different from what it means in CE 1100 or CE 1600 - were:

decentralized. They had small, peripatetic courts, and initially almost no bureaucracy. Governing power was much more broadly distributed down to the regional and local level through feudal contracts, and it was a long and very fraught process for the monarchs to gradually wrestle that power back.

much less engaged in the economy. Aside from tariffs and monetary policy, which is important, you don't really see medieval monarchs telling peasants when to plow and which fields (outside of the monarch's own personal fiefs), because that was an interference with the decentralized manorial system. You see fewer and smaller building projects, in no small part because the monarch usually couldn't afford to do them.

had less of a monopoly on violence. While the feudal exchange was supposed to give kings military service in exchange for land, in practice feudal levies could be slow to form, quick to disperse, and very fractious about their terms of service. This meant in practice that the nobility could exercise more hard power than their nominal overlords, which is why noble revolts were a common feature. Similarly, it took a long time for the monarchs to establish the necessary fiscal architecture for assembling professional armies and then eventually turning those professional armies into standing armies and then eventually turning those armies against the nobility - and by that point, we're not really talking about the Medieval period any more.

were Christian. And while there could certainly be exceptions of Emperors who picked Popes (instead of the other way around) or kings who could weirdly judo-flip their piety into Galician-style control of their national church, over time the pendulum definitely swung in favor of the Church having more power than any one monarch. They were wealthy, their wealth tended to grow over time because they were a corporate institution that invested their profits back into the company, they had huge amounts of cultural power, they had huge amounts of political power, and so on.

[bumbled-bees]

Lily's Impulsive Nature

Lily’s biggest flaw—the one that ties into every single one of her behaviors—is her inability to think ahead. She doesn’t strategize, doesn’t plan, doesn’t consider the long-term consequences of her actions. She’s purely reactionary. She only cares about winning the moment, getting the last word, "owning" someone right now—even if it means shooting herself in the foot in the process.

That’s why her lies fall apart so easily. She never builds a foundation for them. She says whatever is most convenient at the time without considering that her audience has heard her say the opposite before, that archives exist, that people can check and verify. She banks on the idea that her fans have short memories, that if she declares something loudly and confidently enough, it becomes true. But because she’s not thinking ahead, she doesn’t realize that every time she does this, she chips away at her credibility. More and more people notice the inconsistencies, and the people who do remember start putting the pieces together.

It also explains why she’s so aggressive. Because she’s not logical or calculated, she doesn’t see conflict as something to manage or de-escalate—it’s just about winning right now, by any means necessary. She doesn’t have the patience for a long game, so she just lashes out, insults people, calls for mass reporting, encourages dogpiling—anything that feels like a short-term victory. She doesn’t think about how it’ll look later, how it’ll affect her reputation, or how it’ll make people doubt her. She only realizes it’s a problem after it blows up in her face. That’s why she backpedals, deletes streams, and rewrites history—she thinks she can “fix” her mistakes after the fact by pretending they never happened, but by then, the damage is already done.

And of course, this ties into how she handles her community and social media presence. Instead of planning for the future, she constantly nukes bridges and reinvents herself, assuming she can always just rebuild. Whether it’s suddenly changing her username to “CD-Call” or deleting and rewriting history, it’s all spur-of-the-moment, panic-driven behavior. She assumes that if she erases enough of the past, she can dodge accountability and start fresh—but the reality is, the baggage always follows her. She doesn’t cultivate loyalty; she bleeds followers constantly because she alienates people the moment they question her. Her tactics aren’t sustainable. They work briefly—hence why she keeps using them—but long-term, they create a steady stream of ex-fans who have seen through her bullshit and are willing to speak out.

Her impulsiveness is also why she struggles with media literacy. She doesn’t have the patience to sit with ideas, to analyze subtext, to consider alternative perspectives. She rushes to form a take, often based on incomplete information, then refuses to adjust when she’s proven wrong. She’s not interested in depth, in understanding, in nuance. She rushes through things, button-mashes through dialogue, ignores major plot points and worldbuilding, and then confidently misrepresents what she just consumed. She’s not absorbing information, she’s grabbing whatever surface-level take will let her make a smug point, whether it’s actually accurate or not. And because she thinks her immediate opinion is always correct, she won’t go back and re-evaluate, even when she’s blatantly wrong.

This even ties back into her performative leftism. She’s not actually committed to any ideological stance; she just says what she thinks will win her the most social capital in the moment. That’s why she’ll call other people out for saying the "r" word while still clearly wanting to use it herself—so instead, she twists herself into knots finding alternatives that are technically not slurs but are still just as demeaning. That’s why she preemptively makes excuses for why her case files don’t exist and why Tara Callie is supposedly in federal prison—she doesn’t actually care if the lie is plausible, she just needs it to work right now.

Lily isn’t some master manipulator playing 4D chess. She’s not even a competent liar. She’s just impulsive, emotionally driven, and too arrogant to realize how self-destructive she is. Every single controversy she’s been in? She made it worse for herself. Every lie she’s told? She’s contradicted it later. Every bridge she’s burned? It was her own fault. She’s so obsessed with immediate gratification—getting that one-up, winning that argument, shutting down that critic—that she completely fails to consider the long-term consequences. And that’s why, no matter how hard she tries to spin things, her own actions always come back to bite her.

[myfandomrealitea]

I really wanted to ask you about this:

Do you have any advice of how to develop critical thinking and media literacy?

There are many, many ways you can practice critical thinking, evaluation and media literacy. At its most basic, you can access student resources for lower levels of education like earlier high school years and look at the examples and guidance given there. Rehashing this will often give you a good foundation to build off of and apply.

One of the main aspects of critical thinking involves discerning what is fact and what is opinion. A good portion of media analytics is opinion. What is 'bad' by one person's standards is 'sub-par' or even 'great' by another's. Similarly, the majority of fandom space is opinion-based. The main pitfall of fandom spaces is that everyone wants their opinion to be taken as fact, which is where critical thinking and even basic communication begin to fall away.

"I'm right and you're wrong" and "this is the way it should be, if you do it or think differently, you're wrong" are common roadblocks people run into when engaging with things like media analysis and even basic fandom activities like fanfiction.

'Mischaracterisation' is fanfiction is one popular topic, especially here on Tumblr. What people often fail to recognize is the true creative depth of fanfiction and using someone else's pre-existing characters. Characters as they are in the source material may not make the choices or behave in the ways necessary to activate or validate certain plot material or author intentions in fanfiction. Which is, inherently, one of the main points of fanfiction. Exploring the alternate.

While you might immediately recoil and say "he'd never do that!" you then have to sit back and recognise that that's exactly the point. That this iteration of that character is not meant to directly reflect the source material. Its a re-imagining, a re-interpretation. That doesn't mean its bad. Its simply different.

'Mischaracterisation' is only actually applicable in fandom spaces when someone is trying to insist as a blanket fact that a character would do something or behave in a way that blatantly contradicts their canon behavior, opinions, morals and perspective or deliberately interpreting an action in biased bad faith. It is not actually applicable to fanfiction where creative liberty dictates you can do whatever the fuck you want with a character because you're not trying to claim it as part of the source content.

Questions To Ask Yourself

Am I reacting to [media] emotionally instead of rationally? Is my emotional response to [media] blinding me to the rational or critical approach(es)?

Am I allowing my expectations to get in the way of me understanding [media] fully? Am I forming a biased negative opinion of [media] because it isn't meeting my expectations?

Even if I disagree with [media], do I actually understand it? Can I recognise the reasoning behind choices made or actions even if I don't agree with them?

Am I searching too hard to hidden meaning or purpose in absolutely everything? Can I recognise what is simply passive information/detail and what is active information/detail? (E.g; English tutors saying a character's curtains are blue because they're depressed when throughout the literature its passively reinforced that blue is the character's favorite color.)

Even though I disagree with the statement or opinion shown, is it necessary to argue against it? Is there any benefit to making my counter-opinion known or is it simply a no-end argument? Am I just using arguing as a means of release/fulfilment? Am I treating this person poorly because of their opinion/statement?

Resources

Critical Thinking Exercises & Explanations #1 The Critical Thinking Activity Workbook Early Stage Critical Thinking Games Five Media Literacy Activities Six Media Literacy Ideas

[americanssweetheart]

Keep Fighting!

As Americans, we are aware of the political stance we are currently in. From political standoffs to economic struggles, it is easy to feel overwhelmed and suffocated, especially when it feels as if our country is headed in a direction we disagree with. And yet, one sentence I keep encountering is, "I am sorry, world, well fix this in 4 years." But do we have to wait four years for another presidential election to move forward? 

The idea of sitting around and waiting for the new administration to take power four years from now is a dangerous form of complacency. While feeling defeated is understandable, we have more tools to fight against this political outcome than we may think. 

Midterms, Local Elections, and Special Elections Matter

First and foremost, the 2024 general election is not the end of our responsibility to our democracy. Although the general election gets the most attraction, we still have midterms in 2026. Midterm elections determine who holds the White House and who represents us in Congress and at the state and local levels every two years. 

Local elections and special elections happen year-round. Whether it is choosing your city council members, voting on local ballot initiatives, or filling vacancies in Congress, these elections matter. We have the ability and responsibility to stay engaged in all elections since they shape the laws and politics that impact our daily lives.  

Contact Your Representatives-They Work for You!

We have the opportunity that many people worldwide envy: the ability to contact our representatives. This is not a privilege- it is right. A right that many of us fail to exercise. If you're angry or worried about the direction our nation is heading, you do not have to take the defeat and move on. You can reach out to your senators, congresspeople, and state legislators. Inform them about where you stand, what policies you care about, and how their decisions can affect you and your community.  

If they're not listening? Organize peaceful protests, petitions, town hall meetings—these are all ways we can hold our elected officials accountable. We do not need to wait for the political pyramid to make a difference. Grassroots movements have made historical changes and brought significant changes to our society. Change doesn't have to wait for the next presidential cycle—it can start in your neighborhood, state, and local community.

Education

We should fix what is broken. Therefore, we must educate ourselves on the problem—explicitly identifying meaningful ways of educating people about propaganda and media literacy's roles in one's life. Far too many of us have fallen into the trap of being influenced by misinformation or half-truths, whether from social media, news, or any unreliable source. Having the ability to evaluate the news and information we consume is an essential tool for modern citizenship. 

Education is not just for students; it is for adults, too. We need to create a culture where people actively seek to learn, understand, and engage with political issues year-round, not just when the presidential race is happening. The habit of checking on political events every four years must be broken. Our stakes are too high; every decision made by elected officials creates long-lasting consequences, and if we remain passive, we risk becoming complicit in a system that does not serve us. 

Breaking the Cycle of Surrender

It is understandable to feel defeated and discouraged when things don't seem to be going your way, but we cannot afford the cost of giving into a sense of "proactive surrender." Fundamental issues are at play, and there are ways to push back. Some of us may be able to weather the storm, but we must remember that those most vulnerable are also the most affected by our inactivity. The more time we spend sitting back and waiting, the longer we allow the problems to fester. 

A Call to Action

So, what does "four years" mean? It does not mean waiting passively for the next election cycle. It means continuing the work, pushing for a meaningful change, and never giving up on our democracy. We have the power to shape our future now, in this very moment. We cannot wait another four years to start fighting for change that we desperately need now. The work is long, complex, and often discouraging, but it is worth it. Our country's future depends on it. 

credits to @dollywons for the border 💘

[kawhh]

I don't understand why there seems to be no form of apology directed to the thousands and thousands of followers Brynn accumulated stealing fics from other authors on other websites.

There is a certain level of entitlement her followers are allowed to have regarding an explanation because I know a lot of people loved Brynn's fics and ate them up every time she posted. I'm sure to find out the writer you supported most on this platform was lying to you is a rough thing to realize.

I also think it's unfair of her to make her friends answer everything for her. It isn't your fault she did any of this, or that she has been doing it for years.

I know she would've received a lot of hate and a lot of unkind words for what she's done, so I don't blame her for deactivating, I just wish she would've said something herself before deactivating and causing her friends to start speaking for her.

Last, last one. I’m not trying to be rude by not wanting to answer a lot of asks, it’s just not my life or my decisions and I don’t want to go against my view of how it’s being handled. I’m not a drama blog. I’m also just not her. I’m me.

Some people are already failing the media literacy test in my asks and that’s the same cycle every time.

An apology is part of the reason why I was annoyed with how it was dealt with. It should’ve been talked out with her before the fire started and I think that would’ve upped the chances.

Leaving would make some people more upset, giving an apology would make others more upset.

What any one of us would do in her shoes when it hit? Fuck knows. I’m not judging any decision. I wouldn’t even for a stranger. I can’t say with full confidence what people would do.

Did she fuck up? Yeah. Did she do a wrong thing? Yeah. Do I feel bad for anyone who was personally affected? Yes. Do I understand why people are hurt or feel disappointed? Yeah. Do I have any interest in entertaining drama or hate asks sent to me? No.

Let me be clear when it comes to talking for her; anyone who’s talking about it is not speaking for her. She’s not making anyone say anything. I’m not being forced like a puppet on a string.

I’ve chosen to say something because I have a problem with how it was handled. If I’m being perfectly honest, I think she would protest about people talking for her in that way.

I have a dislike for how people deal with situations on here often - not just here, sort of social media in general, but you get me.

I’m not here to comment on how people should feel. I’m not going to say that people shouldn’t feel the way that they do. My complaint here is almost purely the way it was handled and the way it spiralled.

I’m not in control of her. She is her own person. I am not here to try and change any opinions or feelings. I am not in charge of her behaviour.

[feridsluver]

Genuinely it can be so exhausting being in the OnS fandom lowkey.

Apart from the story going into the complete opposite direction, both art style and story wise. Tbh the current art style is overhated and also it's just a manga?? Is it a downgrade? Yes absolutely but to hate on the mangaka so much is insane.

But speaking of the fandom what the fuck is up with it? The complete mischaracterisation of some characters (mainly Ferid, Shinoa and Guren) is astonishing. Legitimately this fandom did not mature and it's so clear in how people still believe rumors that were made up in 2016. But also much like any other fandom, some people lack media literacy/ interpret things on a lustful level. Like in the manga panel were Ferid is threatening to torture mika and people took out the "strip naked" as sexual. PEOPLE, HOW DO YOU THINK TORTURE GOES? CLOTHED? Clothing provides a layer of protection?? But also even if it was the intent to make mika uncomfortable, it worked cause ferid got the key afterwards?? I think some people forget that ferid does and says absurd things to make people uncomfortable. And if you make people feel uncomfortable it's so much more easier to manipulate them: example Mika. mika knows ferid doesn't mind crossing any form of boundary so he just gives in which profits ferid.

Again no one's saying you have to like ferid but my god think for a moment. But that also proves to me that people in this fandom do not understand complexity in characters (and also relationships).

But that would be my other point: I hate how willingly the fandom makes everything black and white. Just because Shinoa is crushing on Yuu that doesn't mean she is a yandere?? Omg a girl character cares about a guy that she has grown close to. Again their relationship is also complex and falls under the category of "one sided love". But that doesn't mean that the entire relationship is one sided. Yuu still valued Shinoa as a friend. imo that piece of information is important because shit on of shippers will use the argument of saying "Shinoa is ruining Mika and Yuu's relationship/ she came between them" GIRLIE JUST CARED FOR HER FRIEND AND CRUSH 😭. Even in the early manga panels she was trying to befriend Mika for Yuu's sake.

But going back to the "Shinoa ruins Mika and Yuus relationship". She only tried to interfere once she saw Yuu's obsession was getting out of hand. That's why I hate it when she gets called a yandere (known to only care about themselves and their obsession.)

[dontforgetukraine]

#if a fucking propaganda movie is allowed in a film festival it just proves the west doesn't care

I wouldn't necessarily say that people in the West don't care. This is a failure occurring at multiple levels.

-First is the recognition that RT (and its current and former employees) is an arm of the Kremlin and is used for psyops. The Dept of Justice in America is finally showing some awareness about that, but this needs to happen at the government, business, and civilian level everywhere. -Second is how this film got sponsors and taxpayer money to be made in the first place. What oversight is currently there and how can it be made sure this doesn't happen again? -Third is what oversight is there at these cultural and art events? -Fourth is making sure people are educated and are able to recognize any form of propaganda.

Generally speaking, it's more likely people in the West, especially America, don't know how to recognize Russian propaganda.

I'll speak from an American perspective since that's where I am. We're uninformed due to it not being covered in our education system and media landscape. In addition, our leaders have been too slow to act on psyops. While Russian psyops flood the information space of news and social media, and some of us can recognize it, the propaganda about Ukraine we encounter is different from what's in "Russians at War" with some exceptions (ex. "Whataboutism"). A person that is only vaguely aware of the war and doesn't closely follow what's happening won't necessarily recognize the context and content. That's not an excuse. That's just reality. This is something I have to keep reminding myself, that the people around me don't know how to recognize it unless they are deliberately following the war and looking to educate themselves by listening to Ukrainians and other Eastern Europeans.

There needs to be more education on forms of propaganda and media literacy, and how to build up cognitive resilience. Propaganda doesn't always look like propaganda. I'll refer to a quote I posted from Dietmar Pichler. We typically think of propaganda coming from social media and talk shows, although now in this age its a lot of podcasts and YouTube videos. These are easy to overlook, including film at a cultural and arts festival.

I'll also refer to this quote from Pekka Kallioniemi.

Transparency should be our key weapon against individuals on the fringes who promote Kremlin propaganda… Highlighting and discussing these issues openly can help. Raising awareness about individuals spreading Kremlin propaganda, especially those in positions of power, is vital… Most countries, even those strongly opposed to the Kremlin, will have one or two such pro-Kremlin voices. It’s important to acknowledge that in a democracy, everyone has a voice, even if it’s frustrating to hear Kremlin propaganda. This underscores the importance of education. If people are equipped with cognitive resilience against such misinformation, it loses its impact on society as a whole. Building cognitive resilience through education is crucial. It’s a long-term investment, but it’s an essential competence also for our children’s future, well-being, and security.

So, please, don't automatically assume the West doesn't care. There's a long road in this fight for the information space and to educate that needs to happen on multiple fronts. It's going to take all the resources and people we can get against an enemy that is very good at what it does and has been doing it for a long time. I know it's frustrating and it sucks, but there are those of us here that care and I want to reassure people about that. Remember, the enemy wants you to despair.

[omegaversetheory]

Gender/Dynamic Hierarchies of Illion

In any society, gender plays a role in how people navigate their communities and surroundings. Illion is no different, with the added layer of omegaverse dynamics to keep things interesting. See related notes for The Big 8 below.

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Adebayo:

Delacroix: Prioritize individual skill/education/ability over the inherent qualities of specific genders/dynamics therefore the "distance" between each level of the hierarchy is miniscule. As much as they can, the Delacroix maintain complete gender/dynamic equality.

female alphas, male alphas, betas, omegas.

Female alphas are historically regarded with more esteem than their male counterparts as they were seen as more emotionally controlled, had a greater capacity for intelligence, and more efficient. That being said, the Adebayans embrace diversity and personal expression - here you'll find people of all types embracing all different kinds of roles, as they prioritize pitching in and working hard over "who should do what".

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Ekarahv: Their culture is built on their unique polyamorous lifestyle with four members, which makes them view gender/dynamics slightly differently than other parts of the world.

omegas, female betas, female alphas, male betas/alphas.

The ability to birth children (and thus further family lineage) is highly revered, as the foursome was formed initially as a way to increase the population size. Heritage is often traced through matrilineal lines as it is often unknown who the "father" is. That being said, everyone has a part to play and no one is redundant. When a foursome is formed, each person has a different role to play. All foursomes contain at least one "duplicate" dynamic making the six tiered gender/dynamic model less relevant to the way life works here.

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Fierek: The gender hierarchy is deeply enforced by other Fierekian customs and elements such as their all-consuming religion. Masculinity is associated with dominance, while femininity is associated with subservience.

male alpha, male beta, female alpha, female beta, male omega, female omega.

Female alphas and male omegas are socialized and groomed to fit into this specific model with exacting permanence.

Male omegas are castrated and sterilized to remove the ability to sire children and in some places undergo additional body modification procedures to keep permanently prevent them from angering the gods by bastardizing the "perfect image", prevent their souls from rotting and turning them evil, and to ensure other people don't get ensnared by their deceit/trickery.

Female alphas undergo hysterectomies as soon as they present, making it impossible for them to bear children. They are often then sent to receive their education with male betas, and are socialized as such. Later in life, some female alphas choose to undergo mastectomies, but this is not a religious or cultural requirement.

Alphas and betas of all kinds are educated from ages 4-10. Female alphas and male betas are then educated together for between 5-8 years, male alphas are given a more privileged and thorough education for 8 years (and have the option to pursue higher education beyond that), while female betas do not continue on. Male and female omegas are not allowed to receive a formal education, and are instead taught about their duties from older omegas in the community - this does not include literacy.

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Gre'Quall: Another culture with a hierarchy deeply informed by their religion, in Gre'Quall women are on top.

female alpha, female betas & omegas, male omegas, male betas, male alphas

Unlike Fierek, these folks don't get too caught up with the masculinity/femininity of it all, and instead take their queues from their sacred value of harmony/balance. Female omegas are aligned with the moon, female betas are aligned with the sun, and female alphas as the embodiment of both.

Men are similarly judged but are treated in relation to woman-hood, male omegas are the highest ranking males, and male alphas are at the very bottom. Known as "shadows" male alphas are considered dangerous and unholy. Some communities participate in a ritual known as "The culling of the sunborn" , where alpha men are ritually executed. Otherwise, male alphas are sent to the surface to live in nomadic herding groups. Many male betas often join them and act as intermediaries between both worlds.

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Hawthorne: Gender/dynamic discrimination is seen as slightly taboo, while they are not as strict about equality across the board, Hawthorne is a good place for all people regardless of dynamics.

male alphas, male betas, female alphas, female betas, male omegas, female omegas.

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Roah: The culture is not built on social status in regards to wealth, fame, family name, success rather than gender.

alphas, omegas, betas.

Omegas are highly prized for their reproductive capabilities are are often used to secure power and form alliances between families. Alphas are often taught to become the heads of their families - learning the trade, business, and interpersonal skills to do the job. Betas aren't looked down upon or cast out, rather it is most likely to find them in supporting roles - in both caretaking and business away from the spotlight. Of course, none of these roles are set in stone as finding one's destiny is a big part of the culture's creed.

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Verstanze: Because of it's nature as a federation of island-states, there is lots of diversity of culture from place to place. That being said, they are united by their religious beliefs based on the stars which plays a role everywhere.

betas, female omegas, male omegas, female alphas, male alphas.

Betas are at the top due to their level-headedness, perceived natural intelligence, and other abilities that make them great leaders both on land and at sea. Omegas are cherished for their emotionality, mental endurance, and ability to bring people together. In both omegas and alphas, females are regarded slightly higher because of their "closeness" with The Great Sea Mother. Alphas often need to prove themselves worthy of respect and honor more than other dynamics, as their uncontrollable, impulsive, sometimes "wild" natures don't mix well with the Stevarae commitment to unity, harmony, and peace - especially at sea.

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