#just give up and dont use one of the most important political tool you have the legal right to use!! thats fine and good for you im SURE

[metalicats]

your fucking give-up attitude is so frustrating. like yes, people are rightly mad at the democrats! theyre being cowardly supporters of a fucking genocide and giving insane amounts of money to help it continue!! thats reprehensible in every possible way!!

but they are still better than the fucking republicans!!

things can ALWAYS get worse and this troll probably wants things to and is just using Palestine/Israel issues as a method to push people into not voting for the Dems

because the Republicans will absolutely go out and vote! and now maybe you won't, mission achieved.

also, did you know? you can vote AND protest israel AND boycott all at the same time! woooowww amazing~~!!

I live in Michigan btw which is going to be a swing state next year so if you're a hardcore blue maga dem pervert and you want my vote and the vote of the large Muslim and Arab population here who correctly believe biden to be throwing them and potentially their family members or friends in palestine to the fucking wolves then you should stop whining and begging for everyone to vote blue no matter who and fight for the palestinian people because nothing less than liberation is going to get my ass out the door on November 8th next year

[loving-n0t-heyting]

i think the point of 'soothing readers consciences' is less about literal guilt in terms of the holocaust, but not inviting children to examine their own uncomfortable prejudices by making the character (in the specified book at least) just simply not have any prejudices that need to be examined, which is way less challenging to a readers own prejudice. you dont have to agree with that assessment, but i think you might be taking it too literally. i dont think it was written that way but idk

The point about examining prejudices is good and well taken. Also every single narrative that hinges on a general angelic “childhood innocence” (like TBiTSP) is a pack of lies lol

The complaint about “taking responsibility of privilege and its ramifications” though im less sure of and I think frequently does just cover for frank ethno-racial resentment and an ascription of collective inherited guilt

There are indeed ways in which Americans (the context of the thread) benefit considerably and unfairly from the indignities of the Nazi regime but they are quite removed from the specific events depicted in those kinds of testimonial depictions of the Holocaust. The most obvious and pervasive was a widespread lenience and cordiality granted throughout much of 20th century in the US’ sphere of influence to former Nazi officials in the service of either national interests or (what frequently amounted to the same thing) the advancement of global anticommunism. (A particularly vile example. Even more stark was Imperial Japan’s Unit 731, which while smaller in scale than the horrors of the final solution imo often dwarfs them on an individual scale, and whose perpetrators the US simply paid off with immunity for access to their research information.) This is why I mentioned project paperclip specifically in my op. And while as an American the fruits of this amnesty are to be seen all around me in the form of US hegemony and Cold War triumph, scrutinising the gruesome details of the holocaust is a pretty ineffective mechanism for “checking” this “privilege,” while if the responsibility being imputed is more straightforwardly one of collective guilt it makes sense as an active reckoning with ones misdeeds. I can’t speak to German education, but my suspicion would be there is similarly comparatively little attention given in the curriculum to west German recalcitrance re: denazification. So while I agree in the abstract that there is important socio-political work to be done in having Americans recognise how certain historical injustices relating to Nazi Germany have worked out to their advantage, I don’t think the tools being proposed are especially vital ones in service of that particular goal (though of course there are many other important functions served by them in a reasonable historical education)

But Im probably less critical than you of certain “shit yts say about US antiblackness” (at least in their motte, their Bailey is just disemboweling antidiscrimination law and giving up on racial income/educational equality). So take it with a grain of salt ig

[graffitibible]

PLEASE dig more into the intricacies of ghoul and gogo's relationship I'd LOVE to hear more!!

OH THANK GOD, i have SO MANY THOTS about this relationship

im putting this under a cut because it got. ridiculously long lmao. im sorry you can indulge me if you want

one of the hardest things about writing ghouls pov is that he is, consistently, a ridiculously unreliable narrator. their awareness of themself and other people is on so many different levels of disordered thinking and his sense of self is so distorted by a chemical cocktail of neuroses, compartmentalized trauma, and a lifetime of severe self-loathing. they’re like ten layers deep into this mental bullshit and don’t have the tools to unpack it. whenever ghoul meets someone new, theres a fundamental paranoia and fear regarding what their motives might be in regards to him. thats why they approach everything with so much defensiveness and the general assumption that someone has an ulterior motive. this is actually pretty common coming from kids with roughed up backgrounds like ghoul’s. unprompted kindness absolutely terrifies him because they assume theres some kind of trick there - historically, all the people in his life who were supposed to be “safe” weren’t so this is one of the rules of the world that ghoul’s internalized as fact. and because ghoul is scared basically all the time they tend to grab that fear and channel it into being angry instead because that nets him more control of the situation.

basically: ghoul is two thousand tons of radioactive maladaptive coping mechanisms packed into a five foot two goblin who hates the idea of being scared all the time and has chosen instead to channel all that fear into being An Absolute Nightmare.

narratively, i needed ghoul to have at least one positive relationship in his life so that there was a basis for some good relationships in the fabulous four collective. i needed ghoul to have some kind of context of “this is what it’s like to trust someone, this is what it’s like to love someone so goddamn much you’d do unspeakable things to keep them safe, this is what it’s like to have someone in your life who has your back unconditionally.” granted, thats not how this relationship ended, but at least for a minute there, gogo and ghoul had each other’s backs. that was important because i needed ghoul to have some experience in navigating a positive relationship. 

it wasn’t originally gonna be newsagogo, but i did know that gogo was gonna cross paths with ghoul prior to their run-in with poison and kobra - this was something i settled on sometime while i was writing part two of “starry-eyed.” gogo was meant to be a) one of the ways to contextualize a lot of the Shit in the zones that ghoul didn’t have an opportunity to learn about on their own time and b) one of the key ways that ghoul gets to cement a real genuine sense of justice. prior to that, ghoul had this unfocused hatred of bli the way most people in the zones do but didn’t have a real big picture understanding of how best to chip away at that kinda construct. the closest thing to it was gangs that were super bloodthirsty and liked to hunt dracs for sport but these groups weren’t interested in dismantling the institution of bli, just the catharsis of blasting dracs to hell and back. so when i got to this run-in proper, there were enough similarities in their characters (both tech-heads, both with some deep-seated vendettas against bli, both prone to couching their Real Problems in humor and deflection, etc.) for me to go “hang on.....what if....” and i could kill 2 birds with one narrative stone.

that being said oh man i did not expect writing that relationship to hurt the way it did. 

because on a lot of levels, these two really got each other! ghoul can read gogo’s expressions and body language so easy. ghoul, like jet, is an extrovert; he recharges best around people they trust. gogo’s the same. like, one thing i feel like i didn’t do well enough in that chapter was cement that, objectively speaking, gogo didn’t strictly need ghoul’s help. newsagogo is fully capable of setting up and running that station all on their own. ghoul suspected this from the start, sure, but gogo has a good grasp of tech and could probably do most of the setup herself. BUT she offers this hand to him because she doesn’t like running this station alone. she likes people and likes being around people - hence why she’s so desperate to get herself really networked into the desert and capable of calling up other dj buddies of hers. it’s pretty common practice for a dj to have a partner or team to back them up (in case they need a runner, in case they need to pack their stuff and go, in case they need someone to spot them, etc.) so gogo was in the market for that - and ghoul was a good candidate. a tech-brain, someone good with radios and obscure gear? that’s ideal runner material, and gogo doesn’t have to do this shit on her own.

and newsagogo was a really good influence on ghoul in a lot of ways. she’s the first person to go “hey let’s just do shit for fun” without any ulterior motive. takes them out drinking for fun, likes to drink soda on the roof for fun (this did not always end well but the intention was in the right place). that’s a new thing for ghoul, who’s always felt fundamentally unwanted. in every group and crew and relationship he’s had prior to this one, there was always the undercurrent of “they’re using me. they’re using me and once they’re done using me they’re gonna ditch me or kill me.” so while gogo’s doing these casual bonding activities ghoul is like WHAT IS THE ULTERIOR MOTIVE HERE and their paranoia is eating away at him and theres really honestly no other shoe that needs to drop here but thats not something that registers on ghoul’s radar.

even with that rocky start ghoul was picking up a lotta stuff from gogo, like that aforementioned sense of justice. and it was with a positive relationship like that one that i could bring out just how person-oriented fun ghoul is. like, the way i write the fab four, someone like party poison is task-oriented. fun ghoul (and jet star, actually) are both person-oriented. that’s why fun ghoul becomes so ride-or-die for newsagogo. this is actually like...their default state of being if allowed to get close to people lol. fun ghoul has a distorted sense of self that causes him to rank their own safety and self-worth way below everyone else’s along with a default propensity to love people...deeply. ghoul loves people ungently. they love people with everything they are. will easily put himself in a position to die if it means that the people they love are safe. part of this is setting up just how easy it was for the fab four and ghoul in particular to make that suicidal, sacrificial call in “SING” but part of this is just who fun ghoul is as a person. so when gogo gets hurt, ghoul goes ahead and conjures up every scrap of leverage he has against tommy chow mein and basically sets it on fire because that’s what ghoul loving someone is like. it’s ghoul trying to take apart anything that threatens the people they give a shit about and being wholly capable and willing to set himself on fire to keep the people they love warm.

they complimented each other incredibly well in a way that surprised me. like, ghoul gets people in a way gogo doesn’t, and vice versa. gogo has the attack plan and knows how they intend to set about dismantling bli with careful, calculated movements, but ghouls the one that suggests “hey, you know that if youre a dj you actually have a lot of political capital in the zones, technically??” like not with those words but thats the basic gist behind what they suggested. prior to that it didn’t occur to gogo to use DJing as a route to get what they needed but DJs have a lot of clout in the zones with the right crowds and ghoul’s hunch turned out to be correct. gogo’s the person who can do the face-to-face interactions in a clear and concise way, who can sell good headlines on the airwaves, but ghouls the one who comes at those interactions with the requisite suspicion to realize when things could be off - it’s that paranoid initiative that saves gogo’s life when that bomb goes off.

ofc once ghoul realized that they gave this much of a shit about newsagogo he immediately tried to stop thinking about it because this kind of unconditional caring for someone? that’s brand new. and it terrifies the shit out of him. because all of a sudden, ghoul doesn’t have the handy back door that they’ve always had. if shit really gets bad, he tells himself consistently, they can just leave. they can ditch whoever they’re with and it’ll be fine. but when ghoul gives this much of a shit about someone, the idea of leaving feels like trying to carve your heart out with a spoon. every time gogo expressed this casual affection ghoul does his best to brush it aside or willfully forget it - but they dont, really. subconsciously that’s always there. and no matter what kind of bad blood manages to end up between them, ghoul can’t forget that this is the first person who he actually wanted to call a friend; they keep that pendant gogo gave him for the rest of their life.

but ultimately, the pair of them fell apart because they both grew in such a way that they couldnt be in each other’s lives forever. gogo prioritizes the cause over her interpersonal relationships; that’s just the kind of person they are in this stage of rebellion against bli. gogo can look at her personal happiness and acknowledge that something like that is secondary to their goals. war is about sacrifice and gogo understands this. newsagogo knows that she might not survive to the end of it, knows full well that their agents might not survive to the end of it, and has accepted these consequences. losing some of their agents doesn’t shake gogo the same way it does ghoul.

because ghoul’s the kind of person who can’t accept that. this is the first positive relationship he’s had in their life and he doesn’t wanna lose it. he doesn’t wanna lose newsagogo over a big blanket cause. the seeds for that kind of “will die bleeding for this cause” are there, but ghoul is a socially-oriented person and very person-oriented in general. and fundamentally, fun ghoul is a deeply compassionate person who can’t help but empathize: the micro will always supersede the macro. it’s easier for ghoul to charge into battery city to save a little girl than it would to charge into battery city for a vaguely defined reason that might further a broader cause.

unfortunately, because gogo and ghoul had two such different approaches to this and because ghoul is a volatile person, they did that thing where uh. again, this is pretty common in abuse survivors, but ghoul did that thing where he detonates their positive relationships because this was always a foregone conclusion to someone ensconced in so many paranoid maladaptive coping mechanisms and at least this way, with ghoul going off, the relationship gets to detonate in a way that ghoul can control. a lot of those moments where ghoul acts like an absolute little nightmare have to do with that notion of control; this way, fun ghoul gets to decide when and how the relationship ends and for someone who did not get a lot of control over anything in their early life, this is how he compensates.

i wrote this fuckin. tragic “friends who drifted apart, who didn’t see the cracks in the foundation of their relationship until they were using them to splinter themselves away from each other” with no basis in anything canon and fucked myself up over it and why did i do this?

this was an essay and a half but yeah feel free to yell at me about newsagogo and fun ghoul cause THATS a niche fucking friendship i didnt expect to mess me up the way it did

[star-anise]

I think I am having vicarious stress about how immagrint families are being treated at the American border too. Also other horrors happening in America though I live in Canada. How do you cope with that? If this question is annoying or personal you dont have to answer. Is it weird to feel post election stress after the 2016 election although I am not American? I heard American college kids had almost ptsd levels of trauamtic stress after the election in America.

It’s funny, today I was on the phone with a grad school friend who does front-line crisis mental health work in the USA, and grew up being heavily involved in the Democratic Party. She said, “I have such an issue with this rhetoric now, like, ‘don’t look away.’ Bitch, I haven’t looked away for two years. I’m fucking exhausted.” Because things like that are intended for the people who do look away, who are conservative and apathetic, but often they only reach an audience that is already engaged with the issue, and they land like hammers on people already trying their hardest.

And yes, freaking out about the shit that goes down in the USA is a fine old Canadian tradition. To quote Pierre Trudeau’s 1969 comments to the US president at the time: “Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt.”

(And Canadian politics are definitely negatively affected by the USA. My province just lost its NDP government because its Conservatives “aren’t as bad as those crazies down south!” and I have a sinking feeling the Cons will cakewalk to federal victory too in October)

You might also notice that on my blog, I post about political issues in only a small number of cases: 1) I have a unique observation I think needs to be added to the world, 2) It’s an issue I genuinely haven’t seen covered yet, and I know people who would want to know; 3) It’s a feel-good story meant to comfort people who are fighting the good fight; 4) It’s advertising an immediate, low-barrier thing people can do right away to directly affect the situation; 5) It’s a resource to help those fighters be better activists. And I do my best to always tag political posts with a standard set of tags to let people ignore them, so if somebody wants, they can follow me and just get my cats’n’fandom content.

The audience I usually have in mind when I blog are people like my friends: Smart, compassionate people committed to social activism, but without limitless amounts of money, health, time, or attention. Some of the people who follow my blog are DC lobbyists directly fighting the Trump administration’s policies. Some of them are crisis workers and EMTs and librarians and deal with the ragged edges of human existence in today’s society. I know I don’t have the nerves or capacity to be their news source; they can follow anyone else on Tumblr for that. So what I try to be is the friendly cat cafe they can go to at the end of a long shift to relax.

My response is really guided by a blog I followed a lot when 9/11 happened; I was following it to learn about getting published as a fantasy author, but its authors were New Yorkers and socialists and military veterans, and they had a lot to say about the false witch hunt for a justification for starting a war in Iraq in 2003 and the slow erosion of rights and freedoms of Americans and “enemy” POWs and the incredible damage the American war machine does when it gets going.

They’re not blogging as much now, but when Trump was elected, they released two posts that I found to be deeply useful:

Defense in Depth - Tl;dr: It is important that those of us in resistance to the world’s outrages don’t attack each other for having different priorities, because we need a diversity of targets and approaches.

Taking It Back - Tl;dr: Our enemies WANT us to be overwhelmed and horrified and frozen in shock and catatonic. That is a deliberate tactic they use. Whenever we seem to catch our breath, they create a new outrage for us to get upset over. We need to learn how to set our own pace, resist the lie that you have to be upset and horrified all the time, and focus on taking care of yourself.

I’m also really affected by Rebecca Solnit’s book “Hope in the Dark” where she points out that activist movements have two effects. The first is to influence whatever issue they’re actually agitating about. The second is to give people the tools and experience they need to become citizens who change their societies in deep and enduring ways.

One part of the problem is finding ways that you can make the world better that feel really concrete and achievable. That’s a whole other discussion, that depends a lot on what you’re good at, what your resources are, what you’re capable of. People feel a lot less terrified if there’s something they know they can do. 

But even once you’ve figured out how you’re fighting to make the world better in some small way, you probably can’t do it 24/7; you’ve got to keep mentally resilient the rest of the time.

So what do I do to cope?

I focus on easy-to-do, ordinary hobbies that bring me joy, especially ones that get me off my computer and out of my head. I garden; I just bought a bike; I’m getting my sewing room back in order so I can go back to making costumes and working on the @betterbinderproject.

I make sure I keep social connections where we can relax and enjoy each other. That means being codependent with my cat, babysitting my nieces and nephews, exploring my local bi/pan meetups, going to historical re-enactment events, texting with my friends about Tumblr drama, talking to my colleagues during slack moments at work, and enjoying the fandoms and fanworks that bring me joy.

I do my best to look after my physical wellbeing. Which for me means stretching, yoga, taking my psych meds and vitamins, taking painkillers, looking after my cuticles, using moisturizer, braiding my hair, getting massages, and always making sure there’s a cake in the kitchen. My emphasis isn’t whether I’ll get some disease 30 years from now; it’s making sure that inhabiting my body today is the least unpleasant that it has to be.

I try to look after myself; I go to therapy, look for jobs, keep up on my business paperwork, budget my money, work on upgrading my skills, and develop my 5-year plan. I work really hard on doing this without being stressed, because my habit of procrastinating and only getting around to this stuff when I’m in abject terror isn’t good.

I also, and this feels weird to say or suggest, try to educate myself on issues that are not the crisis du jour. I watch TV shows about the Russian revolution, listen to books about Indigenous language reclamation, read the diary of a World War II servicewoman. This isn’t an attempt to expand my list of crises to worry about, but because I find my ability to cope with the present immeasurably helped by knowing that people have faced other, different crises, and how they dealt with them. It’s… background research in resilience. With the added bonus that it helps me stay intersectional and aware of when we might be only seeing the most privileged part of a crisis situation.

[anakinskywalkher]

Palpatine raises the twins and accidentally activates Anakin’s dadmodus - An alternative Star Wars plot.

@jasontoddiefor: Palpatine raises the twins & angst w/ Vader not knowing who the two are @dlegohargreeves: im gonna fuck shit up

written together on WhatsApp while listen to crack music.

------

(Barbara) Palpatine has long before he declared himself emperor abandoned the ways of the Sith. He uses them to create utmost loyalty to himself but he will not abide to the rules of his predecessor, one Palpatine would’ve defeated had he been around at that time.  People, be they sith, jedi, or other are all moldable to whatever he wants them to be.

He tricks Padme with sugar and soothed spun words, manipulates Anakin with spice and presses on his rage ("the jedi forbid you from loving your mother thats why you couldnt save her. i would never")  -- Palpatine is aware of the long game, but he has eternity. He’s a god, no one will be able to withstand him.

What Anakin never realised was that he wasnt the actual chosen one, Palpatine had seen in his vision that Anakin's children were in fact the chosen ones, and so when confronted with the soft boy he molded him into this shell to avoid his vision from happening,.... and yet these damnable children are still born. Palpatine is terrified that he wasn’t the only one with the true vision and firmly believes that owning the twins would be the least risky choice. (like he owned anakin, who long ago posed a risk)

He hunts them down, -- while anakin/Vader is completely crippled by his mental breakdown about "murdering" Padme and his child. Palpatine smiles and lets him wallow, for what Vader doesnt know is that Palpatine the God poisoned padme once he found out about her pregnancy.

Palpatine finds them, born hours ago and already pulsing brightly with the power of the force. Obi-Wan puts up a fight but Palpatine strikes him. He gloats to Obi-wan, brags about killing Padme, about manipulating Anakin (”I have taken everything from you, and now I will take your life) and takes the children. He leaves Obi-wan to bleed out by his stomach wound a faraway galaxy          (Palpatine reasons that Obiwan deserves it for this is how he left Vader to die. )

And so Palpatine at the rise of his galactic empire ends up with a crippled sith boy (not a man no matter what anakin thought), and with two babies who are most powerful force users in history. (now were shifting to meta instead of story telling lmao)

Palpatine has a god complex, he doesnt actually believe he would ever die, such petty thing is only for the unfortunate. even if his body would succumb to age, his mind through the force would rule forever -- he is unstoppable. To rule however even a godlike emperor needs tools, and while Vader is to be his guarddog the twins he believe can be shaped and molded into his personal hands, amplify his reach across galaxies.

So to mold them into his tools, Palpatine believes in starving them for love, only ever receiving ounces of recognition and pride. always craving his acknowledgment -- and it works, the twins once old enough to have actual brains (according to palpatine) he removes their wetnurses and gives them teachers, makes their training cruel and harsh and make them compete for his gaze. And it works till a certain extent, but Palpatine’s god-complex makes him blind to things he deems unneccessary, And thus he misses how the mourning of Vader for his family, turns him into a guilt-ridden man who believes giving these children some form of attention and care as penance for his own misgivings. And thus without meaning to Vader gives the children the love Palpatine tries to deny them (accidentally shifting their loyalty on the long run)

Elias: Vader hates the kids at first, with them reminding him of everything he lost and could have had, but at the end of the day, after some aggressive introspection, he gets that they’re just kids and probably starts projecting a lot the longer he’s exposed to them -- Vader, guilty, sneaks them candy and gives them stuff that’s kinda useless (like books that are not about politics or war or economics and and and) and he doesn’t think it’s much but the two would kill a man for him and probably have done so. ((Palpatine tries to break apart the codependent twins, forcing them apart for weeks, but the Force, unlike anything is a tool in hands of desperate children with a bond so strong it connected their mind)) This is not healthy, Vader thought, recalling decade old lessons from the Jedi. The twins rarely spoke, never mind both at the same time. They’re asked for their opinions, echoes of the Emperor’s wishes, and only one of them replies. They always moved at the same time, terrifying weapons of perfect synchrony, constantly aware of the other’s presence. They were living at least half in each other’s mind, even when the Emperor depraved them of contact for weeks. They were clingy afterwards, holding each other’s hands and wrists until they bruised, but Vader knew their minds were never separated. Luke slammed their teacher’s (victim’s) head to the ground as Leia kicked away his feet. They didn’t need any call signs, or training in coordination, one moved and the other followed. During battles, the twins’ dependence was a huge advantage. “Again,” Vader called out and the two of them fell back into the first Kata, the bleeding teacher still lying on the ground.

Barbara: However once the twins are older they need to learn through missions, so Vader has to take them along for missions  (once Palpatine believes they wont connect with Vader) - it starts normal but Vader slowly starts to make the missions longer, gives the kids downtime, lets them free and just engages small talk with them, he can’t face himself if he doesn't let them be actual children. But the twins are suspicious believing theres a catch but Leia, the master mind realises that theres none and so they accept reluctantly, and slowly but surely they learn how to be children under Vader’s tutelage. It takes time and dulling a sharpened blade, but the moment, that first time when the twins laugh and seem actually happy, its that moment that Vader decides, he has to become Anakin again, because these children are his second chance - And so he starts planning.

(insert a bit of crack:

Elias: Firmus: Lord Vader, are we to expect you and the Operatives back tomorrow? Vader: we haven’t finished the mission yet -Leia and Luke like 12 or so, in the background yelling in excitement bc idk they got a game, neither are in uniform- Firmus: Of course )

Barbara: Anakin: "i made sand castles when I was young" Leia: “that structure seems awfully unstable for a house”

But ever since Vader mentions the sand castle, the usually more mature one Leia clings to the idea and while he wishes he could show her, but his suit and wounds cant handle the sand. And when he explains Luke goes " well lets get u a proper suit then" and vader goes " im a moron" (leia in the back: yes duh) So Anakin looks into the treatment he’s still receiving to see if he can make it so that his breathing machine could withstand the sand and realises that Palpatine is actually keeping his body weak, he has no need of the breathing machine because its that actual machine thats poisoning his lungs. So of course Vader does a lowrisk experiment and turns off the machine and he can actually breath fresh air in 12 years (the rage controlling Anakin is one different than those before, for it is ice in his veins instead of fire. And it makes him tactical instead of foolish for once). Soon after that Vader catches some rebel transmission and  finds out that Obi-wan is alive and looking for the twins and its that moment that Anakin 'kills' Vader, believing that Obi-wan can save the twins in a way he can't.

Anakin takes the kids to fight the rebels on Palpatines order but he seizes the chance and instead he shows them his face without the mask (lets ignore the idea that hed be bald bc i hate the uglification of ani) and Leia goes: You look an awful lot like luke Anakin who hasnt actually seen his own image for 12 years, realises that luke is a spitting image of himself as a child, and leia who is glaring at him, he realises, is a carbon copy of Padme. BUT anakin thinks hes projecting and doesnt follow up with it.

Instead he asks them (and for leia this will always be the most important part), he asks them if they wish to stay with Palpatine and do his bidding or to dissapear with him -- and well the choice is easy right, Luke&Leia don’t actually like Palpatine, because despite everything, the force made them sensitive and they feel so much (the despair of the people, the sadness of Vader, the greed of Palpatine)

So they leave for Tattooine, the one place where Palpatine would never look because he never found out that Anakin realised his suit was a boobytrap. The wanted pictures of the twins (both bald shaven and in uniform) nor the one of Anakin (known as Vader, with the helmet)  soon dont match the long haired white dress wearing twins and the blond haired bronzed man.

and so Anakin and the twins go into hiding, but guess whose on Tatooine? Thats right -- ObiWan

[biestcallisto]

Nobody here is saying that you shouldnt vote or fuck voting, but dont come here and act as if youre an expert on the subject when you yourself admitted you dont know enough about american politics, yet you choose and feel comfortable enough to give your 2 cents on that matter and to police others on how to organize in america, while being completely isolated from these issues all the way in germany. 3/

This is going to be the only one of your messages I am going to answer. Because in others you simply misquote me or are so agitated that you misunderstand me. Yes, people do say “dont vote” or “Fuck voting”. That is the entire point I disagree with. I did not say “Rioting doesn’t solve anything”. Let me make it more clear. Rioting is a fist. In order for the fist to be effective you also need a voice. Protesters are a voice. In order to be heard, you need an ear. Elected representatives are an ear. That’s why one should always ALSO use their other voice. The voice in the ballot box. At best: GET ELECTED. That’s even better, especially if there is no reasonable ear on the ballot box. I am not undervaluing protests or riots. If you ask nicely without showing you have a capable fist, no motherfucker in charge is going to listen. Those are important and should be kept up. Also important: Information. There is a great article about policing on medium called Confessions of a former Bastard Cop. Educating oneself and others is just as important as a protest. The protest doesn’t change anyone's mind if “anyone” isn’t provided with information about WHY you protest and what solutions you propose to solve the problem. A protest is saying “THIS is a problem”. That is important. Also important is finding a solution for the problem AND sharing the information about the solution so that others stand with you to solve the problem.

In short: Not only are there multiple ways to approach a large systemic problem. The people need to walk ALL the multiple ways.

*Multiple paths need to be walked in order to achieve progress.*

Multiple- like protests, riots, education (aka sharing information) and also voting.

You need the elected people to change legislation and laws. You also need people to protest, to say “this is a problem”. You also need people who provide solutions. You need people who share the solutions so that they’re widely known. And in some communities you need to burn down a police station. I never said “oh don’t burn down a police station”. YOU know YOUR community better than any outsider. I wouldn’t burn down MY police station, because in my country police (although ALSO with racism and brutality problems, US ain’t that special, we are not free and totally separated from your problems. It’s just less bad) is vastly different from the police in the US. But if my police would start killing people every year without consequence I would reconsider my stance about MY police station. I won’t tell YOU what to do with yours. Because YOU know YOUR police in YOUR community. With community I mean your neighbourhood, not your whole country (though it seems more problematic the bigger the city is)

The problem with American elections is imho that yall are so focused on the presidential election. That’s just one guy in a whole system though. You should vote for your senators, governors, mayors and fucking school board. You should always always always vote. As long as you’re able. I get it might be hard depending on your socio-economic status and I wouldn’t judge you if you’re poor and going to an election would mean losing a paycheck. That’s pretty shitty of America but not the fault of an individual. (I wouldn’t judge anyone for not voting. I just think it’s a mistake to NOT use this tool) Let’s take a look at Obama. Oh wow, a black president, racism solved. Meanwhile he was a shitty president who either couldn’t do good things because congress and senators or whatev was Republican dominated. These Republicans could stop everything and simply because he was black, they stopped as many good things as they could. On the same time he WAS passing bad legislations as well. These the Republicans let happen. If back then all of you would have voted a different congress in, with progressives in like AOC or Ilhan Omar (sorry if that name is wrong) and less Reps, Obama might have done more good things and less bad things. I remember yall used to have a term for presidents with their hands tied because of congress: lame duck. Why was Trump able to do so many shitty things? Because congress and whatev is still dominated by the Reps. Please, keep putting the pressure on. But *also*: VOTE. And btw, if you don’t like the two party system? Build the Third party via ALL minor elections. Put the Third party in mayor offices and then you have a chance to break the two party system. ONLY then. Not by only voting for a president. Vote always WHILE protesting and sharing information.

And fucking abolish ICE too.

PS: A large problem is only solved with multiple diverse tools. One tool is a protest. One tool is a riot. One tool is burning down a police station. One tool is sharing education. One tool is elections. Do not throw any of these tools away just because you think another tool is more effective. Yes, protests ARE effective. But yall.... Americans are always acting as if the people in elected positions are different from yall. They’re not. They are supposed to REPRESENT YALL. They often don’t and they themselves think they’re different and better than yall cause they got money. There are initiatives to get money out of politics. I’m sure there are also initiatives to make lobbyism for transparent or even stop it. For fucks sake, abolish and defund police and ICE. But also get money out of politics and fucking vote whenever you’re allowed.

They made LAWS to forbid people from voting. You get in prison and are not allowed to vote anymore. You get out of prison and still are not allowed to vote and most of these are BLACK people or other people of color. Why? Because they want YOU to NOT vote. Imho it should be your moral duty to vote for anyone who isn’t allowed anymore. They hate minorities voting. That’s why they target black people and poor people.

So there’s the system basically stopping as many black and poor people from voting as it can. And then there’s you ALSO telling black and poor people to not vote. Great.

If you can, DO BOTH. Protest and vote. Riot and vote. Educate and vote.

[laurazepamwrites]

The chemicals between us ~ Ch4

‘Ow! Get off you fucking..Hog! Hog get him off! Fucking cunt! Ow!’

Specks of blood dotted on the floor from a freshly split lip as well as a chewed piece of pink gum. A very angry Junkrat struggled under an even angrier Morrison who in turn struggled to pin him down.

‘Jack er...think the Junker boy may have gone from his cell.’ Torbjorns voice came through on his communicator.

‘I know!’ He shouted back, grabbing a metal hand and twisting it round the Junkers back. He felt a part dislodge in his grip. He looked over his shoulder at Jesse who was leaning against the wall seemingly enjoying the show. ‘Why the hell didn't you apprehend him?’

‘Weren't doing nothing but complain.’

Morrison growled in reply. Over Junkrats shouting and cursing he heard someone approach him, he looked up expecting to see Rutledge and a huge fist coming at him, Instead Ana stood beside him looking none too impressed with either of them.

‘I think that's enough now. From both of you.’ She said sternly, her lips a thin line.

‘He escaped his cell and could of done God knows what damage to this place.’

‘Shoulda done you Cunt-OW!’

‘Give me a reason to shoot you here and now Fawkes!’

‘Enough!’ Anas voice cracked like a whip, stilling both men. ‘Jack, get off him. Fawkes get up and stay where you are.’

They begrudgingly replied, Jack cursing under his breath and freeing Junkrat from his grasp. The Junker quickly sprang up, touching his broken lip and inspecting the blood on his fingers.

‘Oh you’re a right cunt mate..’

Ana snapped her fingers at him and scowled. He quickly gave in to her stare and slouched, crossing his arms and pouting like a sullen teenager. He glanced up as Roadhog entered the hallway, he didn't want to make the old lady more angry so resigned to sending Hog an icy glare and mouthing 'fuck you’ at him. Roadhog simply sighed. The Doctor followed behind him. She gave Junkrat a quick glance over, looking a bit too long at his prosthetics for his liking, though it could've been his imagination. She tutted at the mess. ‘Really Commander was that necessary? Our stocks are low as is it. That will need stitches.’ She nodded to Junkrats bleeding lip. 'The fuck it will’ Junkrat retorted, breaking his short lived silence.

‘I will not have blood following you around the base like a breadcrumb trail.’ She stepped aside gesturing to the med bay, ‘If you please.’

‘No.’

‘Rat.’ Roadhog growled a warning.

‘This place fucking sucks! And you!’ Junkrat pointed at Roadhog. ‘You’re meant to be on my side!’

‘Its stitches Jamison..nothing worse than that….’ He replied in a gentler tone.

That had an affect, Junkrat became quiet once again and fidgeted with his prosthetic hand. He caught Roadhogs gaze and glowered back at him. Sensing a touched nerve Ana stepped in, her voice friendly once again. ‘If I may interject. Perhaps Fawkes and Rutledge can stay here until Dr Ziegler finishes her treatment whilst I stay guard. After which both of you be will placed in holding  together .’ She said the last word looking at Morrison, driving home the point that this was not for debate. Jack remained silent and angry.

‘So-so what? We’re gonna be locked up till you get what you want? Which aint fucking happening by the way. Fucking hell Hog, shoulda taken our chances on our own.’ His living hand rubbed the back of his neck whilst metal fingers danced in agitation, he knitted his eyebrows and chewed the inside of his lip well aware of the coppery taste of blood in his mouth. His eyes darted to Roadhog who of course remained silent, he sighed finally relenting and turned to the doctor. ‘Alright fine, just make it quick.’

Sat on the examination table he fidgeted anxiously. He hated doctors, he hated hospitals, he hated the smell, the clinical cleanliness, the cold sterile environment. The sharp tools that cut and slice and pierce. The medicine that makes you feel even worse, makes you drowsy, slow and sluggish leaving you vulnerable to anything. Hated the flashes of memory it invoked. Waking up in a place like this..screaming..doctors and nurses rushing..a woman shouting his name..so much red and pain..pain..pain.  Junkrat gave a sudden jolt in surprise as Roadhog nudged him, bringing him back into the room and the present. The Doctor was watching him patiently, he looked between the two of them, ‘huh?’

‘I said I will need to clean the wound then administer a local anaesthetic, then a couple of stitches. Very simple.’ The Doctor said in a reassuring voice.

‘....Hog.’

‘Its fine.’

Metal fingers fidgeted and anxiety gnawing at his stomach and mind. Angela exchanged a subtle look with Ana.

‘Kay..’ A deep breath in. ‘Okay.’

He begrudgingly allowed the Doctor to clean away as much of the blood as possible despite it still flowing from the deep split in his lip. She gave a sound of approval and picked up a prepared syringe from the small medical trolley nearby. She tapped it with her finger, dispelling any air bubbles and waited for Junkrats permission to continue but he seemed to be purposely looking anywhere but her and the syringe she held. She decided to continue and gently took his chin in her, lifting it up slightly. She felt him tense at her touch, noticed his fists gripping the edge of the examination table, the slight flinch as she administered the anaesthetic. She withdrew, placing the syringe back on it the trolley. ‘There, that should only take a couple of minutes to work then just a couple of stitches. I work fast so shan’t keep you long.’

‘Yeah dont wanna keep the old man waiting love.’ He muttered. His tongue tested the quickly numbing area on his lip.

Angela hesitated slightly. ‘Jamison..? I do have some questions..’

‘Bet you do.’

‘Everyone here is under my care. You may be here for sometime so that includes the pair of you as well. Mr Rutledge tells me Junkertown receives medication for Radiation exposure. Have you had such treatment?’

‘..Yeah.’

‘For how long?’

‘Dunno..since it happened I guess.’

‘And..how old were you when it happened?’

He met her eyes, frowning. He didn't know these people, he didn't trust them. Already he’s had too many questions. In Junkertown you kept your story to yourself, cos everyone already knew it, as you knew theirs. Everyone suffered, everyone lost homes, family, their lives. But one thing he noticed from the outside world is everyone had damn questions. He began to fidget again.

‘I apologise, I will refrain from asking such questions.’ She said softly, noticing his discomfort. She gently touched his broken lip. ‘That should be enough time. Are you ready for me to proceed?’

He gave a shrug, ‘Guess so.’

She was true to her word and finished stitching his lip quickly yet efficiently. ‘There.’ She eventually said, placing down the needle and surgical thread. ‘All done, they will dissolve on their own by which time the wound will be healing nicely. Just be mindful to keep it clean, I don't want to you back here with an infection.’

He grunted in reply. ‘Can I get out of here now?’

‘I would like to take your height and weight before you go.’

‘For fucks sake love..’

A low grumble from Roadhog warned him to mind himself. The Doctor wasn't so bad and her care seemed genuine. ‘Just do it Rat...I did.’

‘Yeah bet you did..top patient were ya?’

‘No sense in being difficult.’

Junkrat threw his hands up. ‘Fine! Then I'm out of here, I hate this place.’

‘Of course.’ The Doctor said politely.

She took his height and weight, noting it on her clipboard. ‘All done, you are quite tall 6’5 in fact but underweight for your height. You should not slouch so much either.’ He rolled his eyes, and slouched in defiance. Roadhog sighed and stood up, he flexed his shoulder grunting at the pain in his ribs. ‘Lets go Rat..’

‘Yay back to the cells..’ He said sarcastically, making for the door which opened as he approached. Outside Morrison and McCree were waiting for him. As he left the room Roadhog turned slightly and looked at Angela. ‘He was five years old.’ He said quietly. The door shut behind him, leaving Ana and Dr Ziegler alone.

‘What are you thinking Angela?’ Ana asked.

‘I’m thinking he’s a traumatized young man who has lived through horrific experiences.’ She sadly replied.

‘Five years old..’ Ana repeated Roadhogs words. ‘How does a child survive in that environment?’

‘I remember watching the news on it. Wasn't there a relief effort? Why wasn't he evacuated?’

‘Their government cut off aid stating the environment too dangerous and the cause lost remember? The only help they got after that were charities which were already stretched world over. A Lot of children got seperated and left behind Angela. The Australian government banned Overwatch's involvement too, even before the tragedy. We wanted a team to be deployed to put forward negotiations to each affected party, but they just wanted peace for their cities and towns. What is a population of five thousand compared to about twenty three million? The UN agreed with their decision and let it pass.’

‘That was cruel, they let their own people suffer. Human and Omnic.’’

‘Australia was nearly wiped out, their government desperate for peace. War presents extremely difficult choices Angela, you know that better than most people.’

Angela sighed sadly. ‘You are right, come then. I suppose we should head to the briefing and if I remember correctly Reinhardt will soon be returning.’ She smiled warmly at Ana.

‘Please Angela, as If I’d forget something so important.’

             ---------------------------------------------------------------------

Winston and Torbjorn were already in the briefing room waiting for their teammates as Ana and Angela entered. ‘You need to get that computer of yours back up to speed.’ Torbjorn gruffly said to Winston as the women joined the table. Winston took his glasses off and began cleaning them. ‘Admittedly Athena needs more work before returning to optimal security performance.’ Replied winston, placing his glasses back on his head. ‘Perhaps you should of put him back when you had the chance..’ he curtly added.

‘Bahh! He was er..too fast for me, in and out like a flash. I called Jack as soon as I saw him.’ Said Torbjorn abit too quickly. Winston smiled slightly and gave a small ‘hmph!’

The door opened once again as Jack and McCree entered the room. ‘Any trouble?’ Ana asked as they joined the table.

‘None, just running his mouth. I've left Genji guarding them.’ Jack said, sitting down. ‘Hana was outside, what if he saw her and she got hurt? And you Torbjorn.’

‘Ah he wasn't gonna hurt no one Jack.’ Torbjorn replied.

‘You can't be sure of that.’

‘Well I might of..spoken to him. But only for second before he ran off mind you!’

Jack raised his eyebrows and gave him a look. ‘Torbjorn..how long was he in the warehouse with you before you decided to call me?’

Torbjorn rubbed the back of his neck with his living hand. ‘Well er..now that I think about it..five minutes?’

Jack stared at him

‘Ten minutes..’

Jack continued to stare, his frown deepening.

‘Twenty minutes Commander..twenty minutes and I let him go in the tool locker.’ He said meekly

‘He blamed Athena Commander!’ Winston pointed at Torbjorn accusingly. Jack leant on his elbows and rubbed his face in exasperation as McCree threw his head back and laughed heartily. ‘Unbelievable’ Jack muttered through his fingers. ‘You are un-fucking-believable Lindholm.’

‘I had my reasons Jack, hear me out. I think the boys pretty smart. He worked out what was wrong with that Mech without barely looking at it. I was testing everything on that thing for over an hour. He waltzes over and gets it in seconds. Says he taught himself mechanics.’

‘Not just that’ Interjected McCree ‘Made his prosthetics too.’

‘What are you getting at Torbjorn?’ Asked Jack

‘I reckon the boy could work with me and Brigitte in the workshop.

Jack sat back in his chair and considered the offer, looking at Ana for her input.

‘He cant stay in that cell forever Jack. Frankly Fawkes is just one thing out of many that we have to deal with, and not the worse by far. He was rude, reckless and angry but when given plenty of opportunity harmed no one. Even after you broke his lip open, very well done by the way.’ She finished sarcastically.

Jack ignored the slight and looked to Dr Zeigler. ‘How was he with you?’

Angela folded her hands neatly in front of her. ‘He was afraid, he especially did not want to be in medical. Rutledge tells me he has a phobia of doctors and hospitals. I expect none the less from two amputations and goodness knows what else. He's also shown symptoms of anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder but this is just from a quick observation and I am no psychiatrist. He is reluctant to answer questions and I don't want to push the matter. In regards to Torbjorns suggestions I think it may work if handled well and he has clear boundaries.

He nodded, acknowledging her opinion. ‘Winston?’

‘What about Zenyatta and Bastion, we can't exactly hide them away?’

‘Simple. Touch the omnics and we kill you.’

‘Seems pretty fair’ said McCree

‘Got anything to say?’ Jack asked him.

‘Plenty since I been where he is now, you gave me a choice. Overwatch or Prison. Offer him the same. He's clearly god damn smart, he clearly can pack a lot of firepower. He comes with a goddamn tank. Reckon he could be an asset if we all play our parts nicely.’

‘He wont agree to working with us.’

‘So then he goes to prison where Talon could get him and whatever he has thats so important. He knows he’s better off here, lets make our lives easier and give him some freedoms. If it really goes up the creek we shoot him.’

‘We pose a threat to him as well Jack. Whatever he has wont be given over night and we will not harm him for it. We are not Talon. This is about trust on both sides, we have to earn his just as much as he needs to earn ours.’ Said Ana.

‘..I think it has potential to work.’ Jack said after a moment of consideration. ‘Could also go horribly wrong. But we do need to focus our attentions elsewhere and soon Ana, we need to debrief on your leads in Iraq and Oasis still. Fine, we’ll put this forward to Fawkes and see what him and his partner think.’ Jack made to move from his seat, when Lena's voice came through the rooms communicator. ‘Commander, vehicle approaching the base. Its Reinhardt and Brigitte.’

‘Send Reinhardt to briefing immediately Oxton.’

‘At once Commander.’ Her voice cut out

‘The rest of you fill him in.’ He told his team. ‘I'm going to get Fawkes.’

               ---------------------------------------------------------------

Once again he was back in a cell. At Least this time Roadhog was with him who sat on the bed watching his younger partner pace back and forth tugging at his hair and rambling to himself. Genji stood vigilant at the end of the hall making sure no one left or entered unauthorized. Roadhog was silent as usual, barely paying attention as Junkrat worked through his anxiety. He’d intervene when needed but for now he just wanted to rest his aching bones. God what he’d do for a hit of Hogdrogen right now. The sound of a metal fist hitting the wall brought his attention back.

‘That a good idea?’

‘Fuck off.’ Junkrat snarled.

‘Already busted, don't make it worse.’

Junkrat stopped pacing and inspected his hand, flexing the fingers. He was glad he was able to fix the synthetic nerves, but the phantom pain still throbbed relentlessly.

‘Yeah well, there's a workshop here. Proper stocked too.’

‘Stumble on it on your little tour?’

His tone made Junkrat narrow his eyes at him. ‘What did you expect me to do? You coulda been dead for all I knew.’

‘Ain't Junkertown here. Different rules. Not everyone's out for blood.’

‘You don't fucking know that. Don't know these people Hog. Look at what that old cunt did!’ He pointed to his split lip.

‘Did that to yourself.’

Junkrat stared at him Incredulously, ‘Did you not see that fucker wipe me out?’

‘Yeah, saw that. But it was your fault. Shoulda stayed put.’

‘I was fucking worried-!’

‘I was fine. You got upset and stupid. You know that's not a good mix. Shoulda stayed put and waited.’

Junkrat cursed and began pacing again, pausing to look at Roadhog. ‘Not staying here mate.’

‘Then give them what they want.’

‘Nah not happening.’

‘Then you have little choice.’

Junkrat moved closer to hog, lowering his voice. ‘If.. if I give it to them the first thing they’ll do is dump us at the nearest Cop shop.’

‘So don't give it to them.’

‘But then we’re fucking stuck here!’ He exclaimed, kicking the bed with his metal peg. ‘Fucking cunting hell mate I just wanted to sell it and live like a king. Didn't know how important it was, didnt know how dangerous-!’ He stopped himself, covering his mouth and returned to his pacing. Roadhog was watching him intently.

‘Just what the fuck do you have Rat..?’

‘Oh you suddenly care? Didn't even ask that when you agreed to protect me. Fuck mate, never even asked for that share.’

Roadhog grunted, ‘Got plenty from our heists.’

‘Yeah but….that was after the bar. Why the fuck did you help me back then?’

Roadhog was quiet for a long time before answering. ‘Had my reasons.’

‘Yeah like what?’

Before he could answer footsteps from down the hall drew their attention, Roadhog stood up gently moving Junkrat to step behind him as Morrison approached their cell and stopping outside Pulse rifle in his hands. He pushed a code into the control panel on the wall, the laser bars disappearing as the cell opened. ‘We’re ready for you.’ He said.

The briefing room was large, a circular table in the middle with a projection device in the centre. Junkrat walked down the steps taking note of those already seated around the table. Ana and the Monkey were there, as well as McCree and Torbjorn and Dr Zeigler. A old bearded giant of a man with a large scar over a missing eye sat at the table to Ana’s left. ‘Fuck me mate, thought you were big.’ Junkrat muttered over his shoulder to Roadhog. Morrison directed them to a couple of vacants seats. Junkrat smiled at Morrison with a hint of smugness and slouched down on the chair with his arms crossed acting like a schoolboy called to the head teachers office. He considered putting his feet up on the table but even he thought that might be pushing it too far. Roadhog didn't even bother attempting to sit down and chose to stand behind Junkrat. The room was silent as Morrison walked around the table sitting on Anas right and opposite the Junkers.

He nodded to the newcomer ‘This is Reinhardt Wilhelm. One of Overwatch's most prominent members and it's to my understanding you've met Torbjorn already..’ Torbjorn at least had the grace to look uncomfortable. ‘Now..’ said Jack, folding his hands on the table and addressing the Junkers. ‘It seems you may be here for sometime, you can leave of course once you give us what Talon want-’

‘Not giving ya anything mate!’

Jack held his hand up, signalling to the Junker to be quiet. ‘I understand now this will be long and delicate process. And at least whilst you are here Talon get nothing so there is that. The question is what do we do with you. I can’t waste my resources and team guarding your cell day and night and clearly you got a knack for escaping them.’ Junkrat giggled softly to himself as Jack regarded him for a moment and then sighed. ‘Fawkes, the world is on a brink of a second crisis. It's already started in Russia and Talon is somehow pulling the strings. I don't know how you play into this, I don't think you even know. But you are apart of this now, and you can help. There is a war coming and you need to choose a side.'

‘I don’t give a fuck about the world mate. It didn't give a fuck about us.’

‘So you would see it burn out of spite? Look Fawkes I understand you’re resentment, I also agree with you. Your government sold the outback settlers out.’ Jack tapped the table ‘You can make a contribution here. God knows you are due comeuppance after your multitude of crimes. Torbjorn informs me you have talent, and you are certainly smarter than you make out to be so here’s what we propose: You work with Torbjorn in the workshop. The base needs repairs as well as armor and weapons. Put your skills to a worthwhile cause, do that and we will give you certain freedoms here.’

Junkrat tilted back on his chair and narrowed his eyes at Morrison, weighing up his words. Eventually he leant back forward and flashed a grin. ‘Sorry mates, not interested.’ Roadhog growled deeply ‘ For fucks sake!’    He thought to himself. ‘  Idiot don't know a good thing when he sees it.’ He lifted one huge finger, signalling to Morrison for one moment before suddenly grabbing Junkrat by the arm and lifting him with ease off the chair and dragging him to the back of the room, ignoring his partners kicking, punching and cursing. He let go and waited as Junkrat straightened himself up, ‘What in the actual fuck Hog?!’ He snarled at him.

‘You really are a fucking idiot you know that?’ Roadhog growled pointing a large finger into his face.

‘This is a glorified prison! I aint doing shit for them!’

‘Then you don't get to do anything! Think Rat. You can't handle being bored and what's the alternative? An actual prison or death? Just ignore that voice in your head that tells you to be an absolute shit to authority and just  think. ’

‘I aint fucking Overwatch mate, its for heroes and let's face it, we’re not exactly upstanding citizens!’

‘Neither are they anymore. This is illegal but in a..good way. Wasn't long ago you wanted to go legit remember?’

‘I remember it being your idea…’

‘Stop being stubborn.’

‘I'm not! I just..I don't..’ He rubbed the back of his neck looking towards the table, Morrison was whispering something to Ana. ‘Don’t trust him Hog..don’t trust any of them. They think I’ll just roll over and do what they want? What am I gonna get out of it? Haven't even got a con…’ His eyes lit up as a sudden golden thought filled his mind. ‘I fucking got it!’ He laughed, running back to the table and slamming both his hands on it. ‘A contract!’ He declared. ‘You want me here? You make it worth my while. Hire me and Hog for whatever you want blown up or killed and I guess I can help fix up some of your stuff.’

Jack leant towards him ‘And what exactly do you want in return Fawkes.’

‘Let's say you somehow defeat Cobra or whatever you call it and you save the fucking world. Pretty sure you’ll be in the UNs good books again after that, If that happen I want our criminal records totally wiped clean. Total fucking Immunity mate!’

‘Anything else?’

‘Yeah, I get to make me bombs here.’

‘Absolutely not!’

‘Look mate-!’

Ana raised her hand. ‘We negotiate the terms of this contract . ’ She looked between the two men. ‘And there must be give and take from both sides for this to work. Do we all understand?’ Both men reluctantly nodded. ‘Good’ she said curtly, ‘then let us begin.’

Over an hour was spent arguing and debating the terms, there was a lot of cursing and even a couple of threats. Finally though after what felt like a lot of back and forth a contract was written upon which all parties agreed on, albeit begrudgingly. Junkrat was to use his skills to aid the reformed Overwatch and In time when he saw fit he would share what Talon sought but the issue was not to be forced. Overwatch would give him and Roadhog protection and not to surrender him to authorities. Should the UN ever reinstate Overwatch they would put forward full Immunity for the pair. Whilst on base Junkrat and Roadhog were to be given accommodation with access to the common room and other living amenities, restricted access was allowed for the training barracks, armoury, labs and workshop under supervision. He could make blueprints for his bombs and make the shells, but anything explosive would need to be tested in the weapons barracks where the only one who could be hurt was him. Much arguing was had over the subject of the Omnics, Junkrat wanting to be done with them and scrapping them for parts before they got to him first. Finally with interjecting from Roadhog and the promise of being shot by Morrison and McCree he very reluctantly agreed to leave the bots alone on the condition they do they same.

‘So we are in agreement.’ Said Ana writing up the last of the contract and handing the pen to her Commander. ‘Jack if you may sign.’

‘This is gonna be interesting..’ McCree muttered to Winston sitting next to him. The Gorilla frowned, ‘Or a huge mistake.’ He replied.

Morrison signed the paper and got up from his seat walking around the table and placing the contract in front of the Junker. Junkrat gave him a shit eating grin as he took the pen from him, signing with messy handwriting and even drawing a smiley face. He stood up to his full height and faced the Commander. ‘Pleasure doing business with ya mate.’ He said and held his metal hand out to Morrison. Jack regarded the metal prosthetic before begrudgingly shaking the junkers hand. ‘ What the hell have I just done?’   he thought.

[somnilogical]

<<Over the past year, however, Google has appeared to clamp down. It has gradually scaled back opportunities for employees to grill their bosses and imposed a set of workplace guidelines that forbid “a raging debate over politics or the latest news story.” It has tried to prevent workers from discussing their labor rights with outsiders at a Google facility and even hired a consulting firm that specializes in blocking unions. Then, in November, came the firing of the four activists. The escalation sent tremors through the Google campus in Mountain View, Calif., and its offices in cities like New York and Seattle, prompting many employees — whether or not they had openly supported the activists — to wonder if the company’s culture of friendly debate was now gone for good.

(A Google spokeswoman would not confirm the names of the people fired on Nov. 25. “We dismissed four individuals who were engaged in intentional and often repeated violations of our longstanding data-security policies,” the spokeswoman said. “No one has been dismissed for raising concerns or debating the company’s activities.” Without naming Berland, Google disputed that investigators pressured him.)>>

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/02/18/magazine/google-revolt.html

<<“Of the five people that were fired, three of us are trans women,” Spiers said. “That is either an unbelievable coincidence or Google is targeting the most vulnerable.”

“Trans Googlers make up a very small percentage of Googlers,” she added. “They make up a slightly larger percentage of organizers, but not 60%.”>>

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/17/fifth-google-worker-activist-fired-in-a-month-says-company-is-targeting-the-vulnerable

i too am transfem and would "violate longstanding data-security policies" if my organization were being unjust. i wouldnt say that unless it were already obvious by what bits ive leaked to people about my life, because otherwise i could suppress this information and whistleblow more.

if you were an evil corp at this point youd probably try to avoid hiring any trans women in the first place because given this happens to you, its likely done by a transfem. not that this saved CFAR, who never hired a trans woman, from having a bunch of transfems whistleblow on them despite not being employees.

from what ive read from transfem google employees who are or were involved in activism, the degredation of google's culture. their complicity with ICE and weapons manufacturing mirrors CFAR's with OpenAI and DeepMind; authoritarianism and expulsion of transfems who object to this among a myriad of wrongs. to protect the territory of injustice and complicity with organizations like ICE, google needs to import "a consulting firm that specializes in blocking unions", CFAR needs to violate their whistleblower policy. if you once protect injustice, justice is ever after your enemy. morality isnt some modular thing such that you can be comitted to protecting injustice and not have this choice spiral into also invoking and protecting systems that protect injustice and invoking further things to protect those, recursively. all the way down to doing really dumb and obvious unjust things like transmisogyny (lots of future posts), changing your fundraiser after its clear its losing money, announcing that this year you got way below your donation target and claim to have no idea why.

well *i* know the compact generator for all of these things, and that makes me strong. unlike MIRI/CFAR who like the CDC rely on gaslighting the populace for myopic gains. i also wore a particle mask during the time that the CDC claimed that they were useless to preventing spread of disease, so it was really important to give them to doctors and nurses.

after so much gaslighting, *i* have built up general capabilities at arbitraging the difference between what agents claim and the truth. people who say:

<<Edit: This is a type of post that should have been vetted with someone for infohazards and harms before being posted, and (Further edit) I think it should have been removed by the authors., though censorship is obviously counterproductive at this point.

Infohazards are a real thing, as is the Unilateralists’s curse. (Edit to add: No, infohazards and unilateralist’s curse are not about existential or global catastrophic risk. Read the papers.) And right now, overall, reduced trust in CDC will almost certainly kill people. Yes, their currently political leadership is crappy, and blameworthy for a number of bad decisions—but it doesn’t change the fact that undermining them now is a very bad idea.

Yes, the CDC has screwed up many times, but publicly blaming them for things that were non-obvious (like failing to delay sending out lab kits for further testing,) or that they screwed up, and everyone paying attention including them now realizes they got wrong (like being slow to allow outside testing,) in the middle of a pandemic seems like exactly the kind of consequence-blind action that lesswrongers should know better than to engage in.

Disclaimer: I know lots of people at CDC, including some in infectious diseases, and have friends there. They are human, and get things wrong under pressure—and perhaps there are people who would do better, but that’s not the question at hand.>>

https://www.greaterwrong.com/posts/h4vWsBBjASgiQ2pn6/credibility-of-the-cdc-on-sars-cov-2/comment/uDYbgf3QtEQirbsJk

havent. its easy to see how peoples minds are warped when its someone elses glowy thing, when its someone elses friends working for an institution that that someone else routed their hopes through.

its easier to recognize betrayal and see knowledge beyond the veil when its happening to someone else, instead of you.

until you build up general skills for recognizing it, this sort of betrayal isnt infinitely powerful. and like how you might expect that smart people who live for predation would do anti-inductive smart predatory things, but they end up converging on child sex rings; institutions that betray you, because justice is their enemy will start doing dumb unjust things like banning two people from speaking about their irl experiences with anna salamon, saying their first-hand accounts werent evidence and then citing anna salamon's first-hand account of the meeting as evidence. when i objected that this was a fucked up self-serving ontology of "evidence" they acted like i was objecting to "beliefs flow from evidence" and they acted as if what i was saying was obscure and beyond their ability to comprehend. their "incomprehension" was fake, downstream of a fear to dynamically compute things in front of other people that might end up outside the orthodoxy. the result of which is they display a blue screen of death and say “i just dont understand and aaa dont explain this to me!!!”. and then people agree that it "seems like it could be an infohazard" because when your goal is the preservation of the matrix, everything that tears it down looks like hazardous information.

or a cfar employee, in response to claims that anna's transmisogyny influences CFAR's hiring choices, claiming that anna salamon, head of CFAR, is not involved in CFAR's hiring. until i post proof from another CFAR employee pursuing personal vengeance against the org for hiring their rapist where its tangentially mentioned and they suddenly "realize" that anna salamon, head of CFAR, is involved in CFAR's hiring process.

or a thousand other injustices that have burned themselves into my brain during my months of talking with people under the assumption that they were simply mistaken in their path to saving the world. when they were actually un-mistaken in their path to having babies and a low chance of personal death. hoping and expecting someone else will take heroic responsibility for the planet.

like when you drill down to the base of injustice, it bottoms out in dumb and petty injustice. like the structure doesnt go infinitely high and complex, if you go down to the base level, you just need a bit of courage to not flinch away from what you see even if it seems that it means the ruin of something you ran your hopes and dreams through.

--

"isnt this a little... extreme?" i hear some people ask. ""dont protect regions of injustice?" that sounds like the end product of obsessive compulsive fixation on virtue at the expense of practicality."

well, assuming the algorithm seeding this response is a systemic reasoning tool, it should forkbomb when you consider if youd output ""dont protect regions of untruth?" that sounds like the end product of obsessive compulsive fixation on virtue at the expense of practicality." in response to eliezers essay. the principle behind both is the same such that if you hold by one you should hold by the other.

all of these things have parallels. if you want to see what is happening with MIRI/CFAR, theres a lot of mutual information with whats happening with Google.

[shizekarnstein]

One thing that pisses me off in the SnK fandom is how most treat as if Marleyans are the victims in Liberio. No. Not fucking true. The only victims there are the Eldian civilians and foreign dignitaries that Marley DELIBERATELY set up for deaths. Marley knew an attack might happen but didn't minimize casualties. They MAXIMIZED the casualties for their own benefit. Tybur said it its part of their plan himself. So fuck Marley and their tyrannical empire. Those heartless assholes are no victims.

I agree with you anon. Completely.

There's this misconception going around about what really went down in Liberio. People are all too eager to point fingers at Eren (not even the SC or, strangely enough Zeke as well) and only Eren. Besides their bias regarding him, I can see why: he crushed all those people and it was horrifying. In our world legal jargon that could be considered a war crime. But still: you are totally right regarding how some ppl miss the Tybur/Magath side in all of this. It was a political plot and move they decided to implement as soon as they knew an attack was inminent. They both knew and choose to use it to further their own agendas: to lay all blame on Paradis and it's demonic leader, thus redirecting all the attention and anger of the world away from Marley. You know, the country that was invading them and forcing their citizens to join the marley military to keep invading even more countries. That's a war crime. The marleyan volunteers formed bc of that.

The kids have the gist of it

Willy and Magath knew Marley was in danger: the power of the titans they had used for almost a century to opress the rest of the world was no longer unbeatable; if they didn't change tactics Marley was going down. That's why they, egged on by Zeke, attempt to invade Paradis as soon as they could to seize it's resources. But the higher ups were not ready to accept the power of the titans was declining. And it's for that that Magath and Willy decide to take matters into their own hands.

Here they are talking about all the old and stubborn higher ups they need to remove from the picture if they want their plan to succeed. As they knew the enemy was planning an attack, what best way to get rid off the old trash than to put them directly into the line of fire? It was for the good of Marley after all.

Remember: Willy and the Tyburs were the defacto leaders of Marley. By working together they had the chance to install Magath, the one able to see where the future was gonna lead them if they didn't take action, as the higher military authority of Marley. Tybur and Magath were co conspirators.

And for that goal they were gonna use the enemy inminent attack to make their play.

They invite representatives from all over the world with the excuse of a peace treaty and a new declaration of war at the same time. Using Willys charisma and good connections, they convinced them to reunited for an important announcement in the Liberio Interminent Zone.

The world sees eldians (sans the Tyburs) as dirty blooded demons. Inviting them to Liberio, as the kids told us, is paramount to being asked to hold a meeting in a dumpster. Under the pretense of good will, they were actually knowingly leading all those foreign dignataries to their deaths. They choose to make this sacrifice, to use their biggotry and deaths as fuel to justify their crusade against the island. Willy Tybur as bait, the supposed holder of the WH, was tempting. Gathering all the military higher ups an even more tantalizing one. The stage was set already.

Once they convinced the world of their pure intentions and how Eren Jaeger and Paradis were ready to annihilate them all, once their declaration of war was heard and baptized with the willing blood of Willy and all the other witness as sacrifices, and the military purged, Magath was ready to capitalized on all of it.

Willy talks about how Marley as a nation belongs to both eldians and marleyans. The nerve of that guy. The same eldians they let be opressed and weaponized in Marleys conquest wars. The same eldians that lived cramped in ghettos and at the first signs of dissidence were tortured and turned into monsters. They same eldians that were so hated, so despised that some dude could literally feed a lil girl to the dogs without consequences. Because she and all the others were demons. The Tyburs were eldians as well, and willingly choose to not only turn a blind eye to all that, but to make it the norm. They lived grand, comfortable lifes at the cost of all their people suffering. In my eyes that's unforgiva

ble.

Were the victims Marleyans? Of course not!! Why should they be? All they needed was the world representatives and the trash of society to bleed in front of that stage. Uniting the world as a whole, even mainland eldians, against the devils of Paradis Island. Marleyan civillians suffered almost no cassualities, bc I bet there were few who would had put up with the devils stench just for a glimpse of what was happening. The only marlyans who died were military. That's what both parts were after: Willly and Magath wanting to purge them, and Eren and the SC as well.

So no, the only people who died that night were either soldiers, dignataries or eldians from Liberio whose lives all made for a pretty sacrifice in order to redirect the hatred of the whole world. No one else. And they died in part bc Magath and the Tyburs decided to use those deaths instead of preventing them.

As for if they deserved to die... my answer is no. No matter how easly swayed and bloodthristy all of those foreign guests were, I don't think they deserved to be crushed like that. It was brutal. The eldians and honorary marleyans even less. They were disposable tools, poor ppl whose lives were hell and their deaths used as fuel to Marleys new holy war. Nobody asked them if they were willing to lay down their lives as Willy desired to do with his own.

As for the military that Eren, Armin and the rest of the SC felled... those were soldiers at least. People who chose to wear those uniforms and fight. If they werent so awful Id feel pity for how Magath and Willy played them. But they were all horrible and cruel ppl so I dont give a damn. Fuck Marley.

Thanks for asking!!!

[ocprompting]

Hey everyone, we put this together and i think this is a good blog to put it on. it’s a big text document we made thats like a big oc bio/questionnare like thing, its just a bunch of questions about your oc. i realize its very slightly biased to fantasy settings but only slightly, so ignore the magic section if yours isnt fantasy based. if you do decide to fill it out, you can skip any parts that dont apply to your oc, and just please do link back to this blog if you post it! i dunno who would actually fill it out or if its any good but uh its here if u want it! (im not claiming this post to be good - its just useful for us so i’m sharing it incase it is useful for others too) 

Fun Character Bio 

Name

What is it?

Does it mean anything, who gave it to them and why?

Do they like it?

Is it a common name for their setting/culture, or is it obscure?

Other basics

Age?

Species?

Personality traits

What are their most defining traits to their personality? What sticks out as soon as you meet them, what kind of first impression do they make?

What are their good traits?

What are their bad traits?

Any other traits?

How do they describe themself, how do they view themself?

How do others describe them, how do others view them?

What parts of their personality always prevail and are always present no matter what the situation is?

Are they a different person when you first meet them than when you get to know them, does it take them time to open up? Or are they an open book from the get go?

Appearance

Height?

Body build/shape/weight?

Facial shape - What are their eyes like? How about their nose, or lips? Shape of cheeks? Eyebrows?

Hair - Is it short? Long? How is the texture/shape? How is the style? Do they wear it different ways or only one way? What colour(s) is it, and is that natural or changed?

Skin tone?

Anything such as glasses? freckles? dimples? scars? any wrinkles?

Do they look younger, average, or older than their age?

Anything else such as a tail, unusual ears, wings, etc?

How do they feel about their appearance? Do they like it, do they dislike it, is it mixed, or do they not place much value on their looks?

Is there anything they would want to change about their appearance? Is there anything they refuse to change about their appearance?

Gender identity/etc

What is their gender?

Are they intersex or perisex (non intersex)? Or does their culture not even have different "sexes"?

Are they cis or trans? Or does their culture not even assign genders?

What are their pronouns?

Orientation/attraction (if oc is aro and/or ace, skip the ones you feel not applicable)

Sexual orientation?

Romantic orientation?

Are they dating anyone? Are they married? Do they want to get married? Or do they prefer 'one night stands'?

How do they react when they first fall for someone?

How do they react when they first begin being intimate with someone?

How do they react further on down the relationship? Do they change or do they stay the same but stronger feelings?

Do they have a lot of dating experience, a little, or none?

What ways do they express intimacy or love? Hugs, Kisses, Giving gifts, Doing favors, Creating things for them, Verbal flattery, etc?

Are they casual or intense in the relationship? Do they value the relationship as important and lasting, or just fun and fleeting? Are they fast or slow in their relationships?

Are they dominant or passive in the relationship? Do they take the lead, let their partner(s) take the lead, a mixture, or is there no lead in their relationships?

Do they enjoy sexual aspects to their relationship more, or romantic aspects more?

Do they have any sexual interests that they do with their partner(s), either for themself or for their partner(s)?

What do they do if there is something upsetting in their relationship, how do they handle slight turmoil in their relationships? (as in, not abuse, but a small/singular problem)

Are they confident when with a partner, or are they insecure? If they are confident, how do they feel about confident partners? How about insecure partners? if insecure, then how do they feel about confident partners? or insecure partners?

Do they have a 'type'? Personality wise, what do they enjoy in a partner(s)? Looks wise, what do they enjoy as well?

How well do they handle heartbreak?

Platonic relationships

What kinds of people do they make friends with? What kinds of people DON'T they make friends with?

What kinds of things do they enjoy to do with friends? Do they like to chill at home, go out somewhere exciting, hang at a quiet coffee shop, etc?

Do they enjoy a large friend group or small? Would they rather a few great friends, or many good friends?

Do they make friends with anyone easily, or are they selective?

How long does it take them being around a person to consider them a friend?

How do they handle a fight with a friend?

How do they express their friendship? What kinds of things do they do to/with friends to let them know they care for them?

Animals

How do they feel about animals as a whole? Do they view them as friends, helpers, tools/rescources, equal companions, annoyances, or enemies?

Do they have a favourite animal, for any reason? A least favourite animal?

Do they have any pets? Have they formally had pets? If no pet, do they want one?

Are they good with animals or are they bad with them?

Food/Diet

What kinds of food do they enjoy?

What kinds of foods do they not enjoy?

Do they eat a little, a lot, or somewhere inbetween?

If a little, Do they only eat a little due to being poor/conserving, or is there another reason such as culture/religious/etc? If a lot, do they do so due to money/abundance of food, or would they still find a way to eat a lot even if poor? 

Do they have any food allergies, or restrictions such as vegetarian/vegan/pescetarian/etc? If the latter, is it a personal belief, a cultural belief, a religious belief, due to allergies, or something else?

Do they view food as just sustenance or as a pleasure? Or balance it out?

If given a big plate of food, do they eat their fav food first or last?

If given a big plate of food, do they eat it all at once, or save some for later?

How do they feel on sweets? How do they feel on sour foods? How do they feel on spicy foods? How do they feel on bland/basic foods?

Are they good at cooking/baking, or do they instead just buy premade meals? Do they cook basic storebought foods or do they make food from scratch? Or if rich, do they pay someone else to prepare their foods?

Social/political beliefs

What are their views on social groups? Are they open minded or close minded? Are they progressive, or do they dislike if their society changes?

What is the government like in their setting? Do they like the way it is set up, or not? Do they like their current leader, or not?

Fashion

What kinds of clothes do they like? What kinds of things will they include in every outfit?

What kinds of clothes do they dislike? What kinds of things would they refuse to wear?

Any accessories they always wear, like a bracelet, hair tie, ring, locket, etc? Does it have any significance?

What is their relationship with clothing? Do they wear what's comfortable, what they aesthetically like, what is easy to work in/what fits their profession, something formal, something casual? Do they view clothes as just fabric to cover their body, or do they consider it an important/integral part of their identity, or somewhere in between?

Do they prefer to have less or more skin exposed in their outfits? Do they wear as little as possible, or maybe do they use clothes to hide something about themselves?

Do they live somewhere with the same temperature/weather all year, or does the climate change? if it does change, do they change their clothes by the changing seasons, or do they stick to their "brand" no matter what? if it doesn't change, do they like having the same style clothes all year or not?

Disabilities

Do they have any physical disorders/ailments/etc?

Do they have any mental disorders/ailments/etc? What about, are they neurodivergent?

Do they have any other sort of disability?

Is their disability something formally diagnosed or understood in their setting, or is it something not well known or understood in their universe?

Does their culture offer accomodations, treatments, and services for their type of disability, does their culture just ignore or not recognize it, or does their culture view it negatively?

How does their culture/setting view their disability(/ies) in general? Is their society open to help those disabled, or quick to shun them?

Hobbies and talents

Do they have any hobbies or recreational interests? Do they practice them a little at a time/during whatever free time, or are their hobbies more time consuming and take up a good deal of their day/week/etc?

Is their hobby to de stress, to bring fulfillment, to build up a skill, or another reason? Why do they do their hobby?

What made them pick up/do this hobby?

Is their hobby something done in their alone time, or something done in a group setting/with friends?

What kinds of talents do they have? What are they good at? Is it something more well regarded like singing, dancing, painting, etc.. or something more obscure like quickly organizing things alphabetically, remembering what kind of flowers their friend likes, or another skill that isnt as widely seen as a typical "talent/skill"?

is there any type of hobby they detest and would never partake in?

Is there any sort of skill or subject they are just completely bad at?

Is there a hobby they wish they could try? Is there a skill they wish they had?

Are their hobbies or skills more practical and useful in a job or career, more suited for social life/aspects, more creative and for fun, or do they serve a different kind of purpose in their life?

Do they have skills they don't know about yet, or hobbies they haven't tried, and maybe even don't even know to try (on either)?

Religion and spirituality

Are they religious? Are they a part of a group or place which practices their faith in an organized manner, or do they practice it on their own/by themself?

Are they spiritual? Are they part of a group or place which practices this in an organized manner, or do they practice it on their own/by themself?

Do they consider religion and spirituality to go hand in hand, or are separate things in their life? Do they do one without the other?

What parts of their beliefs do they enjoy the most, what speaks to them the most? What is the core reason they are a part of that faith?

Is there any part of their faith they don't like? Be it the faith itself, or the people within?

If they are not religious, is it due to indifference, due to it being not of interest, due to a more scientific view, or even a personal grievance with the faith, the deities, or the people within the faith?

Is their belief a widely practiced one in their culture, or is it a lesser known practice? Is it the only religion established in their setting, or are their multiple?

Where they raised on their faith, or did they convert in later?

Were they raised in one faith and left it for another faith? Were they raised in one faith and left it for something like athiesm/agnosticism/etc?

financial status/job

What financial class do they belong to? Are they a ruler/royalty, nobility, upper class, middle class, lower class, or poor as can be?

Were they born in to this class, or came in to it later on?

What is their job, if they have one? How do they earn their money, or at least things like food and other necessities?

Do they enjoy their work, do they only work for the money, or do they detest their job? Is work something enjoyable or is it stressful?

Is this their dream job, or is there something they'd like to be doing more? What is stopping them - do they not have the social class, do they not have the money or ability to achieve it, or do they maybe just not believe they're capable?

Phobias

Do they have any phobias or fears? Anything that scares them beyond belief or something that they reguarly avoid out of fear?

When confronted with their fear, how do they handle it?

After escaping the situation, how do they recover? How long does it take to do so?

Is their fear easily able to be overcome after facing it once or twice, or is it something more chronic and they have the same response no matter how often they experience it?

Does their fear come from a frightening life experience, or is it more 'random' and not 'derived' from anything?

Magic

Is there anything equivalent to magic/etc in their universe? If so, can they use it? 

Where does their magic come from? Their own body, an object/book, a deity, their universe, etc?

What powers do they have?

How do they recharge their powers?

When do they use their powers; what situations, how often?

What kinds of drawbacks do their powers have?

Fun/misc

When playing truth or dare, which option do they take when asked?

If hypothetically stranded on an island for a week, what three objects and three people would they take with them?

If given 3 wishes, what would they wish for?

What's their fav music genre? What's their fav tv/book genre? Fav video game genre?

Do they like board games, or do board games frustrate them?

Do they sing in the shower? Do they sing when they cook? Do they sing when doing chores?

How do they react to having an annoying song stuck in their head for 3 days?

Are they good with kids?

What's the quickest way to make them smile/laugh?

Quickest way to make them cry/break their heart?

Quickest way to get on their nerves/piss them off?

How do they sleep? Light sleeper, heavy sleeper, do they snore? do they toss and turn or are they a brick?

Do they own a comfort object? Do they own a sacred object? Do they own a useful object? Any sort of thing they own that they heavily rely on for something? 

Zodiac sign? Do they care about this sort of thing?

How do they react to/act when they are sick?

How do they react to/act when in pain?

How do they react to/act when hungry?

Any tropes that apply? Or, what is their basic "character type"?

Three words that perfectly describe them?

ok cool thanks have fun -claude & irak

[wintertidewater]

Is English your first language? In the comments (on reddit) there is a Native American agreeing. It made me think. What are the implications of treating the demise of a culture as an individual choice? English is a languge of colonizers. Much like european languages it separates the "I" from the "where". We acquire the mental faculties implicit in our language. Native cultures were nature loving and accordingly their culture and ways have value and meaningful political alignment. I dont think the people who lead with their hearts are usually the most fun at parties. The woman who "controls others" by taking issue with the b slur. The woman who hates the n slur. The woman who opposes mass agriculture and any woman who is critical. Liberalism is still a disease. I think she shows unruly integrity. And to be fair she is in her home land, she is in Ireland. At most she wastes a few seconds everytime she meets someone and they say "Oh I dont speak Irish". The state of the Irish people is an interesting history and I'd highly encourage you to read up on the political struggles before dismissing the relevance of resistance.

She is already compromising by knowing English. Her ancestors didnt create that language. English speakers are privileged to only know one. How can anyone feel confident in saying "but it takes so long and so much to learn a language"? Most everyone who wasn't raised speaking English has to learn a second language. We're not above it. There are so many cultures and languages in the world. Why is it their duty to fold to the western world? Because invaders came and forced it on them however long ago?

Immersion is the best way to learn a language. I find it depressing neither of my parents know the language of their culture. My family has been whitewashed and it is a tragedy. She's right. Speaking with strangers really helps you learn a language and gives you a reason to know it. I've since learned Spanish, the language of one of my grandmothers, and speaking it with coworkers and strangers and partners has been my main use of it. It's allowed me to connect with people who've had different lives and read books I wouldnt have been able to. There is a difference between reading books how they were written and reading translations. Learning multiple languages is just such an important tool in this world for understanding other people and for your own development.

she's a hero. she should dump her west brit "friends" and become friends with me instead

[femmesfollesnebraska]

Artist-Poet Feature: Claudia Serea & Maria Haro

Pleased to feature artist Maria Haro alongside poet Claudia Serea with some of their collaborative work...

Where are you from? How did you get into creative work and what is your impetus for creating?

Claudia Serea:

I was born and raised in Romania, and I started writing poems when I was around 14 years old, in Romanian, of course. I wrote until my third year in college, then stopped. I immigrated to the U.S. in 1995 and took up writing almost 12 years later, this time in English. As for the reasons, I write because I believe I have something to say: my experience growing up behind the Iron Curtain, my immigration story, and the fact that I am constantly moving between two languages and cultures, not fitting perfectly in either of them. I also find inspiration everywhere around me, on New York City streets, in everyday life. I don't have to make up almost anything, just type what I see really fast. :)

Maria Haro:

I was borned in Madrid, Spain. Ever since I remember, I have been creating. My father is also an artist, so I grew up surrounded by art. I started my professional career in 1994 when I moved to New York City after graduating in graphic design.

My impetus for creating has evolved through the years. It started as something I liked to do, then something that I liked and I needed for a living, and now is evolving into something I need to do in order to make sense of it all.

Tell me about Twoxism, your current project and book, and why it’s important to you. What do you hope people get out of your work?

Claudia Serea:

I started the blog Twoxism in 2015 together with my friend, photographer Maria Haro—but the idea is older than that. The project concept came from Maria's friend, the Spanish photographer, Koldo Mirren Guinea Herran. He contributed some excellent photography to our project; he also designed the amazing cover and created the layout of the book. One of the poems I wrote for his beautiful photograph of tools was shared 1,600 times on StumbleUpon alone. I’m sure a lot of its appeal is because of this iconic image. Here it is: 

Sometimes I feel like a mechanic

Sometimes I feel like a mechanic, hammer and wrench instead of hands,

fitting the small parts, turning them this way and that, until they lock together, tight, teeth clenched.

I test the wheels, try the belt, turn the engine on and off, and on again,

listening to the wheezing, the whirr, until it works, and the growl comes on,

and the propeller starts flipping and swooshing,

and the shiny thing lifts into the air and flies into the world,

leaving me behind with my greasy hands and grimy nails,

grinning.

Maria Haro:

Twoxism started as a poetry-photography collaboration blog (www.twoxism.com) for which I took the photos and Claudia wrote the poems they inspired. In April 2017, 33 selections from the blog became an art exhibition that opened in New York City. Recently, Twoxism became a book published in December 2018 by the Canadian press 8th House Publishing. 

Twoxism is an invented word for all things two—among them, love, friendship, and relationships. We had a great response to the blog, with +15K page views and +40K impressions on Twitter and growing. As a project, it finds beauty in unexpected places and sees the mundane with redemptive eyes. As a book, it speaks of love and relationships in a new way. We hope others find it fresh, inspiring, and authentic. I personally started to better understand personal relationships through the photos I take and the lens of the artists who contribute to Twoxism.

Does collaboration play a role in your work—whether with your community, artists or others? How so, and how does this impact your work?

Claudia Serea:

I love collaborating with other artists. Collaboration gives my poems the chance to be shared with and enjoyed by more people. It gives the poem a new life. Apart from Twoxism, I collaborated with film directors who turned my poems into videos. My poem In Those years, No One Slept was set to music for choir by composer Rich Campbell, and the song won the top prize at the 2018 Uncommon Music Festival last August. I have another ongoing poetry-photography project with artist Mike Markham which, who knows, might become an exhibition or book in the future. And Maria and I we’ll keep Twoxism growing as long as it can. We are just getting started.

Maria Haro:

My biggest drive now is to discover what is possible through collaboration, and everything has to have a purpose. I am mostly interested in creating work than helps others using my design, photography, and artistic skills. I always have more projects on my mind that time to execute them and make the best of them. That is where collaboration really makes sense to me. Things are always better together.

Considering the political climate, how do you think the temperature is for the arts right now, what/how do you hope it may change or make a difference?

Claudia Serea:

Creativity knows no limits and no one can contain it, although some might try. The arts are hot in the U.S., and they will always be. Language is also extremely important in shaping our message and connecting us with emotion. Here is a poem from Twoxism that explores language’s important role, accompanied by Maria’s evocative photo:

About languages

In what language does the house painter paint?

Does the wind in Chile speak Spanish to the trees?

Do the gulls over the Hudson River cry Whitman’s verse?

And what about the Statue of Liberty?

In what language does she keep silent?

Coming from Romania, I feel fortunate to be in the United States and share my poems in English with the artists here. Who knew something like this could happen? I never thought I would get here in the first place. We get to write and express ourselves, and that is thrilling to me. I am very grateful for that. In turn, we must fight to open doors for others, and not create in a vacuum. There are countless artists and poets who live under oppressive regimes and don’t get this chance. We need to raise our voices and help them in any way we can. It’s an uphill battle, but I have faith we can contribute to the change.

Maria Haro:

Being an artist is hard, and it will always be, no matter where you are and what political climate you’re in. But it really helps to be in Madrid and in New York City where there is freedom to express yourself and a lot of receptivity to art.

Art is very intangible. You can only break through when you touch the viewer’s emotions and cause disruption. I will continue to try to do that for the rest of my life.

Sense of humor is another great weapon to have. I love to explore through my art the political environment and discover in deeper layers what is really going on and how it translates into our daily lives. Here is a twoxism that illustrates that:

High stakes entertainment

When all of this is over,

we'll have invented a new game,

the American roulette.

All is fair in love and war. So pass the popcorn, the wine, lots of wine, and the remote.

Artist Wanda Ewing, who curated and titled the original LFF exhibit, examined the perspective of femininity and race in her work, and spoke positively of feminism, saying “yes, it is still relevant” to have exhibits and forums for women in art; does feminism play a role in your work?

Claudia Serea:

In Twoxism, we explored the topic of empowering women in several combinations of poems and photographs. The goddess woman, the working woman, the skateboarding girl who is afraid to fall, the mother, the lover, the friend, they all find voices in the book. One of my favorites pieces is “Ode to the warrior woman,” paired with a beautiful photo of red lipstick as a “weapon” of choice by Maria Haro. Here it is:

Ode to the warrior woman

Beautiful woman, the world is still cruel and wild.  Bring out the thunderbolts and don’t be afraid of the fight.

 Put on your lipstick and pull up your boots. Grab your sword and slay the dragons on your way to work.

Walk in knee-high blood on 7th Avenue and don’t let anyone see the quiver in your heart.

 Be kind and smile. Don’t let them see that you’re hurt.

Sharpen your talons, merciless bird.

Woman, you da man, the man’s womb, you da bomb!

 Galaxies explode from your sex,  Milky Way swirls and pours out of your breasts.

Tell the little girl inside you to hush.

Swing the bow on your back and spread your eagle wings.

There is so much to fight for, so much to do.

Put on your lipstick, girl.

The world is waiting for you.

Maria Haro:

There isn’t really a choice for us to demand equal rights for women. It’s mandatory (and I have projects coming up that directly address this topic.)

Ewing’s advice to aspiring artists was “you’ve got to develop the skill of when to listen and when not to;” and “Leave. Gain perspective.” ��What is your favorite advice you have received or given?

Claudia Serea:

Keep writing even if you get rejected. Be honest and true to yourself. And, most importantly, never give up. Persistence is the most important quality.

Maria Haro:

Attack your fears by being fearless.

How do the birds know when it’s time to fly?

They must feel a restlessness, or a clock striking in their brain,

an itch, or a longing in the bones.

Or maybe the roads are calling, unfolding ahead,

new balconies of the city, glimmering windows and highways of air.

That’s when I have to say goodbye to my friends of the same feather

and prepare to travel light, with only love as carry-on.

Then, without thinking too much, the leap:

the push off the ledge, a flap or two.

I lean my chest against the wind and glide.

The current pours and lifts me up, up, so I can see everything.

Farewell, past.

Twoxism by CLAUDIA SEREA & MARIA HARO

Published by 8th House Publishing, Montreal, Canada

Order the book here.

6 x 9 | Paperback | December 2018

116 pages | Price: $20.00

ISBN 978-1-926716-53-4

Follow us on the blog Twoxism and on Instagram @Twoxism.

Claudia Serea is an award-winning Romanian-born poet whose poems and translations appeared in Field, New Letters, Gravel, Prairie Schooner, RHINO, The Malahat Review, and elsewhere. She has published five poetry collections, most recently Twoxism, a poetry-photography collaboration with Maria Haro (8th House Publishing, 2018). Serea is a founding editor of National Translation Month and a co-host of The Williams Poetry Readings series in Rutherford, NJ.

Maria Haro grew up in Madrid, Spain, where she studied fine arts and graphic design. She graduated from the School of Graphic Communications and moved to New York City in 1994. She has won several global awards as a Creative Director in pharma advertising. She collaborates with other artists on projects that inspire her. You can find her photos on Instagram @mariavisualdesigner.

~

Les Femmes Folles is a volunteer organization founded in 2011 with the mission to support and promote women in all forms, styles and levels of art from around the world with the online journal, print annuals, exhibitions and events; originally inspired by artist Wanda Ewing and her curated exhibit by the name Les Femmes Folles (Wild Women). LFF was created and is curated by Sally Deskins.  LFF Booksis a micro-feminist press that publishes 1-2 books per year by the creators of Les Femmes Folles including the award-winning Intimates & Fools (Laura Madeline Wiseman, 2014) , The Hunger of the Cheeky Sisters: Ten Tales (Laura Madeline Wiseman/Lauren Rinaldi, 2015 and Mes Predices (catalog of art/writing by Marie Peter Toltz, 2017).Other titles include Les Femmes Folles: The Women 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 available on blurb.com, including art, poetry and interview excerpts from women artists. A portion of the proceeds from LFF books and products benefit the University of Nebraska-Omaha’s Wanda Ewing Scholarship Fund.

Current call for collaborative art-writing: http://femmesfollesnebraska.tumblr.com/post/181376606692/lff-2019-artistpoet-collaborations

https://www.facebook.com/femmesfolles

[lovehaswonangelnumbers]

New Post has been published on https://lovehaswonangelnumbers.org/february-2019-energy-report/

February 2019 Energy Report

February 2019 Energy Report

a message from Jennifer Hoffman

We’re into another month and this one will be focused on cleaning up after the chaos of January. Remember that chaos is the result of dis-integration of old paradigms and we’re seeing a lot of that now. The energy focus for February is connection and the other 5D energies of collaboration, community, and creativity (which is also the theme of 2019). This can be a great month if we don’t get lost in confusion, self doubt, and forgetting that we are masters of our own universe and energetically sovereign.

February’s new moon is another one in the series that began in November 2018 where all of the new moons are at 0 degrees of their sign, which continues through April. The number zero (0) does not mean nothing, it is pure potential and means no-thing, energy waiting for an intention to bring it to form, energy looking for an energy container to fill. So see each new moon period until May as being pure potential, starting fresh and new. This new moon is in the sign of Aquarius, ruling community, friends, social groups, and connections.

Does that remind you of what’s going on in the world now? Think of how many connections we make via the internet that has created an interconnected global community. Think about the Q movement (whether you follow it or not) and the strong global community of an estimated 500 million or more dedicated, loyal, and committed followers it has. This is not a political statement, it’s an example of 5D energy at work which is all about community, connections, and expanding our awareness of ourselves as the human family on a global and universal level.

We also have a full moon at 15 Virgo on February 19 and this one brings Chiron, the wounded healer, into focus again. Chiron has been a huge factor in all of the work we have been doing for the past two years as its presence in Pisces brings up the old, deep, and very traumatic soul wounding we have suffered from for many lifetimes. These are being brought to our awareness and attention now because we say we want to ascend and these old soul wounds keep us grounded in their energy of pain and trauma. This is especially true this month as we have Chiron at the final degree of Pisces which Mercury will highlight later this month as it approaches this degree to begin its retrograde in March.

Yes we have a Mercury retrograde in March and its shadow begins on February 21 at the degree of the March 6 new moon. Prepare for an extra strong dose of healing potential all month and into March. I’ve described the special relationship between Chiron and Mercury, Virgo and Pisces before so I won’t elaborate here. Just know that with this month’s emphasis on relationships and love, with Valentine’s Day, having all of this Chiron energy bringing up soul wounds may be a bit difficult but it’s a reminder to close out these old karmic relationship and love energy cycles that have been so painful and unfulfilling so we can welcome new ones.

Let’s talk about Valentine’s Day, a day which some of you may look forward to, some may ignore entirely, and others dread it because it reminds them of how long it has been since they have had a relationship, or it is a reminder of every bad, failed, tough, and terrible relationship they have ever had.

Instead of being sad, mad, depressed, or angry this Valentine’s Day, do something nice for yourself. Treat yourself to a spa day, do something you enjoy, buy yourself some flowers, send yourself a beautiful card with a note about how wonderful and valuable you are, or treat yourself to a lovely lunch or dinner at your favorite restaurant.

Do you know that the word ‘restaurant’ is from a French word which means ‘to restore or revive’?

Why wait until someone comes into your life to do these things for you? Show yourself some love this month and then enjoy yourself while you’re doing it. And who knows, by going out and doing something nice you just may meet someone.

Miracle energy is high this month, so be prepared to use it.

This month we get a test of our energetic sovereignty and have the opportunity to explore our energetic maturity, which can be a lesson in how we move on from the past.

Do we get stuck in the energy of the past or are we going to move forward into the future?

Does the past define us in the present moment or is it just a blip on the radar of our life that serves as a reminder of where we have been that we do not want to visit again?

Or it’s about the lessons we learned that we’re going to use as a foundation to create stronger energy boundaries, more powerful intentions, and a greater focus on our self esteem, which we must have to become more self-loving.

We can be a drop looking for an ocean or the vast ocean itself.

Remember we cannot have someone in our life who loves us more than we love ourselves. This month’s focus on love and relationship can start with the relationship we have with ourselves, it is our most important one. January may have created a mess but in February we have the tools to clean it up and restore ourselves to our divine congruence that brings peace, joy, love, prosperity and most of all, harmony.

Time to get out the mop, bucket, broom, and dustpan and get to work. Have a wonderful month.

~~~~~~~~~

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[statetalks]

Why Do Republicans Wear Blue Ties

How Did The 2000 Election Solidify Red For Republican And Blue For Democrat

How To Combine & Wear A Pocket Square With Ties, Shirts & Suits

The 2000 election between Gore and Bush was a momentous event for American politics. The election became a constitutional crisis and dragged on for 36 days, leading to constant television and newspaper coverage of recounts and debates over which candidate won each swing state. Networks banded together on their color selection for each party for the purposes of uniformity, choosing red to represent states Bush won, and blue for those Gore won.

It was also during this election that the New York Times and USA Today ran their first full-color electoral state maps featuring red for Republican and blue for Democrat.;

Do you know where the Democrat and Republican Parties got their names? Find out here.;

But why these particular colors? Thats a difficult question to answer because all news stations want to take credit for what is now the standard.

The credit of the colors rests in part with New York Times graphics editor Archie Tse, who used red for Republicans in 2000 election maps because red begins with R, Republican begins with R. Whatever the reason, all of the news outlets certainly played a part in establishing blue and red as the colors when they collectively used them the same way.

What Does Your Tie Color Mean

Get the girl.

What do these three things have in common?; The right image.

We all know that first impressions can be influenced by what you wear.; Whether conscious or not, people make grandiose assumptions based upon your everyday appearance.

A tie is one of the most influential tools at your disposal.; Thats why you always reach for your lucky tie when you are about to close a deal or why the girl at happy hour playfully touches your tie to show shes interested.; Your tie makes a powerful statement and its important to know what image you are projecting.

Its called the power tie for a reason, and by wearing a red tie you are implying that you mean business.; Just like Tiger Woods wears a red shirt to convey dominance, the red tie is a reaffirmation of strength, authority and dominance within the professional world.; For a less aggressive approach, switch out your vibrant red for a softer shade of burgundy.

Yellow/Gold

Yellow is the approachable cousin of the power tie.; While still conveying authority, intelligence and positivity, yellow is the subtle version of a red power tie.; This is the perfect tie to wear for a first interview, because it shows you are confident and not afraid of a challenge.

Blue

Green

Orange

Orange is the wild card of tie colors.; A bright orange tie will imply that you are enthusiastic, open-minded and adventurous.; It is the perfect tie for making a memorable first impression and creating a sense of excitement within the workplace.

Trending In London: Fashion Rental Energy Healing And Pigmentation

Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee John McCain take part in the first debate of the 2008 elections at the University of Mississippi on September 26, 2008 in Oxford, MS. AFP PHOTO / PAUL J. RICHARDS

;The default color scheme for presidential ties is so conservative that it is nearly impossible to imagine something like pistachio, fuchsia or neon-anything ever making the cut. Sometimes, of course, being an outlier can help secure the needed benefit of the doubt. Bob Dole wore a moderate-green tie to his 1996 debate against the incumbent Bill Clinton. Such a choice helped create an overall image that pundits found informed, thoughtful, and elevated. It briefly albeit unsuccessfully buoyed Doles campaign. Hillary Clinton did not wear ties during her runs for the presidency. Still, her accessories were scrutinized by the media with particular focus on , bracelets, and headbands. Alternately, when democratic primary candidate Andrew Yang showed up to a 2019 Democratic Primary debate with no tie at all, his historic bold move turned heads across the political spectrum from Fox News to the New Yorker. Ultimately, it was a minor side note in what cost him the nomination proving that the country is just not ready for a tie-less president.

Also Check: How Many Republicans Need To Vote For Impeachment

Desks Are Closets Too

Heather: I have an emergency blazer in my desk that I can whip out if I feel I need to, and then an extra pair of flats in my desk. You do so much walking in DC that flats wear out really quickly. Ill keep Band-Aids and Neosporin in my desk, too, for when Im breaking in a pair of shoes. Ill get new flats every four months Ill just go to Marshalls and get whats on sale.

Jen: Im a big fan of having a lot of jackets that I keep in the office. You never know what day youll need to go staff your boss on the senate floor. Jackets that you can put on regardless of whether youre wearing slacks or a dress or a skirt and a top I think thats one of the easiest things to keep on hand. Then I have a black sweater, because these buildings can be terribly temperature controlled.

Dont Miss: Did Republicans Riot After Obama Was Elected

There Arent Real Forces Within The Gop Leading Change

There is some appetite for change within the GOP. In those 2024 polls, at least a third of Republicans either were supporting a GOP presidential candidate other than Trump or were undecided.;

In YouGov Blues polling, only about 40 percent of Republicans identified themselves as Trump Republicans. A recent survey from Fabrizio, Lee and Associates, a GOP-leaning firm that worked on Trumps presidential campaigns, found that about 40 percent of Republican voters didnt want Trump to continue to be a leader in the party. Those numbers dont necessarily mean that those voters want the GOP to change drastically. But there is a substantial number of Trump-skeptical/ready-to-move-on-from-Trump Republican voters. But that sentiment isnt really showing up in the Republican Partys actions during the last three months basically everything GOP officials in states and in Washington are doing lines up with the Trumpian approach. So what gives?;

related:Why The Recent Violence Against Asian Americans May Solidify Their Support Of Democrats Read more. »

It is hard to see Republicans changing course, even if a meaningful minority of voters in the party wants changes, without some elite institutions and powerful people in the party pushing a new vision. And its hard to see real anti-Trumpism forces emerging in the GOP right now.;

Read Also: Who Will Be Speaker Of The House If Republicans Win

The Partys Core Activists Dont Want To Shift Gears

This is the simplest and most obvious explanation: The GOP isnt changing directions because the people driving the car dont want to.;

When we think of Republicans, we tend to think of either rank-and-file GOP voters or the partys highest-profile elected officials, particularly its leaders in Congress. But in many ways, the partys direction is driven by a group between those two: conservative organizations like Club for Growth and the Heritage Foundation, GOP officials at the local and state level and right-wing media outlets. That segment of the party has been especially resistant to the GOP abandoning its current mix of tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, opposition to expansions of programs that benefit the poor and an identity politics that centers white Americans and conservative Christians.

You could see the power and preferences of this group in the response to the Capitol insurrection.

In the days immediately following Jan. 6, many GOP elected officials, most notably McConnell, signaled that the party should make a permanent break from Trump. Pollsfound an increased number of rank-and-file GOP voters were dissatisfied with the outgoing president. But by the time the Senate held its trial over Trumps actions a month later, it was clear that the party was basically back in line with Trump.;

related:Why Being Anti-Media Is Now Part Of The GOP Identity Read more. »

When Defeated Politicians Feel Blue They Wear It

He was feeling blue.;

There he stood, front and center in his home state,;cloaked in failure. Sad Senator Marco Rubio addressed the crowd Tuesday:

“While it is not God’s plan that I be president in 2016 or maybe ever, and while today my campaign is suspended…we must do all we can to ensure that this nation remains a special place.”

He certainly wore his heart on his sleeve well, in this case, his tie. It was dark blue.

Following in the footsteps of Jeb Bush, who sported a silk navy tie, and Ben Carson, who wore a powder blue striped shirt at their respective concessions, Rubio, too, wore the color.;

And it wasn’t by coincidence. Premeditated or subconscious, blue is the color when you’re feeling the shade.;

“Wearing a blue tie is the right choice for conceding in an election,” said Lauren Rothman, a Washington, D.C.-based political stylist, consultant and author of the Style Bible.

“The color communicates two emotions at the same time: optimism and sadness.”

Rothman,;who’s dressed many a politician for their concession speeches,;said that blue sends the message for supporters to continue following them on to their next chapters and that they have officially had a standstill.;

“There’s a sense of calmness to it and comfort as if showing that it’s okay, it’s going to be all right,” she said.

Lee Eiseman, a color specialist and expert, agreed.;

But Eiseman did clarify that there are different signifiers of blue depending on the hue.;

Don’t Miss: Did Any Republicans Vote For Trump Impeachment

How The Colors Came To Be Red White And Blue

Of the 205 sovereign nations in the world, 21 share red, white and blue as their flags colors. But why do so many share the same trio of colors, and what do they represent?

On July 4, 1776, a resolution was passed by Congress authorizing the development of a seal for the new country which reflected the Founding Fathers values.

When presenting the seal which was officially adopted on June 20, 1782 Secretary of the Continental Congress, Charles Thomson, explained, White signifies purity and innocence. Red, hardiness and valor, and blue signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice.

The meaning behind the colors have since shifted slightly. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan declared it the Year of the Flag, stating, The colors of our flag signify the qualities of the human spirit we Americans cherish. Red for courage and readiness to sacrifice; white for pure intentions and high ideals; and blue for vigilance and justice.

According to TIME Magazine, however, Mike Buss, a flag expert with the American Legion, points to the red, white and blue used in the Union Jack of England.

They come from the three colors that the Founding Fathers had served under or had been exposed to, said Buss.

Therefore, some of the correlation between the United States use of red, white and blue along with 20 other countries, including Puerto Rico, Australia and Cuba, could come from their historical correlation with England.

Why Politicians Wear Only Red And Blue Ties

Why does Trump Scotch tape his tie?

Joe Dziemianowicz of the Daily News wrote that even though President Obama doesnt like to reduce America into a collection of red states and blue states, he wore only red and blue neckties in his first 11 days in office. Is that just a coincidence?

Not according to science Robert Roy Britt of LiveScience explains why in high-stakes politics and business, there are only two color of ties, red and blue:

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What Do The State Of The Unions Purple Ties Mean

Whats in a tie? If youre President Obama giving the State of the Union address, it can mean quite a bit. Tonight, Obama, along with Vice-President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House John Boehner, made a sartorial show of solidarity. The three leaders sported purple ties because as every first-grade student knows blue and red make purple, and it may be a visual signifier of Obamas desire for bi-partisan cooperation. This isnt the first time Obama and Biden have rocked the royal hue: The pair, along with thenSpeaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, all wore purple during the 2010 State of the Union. And then, as now, pundits speculated about its meaning. There is kind of a connotation in politics that comes through color, said fashion blogger Mary Tomer, of last years tie choices. I dont think its too much of a stretch to think purple couldve been chosen;symbolically.

Has Trump Been Wearing A Purple Tie More Often Lately

The last couple of weeks Ive noticed him wearing a purple tie.

Do Republicans notice this? Care?

Does it mean anything?

Why would it matter even if he was? Its a goddamn tie. You people love imagining bullshit where it doesnt exist.

Saying you people is almost always a derogatory remark. If you dont like the OPs question, address your answer to her.

Im with . Look around at other threads. Assumptions made on behalf of Trump supporters, and even supposing to know what our president plans, knows, wants, likes. Until Trump opposers are willing to stop lumping us in a pit of lost causes, expect the same in return.

, I have had the same observation, so perhaps he has. Does it have any significance? I believe only time will tell.

I think that if he is in fact wearing purple, he is doing it to reflect the electorate and its attitudes as the American population slowly moves to embrace the democratic party.

Are the colors of his tie supposed to mean anything?And WHY do Trump supporters get all bent out of shape and when thinking Trump opposers lump them in all together, but do the exact same thing when it comes to dealing with opposers?

So he bought a new tie. He wore the red one for almost three years, and he cant ever seem to tie it right. Glad he got a new one.

I think its some kind of white power salute.

Disclaimer: The above statement is a joke.

Which you people? and I?

Read Also: Why Do Republicans Like Donald Trump

Which States Are Considered Red And Which Are Blue

To go along with the colors, the terms red state and blue state were popularized by anchorman Tim Russert during and immediately after the 2000 election. Today, these terms are used to refer to which party a state voted for during a presidential election.;

Generally speaking, the Northeast and the West Coast are considered a collection of blue states as most of them have sided with the Democrats since the early 1990s.

The Southern states have sided with Republicans since the 2000s, while the Midwest tends to be tougher to predict. For example, Illinois and Minnesota are currently considered blue states, while Missouri and Nebraska are red. Hawaii and Alaska have been traditionally considered blue and red respectively as neither has switched parties since the late 1980s .

The Southwest has been split since 2000 with Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado going blue more often than red and Utah and Arizona voting predictably red. Finally, we come to the coveted purple states or swing states,;such as Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan. These states switched colors in recent elections and are often a key focus of electoral campaigning and strategy. Swing states can vary by election year.

Color And Clothing Choices

When we see certain colors, they produce chemical reactions in our brains that can make us feel certain emotions. For example you are more likely to order more food in a restaurant that is decorated with a lot of red because that color makes us hungry. Sports teams often paint the opposing teams locker room pink because that color makes people tired. Guests on late night TV hang out in the Green Room before coming on stage because that color is the most calming and relaxing. So what could certain candidates be trying to sell you via their color and clothing choices?

Read Also: What Cities Are Run By Republicans

Read Also: Are There Any Republicans For Impeachment

When Its Time To Head Back To The Office And On The Few Days When I Wear A Suit And Tie I Should Retire My Red Ties Right Unless I Want Everyone To Assume I Am A Trump Supporter Is It Possible For Any Man To Wear A Red Tie Now And Not Immediately Call To Mind The Former President Ken Newton Mass

Though the death of the tie is declared regularly especially given the pressures of both the long-term office-casual movement and our current working-from-home reality Guy Trebay, our mens wear critic, maintains that you should not count the accessory out quite yet. As he said, even if were not wearing them much during lockdown, you dont want to give up on an element of the wardrobe thats been around for 400 years.

Ties can, after all, be used to signal your club, your interests, whether you are a jokester, a brainiac or even a clown. Not to mention, as you say, political affiliation.

The question is whether the party dividing line between red and blue that has swept even the necktie into its maw will remain uppermost in everyones minds now that unity is the word of the moment . Given how central red ties were to President Trumps uniform, it is natural to think that we may now have a Pavlovian response to the color. But the fact is, red ties were a wardrobe staple long before Mr. Trump got hold of them.

Its the combination of shade and style that makes the statement of allegiance, not simply one or the other. Thats what you should keep in mind when getting dressed. Then go ahead: Tie one on.

source https://www.patriotsnet.com/why-do-republicans-wear-blue-ties/

[patriotsnet]

Why Do Republicans Wear Blue Ties

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/why-do-republicans-wear-blue-ties/

Why Do Republicans Wear Blue Ties

How Did The 2000 Election Solidify Red For Republican And Blue For Democrat

How To Combine & Wear A Pocket Square With Ties, Shirts & Suits

The 2000 election between Gore and Bush was a momentous event for American politics. The election became a constitutional crisis and dragged on for 36 days, leading to constant television and newspaper coverage of recounts and debates over which candidate won each swing state. Networks banded together on their color selection for each party for the purposes of uniformity, choosing red to represent states Bush won, and blue for those Gore won.

It was also during this election that the New York Times and USA Today ran their first full-color electoral state maps featuring red for Republican and blue for Democrat.;

Do you know where the Democrat and Republican Parties got their names? Find out here.;

But why these particular colors? Thats a difficult question to answer because all news stations want to take credit for what is now the standard.

The credit of the colors rests in part with New York Times graphics editor Archie Tse, who used red for Republicans in 2000 election maps because red begins with R, Republican begins with R. Whatever the reason, all of the news outlets certainly played a part in establishing blue and red as the colors when they collectively used them the same way.

What Does Your Tie Color Mean

Get the girl.

What do these three things have in common?; The right image.

We all know that first impressions can be influenced by what you wear.; Whether conscious or not, people make grandiose assumptions based upon your everyday appearance.

A tie is one of the most influential tools at your disposal.; Thats why you always reach for your lucky tie when you are about to close a deal or why the girl at happy hour playfully touches your tie to show shes interested.; Your tie makes a powerful statement and its important to know what image you are projecting.

Its called the power tie for a reason, and by wearing a red tie you are implying that you mean business.; Just like Tiger Woods wears a red shirt to convey dominance, the red tie is a reaffirmation of strength, authority and dominance within the professional world.; For a less aggressive approach, switch out your vibrant red for a softer shade of burgundy.

Yellow/Gold

Yellow is the approachable cousin of the power tie.; While still conveying authority, intelligence and positivity, yellow is the subtle version of a red power tie.; This is the perfect tie to wear for a first interview, because it shows you are confident and not afraid of a challenge.

Blue

Green

Orange

Orange is the wild card of tie colors.; A bright orange tie will imply that you are enthusiastic, open-minded and adventurous.; It is the perfect tie for making a memorable first impression and creating a sense of excitement within the workplace.

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Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee John McCain take part in the first debate of the 2008 elections at the University of Mississippi on September 26, 2008 in Oxford, MS. AFP PHOTO / PAUL J. RICHARDS

;The default color scheme for presidential ties is so conservative that it is nearly impossible to imagine something like pistachio, fuchsia or neon-anything ever making the cut. Sometimes, of course, being an outlier can help secure the needed benefit of the doubt. Bob Dole wore a moderate-green tie to his 1996 debate against the incumbent Bill Clinton. Such a choice helped create an overall image that pundits found informed, thoughtful, and elevated. It briefly albeit unsuccessfully buoyed Doles campaign. Hillary Clinton did not wear ties during her runs for the presidency. Still, her accessories were scrutinized by the media with particular focus on , bracelets, and headbands. Alternately, when democratic primary candidate Andrew Yang showed up to a 2019 Democratic Primary debate with no tie at all, his historic bold move turned heads across the political spectrum from Fox News to the New Yorker. Ultimately, it was a minor side note in what cost him the nomination proving that the country is just not ready for a tie-less president.

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Desks Are Closets Too

Heather: I have an emergency blazer in my desk that I can whip out if I feel I need to, and then an extra pair of flats in my desk. You do so much walking in DC that flats wear out really quickly. Ill keep Band-Aids and Neosporin in my desk, too, for when Im breaking in a pair of shoes. Ill get new flats every four months Ill just go to Marshalls and get whats on sale.

Jen: Im a big fan of having a lot of jackets that I keep in the office. You never know what day youll need to go staff your boss on the senate floor. Jackets that you can put on regardless of whether youre wearing slacks or a dress or a skirt and a top I think thats one of the easiest things to keep on hand. Then I have a black sweater, because these buildings can be terribly temperature controlled.

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There Arent Real Forces Within The Gop Leading Change

There is some appetite for change within the GOP. In those 2024 polls, at least a third of Republicans either were supporting a GOP presidential candidate other than Trump or were undecided.;

In YouGov Blues polling, only about 40 percent of Republicans identified themselves as Trump Republicans. A recent survey from Fabrizio, Lee and Associates, a GOP-leaning firm that worked on Trumps presidential campaigns, found that about 40 percent of Republican voters didnt want Trump to continue to be a leader in the party. Those numbers dont necessarily mean that those voters want the GOP to change drastically. But there is a substantial number of Trump-skeptical/ready-to-move-on-from-Trump Republican voters. But that sentiment isnt really showing up in the Republican Partys actions during the last three months basically everything GOP officials in states and in Washington are doing lines up with the Trumpian approach. So what gives?;

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It is hard to see Republicans changing course, even if a meaningful minority of voters in the party wants changes, without some elite institutions and powerful people in the party pushing a new vision. And its hard to see real anti-Trumpism forces emerging in the GOP right now.;

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The Partys Core Activists Dont Want To Shift Gears

This is the simplest and most obvious explanation: The GOP isnt changing directions because the people driving the car dont want to.;

When we think of Republicans, we tend to think of either rank-and-file GOP voters or the partys highest-profile elected officials, particularly its leaders in Congress. But in many ways, the partys direction is driven by a group between those two: conservative organizations like Club for Growth and the Heritage Foundation, GOP officials at the local and state level and right-wing media outlets. That segment of the party has been especially resistant to the GOP abandoning its current mix of tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, opposition to expansions of programs that benefit the poor and an identity politics that centers white Americans and conservative Christians.

You could see the power and preferences of this group in the response to the Capitol insurrection.

In the days immediately following Jan. 6, many GOP elected officials, most notably McConnell, signaled that the party should make a permanent break from Trump. Pollsfound an increased number of rank-and-file GOP voters were dissatisfied with the outgoing president. But by the time the Senate held its trial over Trumps actions a month later, it was clear that the party was basically back in line with Trump.;

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When Defeated Politicians Feel Blue They Wear It

He was feeling blue.;

There he stood, front and center in his home state,;cloaked in failure. Sad Senator Marco Rubio addressed the crowd Tuesday:

“While it is not God’s plan that I be president in 2016 or maybe ever, and while today my campaign is suspended…we must do all we can to ensure that this nation remains a special place.”

He certainly wore his heart on his sleeve well, in this case, his tie. It was dark blue.

Following in the footsteps of Jeb Bush, who sported a silk navy tie, and Ben Carson, who wore a powder blue striped shirt at their respective concessions, Rubio, too, wore the color.;

And it wasn’t by coincidence. Premeditated or subconscious, blue is the color when you’re feeling the shade.;

“Wearing a blue tie is the right choice for conceding in an election,” said Lauren Rothman, a Washington, D.C.-based political stylist, consultant and author of the Style Bible.

“The color communicates two emotions at the same time: optimism and sadness.”

Rothman,;who’s dressed many a politician for their concession speeches,;said that blue sends the message for supporters to continue following them on to their next chapters and that they have officially had a standstill.;

“There’s a sense of calmness to it and comfort as if showing that it’s okay, it’s going to be all right,” she said.

Lee Eiseman, a color specialist and expert, agreed.;

But Eiseman did clarify that there are different signifiers of blue depending on the hue.;

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How The Colors Came To Be Red White And Blue

Of the 205 sovereign nations in the world, 21 share red, white and blue as their flags colors. But why do so many share the same trio of colors, and what do they represent?

On July 4, 1776, a resolution was passed by Congress authorizing the development of a seal for the new country which reflected the Founding Fathers values.

When presenting the seal which was officially adopted on June 20, 1782 Secretary of the Continental Congress, Charles Thomson, explained, White signifies purity and innocence. Red, hardiness and valor, and blue signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice.

The meaning behind the colors have since shifted slightly. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan declared it the Year of the Flag, stating, The colors of our flag signify the qualities of the human spirit we Americans cherish. Red for courage and readiness to sacrifice; white for pure intentions and high ideals; and blue for vigilance and justice.

According to TIME Magazine, however, Mike Buss, a flag expert with the American Legion, points to the red, white and blue used in the Union Jack of England.

They come from the three colors that the Founding Fathers had served under or had been exposed to, said Buss.

Therefore, some of the correlation between the United States use of red, white and blue along with 20 other countries, including Puerto Rico, Australia and Cuba, could come from their historical correlation with England.

Why Politicians Wear Only Red And Blue Ties

Why does Trump Scotch tape his tie?

Joe Dziemianowicz of the Daily News wrote that even though President Obama doesnt like to reduce America into a collection of red states and blue states, he wore only red and blue neckties in his first 11 days in office. Is that just a coincidence?

Not according to science Robert Roy Britt of LiveScience explains why in high-stakes politics and business, there are only two color of ties, red and blue:

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What Do The State Of The Unions Purple Ties Mean

Whats in a tie? If youre President Obama giving the State of the Union address, it can mean quite a bit. Tonight, Obama, along with Vice-President Joe Biden and Speaker of the House John Boehner, made a sartorial show of solidarity. The three leaders sported purple ties because as every first-grade student knows blue and red make purple, and it may be a visual signifier of Obamas desire for bi-partisan cooperation. This isnt the first time Obama and Biden have rocked the royal hue: The pair, along with thenSpeaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, all wore purple during the 2010 State of the Union. And then, as now, pundits speculated about its meaning. There is kind of a connotation in politics that comes through color, said fashion blogger Mary Tomer, of last years tie choices. I dont think its too much of a stretch to think purple couldve been chosen;symbolically.

Has Trump Been Wearing A Purple Tie More Often Lately

The last couple of weeks Ive noticed him wearing a purple tie.

Do Republicans notice this? Care?

Does it mean anything?

Why would it matter even if he was? Its a goddamn tie. You people love imagining bullshit where it doesnt exist.

Saying you people is almost always a derogatory remark. If you dont like the OPs question, address your answer to her.

Im with . Look around at other threads. Assumptions made on behalf of Trump supporters, and even supposing to know what our president plans, knows, wants, likes. Until Trump opposers are willing to stop lumping us in a pit of lost causes, expect the same in return.

, I have had the same observation, so perhaps he has. Does it have any significance? I believe only time will tell.

I think that if he is in fact wearing purple, he is doing it to reflect the electorate and its attitudes as the American population slowly moves to embrace the democratic party.

Are the colors of his tie supposed to mean anything?And WHY do Trump supporters get all bent out of shape and when thinking Trump opposers lump them in all together, but do the exact same thing when it comes to dealing with opposers?

So he bought a new tie. He wore the red one for almost three years, and he cant ever seem to tie it right. Glad he got a new one.

I think its some kind of white power salute.

Disclaimer: The above statement is a joke.

Which you people? and I?

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Which States Are Considered Red And Which Are Blue

To go along with the colors, the terms red state and blue state were popularized by anchorman Tim Russert during and immediately after the 2000 election. Today, these terms are used to refer to which party a state voted for during a presidential election.;

Generally speaking, the Northeast and the West Coast are considered a collection of blue states as most of them have sided with the Democrats since the early 1990s.

The Southern states have sided with Republicans since the 2000s, while the Midwest tends to be tougher to predict. For example, Illinois and Minnesota are currently considered blue states, while Missouri and Nebraska are red. Hawaii and Alaska have been traditionally considered blue and red respectively as neither has switched parties since the late 1980s .

The Southwest has been split since 2000 with Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado going blue more often than red and Utah and Arizona voting predictably red. Finally, we come to the coveted purple states or swing states,;such as Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan. These states switched colors in recent elections and are often a key focus of electoral campaigning and strategy. Swing states can vary by election year.

Color And Clothing Choices

When we see certain colors, they produce chemical reactions in our brains that can make us feel certain emotions. For example you are more likely to order more food in a restaurant that is decorated with a lot of red because that color makes us hungry. Sports teams often paint the opposing teams locker room pink because that color makes people tired. Guests on late night TV hang out in the Green Room before coming on stage because that color is the most calming and relaxing. So what could certain candidates be trying to sell you via their color and clothing choices?

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When Its Time To Head Back To The Office And On The Few Days When I Wear A Suit And Tie I Should Retire My Red Ties Right Unless I Want Everyone To Assume I Am A Trump Supporter Is It Possible For Any Man To Wear A Red Tie Now And Not Immediately Call To Mind The Former President Ken Newton Mass

Though the death of the tie is declared regularly especially given the pressures of both the long-term office-casual movement and our current working-from-home reality Guy Trebay, our mens wear critic, maintains that you should not count the accessory out quite yet. As he said, even if were not wearing them much during lockdown, you dont want to give up on an element of the wardrobe thats been around for 400 years.

Ties can, after all, be used to signal your club, your interests, whether you are a jokester, a brainiac or even a clown. Not to mention, as you say, political affiliation.

The question is whether the party dividing line between red and blue that has swept even the necktie into its maw will remain uppermost in everyones minds now that unity is the word of the moment . Given how central red ties were to President Trumps uniform, it is natural to think that we may now have a Pavlovian response to the color. But the fact is, red ties were a wardrobe staple long before Mr. Trump got hold of them.

Its the combination of shade and style that makes the statement of allegiance, not simply one or the other. Thats what you should keep in mind when getting dressed. Then go ahead: Tie one on.

[extradan]

fun fact: my family is white and i used to think our food was good, but never really learned how to cook for myself until i made friends who actually seasoned food when they made it, and i realized my families food is not that great, and now my family is BAFFLED by the concept oF SALT AND PEPPER

Thats really great! good job for taking cooking to your hands! food is so very important as we must consume it every day, and the quality and preparation of the food can really affect our diet and the health of your body, and im not even talking about obesity, as food can really effect how you feel mentally and physically, you can still be a skinny ass bitch and still be pale af and feel like a rotting garbage bag.

despite my resources and current finance, I have grown having high standards of preparing and making foods, I am not some wicked chef but I have my terms

I am truly disgusted but how my family purchases their ingredients and meat and how they prepare and cook it and I cant believe i have been sustaining off their dishes for the longest time in my life as a kid and a teenager, no wonder I was feeling sick and weak all the time, I mean the Ritalin i have been taking took part of it too, but yeah ya get me, niether my body was great and I was pale as a vampire.My family barely season their chicken, stake or meat, but ..coat them.. with mayo... most of the time.. potatoes with mayo.. stakes coated with mayo... everything.. with mayo... I take food very seriously and unfortunately its not a common thing here in my area since its populated mostly out of white people, especially most sections of super markets that serve meat are white people and a lot of them have really low standarts

I have actually been scolded loudly by an employee two hours before closing when i saw they had a pack of imported chicken breast that has had the same expiration day of when I inspected it, I remember it as the date I was shopping for chicken was april 30, and the chicken expired on april 30, I had to explain politely and nicely to the person standing behind the meat that it has expired today and that they cannot serve it to people, especially that disabled or old people might not be able to read or suspect the expiration date and blindly cook and consume the chicken and get sick, and boy was I yelled loudly for mentioning it.

I have had called the supermarket brand over the phone and explained them that they cannot serve expired or nearly expiring chicken (since they do it so often, like really, its so bad) as there are unexperienced people, disabled people, old people or mothers that are unable to have the time or the ability to inspect the date of the chicken, and i have been told that according to their policy, even if the chicken was expiring today (today as back on april 30) its still “considirated fresh”.

I really want to shop from their market but like, I visit there every once twice a week, even three times to hunt for fresh meat, and they always have meat with the expiration date of one day to two, but when it was same day expiration day, it was really the last straw! they cant keep doing that!! 

So I shop my meat fresh from either the other supermarket below or from butcher shop, I have been purchasing my meat from the other market for a while since they were giving non-antibiotic fresh 3-4 day lasting fresh chicken solutions, but I have recently been giving the butcher shop below a chance and I am still tasting their chicken, so far I have had good experience with their wings, and according to their information, the chicken are being imported from farms in the far and not from factories, I dont know how relieable it is as they tell me that my fresh chicken can last for “weeks” or even “months” but the taste is a bit better so I am still inspecting it.While im not vegan, they lives of animals have a big value to me and I always appreciate buying chicken or meat that are coming from places where those same animals were living under “better” conditions and were fed more than just seed and corn, I support the health of the animals I consume and I hate wasting, I hate wasting so much, Iwill not eat expired food, but I will do what I must to prevent wasting fresh meet, you can offer me free food and I will be like UHH idk i had plans cooking this chicken tonight.. 

Raw meat and chicken come from animals who have their lives sacrificed toward our consumption (not out of choice by of course) and the least we can do for them is not let their bodies go into waste, every meat and chicken should be respected .

So yeah, please care for your food and cook it with love, dedication,with accuracy and precision. love yourself and the food you are preparing as youre making it!

Also consider having more tools if you are capable of affording it to amp up the quality of your food, its not a necessity, but you must care for yourself as a person, and food is not a luxury, but necessity that you and your body operate of.

Never go cheap on your food, and always train, dont give up and always try new challenges, you will suck for a while but you will succeed, dont worry, I suck myself, I cant make nice fried chicken yet despite my attempts that I believe have been perfect.