#he's one of those motherfuckers who gets a promotion and makes it EVERYBODY'S problem

[ace-sailor-uranus]

y'know when you meet someone so godawfully insufferable that it's like. bro.

listen. i can tell you were bullied in high school, but most of us don't make, like, 90% of our personality out of it.

also: motherfucker you are 27 stop picking fights with teenagers, are you KIDDING me

second of all: i can promise you that no one gives a shit about your ~podcast~ you absolute fuckin loser. shut up.

thirdly: i did not ask for your shitty star wars opinion, i do not care. ill say my favorite sw is space balls all i want, just to piss you specifically off. bite me.

[tsuki-sennin]

Geats~! 42 and 43! I slowly continue to get back on the ball. Things spiral ever quickly out of control. Shit's really hittin' the fan now.

Spoilers, I guess... though at this point, you know more about this than me.

-Festering parasites, Keiwa becoming truly ruthless, and a world

-Holy shit, not even an execution, this is a full-force beat down.

-Azuma...

-I think it's rather interesting that Keiwa's wish technically stays the same but his reasons for it have clearly radically changed.

-I wouldn't be surprised if Ryuga Sato's career blows up after this is all over the way Fumiya Takahashi's did.

-You're giving me absolutely

-J

-JITT????

-I thought Jitto was kinda dumb but like

-Jitt is a word the crappy (first) English localization of Azure Striker Gunvolt made up to substitute cussing.

-I can never take your ass seriously again, you steel rod wielding fuck

-Motherfucker's got a hitlist.

-Daichi's gone full Orteca.

-"It's all mine now~!"

-Oh thank god, Michinaga, you're here.

-Human memories, hoarded within the treasure room of his mind palace.

-Brain Tomatoes.

-And then there's this little demon.

-"Despair's a way better look for my oshi!"

-New Rider Forms, yippeeeeeee

-Premium Kekera! Premium Beroba!

-"...those are not Rider Forms."

-Frog Man's got hops.

-Oh shoot Command Form.

-Haven't seen that in a while.

-Y'know Buffa's kinda doing a lot better than expected.

-I mean it makes sense, Michinaga's a seasoned veteran and Beroba and Kekera did just get these forms.

-Azuma...

-"Oops. Oh well, not my problem."

-Yo there, Neon.

-Oh hi Ace. Nice of you to join us.

-"Dude, you're vibe is all off. Absolutely rancid."

-"It's called apotheosis, fox boy. Maybe if you just laid down, this'd be unnecessary."

-No justification, just an "eye for an eye".

-Hello, Samas. Guess you're enjoying your newfound promotion.

-Now comes the climax of the episode.

-A true battle of the dweebs.

-...that is nasty, even for a Reiwa Rider villain's standards.

-Now that I can compare them, the Premium Supporter forms look a lot like the

-Bujin Sword.

-They're bleaching her!

-OH?

-AN INSERT? AT A TIME LIKE THIS???

-Okay, sure!

Daichi: Kekera! What the fuck?! Help me, you piece of shit!" Kekera: You kidding!? This is exactly what I want!

-I'm convinced that if Kekera were real, he'd be the biggest Snyder-Verse dick rider.

-Daichi, I realize you're about to be as extinct as the trilobite you transformed into, but I don't think pointing fingers over things that you clearly planned meticulously is a good idea.

-"Yesssss! Kill!"

-Hello, Geats.

-Nooooo, not Negaiiiii

-Little Bro Ace... Big Sis Tsumuri...

-Oh

-She broke out!

-Somehow!

-...I won't lie though, she kills in that white hair look.

-Jitty don't play nice.

-Congratulations, Keiwa Sakurai! You brought back everybody who ever lost their lives to the Desire Grand Prix! Are you proud of yourself?

-Oh, new head molds?

-G

-Gya-Go???

-Oh man, Old Man Kousei's apparently done being a deadbeat jerkoff.

-The World of Keiwa Sakurai.

-"This is different."

-Good job! The DGP gave you exactly what you wanted! And as a cool bonus, they gave you new friends~!

-Oh Christ, a wild hog!

-For the record, in the United States we have a massive problem with invasive hog species that results in a lot of destruction of wildlife and (often) human casualty.

-"GEATS WHAT THE FUCK?"

-"Don't look at me, man! Tycoon was the one who made the wish! ...terribly!"

-I swear if Geats IX struggles against Mr. Warthog, I'm gonna shit.

-What's his name, anyway?

-"GEATS?! OH MAN!"

-Head?

-Honestly Keiwa you have nobody but yourself to blame for this one.

-"They're all dead! Again!"

-Kirito... Kirito???

-Damn, he grew up to be a real bastard.

-Guess all that digital.

-"Bad End, kid. Game over. Thanks to you, ratings have spiked thanks to our sadist fans."

-"...this isn't the kind of jailbreak I wanted."

-NEON

-Yeah, that fire extinguisher works.

-OHHHHHHHHH THAT'S AKARI'S KIDNAPPER

-He was a DGP player too?

-Desperate times call for desperate measures, I guess.

-Neon...

-You are far too good for us.

-Hello, Keiwa-kun.

-"I"m going to kill every last one of you."

-Not even a second.

-"That's my boy."

-The shogun now has his army.

-Instant green.

-...is this a game mechanic?

-"Goddessfication" sounds like an absolutely horrifying

-Sunk cost fallacy is a hell of a drug.

-"I need to fix this."

-You're pitiable, old man.

-"Good job, idiot." Michinaga's never gonna let any fan of Daichi's quiz show success live this down.

-It all amounted to absolutely nothing, huh Daichi?

-Guess this guy just had nothing better to do with his life than ruin someone else's.

-Irumi and Kousei, as cruel and selfish they were miserable.

-It's like a fuckin' Greek tragedy.

-What a terrible realization to never have until too late.

-Neon's just 100% done with all this. At this point what, if anything, would make her hate Beroba any more?

-Once upon a time, Kousei Kurama met a fox on the bridge.

-Is that Kirito's snout? Are we reusing suit parts mid episode now?

-Oh, that's... that's new.

-"I want to play your game. There's a mistake I can't even begin to make up for without your help."

-Time Fire!

-Fantasy!

-...that's Brave's Fantasy Gamer armor.

-Nice repaint at least, I like the blue and gold.

-Oh!

-He's a wizard.

-A mountain lion wizard.

-"It's rude to open fire on the show, you know."

-NA-GO RETURNS LET'S GO

-I'm constantly flip-flopping on how much I like Geats, but right now it's in the "Yeah, this is epic" zone. Might change, might not, who knows?

[secret-diary-of-an-fa]

AHS: Cult Revisited (Spoiler Warning: It Sucked Then and It Sucks Now)

SOME CONTEXT: Since I discuss the politics of AHS: Cult in the following article, new readers should probably know that my own politics are leftist and generally liberal. As such, it’s worth bearing in mind that part of my annoyance with the series does stem from the fact that most of its liberal, left-leaning characters are inadvertently written as total bell-ends. Most of my annoyance, however, comes from the issues I’m about to discuss.

SPOILER WARNING: Lots of spoilers ahead.

I’ve been re-watching American Horror Story: Cult, despite the fact that it’s the absolutely worst season of the anthology series, because some family members wanted to see it and I wanted to sit in and crow about where it all went wrong. And you know what? I’d forgotten how deceptively good the first half of the series actually is. It’s funny, unsettling and camp in that way that only AHS can be, and it contains lots of satisfying moments where absolute bell-ends get punched in the fact or killed with gym equipment. When I reviewed it about a year ago, I kind of forgot that there was the root-system of a decent TV show buried under all the crap. Y’see, the thing about AHS: Cult is that it’s only a shitshow in retrospect. After you’ve chewed your way through the increasingly dumb and unsatisfying second half of the series, you reach a conclusion that renders 99% of what you’ve just seen completely pointless: a whole lot of sound and fury signifying fuck-all.

The core of the problem is Kai, the blue-haired cult-leader supervillain and psychotic clown enthusiast who serves as the series’ antagonist. The motivations that he pretends to have in the first half of the series are way more interesting than the real motives that he’s revealed to have in later episodes. You see, early-episodes Kai is deliciously complicated an apolitical. He doesn’t celebrate Trump’s election to president because he thinks a Cheetos-hued former gameshow host will actually make a good president, but because his presence in the White House will spread fear and chaos that Kai can use to his own ends. He’s like a less slapstick-y version of the Joker, revelling in chaos and collective national misery and only allying himself to one side or the other so far as it promotes those things. In some places, his ideology seems downright and actively non-partisan. There’s a bit where he talks to a downtrodden and much shat-upon news reporter about her anger as a black woman in Trump’s America and legitimates her rage- which feels like “wanting to be the last person alive on Earth- because then you got to watch every other motherfucker die first”. He recruits a buff gay guy by killing his homophobic boss. On the other hand, he also gets a disenfranchised prospective Trump-voter on side by reminding him how he’s been told he’s obsolete and irrelevant because he’s a working class white male. In the early series, Kai’s ideology doesn’t seem to have much to do with left and right: his message is more along the lines of ‘modern America is a worthless shithole that fucks everybody over, regardless of politics or demographic, so let’s burn the whole thing to the ground and put me in charge’. It’s genuinely compelling to watch... and then the second half of the series happens and it turns out Kai was basically lying about all this complex motivation. He’s actually just a misogynist who wants to hurt women. Well, fuck. And there was me thinking we were getting an interesting and nuanced character who walked the line between villain and sympathetic protagonist. Nope- apparently he’s just a jerk. That’s a pretty accurate portrayal of the way sociopathic cult leaders work in real life, but it’s not very narratively compelling. 

Here’s the trouble. I know plenty of jerks in real life. I don’t find them fascinating. I don’t think they make interesting viewing. They’re not good TV: they’re just fucking morons in need of a good, hard slap. I get what AHS: Cult is doing- it’s making the point that cult leaders and far-right, regressive politicians can seem more complex and compelling than they really are in order to get what they want before they reveal their true colours. It’s an allegorical warning against charismatic, evil, morally-bankrupt politicians like Trump. And that’s a fine point to make, in an online article or a short story or... well, basically any media that doesn’t have to keep me entertained for 10-12 hour-long episodes. AHS: Cult chose to make a point instead of making a consistently good, watchable TV show. And that’s a problem.

Of course, Kai’s increasingly tedious and stupid character isn’t the only problem. AHS: Cult wants to be all feminist and get you to root for its oppressed, trod-up women. Which would be great, if its female characters weren’t mostly loathsome dipshits. There’s Ivy, who deliberately gaslights her lesbian wife and drives her mad. There’s Meadow, who more or less embodies the concept of vapid self-absorption, seems to start improving as a character, and then commits suicide before she can become genuinely sympathetic. There’s the reporter who starts off sympathetic but who ends up egging Kai on to greater feats of cruelty and chaos (when she finally turns against him, it’s not because she has a moral epiphany, it’s because he decides to consolidate power rather than go with her plan of causing as much random destruction as possible). Oh, and then Valerie Solanis and her ‘SCUM’ cult turns up and starts butchering men (and any woman who doesn’t hate them to a sufficient degree) while spouting grandiose horseshit. In fairness, the grandiose horseshit comes from her book, ‘The SCUM manifesto’, which is a real thing that actually exists... but bringing it up just serves to make Kai’s eventual adversaries seem as crazy as he is, just when the narrative needs them to seem like a heroic alternative. How so? Well, it was written by a literal schizophrenic just before she tried and failed to assassinate Andy Warhol.

After episode seven, AHS: Cult is increasingly framed as a struggle between Kai’s far-right misogynist cult and his former supporters’ self-justifying revenge-oriented cult-within-a-cult of revenge. Who are apparently preferable because... reasons maybe? Well, at least they’re not out for world domination and don’t give their recruits names like ‘Speed Ball’, which is something.

The final issue is Ally. Poor Ally. She starts off as a slightly pathetic, slightly pampered but basically decent person. She’s a left-wing liberal and broadly on the side of good, even if her many phobias do prevent her from getting her shit together. After wife Ivy steals their son from her using Kai’s cult, Ally goes through a pretty good character arc and learns to conquer her fears in order to save her son from Ivy’s increasingly unhinged grip. She’s basically the show’s happy ending waiting to happen... and then, in the very last fucking scene, she dons a green hooded robe and takes up the mantle of the leader of the deranged SCUM cult. Because of course she does. Because we couldn’t just have one likeable, uncorrupted character, could we? She reacts to the traumas she has survived by recreating a secret organisation that already demonstrated its impotence in changing the world and will definitely cause more trauma for other people down the line. For some reason, the show seems to think this is some kind of victory.

AHS: Cult has a lot of good ideas and interesting characters, which is why the first half of the series is so compelling. Unfortunately, it squanders them one by one, until we’re left with a left with a bunch of petty, simple-minded jerkoffs playing tug-of-war for the nebulous, symbolic prize of cultural dominance. Maybe that’s an accurate portrayal of our echo-chamber-fuelled, divisive, crude political landscape. Tragically, I fear that it is. But it isn’t good TV.

[pendulumprince]

Episode 24? Is here?? AND THE SHIT’S ABOUT TO HIT THE FAN.

GO FALLS TO HIS DEATH

HIS D BOARD DAMN NEAR SMACKS HIM IN THE FACE

HE GETS BACK UP

HE’S AT 200 LP TO GENOME’S 2300

GO’S MANAGER IS STILL WITH MAKOTO, WATCHING EVERYTHING

GENOME’S TURN ISN’T OVER!

HE ACTIVATES HIS MONSTER’S GRAVEYARD EFFECR

ACTIVATES HIS SKILL

IT… HALVES GO’S LP AND HIS MONSTER’S ATK

WTF WHY

Okay but he couldn’t he have like. Used this at the start of the duel.

Shoichi and Aoi are looking on

She! Gets up!!

Back in Link Vrains

GO IS TRYING TO STAND BUT CANNOT

GO’S AI DECIDES TO TEL HIM HOW ASSED OUT HE IS

“ADMIT DEFEAT” SHUT UP GENOME

BUT A GALE STORM COMES IN

AND

“You want to know my identity that badly, Genome?”

AW DAMN IT’S PLAYMAKER

THE CROWD IS HYPED

I AM TOO?? AS LONG AS HE STAYS IN HIS GODDAMN LANE AND DOESN’T INTERFERE

GENOME SOUNDS PRACTICALLY ORGASMIC TO SEE PLAYMAKER AND “THE IGNIS”

“Hmph! I have a cool name! It’s Ai, you DNA lover!"

*crying* his new name is growing on him. The name Yusaku gave him. This does my aiballshippers heart a world of good

OMG SHOICHI NOTICES??

“He surprisingly loves his name…"

GENOME’S SHOCKED BY THIS??

“HE NAMED YOU?! You’ve been domesticated, like a pet!”

GENOME YOU’RE ABOUT TO CATCH THESE HANDS

“Not true! Woof!” I love Ai so fucking much okay

So Genome asks Playmaker if he’s there to rescue Dark Onizuka

“Don’t get the wrong idea” (YAAAAAAAS GOOD SHIT PLAYMAKER GOOD SHIT) “You said you’ll decide your own destiny and duel.

… so I came to laugh at you when you when you lose” PLAYMAKER THAT IS SO FUCKIN RAW I—

WELL. NOW GO’S TOTALLY ENRAGED

“Dr. Genome. You said there are limits to DNA. But I believe in humanity’s potential."

Genome absorbs none of this??

OMG OKAY SO HE WANTS TO DESTROY THE IGNISES BECAUSE? HIS ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO “COMBINE AND EVOLVE IT’S DNA TO CREATE THE MOST POWERFUL BEING”??

Wow that sounds like… everything the KoH is supposed to be fighting AGAINST

GENOME IS ONE OF THOSE HOODLUM’S REV WARNED US ABOUT

But Playmaker isn’t phased?? “Remember this. As long as people have strong will, they can evolve further and surpass your dueling. That’s what makes a true duelist!”

Go tells Playmaker the duel isn’t over yet, so he’s gonna use that 100 LP he’s got left to evolve into a beautiful butterfly

Go and Genome pass by, and

UM WHO’S BOOT IS THAT

THAT

IS BLUE ANGEL’S BOOT??

MY GIRL IS HERE. MY GIRL HAS COME. YES.

GO TAKES HIS TURN!

IT’S A MAGIC CARD

GO ASCENDS UP INTO THE SKY

AND

HIS MASK STARTS TO DISOLVE

YAAAAAAAAS

HE SCREAMS?? I FEEL THAT, I ANNOUNCE EVERY NEW LIFE EVENT WITH A CRY INTO THE HEAVENS, TOO

HE POLAYS THAT MAGIC CARD

DESTROYS HIS DARK MASK MONSTER

HIS MONSTER IS SCREAMING TOO??

“MY EVOLUTIOMN IS JUIST GETTING STARTED”

GHE BRINGS BACK A 1800 ATK MONSTER FROM THE GRAVE

LINKS THEM TOGETHER

GOUKU THE MASTER OGRE. LINK 4 2800 ATK??

GENOME JUST CRAPPED HIMSELF

“THE SITUATION HASN’T CHANGED—“

“[NAH BITCH] MY EVOLUTION IS JUST GETTING STARTED”

GO ACTIVATES A GRAVEYARD EFFECT

ADDS A CARD TO HIS HAND

PLAYS A SPELL

BRINGS OUT TWO 0 DEF MONSTERS

ACTIVATES MASTER OGRE’S EFFECT

HE RETURNS THE MONSTERS LINKED TO IT (AKA, THE 0 DEF DUDES) TO HIS HAND

AND FOR EVERY MONSTER HE RETURNS, HE NEGATES A MONSTER EFFECT??

AHAHAHAHA LOOKS LIKE YOU’RE ASSED OUT GENOME

GO HAS MASTER OGRE ATTACK NECRO DARWIN?? GENOME IS NOW AT 1300 LP

AND NOW, FOR THE SECOND ATTACK AT GOTHICLONE

AHHHHHHHHHH YAAAAAAAAAAS GENOME GOES DOWN TO THE FLOOR

HIS LP HITS 0

GO WINS

THIS WAS THE GLORIOUS RETURN I WE ALL NEEDED

GO’S MANAGERIS SO FUCKIN PROUD OF HIS BOY

AND NOW MAKOTO’S GOING TO WAKE UP, RIGHT

… right?

Genome is unconscious; Go is digging in his coat

He takes the virus removal card—

Um Genome is awake?? “I lived bitch"

“Good guy to heel, heel to good guy. You call that evolving?”

“I make the evolution process entertaining. That’s why I’m the world’s #1 entertainer, Go Onizuka!”

Look at this Arc V motherfucker lmao

Genome thinks that’s just hilarious. “You’ll regret defeating me.”

GENOME HIGHKEY DISSOLVES IN THE CREEPIEST MOTHERFUCKING WAY GOD I LOVE HIM

Go doesn’t really give a shit though, because…!

MAKOTO WOKE UP

*crying* YES

Back in Link Vrains

Go… and Playmaker… are having a little chat…

This music is so creepy?? I feel like some shady shit is about to go down

“Playmaker. You said you came to laugh at me.”

AW SHIT, GO’S ABOUT TO THROW DOWN

“… but that was a lie to motivate me.” Good shit he figured it out. “Am I wrong?”

“Who knows?” there’s no need to be this cryptic lol

“I will defeat you someday!” yeah yeah we know, everybody and their mother wants to fight this bitch.

“But the Knights of Hanoi are destroying Link vrains. I’ll crush them first”

WAIT

DID GO JUST SAY WHAT I THOUGHT HE SAID

DID HE JUST DECLARE WAR ON THE KOH BECAUSE. IF SO.

Go to Playmaker: “feel free to join me."

“… right.”

“And what about you, Blue Angel??”

I like how Go, the friendly rival, is the one trying to assemble a team?? And our protag is just totally indifferent???

YEAH OKAY THIS SHOT PROVES IT, THEY’RE MEANT TO BE THE GLODEN TRIO

… back at school. Presumably, the next day???

Aoi is back!!

And she… catches Naoki aggressively watching some Link Vrains duel?

AH IT’S A KNIGHT BOY AGAINST A “RANDOM CIVILIAN”

AND ANOTHER

AND ONE MORE

TURNING THEM ALL INTO ANOTHER’S

NAOKI CALLS A DUEL CLUB MEETING

HE WANTS THIS WEAKSAUCE GROUP OF WEAKSAUCE BITCHES TO”TAKE ACTION"

THE PRESIDENT LITERALLY TELLS NAOKI TO SHUT THE FUCK UP

HE DOESN’T WANT ANY OF HIS FOLKS GETTING TURNED INTO ANOTHERS

HE SUSPENDS THE DUEL CLUB UNTIL “THE ANOTHER PROBLEM IS RESOLVED"

NAOKI IS DEVESTATED

Aoi, quite firmly, tells him to settle down

And now in Link Vrains

GO IS FIGHTING A KOH MOOK

… random civilians are now joining the fight??

OMG NO SIT DOWN

DON’T DO IT BITCH

HE GETS ATTACKED BY A KOH MOOK

BUT PLAYMAKER STEPS IN

“This place is dangerous. Go home.”

I mean yeah??

Anyway Playmaker fights the mook

Aoi is still at that duel club meeting

GIRL WHAT R U DOIN?? GET YOUR ASS IN THERE

So Playmaker beat the guy

He apperently doesn’t have the virus removal program

AI DOES INTO SEMI-MONSTER MODE, DEMANDS TO KNOW WHO HAS IT

THREATENS TO EAT THE DUDE IF HE DOESN’T GIVE HIM A NAME

“It’s…!”

Vyra!

“Erase.”

SHE LITERALLY WIPES THE DUDE FROM EXISTENCE OMG YES

He disappears in the same way Genome did…

OMG DOES THAT MEAN GENOME DIED

LMAOOO WOW I WAS ONLY KIDDING WHEN I SAID THAT?? WOW

Okay so Go’s running up to Playmaker, asking if he’s seen Blue Angel

He hasn’t

“So it’s just the two of us."

… oh shit, Blue Angel walked away when Go asked her to join them

GIRL WHY

Lmao okay I know exactly why

But Playmaker figures even if she joins them, it won’t make a difference fighting the KoH mooks

They need to get to the person who actually created the virus

… back in Den City

Aoi and Akira are having dinner?? Omg are they actually going to have a Normal Family Talk

The robomaid glides on over to them

“Isn’t it nice? Since your brother was demoted, he can come home early.”

… he’s still with SOL, you say? *tight grin*

“… you didn’t need to say ‘demoted’.”

Was. Was that a joke. Omg.

“I’ve always made you feel lonely. But from now on, I can be more by your side”

AHHHH OUR BOOSHIE SON FINALLY GETS IT

But Aoi isn’t fucking satisfied

Like okay she’s HAPPY that he’s home more often now, but—

“We interrupt this [LOVELY FAMILY MOMENT] for SOL Technologies’ press conference.”

Okay according to kita, SOL’s developed a 100% AI duelist???

And he promises that these AIs are gonna take down the KoH

Akira figures that’s a good thing, since an AI duelist can’t be turned into an Another even if they lose

“… but that’s not the same for you. Don’t go into Link Vrains. I’m serious."

And now. Aoi knows how much he cares

That his “spirit would be broken” if anything ever happens to her

“Promise me.”

“Yes, brother.”

Girl, promises are made to be broken.

Okay so back at SOL, Kita has his lackies working on the AI

All he wants is that fucking promotion lol

AHHHH OKAY HE SENDS OUT HIS ARMY TO FACE THE KOH MOOKS

IT’S GONNA BE A FUCKING BLOODBATH AND THE CROWD IS SO EXCITED

… but Shoichi and Yusaku have better things to do

Now’s their chance to find the virus creator and fuck up their shit

THE FIGHT IS ON

THE ZAIZEN’S ARE WATCHING

GO AND HIS ORPHAN BABIES ARE WATCHING

EMA IS WATCHING

… AND THE AI’S ARE ACTUALLY WINNING???

30% OF THE KNIGHTS HAVE BEEN DEFEATED

BUT

WAIT

THEY START LOSING

LIKE, EN MASSE

“WHAT HAPPENED?!"

“Two Knights of Hanoi are winning at incredible speed!”

… aw damn we know who the fuck it is

THEY BEAT THE ENTIRE AI SQUAD LMAOOOO

Akira gets dressed to go into work

Bitch why, you know these folks are shady as shit, they’re prob planning your murder as we speak

Aoi… thinks back to Go’s offer

And then, her brother’s wishes

Damn, this internal struggle is real

And the episode ends there!

Preview time!

Frog and Pigeon? Are talking to Vyra?? Omg why

Akira and Hayami are back to fucking shit up at SOL

A giant… teddy beat with Go’s hair is running through Link Vrains

And! VYRA IS GOING TO BE DUELING

*GROSS SOBBING*

[jewel021]

[Translated] The Current Truth of Mainland China in My Viewpoint

The Current Truth of Mainland China in My Viewpoint - Maybe Worse than Your Thought Please help to spread around. Please help to spread around. Due to my current situation, I may delete the original article any time. I am a college dropout from Mainland China. When I was a kid, I was bullied frequently due to my small physical size. As a result, I became sympathetic to the weak ones. Every time, when I see that the majority finds reasons to destroy minorities’s dignity, I always stand by with the weak sides. I was a loner when I grew up without many friends. This gave me a lot of time to read and think. One day, when I was in the college, I read Yang Xianhui and George Orwell’s books. My heart ached with anger and sorrow and fell into deep fears. The contents of those books had happened and would continue happening. I fear that they will further sensor and monitor into people’s thoughts and minds. If there is only one voice allowed, that voice basically only tells lies. Therefore, I always keep my mind sober and rational as long as there are sensors and monitors around. I feel sorry for my parents because I am from a poor family in a village. I was accepted into a prestigious university but dropped out. I have not yet told my family and do not know what to do. I plan to study one more year and retake the college entrance exam. I hope to go to abroad in the future. I have limited writing abilities, and my writing style is vulgar. I only try to justify what happen. Let me talk about the current situation in Mainland. 1: Indecency from diplomacy to the public broadcasting and from the top to the bottom. The statements of spokesperson from Foreign Ministry during the last Chairman’s regime were standardized and repetitive but still sounded diplomatic. During the current regime, the diplomatic style is changed to rude and unreasonable, even bitchy. The new style is appreciated and encouraged within the internal management, and the ones with the most fierce remarks were promoted the quickest. In general, the statements, which were recommended by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) controlled media and were praised by the Little PInky [1], were indecent, at least, very unprofessional. For instance, the spokesperson called out certain countries, "troublemaker" and openly stated "live with it." They often rephrased their behaviors as "angrily rebuke" and "diss." They praised bitches, scoundrels, and racketeers as their ideological idols in their massive propaganda statements. If you randomly visited any website from the Mainland, the first thing you saw would be: "Dear Chairman Xi Cares the Poor." The next headlines would be: "Fai Ching [2] from Hong Kong Blocked Tourists Going Back Home", "The Americans Scare Pissing Themselves and Beg to Stop Trade War", etc.. I was too lazy to make screenshots. Believe it or not. Just go ahead to look around those popular Simplified Chinese websites, such as Hao123.com, NetEase, etc. These information was all real. They turned the patriotism into indecency. No wonder there is a saying, "Patriotism is the last shelter for hooligans." For instance, a bandit raped, stole, robbed, and committed all manners of crimes in a village. When the Japanese came, the bandit shouted out, "I am a Chinese man!" He fought the Japanese in the name of patriotism. Then, all his crimes were forgiven, and he became a hero instead of a villain, whom the villagers used to hate.[3] Nowadays, I do not know how many people like this bandit are under the disguise of patriotism. Those who shouted online, "Beat U.S. and kick Japan," may actually be loan sharks and pimps in real life. I met several of them like this in real life, including corrupted governmental officials. Those corrupted governmental officials made the most radical comments in WeChat Moments.[4] Not only the people are indencent, but also their behaviors are immoral. They believe that the patriotism has the highest moral value. If that is so, why do they act like extremely vicious mobs? They assaulted, smashed, robbed, killed, and eventually harmed their fellow citizens. Patriotism should be influencing others by persuasion, not threats. They used very malicious languages and behaviors to attack others, including smashing a Japanese brand car owner's head by using a metal U-shaped lock. Does anyone actually believe that the car owner would become more patriotic after receiving this evil attack? Besides, the car owner was labelled "unpatriotic" by them! A few days ago, I watched a video featuring some Northeasterners cursed Hong Kongers using foul languages and dirty words acted like a mob of hooligans, and they shouted, "You, Motherfucker, Hong Kong belongs to China." They also threatened to beat up some people. Those Northeasterners did not even understand why Hong Kongers protested. Nobody will be sincerely convinced by being attacked by foul languages and threats. The Mainland's internet was full of people acted like members of Boxer Rebellion [5], and those people claimed to wipe out whoever advocates Hong Kong independence. Those wolf warriors [6] in the name of patriotism from the Mainland to overseas behaved violently and filthily. Who actually disgraced Chinese people? One of the most notorious wolf warriors was the one, who a CCTV journalist, Kong LinLin, committed assault in the UK Conservative Party Convention 2018. Apparently, some other aggressive international students from Mainland acted like Kong and used some similar behaviors to grab people's attention online in the name of patriotism in order to get a good job or get promotions when they go back to the Mainland. 2. CCP kidnaps China CCP claims the ownership of everything in China. Anyone attacking the government is labeled as unpatriotic. Anyone disagreeing with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is labeled as ass-licking foreign dog. Anyone believing that stinky tofu is unhealthy is labeled as feeling superior of eating foreign junk fast food. Anybody, who is detested by CCP, will be called out by CCP: "Disgrace to China and Chinese people." CCP has perfected their ways of doing this method lately. In the past year, many people, groups, organizations have been called out. They created a false sense, which everyone outside of the Mainland was alienating and attacking China and its people, and they did nothing else for China and its people for an entire year. Nobody can even clarify anything was untrue on the news or in the social media or other discussion forum online. People are unable to post any opposition opnion online without being attacked by the little pinky or the wolf warriors. Even if the opposite opinion was not posted on the front page, they will still manage to dig out the post and curse the commentator. There will be at least a few dozens of people attacking the commentator, and the commentator's message box will be full of verbal attacks as well. As a result, the post will be censored and deleted by the website. This kind of scenario happens more on Bilibili. In the past few decades, CCP successfully established a bottom line for every Chinese as solely and wholly maintaining the nation's sovereignty. However, hatefully, CCP specifically mixed up the concepts of CCP or party, nation, and government. Therefore, anybody, who is against the CCP's interests, will be labeled as the advocates for independence of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Uygur region, etc. Let me give you an example why the CCP is wrong to mix up the concepts. Kuo Ming Tang (KMT) used to say to take back the Mainland. What if we reverse the CCP's notorious slogan, "Take back Taiwan"? Let KMT have the Mainland. I don't think they will reject the offer. Hence, in this scenario, Taiwan and the Mainland were still the same sovereign nation. So the problem is not about maintaining a nation's sovereignty rather than who rules the nation. As I stated in my previous texts, when maintaining the nation's sovereignty becomes everybody's bottom line, Chinese will react with rage towards anybody, who is labelled as separatist. This method is time-tested and proved useful, and the CCP keeps reusing over and over. 3. About 70 to 80 millions employees under the government's payroll. [8] The regime basically ties every citizen's livelihood into the same boat as theirs. More and more people take the governmental employee entrance exam every year. It doesn't mean that government employees have bigger paychecks than the rest of the society, but in fact, the government employees have good benefits, including paid maternity leave. [9] A benefit like this is very rare in the private sectors. Plus, working for the government is less stressful compared to working in the private sectors. The largest employer in the Mainland is the CCP and its controlled government. The reason for the CCP and the government to be the best employer in China is that they controlled every resource in the society. The CCP's controls are everything, but the people cannot feel the CCP's existence in their daily life, because the CCP is everywhere like the air which people breath in and they integrate into every corner in the society and people's daily life. People use to surround by air, so they will not pay attention to the air. When people walk on a street and see a wall, but people do not question why the wall is there, because they unconsciously recognize the existence of the wall by default. For instance, one of my relatives asked me, "Have you joined the party?" I replied, "Which party?" Then, he stared at me as I was a retarded person. On July 1, someone reminded me that was the Party's Day today. I asked, "Which party?" The person replied, "Of course, the CCP!" I responded, "Why wouldn't people and the media say the holiday is the CCP's Day instead of the Party's Day?" This is exactly like I stated previously. People have unconsciously recognized solely, perpetual, and lawful existence of the CCP by default. This is not based on fear, because people are used to it. People do not question the CCP nor sense anything wrong with it. People do not aware its integration into their daily life. Its supervision and control are like the gravity. It is always there and unsurprising. This is the reality of the mindset of the majority of the Mainlanders. 4. Most of the contents of the CCP come from the mid-age people between 50 and 60. Most of the young people are the CCP's defenders. I am merely stating my observation and not encouraging people to believe if there is any good in the CCP. The mid-age people were harmed the most by the CCP, so many of them were actually anti-communists. However, they barely express their viewpoint online and rarely pass their political view to the next generation. Next, I am going to write about the differences in the political views in the younger generations. For those were born in the 80s and dislike the CCP, they had emigrated to other countries or regions already. For those staying behind, they have a family and own properties (condos) in the Mainland. They are very cautious and never reveal their true political views. They sometimes take things as they are and immerse themselves into the "wisdom" of only serving self-interest. Moreover, they will not be the main force standing with the pro-democracy movement because they are no longer young. Those CCP's supporters and the CCP do not realize that the 80s group disgruntles the CCP the most among all other age groups. The millennials have the most little pinky within this age group. I do not know how many people in this age group actually read the news or receive information outside of CCP controlled media or social media. I feel pessimistic about what I witnessed. For instance, My high school classmate, Rhee, was from a prominent family. His father was a deputy director of Bureau of Land and Resources (BLR), and his mother was also in the leadership of the government. His family accumulates their wealth not merely based on his parents's salaries. His family bought 2 additional properties in Shanghai, where they did not reside. When Rhee studied abroad, he called other international students from Hong Kong names. He also tore up Hong Konger's posters on the pro-democracy movement. Moreover, he obstructed the Hong Konger's peaceful protests and demonstrations. I do not believe that those were the correct way to express one's disagreement. I believe that people persuade the opposite party by reasoning and logics. People should always defend for everyone's freedom of speech, even if they do not agree with that person. People should not simply silence the voice from an opposition party. Rhee sent the video quarrelling with the Hong Kongers to a group chat with his high school classmates. Other people in the group chat clapped and cheered praising him as "a real man" and "a good patriotic young man". They also scolded the Hong Kongers severely. Nobody ever thought about how Rhee's parents were able to pay his tuition when he studied abroad. Nobody questioned whose right was infringed when Rhee's father signed over some rights of some public resources at work. Nobody thought about this, but jubilated and complimented Rhee. He did not tear up for filming video and seeking attention, but he really believed that his actions were patriotic. The millennials aboard are like Rhee anti-democracy and support building firewall on the internet to decouple the Simplified Chinese to the rest of the world. A few days ago, I went to a prestigious university in Shanghai to look for a former classmate of mine. I overheard something when I was eating with my classmate. It was a conversation among a few fine-looking students regarding the current situation in Hong Kong. I heard clearly from one of the students, "This was all the US stirred up the fire. Those Hong Kong separists should be executed." I was too angry to eat. I was in rage, but felt pessimistic because those students were from top-ranking universities in the Mainland. They may study abroad one day. Why would they think like this? I did not understand. 5. Little pinky is disgusted. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [1] Little Pinky, a group of people [2] Fai Ching, the teenagers or young adults, who are useless and have something wrong in their mind behaving aggressively. Also, means negatively as a combination of jerk, asshole, and idiot. [3] Author's reference was related to Japan's invasion to China. For more information, you may find on other scholar's historical articles or archvies. [4] WeChat Moments: WeChat is the most popular social networking app among Chinese speaking people. WeChat Moment is very similar to Facebook or Instagram, which those two are banned in Mainland China. For more information, you may find the information online. The Translator of this article, Jewel, does not recommend to install this app to your device or link or cellphone number to it. [5] Boxer Rebellion: [6] Wolf Warriors: [7] Bilibili: [8] 4% - 5% of the population based on the official data, which could be false. [9] Mantatory paid maternity leave: ================= To Be Continued

[mermaidsirennikita]

Can I bother you for what your ideal The Borgias show would have been, I know you briefly posted a while back about a Reign type thing and Im crazy intrigued by that, if its not a problem!

No problem!

While I prefer the Showtime version of the Borgia fam, I think there are things to be enjoyed about the Canal version–it just frustrates me that the family never got a TV show that I feel was really, truly, entertaining/good TV? Of course that’s all a matter of opinion, and I’ve only watched the Showtime show through, not the other one, so I can really compare my ideal to that show only.

I feel like with The Borgias, they either should have gone completely dark or completely soapy, and the Showtime show did neither. It would have weird little moments like that lady they for some reason chose to replace Isabella d'Este with killing herself bc her husband forced an abortion on her… or something… But overall, it was a way tamer, way more boring show than what it promoted itself as. It would have events like the Banquet of Chestnuts, an orgy in the Vatican at which the pope was probably present, along with Cesare Borgia and some accounts have even indicated Lucrezia, as some… boring-ass thing where Giulia Farnese blackmails old cardinals through prostitutes. Wow. So sexy. So scandalous. The whole show was basically Neil Jordan trying to figure out his lapsed Catholic guilt, when the Borgia family was a POLITICAL family. Like any other POLITICAL family that used the papacy for POLITICAL means, because the papacy at the height of the Italian Renaissance was a POLITICAL ENTITY. Rodrigo Borgia didn’t spend time struggling with his religion, because he actually was a faithful man and didn’t doubt much of what he did because guess what??? Every other powerful pope or cardinal did similar things except not as well as he did them which is part of the reason why everyone hated the family!!! Cesare Borgia didn’t struggle with his religion bc lol lol he was probably a fucking atheist or at best an agnostic with an interest in paganism. (I didn’t really like how the Canal version dealt with his religion early on–Cesare seems to have treated religion as a means to an end pretty early on.)

So let’s throw out the religious angle, except for in regards to dramatic AF shots of people fucking under a cross or something, BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT WE’RE HERE FOR. Honestly? Have Rodrigo Borgia be a political guy, not some doddering ridiculous Jeremy Irons caricature. Have it be very fucking obvious that Giulia Farnese was young enough to be his granddaughter, because she was!!! And she was smart, and her brother eventually became pope, and–so much was wasted about Giulia Farnese.

But my main thing is, you either go as accurate as possible, or you embrace making a show about the myth that the family became, rather than who they really were. I can respect that. I have zero issue with Cesare and Lucrezia being portrayed as incestuous lovers, because that was honestly a big part of who they were. They not only dealt with that (incorrect) rumor being a part of their lives–they had a pretty fucked up relationship without any incestuous considerations. (Rodrigo lusting after Lucrezia, I’m not so hot on, because that rumor seems to have been given a lot less credibility than Cesare banging Lucrezia anyway and honestly… Not here for that. At any rate, Rodrigo really didn’t treat Lucrezia strangely at all, he actually loved her, while Cesare was out killing her husband and being Really Fucking Weird so while Lucrezia didn’t deserve those rumors, Cesare was asking for them.)

If you’re going to embrace the rumors, why not have fun with it the way Reign had fun with things? But with better writing? Have Cesare and Lucrezia be Secret Looooovers. Have Lucrezia be torn between her brother, who she really shouldn’t be fucking because he’s her brother, and his Actual Foil, Alfonso d'Aragon, WHO SHE ACTUALLY LOVES. I hated that Showtime’s Alfonso was this lil dork who got stomped on by everyone–and I hated that Lucrezia acted like she loved him and treated him like shit. Have her fall in love with this guy, and ramp up the tragedy of his death and the real emotional perversion of her ultimately forgiving her brother for his murder. Sort of? Or does she? The Showtime show actually had them mention “odi et amo” to each other but never followed through on the love/hate thing and I hated it. Also? If you’re gonna go for the “Borgia siblings were fucking” things, go balls to the wall with it. Have Juan want in, like David Oakes clearly thought he did bc he played it that way on the Showtime show. Have Cesare and Lucrezia not fuck and spend the rest of the season being like “that was bad” bc lbr it’s more fun to see them revel in it.

But also, make Cesare A BAD PERSON. He was one. Don’t have him be provoked into evil, have him be evil because he’s an ambitious motherfucker who’s good at it. Have him be involved in the Perotto murder, not Juan. Have him get into real fights with his father over power, and not have it all be forgiven~. More likely, Rodrigo Borgia eventually gave Cesare more power because he really had been outclassed by that point–GO WITH THAT STUDENT SURPASSES THE MASTER SHIT. It’s all classic, it’s all right there, it’s basically Trashy Godfather in the Renaissance which is what I thought the Showtime show would be but then it wasn’t. Have Cesare Borgia be “Michael Corleone except he wants to fuck his sister” and basically run with the plot from there.

But also if they were going Full Reign and putting a lot of modern music into it then play a lot of Lana Del Rey you know what I’m saying??? Lorde’s “Everybody Wants To Rule The World” cover is the theme song. Lucrezia shows up to a big party after Alfonso’s death wearing glam Alexander McQueen widow’s wear and Cesare fucks her on the papal throne, idk. GO. WITH. IT.

So yeah, my two ideals would have been either a genuine prestige show that went more with dark realism (maybe with a touch more incest than what happened in reality bc the Borgias are more fun for audiences when they’re incestuous) or a full on “the family sits down to a poisonous dinner with ‘national anthem’ playing in the background” type show.