#ignore the inconsistent capitalization

[gillipopmoji-archived]

if you follow my non-emoji blog you might've predicted this but wee hyperfixation go brr have some trafficmojis

[kindred-spirit-93]

Jordan II :D

continuation of my prehistoric post!! this is jordan in islamic times :3

for my beloved @notsolonedesert, the love with which this post was written doesnt come close to giving you your due but i hope it suffices till we meet, be it in this life or the next, where we will talk about peoples and civilisations past till our hearts content <3

^^^ ajloun castle; ruins of a byzantine monastery turned fortress rebuilt to serve under salah al din al ayyubi. part of the olive trees below belong to my paternal grandfather & his father before him (the horizon is syria, land of my ancestors) :]

--

picking up where we left off, after about a 400 year reign, the ghassanid kingdom fell and made way for the rashidun caliphate, heralding a new age wrought by the muslim conquest of the levant.

during the lifetime of the prophet peace be upon him, several clashes occured between the muslims and the byzantines, like the battle of mo'tah in 629 AD lead by the martyrd sahaba zaid ibn al harithah, abdullah ibn rawahah, and jafar ibn abi talib, the burial sites of whom are still prominent landmarks today.

jordan btw is home to the tombs of at least 10 prophets and about 20 sahaba (companions of the prophet) such as mu’ath ibn jabal, sharhabil ibn hasna, and abu obeidah ibn al jarrah.

however the actual conquest came 2 years after his death peace be upon him, headed by the first 2 caliphs abu bakr and umar ibn al khattab, and lead by the military genius, the sword of Allah, khalid ibn al walid, may God be pleased with them all.

Anyhows under abu bakr's caliphate liberations of bilad al sham (the levant) began, and the battle of yarmouk in 636 AD/ 15 hijri (under umar bin al khattab) was one of the decisive victories that ended roman- byzantine rule in the region.

--

following the rashidun caliphate (extremely interesting history far far too long to get side tracked into here) is the rise of the ummayads who took damascus as their capital, owing to its strategic location both on the levantine hajj pilgrimage route and the trade route between the levant and the arabian peninsula. many desert castles built were built and some still stand to this day.

The south of jordan, specifically in humayma (a trading post founded by aretas/ al harith III whom u may remember from the last post :D), witnessed the secret meetings and calls that eventually overthrew the ummayad dynasty and kickstarted the abbasid caliphate, lasting an impressive 767 years, their capital being baghdad.

--

my book skips ahead a few centuries and a caliphate or two, so for context; the long reign of the abbasids saw many caliphs and conquerors come and go (might write about the crusades and the holy land, palestine, another time but for now): the fatimid caliphate, a (shia) caliphate originating from tunisia and based in cairo, who named themselves after fatima al zahra, daughter of the prophet and wife of ali may God be pleased with them both, ruled for about 150 years, and the dynasty was overtaken by salah al din al ayyubi, in the west known as saladin, who sought to realign the region with the (sunni) baghdad based abbasid caliphate once more.

in the ayyubid dynasty jordan played a pivotal role as it was an axis for the struggle between the ayyubis in egypt and the levant vs the foreign crusaders in bayt al maqdis (i.e jerusalem/ al quds)

anyway the crusaders realised the strategic and economical importance of jordan to them so in 1115 AD they established several fortresses in each of karak, shobak, and aqaba to serve as points to cut ties and communication between the levant and iraq from one side, and egypt and morocco from another. they also siezed control over the trade routes and threatened the hajj caravans.

quick context heads up: they acted on their threats and violated a truce made in 1185 AD by raiding a hajj caravan to which the sultan swore to kill raynald who btw had committed many similar offences in the past (he was even described as “the greatest and wickedest of the franks, and the most hostile to muslims and dangerous to them”. anyway this is what lead to this next part)

the sultan salah al din didnt spare any efforts, and after the islamic army amassed in what is now north shouneh in jordan (then known as al uqhuwanah) they went on to gain victory in the battle of hattin (short for qurun/ horns of hattin, named after an extinct volcano near where the battle took place) in 1187.

--

AND THEN jordans awesomeness strategic importance once more made itself known in the era of the mamluk sultanate (that succeeded the ayyubid dynasty), being described as the (connecting) link between egypt, the levant, and iraq and the hijaz, with extra special emphasis on the fertility of its land and suitablity for agriculture, so much so its something of a meme here lol.

while the capital of the mamluk sultanate was in cairo, karak here in the south of jordan had a special status as a proxy administration that oversaw large expanses. the land and its people were successful in accommodating many migrants the cities of bilad al sham saw an increase in at the time.

--

anyway when the mongols made their way to bilad al sham, the people contributed what they could from money and supplies, and were active in protecting their homes from invasion. The mamluks were victorious in all their battles agaisnt the mongols except in one and were ultimately conquered and replaced by the ottomans in 1517.

jordan remained under ottoman rule for 4 centuries (1516-1916) which ill be writing extensively about (if I manage to get around to it in my lifetime) in a seperate post along with the more modern history (transjordan and the wretched british mandate etc)

--

thank you for reading this far! i hope you enjoyed and learnt something new lol.

subscribe for more mansafmaxxed jordanpilled historical shenanigans

--

In loving memory of bayt al hikmah, the house of wisdom, destroyed by the mongols in 1258 during their siege of baghdad.

[coldresolve]

i keep gettin questions about some basic demographics for the main players of mm, so im gonna add a link to this post on the masterlist for the curious. if theres sth i forgot to add feel free to ask

the ± is where davin is vague and ambiguous. its a character trait

updated to include howard

[supermarket-marriage]

yum

[psychotrenny]

The Individualist tendencies that Liberals hold make it very annoying when a critical mass of them learn about some form of structural social analysis. It doesn't matter how often you emphasise that you're talking about systems and classes or what have you; they'll always take it personally. Critique of systems is perceived as a metric by which we weed out the "good people" from the "bad people", like the way opposition to Capitalism gets talked about as though it was nothing more than a desire to kill everyone above a certain income bracket. Meanwhile the social context that any particular structure occupies is completely ignored, its current status treated as an ontological characteristic and anything with a sufficient degree superficial similarities is considered to be practically equivalent. It's why you have people that talk about "misandry" and "reverse racism" as though these were every bit as real and important as misogyny and racism; they completely ignore the material reality of bigotry and treat is as nothing more than a matter of interpersonal hostility that varies only in its targets.

Like there's nothing especially esoteric about analysing society on a structural level, as it's something that even better educated Liberals are capable of doing regularly (if inconsistently). But the Idealist and Individualist nature of Liberal ideology means that they'll tend towards this sort of useless worldview unless directly forced to view an issue otherwise; so they may accept specific talking points around structural analysis but won't engage with it on a coherent basis. It's why plenty of liberals with some level of education recognise that androphobia is obvious nonsense but become much more credulous the second you add "trans" to the front. If you want to understand the structures that comprise society, you need to analyse them in a structural way and you need to do so consistently. Any structure is more than a sum of its parts, and so a social structure is more than a sum of the individuals within it. If you can't understand this then it's probably best to shut up and listen. Otherwise you're just embarrassing yourself

[horizon-penblade-art]

Song:

Language or the Kiss -- Ivypool

Holy cow, i kinda can't believe this is done. (Well, for a given value of done -- originally I was hoping to do the full song but this is probably as far as I'm gonna get.)

I started this and made the sketch and the start of the coloring... three years ago, apparently, wow. After which I didn't really work on it at all until a few weeks ago when I finally had the motivation to start coloring it and just keep the sketch as lineart.

Font used: Hey August

ignore the inconsistent capitalization of i as a pronoun

[snail-eggs]

re: tattoo question (because now I have a real answer)

Xixi has 7 tattoos in total, five of which are exactly as they are in game and two of which have placeholders in game.

pictures below the cut (in no particular order)

1. her first tattoo, as mentioned above was the tramp stamp done in some shady guy's even shadier basement. she was 16 when she got it and, surprisingly, doesn't regret it.

2. while we're looking at her back, she also has a waterlily. Waterlilies mean birth and resurrection. She got it after she woke up from her coma. Just felt very on-the-nose and besides, she likes how pretty it is.

3. her first Saints tattoo! Its by far her most dramatic one (especially when you consider it was her second largest at the time and in such a sensitive place). Getting that tattoo was definitely a big show of loyalty to the Saints in her eyes, plus she thinks it makes her look cool.

4. another Saints tattoo. she got this after her coma and after the waterlily. There's no real big reason for this one besides maybe wanting to cover up some burn scars (because there's no way she got off that boat unscathed) and because she just wanted another.

5. a rainbow. she was drunk off her ass after getting her first Saints tattoo. she's just glad she got it somewhere she could hide it. something tells me the work that went into it wasn't the best. the colors are probably all faded once we get to SR2.

6. the barbed wire. remember when I said she wasn't immune to shitty early 2000s tattoo trends? yeah this and the tramp stamp is what I meant. its a lot thicker and genuinely not barbed wire in the game but in canon, she just copied Pam Anderson's. Got it the same year she got her tramp stamp in a less shady (but still shady, she was underaged, let's be forreal) tattoo shop.

placement in game*

actual tattoo*

7. zodiac sign. she got the symbol for Capricorn on her thumb. it was after she got her tramp stamp and her best friend at the time, Charlie, did it. it was a really bad stick and poke with pen ink. she got it touched up eventually. the story behind it makes it one of her favorites. in game its placeheld by bullets.

placement in game*

actual tattoo*

Boss ask meme #5, #15, #20 I had to send you some bc I'm pretty sure one of your posts is the reason I started posting about my Boss on here... therefore leading to me making the Boss ask meme...

It's so crazy to me that one of my posts might have led to someone posting about anything lmaooo. Thank you so much for sending in an ask and thank you for creating the ask meme in the first place!

5. Were they born in Stilwater? If not where are they from and how did they end up there?

Xixi was born in Stilwater! Both her and her dad are Stilwater born and raised but her mom is actually from Cuba. I think that as a kid Xixi always fantasized about leaving though, moving somewhere better, making something of herself. Reality set in really hard after she grew up a little.

15. Are there any small things about them in canon that you've really run with in your headcanon?

I've always found the in-game boss' unflinching-ness with violence really interesting. I wondered how it would apply to Xixi and the type of person she is and I think that she is someone who has an affinity for violence even though she, at first, would rather not.

Being friends with Gat makes her come around to it pretty quickly though.

20. Do they have any tattoos? Are they from the game or something you created?

In all my stages of development for Xixi, one tattoo has been a constant and that is a very poorly done tramp stamp. Like, she had a friend that knew a guy, who knew a guy, and that guy was set up in a moldy basement. What can I say, she's not immune to the shitty trends of the time.

[dani-says-stuff]

Two Skeptics And A Believer Walk Into A Haunted Room...

❥ Back to the Control Center

❥ I'm so so so sorry for the shitty and abrupt ending on this one, I just got bored and kiiinda ran out of ideas on where to take the last 20 or so minutes of the video... who knows I might make a pt. 2 and finish the video at some point if I can think of something to add

━─━────༺✧༻────━─━

Tommyinnit x fem!reader

Summary: Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke right? But, it just so happens to be a very accurate description of you, Tommy, and Jack entering the Ram Inn for your guest appearance on the Sam and Colby youtube channel

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings: creepy stuff, hauntings, demons, language, probably an inaccurate spirit box session, inconsistent capitalization, shitty writing.. this is definately not one of my better ones

Dialogue Key:

Y/N

Tommy

Jack

Sam

Colby

James, the tour guide

━─━────༺✧༻────━─━

The group of you began in a courtyard of the Ram Inn, Jack to your right and Tommy to your left while Sam and Colby stood before you.

Tom had originally just asked Jack to come with him for the video, assuming you'd want nothing to do with it after how annoyed you seemed during the entire 'uncle nasty' situation. He quickly realized his mistake when you followed him around the apartment for an hour begging him to ask Sam and Colby if you could come along. 

"And what about you?" Sam asked, eyes trained on you.

Jack had finished telling the story of his experience on stream and Tom declared his adamancy that ghosts aren't real, but you'd yet to speak. 

"Oh I believe 100%" you spoke with a smile, completely ignoring your boyfriend perched beside you staring at you as if you were insane, "I've always wanted to try something like this, I just couldn't justify spending all the money on equipment."

"Yeah" Sam drawled out scratching the back of his neck, "it does get a bit expensive." 

"Exactly!" you chirped, gesturing to the two older boys before you, "but since you already have it... now I get to do it free of charge!"

━─━────༺✧༻────━─━

You quickly noticed, that despite his insistence that everything was fine, Tom was starting to get jumpier than normal inside the building.

Usually, whenever a camera is around, your boyfriend became a hyper-sugar-high-nighmare that would be bouncing off the walls and jumping all over the place. Now, however, it seemed he barely registered the camera being on at all.

Instead, he seemed dazed, taking special care to analyze every corner of the room and register every individual item placed in the general area. If you didn't know about the demons that were said to call this place their home, you'd say the scariest thing was the way Tom was acting. 

The guide soon gathered the group in the center of the room to begin the tour, "There's two main demons, One's an incubus and one's a succubus. John, who owned the building, he was attacked by them quite a lot."

You closed your eyes, lowering your head slightly in embarrassment for what was to come. You'd been dating Tom long enough to know exactly where his mind was at.

"So was he like... into demon..." 

You didn't expect that though. 

"Why would you ask that?" you hissed slapping his shoulder, before looking back to your guide, "was he though? I am kinda curious now."

Jack mumbled, shaking his head similar to that of a parent watching their kids doing something they shouldn't, "Children."

"No." James responded, drawing out his answer as if deliberating in his mind, "No, no-no."

Tommy looked down at you right as you looked up at him. The both of you stared at each other for all of two seconds before nodding in conclusion. 

"Yeah-"

"-he definitely did."

As the rest of the group continued talking over the specifics of the demons in the Inn, it took all of your strength to keep from laughing at your boyfriend.

"So like" Tommy cut off the guide, "what are the boundaries sexually? like I'm not trying to be immature... this is just like really freaking me out-"

"Tom!" you gasped through laughter, "it's a demon! Love, I dont think it has boundaries."

The rest of the group began laughing, everyone but Tommy. 

"Well what about my boundaries!" he complained hands splayed across his chest, only making you laugh harder "Don't laugh at me! I'm being serious!"

James, the tour guide entered the conversation, "No, is not no."

Toms's facial expression dropped, one hand going for your wrist while the other continued gesturing out before him as he spoke, "I- Well, mate that's not how that works!"

By now, you were practically on the floor with laughter, the only thing keeping you up was your arm raised high above you in Tommy's grip. 

"They're a demon, I don't think they care."

"Well, I care!"

━─━────༺✧༻────━─━

"This room by far is the most... decorated?" you spoke, looking around at all the creepy items placed around the room. 

"Yeah, it's like theyre trying to make this place scary" Sam agreed, looking down at a dusty mirror desplaying the words 'help me' at the back wall of the room. 

Jack took the singular chair in the room, while the rest of the group stayed standing, listening as the tour continued. 

Well, continued for all of a few minutes when a candle fell from the table behind where Jack sat. 

You jumped, grabbing onto Tommy, "I didn't like-"

You were swiftly cut off by a girl's voice coming from the window, "Nope. I really didn't like that."

The group began freaking out, Sam moving closer to investigate the noise and Tommy tugging your arm behind him, shuffling in front of you. Creating as much space from that general area and you as he could. 

"Hello?" he shouted, one arm holding you behind him and the other holding the Minecraft sword before him, "Hello? Can you check the window?"

Everyone began deliberating what was going on, trying to figure out an explanation for what was going on. By now, you were burrowing yourself into Tom's side, one of his arms securely wrapped around you, swinging the sword before the both of you as he tried to get the group to go check outside. 

Sam tried to bring up the candle, but Tommy had his mind set on figuring out what was going on. The candle could wait, but if there were people waiting outside messing with you all, they could easily leave at any second. 

However, after checking around several times, it became obvious that whatever you heard wasn't outside the hotel.

It had to have been inside.

━─━────༺✧༻────━─━

You all decided to cut the tour short and begin the investigation due to the amount of stuff you all seemed to be experiencing.

So, you all began the night in the witch's room with the spirit box.

"Is there anything here that wants to talk to us?"

"Please just say Hi or something" Tommy spoke bouncing anxiously on his feet, "I'm really just not having a good time-"

Ooh

Sam pointed down at the box, a smile growing on his face "Was that just a hello?"

Jack, on the other hand, wasnt as easily convinced, "Eh... it was a very faint something."

"Can you tell us a name? or who you might be?"

After a few moments of silence, Tommy and Jack made up an impromptu rap for the ghosts, and despite a few other unintelligible noises, nothing else seemed to happen in the room. 

However, before leaving the room, you set up the REM pod on the bed just in case. 

"I just remembered something" Sam spoke up when the REM pod began to go off in response to Jack, "The witch only likes respect..."

"Oh, thats right!" Colby shouted, "That's why we got the offerings-" 

You whipped around, facing the tall raven-haired man behind you, eyebrows raised high, "I'm sorry... the what?"

"Yeah! The witch will only talk to people if she wants to. because like, if you're being disrespectful or too stupid she's like 'I don't wanna talk'"

You turned back, clicking your tongue and shrugging with fake sympathy as you faced Tommy. "You hear that?" you sighed, resting a hand on his shoulder, "Looks like we're gonna have to kick you out of this investigation."

Tommy sputtered looking around, "Wha- Why?" 

Jack stepped forward, knowing where you were going with this, "Yeah mate," he added shaking his head sorrowfully, "You may have to wait outside for this one."

 You and Jack looked at each other with a smirk, 

"Ya know," you continued, "to keep you from acting-"

"-too stupid"

"-Too stupid" 

Tommy looked at the both of you, mouth agape. "Common now, that was just mean."

━─━────༺✧༻────━─━

For the first Estes method run of the night, Tommy volunteered to go under as you all investigated the first floor. The rest of you now stood huddled around him as he sat in the rocking chair with the headphones on. 

"Is there anybody here with us? you were just making the REM pod go off earlier"  

Get Down.

"Were we being disrespectful upstairs?"

Me and You. 

"Is anyone upstairs?"

I need you.

You furrowed your brows at that. Both Sam and Colby brought up the succubus, but neither directly asked the question, so you decided you would. 

"Like the succubus? O-or Incubus I guess? I dunno one of the demons?"

silence.

"You said you needed something? What do you need?" you asked again, but still received no response. 

You laughed a little to yourself, "Welp I guess it doesn't like me then." your eyes widened, "Actually, uh, ghosts, please do not confirm or deny that statement... I think I'd rather you be silent on that one, I don't really want to know." 

The rest of the group, except for Tommy obviously, laughed a little under their breath at your words before continuing the investigation. 

"Is there something evil here? something that's keeping you here?"

Going on. 

"Something evil going on"

"That makes sense" you agreed, "It's the most haunted place in England right?" you asked looking between the two, "It has to have had something evil going on at some point"

"Yeah" Colby nodded, "this place has had "Evil" for around 5,000 years." 

"We hear there's demons here, is that true?"

Earth Under.

"Like... buried?" you asked.

Jack nodded at your words, adding another question for the two boys, "Yeah, because a lot of shit was like, dug up here as well, right-"

Tunnel to the left.

"oh my god," you breathed out, "Isn't that where they dug up that grave?"

"Oh yeah!" Sam exclaimed running over into the next room, "this is where they found the tunnel that used to be a grave, which would've been-"

"-to my left."

The three of you scurried back into the room where Tommy and Colby stayed to continue talking to the ghosts.

"Are you talking about the tunnel in the other room? where did that lead to?"

no response. 

Just as you were about to ask a question, Tom yelped, quickly grabbing the headphones and ripping them off due to a low, loud, and deep voice suddenly coming through the speakers. 

next under, was Jack. 

"What's your purpose here ghost? What do you want?"

The child

You and Tommy both began freaking out at that while Sam and Colby stood to the side somewhat confused. 

"Everyone used to call me the child!" he yelled, a vice-like grip on your arm as he spoke to the other two and the camera, "Everyone would call me the child!"

"Woah... whats even weirder" Sam explained, "was the bones they found underneath here were a child's."

"Well, uh, that's good" your voice shook slightly, "that means it might not be referring to you then." 

"Do- do you mean tunnel child or- or Tom child?" 

no answer.

"ya know," you spoke nervously, "I kinda wanted to try, but now I'm not too sure." 

Yes. 

"oh no." you laughed, "I-uh, I didn't like that at all."

"Are you sure you do not want to try?" Sam asked, laughter in his tone, "I think they want you to"

Yes.

"Well..." you drawled, "I don't really uh, I don't really know... we seem to be getting a lot here without me doing that.."

"We are going back to the witch's room next to give her an offering" Colby mentioned, "you could do it there if you'd like. We didn't get much activity up there."

"True" you trailed off, thinking it over, "Yeah sure, I'll do it there."

━─━────༺✧༻────━─━

Not too long later, you were now sat in a different chair up in the witch's room, getting ready for the Estes method after giving the witch her new Minecraft creeper and scrub-daddy offerings. 

"Nah" you spoke, waving Tom over near you, "You sit right there and give me your hand" you demanded pointing to the floorboards to your side. 

"Why?"

"Because I know how you are. No way I'm letting you float around this room to scare me and tap on my shoulders and shit- sit down."

And with that, Tommy sat on the floor, hand folded in yours as you put the headphones on and pulled down the blindfold. 

"Is anyone here with us?" 

Nothing.

"Elspeth, are you here with us?"

You jumped in your chair, not quite ready to hear anything come through the headphones.

Yes.

"Have you found us disrespectful?"

One.

"One of us was disrespectful?"

"Probably fucking Tom." Jack scoffed, rolling his eyes.

"AY! Why'd you say that!"

"Oh I don't know, you're the one that has been yelling at her!"

"Have not!" 

"you just were like two seconds-"

you squeezed Tom's hand, unknowingly cutting off Jack and Tommy's argument as you spoke,  "I don't know what it just said, but it sounded like laughing at the end."

Colby tilted his head, eyes furrowing, "laughing? why would she be laughing?"

'm not. 

"What do you mean you're not?" Tom pestered, "You just did so-"

Him. 

Toms's brow crinkled further, confusion settling into his expression.

"Him?" Sam asked, "Do you mean it's not Elspeth anymore?"

"Yeah, are we talking to someone else?" 

your head quirked to the side, confused at the noise coming through the headphones, "It's like a bell?" you spoke, "Yeah like I hear a bell ringing."

"Oh!" Sam yelled, "Like ding ding, that's right!"

"Maybe"

"Who are you then? who are we speaking to?"

Bad.

"You're bad? Or is something here bad?"

Evil. 

"What do you mean evil?"

The next. 

Colby turned to Sam, realization dancing in his eyes, "The bishop's room. Thats our next stop, known to be a center for the demon-"

You yelped, tearing off the headphones when loud, evil laughter flooded your ears. You squeezed Tom's hand, yanking his arm to get a semi-awkward positioned hug from the boy. 

"That sucked" you spoke, voice muffled by his sweatshirt. 

"What happened?" he asked you, eyes wide and gaze quickly moving to each of the older guys in the group, attempting to calm you the best he can while freaking out himself. 

"There was loud laughter." you explained, gesturing around our head, "it was like thousands of people all laughing all around my head."

Once again.... so very sorry for the shitty ending- I couldn't think of anything else to put...

[longing-for-rain]

What immensely bothers me about the way Kataang was written is that it not only hurt Katara's character, but Aang's character as well.

The writers set up the subplot of Aang needing to let go of his idealistic vision of Katara and then... just completely ignored it throughout the entirety of S3?

While I'm not saying that every ATLA character needed to go through an extensive character development, Aang having little to no development as a person and a leader (I am not talking about his physical training as a bender here) is some extremely disappointing writing, considering he is THE protagonist.

It's actually baffling to me how much the show deliberately dodges most oppurtunities to develop Aang as a character and how much the poor handling of Kataang plays a role in it.

Instead of Aang slowly growing to appreciate Katara as a person with all her flaws and quirks and trying to understand her way of thinking and culture, which culminates in him EARNING his Avatar state, we get the inconsistent mess, full of unresolved arguments and overstepped boundaries, that is S3 Kataang, Aang getting the girl only because he's the Hero™ (even though their last interaction before the kiss was an unresolved argument) and Aang being saved by Deus Ex Machina. TWICE. All of which could have been easily fixed, if the writers actually capitalized on the development that was already set up to happen.

I would be more willing to accept the points "he's literally twelve" and "why are you getting so worked up over which fictional characters are dating", if the writing didn't waste the blatant oportunity to develop the character, and if the ship in question didn't nuke any development its characters recieved.

Like, you don't even have to be a Zutara shipper to see how Kataang basically shat on both Aang and Katara as characters.

Agree with all of this, but I want to focus on this bit right here:

I would be more willing to accept the points "he's literally twelve" and "why are you getting so worked up over which fictional characters are dating", if the writing didn't waste the blatant oportunity to develop the character, and if the ship in question didn't nuke any development its characters recieved.

Here’s the thing. Aang is the protagonist of the show. You know, the one character who absolutely should have a solid arc and experience meaningful growth. I’m not saying he had no growth. But it’s just like you said, there are some pretty glaring plot holes surrounding his story. Could be excusable for a side character, but for the protagonist? Really not great.

And people will also act like romance is no big deal, but I think it really shines a light on how Katara is viewed by the creators and fans in relation to romance. From Aang’s perspective, romance can be treated as a minor add-on at the end because it’s narratively framed as his reward for saving the day. Aang doesn’t have to fundamentally change as a character to enter into that romance. It is written in a way that centers him.

Katara, however, does change. That can be seen in any post-canon material. I know they’ll keep trying to retcon this, but Legend of Korra will always exist to show us how little regard for these people have for female characters they’ve relegated to love interests.

[our-hextech-dream]

ACTUALLY I'M NOT DONE RANTING. because arcane is the new canon lore, what does it mean that a city struggling with the effects of magic hasn't reached out to or even mentioned demacia, a nation that actively suppresses the effects of magic and it's completely routine for them. what does it mean that jayce still considers mages to be a myth when the entire continent of ionia and the vastaya exist, as well as the historical record of mage suppression in demacia. the leaders of noxus are well-known powerful mages and they routinely use mages in their army. there are other mages in piltover and zaun even if the story refuses to show them and is pretending they don't exist. piltover is supposed the trading capital of the world, a hugely influential and multicultural hub, but there's this level of ignorance about magic and mages?

why did heimerdinger watch brand blow up and then try to build demacia 2 without any of demacia's support or anti-magic tech in this universe? it doesn't make any sense!! arcane was supposed to be an au divorced from the rest of league's context, so it was fine for all that inconsistency to exist - it was to tell a story about jinx and vi in a low-magic setting. but now it's canon, so they say, so all this does matter. runeterra literally cannot function as a low-magic setting. there is magic bursting from the seams of the world! there's an entire mountain in shurima with a magic dragon god living at the top. there are so many mages and magic beings running around that having an entire nation who hates them is an oddity and there's active rebellion there. but somehow piltover is just. totally unaware and disconnected from all of this.

[kinjedl]

Man, capitalism really is all kinds of fucked up.

I have ADHD. Officially diagnosed, I have a piece of paper somewhere with that info on record.

I also have a really good job. I got lucky and do work that doesn't fill every hour of my day.

I'm extremely fortunate, and grateful for that.

But also.

I have to sit in front of a computer screen watching Teams and email in case something that needs my attention comes up. It does, on a not infrequent basis.

I recently did something in Minecraft, a video game I play for fun. I enjoy playing because it offers me the ability to set goals for myself and be creative to accomplish them, but in this particular case, I did not enjoy my time playing.

The thing I was doing required me to sit still, in game, because I was waiting on something to happen, and it only could do so if my character was nearby.

I didn't know how long I had to wait, though, and the info I found online was spotty and inconsistent (I was doing something from a mod, and there are multiple versions of it, each with their own wiki, none of which are particularly extensive.)

So I sat there, playing a video game by doing nothing, while waiting for an unknown arbitrary amount of time passed, with inconsistent feedback about what was going on and how well I was doing it.

I quit after almost 2 hours of increasing frustration.

Talking with the other people in my house the next day, I realized that if I were going to design psychological torture for myself, it would actually follow basically that same pattern. I had to sit there, not doing any of the things I wanted, but I couldn't just afk and ignore the game, because I needed to be able to respond quickly when the thing I was waiting for finally happened.

Just two hours of being actively mentally engaged... with nothing. No feedback, no puzzles or anything, just... forcing my mind to focus on nothing.

(The next day I figured out how to get info and succeeded at my goal, but it still took way longer than it should have.)

And then tonight I had the realization that I'm doing that professionally. Not all the time, but I've spent a lot of hours just. Forcing myself to focus. On something I don't care about.

Torturing my adhd brain into submission.

So someone who doesn't know my name can make some extra profit to add to the billions they already have.

[love-sapphirerose]

The Inuyasha Anime Doesn’t Need A Sequel

Yashahime is the sequel to Inuyasha. Though it had lofty goals to focus on the children of beloved characters from the original, it fell flat. The series tried to capitalize on Inuyasha’s success, but with various plot holes, inconsistency in animation, and info-dumping at the end of seasons, it would have been better had it not been made. 

After The End Of Inuyasha

Yashahime is set somewhere around 18 years after the end of Inuyasha. The series follows the story of Sesshomaru’s twin daughters, Towa and Setsuna. Towa and Setsuna got separated when they were young. One was sent to the past and one to the future.

However, when Towa ends up back in the past, she meets up with her sister, only to realize she doesn’t remember her life or sister at all. The twins search for the memory thief, the Dream Butterfly, and meet up with their cousin, Moroha, the daughter of Inuyasha and Kagome. Unfortunately, the girl doesn’t know much about her parents at all and is on a mission to figure out what happened to them. 

Though throughout the series, you get to learn bits and pieces of the original Inuyasha characters, the story is heavily focused on the three girls as they try to find answers and recover their memories. 

Yashahime Tried To Clear An Impossibly High Bar

It’s always hard to make a sequel. There were a lot of high expectations that the creators had to live up to. With the manga artist who originally wrote Inuyasha not involved in Yashahime, fans had set the bar rather high. 

Unfortunately, Yashahime didn’t live up to the original, even when keeping expectations in check. Besides the fact that Inuyasha was a great show that wrapped up well and didn’t need a sequel by any means, there’s also the fact that the continuation was done poorly. 

Uneven Animation Holds The Series Back

Animation alone is a major problem. While the style was meant to be modern, with nods to Inuyasha’s more classic style, it fell down on both counts. Some areas have incredible detail and movement; however, other areas, like the talking animation, are weakly done. With some well-done animation in some areas, the weaker animation stands out more. 

Relies On Exposition Dumps

The plot often loses its place as well. Inuyasha had its fair share of fillers, but the story mostly progressed reasonably and made sense. Yashahime, on the other hand, has a lot going on at once, making the story bounce around. Additionally, many plot lines aren’t followed for a while or ignored completely until later, when all the information is dumped on the viewers at once. 

Not Always Worth It To Continue The Story

Between Yashahime and Boruto, a sequel to Naruto, there seems to be a trend of taking beloved classics and trying to continue the story after the original ended. Unfortunately, for both of these shows, all it’s done is prove that it’s not easy to try and continue a beloved story years later, especially with the children of beloved characters. It’s best to leave the originals to themselves. 

Inuyasha has a score of 7.86 on My Anime List and a popularity ranking of #238. However, Yashahime only has a score of 6.71 and a popularity ranking of #1797. If you want to see Inuyasha’s sequel for yourself, Yashahime is available to watch on Hulu.

[visenyaism]

if this isn't anything, ignore it, but i was thinking about us american fans assigning regions to westeros and i was wondering if there are things in asoiaf to you that have you going, ah yes, this was written by a capital a American?

i don’t know. I go pretty hard for southern appalachian riverlands and chesapeake bay of crabs (dick crabb average maryland resident) but other than the westerlands being full of arrogant blonde people who are obsessed with gold mining and value appearances and political narratives over objective truth (that’s hollywood, baby!).

Ultimately the most american thing about a song of ice and fire are the substantial inconsistencies with how much gold dragons and silver stags are worth where a dragon can simultaneously be like $300 or 50 cents. This is obviously a reference to the collapse of the bimetallist monetary policy of the populist party in the mid-1890s two decades after the collapse of the wartime greenback system (roberts rebellion) due to failure to adequately balance the dual gold and silver standards (ice and fire) leading to the further decline of the american farmer (average riverlands resident)’s standard of living as the value of specie plummeted. in this essay i will

[dex1o]

I saw someone on Tiktok say that Hobie Brown’s identity as an anarchist is played for laughs, and that the impact of his message is reduced by turning anarchism into a “joke,” but I’d have to say I respectfully disagree with that idea.

Sure, when we first meet him, Hobie’s attitude is blasé at best. He takes the time to banter with Pavitr and Gwen, makes jokes about not believing in “teams” “consistency” and “comedy,” and later calls a giant, universe-threatening hole in the ground a “metaphor for capitalism.” All those quips are designed to make the audience laugh, to endear us to him and maybe make us take him less seriously, but those things are all said while he is wearing the mask.

Even within the movie itself, it’s established that Spider-people are jokesters. Part of their identity is their ability to play serious situations for laughs, and Hobie is no different. The only exception to this rule would be Miguel O’Hara. I think that the worst thing the producers could have done would have been to immediately make Hobie a no-nonsense guy, because that would take the spotlight away from O’Hara and make him less of a unique character.

It’d also make anarchism seem miserable and negative, which isn’t a good look for any ideology. Why does it need to be pessimistic? Why can’t there be elements of light-heartedness within it?

Furthermore, when we reach the Spider society, and Hobie removes his mask, his demeanor changes. He becomes more straightforward, telling Miles outright to not “enlist until [he] knows what war [he’s] fighting” and begins to take what he needs in order to eventually use the Society’s technology against them. He seems inconsistent initially, but one thing that remains constant throughout is his distrust of the establishment. Truly, his attitudes of being anti-authority and anti-establishment are a key part in helping Miles and setting up the events of the next movie.

If they wanted to paint anarchism in a negative light, they would have made Hobie’s beliefs invalid, they would have made the Spider Society a force entirely for good, but instead they made it so his views are warranted. He was right to rebel, right to be distrustful and distant, and his actions directly result in Miles’ escape and Gwen being able to form a new team of Spider-people to support Miles in the next movie. 

Thematically, Hobie embodies the central theme of rejecting the status-quo and fighting for something better despite the odds. He’s one man infiltrating an entire organization of Spider-people in order to take it down from the inside, and he does it. In the end, he succeeds. If that’s not a positive depiction of anarchy, I don’t know what is.

Hobie’s influence, and anarchism itself, is a driving force in this movie. I don’t truly understand how one would say otherwise without nitpicking fine details and ignoring the bigger picture.

[canichangemyblogname]

No. See. You need to understand.

Right wing conspiracy theorists aren’t actually afraid of billionaires. When they’re tweeting and posting about billionaires putting microchips in our heads or under our skin with vaccines; or when they’re shouting about shady billionaires controlling our politics; or even when they say things like “capitalists control the world” or “the elites are oppressing the working man,” they are being antisemitic. It’s not class consciousness.

They aren’t commenting on the power of “dark money” (where donors are undisclosed) in US politics or the influence of “big money.” They aren’t critiquing decisions like Citizens United or complaining about the obscene amounts of money funneled into campaigns. They don’t actually care about these things. In fact, if you let them talk long enough, you’ll find they agree with these things as part of a “free market” or something.

They are being antisemitic. They don’t believe that men like Elon Musk are a problem. They’d probably characterize him as the embodiment of the American Dream. They’d defend his right to do absolutely stupid shit with his money. They’d say he’s a genius, an innovator, and that the only reason you’re angry about his politics is because you’re jealous. They also tweet about “billionaires” trying to implant microchips into us through the vaccines while remaining silent about Musk’s neuralink. Why? Because when they use words like “billionaire,” “capitalist,” or “elite,” they mean “Jews.” Because they genuinely believe Jewish people control every monetary and financial system around the globe.

It seems many leftists do not recognize this. This ignorance of dogwhistles combined with a friendliness to anti-capitalist rhetoric makes many leftists susceptible to conspiratorial antisemitism and recruitment by the right.

These right-wing conspiracy goons aren’t the perfect subject for your Marxist praxis. You’re not going to convince them of the benefits of socialism. They’re just going to condition you to propaganda and make you further susceptible to an antisemitic worldview and policies. You might think they’re being ideologically *inconsistent* right now and are writing them off as dense and witless, but you will eventually find yourself far enough down the rabbit hole that what they’re saying “makes sense” and is ideologically consistent.

They don’t actually hate capitalism. They don’t actually see it as an exploitative economic system. Fuck, their most lukewarm seemingly anti-capitalist ideas are often incredibly vague and half-formed. “Capitalists control the world.” Okay? Thanks for a very… non-specific, vague, and half-formed ideological statement that fails to understand the complexity of capitalism as an economic system. Anything else? Any commentary on the instability of an economic system based on private profit? Any analysis on what this capitalist dominance means for the world, like its relationship with colonialism? Any suggestions for how to create a more equitable economic system? Any study of class consciousness, the intersectionality of class, the social bounds of a class, or class struggle? Anything beyond capitalism? Do they consider misogynistic, racist, colonial, or ableist systems? Are they normal about Jewish people? No. Nothing.

[autism-purgatory]

OC mega questionnaire

thanks for the tag @the-golden-comet! I’ll pick Tors and Feron from Our Lonely Ocean! This’ll probably be the last tag game for this WIP before I start posting the chapters on AO3 :)

What is your favorite thing to do to avoid responsibility?

Tors: “If I’m not in the mood to train or hunt, I’ll just say there’s an emergency with Taos or whatever. Always works.”

Feron: “I-uh…I don’t. I don’t have any excuses and I don’t want to find out the consequences of making them.”

If you could choose anyone in the world to be your sibling who would it be?

Tors: “Already got a twin brother. One is enough…”

Feron: “I wouldn’t want siblings, it looks…unpleasant, to say the least.”

What is the most sublime thing you have ever eaten and why?

Tors: “Cooked dragon hide alllllll the way from Vulcada. The Drakes seem nice enough, but I’m pretty sure them eating dragons counts as cannibalism.”

Feron: “Amber-preserved meat from the Quorian Capital. While I was thankful to be shipped one, it tasted like dirt, at least to me.”

What was the worst day of your life?

Tors: *doesn’t respond*

Feron: “T-The storm that killed my parents. I think I was nine at the time. I remember getting a scar on my lip from a flying chunk of wood. I-I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

What’s your worst nightmare?

Tors: “Losing both of my hands. I’ve lost a lot of parts and would do fine with one arm, but losing both of them to some fucking beast would be pretty horrible. I already don’t got that many fingers.”

Feron: “Getting stuck in a thunderstorm…or a hurricane…or a flood. As in, the most common weather occurrences in Quoria.

If a monster asked you your worst nightmare what would you tell it and why?

Tors: “I’d kill it, end of story.”

Feron: “I would be honest. L-Lying won’t keep me safe so I’ll do what it wants.”

Would you give away secret information if tortured? Be honest.

Tors: “Probably. Torture isn’t super effective, and they don’t have a lot of parts to work with.”

Feron: “Y-Yes. Absolutely.”

Who could you trust most with a secret?

Tors: “Taos. My brother’s always understood me, even before we could talk. Other than Feron, he’s the only one who knows my love for…never mind.”

Feron: “Nobody, not anymore, not even Tors.”

You have been caught somewhere you shouldn’t be! Quick, what is your excuse?

Tors: “I’m the Gods dammed royal guard, I don’t need an excuse.”

Feron: “I-I could use my position as a knight, or a noble, even if I’m not one anymore…”

How good is your sleep schedule?

Tors: “Pretty shit, all things considered. I wake up at around five to train the squires or hunt, then I spend a good chunk of the night reading or skinning.”

Feron: “It’s rather inconsistent. It all depends on the day. If there have been more monster sightings than usual, we wake up earlier sometime around six.”

Do you have any siblings? If so, is your relationship good?

Tors: “Mhm. Got a twin brother, Taos.”

Feron: “I have no siblings. My grandparents were too old to bear any more children.”

What’s the toughest time you had to endure growing up?

Tors: “Most of my childhood wasn’t all that great. My dad wasn’t super present since he was the royal guard and left mum to do all the caring. The worst worst was recovering from my trial when I was fifteen. I was stuck in bed for a good six months with a clawed out eye, one ear missing, and a few fingers gone.”

Feron: “The days after being banished. I-I was always so cold…starving…wanting to die.”

What’s your relationship with your family like?

Tors: “Love my brother to death, same with mum, I’d die for them without skipping a beat.”

Feron: *shakes his head and ignores the question*

Do you have any hobbies? If so, what ones?

Tors: Skinning monsters, stuffing them, hauling their guts to local healing mages or the royal chefs. Got a lot of beast skulls on my wall, makes them less scary.

Feron: “Oh, I love cartography! I love mapping out caves and cities, it’s quite the obsession since I was young.”

Do you dream often?

Tors: “Yeah, doesn’t everyone?”

Feron: “I’m sure I do, I just don’t remember them.”

What do you dream about?

Tors: “Honestly? Really random rubbish, nothing of note.”

Feron: “l always dream of somewhere calming, like a garden back home. It never looks exactly like how I remember it, though.”

Have you ever been in love?

*They make extremely fast glances at each other before looking away and hoping nobody notices*

What is your least favorite thing in the world?

Tors: “Beasts, monsters, whatever you call them. Primeval humans brought a shit ton to Neretia before The Blank. They’re parasites to the islands.”

Feron: “Hurricanes. I-I’d pray every night for safety when I was younger. They happen so often in Quoria, every island has had at least one notable disaster because of them.

What is your pet peeve?

Tors: “Ignorance. I’ve dealt with plenty of stuffy nobles saying that killing beasts is wrong. They don’t even provide any reasons, they’re right just because.”

Feron: *Spoilers :)*

Would you consider yourself different?

Tors: “Eh, not really. I’m strong enough to protect Neretia, but I’ve met plenty of warriors who could kick my arse like it’s nothing.”

Feron: “N-No, at least by noble standards.”

How far would you go to save a loved one?

Tors: “I’d die, or kill a lot of people or monsters.”

Feron: “I-I’d try everything in my power, but I wouldn’t die for someone.”

Would you team up with your worst enemy if it was your only option?

Tors: “Sure, why not, but the second the job’s done we’re back to hating each other.”

Feron: “Yes, if it was in my best interest, or if they were a powerful asset.”

What is the worst insult you can give?

Tors: “Don’t think I can say it out loud.”

Feron: “Uh…Cunt? Is that good enough?”

Are you a jealous person?

Tors: “Depends. Not a huge fan of anybody that’s contended for the throne or royal guard.”

Feron: “Sometimes. Quorian culture isn’t as…accepting as others, so I feel at least a sliver of envy with foreign nobles.”

Have you ever committed a crime?

Tors: “Technically, but it’s under the name of Neretia so it’s fine.”

Feron: “Why do you want to know?”

Are you neat or messy?

Tors: “Neat. Actually fuck it, messy. I’ll know where everything is, at least.”

Feron: “Neat, I couldn’t understand why someone has a messy room. Tors’ quarters looks like a cry for help…”

How do you feel about crying?

Tors: “It’s necessary, everyone does it. Not a huge fan of doing it anywhere that isn’t private.”

Feron: “Agreed, though a lot of Quorians think otherwise.”

Let it out or hold it in?

Tors: “Similar to the last question. Let it out, just don’t do it where strangers can see you.”

Feron: “Sometimes you can’t hold it in, I’ve dealt with that plenty of times.”

Who do you live for? Why?

Tors: “I dunno, my family? The king?”

Feron: “M-Myself, I guess. It wasn’t always like that.”

Who has betrayed you most?

Spoilers :)

I’ll leave this open tag bc this is a fucking MONOLITH.