#is is going the be the poll I have the strongest opinions about so far lol

[littleragondin]

Best Siblings in BL - A Proposed List

I am incredibly excited for the Best Siblings in BL Bracket, it's hands down the one I had waited for the most. Consequently, I have submitted quite a few options and I am thinking why not share them all here. Consider this pre-propaganda for the ones that will be picked up for the bracket!

The ones I can see win this:

Yang and Tian from To Sir, With Love.

On paper, they had everything going against them: their respective mothers hate each other and try to turn them against each other, their father treats them unfairly differently, one of them is keeping a huge secret, the other falls for his brother’s fiancée … And yet!! they turn out to be the most loyal brothers we have ever seen in BL. They clearly adore each other, they protect each other and do whatever they can to make the other happy. Yang keeps Tian’s secret, encourages his hobbies and passions, and make sure he knows he’s loved, Tian defends Yang from their father, worries and fusses about him, and is always in his corner. They are simply wholesome and their love is top tier.

Minoru and Tane from Our Dining Table.

How could you not fall for the adorableness of this sibling duo? There is a huge age gap between Minoru and Tane, even further complicated by the fact that Minoru had to step up in taking care of his baby brother after their mother’s death. And yet, despite the difficulties the situation causes, both boys love each other so much. Even when Minoru is tired or frustrated, he always try to do his best by his brother. And Tane is just the sweetest (and most realistic tbh) little six years old I have ever had the joy to see in a BL. The scene where Tane babbles about poop curry and Minoru answers without listening until it finally clicks? peak sibling behavior.

Ton-hom and Long Pao from My Only 12%.

The two of them were fantastic older siblings to Seeiw. While he seemed a little closer to Ton-hom, they both always were there for him during the whole run of the story. They always looked out for him and took care of him, and it was obvious that he felt safe to tell them thing. They both provided comfort and gentle advice every time he needed it, helping him take responsibility for his mistakes but still ensuring he knew they were here for him. The gentleness that permeated through their relationship in every episodes really made them a strong contender for best siblings imo.

The underdogs I still would love to see go far:

Livy and Mikey from Rainbow Prince

The twins in Rainbow Prince have such a lovely, sweet relationship. They love and trust each other, and distance clearly hasn’t affected this. Also they share a beautiful duet song about how they’ll always be here for each other, and I think that has to count for something!

Kiw and Seuadao from My Secret Love

They were such quintessential little sisters, the both of them. They were bored with their older brothers’ antics in the way teen siblings often are, yet ultimately very invested in them working out and being happy. I’m sending them as a unit because the way they teamed up for/against their brothers was adorable – and they resemble each other a lot both in character and in their relationship to their respective brother.

Diao and Dao from Rakdiao

While they may not look like it at first glance, with their constant bickering and dramatic antics (hello sitcom writing), or the way Dao steamrolls her brother’s boundaries and Diao’s temper tantrums, they actually are quite a sweet pair of siblings. Diao came to live with his sister so she could keep her home after a breakup, and he worries that he may not be able to do so and will cause trouble for her. Dao wants he brother to find someone to build a family with, and even if she teases and mock a little, she worries when he gets in trouble and knows his worth. They do love each other, in their bizarre, over the top ways.

The ones I would really be happy to see win - the UWMA propaganda:

Dean, Don and Del Wongnate

I think those three deserve a spot in this list because their dynamic is just SO interesting. Don and Del have a maybe more classic relationship to each other, they are only a year apart, grew up together, and they are obviously very close despite how different they are. And then there is Dean, who just came back to live with them, whose shadow obviously loomed over them all their life, who is their older brother and isn’t sure he knows how to be, and they all have to adjust to the new dynamic at home this leads to. What makes them so good in my opinion is that they actively try to make this work, they want to be good siblings to each other. It’s sometimes clumsy (Dean telling Don he cannot go out because he shouldn't leave Del alone), it’s sometimes plain sweet (Del being heartbroken that Dean stops eating breakfast with them??), and it’s just very loving in the end.

Intouch and Ahn Chatpokin

The women in Intouch’s life love him very much, especially his older sister. In always trusts his sister with his secret, and Ahn while worrying for him, always protect and take care of him, and she never reconsider his role in the life of her daughter. She was already a teen when he came into her life, she sang to him when he cried as a babe and held him when he cried as a young man, she tried her best to shield him from their father, and she should never have had to bury her baby brother so young.

Korn, Krit and Kard Ariyasakul

Maybe the least focused on siblings of the show, I think they actually do deserve a place in that Best Siblings selection too. Korn, on top of everything going on with his father, always stand as a shield between his violence and his little brothers. He hates it, but he will sacrifice his dreams and aspirations so his brothers can follow theirs. And that love is entirely reciprocated, both Krit and Kard being here for him when their father hurt him, Krit ready to let go of his dream of becoming a cop to alleviate Korn’s burden, Kard naming his sons with the names both his brothers chose when they were young. Those three brothers loved each other so much, and my heart breaks every time I think of Krit, grown up and a father himself, telling Pharm "I don't have any brother left..."

I am, very obviously, missing a lot of really good siblings from really good shows, but those are the ones I love the most across all the shows I have seen. Can't wait to see everyone's submissions and reasons!

[runabout-river]

Thoughts on JJK chapter 218 (spoiler)

The little flashback we got from Yorozu tells me that we'll see bigger flashbacks and maybe even an entire arc about the Heian sorcerers

I was a little taken aback by Sukuna having tamed Megumi's shikigami offscreen, but it helps to keep the fast pace and high energy of the manga going

I was not surprised by the deer shikigami having healing powers. I theorized about that exact shikigami with that power before but in my head Megumi's looks like this

It's a good thing that the problem that Mai had with her CT (high CE consumption) was a problem for Yorozu too

Yorozu's fight with Sukuna is basically over because she seems to have reached her zenith this chapter regardless of her last love attack

The high emphasis that is put on love in this mini arc will probably reflect in the love that Tsumiki and Megumi have for each other. I'm still of the opinion that Tsumiki will regain control of her body

The King of Curses, everyone

Let's be real, the only love Sukuna knows is the one he feels when he looks at his own face (and Megumi's)

I have a theory that Megumi might turn into a curse like Sukuna and Naoya, together with a poll for everyone who's interested

Why does Sukuna feel the need to reverse his hand signs? Is it because he has another dominant hand or because he's a bitch

I wonder what Mahoraga's wheel will actually do for him, he hasn't used it (as far as we know) this chapter. And remember, the strongest 10 Shadows user who fought against the six-eyes to a draw hadn't tamed Mahoraga. So Sukuna is and has always been on another level compared to every other character in the series

On that note, Sukuna knows that the gang has the backend of the prism realm in their possession but it doesn't look like he told Kenjaku about it. I'm sure that Sukuna is the number 1 fan of getting Gojo out of the prism realm so he can fight against him. Something that Kenjaku desperately tried to avoid.

[mariacallous]

Fico is back in Slovakia, and that's not good news for anyone but Russia and Putin.

A party headed by a pro-Kremlin figure came out top after securing more votes than expected in an election in Slovakia, preliminary results show, in what could pose a challenge to NATO and EU unity on Ukraine.

According to preliminary results released by Slovakia’s Statistical Office at 9 a.m. local time, Robert Fico’s populist SMER party won 22.9% of the vote.

Progressive Slovakia (PS), a liberal and pro-Ukrainian party won 17.9%.

Fico, a two-time former prime minister, now has a chance to regain the job but must first seek coalition partners as his party did not secure a big enough share of the vote to govern on its own.

Speaking after his victory, Fico said he “will do everything” in his power to kickstart Russia-Ukraine peace talks.

“More killing is not going to help anyone,” Fico said.

Negotiations are unlikely to be welcomed in Ukraine, as for now they would likely involve proposals in which territory is ceded to Russia – a non-starter for Kyiv.

The moderate-left Hlas party, led by a former SMER member and formed as an offshoot of SMER following internal disputes, came third with 14.7% of the vote,andcould play kingmaker.

With seven political parties reaching the 5% threshold needed to enter the parliament, coalition negotiations will almost certainly include multiple players and could be long and messy.

While not a landslide, SMER’s result is better than expected – last opinion polls published earlier this week showed SMER and PS neck and neck.

Fico has pledged an immediate end to Slovak military support for Ukraine and promised to block Ukraine’s NATO ambitions in what would upend Slovakia’s staunch support for Ukraine.

Michal Šimečka, the leader of PS, said the result was “bad news for the country.”

“The fact of the matter is that SMER is the winner. And we of course respect that although we think it’s bad news for the country. And it will be even worse news if Mr Fico forms the government,” he said at a news conference early on Sunday.

Slovakia’s President Zuzana Čaputová said before the election that she would ask the leader of the strongest party to form the government, meaning Fico will get the first stab at forming a government.

Fico and SMER have not yet commented on the results.

Šimečka said his party will do “everything it could” to prevent Fico from governing.

“I will be in touch with other political leaders of parties that were elected to parliament — on an informal basis — to discuss ways of preventing that,” he said. “We think it will be really bad news for the country, for our democracy, for our rule of law, and for our international standing and for our finances and for our economy if Mr Fico forms the government.”

Peter Pellegrini, the leader of Hlas, said his party was “very pleased with the result.”

“The results so far show that Hlas will be a party without which it will be impossible to form any kind of normal, functioning coalition government,” he said, adding that the party will “make the right decision” to become part of a government that will lead Slovakia out of the “decay and crisis that (the country’s previous leaders) got us into.”

Hlas has been vague about its position on Ukraine in the election campaign. Pellegrini has previously suggested Slovakia “had nothing left to donate” to Kyiv, but also said that the country should continue to manufacture ammunition that is shipped to Ukraine.

Serious consequences for the region

Slovakia, an eastern European nation of about 5.5 million people, was going to the polls to choose its fifth prime minister in four years after seeing a series of shaky coalition governments.

A SMER-led government could have serious consequences for the region. Slovakia is a member of both NATO and the European Union, was among the handful of European countries pushing for tough EU sanctions against Russia and has donated a large amount of military equipment to Ukraine.

But this will likely change under Fico, who has blamed “Ukrainian Nazis and fascists” for provoking Russia’s President Vladimir Putin into launching the invasion, repeating the false narrative Putin has used to justify his invasion.

While in opposition, Fico became a close ally of Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orban, especially when it came to criticism of the European Union. There is speculation that, if he returns to power, Fico and Orban could gang up together and create obstacles for Brussels. If Poland’s governing Law and Justice party manages to win a third term in Polish parliamentary elections next month, this bloc of EU troublemakers could become even stronger.

Meanwhile, the liberal PS party had been pushing for a completely different future for Slovakia – including a continued strong support for Kyiv and strong links with the West.

Fico previously served as Slovakia’s prime minister for more than a decade, first between 2006 and 2010 and then again from 2012 to 2018.

He was forced to resign in March 2018 after weeks of mass protests over the murder of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée, Martina Kušnírová. Kuciak reported on corruption among the country’s elite, including people directly connected to Fico and his party SMER.

The campaign was marked by concerns over disinformation, with Věra Jourová, the European Commission’s top digital affairs official, saying in advance the vote would be a “test case” of how effective social media companies have been in countering Russian propaganda in Slovakia.

Polls suggest Fico’s pro-Russia sentiments are shared by many Slovaks.

According to a survey by GlobSec, a Bratislava-based security think tank, only 40% of Slovaks believed Russia was responsible for the war in Ukraine, the lowest proportion among the eight central and eastern European and Baltic states GlobSec focused on. In the Czech Republic, which used to form one country with Slovakia, 71% of people blame Russia for the war.

The same research found that 50% of Slovaks perceive the United States – the country’s long-term ally – as a security threat.

[rustedleopard]

In light of the "What Undertale SOUL Trait would the Undertale Yellow Characters have" polls that dropped, here's my personal opinions on what traits each character has (minus Clover, for obvious reasons). Please note that, as of today (Oct. 19th, 2024), the trait that the Red SOUL represents still hasn't been officially revealed so I will not be using that when assigning the characters SOUL traits.

Dalv: Green/Kindness. Dalv planted an entire corn maze and made signs around the Dark Ruins in an effort to make the place more welcoming to his friend. He may have driven fellow monsters away and kept everyone locked in the Dark Ruins, but that stemmed from his own paranoia, and he still cares about them. He kept Penilla's corn drawing she made for him, immediately let everyone leave the Dark Ruins after coming to his senses, and calls you out if you decide to kill everyone else but spare him. He wants to make books for children. He invites you into his house after fighting you and gives you a tour and lets you eat his sponge cake. He is a very kind person and his actions seem to stem from caring about others.

Martlet: Yellow/Justice. No questions about it, Martlet is THE monster that has the strongest ties to Justice out of everyone in the cast. She judges Clover at the end/nearly at the end of every run, is able to examine the Flawed Pacifist ending objectively (from her perspective, being unconscious and all, the situation looks like this: after trying and failing to talk down Ceroba/escape, Clover was pushed into a corner where they had to fight for their life and kill her. They were just in their actions, even if it resulted in Ceroba's death), and tries to plead Clover's case to Asgore because she sees it unjust that a (mostly) pacifist like them is going to be put to death for the "crime" of being a human. In the Neutral Run, she deliberates on whether or not to use the Determination and fight Clover, but ultimately refuses because she can sense some good in them and wants to give them a chance to better themselves in an act of restorative justice. Need I go on?

Starlo: Green/Kindness. He lets Ceroba stay rent-free in his "house," was incredibly kind to Clover/very supportive of them while they were doing their deputy training even if they were doing badly/made the "wrong" choices, and put on his whole North Star persona in an act to cheer Ceroba up. Almost all of his actions stem from the place of "I want to help/encourage my friends" ...at least until his ego got in the way and he started disregarding his friends' feelings as he leans too far into his North Star persona (which Ceroba regards as being out of character for him and he apologizes for). While it may seem like his SOUL would have the Justice trait because he is a lawman, keep in mind these two things: 1) The sheriff thing is an act and 2) At the end of a Flawed Pacifist run, Starlo sticks by the idea that Ceroba was in the right and Clover was in the wrong, even when her plans for them were premeditated murder and using their SOUL as a science experiment and she was the one who forced them into a fight. Even when Martlet lays out the facts, he refuses to accept them and sticks to the opinion that Clover is "lower than dirt." That doesn't sound very just to me.

Ceroba: Purple/Perseverance. Ceroba sticks to fulfilling Chujin's plan no matter the obstacle, whether that obstacle takes the form of injecting her dear daughter with an experimental serum, getting through a factory full of dangerous robots, earning the scorn of her friends (because of, y'know, the premeditated child-murder), damaging/destroying Kanako's mask and (what is implied to be) Chujin's staff, pushing herself to her limits magically, and outright attempting to murder a child she'd grown to like. She made a promise to Chujin to fulfill his legacy and she sticks with it until Clover proves to be too strong for her, in which case she begs for death; if she can't accomplish her goal of fulfilling Chujin's legacy then she'd rather be dead (at least until/if her friends change her perspective on what Chujin's legacy truly is). She says it herself: "[...] I'm drowning in a sea of mistakes like anyone else. But instead of sinking... I'm chasing the one ray of sunlight peeking through the surface. I tried letting go, moving on. But I guess deep down I'm too stubborn to live like that. This is my fate. This is how it must be." before activating her final form.

Chujin: Yellow/Justice. Chujin dedicates himself to volunteer work after getting fired from the Steamworks because the world is a dark and cruel place and he wants to remedy that in his own way. Chujin keeps building robots and presenting them to the King despite failing each and every time because he feels like he's the only one who can see that humans won't be welcoming to monsters when they break free and he wants to level the playing field. Chujin tries to make his Boss Monster serum to, again, give monsters a fighting chance. His whole perspective/reasons for doing things comes from "this world is unjust and dark and cruel and terrible and I want to make it right in my own way little by little. Even if I get fired/die for this cause, I will keep chasing it." You could maybe say that he's a Kindness/Perseverance SOUL, because he's kind and persistent, but what motivates his kindness is wanting to correct the injustices of the world, not the act of being kind itself; what motivates his persistence is wanting to correct the injustices of the world.

Axis: Orange/Bravery. His behavior in the No Mercy route compelled me to make this choice (that and I want a bit of variety in the SOUL choices I use). Him running around the Steamworks, warning robots about Clover despite how Clover shot half his face off and will likely kill him when they catch him is pretty damn brave. In the end, he stands up to No Mercy Clover in a fight while attempting to deescalate them when he could've ran and hid with the rest of the robots. I can also see him being a Purple/Perseverance SOUL because he's persistent in his attempts to capture/kill Clover (and maybe Ceroba) in a Pacifist/Neutral Run, including being able to revive himself when all the other robots get shut off; he only stops when he's dead/when he's low on battery and literally can't continue anymore in which case Clover (and maybe Ceroba, depends on the route) can try to appeal to him. But he's also following his programming, and I'm hesitant to say that a robot following its protocol is a sign of perseverance.

Kanako: Honestly, I don't really know. We know that Kanako was a kind child, but being kind doesn't necessarily mean that what motivates you is Kindness itself. For example, Clover in the True Pacifist Ending was regarded as a very kind SOUL. They sacrificed themself so that monsterkind may one day go free. BUT! What compelled them to sacrifice their SOUL was understanding that monsters were in a very unjust situation and wanting to remedy that. Yes, their action was kind but it came from a place of Justice. Kanako doesn't really exist as a fully fleshed out character with her own flaws and everything in the story (or maybe I'm just blind??? IDK, she was just "sweet child who had something bad happen to her that gives Ceroba and Chujin reasons why they do their actions" to me). I don't want to give her the Integrity SOUL trait solely because she was injected with Integrity' blue SOUL goo either; that's like saying that I become an influenza virus when I get my annual flu shot. She could maybe be Yellow/Justice because she wants to help her dad achieve her goal and be the hero of the Underground. But, again, we don't know enough about her as a person to really have a grasp on her character besides being the "cute, lovable child." I'm willing to take suggestions on this one if someone has some good explanations.

[asianpoplover143]

It’s about the fic High&Low The Return (2024), so I remember asking the question on this poll (https://www.tumblr.com/asianpoplover143/760386655717900288/well-lets-say-that-it-is-the-end-however-i-do), if you all wanted me to share whatever I had on my drafts about the fic right? So the result was: “Only the sinopse”. So here it is the daft of it, feel free to give your thoughts and opinions about it.

Please be honest, I wont be upset or angry, quite the opposite I will be happy with the honesty :)

Please enjoy the daft of what I have done so far with the sinopse:

Sinopse draft:

Now with all of SWORD gangs being at peace with one another, being friends and getting along (including Kuryu Group/Mighty Warriors/Prison Gang/Doubt, Mugen, Amamiya Brothers) and also all of the High Schools (3 School Alliance: Senomon High, Kamasaka High and Ebara High; Oya High, Housen Academy, and Suzuran High) being friends and getting along as well, that’s thanks due in a certain part to Suzaki Ryo that made his (boy)friend Amagai Kohei go back to his old self, be that boy with a kind heart and etc. and also to Kohei’s younger brother that is best friends with the 2nd year students from those High Schools (specially Suzuran boys) because they have a lot in common for example they finish their fights without a single scratch or drop of their own blood, and also they still have enough energy to fight more and even to go to a war, plus they always win their fights.

And speaking of Senomon High, Ranamru is the new principal and Hirai and Takano are always there helping him with the students, when they are at Senomon the 3 of them act like parents to the students, they act totally different from the way they act with Doubt. With the students they are more heartwarming and caring, but also a funny fact about Ranmaru is that he is not a normal principal, he as soon as he is done using the speaker he always says “Hirai, how do I turn this off?”, and this is every time, and Hirai helps him. Ranmaru’s favorite students are the 2nd year students because they are mini copies of him, however the 2nd year students are the strongest ones in Senomon and the best fighters and the only ones that don’t need weapons to fight, in fact they are even able to take the weapon out of their opponent’s hands with ease. Which is why Kouei (Kohei’s younger brother) is a 2nd year student and one of the heads/leaders of both 2nd and 1st year students, and lets say kinda helps his older brother leading the 3rd year students alongside him, and not just that also the Mighty Warriors baby, and the chosen one to be the head of their family (Amagai Family) alongside Ryu the head of the Kuryu Group.

And speaking of Kuryu Group, guess who is back? If you said: “famous idols/actors that had abandoned their careers to live (or try) a normal live”. Why on earth were you even thinking of/about it? (In case you really were). The correct answer is: If you said “Kidra”, then you are absolutely correct. Yes, Kidra is back, and so is Chanson Group plus the RedDrum drug and guess what? Kidra is doing the RedDrum drug again and they are doing what they were doing in High&Low The Worst, but this time they are selling to all of the High Schools (even the ones that they sold before, like Oya High and Housen), and now 3 School Alliance involved and Suzuran. And for that and reason (and many others) Chanson Group that is the true enemy.

Oh and it doesn’t stop there! A new gang is rising back from the ashes…They are the Black Rascals, they are basically the emo version of the White Rascals, their leader? The vicious and handsome Yami, which believe it or not is Suzuran’s principal and Rocky’s the White Rascals leader, best friend since they were in kindergarten and still they remain ever since. And is one of the many reasons why the Black Rascals help the White Rascals whenever they need.

[blvcklizard]

Now that the poll is over, I'll elaborate on these. (Note that these aren't facts, just my opinions, please don't come at me lol. Also major season 4 spoilers ahead).

Starting off with the one I'm the most confident in, I think Chuuya isn't suited for the position of the boss at all. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm certain he could pull it off if he had to, and wouldn't hesitate a second if it was what the Mafia needed, but I think he'd be happier if he stayed an executive. Notably I still haven't read stormbringer (hence Verlaine wasn't in the poll, I thought he was dead lol whoops) but I think he went through enough when he was leading the Sheep. Being the PM boss would probably also mean he couldn't get drunk as often (lol) and, most importantly, he is the mafia's strongest fighter. He would lose a lot of his potential for the organisation as their boss.

While either of the Akutagawa siblings would be epic without a doubt (as we've seen in wan, lol), they aren't really fitting. Like Chuuya, they're too valuable as fighters, apart from how they lack the skills needed entirely.

Now onto Kouyou, who is little surprisingly the most popular candidate. I don't disagree per se. She's without a doubt suited, probably objectively a lot more than any other character here. She is high ranked and has been for a while, she's experienced, she has the skills needed, she was Chuuya's mentor, and- most importantly- she's badass and it would be absolutely epic. Actually, I feel like that in the unlikely case it does happen, she will probably be the one to take Mori's place. It's just that it's not really the path I want for her, you know? It would surely be the best for the Mafia, but not necessarily for her. Similar to Chuuya, she could do it for sure, but I feel like if Mori was gone she'd be happier outside the Mafia. I want her to get a nice apartment, get together with Yosano a partner (optional), maybe occasionally assist some of the organisations, and visit Kyouka and Chuuya whenever she wants. I'm aware it's not going to happen, but it would be nice.

I'm not even going to talk about Kajii that much, although it would be hilarious for sure. That's the only perk though lol. Kajii could end the whole Mafia, the only question left is whether it would take him hours or days.

I was originally going to dump him together with Kajii, but unfortunately I have a severe and incurable case of Cannot Be Normal About The Hunting Dogs, so now Tachihara is getting his own category, because actually I feel like he'd be even less suited than Kajii. Like, thing is, I think Kajii would enjoy it at best and not give a fuck at worst. But Tachihara? Michizou "orders make me who I am" Tachihara?? Not only would he be really bad at leading a fucking Mafia (come on, he's far too impulsive, emotional and inexperienced), he'd hate every second of it. I believe it would go similar to his identity crisis in Sky Casino arc, and he probably couldn't handle the pressure. It would put him into yet another unfamiliar position he isn't suited for and come on, this boy is 19 years old, he deserves a break. He is both happier and a lot better at acting under a leader.

Honestly, my top candidates are Hirotsu and Higuchi. While they're rather calm, I believe they have potential. Higuchi still has a bit to go (cue begging her enemies on her knees to help her) but she has grown so much already and I'm sure she could pull this off if she tried. Now, Hirotsu's experience gives him a huge bonus on its own; the Black Lizards are rather low ranked in comparison to the other characters here, but he's been around the previous boss, and handled the overall situation pretty well. The only reason why I wouldn't want to see him in the position of the boss is because I love the Black Lizards' dynamic, but he'd be suited for it for sure.

(Let's ignore the formal restrictions like hierarchical rules and such, just who you think would be suited best. Especially in case of the last two options feel free to elaborate in the tags)

[ms-demeanor]

Just because capitalism is bad doesn't make rioting a good or effective means of change.

As much as I hate cops I feel like it pretty much proves my point to START with the article in the cop magazine about how the Rodney King riots changed policing in LA:

Shortly after the riot, Chief Willie Williams was sworn in as the first outside police chief in 45 years. The voters created a new system where the chief could serve only a five-year term, renewable once at the city's option. On two occasions so far, the city has sent the chief packing after five years.

(Police Mag April 2012)

Here’s Anaheim City Councilman Stephen Fassell talking about changes after riots in Anaheim due to police shooting people:

We now have a representative government that we did not have before. We now have a city government that listens more. We’re only six or seven months into this, so we still have to learn our way around. Overall, the city is taking a renewed interest in that neighborhood (Anna Drive) and others. Neighborhoods, in general, have higher visibility in the eyes of the city government from one end to another.

(OC Register, July 2017)

Here’s some historians talking to Vox about rioting:

The 1960s unrest, for example, led to the Kerner Commission, which reviewed the cause of the uprisings and pushed reforms in local police departments. The changes to police ended up taking various forms: more active hiring of minority police officers, civilian review boards of cases in which police use force, and residency requirements that force officers to live in the communities they police."

This is one of the greatest ironies. People would say that this kind of level of upheaval in the streets and this kind of chaos in the streets is counterproductive," Thompson said. "The fact of the matter is that it was after every major city in the urban north exploded in the 1960s that we get the first massive probe into what was going on — known as the Kerner Commission."

(Vox, September 2016)

This is from an abstract of a study done on the 1992 LA riots

Contrary to some expectations from the academic literature and the popular press, we find that the riot caused a marked liberal shift in policy support at the polls. Investigating the sources of this shift, we find that it was likely the result of increased mobilization of both African American and white voters. Remarkably, this mobilization endures over a decade later.

(American Political Science Review, 2019)

There’s a whole-ass article about this in Jacobin this week

Even the case of the 1960s is more complicated than the liberal story about scared white Nixon voters suggests. For one thing, there is substantial evidence that the riots led to higher government expenditures in the deprived cities where they erupted. James W. Button’s pathbreaking 1978 book Black Violence documented the ways the riots forced policymakers to pay attention to the effects of their policies on the urban poor, a group they had been happy to neglect previously. At a time when many social scientists viewed even protest movements as a kind of mass psychosis, Button showed that riots were a rational response to being ignored. Later research showed that riots could increase welfare expenditures, even in areas where white racism was strongest. In other words, even if riots pushed white public opinion in a conservative direction, they also brought important benefits to the areas where they occurred.

(Jacobin, June 2020)

And here is the full 17-page PDF of an article published by the American Political Science Association in their journal, I’m linking to the whole thing but I’m only going to reproduce the conclusion here:

We focus on violent protest as a political tool for a low-status group in the United States. While other scholarship has examined other forms of political action and asked if it is efficacious for racial minorities and other low-status groups, the scholarly literature has largely failed to ask whether rioting is a useful tool for building policy support, even though, from the perspective of the rioters, this question is paramount. Here we show that violent political protest can spur political participation among people who share an identity with the rioters.

Although it often seems extreme from the American perspective, political violence is not isolated to particular regions or eras and is still common in many parts of the world. Moreover, the implicit threat of violence underlies the relationship between governments and citizens in many places. As the use of violence continues to be an active feature of our political system, our findings and approach may help future scholars better understand this important topic.

(American Political Science Review, June 2019)

And also just because riots may or may not be politically expedient doesn’t prevent them.

I want to talk for a second about the concept of a state monopoly on violence.

The deal is that in most states (here meaning countries or governments, not US States) the State (or government) is the only entity that is allowed to be violent. You’re not allowed to break down your neighbor’s door, your partner isn’t allowed to hit you, you’re not allowed to smash your boss’s windshield. The state and its agents are the only things allowed to be violent and their violence is supposed to be used to curtail societal violence. The cops outnumber your partner and have the legal power to lock them in a cage if your partner hits you, this is in theory supposed to prevent your partner from hitting you. Fear of state violence is supposed to act as a deterrent to crime and interpersonal violence.

BUT there are supposed to be rules. The state is the only one allowed to be violent but they’re not allowed to be wantonly, willfully violent. The state doesn’t get to hit you with no evidence of a crime, the cops aren’t supposed to smash in your windshield, sheriffs aren’t supposed to break down your door if you haven’t committed a crime that warrants a violent response from the state.

The state isn’t holding up its end of the bargain.

The state has lost its right to a monopoly on violence.

Yes, the violence is unfortunate. Yes, the violence is not ideal. No, I’m not applauding when people set fire to local businesses.

I am maybe applauding a little when they set fire to a massive corporation that has utilized the violence of the state against citizens while working hard to protect itself against workers (Target) and I’m applauding the destruction of symbols of inequality and institutionalized racism (Rodeo Drive in LA and the Market House in NC and all the statues of racists on this list) and I’ma be real here, I kind of always think police stations should be torn down brick by brick or forcibly converted into libraries or low income housing.

So while the violence is not ideal I don’t think that it’s illegitimate. The state has lost its right to a monopoly on violence and a violent response is certainly one way to make that point.

But here’s the other thing:

All these riots started with peaceful protests against state violence. There are thousands of photos and videos of peaceful protestors peacefully protesting and having speeches and asking for change.

And there are hundreds of videos and photos of cops launching tear gas and rubber bullets at these peaceful protestors. There is a staggering amount of evidence that in city after city police escalated tensions and introduced violence to peaceful protests.

(and please let’s remember: all of this started in response to an act of police violence. These riots didn’t fall out of a clear blue sky, they are a direct reaction to four police officers killing a man by kneeling on his neck for eight minutes while he begged for his mother and his life. That is, in my opinion, something completely worth burning down a police station over even if that act never accomplishes anything further than burning down that police station)

[magioftheseas]

Sonia & Yasuke

Summary: Sonia Nevermind’s FTEs in the SDR2 Protagonist Matsuda Yasuke AU. FUCK YES. A slightly divergent take on the originals.

Rating: PG

Warnings: Language. Brief discussions of cults and kidnapping.

Notes: Sonia was neck and neck with Tanaka for the poll and I was going to do hers soon anyway, so I just went ahead. Sometimes, life just shakes out that way. I really do love Sonia so much. The bias is strongest for Sonia, so I really hope I did her justice. Only the best for our kween. (Btw, the formatting for this couldn’t fully carry through so some stylistic choices on Ao3 are absent here.)

Read this fic among others HERE

Main story is HERE

Commission? Donate?

He supposed he had been in an antsier mood than usual. In one hand, he read his manga. In the other, he played with and twirled around a pen. He’s practiced enough that he doesn’t need to look. It’s just something for his other hand to do. Something that would, ideally, work off some jitters.

He had almost been too worked up to read. Unfortunately, he’s still having a hard time trying to get into the book. He can’t tell if it’s because the story is dragging itself or because he’s just not in the right headspace. What a nuisance.

He catches the pen between his knuckles, tapping the end against the table. A surprised gasp. A round of applause. Matsuda glances over his book to meet the beaming face of a certain princess. Even in a hotel this cafeteria this tacky, she shone like a precious jewel.

What a nuisance. Except—

“So impressive, Matsuda-san!” she squealed. “You truly have fury skillz, yo!”

I guess of all the people here, she’s the most tolerable.

“Impressive, huh,” he mused. “I could probably twirl a scalpel, too.”

“Ooh!” Sonia clasped her hands. “Matsuda-san! Will you perform?!”

“No.” He shook his head. “I’m not going to risk cutting my fingers just to show off. I’ll twirl the pen some more.”

“Oh, I understand...” Quieting, Sonia still watched him twirl with intent eyes. It’s like he’s center stage at an opera house. Sonia hums and her fingers even twitch along. “Matsuda-san, such talented fingers... I truly do applaud you.”

Matsuda flipped the pen, catching it before it fell to the ground. Sonia let out another gasp and clapped some more, giggling.

“Bravo, bravo!”

Jeez. She’s so likable that it’s sickening.

It’s almost like he wouldn’t have a choice in the matter should the two of them become friends.

I guess...there are worse relationships to be forced into. Even if I already have a headache.

Still, the mood couldn’t help but be lightened whenever Sonia laughed. Scary.

--

His fingers were a bit aching, and holding a cold drink alleviated some of the stinging. Sonia, ever the prim and proper young lady with her mouth shut, simply sipped tea from across the table. The picture of elegance. Even in a cafeteria this tacky.

But it’s not like any location short of the azure sky and sapphire ocean could do someone like her justice.

“This island truly is sublime,” Sonia hummed. “The weather is always so serene, and the ocean is as blue as it is endless! Truly! It’s a perfect resort, wouldn’t you say, Matsuda-san?”

“I don’t know if I’d go as far as to say perfect,” he replied. “There’s a little too much fucking walking. I’m not big on sweating.”

Even if big hospitals had fancier equipment, I still hated having to rush back and forth.

“To be more contained can have its benefits,” Sonia agreed good-naturedly. “Still, I must say I am quite happy with what we have.”

Matsuda hummed right back.

Happy...

“Situation could be better,” he said. “Would really fucking love if we weren’t being held hostage by a homicidal fucking bear.”

“Indeed,” Sonia agreed solemnly. “Quite regrettable.”

Matsuda waited for her to continue, but she merely took another elegant sip. Still the picture of calm. Sonia’s eyes do flicker open and it’s then that Matsuda takes notice of the color. They’re a clear, soft green. It’s a unique shade. One he thinks he’s only seen in...

“As long as no murders take place, everything will be alright,” Sonia spoke with conviction. “What happens next...will depend on our own inclinations and choices.”

I shouldn’t compare them too much.

“That’s a reductive way of looking at it,” he said. “Even if we have the resolve, I don’t doubt that our hands are going to be forced.”

Sonia slammed her cup onto the table. It cracked just the slightest bit.

“Then, we should cooperate with one another so that we can return home as quickly as we can,” she said sunnily. “Matsuda-san, I trust you to tell me any ideas you may come up with. I shall do what I can.”

“Well...” Matsuda directed his stare towards one of the security cameras. “We’d first have to come up with something to do about those.”

“If we simply shattered them, we would get punished severely,” Sonia recalled, lamenting as she did. “We would have to act... And perhaps...”

She dropped into lower mumbles that Matsuda couldn’t make out. Perhaps out of precaution, in case they were being recorded. Matsuda watches her sink deeper and deeper into thought.

Even she can’t be serene and optimistic all the time. She’s still managing better than anyone else here.

“Do you understand, Matsuda-san?” she asked, tone serious. “Or must I repeat myself?”

“If you did, it’d have to be a little louder, so it’d be better if you could write it down discretely and pass it to me later,” he said, sighing. “It’s a little too risky discussing anything out in the open.”

Sonia clapped with glee.

“A handsome remark! This is why I know I can rely on your intelligence and wit, Matsuda-san.” She gave a few nods of approval. “It might be better for our moral to chat amiably for now.” With a dazzling smile, she then inquired, “Is there anything you’d like to ask of me?”

Matsuda blinked at her.

“Not really.” I am curious about one thing. Given the circumstances, it’s best to hold off on that. “What about you?”

“There is something! That I AM quite curious about!” Sonia exclaimed, suddenly excited. “Who has captured your heart? And who do you plan to settle on?!”

Matsuda stared.

“...?”

His head tilted in confusion, so Sonia went on to explain.

“This situation—it is similar to The Summer Story of Seven Men and Seven Women, wouldn’t you say?! The standard practice, then, is to start wavering and swapping partners!”

“The...J-drama?” he asked, no less confused but Sonia was more incited regardless.

“No just the J-drama, the legendary J-drama! The original trendsetter! Starting with an upbeat tone... Before shifting to surprisingly serious!” she swooned. “I couldn’t believe my eyes, and yet I couldn’t look away! Momoko’s feelings...! Wow, so intense!”

“Uh-huh...” Matsuda’s eyes rolled back. “Well... I’m not sleeping with anyone on this stupid fucking island, so it’s not going to be that similar. That, and there are more guys here than girls to begin with...”

“That is true!” Sonia gasped. “Someone will have to be unlucky! I wonder... Who it will be...?”

Didn’t I just say I wasn’t going to...? Not to mention some of the guys flat-out wouldn’t be interested. Although I don’t think that’ll keep someone from being unlucky, huh...

It looked like he wouldn’t get in another word in edgewise.

This still isn’t going to fix the declining birthrate.

At least Sonia seemed to be having a hella time theorizing. Matsuda just let her...do that.

--

“I managed to find a couple of books on Novoselic,” he said, setting the stack of books on the table before a sparkly-eyed Sonia. “Since we don’t have the internet, this was the best I could scrounge up and even then I don’t know if they’re all that accurate.”

“Oh, Matsuda-san, I would have told you anything you needed to know!” She does take one of the books. “That said, I recognize this author. You can trust them! Oh, but this one...” She takes another, frowning. “If I recall... No. You should not trust this one at all. In fact, I would burn every copy of this book.”

“I could kind of tell from the tone,” Matsuda hummed, setting it apart and pushing it far away. Sonia’s frown was still a deep mar on her face. “So, these books are accurate?”

“As I have said, Matsuda-san, I do not mind telling you about my country,” she said, smiling again. “Or! Is this courting? I’m afraid I will have to sadly decline, much as this feels like something out of a J-drama...”

She says while looking disappointed in herself...

“It’s more that I thought you should know what other people are writing about your country,” he said. He paused. “Ah, I guess that was pretty presumptuous of me.”

“Not at all!” Sonia shook her head. “Awareness and control of the media are essential! Not to mention you have informed me of quite the pressed issue! I will have to take care of it when I return...is what a responsible, attentive ruler would say.” She sighed. “Sadly, I will have to inform others and hope for the best.”

She has said in the past that she’s more of a figurehead than a leader.

“That’s a part of being young,” he remarked. “Don’t let it get you down too much. Just prepare for the future to the best of your ability.”

Sonia does giggle at that.

“Matsuda-san... Sometimes, you remind me of the male lead in a J-drama.”

“No comment.”

She laughs again. “In my humblest opinion, the best J-dramas are the ones aimed at women between the ages of 20 to 34. Just before Japan’s economic bubble burst! You would not believe how many times I have seen I Will Arrest Your Eyes! Why, when I first arrived in Japan, the first thing I did was run across the Spain-zaka!”

As fascinating as that all is, what gets my attention is...

“Hold it. Were you calling me mature or were you suggesting that I speak like an old man?”

“You certainly do have a worldly weariness to you, Matsuda-san,” Sonia went on to sigh. “Broody and broken down by life... While it would be attractive on the screen, it is worrisome and exhausting in person.” She perked right back up. “But have no fear! For a fairly dreamy maniac will someday come into your life! And the two of you can partake in the ritual entrapped within the blizzard!”

“I hate the cold,” is Matsuda’s only reply to whatever the fuck all of that was.

“Then when will you cuddle under a blanket in the nude?!” Sonia gasped, aghast. “Will you do so at a different temperature?! Is the blizzard not necessary after all?!”

“First off, you’re referring to a cliché rather than a ritual,” Matsuda said, waving his hand. “Shouldn’t the fact that it was happening during a damn blizzard tipped you off? Not every couple is going to go to the fucking mountains.”

“So...” Sonia quieted. “It is not like the Makango?”

The Makango? Matsuda remembered. Ah, the Makango.

“We don’t have anything like that as far as I’m aware,” he said. “Mind you, I’m...not aware of much...”

Thinking about this gives me a headache. Actually, it really, really fucking hurts right now.

“I see...” Sonia pursed her lips. “So peculiar. Oh!” She blinked, realizing. “Matsuda-san, you look pale.”

“Sorry,” he mumbles, rubbing his forehead with a wince. “I think... I’m gonna check out.”

“You should check out what’s wrong with you!” she exclaimed. “Do better for yourself, Matsuda-san!”

“...right.”

On that note, there wasn’t anything else to do but stumble out.

--

It’s another calm day at the library. Sonia, however, snaps up immediately when Matsuda walks inside. It’s scary how alert the princess is, but that was probably a good thing considering her situation. Matsuda sighed, waving and taking in how she lit up and eagerly saluted him.

He also takes notice of the book that Sonia had been reading. The cover—looks quite gruesome.

“How are you feeling?” Sonia asked kindly. “You are not in pain, yes? Matsuda-san?”

“I’m doing fine,” he said, stretching as he makes his way over. “I’ve been dealing with headache after headache since I got here, so I’ve gotten used to them.”

“I see,” Sonia murmured, downcast and sympathetic. “I will trust you to your own mechanics.”

“Devices,” Matsuda corrected without thinking as he seated himself. “Anyway, I’ll be reading. Don’t mind me.”

He does pull out a manga he brought with him—the library was just a better environment for reading than the cafeteria hence him making the trip. He cracks it open, but he doesn’t get very long to enjoy it. He gets maybe five minutes before there’s a nudge at his side.

He ignores it, but Sonia elbows him with enough force that he nearly yelps. With a now throbbing side, his gaze drops to see a folded-up piece of paper tucked between Sonia’s delicate fingers. Her nails are perfectly manicured yet polished to give off the illusion of natural beauty.

Hm.

He takes the paper, unfolding it and—

What do you know about the occult?

Sonia is feigning innocence. She’s scarily good at it. If not for the flicker of her intense stare to his, he wouldn’t have suspected a thing. That...and his side still...stings. Seriously the princess had a bony fucking elbow.

“Princess. What the hell is this?”

“Shush!” she ordered and he dutifully shut his mouth without a second thought. Sonia looked around discretely, lowering her voice as she leaned in to whisper into his ear. “Any information you have on cults would also be appreciated, Matsuda-san.”

No, seriously, what the fuck?

He does try to make sense of it. If Sonia felt the need to convey these questions inconspicuously, then, maybe—?

He takes out a pen and writes down his response. He hands it under the table for Sonia to read.

Do you think our kidnappers are part of a cult?

“Oh!” Sonia gasped. “I never thought of that! What a fascinating theory!”

Guuuuuuess not.

“If it just interests you, you don’t have to be so fucking secretive,” he griped. “Just ask me outright like a normal fucking person.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she apologized quickly. “I truly didn’t think the way I was conducting myself was...regal. They pass notes like so in the dramas. Is that not normal behavior, Matsuda-san?”

Oh.

“I...no, actually...” Matsuda shrugged helplessly. “I...guess that is in fact a way high schoolers communicate sometimes...”

I haven’t gone to a normal high school...or a normal middle school for that matter.

“It is quite—unheard of if not prohibited for a princess to have such interests,” Sonia sighed. “But even if it is forbidden, my heart still longs for more when it comes to the subject of Freemasonry! Oh, but it’s purely academic!” She looks quite serious as she insists, “I could never dream of conspiring against the government.”

“A lot of people do find that stuff interesting,” Matsuda said. Sonia lit up only to deflate when he added, “I don’t think it’s that deep.”

“No?” Her head tilted. “You think it...kiddy?”

“In a way,” he admitted. “Cultism comes about through societal failings and instability. Political turmoil, lack of education, paranoia, peer pressure... People long for a sense of community by nature and they’re drawn to a charismatic figure who knows how to prey on the insecure and vulnerable. People just want someone else to tell them what to do, what to think, like fucking children and obviously, obviously, they get taken advantage of by the worst fucking types...”

Sonia’s eyes were wide.

“Oh! Matsuda-san, have you been in a cult before?!”

Matsuda immediately jolted. For some reason, he broke into a sweat. For another, his head hurt so much that he wanted to shut down then and there.

“...Matsuda-san?”

He needed to grip his hand and will them to stop shaking.

“...I... No.” He shook his head firmly, digging his nails into his arm, would’ve raked them through the flesh if not for the sleeve of his coat. “It’s, uh, just something I read one time.”

“You are looking quite pale,” Sonia remarked worriedly. “I apologize, Matsuda-san. I—think we should drop the subject for now. I do not wish to cause you untoward pain any longer.”

She draws back from him as if he’s too fragile to be near. It’s seriously annoying, especially when not only does Sonia look stricken with guilt, she also looks lonely.

“I...” He swallowed. “While I don’t think much of it, I do think it’s important to understand. It isn’t productive to just...dismiss it wholesale.”

Sonia does perk up.

“I agree,” she says, albeit tentative as she does. “To dismiss a different sense of values due to ignorance is foolish. Such ignorance leads to bloodshed. And—it is important for a member of the royal to expand one’s knowledge.”

He nods.

“I just...” He wants to bite his tongue clean off. “I guess it’s a sore subject for me...”

But w̴̟̹̠͐̿̋ḧ̶̟́y̷̘͓͛?

“I understand.” Sonia nodded back. “I apologize.”

“It’s fine,” he said. “Just...do what you can to guide your people right.”

With that, he gets up.

“Sorry,” he said, acting on autopilot now. “I need to go.”

He doesn’t look back.

--

“Oh, Matsuda-san!”

As usual, Sonia looked delighted to see him.

“What a pleasant surprise!” she exclaimed, every word dripping with sincerity. “Come, come! Sit with me! There is much I wish to discuss with you!”

“Yeah?” The closer he comes, the more she can see her stack of books. Quite a few of them have been shoved away, but the other titles—there actually seemed to be a couple of romance novels and recognizable manga. “What about...?”

Those are titles that have been adapted into TV dramas.

“The friendship between men and women as depicted in Turn On The Heart,” she explained. “If you do not know that title, then will a different J-drama suffice? Perhaps one of these?”

She offers one of the manga. Her intentions are clear, and he truly appreciates the gesture—but he’s read that title. It was one of the worst fucking things he ever skipped through. The love interest in it was just scary. And he was a spoiled rich brat. Urgh.

But the princess really isn’t that bad. She’s really trying to get along with me. Not a lot of people have done that unless they wanted in my pants or something.

He’s not so fucking full of himself that he’d assumed a goddamn princess would be interested. That, and he’s conscientious of that shit to begin with. Sonia was just friendly, not flirty.

“I do mostly read manga,” he said. “I guess I could recommend a title or two that’s been adapted?”

I haven’t watched a lot of dramas actually. I’ve had them going on in the background, but that’s...

His sharp eyes do notice the titles that Sonia had pushed away. They were various studies on cults throughout history. And an anthology on ghost stories.

“Matsuda-san.” When Sonia spoke, her tone was low. She stood up and bowed, making him jump. “I wish to sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart! If I could, I’d throw myself at your feet! Alas, it’s improper for a princess...! I’m so fucking sorry!”

“Wow.” He didn’t even know how to respond. “If this is about what happened last time, it’s fine. It’s water under the bridge. I...”

I actually—don’t remember what happened. I ended up taking a lot more pills than I should’ve.

“Still!” Sonia exclaimed, shaking her head. “I asked you a very inappropriate question! It was quite uncouth! Thus—I wish to make out with you for it!”

“You don’t have to do that,” he said, meaning it figuratively and literally. “It’s fine.”

“Are you sure?!” Sonia’s frown deepened. “I... Despite my status, here I would like to be equals, Matsuda-san. Is that not possible?”

Equals, huh.

“When I came to Japan, I thought I could be considered a normal girl,” she said, and it sounded like a confession. “Perhaps...that had been...immature of me.”

It is immature, Matsuda agreed with as he bit his tongue. It’s beyond fucking immature. Even if you learn the language and go along with trends, you live in a fucking castle, Sonia. That’s not normal at all. Normal people are one bad fucking month away from losing everything they care about. It’ll take more than a damn month for a monarchy to topple. Especially one that’s absolute.

“If you insist so much, can I ask you a question?” He studied the way she perked up. How annoyingly eager she was to hear it. And how he—“It’s not going to be a pleasant one.”

“As long as it is about my personal inclinations or government secrets, I am willing to speak about it,” she told him, smiling sweetly.

She really was so painfully sweet sometimes.

Ä̷̮̖͇́̅̅͝ ̷̬̎̽c̴̨̛̥̳̙̔̈̊ͅo̵͕̤͠ṃ̵̻̒ͅp̸̭͕̽͝l̸͍͈͎̀è̶̛̝̫̒͗͝t̸̗͒̂̐e̴̛̳͔̾͐ ̵̧̼̐ô̸̞͇̖͋̽̀́ͅp̵͉̘͗̅̍͝p̴̖̙͑̊̒̆o̸̧͙̹̘̠͂s̴͈̀̕ị̶͇̅͛͝t̶͉͊e̴̲͈̩̫͠ ̴��͔̺͔̙́̓̓̋f̶̺͂̚͘r̴̛̘̾͝o̶͍̭̯̖͐̐̓͛m̶̳͑̋—̷̱̘̩͙͓̇͒̏̋̉

“This isn’t your first time being kidnapped.”

It hadn’t been a question, despite himself. But a statement. A statement that drained all that sweetness from Sonia’s face, leaving behind calm stoicism. She looks so at ease and unshakeable that Matsuda could draw several conclusions if he wanted to.

But it seems tacky to make assumptions about what were traumatic experiences, regardless of those involved.

“I’ve read up on your country and there were reports of the royal family being abducted by insurgents,” he said, keeping his voice level. “It hadn’t mentioned those affected by name...but you were among them, weren’t you?”

“Yes,” Sonia spoke as if she were untouchable. “I was.”

“No wonder you’re so damn calm about all this,” Matsuda went to remark. “It’s not your first time. And...quite fucking frankly, this is literally the Bahamas of hostage situations.”

“Haha, I do not think we are in the Bahamas, Matsuda-san,” she replied, casual—but still with that flaring distance. “I believe we are in the middle of the Pacific, rather.”

...hah.

“That’s not important,” he snapped. “What was important was... Clearing the air, so to speak.”

“I see.” Sonia agreed with him like he’d kill her if she didn’t. “Then, have I been to your satisfaction, Matsuda-san?”

Matsuda stared at her. He reached out, and she didn’t even flinch. Not even when he snapped his fingers in front of her. Impressive, honestly.

She’s completely shut down.

“Do you want to talk about dramas? I kind of enjoyed Hana-Kimi.”

Sonia blinked, and it was like nothing happened at all. Especially with how she went back to smiling as she always did, dazzlingly open and amicable.

“I haven’t heard of it! Please tell me all about it!”

“If I remember correctly there were like, four adaptations, the first Taiwanese and the most recent a K-drama, actually, so...”

The two of them chat lightly like this for a while. Like a normal pair of high schoolers.

--

“Greetings, Matsuda-san! I have read the illustrious Hana-Kimi! And! I enjoyed it!”

“Good to hear...”

“There is much I wish to discuss about it!” Sonia exclaimed, but there was something strange. Her smile was so wide it looked strained. She was wearing more makeup than usual, especially on her cheeks and around the eyes. “I would also like to hear more recommendations, so...”

“Rough night?” Matsuda asked, and Sonia shut her mouth.

For a second, Sonia looked lost before she gave a weak laugh.

“Ahaha, I should’ve known that Matsuda-san would not be fooled. You’re quite sharp, after all. It’s one of the reasons I admire you.”

“Did you want me to pretend nothing was wrong?” Matsuda huffed. “I’d rather you not have to force yourself around me. With how shitty my attitude is, I’d be a hypocrite if I expected everyone on their best behavior....especially in this situation.”

“Truth be told, I do not mind it,” Sonia murmured. “In a way... I find it refreshing. Around Matsuda-san, I can just scream at the top of my lungs—Jesus Fucking Christ Bastard Of A Fuckity Fuck Bitch! And you wouldn’t bat a tongue-lash!” She took a deep breath. “That said...if we are to discuss further. I’d prefer we do so in my cottage.”

“Fine by me,” was Matsuda’s immediate response. That was all there was to it.

Without another word, he followed Sonia to her cottage. She led him inside, and the interior was so fancy that he felt like he’d be stoned if he didn’t remove his shoes right away.

Polished floors, elegant rugs, ivory silk sheets, and plush furniture—even a damn chandelier hanging about them... It at least looked like the inside of a high-end hotel suite. Even the way plants were arranged from the ones hanging from the wall to the potted plant in the corner and the vase on the table by a wide-screen television felt so prestigious and artful.

“Would you like a seat?” Sonia asked, indicating a loveseat that definitely costed more than he could get selling his ass on the street for a week. He sits down on it anyway. It’s annoying supple, and he can’t help but relax. Sonia is giggling at him, “I apologize for any messes. I am still getting a handle on cleaning as it were. And the shower.”

The rug had been a little damp under his feet. She must’ve accidentally flooded the floor. He should probably help her wash it so that it didn’t contract mold, but... There were more pressing matters.

Sonia clearly wanted to speak to him, but she was just standing there. Fidgeting and wavering.

“Nightmare?” he guessed. “Homesickness?”

“Both,” Sonia replied, chuckling a little. “As well as—that conversation we had earlier...weighing on my mind...”

Matsuda clicked his tongue but said nothing. Gave Sonia the time to take a deep breath.

“Back then, I was not permitted to show fear for my people’s sakes,” she recounted. “I was, after all, a princess before a person. But here... I do not know what I should do. Must I wait in silence for rescue? Shall I allow myself to scream and cry?” She was fidgeting. No, she was trying to distract herself from how badly her hands were shaking. “Say, Matsuda-san... You are...quite intelligent. And you never—you do not sweet talk. Tell me...what I should do.”

Matsuda stared at her. She kept her head bowed.

“Fuck if I know.” Matsuda sighed loudly. “Like holy shit, why you think I’ll know what to do? That’s illogical as fuck. You’re just being a coward by forcing someone else to make the decisions, princess.”

“I am aware,” she whispered.

“I’m not Togami,” he said. “I’m not going to seize control and tell everyone that it’s going to be fine. I’m...”

...not going to lie about that shit.

“I thought not.” Sonia laughs again. It’s almost an ugly sound. Scratchy and unbalanced, completely unbefitting and yet—perfect in this situation. “Matsuda-san, you may have the signals of a legendary hero... But, in reality, your scowling face is too remarkable.”

...

...

...

...

...

...

What the fuck did that even mean?

“The legendary hero of legend,” Sonia reiterated with the utmost seriousness. “The only fault with that—is your face, Matsuda-san! It’s not just remarkable, it’s beautiful!”

What the FUCK is she talking about?

“I would still like to take you with me to my kingdom, once we escape from here,” Sonia went on. “Even if you are not a destined one, you would make for a wonderful advisor and companion. I wish to continue our conversations—and even if it is cowardly, I also wish to look towards you in times of need.”

What the fuck is going on?!

“I...” He’s confused. He’s so hopelessly confused. And yet... And yet... “I heard the medical practice in your country is nothing to sneeze at...so I can’t deny being interested.”

“Splendid! Then—let us continue working together, Matsuda-san!” Sonia clapped her hands. Another dazzling smile, an even more radiant laugh. Just like that, she was back at peak princess. “Ho, ho, hey!”

“Hey, hey, ho...”

Despite that, there’s a lot unsaid. We haven’t really talked, either. We’re just pushing on with forced optimism, filling our heads with empty reassurances and promises in the hope that it’ll be enough to carry us through.

It could very well be. In a situation like this, keeping ahold of one’s morale was pretty fucking prudent. Even if he and Sonia knew shit all about how to lead, they had no choice but to keep stumbling and scrambling. Hoping for the best.

Sometimes... That’s all we really need.

[yukipri]

On the Baratie, Prologue - a One Piece Mermaid AU Text Story

Thanks to everyone who sent in their opinion on the East Blue stories poll! I think Sanji’s had the most, so we’re starting off with more Baratie!

While there’ll be a continuation, here’s a bit of prelude, because they need a different reason to go to the Baratie. The ASL Pirates already have a cook after all!

Like a prologue to On the Baratie, Part 1

~~

When Thatch makes up his mind to accompany Ace back to East Blue, he knows that there's one place he wants to visit no matter what.

He's only been to East Blue once, and it was honestly ages ago, and he doubts there'll be another chance in the near future. Not many opportunities to visit the weakest Blue as a commander in an Emperor's crew, after all.

And while Thatch doubts he'd travel halfway around the world for the sole purpose of visiting this spot, he's lucky. Because on this particular trip, it's practically along the way. They're passing right by the area on their way back to re-entering the Grand Line, so there's no way in hell he's letting this slip by.

It's the only request Thatch has made on this journey, and Ace and Luffy, who are the Captains and therefore technically get to decide where they go, have no objections. Luffy's already bobbing up and down in excitement, despite their guides estimating that they still have a ways to go.

"The Baratie, huh," Ace grins. "Never heard of it, we didn't pass by our first time through, did we Deuce?"

"You've never heard of it because you lived in the middle of nowhere, in a jungle with barely any contact with human civilization," Deuce says pointedly. "Most people in East Blue at least know of it, it's kinda famous."

Ace just shrugs, and Luffy whoops as the movement of his shoulders momentarily boosts her higher. Ace indulges her and repeats the movement more aggressively until she's bouncing, and Deuce sighs. The two captains' attentions have shifted, and now they're preoccupied by the most important topic of all: food.

"Food~!" Luffy sings, hopping from one arm to the other as Ace switches to spinning her around, and Deuce has to duck to avoid her tail. "Yummy yummy food at a restaurant! It's gonna be amazing!"

"It really will be amazing, if Zeff hasn't lost his touch," Thatch agrees, and Luffy and Ace cheer. "I've never eaten at this restaurant of his, but I was a fan of the Cook Pirates when I was a kid." 

His expression darkens, and Ace stills, recalling that Thatch mentioned they all died or something.

"Sucks what happened to them," Ace offers.

But Thatch just shrugs. It was around a decade ago, and shit happens out at sea. "I'm just glad Zeff survived. He'll have trained the new cooks well, and it'll be funny to see the old man actually settled down as a civilian."

Thatch was still a teen the last time he saw Zeff, who was Captain of the infamous Cook Pirates back in the day. They were always picking fights, and picked the wrong one with Pops, and predictably lost. Pops let them live, and they had a grand party, and Thatch remembers being captivated by their culinary expertise.

Thatch chuckles to himself, and the two brothers look at him curiously, blinking with adorably similar expressions.

"I just remembered, Zeff tried to scout me. Pops wasn't thrilled."

Ace barks a laugh, hefting Luffy into a more comfortable position before she suddenly squirms out of his arms. Luffy makes a grabby motion towards Thatch, and Ace obligingly if reluctantly moves closer to let her swing up onto the taller man's shoulders.

Thatch perks up at the sudden attention, because it's not every day that the little mermaid chooses to climb someone other than her brother. Thatch knows she doesn't need it, but offers her a hand to get settled more comfortably, which she takes with a pleased little purring sound that makes his heart skip a beat. Thatch pointedly doesn't look at Ace, but he can still feel his burning gaze.

He's not sure what prompted the sudden transport transfer, but suddenly Luffy's leaning forward over his shoulder to peer directly into his face, and she's close. Thatch tries very hard not to blush.

"But if the Zeff-dude cooks are that good, are they better than you, Thatch?" Luffy asks, eyes wide. "That can't be right, because Thatch's food is the best in the world! Better than even Makino's!"

Those words do make Thatch flush crimson, and Ace snorts. Thatch ignores him, too busy trying to control the warmth bubbling up inside his chest.

Thatch doesn't think he's arrogant, but he also isn't unused to his food being praised. As ungrateful as most of his brothers back aboard the Moby usually are, he's still the head chef who leads the culinary division of their entire fleet, and it's a position he's earned. He's personally trained and assigned all of the cooks on every Whitebeard ship. He knows he cooks well.

But there's something special about Luffy's unique brand of painfully genuine praise. Even though they've been traveling together for a few weeks now, she never gets bored of singing her appreciation at every mealtime with, if anything, increasing enthusiasm. It's like every time is her first time trying his food. Thatch in no way needs her compliments to adore her, he was besotted far before she even knew he was a cook, but boy does he appreciate them, and he doubts he'll ever really get used to them.

Thatch has been called the "Best Cook in the World" by many, and he'd accepted their words politely. But to hear them from Luffy feels like the highest honor he can ever attain.

Thatch feels unbearably fond as he reaches up to fluff Luffy's hair, and she leans into his hand, eyes curving up into slits like a happy kitten, her tail curling back and forth at his back.

Ace cheerfully ruins their moment.

"We'll just have to see, Lu, and maybe if you like their cooking better, we can ditch Thatch and kidnap one of their cooks." Ace leers like the evil little shit he is, and Thatch gasps with exaggerated indignation.

"No, no!" Luffy boos her brother, clinging to Thatch like he's the embodiment of all the meals Ace had threatened she'd lose, before she swings her tail around to smack at Ace none too gently until he grudgingly raises his arms in surrender.

"If we like their cooking, then we can keep Thatch AND kidnap one of their cooks!"

"Lil Seastar, you're not satisfied with just me, even if my food is the best in the world?" Thatch teases, and sticks his tongue out at Ace when he scowls. The young Captain isn't so thrilled with Thatch's new nickname for his baby brother, and Thatch thinks it's fair revenge for him being mean. 

"Thatch's food is the best!" Luffy cries again, and Thatch glows. "But if we steal a Zeff, then we have two cooks, which means more food!" She nods, pleased with her conclusion. "More food is always good!"

Well, she's a little confused, but her point is made. They hopefully won't steal Zeff himself, as Thatch doubts he'll be happy to part with his beloved restaurant, but perhaps nabbing one of his assistants isn't a terrible idea.

While handling even Ace and Luffy's appetites is no problem for Thatch, who's used to feeding the entire Moby Dick, some company in the kitchen might not be bad.

(And, a voice whispers in his head, that they'll need a cook that Thatch approves of when he inevitably has to leave to return to Pops. It's a voice Thatch ignores, so that he can enjoy this moment, for now.)

~~

~~

I don't think it's actually ever officially stated whether Thatch's Division is actually in charge of dining, but there are other divisions that are specified, so I thought it would be interesting, so I made it that way ^ ^;

(Edit: Actually it IS explicitly stated that the 4th Division is in charge of dining, this is canon and not just a headcanon whee~!)

And if Thatch as the head of the cooking division, then to me it makes sense that he'd be insanely good at it, not just your average chef. Because I mean, they're the Whitebeard pirates. And sure, they're not as food-centric as the Big Mom Pirates, but the WBs always have quality. Cooking, I feel, is a lot more subjective than say, "Strongest Swordsman in the World" but I don't think it'd be a stretch to say that Thatch is Up There.

This isn't at all to shit on canon!Sanji or his cooking which is probably also insanely good, but Sanji's a lot younger, and the places he's been, the people he's learned from, and the people he's cooked for are far more limited. He, like everyone else, is learning rapidly by stepping out into a far larger world.

Thatch, in comparison, has been on the Grand Line for a loooooong time, traveling with the most infamous crew currently in existence, and probably has picked up a LOT of things from a lot of people. While he doesn't have an official canon age, given the ages of the other Commanders (Marco 45; Jozu 42; Vista 47), I'm putting him at 41 here. That's decades of difference in experience.

It's one of the reasons why I think exploring Thatch and Sanji's mentor-rival relationship in this AU could be so much fun, because think of how much Sanji could grow with someone like Thatch in the crew.

Luckily, Sanji's dream is to find All Blue, not to defeat the cooking equivalent of Mihawk in Iron Chef Grand Line, so outside of fighting for the heart of the love of their lives, I think they can get along quite well ^ ^;

(also do u like his nickname for Lu. I had to consult a friend. But I think it's beginning to stick for me ^ ^;)

As always, any thoughts or comments make my day! Thanks for reading <3

❀ ❀ Send YukiPri an Ask! ❀ ❀

Read the next part: 👒🐟On the Baratie, Part 1

~This ask has been added to the Mermaid AU Text Headcanons Compilation post~

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 271: My Hero Tokodemia

Previously on BnHA: Mic was all “goodbye X-Less don’t do anything I wouldn’t do” and just LEFT him with Tomura, like. ???! X-Less was all “I’m gonna sit here and do nothing and wait to die.” Ujiko was all “this has nothing to do with ANYTHING but I just want you to know that I conspired to murder your husband 15 years ago and ended up killing his best friend instead!” Tomura was all “what up bitches I’m in this chapter too” and had trippy dreams about hands and buildings and his family was there and also All for One (the dude)! Because guess what, Tomura has All For One (the quirk) now! Because AFO gave it to him! So yeah! And now he’s waking up, and Deku can apparently feel it happening because he’s a horcrux probably, and so basically everything is FINALLY GOING TO SHIT AND IT’S ABOUT TIME BUT ALSO AHHHHH.

Today on BnHA: SHIGARAKI WHO TOMURA WHAT. Back to Gunga Mountain! So Dabi is all “you do know your beloved mentor just killed a guy right?” and Toko is all “!!” and Dabi is all “SO THAT MAKES HIM THE WORST CRIMINAL OF ALL!” and, WITHOUT THE SLIGHTEST HINT OF IRONY, IMMEDIATELY follows up this bold statement by TRYING TO BURN A CHILD ALIVE. Anyway so this is why Dabi wasn’t the keynote speaker at the “murder is bad” convention though. So most of the chapter is like this, with Dabi (albeit somewhat halfheartedly) trying to set Toko on fire while Toko desperately tries to keep between him and Hawks. Eventually though, Dabi is confusingly thwarted by Otter Pops, making his triumphant return and spraying a bunch of ice just every which way because things weren’t chaotic enough I guess! And then the chapter ends with everyone’s favorite Guy They Hoped Wouldn’t Be Waking Up In This Arc, Gigantomachia, waking up!! :’) :’) :’) etc you get it.

okay so I am please to clarify that the spoilers I received were not actually all that big of a deal, and that pretty much all I know is that we’re cutting back to Dabi and Tokoyami probably, and there’s a good chance we might not even see Tomura at all this chapter in spite of last week’s cliffhanger. so even if I’d have preferred not to know that up front, it’s all good! though I will say Horikoshi has a real knack for cutting away from things right when you’re at your most invested though. reminds me of what it was like reading Lord of the Rings for the first time. “nooo I don’t want to cut back to Frodo -- WAIT WHAT’S GOING ON -- NO I DON’T WANT TO CUT BACK TO MERRY AND PIPPIN DAMMIT -- WAIT WHAT”

anyways! lol guys guess what

so then! those spoilers did indeed have the ring of truth! well this should be interesting

lmao he’s forcibly clawing his way out of Fat’s belly via aggressive use of Dark Shadow oh damn

oh man you guys. time to catalog some feels

Fatgum you do realize you were in the running for #2 hero but have now bled serious points by letting a child run back into danger and doing absolutely nothing to stop him! although to be fair you do have other children to protect, and this one child also should not have been able to do what he just did! and also Child Endangerment is U.A.’s unofficial motto and you didn’t even go to U.A. but you would fit right in though let me tell you. but anyway so the point is this isn’t really anything new, but still

HIS BODY JUST MOVED BEFORE HE COULD THINK ahhhh Toko. THIS IS YOUR MOMENT!! THE MY HERO TOKODEMIA ARC BEGINS NOW

I hope we get a followup panel of Kaminari freaking out and trying to go after his pal (but not actually succeeding though, because I swear to god Fatgum, if you fuck this up again all of my remaining goodwill is just gonna fly right out the window. and it’s a lot of goodwill too! but we don’t screw around when it comes to children’s safety!!). just would be a nice touch! ah well if they don’t show it I’ll just headcanon it

last but not least, it’s also worth noting that while I love how brave and selfless and concerned for his mentor’s wellbeing Tokoyami is here, this was still an incredibly stupid move on his part! least of all because he actually had no idea that Hawks truly was in danger. is it weird to say he lucked out? “you’re so fortunate your teacher actually was being burned alive you reckless little goose!” but like, you know what I mean though right

anyway

-- oh they are showing it!!

YAY HE IS A GOOD BOY. THAT IS ALL. CARRY ON

Toko’s shouting over his shoulder that Hawks is “probably” in trouble. for fuck’s

I mean yeah, it’s probably just some gut instinct which funnily enough happens to be absolutely right. but I’m sorry you guys, there’s just this small part of me that just can’t get over the fact that he briefly saw Hawks flying for all of .2 seconds, and saw some flames, and just IMMEDIATELY leapt to the worst-case-scenario conclusion. you know what this is? it’s the decision-making process of a kid who is actually WAY more powerful than we’ve been giving him credit for. enough so that his self-preservation instincts don’t even kick in at all because it doesn’t even occur to him how dangerous of a move this is. goddammit Tokoyami. you kids think you’re all grown up now and ffff just please be safe

and okay, I’ll give Fatgum some benefit of the doubt for just letting that happen because apparently this is literally the first and only time

seems he didn’t even think it was possible up until now. so that’s fair

OKAY YOU KNOW WHAT FATGUM YOU ARE REDEEMED

THAT’S RIGHT!! YOU DON’T JUST UP AND LEAVE THE FATAXI WHENEVER YOU FUCKING FEEL LIKE IT. FARE DODGERS WILL BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW!!

so he’s immediately following after him, but is smart enough not to put the other kids in danger! good split-second decision-making there. certain other people in this chapter could take notes! and of course my one fear now though is that the other three children will not listen to him at all, but you know what, let’s deal with one thing at a time

hmmm

dammit Horikoshi, what...?? you really like to toe the lines of what is and isn’t problematic huh? literally if you wanted to go for a cool barbarian look all you had to do was stick with the same kind of costume scheme you had going in the second and fourth popularity polls. but no, you had to go and give him a fucking war bonnet. was that one guy back in the Hero Killer arc not enough. at least this is only a cover page, sigh

also I see that Tokoyami was asked to name his own feature chapter. I’m just happy that he’s happy

would you fucking look at this

first of all, why is Dabi suddenly twenty feet away from them. and second, would you just look at how ridiculously intact Hawks fucking is. Dabi really was microwaving him on the defrost setting only huh

so now everyone’s just looking at each other. sizin’ each other up and stuff

yeah no shit it’s bad. you rushed in thinking you could somehow handle a situation which had even the second strongest guy on the ropes. and handle it alone, no less. lord help me why are the bravest ones also always the most stupid

EEP

HIS WINGS??? also his fucking BACK jesus christ. meaning he’s completely immobile for now at best, and probably soon to be in critical condition and going into shock if he isn’t already. okay so maybe it wasn’t just the defrost setting, fuck. Hawkssss 8|

oh???????

holy shit. an opportunity to actually find out how much of a bastard Dabi actually is?? we of course know he had no problem whatsoever with kidnapping a kid back in the day. but would he go so far as to seriously fight and/or try to kill one? a kid who’s no older than your little brother?? oh gosh oh golly oh intrigue

I literally have not made up my mind on Dabi redemption one way or the other, just to be clear (he’s just been too mysterious up till now and I feel like I don’t know enough), so I am super curious to see how this plays out so I can finally form an opinion!

OH SNAP

SCORE ONE FOR “HE MAY BE AN A-HOLE, BUT HE’S NOT, AND I QUOTE, 100% A DICK”? MAYBE?? but on the other hand he’s definitely not just gonna let Hawks go either so ahhhh???

(ETA: so it seems we’ve arrived at a solid “mildly bastardish!” idk. it definitely seems to me like he’s trying not to murder this teenager for no good reason. ironically he’s in much the same position here that Hawks was less than a dozen chapters ago; facing against someone who’s just trying to protect his friend, and trying to talk him down at first, but then attacking once it’s clear that he’s not going to back off. ah well. still as morally gray as ever.)

ah I see, we’re gonna start by shattering his naive illusions!

(ETA: fucking christ, the scan is so dark I didn’t even notice Twice’s charred corpse just LYING THERE IN THE BACKGROUND the first time I read this. and now that I have noticed it, I would just like to say, sincerely, what the fuck.)

welp, there it is. finally the kids are getting properly involved in this arc, and AS EXPECTED, they are promptly being traumatized. oh Toko ;_;

Dabi this speech you’re making would feel more original if literal scores of tumblrs hadn’t spent the last two months exhaustively analyzing every single last possible angle of this debate lol. everyone has already made up their minds on the “is Hawks worth saving” controversy one way or the other but okay sure, go ahead and throw your hat into the ring too

lmao whaaaaaaat. “as a last resort, after his attempts to take him peacefully were thwarted, Hawks killed a man so as to prevent that man from killing countless others during our coup to take over the country because our boss wants to destroy everything. clearly, Hawks is the worst out of everyone else involved in this equation!” now that! is a take! lol

OH NO OH GOD

“PEW PEW PEW ENJOY THOSE FEELS” HORIKOSHI WHOOPS WHILE SHOOTING LASER GUN FINGERS AT ME, AND HEY, NOW

HEY, I SAID!!!

WHAT THE FUCK -- WHAT EVEN IS THE FUCKING SCREENPLAY FOR THIS THING?? “A BARELY-CONSCIOUS HAWKS MURMURS HIS STUDENT’S NAME WITH AN ACHINGLY WEARY LOOK OF SHAME AND REGRET! AS DABI LOOKS ON, TOKOYAMI GENTLY LIFTS HIS FALLEN MASTER AND WRAPS HIS CAPE AROUND HIS BACK, LOOKING OVERWHELMED, BUT DETERMINED. TOKOYAMI: I’M JUST... CONCERNED FOR MY TEACHER.” who the fuck wrote this shit and how much pleasure were they taking in ripping my heart out and violently slamming it against the wall

sob, and unfortunately Dabi doesn’t look particularly moved himself by any of this

DAMMIT DABI PLEASE RESPECT THEIR PRIVACY DURING THIS DIFFICULT TIME. GO AWAY AND HAVE YOUR REVENGE SOME OTHER DAY GODDAMMIT

DABI!!

Dabi I swear to god!! if you seriously try and burn my gothbird son I will...

DABI WHAT DID I JUST FUCKING SAY. LEAVE THE KID ALONE

Tokoyami... sweetie...

IF ONLY YOU COULD JUST. fly back out?? the exact same way you came??? if only that was a thing you could do??? or can he not fly while he’s carrying another person, maybe? dammit I forget

?!

wait what?? is he implying that Dabi isn’t seriously trying to kill them yet? is that what this is? I should just read on since this is clearly only the first part of something longer that he’s saying and I have to stop this bad habit of trying to analyze half a sentence before I go on and read the rest of the sentence

well whatever it is, he’s absolutely right; Dabi as it turns out is still standing there 25 feet away like a social distance champ, monologuing from afar

this panel gets more hilarious to me the longer I stare at it you guys. someone please make a comic where Hawks is all “he’s still talking...” and Toko looks to see Dabi RAMBLING ON and slowly inches further and further away while Dabi completely fails to take any notice lmao

so Tokoyami is just staring back, and then suddenly he’s all “orders from Hawks!” which I think is just him asking Hawks what to do now??

and fucking look at this lol

“just slowly inch away while he’s monologuing. I just found out he’s secretly a Todoroki so now I know his weakness: he will literally drop dead before he ever stops being dramatic”

OH MY GOD

ARE YOU TELLING ME THIS ISN’T A JOKE AND THAT’S HIS ACTUAL WEAKNESS LMAO. HAVE WE CROSSED PLANES INTO SOME KIND OF SATIRICAL REALITY. WHAT IS HAPPENING

LMAO OKAY NO HAWKS IS SAYING THAT DABI IS JUST BULLSHITTING THEM BECAUSE HE’S USED UP ALL HIS FLAMES OR SOME SHIT. LOL OKAY THEN. ALL I HEARD WAS “HE WASN’T ABLE TO FUCKING KILL ME BECAUSE HE NEVER SHUTS THE FUCK UP.” WHERE IS THE LIE

OH SNAP THERE HE GOES

he is running away in the background, right?? Dark Shadow is just a distraction? you better not be seriously trying to fight him oh god please be smart about this

okay yes good!!

bringing back some unpleasant memories of the last guy who took a tumble off this balcony, but whatever! I’m sure he’s got some kind of plan in mind here

yep okay so he’s using Dark Shadow as a bungee cord

Hawks is so fucking short he somehow looks the same size as this little bird hobbit who’s carrying him. this is just a battle of tiny, tiny people

OH MY GOD FUCKING OUCH OH GEEZ

I FELT THAT OH MY GOD

AND OF FUCKING COURSE THAT KO’D HAWKS FOR GOOD, BECAUSE HE NO LONGER HAS A FUCKING BACK, AND HE JUST TARZANED OFF A BALCONY AND TOKOYAMI LANDED RIGHT ON TOP OF HIM JESUS CHRIST. R.I.P.

TOKO IS ALL “HE MUST HAVE BLACKED OUT FROM THE IMPACT JUST NOW” AND YEAH, YOU THINK?? WOULDN’T YOU?? FUCK

OH MY GOD HE’S PICKING HIM UP AND HE’S SO FUCKING TINY OH GOD OH JESUS

STOP BEING DRAMATIC AND JUST CARRY HIM OUT OF THERE ALREADY CAN WE GET A MOVE ON PLEASE? YOU’RE DOING SO GOOD BUDDY AND I’M SO PROUD, BUT ALSO THE REST OF THE LEAGUE IS STILL OUT THERE AND NOTHING IS SAFE AND AHHHH

-- AND ALSO THIS GUY STILL!!

no doubt. no doubt whatsoever the blood that runs through those veins. the theatrics are more of a dna marker than the flame quirk could ever be

also!! ARE WE SURE HAWKS IS ACTUALLY TWENTY-THREE?? COULDN’T THE HPSC HAVE FORGED HIS BIRTH CERTIFICATE?? THIS IS A BABY PROVE ME WRONG??

anyway so since Dabi is now saying “joke’s on you, I can still use my flames whenever the fuck I want,” I’m going to take this as confirmation that he really was keeping his distance just so he could utilize forced perspective. I’m going to make a post about this as soon as I’m done reading lol

HORIKOSHI WILL YOU PLEASE STOP WITH THE ENDLESS CLOSE-UPS OF A FRIGHTENED TOKOYAMI CLINGING TO HIS UNCONSCIOUS MENTOR SCARED BUT READY TO PROTECT HIM WITH HIS LIFE I REALLY CAN’T???

DABI’S REALLY OUT HERE TRYING TO BURN THESE LITTLE BABY CHICKS ALIVE. WHERE THE FUCK IS YOUR FUCKING CHILL MY DUDE

OH MY GOD

SOME KIND OF CAVALRY HAS ARRIVED AHHHH WHO

AHHH MT. LADY?!

(ETA: ngl, I’m still not sure how I feel about this sequence of panels but I did laugh good and hard though.)

-- holy shit that was ice??! oh lord don’t tell me

yeppp, looks like it’s our old buddy Dairy Queen back at it again

look... Geten?? is it?? nothing against you personally. but I have a deep-seeded and enduring dislike of everyone from the Meta Liberation Army still and that includes you pal

that being said, did you inadvertently save Tokoyami’s life, though? I originally thought those were just ~anime shockwaves~ from some off-screen attack, but if that was all actually ice, it looks like you might have cut Dabi off. which I approve of! but also that’s some serious friendly fire you tomfool

so he’s yelling that he’s disrupted the heroes’ siege, which it looks like he has! very sloppily, but still

and also, way to have both of your fire users currently 80km away, hero team! you knew Geten was here, no?? who even planned this

now this Bleach-looking dude is sneaking up on Gang Orca with what looks to be a hole-punching quirk which is freaking me out a bit ngl

Gang please take him out with your famous yeet as soon as possible, I don’t know if I can handle a prolonged fight against this particular quirk

YES TOKO GET THE FUCK OUT!!!

there is no fucking way this kid is anywhere near his twenties incidentally I might add. none at all. we’ve been had

NO STOP FEELS

HE’S CRYING JESUS CHRIST HE THOUGHT HE WAS GOING TO DIE AND HIS TEACHER IS HURT AND DYING MAYBE AND THE VILLAIN SAID HE KILLED SOMEONE AND HE DOESN’T EVEN KNOW BUT IT DOESN’T MATTER, HE STILL WANTS TO PROTECT HIM AND HE’S JUST A BABY TOO?! IT’S TOO MUCH??

AND I DON’T KNOW WHY I’M SURPRISED OR SHOCKED BY ANY OF THIS AT ALL?? LISTEN UP EVERYONE, YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT I FOUND INSIDE OF THIS BAG IN THE FRIDGE WHICH WAS LABELED “CHILD SOLDIERS LIFE-OR-DEATH BATTLE ARC.” THE CONTENTS OF THIS BAG... MAY SHOCK YOU

lmao yeah but GUESS WHAT! I’M STILL GONNA GET ALL WORKED UP OVER IT AND I’M EVEN GONNA LIKE IT! but also. my babiesss

oh for fuck’s sake this guy still??

okay so I’ve already scrolled down enough to see the very top of the last page after this, and I’m pretty sure that’s Gigantomachia’s hair lol. please don’t tell me the radio is still on and he heard Tomura’s voice oh fiddlefucks

YEP

:’)

welp. strap yourselves in, chums. 19 chapters in, and this arc is only just beginning

[schraubd]

No News is Good News When It Comes To Polling Jews

There's a new survey out of Jewish voters, and it's chock full of interesting information. The most interesting parts, however, are how normal it is. Every election cycle, it seems, we get a new flurry of psyched-up conservative theorizing insisting that this will be the year that Jews abandon Democrats. And every year, it turns out that Jews still overwhelmingly support Democrats. And so come 2020, the big news is ... there is no news. Jews are overwhelmingly Democrats. Jews overwhelmingly loathe Trump. While Jews have preferences among the different Democratic candidates, Jews will overwhelmingly back the Democratic nominee no matter who it is. Same as last election. Same as every election. To go into some more detail:

Bernie Sanders is the least popular candidate of the various Democrats running for President. But he's still in net positive territory (+7).

Of the other Democrats running, Buttigieg and Klobuchar are the most well liked (+32), followed by Biden (+24), Bloomberg (+19), then Warren (+14).

Donald Trump? His approval ratings are a cool -40. 

Differences in relative favorability sentiments towards the potential Democratic candidates are not translating into different voting intentions come November. All six Democratic contenders poll roughly the same against Trump, pulling between 65% and 69% of the Jewish vote (Trump's numbers float between 28% and 32%).

At least as far as the general election goes, there is no significant "NeverBernie" movement in the Jewish community to speak of. So yeah, I will screenshot that tweet:

More broadly: I've seen a ton of folks on social media saying things like "Jews don't trust Bernie -- he's only got 11% support in the primary!" These were always misleading and now have been pretty decisively refuted. There's a difference between not being one's top primary choice and being outright mistrusted, let alone being someone who one would vote for Trump over. Jews may not be as keen on Sanders compared to his Democratic competition, but most still like him and we certainly like him a heck of a lot more than Trump.

(As to why Pete Buttigieg is so popular, my hypothesis is that Pete -- whatever else you might say about him -- certainly has serious "such a nice young man!" energy).

Some other high-profile conclusions from the poll are likewise not-news to those in the know. Yes, the vast majority of Jews identify broadly as "pro-Israel". No, this doesn't mean they support the Israeli government uncritically, nor does Israel rank particularly highly as a voting criteria compared to more traditional issues like healthcare or the economy. Again, this is all more-of-the-same behavior from the American Jewish electorate

So what is at least a little more noteworthy? Well, most Jews feel that both they personally and Jews generally are less safe than they were two years ago. 71% of Jews disapprove of how Donald Trump has handled the issue of "Anti-Semitism/White Nationalism" -- his single worst performance on any issue area -- and 56% say he's at least partially to blame for synagogue shootings. This corresponds to a broader repudiation of Trump in essentially every major domestic policy arena -- his disapprovals are upwards of 60% on issues ranging from taxes to health care to guns to reproductive freedom.

Another point of interest is that President Trump's issue-approvals are strongest (which is distinguishable from "strong") on Israel-related issues. The only two issues where Trump enjoys the approval of a majority of Jews is on "US-Israel relations" (51%) and recognition of Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights (52%). Moving the embassy to Jerusalem and "support for Israel annexing the West Bank" generate sharp divisions, with narrow pluralities favoring Trump here too. On annexation, in particular, this is one figure which I was genuinely surprised to see, as this seems to indicate far higher support for annexation in the Jewish community than I'd have predicted. That it's refracted through the lens of "do you approve of Donald Trump's performance on..." is unfortunate and creates a potential for blurring, but nonetheless it is a striking data point worth digging into more.

Nonetheless, even these numbers suggest that near wall-to-wall Jewish identification as "pro-Israel" yields immense diversity in opinions on specific issues. Jews are very much divided on questions like whether the embassy move was a good idea, and that division is one that largely is operating within those of us identifying as pro-Israel. This, too, should not be surprising for those of us in the know.

via The Debate Link https://ift.tt/39bcMnR

[theliberaltony]

via Politics – FiveThirtyEight

After President Trump won the 2016 election, there was a big debate over the role “identity politics” played in his victory. Some scholars argued that many white voters without a college degree — a group that proved pivotal in that election — jumped from supporting then-President Barack Obama in 2012 to Trump in 2016 largely because they liked Trump’s framing of identity issues, such as immigration, more than Hillary Clinton’s.1 After the election, some (usually white) liberal and Democratic-leaning voices said that Democrats needed to abandon “identity politics” or face more defeats like Clinton’s. Other liberal voices (often Black) said that Trump had successfully tapped into the racist views of many white Americans. Both of those perspectives implied that debating issues of identity and race was bad for Clinton and good for Trump, and in the future it would be good for the GOP and bad for Democrats.

Never mind all that, at least for now. America is talking about identity and race, and so are both presidential candidates. And all that racial talk seems to be helping Democrats, not Republicans. Joe Biden led Trump by about 6 percentage points in national polls on May 25, the day a Minneapolis police officer killed George Floyd. Biden leads Trump by an average of nearly 10 points now, after weeks of race and racism dominating the national discussion.

Obviously a lot of factors could explain Trump’s decline in the polls, most notably the coronavirus outbreak and the president’s failure to come up with any real plan to limit the virus’s spread.

But it’s worth exploring this question: Why aren’t identity politics backfiring on Biden and helping Trump? It’s hard to say for sure, but here are five theories, ordered roughly from strongest to weakest.

Trump is in the White House now

Some political science research suggests that public opinion on major issues tends to move against the sitting president. So if President John Doe says he hates Granny Smith apples, Americans will begin consuming them by the bushel. And that pattern has already played out with Trump, with Americans becoming more supportive of immigrants and Obamacare, likely in reaction to the president’s attempts to limit immigration and repeal the health care law.

Current polling — and even polls from earlier in the Trump presidency — has shown Americans expressing more liberal views on racial issues. Those numbers might suggest real change in racial attitudes among Americans. (More on that in a bit.)

But what looks right now like increasing racial liberalism may really just be anti-Trump sentiment. If Americans, particularly Democratic-leaning Americans, perceive that Trump is opposed to the Floyd protests and to racial justice causes more broadly, they might become more supportive of such causes, consciously or unconsciously, simply as a reaction to the president’s sentiments.

So in terms of identity politics and their role in presidential elections, it may have been that a racialized discourse was electorally bad for Democrats when their party controlled the White House, like in 2016. But this kind of discourse is fine and perhaps even electorally beneficial for Democrats with a Republican president in office.

Also, the story here could simply be that Trump is a flawed candidate who was going to struggle in 2020 no matter what issues were dominating the news at the time. After all, he was viewed unfavorably by 60 percent of voters on Election Day in 2016, according to exit polls, and he has remained fairly unpopular throughout his presidency. In 2019 and earlier this year, Democrats spent a lot of time debating which of their potential presidential candidates was most “electable.” But Biden’s almost-10-point lead suggests that basically any of the other 2020 Democratic presidential candidates would likely be leading Trump right now if he or she were the presumptive Democratic nominee.

2016 was a fluke and identity politics don’t always hurt Democrats

Part of the focus on identity issues as an electoral liability stems from the current makeup of swing states and the Electoral College. White voters without degrees have become increasingly Republican-leaning and represent a disproportionate share of the electorate in key swing states like Michigan and Wisconsin. So Democrats need to worry more about appealing to white voters without degrees to win an Electoral College majority than they would if presidential elections were decided by a simple national plurality vote. Thus, a lot of post-2016 coverage started from the assumption that Democrats have an identity and race problem because they must appeal to white voters without degrees and that voting bloc — at least based on the 2016 results — seemed to be put off by Democrats’ approach to identity issues.

But that framing might be wrong, or at least a bit overstated. Why? First, there’s an alternate reading of the 2016 results that suggests race wasn’t an unusually important factor in motivating the white voters who switched to Trump. Second, the overall racial dynamics of American politics are not that bad for Democrats and perhaps even favorable to them.

Zoom out beyond 2016 and take the long view: The last seven presidential elections have featured four Democratic victories in both the popular vote and the Electoral College (1992, 1996, 2008, 2012); one instance where the GOP won the popular vote and Electoral College (2004); and two kind of fluky GOP wins in which Republicans lost the popular vote but won the Electoral College (2000, 2016).

That long view doesn’t look great for Republicans, and identity and race help explain why. Democrats have been handily winning the vote among Asian, Black and Hispanic Americans, who combined are growing as a share of the electorate. (The share of nonwhite U.S. voters was about 26 percent in 2016, compared to about 13 percent in 1980.) Democrats’ status as the party of minorities helps them in some ways, requiring the GOP to consolidate an increasingly high percentage of the country’s white voters to win elections.

But it isn’t easy or necessarily guaranteed that the Republicans will overwhelmingly win the white vote overall or the white non-college vote specifically — even in an election that’s centered on race. The 2017-2018 period was full of racialized political debate, most notably on immigration policy, but the exit polls suggest Democrats lost white voters without a college degree by 24 percentage points in 2018, compared to 37 points in 2016. So far in 2020, polls show Biden losing white voters without a degree by a margin closer to 20 points.

Meanwhile, Biden might carry white voters with a college degree by a large margin, in part because those voters have been turned off by Trump’s approach to racial issues. Indeed, white voters with a college degree or postgraduate education have been trending Democratic for years, and the GOP approach to race and ethnicity is likely a factor.

In short, the evidence suggests that Trump’s approach on racial issues never really appealed to people of color in the first place and, outside of November 2016, it has also been really off-putting to white voters with degrees and not that appealing to white voters without degrees.

It’s harder to use Biden as a wedge

On policy issues, including those around identity and race, Biden’s positions are clearly to the left of the ones Obama ran on in 2008 and arguably to the left of Clinton’s in 2016. In explicitly promising to pick a woman as vice president and a Black woman as Supreme Court justice, Biden has gone beyond Clinton or Obama in terms of allocating very important government posts based on gender and race. And Biden’s rhetoric on racial issues is similar to Clinton’s in 2016. After Floyd’s death, while Trump largely dismissed the protests, Biden called for “an era of action to reverse systemic racism.”

But Biden is an older white man. So his identity likely makes it harder for Trump to run an identity-based campaign against Biden than against Clinton and, to some extent, incumbent president Obama. (The Atlantic’s Adam Serwer made this argument explicitly in a recent piece.) Biden does not visually symbolize a changing America the way President Obama did and the way a President Hillary Clinton would have.

Also, Biden has self-consciously positioned himself as a more moderate Democrat and has distanced himself from more liberal elements of the party, including the causes favored by more liberal Black Americans, like defunding the police.

The electorate has really shifted on racial issues

It’s possible that Trump’s identity politics are less effective in 2020 than they were in 2016 because the events of the last four years have resulted in a real leftward shift on racial issues among Americans. And that shift is fundamental and real, not just about partisanship or anti-Trump sentiment, as I suggested above. After all, in interviews with reporters, more liberal-leaning people and even some former Trump voters are suggesting that they understand racial inequality more deeply now than ever before.

Institutions are aligned with Biden on these issues

Major U.S. businesses, corporations and other elite institutions are typically wary of being perceived as partisan. But in the wake of Floyd’s death, corporate America seems to have decided, for whatever reason, that support for Black Lives Matter and comprehensive, aggressive efforts to reduce racial inequality are either not that partisan or that they’re stances worth taking even if they annoy some Republicans.

So at least right now, it’s not really Biden and Democrats versus Trump and Republicans on issues of identity and race in America; rather, it’s Biden, Democrats, Facebook, Merck, JPMorgan Chase, Netflix, Nike, Stanford and lots of other major institutions versus Trump and Republicans.

This dynamic is not totally unique to the spring and summer of 2020. Major companies in America are often aligned with liberal cultural values — for example, supporting gay marriage even before the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that invalidated any remaining bans on same-sex unions.

But even if corporate America’s recent posture on racial issues isn’t that surprising, it’s still important. With a lot of major institutions in America echoing his general message, it’s not surprising that Biden’s identity politics are resonating more than Trump’s.

I’m writing this article at a particular moment in time. Perhaps there will be a backlash to the Floyd protests and public opinion will shift. Maybe Trump will benefit from that. If Biden picks a female vice presidential nominee, particularly one who is also a person of color, perhaps Trump’s identity tactics will resonate more with voters because he’ll then have a foil who is more like Clinton and Obama. Alternatively, Trump could make up ground in the polls due to unrelated issues and factors.

And even if Biden wins, that won’t totally answer the question of whether identity politics is bad or good for Democrats. LIke I said, perhaps basically any Democratic candidate would beat Trump amid a viral outbreak the president mishandled.

All that said, it appears right now that the identity politics of 2020 are a net plus for Democrats — and perhaps they weren’t too big a problem for Democrats in the first place. It’s hard to prove any of this, but it’s an important discussion to have. In 2008, it seemed like Democrats won a presidential contest that was largely about race. But even though the presidential nominees were white in 2016 and 2020, those may have been more racialized campaigns. And if the current polls hold up, Democrats, after losing a very racialized campaign, may show that they can win one.

[idairsauthor]

This Fcking Impeachment: Episode 2, Following the Strongest

PLAIDDER: Hello and welcome to This Fucking Impeachment, Weekend Edition. With me in the studio is Conn mac Emer. Conn, thanks for coming in on a weekend, I couldn’t get Gill to do it.

CONN: It is my pleasure. I mean that.

PLAIDDER: Thanks, I appreciate--

CONN: I LIVE FOR THIS.

PLAIDDER: Oooook...Conn, events that have unfolded since our last episode reminded me of one we taped during the government shutdown, which was called “The Art of the Possible.”

CONN: Oh yeah. I remember that.

PLAIDDER: Good. I wanted to--

CONN: That’s the one where you were arguing with me up one side and down the other and then just about an hour after that episode aired it turned out that I was ENTIRELY CORRECT.

PLAIDDER: Not entirely, friend. You were right about this part--Kleark, can you run the clip--

CONN: Look, with a process like this, it’s like a dance between what actually happens and what people believe is possible. Sometimes a thing has to actually happen before people believe it can happen.

PLAIDDER: Like that asshole becoming President of the United States.

CONN: Exactly. And sometimes, a thing can’t happen until enough people start to believe it could happen.

PLAIDDER: With you so far, friend.

PLAIDDER: But on the other hand, you did make the following predictions--Kleark, can we have clip #2 please--

CONN: When he loses the support of his party, he will go. Either they will impeach and remove him, or–and I think this much more likely–they will promise him that if he resigns they will not put him in jail. And he will do it.

PLAIDDER:--thanks, Kleark--and these predictions have NOT come true.

CONN: Yet.

PLAIDDER: I KNEW YOU WERE--

CONN: I know you knew. I just didn’t want to disappoint.

PLAIDDER: Well, anyway, indeed, I have started to think you might be right about some of this.

CONN: I am right about ALL of it.

PLAIDDER: I’ve started to think that impeachability might be like electability.

CONN: In our country we have neither of these concepts.

PLAIDDER: It’s basically our version of “most people follow the strongest.”

CONN: Oh. I get it.

PLAIDDER: So then--

CONN: No, wait, I don’t.

PLAIDDER: OK. “Electability” is something people talk about as if it is some kind concrete thing. In fact, “electability” is ‘real’ in that it can have real-world effects, but it is not ‘real’ in that it is not based on any material givens. Electability is a product of the collective imagination. It is self-creating, self-sustaining, and (sometimes) self-defeating. You become electable when enough people believe that you are electable. Anxiety about “electability” is a real problem in Democratic primaries, because it leads people to vote for whoever’s considered the most “electable” candidate instead of the one they want. Then, when the most “electable” person wins the primary, everyone’s depressed at how middle of the road and boring and Republican-lite they are, and they don’t turn out, and that’s how you get things like Buttercup winning that fucking election.

CONN: And Biden was supposed to be your most “electable” candidate?

PLAIDDER: Yes. Because he was an old white man who stood next to Obama for 8 years.

CONN: Your country truly is a magical and bizarre place.

PLAIDDER: I know. Anyway, what was beginning to happen before all this came out is that perceptions of “electability” were starting to change. The fact that Elizabeth Warren’s events are drawing large crowds has led people to start wondering whether she might actually be “electable.” This has led to her rising in the polls, and to Biden dropping--because people who liked her all along but thought she wasn’t “electable” are now starting to back her. I think her campaign managers understand this. They have been working very hard to create “electability” for her and it seems to be working.

CONN: So in your country, people won’t vote for their candidate if they don’t think that candidate will win.

PLAIDDER: Not everyone, but--

CONN: Thus ensuring that their candidate doesn’t win.

PLAIDDER: Friend, if you will allow me to quote “Waving Through A Window” from the musical Dear Evan Hansen, liberal voters in this country have learned to slam on the brakes before they’ve even turned the key.

CONN: I don’t understand any of that sentence.

PLAIDDER: Ironically, Buttercup’s election has sort of broken the electability thing, because now people are like, well fuck, ANYONE can be electable.

CONN: But this show is about impeachment...?

PLAIDDER: I’m coming to that. I think all those public opinion polls they did showing Americans didn’t support Buttercup’s impeachment worked the same way. I think people said they were against impeachment because they thought too many other people were against impeachment. As long as they thought impeachment didn’t have enough popular support, they didn’t want to support impeachment either. Because they thought that if impeachment really WAS that unpopular, impeaching Buttercup would only screw up the 2020 elections. But, like, half of those people with whom impeachment was supposed to be “unpopular” were people thinking, I so fucking WANT this guy impeached but not if it’s gonna cost us the House in 2020. In fact I think that impeachment hasn’t really been “unpopular;” it’s just that too many people thought it was impossible.

CONN: But you don’t have any evidence for this.

PLAIDDER: I do not. But I do know that some early polling suggests that now that it looks like it’s actually going to happen, impeachment is suddenly becoming more “popular.” Here’s one by Politico/Morning Consult showing a 7 point jump in people who want Buttercup impeached. Democratic support for it has increased 13%--but Republican support for it has doubled (from 5% to 10%, but still) and now 39% of independents also want him impeached.

CONN: That’s one poll.

PLAIDDER: Five thirty-eight has more.

CONN: They say it’s all still preliminary.

PLAIDDER: Dude, which of us is supposed to be the optimist here?

CONN: Friend, I am EXPLODING with optimism at this moment, but not because of polling. Or because of what’s happening with “impeachability.”

PLAIDDER: All right then, what lit your optimism fuse today?

CONN: You have forgotten something very important in this art of the possible.

PLAIDDER: All right, what?

CONN: Your president’s enablers, cronies, and craven toadies need to believe that it’s possible that his power over them might come to an end.

PLAIDDER: OK, so electability, impeachability, and...

CONN: Let’s call it destructability.

PLAIDDER: I like it!

CONN: I think your president’s destructability index is on the rise. I think it will only accelerate from here.

PLAIDDER: There’s no polling for that.

CONN: No. But if you look at the stories coming out now, you can clearly see that people who have been tolerating this monster for years purely out of fear of the consequences are starting to imagine a world in which he is no longer in power. And they would like to enter that world without having been utterly despoiled of their dignity and self-respect.

PLAIDDER: I wouldn’t have thought they still had any.

CONN: Friend, the number of people in the world who are as completely solipsistic and thoroughly amoral as your president is very small. Most people care something about the good opinion of their fellow-humans, even if it’s only their families and friends. It’s one thing to go along with a corrupt regime thinking that nobody will ever know about the thousand little compromises you made and the scores of presidential evils you concealed. It’s another to lie awake at night thinking about what will happen when the man you’ve been servicing has been brought down and now everyone who helped him is going to be dragged through the mire.

PLAIDDER: But is anyone really imagining that, apart from people like you and me?

CONN: Well, there’s already been one resignation. You don’t resign over a scandal if you still trust your boss to protect you. Also someone is telling the press about the calls with Mohammad Bin Salman and Vladimir Putin which were also stored on that classified server--presumably in hopes that someone else will be held responsible for it.

PLAIDDER: I kind of want to know how that Jamal Khashoggi conversation went, but I also kind of really, really don’t.

CONN: Steve Schwarzman, one of these “unofficial” envoys that your president seems to have used so much, is now contradicting your president in public--because he’s afraid of being drawn into this. Your Secretary of State has been subpoenaed. John Bolton appears to have been involved in all this--he’s just left on very bad terms. Meanwhile, your president is wildly flailing around looking for people he can throw to the wolves--starting, amazingly, with his own vice president. Which was bad strategy, because everyone ELSE watches that and says, “If the boss has already turned on his #2, he will CERTAINLY turn on me.” And so they’ve started to turn on your president, pre-emptively.

PLAIDDER: Because mostly people follow the strongest.

CONN: Yes.

PLAIDDER: But nobody REALLY knows who’s the strongest.

CONN: Exactly.

PLAIDDER: So people who stop believing he’s the strongest, stop following him.

CONN: Correct.

PLAIDDER: And if enough people stop following...

CONN: Then those 35 Republican Senators who have always hated him will throw him onto the pyre and act like they’re the ones who saved the country from him.

PLAIDDER: Well. I guess we’ll see.

CONN: YOU will see that I am correct.

PLAIDDER: Yeah, maybe.

CONN: You want to bet against me? Just to make it interesting.

PLAIDDER: Well, we’re out of time for now. Tune in...I dunno, could be 4 hours from now, for our next episode of This Fucking Impeachment!

[thisdaynews]

Democrats woo Bullock for Senate. They’re over Beto.

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/democrats-woo-bullock-for-senate-theyre-over-beto/

Democrats woo Bullock for Senate. They’re over Beto.

But even as party officials are desperate for Bullock to run, they’re taking a soft approach for fear going too hard would backfire. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he hasn’t talked to Bullock or O’Rourke — a shift from his strategy with potential Georgia Senate candidate Stacey Abrams, who spurned his requests. Still, Democratic senators are publicly encouraging Bullock to join their club.

The different opinions toward the unsuccessful presidential candidates stem from the fact that Democrats are fairly comfortable with their current roster of Texas candidates. Yet in Montana, Bullock would be a game-changer: Without him in the race, GOP Sen. Steve Daines is the overwhelming favorite for reelection.

“I would hope that Steve Bullock reevaluates,” said Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), who is close to O’Rourke but has not lobbied him to run for the Texas seat. “If it was important enough to run for president … the most powerful thing [Bullock] could do to help the country and his state, I believe, would be to run for the U.S. Senate.”

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is eager to explain what it’s like to be a former governor in the Senate, emphasizing the sway senators have over international affairs and what being in the clubby chamber of 100 is actually like compared with Bullock’s impression of it.

“Him running would turn it from a race where we would have a massive mountain to climb to a race where we would start at least 50-50 and maybe better. It would be transformative,” Kaine said.

Democrats have a fairly narrow path to retaking the majority, with three or four seats needed to win the Senate. Putting Texas and Montana in play would immediately reshape the map.

Texas Democrats have run polls, reported by the Dallas Morning News, showing O’Rourke is the most competitive against Cornyn and the favorite in the Democratic primary. O’Rourke told the Texas Tribune on Thursday night that nothing has changed and he’s not running.

But Democratic senators aren’t convinced O’Rourke can replicate the 2018 magic after his presidential fizzle, particularly given the baggage he accumulated from urging the seizure of assault weapons and taxing churches that oppose gay marriage.

“Steve would be great, I really do [think]. He’s connected well and didn’t hurt himself at all in the campaign,” said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who won reelection last year in a conservative state. “Beto, I don’t know. … In a state that’s got a gun culture like my state’s gun culture, I don’t think he took a reasonable approach to that. It would hurt him in West Virginia.”

“It’s not clear to me that Beto is the strongest candidate anymore,” said one Senate Democrat familiar with the Senate races. “If we’re going to have a failed presidential candidate run for the Senate in Texas, what’s wrong with Julián [Castro?]”

Castro, who’s still running for president, has shown no interest in the Senate. But Democrats are pleased with current contenders and eight candidates have already filed, including state Sen. Royce West and activist Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez. MJ Hegar, a former fighter pilot who lost a competitive House race in 2018, will file to run Monday, according to her campaign. Amanda Edwards, a Houston City Council member, also plans to file in the coming days, according to an adviser. Hegar has thus far led in fundraising and is currently the likely favorite.

O’Rourke faces a Monday deadline for his decision and he would start from a tough position against Cornyn, a strong fundraiser without the bruises Cruz suffered from fights with his own party. Democrats have time to coax Bullock into the race: Montana has a March 9 filing deadline.

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), who is close to Bullock, called it a “mistake” to pressure the governor now. But Tester acknowledged how important Bullock is to the party.

“He’s the best chance for us to pick that seat up. He’s got better popularity than anybody else in the state, Daines and myself included,” Tester said. “It’s sitting there. But it’s his call.”

There are plenty of examples of politicians changing their minds after repeatedly turning down runs for office. None is more salient than John Hickenlooper, the ex-Colorado governor who ran for president this year while insisting he was not “cut out” for the Senate.

Yet shortly after ending his presidential campaign and some personal reflection, Hickenlooper reversed himself and quickly earned an endorsement from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

“What I said to him was: ‘You’re the only person who can decide whether this is right for you.’ What I told him was the good, the bad and the ugly of serving in the Senate at this time,” said Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), another presidential contender who has so far not gained traction.

Given the recent history of politicians like Hickenlooper and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) changing their minds on Senate runs after their presidential dreams collapsed, Daines and Cornyn both said they are prepared for the possibility of a surprise but insisted their would-be opponents are weakened. Cornyn has even mentioned O’Rourke’s possible entry in his fundraising solicitations this week.

Despite his fundraising prowess, there’s bipartisan agreement that O’Rourke has made future runs for office much more difficult. But Republicans are still keeping an eye on Bullock. The Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC aligned with GOP leadership, has tracked all of Bullock’s shifts to the left, including endorsing an assault weapons ban and an impeachment inquiry. A race against Daines would be no cakewalk.

Ultimately persuading Bullock to seek the Senate may prove most difficult. He has young children and the frequent commute from Montana is brutal. He said bluntly earlier this year that President Barack Obama saw his kids more than Bullock would as senator. He’s said no countless times.

Several Democrats are already running in Montana, including Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins, Navy veteran John Mues and Cora Neumann, a public health expert who worked in the State Department.

Neumann said in an interview she spoke with Bullock before launching her campaign in October, and he “gave me his word he wasn’t going to run” for Senate. She said her profile, campaign organization and fundraising would “turn heads” and force people to take her seriously as a contender.

But the reality is until the Monday deadline in Texas and the March deadline in Montana comes and goes, some Democrats are going to be looking to land the big names.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said he thought O’Rourke and Bullock would be strong candidates, but didn’t consider it helpful for senators to be “clamoring” for them.

“Ultimately, this has got to be about what the people of that state want and what he wants, not what we want,” Murphy said of Bullock. “He’s obviously our strongest candidate in that state. But I don’t think he cares what we think, and he shouldn’t care what we think.”

Read More

[snkpolls]

SnK S3E15 Poll Results (Anime Only Viewer Version)

The poll closed with 84 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note this is the anime only viewer version of the poll. Manga readers, please click here for the results of the manga reader poll!

RATE THE EPISODE 65 Responses

This episode got overall positive responses from the fandom, with nearly all votes at a 4-5 rating. Can WIT keep up this momentum?

Another fantastic episode.

intense

Stressful

Rude

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT? 64 Responses

The favorite moment of the episode inarguably goes to Bertolt activating his Bertl Bomb™! Closely behind is the short Mikasa vs. Bertolt conflict, and in third place is Annie’s hesitance to assist in killing Marco.

Reiner was right, Bertholdt really was the strongest warrior of their so-called "hometown", able to fend himself off from an Ackermann.

Wow Bertholdt is really strong, he completely dominated Mikasa in their fight.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE APETITAN AND YOUSEEBIGGIRL REARRANGES? 61 Responses

72% of respondents were thrilled to hear new versions of familiar songs from Sawano, feeling that the new versions were totally epic. Nearly 20% still prefer the originals, although they agree the new versions sounded cool.

WHAT’S YOUR OPINION ABOUT THE RECENT EARLY EPISODE LEAKS? 63 Responses

54% of respondents weren’t even aware that leaks of the episode had happened. 23% aren’t happy about the leaks happening, while 15% don’t really care.

Great. I hate sunday releases

WHO WON THE SHOUTING MATCH? 63 Responses

With nearly ¾ of the vote, Bertolt is deemed the winner of the shouting match on the rooftops!

Armin should have asked Bombholdt why they wanted to kill all humans.

HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT BERTOLT’S DEVELOPMENT AT THIS POINT? 64 Responses

40% of respondents are glad to see how far he’s developed as a character. 26% are just happy to have his thoughts and more lines from him, and narrowly behind at 25% people are curious to see what will become of his character.

He’s progressed but in the way of the warriors. The more he’s with beasty and Reiner the more cold hearted he becomes.

i still hate him with all my heart

Bertholdt with conviction is really badass. He’s actually interesting now.

HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT ARMIN BLUFFING ABOUT ANNIE A SECOND TIME? 64 Responses

A whopping 60% of respondents believe that Armin should have known better than to try manipulating Bertolt’s feelings for Annie to his benefit again, while the remaining 37% feel that it was worth another shot.

I think in Armin’s scenario he couldn’t think of another bluff that quickly so he resorted back to Annie, knowing that there was a chance it wouldn’t pay off.

WHAT DID YOU THINK ABOUT CGI COLOSSAL TITAN? 63 Responses

With a surprising divide between positive and negative reactions, 42% of viewers are pleased with the CGI render of the Colossal Titan, labeling it as “awesome.” Closely behind, 30% feel that it’s very “meh.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE 104TH RIDING ON TITAN EREN? 64Responses

Fanart becomes a reality as the 104th take a ride on Eren’s titan form! 42% of viewers found this detail adorable, 29% think it’s pretty neat, and 20% don’t think much of it either way.

WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION WHEN IT WAS REVEALED THAT ALL OF THE WARRIOR TRIO WERE INVOLVED IN MARCO’S DEATH? 64 Responses

Much to the pollster’s delight, it seems that Reiner’s brief flashback from season 2 didn’t spoil it for everyone! A solid 25% of viewers had expected that each of them played a part in Marco’s death. 20% of viewers were genuinely surprised by the reveal. 18% picked up on the clue from season 2.

FUCK. REINER. BERTOLT. AND ANNIE.

I excepted all 3 to be involved but I DIDN’T expect them to care about killing Marco.

I loved seeing that Annie actually cared and didn’t want to take Marco’s ODM gear.

DO YOU THINK THE WARRIOR TRIO COULD HAVE NEGOTIATED WITH MARCO WITHOUT KILLING HIM? 63 Responses

The overwhelming majority believe that Reiner and Bertolt were right to believe that negotiation with Marco wasn’t possible. 14% of respondents aren’t sure either way, and 12% feel they could have come to an understanding.

THE WARRIORS TALK ABOUT AN “EVIL RACE” AND JUST WANTING TO “END IT.” WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THIS? 63 Responses

Nearly half of respondents believe that there’s someone above the warriors who wants humanity to perish. 20% believe that shifters are a different race than the rest of humanity in the walls, and 19% believe everyone in the walls are of a certain race, and that is why the warriors are trying to kill them. In retrospect, we should have left an option for write in answers. :P

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE SIGNIFICANCE OF REINER’S WORDS ABOUT HIS PROMISE TO YMIR ARE, IF ANY? 63 Responses

42% of respondents feel that Reiner’s desire to fulfill his promise to Ymir stem from mixed motivations. 20% believe that he genuinely just wants to save Historia, and 19% believe that he’s doing it as a way to repay her for saving them.

I feel like he’s honoring her last wish. (My theory is the Quadruped Titan night have eaten her)

REINER SURVIVED THE THUNDER SPEAR ATTACK BY TRANSFERRING HIS CONSCIOUSNESS AGAIN - THOUGHTS? 64 Responses

Over half of the fandom feel that Reiner’s abilities are simply born from plot armor. At much smaller percentages, 15% of respondents feel that it’s a reasonable explanation for his survival, 12% think it’s a super cool feature of his titan, and 10% aren’t really bothered about it.

Again, I think this is how shifting works. If your consciousness is transferred to your body then you transform, but if your mind and body are disconnected (by cutting off the nape) you die.

whatever, i just hate him with all my heart

WHAT IS THE FATE OF HANGE’S SQUAD? 63 Responses

44% of respondents are certain that most of the soldiers with Hange were killed in the blast, with maybe a couple of survivors. 30% are slightly more optimistic about the survival numbers, but ultimately feel most of them didn’t escape the blast. 15% are certain that all of them have perished, and a small 9% are optimistic about their fates.

I hate that I have to wait  until Sunday to see what happened to Hange’s squad.

DO YOU THINK THE 104TH WILL BE ABLE TO DEFEAT BERTOLT? 62 Responses

43% of respondents have faith that the 104th will be able to outdo Bertolt somehow and defeat him. 29% don’t want to say confidently either way, and 17% already know what happens.

HOW HAVE YOU OPINIONS ON THE FOLLOWING CHARACTERS CHANGED?

After this episode, Marco, Bertolt, Annie and Armin got large boost in regards to how well liked they are among respondents. Meanwhile, Reiner took the biggest hit, with more people finding him less favorable than more favorable, although most opinions remained unchanged. The Beast Titan, now known as Zeke, got a boost in terms of favorability. Mikasa remained mainly unchanged, but also received a good boost in favorability this episode.

BARREL BOY BEST (problematic) BOY

Jean and Mikasa are the only ones with resolve. Reiner and Bert are from the past

It feels like each character is acting realistically. They are on opposite sides of a war that they don't understand but were thrust into

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

It’s nice. Bertolt’s tranformation scene was really epic... but Hange squad might be dead... T.T

I think they could of done a better job in going into more depth about the plan? And i wish they didn't leave us hanging with what happened to Hange's squad

This may be a long one so buckle up. (im sorry)

Okay, so first off I didn’t know that quadrupedal titan could speak so that totally caught me off guard. Secondly, having seen the Lost Girls OVA, I expected Annie and at least someone else to be involved with Marco’s death. I feel really bad for Annie (and Bertolt, but mostly Annie) because it was obvious she didn’t want to kill Marco. Also Reiner’s split personality thing??? Anyways, I’m happy we finally got to see the beadt titan shifter, he kinda looks like Grisha though. The thing with Bert and Reiner was great. The Bert vs Armin yelling battle was great as well. I’m super excited for the next episode! This one was so good.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 60 Responses

Thank you to everyone who participated! We’ll see you again in a few days!

[illegiblewords]

A lot of other people have discussed this topic already, but I’d like to offer my two cents on the “next possible Final Fantasy XIV race” speculation lol. Naturally I don’t know any more than the next person, but this is a fun thing to consider.

Note I’m coming at this from overwhelmingly a design standpoint. This is legit just thinking about what might be cool without overlapping too much with what’s been done already, plus what might be feasible.

#1) Viera

They’ve been pushed as a very strong possibility, both because concept art for them as a FFXIV race has been released and I think Ivalice (home of Viera apparently, although I haven’t played FFXII so don’t take my word for it lol) is confirmed in FFXIV. Some fans seem super hyped at the possibilities, others have been complaining that Viera would be just another case of “humans + animal features” when Miqo’te and Au Ra already do that.

Additionally, there are two possible looks presented in concept art with the tall, statuesque Viera and the short, cute Viera. Technically with there being two subtypes for every race and precedent for dramatically different body types in Hyur, it would be possible for this to happen. More work for sure, but possible.

However, given the big discrepancy between concept art Au Ra and in-game Au Ra I have a theory about what probably happened/is going to happen.

See, I get the sense Japan is pretty fucking good about maximizing positive reception for creative projects where a lot of time and money is getting poured in. If it’s possible to get a test audience’s reaction early in development, I bet the Final Fantasy team would go for that. And especially if the new feature being released is going to be a race as opposed to a class, I bet there’d be some kind of opinion poll to make sure the release would be popular/inspire bigger sales, as opposed to anything potentially lackluster.

I think what came out of the Viera + Au Ra concept art showing was that

Audiences liked Au Ra more than Viera

However, audiences also came out liking statuesque male Viera and cute female Viera in some disproportionate degree when compared to statuesque female Viera and cute male Viera

I suspect that’s what led to the extreme sexual dimorphism we got in Au Ra. It would make a lot of sense to me that devs would want to cover what was being requested thoroughly to ensure positive reception while expending as little extra time, money, and effort as possible. Making games is a time consuming, expensive, difficult enterprise as is!

The way things stand, imo Miqo’te already accomplish the role of intermediary cute race between Lalafells and Hyurs. Female Au Ra also add to this. What I don’t think has been covered properly yet though is a tall, noodle race. Elezen almost pull the aesthetic off but are a bit too wide in the shoulders for it imo. Viera could do the look, but  I also have no question there would be people griping that it’s another example of humans + animal features. Also, if they go statuesque/lean muscle that would imo be redundant with existing options.

#2) Garleans

They exist in-universe already and are not playable, so it wouldn’t be so shocking for that to change. However, them amounting to humans + forehead bumps could be a major detracting point in practice for players. IMO there is potential for Garleans to be visually interesting and a lot of fun if they were made more visually distinct somehow, e.g. the third eyes being made more detailed, facial/body features being slightly exaggerated to help distinguish them from Hyurs. Given there are pureblood and mixed-blood Garleans, if there was an ancestral Garlean race shown in some capacity with more dramatic features that could be a lot of fun.

Edit: Apparently has been nixed already! I’m used to Dragon Age franchise where entire classes are made inaccessible to dwarves lol, Final Fantasy team doesn’t play that way.

#3) Dwarves

This might be a little bit of a stretch, but not a huge one. The Final Fantasy team has used dwarves in past games already. Elezen are basically stand-ins for elves, and having dwarves paired against elves is a common fantasy trope. Additionally, there isn’t a short-but-tough looking race yet so dwarves would cover a previously unfilled niche. Roegadyn address huge-but-tough already, after all.

However, there is some risk to using dwarves logistically. One is that as a tough race, I get the overwhelming impression that Roegadyn may be one of if not the least popular Final Fantasy XIV race so far. Furthermore, from what I remember dwarves tend to be consistently among the least popular races within games they’re available as player options. So while creatively dwarves would offer a potentially distinct and visually interesting contrast to other races, positive reception is far from guaranteed.

I do think there might be room for FFXIV devs to do something visually interesting with dwarves as a concept. In the past they’ve done things as weird as the ones pictured above (like dwarf/orc hybrids) as well as far more traditional looking designs. This would also offer a stocky frame where they otherwise haven’t been an option so much. So while I personally think it could be cool and would love to see how strong the Final Fantasy could make dwarves as an aesthetic, I don’t know that this is something they’ll do.

#4) Noodle-Alien Race

One of the fun things about Final Fantasy is that they are unapologetic about nabbing concepts from various world mythologies just for rule of cool, and it’s generally up in the air whether they’ll make something new up or just borrow. I personally think nooodle-aliens would offer a lot of room to play visually, a strong likelihood of success, and a distinct visual niche.

To clarify: when I say noodle, I mean that the strongest visual presented is slender. Possibly also tall, but mainly slender. Elezen are the closest to this, but again they get too broad to fully capitalize on the aesthetic imo. Aliens haven’t been done yet but would offer both an existing aesthetic archetype (that the Final Fantasy team has touched upon previously in many different ways) and avoid redundancy with the humans + animal features bit. Mystical/graceful star-people would be visually fun without negating other races also. I think either between Elezen and Roegadyn heights or between Hyur and Elezen heights would be likely. Au Ra males also don’t pull off the noodle look at all, so no danger there.

What’s more, if they’re aliens there’s a reason they haven’t been seen in Eorzea yet haha. Covers a lot of bases.

#5) Unnamed Spooky Race

This would be pretty dramatically different from Final Fantasy’s usual approach, but possibly in a way that could be popular. Spooky races are essentially ghouls, liches, similar stuff to that. Something dark and scary. From what I remember these tend to do decently in terms of popularity, although I’m not sure how much precedent there is within Final Fantasy as a franchise. Again, could offer aesthetic potential and a distinct niche, just a little bit of a gamble in terms of reception.

What I don’t think would happen:

- Padjals, because iirc the team nixed it, they’re too rare, and they’re perma-children so I think that limits some storytelling aspects for the game. Also they’re literally Hyurs with horns. - Beast Folk, because it would complicate clothing models and the narrative too much. - Orcs/ogres/trolls, because Roegadyn already do huge race and I think it would be redundant and make them visually less distinct. - Fairies/insect race, because sylphs are covered already. - Fully statuesque race. I’ve seen people try to argue we don’t have an amazonian female archetype yet, but honestly the Roegadyn females cover it. For a statuesque/lean muscle, tall-male build we have male Au Ra. Hate to say it, but this has been hit. It’s possible the Final Fantasy team would do something with this (either for Viera or some other race), but imo it would be disappointing and redundant. Especially if it was another human + animal features race.

All this said, what do you guys think? Anything I mentioned you would be super pumped for? Anything I haven’t mentioned that you’d want? Anything you disagree with hardcore? Feel free to chime in!