#it is going to destroy the environment agency

[a-feller]

Research project 2025. Vote knowing it exists.

[thehumanwiki]

hi and welcome to

✨bullshit that has ACTUALLY happened somewhere in the Pokémon franchise✨

-a teenaged boy runs away from home because of his abusive mom only to join a crime gang funded by his abusive mom.

-the player character is given a smartphone by and with direct contact to God.

-a man cosplaying God (the same God you got a phone from) attacks you with a demon banished to another dimension.

-a suicide cult led by an evil snowflake kills like one hundred other protagonists.

-there is an entire elemental typing consisting of abused and evil Pokémon that is super effective against everything else.

-the player falls into an alternate world and one of their friends is immediately arrested for playing sports.

-in the thrilling sequel, a bunch of ghosts kidnap children in their amusement park in the Shadow Realm.

-now that I think about it there are like three different games where the player character starts by falling from the sky.

-the protagonist of the TV adaptation has died like seven times, been crucified in Paris, watched several apocalypses, and has watched SO many people die in front of him, and I don’t think he’s brought it up like, ever.

-in one game, you can go on a crusade to brutally conquer the entire continent.

-the player of one game is part of a time loop caused by a magic turtle that indirectly kills one of their friend’s mother. Or father. Depends on the version.

-the player’s adoptive father is possessed by the personification of hate and sends them directly to Hell, then tries to do it again when they get out.

-the mafia’s plan for getting their boss back after he left is to violently hijack a radio station and ask really nicely.

-a space agency’s plan for stopping a meteor form colliding with the earth is to open a wormhole to another dimension. this plan is stopped by a woman in a torn cape who destroys their equipment and robs them.

-the protagonist’s father had a godlike clone fuse his consciousness with a mouse, and fights a man who fused his own consciousness with an alien.

-the one a cult leader chose to be king of his new religion is an abused autistic boy with green hair and wearing a baseball cap.

-you literally rob people’s Pokémon in one game and you’re still the good guy. …is there a gender neutral version of “good guy?”

And now for a BONUS ROUND!

✨shit that has gone down in the Pokémon manga adaptation alone!✨

-terrorists blow up an ENTIRE port city!

-one protagonist spent two years trapped in a Dream Realm™.

-you think that’s bad? TWO protagonists are trapped in the depths of space for like six months!

-you think THAT’S bad?! FIVE protagonists are turned into stone for an indefinite time period!

-a little orphan girl is hypnotized and trapped in a suit of armor.

-they crucify the gym leaders???

-one boy is whipped in the face with a chain used to subjugate the Gods Of Time And Space and he’s literally fine.

-a father punches his son in the face and hurls him down a staircase. The American translation censors this as a lightning strike.

-this same son fell into the ocean because of an earthquake like five chapters after he was introduced.

-one of the current protagonists is basically Wednesday Addams.

-two protagonists were kidnapped by birds and raised by a supervillain.

-two villains try to destroy the environment of an entire country, cause an apocalypse, and are stopped by being trapped in a flying car which crashes.

-a mysterious supervillain saves them— SOMEHOW— and makes them fight to the death for a suit of armor. The one that survives causes the apocalypse AGAIN but dies.

-they both get brought back from Hell to save the world, and after that’s over, they turn to dust and go back to Hell.

-the supervillain who saved them the first time also summons like ten gods and dips out, never to be seen again.

In other words Pokémon is weird (affectionate).

[bakugosworld]

Bitter not sweet

Endeavor x f! reader

platonic shoto x reader

Enji Todoroki and Y/N used to be a power couple. They used to be the most applauded couple at UA. Key words, used to be. Something disturbing happened to destroy their relationship, and now years later Y/N (a pro hero) is now helping teach and support her ex’s son in the same school she met his father.

Warnings: slight angst? Endeavor being Endeavor, trauma dumping, personal grudges

Endeavor could hear nothing but his own boots walking through the halls of his own agency. The place is empty due to the major villain attack that had happened earlier that day, and many of his sidekicks stayed to clean up the fight while Endeavor went to file some important paperwork due that day.

He shuffled inside his office and slowly shuts the door. As he makes his way to his desk his cell phone begins to ring. He quickly fishes it out of his pocket, recognizing the tune to be Fyumi calling. Thinking that there was an emergency he tenses up as he answers it. “Fyumi, what’s going on?” His voice alert. He hears her laugh from the other end of the line, his shoulders relaxed a bit. “Hey dad, I just wanted to know what you wanted for dinner? Shoto just finished his first day of UA and I want us all to eat together to celebrate tonight!” She seems excited as per usual.

Endeavor wraps up the conversation and stuffs his phone back into his pocket. Sighing as he sits down.

*earlier that day, Y/Ns perspective*

I had been hired as a new Heroics and Law teacher at UA high this year. I walked into the building for the first day of school and had passed a few familiar pros along the way. Once I reach my classroom I set down my bag and log into my computer. I had gotten the class environment set up during my orientation with Nezu who had provided me all the safety protocols and instructions. Once my computer is loaded I pull up my seating chart that EraserHead had provided and projected it to the wall, not even bothering to look at it.

I didn’t have a class untill an hour or two later considering I’m not a homeroom teacher, so I had decided to sit in the Faculty Room while I waited and caught up with a few long term friends. Once the bell went off I started walking to my classroom with Present Mic whose class is right next to mine. We stand outside the door chatting while watching the students trickle in one by one.

Eventually I had walked in to begin class. “Hello class my name is (pro hero name) but you can all me miss (last name)” I greet as I stand at the podium in the front of their seats. The class greets me back and I hear a few students talking amongst themselves quietly. “I going to call attendance so when I call your name just say a simple ‘here’. And if I mispronounce your name, please inform me right away. Understood?”

The students mutter words of acknowledgment. Going through the list, I seen a few surnames that are recognizable. “Next is shoto todo…roki…?” My jaw slightly agape as the last name rings in my head like a steel drum. The name Todoroki repeating itself over and over again. “Here” a monotone voice rings from the back of the classroom. I slowly turn my head up to look at the boy with split dyed hair. There’s no way. He looks exactly like him. Like her too. My heart squeezes in my chest. I thought I was over it.

I break myself out of the thought. I’ll just look into it after class. “Katsuki Bakugou?” I continue with roll call despite being shaken. I hear an angry grumble “here” from the opposing side of the classroom. I sigh and continue with class as normal despite me screaming internally.

A few students came to talk to me after class, some of them wanted to know more about my pro hero life *cough midoria cough* while others wanted to know more about the subject I would be teaching them this year. One student in particular left the class without a word to anyone. Yep. That’s his kid alright.

*back to the todoroki household*

“So shoto.. how was your first day?” Endeavor asks before shoving food into his mouth. Shoto sighs “it was fine..” Endeavor looks up to his youngest son. “What about your teachers? What teachers do you have, I want to make sure you have the best of the best so you can reach your goal” endeavor shoves more food into his mouth while waiting for his son’s response.

“My homeroom teacher is Mr. Aizawa. Then I have Miss (L/N) for Heroics and Law. Then I have Present Mic for English.” Shoto muttered quietly but it was loud enough for Endeavor to hear. Endeavor choked on his rice and slammed one hand on the table to stabilize himself while the other beat at his chest to dislodge the food from his throat.

Fyumi panicked and started to pat her father on the back, while asking him if he’s okay. Natsuo held back a very slight smile and kept eating. Endeavor finally cleared his throat and started down at the table in disbelief. ‘…y/n??’

After that incident he had finished his food and left to his room muttering a small ‘thank you’ to Fyumi for the dinner. Endeavor sat on the edge of his bed, looking towards the ground and his hands cupped around his mouth to help calm him down. He sat there for hours, thinking back on memories of you two in your high school days. It had been a long time since he had thought of you, he tried to suppress the memories due to the guilt that ate him alive.

—flashback—

“Enji!” Your voice rang through the halls of UA, he can hear your footsteps grow increasingly louder. He glanced over his shoulder to see you running his way. He smirked slightly and faced away from you, unsurprisingly, you jumped onto his back, like you always did, and wrapped your arms around his neck, and legs around his waist. He chuckled a bit “Hey hun, have a good day?” He asked while pushing you up his back by your thighs and holding you there. You nod into his neck. “It was good, Toshinori helped me push even harder with my quirk today during training” you say smiling. Enji slightly frowned at the name but was still happy for you. The truth is Enji never cared for Toshinori but didn’t absolutely hate him either. “That’s great darling, I’m happy for you” Enji bounced you on his back jokingly. You laugh as he spins you both around. “Thank you beef cake” you tease, and plant a sweet kiss on his cheek.

—End of flashback—

Enji sighed and sat up a bit more. He looked around his room, seeing pictures of his kids and a few with Rei. He walks to his closet and grabs out a small box. He sits down on his bed again and opens the box that contains photos. Sifting through a few, he finally found what he was searching for. It was a picture of you and him together outside of UA on the first day of your third year. You were wrapped in his arms standing infront of him, both of you smiling widely.

He set the photo on his bedside table and threw the box under his bed. Finally deciding to go to bed since he had to leave early for work tomorrow morning. He lays down and stares at his ceiling. Little did he know, his dreams will be filled with memories of you that night.

A week later

You were sitting in your empty classroom, it was half hour before first period started when you heard a knock on your door. You looked up from your computer, wondering why anyone would be here so early to talk to you. “Come in” you project your voice so they can hear you. Slowly the door opened to reveal Shoto Todoroki himself. “Sorry to bother you so early Miss (L/N)” he gave a small bow to you. “You’re not bothering me at all Todoroki. Is there something I can do for you?” I say turning towards him to give him my undivided attention.

He looks sort of puzzled. “Yeah actually, I wanted to talk to you about something” he says still standing at the door. You pull up a chair next to you and pat it, signaling for him to sit down. “What’s on your mind kid?” You say as he sits down.

“I guess I’m just confused.” He says tilting his head slightly. “How so?” You asked him, slightly mirroring his actions. “I found this in my dad’s room.” He says lifting up the photo of you and Enji together. You sucked in a breath and felt your heart drop, now understanding what this is about.

“What is this about? Clearly you and my father know each other. Very well. So what exactly happened?” He says looking up to you. noticing your shocked face he immediately felt bad. “I apologize if I had made you uncomfortable Miss (L/N).”

Finally, you shake out of your shocked state. “No, no. Don’t worry about it Todoroki. And to answer your question, your father and I.. well.. we used to be together.. but that was a long time ago.” You say quietly. Todoroki nodded.

Todoroki had asked a few more questions to which you were happy to answer them. He then left to go to his first class, leaving you completely alone to think about Enji.

Aizawas class had a field trip today, so the only classes you had to teacher were 1-B and 1-C. Which was relatively easy considering they are both calm classes. For the most part. That was untill you were getting ready for your next class when Mrs. Midnight burst into your room. “(Hero name)!! we need you to help immediately!! Class 1-A has been attacked by villains at one of our training centers! Your class is getting covered by nezu, please hurry!!”

Chills ran cold down your spine. You immediately bolted out the door and ran as fast as you could to your car. Breaking the speeding limit as a hero looked bad, but your students were in danger. You were doing 80 in a 30. The only thing you can think of was how scared your students must be, but you know they can handle themselves.

You were, unsurprisingly, the first hero on scene. Bursting through the doors, you took in the battle before you. Immediately jumping into action, you protect your students with your life. You hold off the villains untill the rest of the pros show up.

—a sort few days later—

(I’m not good at writing fighting scenes sorry)

You thought it was a horrible idea. Anything can go wrong. It was absurd. Hosting the sports festival directly after a villain attack?? That’s just disrespectful to the students who fought hard to stay alive during the attack.

You angrily grumbled to yourself. You were walking around the stadium to ease your mind. The first task just finished, Midoria taking first place which shocked everyone. You huffed and leaned your back against a wall. “Enjoying the festival so far?” You heard a voice ask.

You peak up to see nezu approaching you. “Yeah I guess so” you mumble. “What seems to be on your mind (y/n)?” Nezu asked while sitting on the ledge next to you. “Is this the right thing nezu? Having the festival right after the attack? Won’t it put everyone on edge? What about the villains? Wouldn’t they show up here if they really wanted to?”

Nezus face never changed. “I see why you’re concerned (Y/N), but this festival is supposed to take the students minds off of what happened. And for the safety, we have plenty of pros here incase anything does go wrong. It would be the villains downfall to prey on the kids now”

You relaxed a bit more with that statement. “Yeah you’re right” Nezu nods. “I am, well I do have to go now. If you need anything else you know where to find me” nezu says as he wanders away.

You once again are alone. You stand up and start walking down the hall. “So. You’re a teacher now?” You shiver at the deep voice and you stop in your tracks. “Yeah. What about it?” You snap back. You turn around to see endeavor who had just turned the corner. “You’re teaching my son.” He replied with his casual RBF.

Scoffing, you cross your arms over your chest. “Really? I had no idea.” Your voice dripping with sarcasm. He didn’t seem to appreciate that but he stayed quiet for a moment. ���Is that all you wanted? If so, I’ll be on my way.” You turn around to leave once again.

“It wasn’t my choice”

—flashback—

“What the hell enji?!” You screamed at him. His eyes dropping from your face down to the floor. “Did you have this planned the whole time??” You you yelled a bit louder once more, tears brimming your eyes. He, too, teared up. Feeling ashamed of himself.

It was the day before your graduation from UA, and Enji was here before you telling you, after three years, that things won’t work out. “Was I a joke to you?” He didn’t respond..

What was worse. Is he had proposed to Rei, your best friend of thirteen years. “How long were you together for?” Your voice filled with venom and tears. You weren’t even sure if you wanted to know the truth. Was this even real? Who would propose to your girlfriend’s best friend and not the girlfriend?

Even after all the talks of ‘I can’t wait to marry you’ ‘we should have kids’ ‘I’m gonna grow old with you’. You had foolishly believed it all.

He wanted to say something to soothe you, he wanted to hug you, to kiss you, to tell you everything is gonna be okay. He wanted to make the whole situation go away. He felt a deep hatred for himself, and for his father.

—flashback ends—

“The hell do you mean ‘it wasn’t your choice’” you mock, growing more irritated. He sighs. “I didn’t want to marry her” you scoff “yeah right. Now you’re just wasting my time.”

Enji grows agitated now, but still hurt. “It was my father. He forced me into the marriage. For benefits of the quirks. He threatened to ‘get rid’ of you if I didn’t cooperate. I knew you’d be safer staying away from me, so I left. I did as he said. Because I loved you. And truth is, I believe I still do.” He mumbled the last part. Sure, you’ve seen him several times throughout the years. You kinda had to considering he’s the number two pro hero. He’s at your meetings, on the same patrol route sometimes, on the scene of a crime. He’s everywhere. But this is the first time he’s addressed you since the break up.

Hearing his words though… you wanted to believe him. You had found the piece of yourself that still loved him too. It that didn’t change the fact that he was married with several kids. And you couldn’t do that to them. Especially shoto as you’ve grown fond of the boy.

“I’d love to believe you. Truly. I still care for you Enji, dare I say I love you. If I could, I’d be with you right now. But we can’t be together. Never again. As much as I do love you, you must think of your family first.” You say as you turn away and walk down the hall, heading towards the stands to watch the rest of the festival. Enji watched her walk away for what felt like the hundredth time, and his heart shattered.

But little did either of them know, shoto was standing just around the corner, listening to the conversation. He too, had grown fond of you. He had even started looking up to you as if you were the mother that he never really had. Needless to say, he was just as disappointed in his dad as his dad was with himself.

[electronicdelusionstarlight]

You know, I was just thinking about the UA entrance exam.

Specifically, how terribly designed it is, but not for the reason they seem to give in the story itself.

Like, here's how it is: Aizawa is shown criticising the UA Entrance Exam once, during the Sports Festival. And the ONE criticism he makes, is that the use of Robot enemies during the exam would disproportionately affect people whose Quirk work against biological opponents, essentially.

His one criticism, is that the exam is not designed to also cater to people like him, and that's it. The way therefore it's set up, it'd be logical to assume he'd ask for a restructuring to the exam to remove the Robots and substitute them with live enemies, possibly Ectoplasm clones.

This is never brought up again, aside from maybe a stealth bring up during the mid term exams when they switch the exam from fighting robots to fighting teachers.

The exam is, and I just got to it myself while watching this video about how Copaganda paints police training and the relative risk police officers face on the job, set up in a very specific environment:

An empty town, where what is essentially a murder spree is taking place. The ONLY entities in the place, outside of fellow examinee, are robots that have been literally designed to attack everyone on sight, and that need to be destroyed to pass. The points granted from saving people are hidden, so they can be more "genuine" of course, and are, ultimately, also part of the problem.

Because here's the fucking thing.

When the fuck is that ever going to happen.

When the fuck, is a superhero, after their 5 years of Hero training in high school, then entering the work force without a need for a decree in higher education, ever going to find themselves in an environment where they can use LETHAL FORCE on civilian targets? With no restraint or care for collateral damage?

And where they are ENCOURAGED to kill as many criminals as they can, and NOT collaborate with other heroes? Because that's another thing, you need to steal points from other people to pass, by culling the number of limited robots, much like heroes are paid by the arrest and by popularity.

You do understand how fucked up that starts to sound right? The other, the enemy, is reduced as a caricature Droid from star wars, there only to kill and destroy, and against whom your only TWO methods of defeat are outright destruction or sneak attacks on their off buttons.

And here's the cherry on the shit too, because, AGAIN, when is that EVER going to be the case?

Do you know how many heroes show up in the first villain attack in BNHA?

Five.

Two are engaging a purse snatcher, three are doing crowd control, the Slime Villain, who may I remind you was guilty of robbery at a convenience store before he got the hostage, gets THE NUMBER ONE HERO, as well as those same FIVE heroes involved, of which only BACKDRAFT is actually doing anything.

Now, imagine you are a hero school, and you produce 40 heroes a year, just like every other hero school out there. How many of those heroes will see active duty, if the rate of crimes demand FIVE heroes to react to ONE criminal?

And people will say "but EDS, this mentality is later rewarded when All Might retires and it all falls to shit," Except NOT REALLY, because that's an externally forced situation caused by, and I can't stress this enough, a hundreds of yeas old NEET boomer who read too many Doctor Doom comics as a kid and decided to become a supervillain, the riots, the open air warfare, is only caused by AFO forcing the hand and inciting popular unrest, which is an unrealistic thing to expect off any society.

In one of the movies, Class 1-A is sent to open an hero agency on a small island with barely a village on it. 20 Heroes. Until the movie truly picks up, the best they do is help kittens from trees, and Bakugou, the sort of person for whom the Entrance Exam was designed, is useless, left in his tent like Achilles, the perfect cowboy cop who peeked in highschool and didn't realize just how much paperwork and dead time his dream job actually entailed.

So that's the ACTUAL Issue with the entrance exam. It take no account for any other mean to beat the robots but brute force, it takes no account for collateral damage, or the sanctity of life of your opponents, and it tests nothing but how good at ending lives you are.

Which is a problem when you're picking future heroes.

[itsror9]

❗️Urgent Appeal

Please share here, on other social media, and with anyone you know that could help share and donate! With an impending Rafah invasion, the agency charging $5000-$7000 to register for evacuation could close registration at any time!

“Recently, Saed's world turned upside down. The war in Gaza not only stripped him of his livelihood, as he lost all his contracts due to interrupted internet services, but it also destroyed the very tools of his trade - his laptop, screen, and other essential equipment, totaling $2,700 in losses. This setback has tremendously affected Saed and his family, who are all striving to build their paths in ridiculously challenging and dangerous circumstances.

On top of all this, the entire family of 6 are now displaced to central Gaza, living in unbearable conditions.

They left to escape the bombardment. There's no way to go back to their home, as there are reports that it may be destroyed.

The Al Mugharee family members are Riad Sameer (father), Manar Said (mother), Saeda (sister), Reham (sister), Sameer (brother) and Saed.

Saed's elder sister, Saeda, a talented freelance software engineer, UI/UX Designer, and artist, is doing her best to support the family. His younger sister, Reham is a dedicated student in her 4th year of software engineering at the university. Sameer, his 15-year-old brother, is still in school.

The reality they face in Rafah City is grim. With ongoing airstrikes and escalating tensions, their safety and well-being are in constant jeopardy. This is why we are urgently seeking your help.

We aim to raise $60,000 to provide Saed and his family the means to rebuild their lives and relocate to a safer environment. $30,000 of this fund will be dedicated to ensuring their safe passage through the Rafah crossing. The remainder will help them settle in a new home in Cairo, where they can pursue their careers and education without the shadow of fear and terror looming over them.

Your donation, no matter how small, can make a significant difference in the lives of Saed and his family. It's not just about financial assistance; it's about giving them a chance at safety, stability, and a future filled with hope.

Thank you for your kindness and support. Together, we can help Saed and his family step into a safer, brighter future.”

[defectivehero]

“They’re fashioning you into a weapon and you can’t even see it,” the villain remarks loftily at the hero’s turned back. The hero doesn’t even flinch and it annoys the villain more than they’d like to admit. Instead, their adversary remains staring out at the horizon. The villain rolls their eyes and comes up to stand next to them. They miss the days when their enemy would wince and scramble away from them in fear—they miss when the hero was lively. Now, they seem to be a husk of their former self. 

“Oh, I am more than aware of that, trust me,” the hero eventually scoffs, crossing their arms over their chest defensively. The villain chances a sidelong glance at them, only to find that their rival is still gazing out at the horizon. 

“I don't understand,” they remark, squinting at their enemy. “How can you be comfortable with that, with how they treat you?” The villain has always felt a strange sort of kinship with this particular hero—they both have similar superpowers and grew up in rather gruesome environments. The villain has long given up on wishing the hero joined them. They’re not sure what they wish for the hero, anymore. Perhaps they just want the light to return to their enemy’s eyes. 

“We’re all monsters,” the hero says with a casual shrug unbefitting of the statement. The villain sucks in a sharp breath at the resignation that seems to roll off their enemy’s body. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn't matter?” The villain can’t help but snap. Their fingers clutch at the railing of the building with renewed fervor. “Have you heard the whispers, the rumors? Surely you see the fear in their eyes. Do you understand-?”

“What do you suggest?” The hero interjects, finally turning to look at them and meet their eyes. The villain nearly recoils at the dark circles under the hero’s eyes, the grief written in the tight lines of their foe’s shoulders. “Should I switch sides, perhaps? You know that won’t change a damn thing. This way, I'm at least on the winning team.”

“It’s more than that-” The villain tries to say, only to be interrupted once more. 

“No,” the hero laughs disbelievingly, shaking their head. “It isn’t. I think you’re the one that doesn’t understand. People like me, we don’t have the luxury of choosing when and where we’re wanted. Hell, we’re never wanted. We just go where we’re least feared—where we’ll at least be regarded with some semblance of humanity.”

“Even when that same humanity only regards you with fear and disgust?” The villain questions, despite already knowing the answer they’ll hear. The hero nods silently. This time, it’s the villain’s turn to look out at the horizon with an indiscernible expression. They can’t quite find the words to say. “That's a sad fate.”

“Of course it is,” the hero acquiesces, biting their lip. The villain isn’t sure why their chest feels so tight at the sight, why their breaths are suddenly much harder to come by. “Doesn't mean I can change it,”

“Have you ever considered... not taking a side at all?” The villain remarks. “Just because you have superpowers... doesn’t mean you’re automatically responsible for protecting or destroying the city.” Regardless of what hero agencies might tell you, the villain thinks loathingly. They themselves were nearly taken in with that kind of rhetoric, all those years ago. 

“I never thought of it like that,” the hero admits. 

“Of course you haven’t,” the villain sighs, hoping their voice sounds closer to irritation than the fond exasperation they’re feeling. “You’re so committed to torturing yourself, you know that?...You seem to think this is about choosing the lesser of two evils. Why choose at all?”

“Why choose at all, indeed,” the hero repeats, staring at them with an enlightened expression. The light is slowly starting to return to their eyes. There’s an easy grin on their face and it robs the breath from the villain’s chest. The hero reaches out and it takes every ounce of restraint the villain possesses not to flinch. Thankfully, the hero simply puts a hand on their shoulder. “Thanks. You’ve left me with a lot to think about.”

“Don’t hurt yourself,” the villain says with a smirk. “I know your mind might not be capable of all that free thought.” It’s incredibly amusing to see the carefree expression on the hero’s face morph into indignation.

“Shut up.” The hero rolls their eyes, their hand falling from the villain’s shoulder. The villain watches as their enemy turns around and walks away. The hero’s shoulders already look looser. The villain waits until they’re far enough away to smile to themselves. 

©2023, @defectivehero @defectivevillain All Rights Reserved. 

reblogs are welcome <3

endnotes below

this was a fun snippet to write. I like the idea of a villain being the one to convince the hero that life is about more than conflict. typically, I see interactions like that being the other way around, so I thought I’d flip the script. 

thanks for reading, everyone!

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[mitigatedchaos]

Regarding Chevron

From what I understand, the new 'Chevron Deference' ruling does not state that congress cannot delegate authority to the executive agencies, it just requires that congress actually delegate that authority.

I don't think it means that congress itself needs to set the ppm lead levels, just that the laws authorizing the agency's actions say they can regulate lead or even just heavy metals, etc.

a - The Moderates

For both parties, we can think of a district's representative as being roughly in the middle of the range of opinion of the party's primary voters in that district, with some natural variation based on individual circumstances and with different districts having different opinions.

That produces a party's extreme representatives, and a party's moderate representatives.

Nerf the filibuster by requiring representatives to actually keep talking the entire time (apparently it used to be this way and isn't anymore?), and peel off some moderates, and you can update federal regulation.

b - Friend-Enemy Politics

The problem I see is from friend-enemy politics.

Under friend-enemy politics, every institution that's roughly aligned with the other guys is "enemy infrastructure" to be captured, looted, or destroyed. Democracy is no longer a decision among family or friends about how to best proceed, but a long-rolling, low-intensity conflict.

In order to peel off moderate Republicans, there have to be moderate Republicans. There can't be moderate Republicans if the Democratic platform is that Republican voters or Republican voting demographics are not "fellow Americans," but the center of an identitarian threat narrative. If any power that's given up will be weaponized, then the appropriate stance is to not give up any power.

c - To Govern

Public investment (provided it is actually investment), social insurance (provided it is actually insurance), and regulation (to reduce externalities, improve information for market actors, or make it easier to make contracts, including by reducing search and legal enforcement costs), are all natural parts of governing. There are reasons for Republican officials to agree to a well-regulated market, with sound infrastructure investments, and for voters to treat them according to whether they can deliver.

That requires separating investment from consumption, insurance from extortion, and good regulation (that's aligned with the interests of the broader country) from bad regulation (for regulation, quality is more important than quantity). (That doesn't mean that you can't do consumption spending - consumption spending is just the sort of thing parties will disagree on after accounting for investment.)

That, in turn, requires a focus on reality and a shift away from managing reputation and 'public relations' as the dominant mode.

d - Compromise

Making the agency behavior more closely bound to the law may actually make it easier for legislators to compromise. Collapsedsquid has made it clear in past posts that he doesn't think this sort of thing is important (in the general sense), but I disagree - legislators and political operatives can actually notice what's going on around them, see expansive interpretations of law being used to justify agency behavior beyond what the law-as-written would be expected to authorize, and then adjust their behavior.

The less binding a deal is on future behavior, the more players have to focus on maintaining or improving their relative power position (more zero-sum) instead of making positive-sum deals.

With that said, I find it difficult to estimate what the effects will be - will the party-aligned constellations actually reduce their level of polarization to respond to an environment where getting policy requires negotiation rather than coordinating to influence executive agencies, or will they follow local and internal incentives as we saw with 2014-2022?

As one Twitter user said, "We've been electing legislators to represent us on cable TV."

I think @centrally-unplanned assumes that knowledge-generation and alignment within the political structure for both the left and right in America is utterly cooked for structural reasons (such as the Internet and economic changes), so they won't come together on truth-oriented policy (especially as that might be rather painful - to pick an uncontroversial example, giving the YIMBYs a win might reduce the de facto retirement savings of many Americans, even as it improves things for the younger generations).

[brazenautomaton]

I should come up with a name for this because I think it's the unifying thread I see between communism, and fascism, and censorship / anti-shippers, and homophobia, and a bunch of other shit. some theory that seeks to unify all that really should have an elegant name, shouldn't it? but it doesn't

rambly

I've said that it's impossible to deplatform fascism or communism because their ideas are so fucking childishly simple they can be independently re-derived by anyone who is upset at the world. "I'm upset. This is the fault of someone, who hates me and did it on purpose. Oh, I hate that guy so much. He does all the bad things, and if I kill him, there will be no more bad things." and that's why nobody's able to give a coherent definition of fascism, because you can't peg "emotional immaturity and righteous ignorance" to any specific teaching, you can't keep the concept of being emotionally immature and blaming others secret.

but despite the basis of these ideologies being so simple they don't need language, communism and fascism didn't exist until after the industrial revolution. what i think happened is, there's a personality trait people have that can expand immensely, that wasn't able to expand until the railroad and telegraph shrunk the world.

and that thing I wish I had a good name for is "the belief or assumption that a person's immediate environment includes everything they're aware of."

I think it's a thing people noticed but haven't identified as the causative factor, they just use it as an insult. but people want to be in control of their environment. they want things they don't like to not be there. the ability to control and affect our immediate environment is the basic definition of agency. if it's your house, it's your rules. that's reasonable!

but with the antis, and the homophobes, and the commies, and the fascists, they clearly behave as though their "house" encompasses everything that they are aware of.

the easiest example is the early 2000s homophobia where the refrain was "do what you want in private but don't get in my face about it," used to justify fucking with people who were in nobody's face. back then we all said "that's an agentically laid lie to justify their real opinion!" and guess what with an uncoordinated group of people it's never an agentically concocted lie. they did act only to get the gays out of their faces, but their "faces" encompassed everything they know about. gay dudes are gross, gross things make them upset, the only way to not be upset is to know there's no gay dudes being gross everywhere! and this mindset is something that only happened with the telegraph because before that, the area of your awareness wasn't that big! (the exception is probably Muslims in the Holy Land)

communism and fascism are both the assumption that everything you're aware of is right in your face, it's simple, it can and should be given to you to just Do Right. you can't have this idea that you have figured out everything wrong with the world until the area of your perception is big enough that you can think you're seeing the world. once your zone of perception is wide enough you instantly believe that all of it is directly your business, everything that upsets you is happening right in your face and you have to use your personal agency to control your environment by making the upsetting things go away.

this is why antis act the way they do. it's not an agentically crafted lie to get power. their behavior is compulsive like all political behavior is compulsive. the idea that someone is Doing A Bigotry somewhere makes them very upset, and it's right in their faces, and they want to make the upsetting thing go away, and the only way to do that is to take control of anywhere the upsetting thing might happen and make it not happen. the only way they know how to do this invariably destroys everything they touch but they cannot stop themselves, they have to take control of every environment so they won't be upset by the thought of people doing bad things. the communists have to take control of all economic activity so they won't be upset by the thought of someone getting rich. the fascists have to take control of every life so they won't be upset by the thought of someone not bowing to their supremacy. this mindset cannot conclude something is none of your business, because if you're aware of it, it's your business.

[nadezhda-wexler]

Hello my friend 🌹

I need your support. My house has been destroyed and I am currently living in a tent with my children 😞

My mother and father suffer from chronic diseases, they need urgent medical care and medicines are not available 💔

My father currently underwent surgery on his foot and is sleeping in the hospital. Please help my family by donating or reblogging😞.

https://gofund.me/2adde3d1

My campaign is going very slowly 🙏🍉🍉

Vetted!! Please help as much as you can, however you can!!

I am physiotherapist Ahmed Al-Habil from Gaza I have been displaced from my home since the first day of the war,and I have been displaced more than 20 times since the beginning of the war. with my two children and my wife My father and mother. I lost my job, I lost my home, and we are living the worst days of our lives in displacement We took refuge in Al-Shifa Hospital and were forcibly displaced to the south, claiming that we would go to the safe area and then to Al-Anwara schools to escape the barbaric bombing, but we were not spared. My father was injured as a result of a nearby bombing, and his pelvis was broken. He has not had an operation to this day, and as a result of lying down continuously, ulcers appeared on his back and feet, and his right foot is threatened with amputation because he is a diabetic. Now we are living the worst days of our lives in the tents, where the bitter cold that we experienced in the winter and now the summer heat that almost melts our bodies. After all this, there is no clean water to drink and there is no sufficient food, so we are threatened with starvation. Also, there are no appropriate medicines, so skin diseases have spread on my children’s bodies, and so my father’s foot has become inflamed and is threatened with amputation. My eldest child, Joan, was sick and suffering from an esophageal reflux. Thank God, half a year before the war began, she began to recover and return to her health, and now her condition has begun to worsen Due to lack of good water and food. We need this funding so that we can live on a daily basis and I can provide water, food, and medicine for my family of 6 people (me, my wife, my father, my mother, and two children). Also, Im using this Fund to help me and family to evacuate to Eygpt. By travel agency called (Ya Hala) arabic name is (يا هلا) . And its cost Five thousand dollars per person and Half the amount is for the children just to cross the border to Eygpt .I will be receiving the fund of my gofundme from my frend via western union and banking transfer later after the crossings open. We have nothing left...we have lost everything My hope to you is to help me and my family Our relief and help my children to obtain their right to play, learn and have a safe environment without destruction and killing. I will be waiting for your support and help !

Only £210 raised of £81,000 goal

[acoffeemug]

What If's in Transformers Earthspark Seasons

Spoilers: Warning!

I just want this ideas out in the open cuz it has been eating me for quite some time.

I'm sorry if my writing style gave you an head ache. English ain't my first language and thanks for reading my ideas? Prediction? Ramblings? What if's?...

Well, this is going to be quite long, so yeah. Buckle up.

In the end of Transformers Earthspark that last act/scene when the Emberstone revive the Terrans, Autobot and Deceptions.

An idea? or curiosity got me thinking all the deceptions or autobots in bot brawl has been revived? Or bots that died/stasis in the war.

Or the power of the Emberstone made more Terrans around the world, where as the energon/life force is found (creepy water cave).

Or maybe it's just in Witcky's vicinity all because the fragments of Quintus Prime is only there.

Or the mix.

So my point is, it's a given that they could add any bots in Season 2 like, maybe Rachet went into stasis and can't be revive with only few Medic Bots or resources. There's a few Autobots in Earthspark so yeah they could add any bots in the soup (or maybe some autobots are still in hiding same situation like Bumble bee or Grimlock.

Sidenote: Grimlocks situation is mostly about the Bot Brawls. Handling that problem, like a secret mission. Putting an end to it but got caught and got controlled by Mandroid, easing the problem of Agent Croft the one that initiated the Bot Brawls hinted in Episode 18

And that is a story for another time.

I think they would probably add Prowl (he has a action figure) Rachet, Ironhide or the other cast in the opening when they destroyed the spacebrige.

Or this could be just Alex perspective in the story.

This is Megatron's perspective...

Or the idea of other Terrans are around the world with the other Cybertronians who just been revived. It could be a Good version or Bad version, like for example the good idea would be the other revived Cybertronians would treat the newest Terrans as their child, like they would act as a guardian to them and the bad version would be Terrans without guardians. Like without the Maltos or other Autobots, Deceptions that knew their existence. So... they could play with the idea of Terrans having to grow up in a bad environment or influence or both.

Or A few years later when G.H.O.S.T. changed, reformed with the leadership of Agent Schloder, Optimus Prime and Megatron.

Sidenote: Prowl could be the prickliest prick with this new found peace saying

"I don't approve this" or "This ain't going to last" and Prowl could be the only problem in this season. No villains, just him being the "No no guy" then we could have it like a parallel of Twitch holding out a hand to Mandroid but this time it could be Thrash lending out a hand also Prowl accepting it and that's another idea for the other day.

Making the Agency what it was meant to be, having a safe haven for all bots and connecting with Earth's population.

And G.H.O.S.T. could be a rescue operatives saving bots and people! (One of the things Agent Schloder wants) or sending bots all around the world with the help of the basement spacebrige.

(The spacebrige is only accessable for travelling from places on earth for now the same function as in TFP)

And having new life at hand, the Terrans all over the world. The last act of the Emberstones power.

Looking for them with the help of the Maltobots, Robby and Mo's cybersleeves connection. (Or having a hard time locating most of them considering they're so far away for the bond to respond) Helping them integrate with their new lives on Earth.

Then the idea that some Cybertronians could adopt Terrans!

(Aye another wholesome fam or problematic fam. Who knows? that's another idea.)

Like Rachet (or Dratchet, I would do anything just for them to show up), adopting a Terran then that Terran got inspired with Rachet's Medical Knowledge and you know where this is going...BOOM! a Terran Medic bot.

So they could go hard with the plots with bots being injured or explore with their physical or mental state? Terrans being taught basic medical practices, self-care or their body parts.

(I heard that they plan to add Dratchet in Season 1 for them to teach the Terrans to maximize the full potential of their Cybersleeves but it got scrap. Glad they scrapped it. I don't want them just to be seen in a few episodes, I would want them in all episodes, still guiding the Terrans about the cybersleeves or just "life" in a way. Heh I'm becoming quite greedy here...)

Or other Cybertronians giving them advise, broadening their options then adding the Terrans being observant with the major details also them working out with those passed wisdom and what they have observed. The example to that is Trash being the most observant in some episodes

Sidenote: Rung being a therapist. We got like... A ton of traumatized bots in the last scene being controlled and what not. I think Megs is going to be more traumatized seeing that they almost made Megs cry in the cut.

Then they could add Megs thanking Starscream for being the Terrans backup. Tadah! "Connection" for the two of them dun! dUN! DAHHH! Making a deeper connection between the two so they could understand each other well. We could already see Megs starting to realize what he has done to Screamer or just stick to the other traumatized bots that being Starscream, Hashtag and Grimlock.

I noticed when Megatron got injured in Episode 10 it was still there until to the last episodes.

(This pic is from Episode 25)

One of the reason why he seems weak in the Episode 16 and that fact alone, they don't have a medic, resources or Megs being stubborn not wanting medical attention or making it a badge for G.H.O.S.T. to see those scars or a reminder.

So that idea comes in full circle bots being revived or adding more Terrans in the mix and having a Terran medic since they lack in it. 

Season 2 for me is almostly establishing connections with Cybertronians and Humans, Autobots then Deceptions and for Terrans to be that connection or the  bridge. That's why the idea adding more Terrans in this situation seems most likely to mend and connect.

Then adding some preparation plots for the Season 3's opening. (Mainly the spacebrige and the lack of energon for me)

And the ideas I have in Season 3 is that they could establish the connection on Cybertron. (Most bots has been revived on Earth. It could be Perceptor or Brainstorm or both. They would be helping Wheeljack and Shockwave with the rebuild of the main spacebrige that OP destroyed or the basement spacebrige then maybe enhance it a little. Resources are low so ye.)

Sidenote: oh, OH there's that Quintus Prime Ship just hovering outside of Earth's atmosphere? That may have resources to rebuild the spacebrigde? Or maybe that ship could be in the past that crashed landed or landed on Earth million years ago, and boom creepy water cave but that's a low possiblity for the ship to be in the past.

With the Terrans, Autobots and Deceptions had adjusted to earth and fixed the main spacebrige. They can now travel all around the universe.

The Terrans could have Earth and Cybertron as homes. The older bots could teach them the culture of Cybertron in deeper aspects.

They could add the idea why the war really started or other cultures in Cybertron. They could spice this idea up! for example in Episode 7 where as Alex shares his history and culture.

Or they could explain the the history of the Thirteen Primes? Well, maybe they couldn't "for the bots" cause they know so little details about them but you get my point.

Or they could just stick with the history of war, how it started.

How Megatron came to be then who is Orion Pax and why was he been choosen? Or they could make a movie about this topic.

And they could add other bots perspective, Autobots or Deceptions, their lives in Cybertron. I want to know their POV in the war, like for example Tarrantulas didn't want to join the war but needed to join to survive.

The idea in this, it's like in the Episode 16 "Warzone" Megatron explaining to the Terrans their histories, past mistakes and not repeating it again.

And we can dive deeper in the plot on how's and why's 

Idk if the other animation franchise has that deeper lore in their history in Cybertron but if Earthspark would add it to their plot mix, I would gladly drink that shot.

And they could add the other (lost?) colonies of Cybertronians for like example Caminus, they could introduce Windblabe and Chromia or Velocitron like Knockout or Eukaris where as Airazor and Tigatron or Cheetor.

All that good stuff you get the idea.

So Terrans wouldn't feel that their the only other colony. Well, Terrans are quite unique, maybe the other Terrans could have like an Insecton or Beast Alt modes or even a Combiner? Who knows earthspark has a lot of potential for Alt modes or they can make them connect with the other colonies with their alt modes.

And that's all for now folks my social battery has ran out.

Thanks again btw for reading this heckin' knotted of ideas ~(°^°~).

Have a good day.

[bettsfic]

“for so many years i had it in my head that if a process is harder, the result is better. it was that mentality that kept me in a job i hated for a long time. it's hard and i don't like it, therefore it's more serious and respectable. it was unconscionable to me to think that something fun and easy could result in something good.”

I do this^ and the fact that someone else could explain it and relate is so eye opening. I grew up with this mindset. Like I wasn’t smart or good enough unless I was struggling unless it was hard. If it was hard and I got something done, then I was a success. Never treated myself like it but that was my philosophy. If something was easy it was stupid and not worth doing. This causes a lot of issues.

I was wondering, if you’re comfortable. Can you talk more about this? And how you got out of this mindset? I’ve noticed that even in my writing I do this and not just in the work aspects of my life.

i think it comes from a place of learned hatred. in the same way learned helplessness develops when a person spends a significant amount of time in an environment where they have no control of or agency over anything, learned hatred is growing up in an environment where you are simply not allowed to exist as you are and you must change or adapt in order to survive.

when you're in a place where you're constantly made aware of your weaknesses and focus only on how to strengthen them, your awareness of your strengths (and the strengths themselves) atrophy. i think all the time about how in a different environment, at 18 it would have been so evident to me that i wanted to be a teacher. and i would have gone to college for teaching and then gotten a job teaching elementary school english or maybe even kindergarten. like if just one person said, "hey you've got real Bob Ross vibes" maybe my life would be completely different. but no, i had it in my head that obviously everyone wanted to become an elementary school teacher, so i couldn't be one, i had to do something no one wants to do, and i became a banker.

i took an IQ test last year, and i know IQ is bullshit, but i tested into like the 99th percentile of verbal intelligence. that's intelligence i've always had but didn't do anything with until i was 24, and because i didn't foster it by allowing myself creativity or really any self expression, my writing skills when i started writing were, well, bad. when i look at my earliest work from about 9 years ago, i can see that i was writing below the level i currently teach. at 24. with a bachelor's degree, having graduated magna cum laude. maybe i'm being hard on myself, but my point is that i was no prodigy. i could've been a gifted kid but i wasn't. i was too busy being dragged onto a baseball field to work on my terrible hand-eye coordination. i entered adulthood believing my work in this world was to deprive myself of happiness and pride myself in misery.

the attitude that changed my perspective was refusal. i refuse to suffer. that means i do everything in my means to alleviate any pain i experience--mentally, emotionally, and physically. and by "pain" i don't mean sadness, because allowing yourself to feel sadness when sadness is due is healthy, but things like abject dread, hating the idea of waking up every morning, things that can destroy you if you hold onto them for long enough. you have to let them go. you can't be complacent to your own pain anymore. when you get a headache, you take ibuprofen. when you come back up from a bad bout of depression, you drag your ass to the doctor to get meds and maybe therapy so it doesn't happen again. when you want something, you give it to yourself.

it's hard. it's hard because there's a benefit in bringing up your weaknesses. i pitched a perfect game in softball when i was a teenager. i'm more coordinated than i would have been if my dad hadn't forced me into every possible sport. working at a bank taught me much needed professionalism and organizational skills, and gave me stability during a time the economy wasn't stable at all. but on focusing on those things, i neglected to foster the stuff about me that was already pretty good.

you can strengthen your weaknesses, but you can also strengthen your strengths. your weaknesses do not have to be dragged up to the same level as your strengths. i made an okay banker. i was a pretty good pitcher. but i'm a great teacher. it took me years to learn finance and softball, but it took me one semester to get my bearings in front of a classroom. i'm a patient and nonjudgmental person. i love learning and so by definition i love explaining. i have a natural "yes, and" disposition. i respect everyone and take their work in this world seriously. i come from a long line of teachers. and yet somehow, despite all this, i had no fucking clue i was a teacher.

i love writing, but i'm not talented, not in the way i've seen talent in some of my students. having a high verbal intelligence only speeds up the skill leveling. and so writing is a side effect. writing is the subject i know well enough to teach at a university or masterclass level. writing allows me to process my own emotions and express myself creatively. writing feels good and it's fun. but teaching is my work.

who you are is okay to be. without trying, without any effort at all, there's something you're already great at. so keep your weaknesses weak and strengthen your strengths. refuse suffering. seek joy.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this New York Times story:

As president, Donald Trump’s sweeping attempts to roll back federal environmental regulations were often stymied — by the courts, by a lack of experience, even by internal resistance from government employees.

But if he retakes the White House in November, Mr. Trump would be in a far better position to dismantle environmental and climate rules, aided by more sympathetic judges and conservative allies who are already mapping out ways to bend federal agencies to the president’s will.

“It’s going to be easier,” said Myron Ebell, who led the transition at the Environmental Protection Agency after Mr. Trump won in 2016. “They’re going to have better people, more committed people, more experienced people. They will be able to move more quickly, and more successfully, in my view.”

On the campaign trail, Mr. Trump has promised to repeal federal regulations designed to cut greenhouse gas pollution that is rapidly heating the planet. Many of his allies want to go further. They are drafting plans to slash budgets, oust career staffers, embed loyalists in key offices and scale back the government’s powers to tackle climate change, regulate industries and restrict hazardous chemicals.

Those plans, while wildly ambitious, may be more attainable next time around. Perhaps the biggest change in Mr. Trump’s favor is that over the past two years, the Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority has significantly curbed the legal authority of the government to impose environmental rules on businesses.

At the same time, Mr. Trump has proposed reclassifying tens of thousands of career civil servants, making it easier to fire them. He has said that move, which he tried to implement at the end of his first term, is necessary to “destroy the deep state” that he says secretly worked against his presidency. The result is that a second Trump administration might not face as many legal or bureaucratic guardrails as the first.

“Because of the Supreme Court in particular, he’ll be able to get away with a lot more than anyone ever suspected,” said Christine Todd Whitman, who led the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush. She said the courts have effectively given a second Trump administration a “free hand” to slash regulations.

That could mean a drastic transformation of the E.P.A., which was created by a Republican, Richard Nixon, and for five decades has played a powerful role in American society, from forcing communities to reduce smog to regulating the use of pesticides. Businesses and conservative groups have long said that excessive regulation drives up costs for industries from electric utilities to home building. Environmentalists say that handcuffing the E.P.A. now, when time is short to contain global warming, could have dire consequences.

[shifuaang]

Conglomerate thoughts about Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3 under the cut. Please do not read if you don't want to be spoiled! TLDR: I loved it.

I suppose I should preface this by saying Guardians Vol. 2 is my favorite MCU movie and that I hold no real affinity towards installments outside of the Guardians in the Marvel Universe. I used to be a pretty active and engaged fan, but Endgame swiftly put a stopper on that. I was very worried about how this film was charged with the task of picking up the pieces of a fractured and, frankly, careless and poorly written conclusion to Phase 3.

Long story short, I should have never doubted Gunn.

Gunn did an expert job at navigating the perimeters that Endgame thrust on him, ensuring that the plot didn't linger on what happened without neglecting the catastrophic weight of Thanos's actions. Bringing alternate universe Gamora into the fold seemed like a monstrous and difficult task. I have expressed before how much I hated the idea of Quill chasing down someone who isn’t even ‘his’ Gamora and trying to win her back, but Gunn handled this with absolute grace, assuring that everyone stayed in-character in their reactions and interactions. There was no backpedaling or continuity with how the Guardians were written in Infinity War and Endgame as I feared there would be. Gunn picked up from where we left off in Vol. 2 while still allowing us space to mourn Gamora's loss. Rocket's trauma and character development was taken seriously again. Every member of the Guardians had a well crafted arc and was given the appropriate amount of time to explore said arc.

The animal and child abuse was hard to watch. It felt way more violent than anything we've ever seen in the MCU, but I'm almost glad that it was. I feel that loss and violence is almost glossed over in the superhero genre. We don't quite get the full scope of devastation and impact that villains have caused in their quest for domination, colonization, and perfection. We've been desensitized to death and torture to a degree. Even the snap™, which most would site as the most evidentiary form of brutality in the the MCU, did not hold nearly as much weight as the actions of the High Evolutionary. Thankfully the plot never seemed like a hit over the head with a message of EUGENICS BAD! It was more a tragic exploration in what eugenics can do to an individual, how it desecrates the environment, and how the quest for perfection is gratuitous and futile.

In spite of the heavy subject matter and darkness of the film, Gunn still maintained the thread of humor that we love from the Guardians. I laughed out loud more than a handful of times, and every laugh came at a point in the film where it was necessary. There were no quips or jabs there to deflect from the seriousness of what was occurring, just enough to give the audience time to breathe. I am so glad that Guardians Vol. 3 was the first MCU movie to get the green light in the 'fuck' department. I can think of no franchise more deserving, and the way it was used was perhaps the funniest joke in the whole film.

I could write an entire essay on Mantis's arc and her development and how much she means to me as a character, but maybe (probably) I will save that for another day. To keep things short, I appreciated her continued empathy and sense of humor in such a bleak situation and after such a hard life. I see so much of myself in her, and it's incredibly moving to have someone represent aspects of yourself that you thought would never be portrayed in the superhero genre because they are more difficult to express emotionally and cerebrally. She's so important and so brilliantly acted by Pom, and I adore how much agency and confidence she was allowed.

As for people who say they didn't like the ending because it 'destroyed' the found family aspect of the Guardians, I never got the impression that these characters weren't going to meet up again and that they stopped being family. There was no discussion on how they were 'bad' for each other or that they'd be better off individually, which is normally the consensus when groups split in media. Quill should spend the remaining time his grandfather has with him. Mantis should go explore herself and her independence after years of captivity and compliance. Drax and Nebula should rebuild, and create, and love on the new occupants of Knowhere, as they've been forced to spend most of their lives being destroyed and being destructive. Rocket and Groot should carry on the legacy of the Guardians, protectors of the universe. And Gamora has clearly established a loving family of her own with the Ravagers, which is what she deserves. Everyone's ending felt pertinent and cathartic, and we were left with a sense of hope and a twinkle of potential for what could come in the future.

Thank you, Gunn and the cast and crew of this film, for making me cry the hardest I have in a theater since Toy Story 3, and for ending my favorite MCU series so beautifully. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better conclusion.

We'll all fly away together, one last time, into the forever and beautiful sky. 🚀

[cursedvibes]

Not looking good for Hana. Either Sukuna kills her or Angel takes over to get serious, destroying her consciousness in the process. Or Angel somehow manages to snap Hana out of it in time (don't think that's likely). Technically this isn't even such a bad situation to be in because not only is Sukuna hugging Hana but she is hugging him, so if Angel wants to attack, this is the best moment. At close range her technique would be even more destructive.

I was surprised Hana agreed to banishing Sukuna-Megumi this quickly, I thought that would be a bigger argument between her and Angel, but it does make sense with her goal to safe people. She puts saving Megumi above his bodily well-being. I'm sure Yuuji will have to face a similar dilemma in the future. Her just falling into Sukuna's arms took me off-guard though. Angel is literally screaming in her ear that she should stay away from him, but she seems completely oblivious to it. It does make sense though I think, considering her past and how she first "met" Megumi. People are saying she's "acting on a dumb crush" or "trying to use the power of friendship", but that's not it. If her feelings for Megumi were just a crush or she simply thought he's hot, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't be acting like this. It's more of a fixation. He seemingly got her out of a traumatic situation and she never managed to move on from that, probably because she never made any real deep connections with anybody afterwards.

She even says "Megumi is mine". She idolizes him, but also clings to him because in her mind he was the first person to show her kindness and she desperately wants to hold on to that. I thought it was weird that in her flashback Megumi doesn't really acknowledge her, but she still fixated on him this much. Considering how Sukuna managed to lower her guard, it makes more sense though. The gesture of reaching out to her, thanking her and telling her that everything is alright is what she wanted to see when he saved her with Shiro back in the day.

She grew up in a horrible and brutal environment. The children around her didn't seem to have much camaraderie due to fear. She constantly had to keep her head down and not stand out. Then a magical being comes by and seemingly picks her to lead her to safety, thereby acknowledging her and doing something good for her without demanding anything in return. It makes sense then, that this memory would have such a huge impact on her and by playing on that memory, Sukuna would be able to deceive her. If it was just a crush, Hana would have listened to Angel and stopped, but since it reached deeper than that, she was quite literally blinded. Hana wanted to return the favour and save Megumi, and at the same time wanted him to acknowledge that he really did see worth in her to bring her out of those ruins, that there was a purpose behind those actions (fate) and not just a whim or pure coincidence, where she herself didn't really matter. And that's what Sukuna gave her. She believes in fate because she wants her and her actions to matter (especially to others), and he reaffirmed that for her. This is also why I think that Megumi didn't actually consciously save her, Shiro just happened to run around and find her. Megumi was probably just practicing having his shikigamis out for a longer time. It makes for a good contrast between him and the facade Sukuna puts on.

She and Megumi are also quite similar in that they put a specific person on a pedestal and fail to really understand them as their own being with wants, needs, goals etc that go beyond them. And by failing to see that, they (most likely) lose agency over their own body and might even die. To be fair, Hana knew Megumi for like two days, of course she doesn't really know him (even if she believes otherwise). Megumi had over ten years to actually see Tsumiki for who she is...

But well, Hana's character was going to lead to this one way or another, so I'm not really surprised by this, just how it was executed. Her and Angels goals fundamentally clash and that has to be resolved. Only difference is that it's now Megumi instead of Yuuji, which is a lot more meaningful, since she has a deeper attachment to him. I still would have liked a bit more context surrounding Hana's decision to lower her guard and maybe a glimpse at her thoughts, but maybe we will get a bit more next chapter.

[polyhexian]

How would Jasper parent a difficult child that doesn't respond to his initial gentle parenting, doesn't feel guilty of what they do and is a big bully?

There's an interesting amount of overlap between training animals and raising children, and I think it's because those parts are the psychology of building relationships with a power dynamic. It's important to let people have a sense of control. In the US to be licensed as a foster parent you have to go through a course in responding to kids that can be angry and violent.

Positive reinforcement can be pretty hard actually. If you have a foster kid who's furious and violent it's probably because they're feeling a debilitating lack of agency. They are trying to find control in their environment any way they can, even by destroying it. And the response is to give as little reaction as you can to that kind of behaviour and then put a huge focus on rewarding good and healthy behaviour. And to address the root cause of these issues, usually by going out of your way to offer opportunities to take control over parts of their life- offering choices instead of orders and giving options in actually making decisions for themselves.

And a bigger one is testing. If you have a kid whose been failed again and again and again when you promise you're going to be different, you're not going to be like the others, they're going to test you. They're going to destroy things, hit you, scream, get in trouble on purpose because they want you to hit them. They want you to prove you aren't different. So like. You have to be able to come home and see your foster kid smashed the living room TV with a baseball bat and stay calm and say "do you want to help me clean it up or do you want to go to your room and think about what you did?" And refuse to react with anger, you have to prove that even the most extreme provocation won't make you break that promise.

Jasper knows a lot of child rearing knowledge. He has done a ton of reading. I think he knows all of this and some of it because it's applied to himself in the past. I think he is ready for the smashed in TV and for picking the kid up from school after they beat up a classmate.

My mom is a psychologist and she worked with kids with the most severe trauma imaginable and dealing with foster and adoption agencies and with the legal system and testifying in court and all. And like. Different foster caregivers often fill specific purposes; ie there are certain people set up to take infants same day from emergency situations because they have everything you need for infants all prepared. And they often only take care of these infants for a few days or weeks before they are returned or placed in a more permanent or long term placement. And I think jasper is like THE go-to for those cases of severe anger and violence and trauma. He has the strength and tolerance to deal with children who might be able to legitimately hurt their caregivers or others and needs some extreme support. And for other dangerous situations, IE, a foster child coming from an abusive household or one from a divorce case with custody issues and there's a real fear the parents might try to hurt or kidnap the child like. That is THE safest place for that kid to be

So I think like. He is fucking READY

[8makes1newworld]

Fashionably Untitled

Unedited randomness that I'd like to turn into a series but we shall see what happens. Be safe and keep warm everybody.

You stand at your post outside of the full serve gas station that was presently the best that you could do for a job. The morning chill washing over your form, the bitter coffee doing little to warm your insides.

Was this really the best you could do?

The question oft repeated itself in your mind, though in this town it really was the case. The shit economy was leaving it's mark in your community as it had been through different parts of the world as well.

You shivered as you tossed your empty cup into recycling. The first customer of the day was driving in. Someone who you were obviously not looking forward to seeing.

“Hi~ Top it off, and be quick about it!” The popular girl from school, none other but Katie Lipsom.

You couldn't wait to get her out of your hair this morning. Ignoring her, you took out the gas pump and began to fill her Corvette.

“So how does it feel to work for a company that actively destroys the environment?” Katie draped herself out of the window in an annoying matter.

“I don't know… how does it feel to not be driving electric so you wouldn't have to support the people that are destroying the climate?” You replied without giving her a look, hoping that she would shut up.

Instead she merely giggled and twirled her blonde locks. “I could have, but I left it at home! I wanted to say hi before going to class today!”

Ah, brilliant. She purposely just wanted to gloat and flaunt her standing in society while you were struggling to get by and freezing your ass off with a job that you hated.

Satisfied with the thorn she'd managed to stick into your side, Katie drove away louder than necessary. Causing you to nearly jump out of your skin.

“A bad day already…” You groan and pace outside the service station, contemplating stepping inside for some warmth but deciding against it. Preferring the cold for now over more unwanted company from talkative and bored employees.

You failed to notice the black SUV with dark tinted windows across the street. The occupants observing you while you walk.

Eventually it drove up to the station and parked at one of the pumps. You looked it over and waited for the occupant to give you instructions. Feeling a sense of intimidation as you watched.

From the driver's side emerged what appeared to you like a CEO, a tall male with a commanding aura. You cough awkwardly, wondering since when did the likes of CEOs come to a town like this.

“Uh… what can I do for your… vehicle?” You freeze, feeling extremely out of place all of a sudden.

“We're not here for anything. But captain wants you to have this. Call and ask for either Jongho, who is myself. Or Hongjoong. Have a nice day.” The man who introduced himself as Jongho gave you a business card and then got back into the vehicle.

You gazed into the tinted glass with befuddlement clear on your face, barely able to make out the two silhouettes inside before the SUV drove away.

Still just as puzzled as before you read the card ‘KQ talent agency'

Skeptically you pocketed the card, proceeding to go about your work day.

Later on as you lied down to sleep you mulled over the card, lying down by your lamp as you scrutinized the piece of paper as if it would tell you of the agency's legitimacy.

You gave up and lied back with a sigh, quietly deciding that you would give them a try. But aware that if they asked for money out of the gate that it would be a scam.

As you fell asleep you wondered what it would be like to be successful, to be popular like Katie. Or to be even more popular than her.