#knowing i might be threatened if i show my morals and speak for what i believe in

[bandzboy]

kehlani is a great example - she was openly pro-palestine (even though they've stopped posting as much) but she's signed to a zionist label. and i'm boycotting the music officially but to a certain extent it's like these artists livelihood IS threatened if they leave their label (if they're not dropped first). do these artists' pro-palestine views get erased because zionism is so insidious and has grown roots in literally every aspect of the western music industry and they happen to be signed to these labels (which at this point all have a zionist connection)?? the creative community for peace (responsible for justin bieber becoming a zionist all of a sudden) has probably invested so much money and time to make sure it's established and unavoidable. knowing this about the western industry, it's hard to be so hard on kpop idols because they are also largely being taken advantage of by these companies. it's like, we see western artists being openly pro-israel but aside from like a few idols no idol has been openly pro-israel. idk my brain is working in overdrive lately it's such a shitty situation we're forced to be in when we just want to enjoy music and our favorite artists

yeah that's why when i know all of these things i respect the artists that show their support knowing they could get dropped by these labels SO MUCH because they are putting their career on the line and they know that, especially small artists, need labels to support them and it's essentially a deal breaker. i know for a fact that there are probably a lot of artists who get threatened behind the scenes to not say anything and they probably start saying "if you say this we will drop you and make your life a living hell" i mean... a lot of these people in the industry are so powerful that they can blacklist someone just like that and it's terrifying! what is annoying to me is how there are big artists that have a lot of money atp and are so well loved that it's hard for them to lose anything not so say anything! some of these people could start their own label and everything and choose not to say a thing and to me it's disappointing in that sense! but it's always the smaller-ish (saying this because some of them aren't that small and i don't offend anyone lmao) that speak out and put everything on the line. that's why i hate this aspect of the industry, how much these artists are exploited and obligated to do things they don't exactly want to but because they have these big music executives waving their contracts in front of them are probably threatening to just throw it in the trash if they don't comply! a lot of them use that to their own advantage and it's something that is unfortunately very common! that's why if an artist is dropped from a label for speaking out they should be supported and i respect those people so much because even tho they lost opportunities they stood up for what they believed in and what i am hoping that these boycotts do over time is for us to make a better space for artists and even incentivize unions in the industry etc because having no freedom of speech because of a contract or wtv is it's absurd and personally, i could not stand living like that!

[billcyphersballsack]

Actually no joke I need to see more slay the monster (or whatever the reverse au is called) content.

I need to see the princesses perspectives translated into voices I need to hear how they think how they process. So much of (some of) the perspectives power comes from their control over their situations and I wanna know what they’d do with that partially taken away

I need to see the voices translated into perspectives I need to see how their forms are twisted and shaped by the princesses interactions with them.

I NEED to see how the narrator would respond to the shift. The entire reason the voice of the hero initially puts doubt in the player and hints that the narrators word might not be law is by pointing out the obvious tonal dissonance of a hero SLAYING a princess rather than SAVING her. But that doesn’t exist with slay the monster. The narrator wouldn’t need to work as hard to convince the player that they’re doing “the right thing” cuz it’s a monster! It’s chained up and dangerous and going to hurt a lot of people if you don’t kill it! The voice of the princess (my decided title for the VOT Hero in this au cuz obviously the actual Princess would be called the shifting mound the same way we’re the long quiet) would then have to take an angle of “we’re supposed to protect our subjects and our people. Monster or not, isn’t that what this creature is?” Which is still an appeal to the common trope as well as your morality. The narrator would play into your role as a princess like crazy going on about your duty to protect the world you rule over and to save innocent people who’s lives are in your hands, basically what he does to the long quiet but more

Mostly though I just think an inverse of their situations in the cabin would be fun. The chapter one princess is such an interesting character because she’s not the perfect victim. Her honey sweet voice and her doe eyes and her innocent scared demeanour aren’t necessarily fabricated just overplayed. She is genuinely scared, that’s the part that’s true, everything else is a desperate appeal to your humanity that you’ll let her go. It becomes somewhat real in the damsel rout when you free her and warn her and fight tooth and nail to save her, but for the most part it’s for show. If you come down there with a knife or decide mid convo you’re actually gonna kill her for real she drops it. She’s harsh and cold and keeps you at arms length, she acts bored and above it all when she speaks to you picking at her nails and glaring at you. GRANTED THAT COULD ALL BE WRONG! Maybe the harsh and cold personality is the fictitious one, a front built up to protect herself from danger, and really the frightened and desperate personality is the real one. MAYBE THEY’RE BOTH REAL! OR MAYBE THEY’RE BOTH MADE UP. It’s probably that last one but for the sake of my bit we’re going with the first one.

The point is the princess tries to appear put together and composed in both these versions of her personality, but deep down she’s like a caged wild animal and isn’t afraid to act like a caged wild animal if she has to

Now imagine the inverse of that, for The Monster

Outwardly a beast who smarls and claws at every surface trying to break free from its prison. If you bring the blade it slinks into the far corner of the room and hisses and spits while you trying and communicate with it but if you go unarmed it will lunge at you held back by its chains just barely. It’s frightening it’s threatening there is no attempt to appeal to any morality or present a domineering front to strong arm you into doing what it wants, it’s just pure violence and fear, a creature who wears its emotions on its sleeve. Depending on what you do it’s iterations become more or less beastly (I’d imagine guys like Stubborn or Broken or Hunted or Cold would get even more violent or reactive but guys like Paranoid or Opportunist or Cheated or Contrarian would have a more pensive and thoughtful approach, you can decide for the rest) but as you play and as you try and speak with it you discover actually there’s a lot more complex thought behind its eyes, and once the fear subsides there’s a person with throught and feelings hiding under all those feathers and teeth. Also not the perfect victim, they also bite the hand that feeds, but like a little to the left you know

Can you tell? Can you tell it’s like a worm digging into my frontal lobe and eating away at my brain? Huh? Can you tell???

[half-dead-writer]

I figured my problem with not appreciating the gooseboy enough was that I envisioned him dominating me. The solution was me domming him. The moral is I love weak men. Also thru my research I found that Gideon is 5'6 - I'm 5'9 - which made me think of this scenario. I guess that means I'm writing for Gordon too now, huh.

Short King

Gideon does not like you describing him as "small".

character: Gideon Graves / Gordon Goose (Scott Pilgrim Takes Off)

words: 727

reader: gender-neutral

warnings: suggestive

𝔯𝔲𝔩𝔢𝔰 + 𝔪𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔦𝔰𝔱 / 𝔖𝔠𝔬𝔱𝔱 𝔓𝔦𝔩𝔤𝔯𝔦𝔪 𝔗𝔞𝔨𝔢𝔰 𝔒𝔣𝔣 𝔪𝔞𝔰𝔱𝔢𝔯𝔩𝔦𝔰𝔱

"You're so small," you murmured, looking at your boyfriend, who's currently wrapped in your arms. His head that's been previously resting on your chest whips your way.

"What did you say?" He heard you well, he just didn't believe you had the audacity to point that out.

"I said you're tiny," you continued to tease, clearly in a playful mood. You knew it'd annoy him.

Normally, he would be pissed at someone calling him tiny. However, something about your tone, and the fact that it was you made that thought seem less... annoying. "I'm average height- you're the one who's freakishly tall." He barked back, furrowing his brows. He would threaten to leave, but you knew full well that he wouldn't - he's too comfortable using you as a pillow.

"Keep telling yourself that," a smug smile occupied your face. You dared to carelessly run your hand through his black locks, making it turn random, unflattering direction. If it was any other person, he'd swat your hand away, annoyed at you messing up his perfectly styled hairstyle. But again, he made no move to stop you. He let out a small scoff, trying to look annoyed, but the hint of a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth gave away his thoughts. You weren't that heartless, though, and you regained a bit of his trust by affectionately playing with his hair. He melted under your touch. His eyes closed as a small, nearly inaudible, content hum slipped from his mouth. You were one of the few people who ever got to see him so vulnerable and relaxed.

"You're so annoying..." He replied, but his voice lacked any real bite. The sound of your light chuckle hit his ears, he tried to act displeased, but ended up looking more like an angry cat. Eyes narrowed, with a pout on his face. "Stop laughing."

"Make me." You deadpanned, showing him a competitive smirk and letting go off the strand you were twirling in your finger. His halfly insincere frown got washed away by a cocky grin as he raised himself to sit up. He got ahold of the collar of your shirt, pulling you closer.

"Are you sure about that?" The light reflected in his glasses along with mischief.

"I dunno, are you?" You knew you acted like a brat, fully aware of what reaction it might pull out of him. He supported himself with one hand near your side, towering above you. Your noses were practically touching. "You really wanna play this game, love?"

"You know I do," you admitted bluntly, making the man exhale in amusement. Properly straddling your lap, he pressed his lips against yours in an eager kiss. His hands reached out to pin yours, but you were quick to avoid them, instead holding his sides with your knees and pulling you both onto a different position. He laid under you, obviously disconnected from your lips now, mildly surprised at the situation.

"Brat." He muttered, judging the way you held his wrists above his head. You knew he liked it regardless, seeing the lack of resistance. He wasn't used to people getting the upper hand on him, but he was more impressed than irritated. His eyes travelled over your body, making you speak up.

"Does this mean I won?" You asked, faking the innocent tone. He tested your grip on his wrists ever so slightly. He could free himself in one move, but for now, he wanted to see what you would do. He cocked his brow, tilting his head in a taunting manner. "Maybe. Who's to say I don't like being pinned to the bed?"

His response forced a light chuckle out of you. You were merciful enough to grant him a bit of affection, but the soft feeling of your lips on his didn't last long. You pulled away after the quick peck, leaving him a bit dumbfounded. He stared at you like a lost puppy, seeing you get off the bed, satisfied from successfully messing with him.

"I'm starving. If you make us some sandwiches, we could continue talking about pinning you to bed," you showed him a light 'come hither' gesture, looking over your back with a smile before heading into the kitchen. He adjusted his glasses, narrowing his eyes in a smirk and mumbling under his breath.

"Difficult as always."

[someoneintheshadow456]

Well after Maker knows how many restarts and redos because screen recording is a bitch, I kept pissing off Cassandra and/or couldn't find the right hairstyle on Nexus I finally have started Stella's Adventures in Thedas and am going to make them everyone else's problem.

There were options to mourn the people dead at the Conclave and show heroism, but I felt like that wasn't a realistic response for someone from Stella's background. I mean, Mage Travy was a spare to the throne for a noble family, sent to an abusive magic school at puberty, and caught in the middle of the mage-templar war as a young adult.

I don't think someone like that is going to be kicking ass and taking names. They would have started out being preoccupied with their own survival and might even come across as a little sheltered seeing as their world was so small. Cassandra is essentially also taking them hostage. So they'd want to Stay Calm, appear as non-threatening as possible, and be on her good side as she clearly wants you dead.

(not my Inky pulling the most uwu looking face so that the Sword Lady doesn't kill her)

So I picked the options ("Be Silent", "I'm confused", "So if I listen to you will I survive") that would reflect this. It's also why I chose to charge directly instead of taking the mountain path ('if I comply with Cassandra/agree with her on everything, she might get me a lighter sentence').

IG from a story perspective this would mean she would start out as a passive character who only takes decisions to save her own skin. And then she'd go through character development to become an active character and a hero with a real moral compass.

Also I have no idea what other mods people are using (EVERYTHING makes the game crash), because Stella looks decent from the front but fucking UGLY as hell in combat. Not to mention her side profile makes her look like a misshapen potato (heh... something we have in common).

And speaking of combat at this point I'm just aggressively right clicking and running away because I clearly have no idea what I'm doing rn...

[soft-persephone]

I read ur tags on the video abt drake and Kendrick “not caring about women” in the middle of the rap beef and I totally agree about Kendrick btw. It reminded me of someone i saw on Tik tok who made a video defending Kendrick from the “but he didn’t want r Kelly’s music removed from streaming platforms!” thing and what it turns out it ACTUALLY was about was that Spotify was going to put up a “moral and behavior” policy where they would remove the complete discography of any artist who they found out had a criminal record, which is incredibly discriminatory against all convicted people, no matter what they’re convicted for, and infringes on their 1st amendment rights and just the very human right to make art and have that art be preserved. So it was less about “I love r kelly so much im gonna threaten to take all my music off Spotify if they remove his” and more “this policy is actually infringing on artists’ rights and discriminatory against people with a criminal record.” I’m not saying Kendrick is our feminist messiah but like cmon yall he does not hate women and he’s not just calling out drake for clout

A lot of what Kendrick gets reduced to certain narratives because their are a lot of negative things that come with hip hop, and it does do more harm than good especially in the case with “fake woke” rappers.

I don’t believe in putting celebrities on a pedestal and no person is perfect. Him putting Kodak Black on Mr. Morale did rub me the wrong way. Him dead naming some of his family members rightfully upset some people.

I can’t speak for that, so I won’t because it’s not my place, so I just listen and support those that can.

But all I can really say is, the process of growing and wanting to be better person isn’t pretty. Watching someone unlearn racism fatphobia, transphobia, and etc is never without mistakes.

If we are really advocating for people to be better on all fronts, the response is always anger when we they don’t get it right the first time or show they don’t have a full understanding of it.

What do we really want fork people? We tell them to grow and do better? But if you’ve actually walked someone through that or seen it, why are we getting so mad when they make a mistake along the way.

No it’s not our place to teach them. But if they are making a genuine effort, why not make a quick comment and move on. How does him doing these two things and “fumbling” the narrative for black growth as a man in America by including Kodak black and trying to show him stepping away from transphobia in a more problematic than not way, absolve everything he’s ever done or thinks and do thereafter?

I am not saying these thingsto be derivative. I am asking from a genuine place.

That said, it doesn’t make those things right.

I think he said some quiet parts out loud that he shouldn’t have, but at the end of the day he has to be held accountable. 🤷🏾‍♀️

I don’t think Kendrick has ever said anything in song he doesn’t fully believe. He’s very intentional, that might be the place where people are angry with him because it’s clear these things were done on purpose.

I can’t speak for him as I am just a fan. I may be biased as well, so that may be effecting how I think about this, so I try to be mindful and address that as well.

I try to be responsible and try not to deflect other peoples thoughts, feelings, and opinions on some of these things because they hurt some people and affect more people more than they ever would me and it wouldn’t be right.

But, we don’t know him and we never do, so all we can do is speculate, and some more than others like to choose the worst over any benefit of the doubt because in a man driven world when have they never not have that.

I don’t want to be an enabler to that system.

[woodsfae]

Babylon 5 S03E20 And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place previous episode - table of contents

It's kinda wild how much b5 is exactly to my tastes. Take this (and many other!) episode titles for example. Pretentious? Maybe. Poetic? Certainly. Full of allusion? Definitely. Makes me get shivers? Absolutely.  They even give me things to complain about. I'm well settled into complaining loudly about Londo bullshit.

Last episode's beverage (for data point purposes) was straight tequila with pepsi chaser. The hangover was vile and I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't sleep for three hours. Today's beverage - Bitterroot Brewing Co "Dirt Church" ipa. It's alright for an IPA.

"Z MINUS 14 DAYS"

I see we've moved several letters on from "t."

Yeah!! It's another Susan Ivanova personal log episode. The telepaths they've recruited are being dispersed. Sheridan is tired, and Franklin is still pacing the halls. 

All the telepaths are being accompanied by a single Narn bodyguard. Fingers crossed for some of those bodyguards to start developing some telepathy of their own after spending a long time in close quarters with a telepath!!

Londo thinks it's time to "take care of" G'Kar?? FUCK OFF.  He wants G'Kar tricked back to Narn and executed. Thanks to the previous flashbacks, I am well aware that this plot won't play out with G'Kar's actual death. But I still want to strangle Londo. Can I isekai into B5 just long enough to goddamn murder that man?? 

Religious Theo of the religious group whatevever is being highlighted this episode. In theory I appreciate how diverse B5 is, religiously speaking. In practice....ehhh. At least when it comes to people quoting the KJV and referring to "the lord" every other sentence. 

Sheridan does look rough. And there's Delenn!!! Pretty in pink. 

"[Ivanova] said you were carrying on cranky. I looked up cranky, it said grouchy. I looked up grouchy, it said crochetly. No wonder you have such an eccentric culture. None of your words have their own meaning!" 

LOL!! Delenn is so cute. Also, very seriously, I apologize to every person who needs to learn English as an adult. It's a mess. 

Once I saw a gif of Delenn propping herself up on a elbow in bed with Sheridan and I have been FERAL to see that scene ever since. Maybe today will be the episode? Delenn climbs in bed with Sheridan to make him sleep??

Na'Toth might be alive. Or her name might simply be a trap for G'Kar. I don't think Londo's plan is going to work out. If he didn't go back to Narn for literally every other Narnuan, I'm not sure he'd go back for his aide who is probably dead. Also I 100% have more faith in Vir than this. Idk where he got them, but he has a surprisingly well-developed set of morals and empathy. 

Vir: "I won't. I won't go. I won't do it."

VIR BABY. Just say you'll do it, then go and collude and G'Kar. Londo is unhinged, threatening to have Vir's family stripped naked and whipped through the streets of Centaur's capital. What a fuck. He ought to be directing his energies towards getting back Lord Whatshisface who killed Adira on behalf of the Shadows. Refa. The show reminds me in a timely manner. 

Speaking of Refa, he's giving very desperate vibes. Trying too hard to suck up, and that puts blood in the water for the sharks to scent!!

Well. Hopefully even if Vir gives into Londo's threat and tries to trick G'Kar, his obvious nerves give away that something's wrong. 

Back to Londo and the Centauri court shenanigans. Londo is, undeniably, good at putting on the type of political front that works well on Centaur. 

Susan's blowout is so good every day I have to assume it's part of the high-tech auto-dryer when you step out of the shower...or something. Because there's no way that SUSAN IVANOVA is spending twenty minutes every day achieving the most ideal blowout that has ever been hair-dried into existence. 

OK I like the religious cabal a bit better now that I know they're smuggling up-to-date information about Earth politics into Bably 5. 

GODDANG IT. G'Kar is trying to sneak back onto Narn. Well. At least I know he lives to die another day. 

Vir, I am disappointed in. 

Centaur attack on Vir!! He lives to become Emperor another day as well. Stakes drop considerably when you know certain characters' ultimate fates. 

You know who I'd love to see again? AUNT PROPHETESS! Majel!! 

Lord Refa's eyebrows deserve their own acting credit. 

oooh, Centauri telepathy attack!! 

Poor Vir. If only he had been able to keep his position on Minbar. He looked less stressed-out when he was spending most of his time surrounded by a tranquil environment. 

The Baptist pastor is hanging out with Sheridan, who is struggling to relax enough to fall asleep while also doing paperwork. Maybe. don't do paperwork while getting ready for bed. Which the pastor is also bringing up, more delicately than I would. 

the Pastor: DELEGATE IDIOT.

OK he can stay. He is speaking common sense. 

"When youre worry tank gets full people stop coming to you, because they don't want to add to it." 

Smart. "figure out how to relax or your people will stop reading you in in an attempt to protect you." 

"Z MINUS 13 DAYS"

Zha'ha'dum minus 13 days?? 

G'Kar made it to Narn. There's climate change from the orbital bombardment. Constant wind, particulate coming down from the upper atmosphere, poor air quality. And I doubt they had recovered from the previous Centauri occupation, and possibly not even the Shadows' occupation before that! 

Emperor Cartagia is going to be traveling to B5: that seems like a significant security risk! Maybe he'll get nerfed and we'll see the glorious ascension on Emperor Londo. 

Refa's plot is to capture G'Kar instead of letting Londo do it. Fingers crossed for neither of them getting that glory. 

Delenn says there's no pattern to the Shadows' attacks. The lack of pattern is probably the point - all over the place and unpredictable so the united forces are spread as thin and widely as possible. And the tactical data sorta supports that! They haven't attacked anything in the center of the sector, so refugees are going there. And Sheridan is picking this up now, too. They could nail all the refugees at once. 

"I think this is as much about terror as it is about territory." 

Yeah. 

Hm, Delenn is horrified by Sheridan saying he needs to think like them to beat them. Unless she has a really compelling argument against it, I'm going to have to disagree. How can you counter a tactic unless you understand it? 

Londo just knocked out a Centauri guard with a punch to rescue Vir. He gets no points from me, because he put Vir in that position. 

Unfortunately G'Kar won't get to kill Londo for quite a few years, but maybe he and the resistance will get to kill Refa and his goon squad instead. 

Damn it, Londo was two steps ahead of Refa this whole time. f.ucking annoying. Well. all Centauri warmongering genocidal politics are annoying. Refa being personally in charge of the bombardment of Narn is backfiring on his right now. 

Oh so this means that Vir was an unwitting stooge in the plot all along, and that's extra scummy, considering it resulted in Vir being mindraped and made to believe he'd just given up his mentor and employer. Very very cutthroat politics. No wonder Londo didn't name the embarassment he was planning to remove on behalf of the emperor to prove House Mollari's value. 

Baptist Pastor brought a gospel singer along with him, lol. That's very on brand. And super fucking amusing juxtaposition between her music and Refa being pursued and killed. "There's no hiding place down here." Refa being beaten to death. 

Buuuut as much as I dislike Londo, I am a fan of the person responsible for untold suffering and death getting a tiny fraction of that delivered back to them. So...annoyingly... *sigh* go Londo...

It's so fucking funny that Londo had the ability to slip refa the other half of the two-part poison all along but instead he had him beaten to death for political purposes. 

Vir is angry, but probably not enough to make him break from Londo entirely. 

Delenn has a surprise for Sheridan - "the White Star was never intended to be one of a kind, only the first..." and now there's a whole fleet. 

Hm. As far as first kisses on screen go, that one was pretty dated. I'm happy for them, but the "smear your face against the other person's face" is a style I'm glad has mostly gone away. It doesn't look very pleasant, hahah. 

Mrs Sheridan, I presume?

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

You and @aifsaath hold a certain aversion to the Starks during the Dance from what I could understand in a previous post of yours, ( i’m so happy to find likeminded people!) and I’d really like to know your opinion! Cregan’s of no interest to me and the Starks as a whole annoy and bore me 😅

@aifsaath and I are certainly are not subtle about our thoughts on Cregan! I don't actually mind the Starks as a whole in the main series. They're not my favorites, but generally they're fine. I think the fanbase is too reductive about that house though, and people treat Cregan as another Ned when in fact they're very different characters. This might get long!

Ned is extremely reluctant to get involved with anything in the capital. It's one of his most redeeming qualities, to me, the lengths he goes to keep his family out of royal politics. Bobby B. has to show up on his doorstep and practically drag him out of the North, and he's doomed the moment he becomes Hand. His honor is also sometimes too rigid, and GRRM invites us to really think about how inflexible moral codes sometimes stand in the way of the greater good. There is also a whole through line in ASOIAF about oaths and the impossibility of upholding all oaths and simultaneously acting according to one's conscience. This all gets tossed out the window when it comes to how large swaths of this fandom view Cregan, however! Cregan sits out nearly the entire war, but gets willingly and gleefully involved at the end when the dragons are gone and the armies on both sides are pretty spent. Okay, he's harvesting or whatever, fair enough, but because he and Jeyne Arryn have sat out the entire war while the two sides were obliterating each other, doing sweet fuck all while their queen and her whole family died, they have fresh armies while everyone else is pretty much spent. Then they decide to roll up when the fighting is already done, bully and threaten all of these people who have lost their entire families in this war, all for the sake of putting a highly traumatized ten year old on the throne. Cregan made an oath by golly, and he's going to stick to it. And speaking of traumatized kids, "the Lads" are often read as being cool and badass but Benjicot Blackwood had been fighting in this war since he was eleven, and we know GRRM is not generally trying to glorify child soldiers in his work, so what's up? The Lads lost their fathers in this war, they're ready to make peace, then Cregan shows up and tells them they're pussies if they don't want to keep fighting (even after Aegon II is dead and Aegon III is king) because now he's got to invade the Reach for some fucking reason. Apparently the only person in the entire realm who hasn't had enough of war is Cregan and so everyone else should just go along with that (and I've seen the suggestion that he needed to cull his population but that's sounds like a Cregan problem not a realm problem). It's only Black Aly's promise to marry him if he stops that gets him to back off. This is not Nedlike behavior and it irritates me to no end that Cregan is considered another Ned, and that being a Stark means his actions automatically get painted with a patina of honor. That's not even getting into how he handles the poisoning of Aegon II (often held up as a sign of his honor), how Aegon III has to beg for the life of his sister's grandfather, how Cregan's interference creates a power vacuum that allows Aegon III to be isolated under a regency that should have, by rights, included at least one of his sisters, but instead, beyond Corlys (who is 80 at this point), is full of strangers who don't give a toss about him (one of whom is responsible for the murder of his wife), and completely ignore his wishes until he comes of age. So yeah, not a Cregan fan!

[onisiondrama]

What's wild is that Lucas seemingly only went along with Greg's desire to pursue Sarah because he a) caved into Greg constantly pushing him and after Greg threatened their marriage if he didn't go through with it, and b) according to Sarah Lucas said Greg would be more comfortable with him transitioning if Greg could bring in other women into their marriage. However, Lucas has turned down plenty of women that Greg has brought in to be poly with and frequently had Greg threatened to divorce, and you'd think that Lucas could list enough reasons why pursuing Sarah would be morally and potentially legally wrong (I.e. Being her legal guardian, knowing her since she was 14, how she had become part of their family). In my opinion Lucas had grown apathetic trying to resist Greg's demands and chose to sacrifice Sarah's wellbeing to keep Greg happy and to further his own transition. Lucas could have said no to save Sarah (and clearly did multiple times), but eventually gave up and chose to deliberately lead Sarah on. It was incredibly manipulative of him and shows he clearly has an awareness of Greg's intentions.

We’ll never know what Lucas actually thinks, but from texts and the things he’s said publicly, he is either fooling himself or trying to fool the world that Greg/James never intends to get into these relationships for himself. James only wants to make Lucas happy and jumps in when Lucas finally gives the ok. If Lucas starts to think otherwise, that’s just his jealousy getting in the way. When James’ attempts at bringing in a third don’t make it past the trying to convince Lucas phase, the potential third becomes a home-wrecker and they bond over publicly and privately shitting on her.

The way Lucas publicly speaks about their relationship with Billie has chanced so drastically over the years. I think it shows how deep his denial about James true intentions has gotten. From James pushed her onto him to if only his own jealousy wouldn’t get in the way to wow why do all these homewreckers keep trying to break up my marriage?

Now from the recent claim from James that Lucas was diagnosed by a professional of PTSD from being assaulted by Sarah, I think if Lucas is spending the money to go to a therapist and that’s the conclusion the therapist came up with from their sessions, it must be what Lucas fully believes- or wants to believe. (If this information from James is to be trusted of course. He does claim it’s all documented.)

Edit: forgot I wanted to add that Lucas initially got James’ attention by scheming for months on end and lying. Waiting for the right times when Janes was upset to tweet the right things he would want to hear. This was during 2 public relationships James had. Then lying about his age. I think it’s reasonable to think it might not take a lot of convincing Lucas that others scheme and lie in a similar manor.

[hypnos333]

Lil Fantasy

1610 MilesxOc black girl

Pink roses was one thing she couldn’t help but love, Miles knew this so every time she would be mad at him Miles knew to bring pink Roses.

One day while Miles was out being Spiderman,she was exploring his room where she found a hidden art book, Miles only showed her another Art book Miles had drew on to draw her. She looked in the book and saw random drawings until she came across a direct page.

“Gwen fucking Stacey”

She forced out her words as she saw her the pages of her. Tears run down her face as All she saw was Rage and heartbreak, she hated Gwen with all her might. So seeing this made her feel betrayed. It might be a drawing but to her she saw more to it, it’s like how Miles draw her and she couldn’t stay watch it all rewind back.

She knew Miles feelings for the white girl but she thought he got over her. The pages looked recent and he never got over it.

Wiping her tears away she dropped the book before shoving all her stuff she left in his room into her bag. She took everything of hers back. She took off his sweater before throwing it on his bed leaving her in her Light blue T-Shirt.

She made her way out the door back home.

“Mama can come pick me up” She cried out tears streaming out her eyes trying to control her breathing.

“Of course my love” her mother said gently not pushing her on why she’s crying

“Thank you Ma” She mumbles

Her mom picked her up 5 minutes later driving off from the Morales household

That’s was hours ago……

It soon turned Night as Miles climb up into his room looking confused on an empty room he quietly walked around before stepping on his secret art book. He picked it up before realizing what Art book it is he rushed to his closet seeing nothing but his Clothes.

He quickly rushed to her house, he spammed her with calls but was immediately directed to voicemails.

He gave Voicemail, to Voicemail, to Voicemail

“Mi Corazone let me explain everything to you please I don’t want to loose you, Gwen means absolutely nothing to me” Unanswered

“Sunflower I begging you,give me the time of day to let me explain it may look back up I promise she’s old news”. Unanswered

“Mi Amor I will show up to your house and stay until you let me Explain the situation” Unanswered

He was always left on delivered so he didn’t care anymore he was going to see his girl either she answered or didn’t.

He showed up with Pink Roses

She would always melt when she sees the roses but this time she stared blankly at the flowers before pushing him out her window but he sticked on the floor.

“Miles I swear to god I will scream” She threatened drained from the day she had.

“Not until you let me explain why I have that book, it might look recent but I only have it now because- “I’m going back to the Los Angeles” That alone made him to shock to speak. Never in a Million years did he thought his girl was going back to her childhood home.

“W-What?” He asked over these past hours how is she going back to her true home

“You heard me, I’m going back to California that’s where I belong this isn’t for me so imma go live with my dad” She said simply as she folded her clothes in her suitcase to make this easy.

But Miles was not excepting this non of this he dumped her clothes out making her irritated.

“Miles!” She yelled out but he didn’t care anything to make her stay.

“You can’t leave me! You can never leave me here….”Miles said sadly grabbing her hands not giving up

“Pink Roses right? pink roses represent sweetness, femininity, appreciation, and admiration but mostly Gratitude and Grace. That’s how you make me feel Mi Corazone is only for you” he said hoping to win her over.

Tears flowed through her cheeks as she looked down Miles hurriedly hugged her as she cried. She continued to cry as Miles sang sunflower to her to calm her and to know he’s only hers.

She was envelop with Jealousy that she didn’t see the book was really old. And she knew it.

In that room is their lil fantasy away from the world and the evil and jealousy that comes from it.

[alaffy]

Riverdale, ep. 7x13 - The Crucible (spoilers)

Well, we're finally moving the story along in episode thirteen...of twenty. Sigh. I will say that I didn't dislike this episode as much as I have the past few but still....

It all starts with an accusation of Communism against the English teacher. She's fired and Penelope is put in her place (temporarily). She actually doesn't do much. Archie is bummed because she was the only teacher who understood him (seriously, this should have been a warning).

Betty, meanwhile, finds out the Blue and Gold is being shut down because, well, teenagers don't have anything to say. This is also reinforced by the fact that Alice takes Betty's typewriter and telephone. Betty decides to start an underground newsletter instead and it becomes popular. God, let this mean our Betty is coming back.

Cheryl is told by Clifford that she's been named as someone who has an unnatural relationship. Clifford is able to squash that rumor, so long as Cheryl confirms the names of others on the list. Cheryl refuses, but then Clifford threatens to take the Vixens away. Cheryl warns Toni, Clay, and Kevin about the list. She realizes that it must be Evelyn who ratted them out. Cheryl then spends most of the episode trying to figure out a way to refuse to sign the confession without loosing the Vixens. Strangely, Toni, Clay, and Kevin treat this as some sort of true moral dilemma and not point out how these accusations could, in fact, completely destroy their lives. They even decide that the best option is that Cheryl and Kevin pretend to date and Clay and Toni pretend to date so that they can say the accusations aren't true. Still, in the end, Cheryl hears a Archie speak a monologue (more on that in a minute) and decides to tell her father she won't sign the papers, even though it means loosing the Vixens. The two couples still do the pretend dating thing because they ain't stupid and their names are still on a list.

Veronica, meanwhile, is surprised to discover that Hiram has come to see her. He has, in fact, not come to see her. He's in trouble, again. He's being accused of being a Communist because of a trip he made to Cuba. And because he happened to be photographed with Castro (give him whatever fake name you want. It's Castro). He wants Veronica to lie and say it was a family trip. It was not, in fact, a family trip. He was there with his mistress. Veronica, after seeing Archie's monologue (more of that in a minute), decides to say that it was a family trip...provided that Hiram is honest to Hermione and gives Veronica the deed to the apartment. Later, Hermione comes to the apartment and lets Veronica know that she and Hiram will divorce. By the by, so much of this story is lifted from Lucille Ball's actual life that it's...just pathetic on the writers part.

Archie is bummed about his teacher, because she was the only one who supported his poetry writing (clearly she has no taste). The adults in his life are concerned that she may have tried to influence him (God, the clues were...right there about what would happen next). Well, not Frank. Frank's worried that people may feel that, if Archie writes poetry, he might be *gay.* Archie decides to visit his teacher, who gives him a copy of The Crucible (which really doesn't help her case any). Archie decides to preform a monologue from that play (and KJ is clearly trying to audition for future acting rolls). Veronica meets up with Archie and tells him how much she appreciates what he said. She gives him a kiss on the cheek. And then they kiss. Well, we figured they would bring back the old triangle. It could be worse.

And then Grundy appears.

Fuck. My. Life.

But, wait, she's married; which is hopefully the shows way of saying nothing will happen. But it's Riverdale...and they took hope out to the back and shot it a long time ago.

Finally, we have Jughead and Ethel. It turns out that no one will sell comic books anymore. So, Jughead and Ethel...steal some of the comics from Pep to run an underground side hustle? Seriously, they couldn't have stolen every single one they sold....so was Pep involved somehow? But Dilton turns Narc and they're shut down. And so, they adults decide it's time for full measures. The principal tells the students that he'll buy their old comics and then he burns them in the Riverdale High parking lot (ok, as a Library Associate who lives in a state that is very much trying to censor what people read...yeah, that was terrifying).

Anyway, next week is our final musical episode. And, as it's all about Archie, the rumors must be true and it's all original music written by Roberto. We're truly in the deepest pits of hell now!

[comet-ribbon]

My Fix-it for Ts4

I've collected my thoughts and ideas that could have made Toy Story 4 a decent (yet then again an unnecessary sequel) in my take since sometimes this movie gives me headaches and wishful thinking that my true characters were there.

If some of you liked how this movie went, I respect your opinion. I, in my case, didn’t so this is for those who didn’t like it or just indifferent by it.

First of all, the starting point is Bonnie. If they followed up her love about Woody, then it would have easily respected everyone’s characters as they should be and the plot would have been better.

At this point everyone has commented how it went off character with her too so I won’t elaborate it here.

So, if Bonnie cared so much about Woody in ts4, it might have been a parallel to Andy missing him and Buzz when he was like 7(?)

Bonnie would be stressed and sad that she doesn’t know where Woody or Forky is. As shown in the montage she seemed happy playing Woody with Forky, being this new duo sort of pals.

And probably TS first all over again. But the thing is! That Woody's learned SO MUCH from the first movie and all that jazz.

He would have totally taught Forky About how being a toy is. Not in the funsies way in which the first TS did, they were obviously fun humor when it needed to. But with the falling point of Buzz' arc, it was a big deal and Woody helped him about his purpose.

Including Buzz and Jessie being now more experienced in this thing. Probably they could have become a stronger couple in assessing the toys and would have been cute af.

Forky wouldn’t be throwing himself away every damn time, in my take he would be confused in everything. He doesn't know why he's here. He doesn't even know why he has the form of a spork.

In my rewriting, he's literally a first-born, like Pinocchio.

Now ppl might be wondering, what would actually happen if Forky would have thrown himself away from the window? And the sidewalk thing happens?

Well. I have an idea. Instead of Bonnie cuddling Forky in her sleep. It’s Woody. Her parents would have told her that sleeping with her fork would be dangerous as it can hurt her when she doesn't know it.

Or it can be Jessie! since Bonnie is showing her sweet love to the cowgirl as well without making Woody being ���neglected” She gets more appreciated in a good way, without shadowing Woody.

But I believe Woody has to be the focal point of this otherwise we wouldn’t get the talk on the sidewalk lmao.

If it’s the former, Woody has to make a quick decision whether stay in place with Bonnie or just going to bring Forky back.

Since we know our favorite doll and his great loyalty, he just tells Buzz they’ll be back soon, not knowing that he might see Bo again, delaying his mission and all that.

Probably Forky would still don't know about the dangers and he gets curious of going to the window. Again, his conscience is not developing yet. Bc he genuinely doesn't know anything yet.

Maybe and probably, once he gets sucked in, for the first time he's got a sense of fear and danger. Probably adding more personality than before.

For the first time ever, he developed the feeling of fear.

So, probably Woody would have told him in his experience, how when he was with Buzz, he saw the mutilated toys from Sid. And how they weren't able to speak or talk. Bc the actual body proportions were out of place, must have caused abnormalities in them.

That could make Forky more aware of his physical proportions. He also listens to his adventures of how Woody got his arm accidentally pulled off and how it even harmed him by the prospector when he threatened him.

Forky gets very fascinated by his storytellings and learn that strangers having to take things from you by force is morally wrong because of what Woody told him.

Heck, he even would have told him about Lotso! And how they were in the trash. Making Forky very scared, and just terrified of being there being useless.

So that situation happens when he sees that Gabby wants his voice box but remembers Woody's saying.

Might have changed the plot for the better.

So yeah, here are my thoughts so far! Would have loved to see my favorite trio work together in saving the spork and more suspense in facing the villain. Woody and Bo would have better off stayed being friends instead of a couple in the end because sometimes things don’t work anymore and could have been a good message for the audiences about relationships.

What do you guys think?

[urlocallsimp]

Believe victims first ❤️❤️❤️ ty for that statement. She had acid thrown on her face and there is other women and comments coming out. As a woman of latin origin, I feel he was just a very good manipulator and charismatic (Jonathan Meyers has a similar Charisma), which are sadly something very usual. Men nowadays use being humanists or feminists to desguise their misogyny/power trips, self serving!! I'm trying my best nowadays to mostly support and follow fellow women of color, eg mabel cadena (lesbian afaik).

Oh boy this turned out to be a pretty long reply but I just had to clarify where and how I stand w this situation. Just note that the 'you' in this is mostly used in a general way not specifically addressing you anon :) so here's my reply:

You absolutely don't need to thank me for that! It is my personal belief that as women it is our duty to stand with other women. I believe in believing victims first bc it's not about BELIEVING them blindily without proof in the sense of trusting they're being truthful but what that sentence means (to me at least) is STANDING with women, forming a defensive line protecting these victims from hate and showing solidarity, it is about sending a message to the patriarchal/sexist/misogynist world that we live in and the people (mostly men) that actively try to uphold it that way, that there is an equal force that is RESISTING IT and pushing back the silencing they're trynna impose on victims bc we see that they're trying to silence women and trying to pretend that SA doesn't happen and portray EVERY SA victim as a liar for money/attention. it's about SHOWING UP with ur morals and showing you are aware of these existent, continuous and repeated issues and you are against them. It is showing up bc it is an opportunity to fight.

I've seen the response of people to this situation throughout social media and it's mostly men immediately jumping to say it's another Amber Heard situation as if it's not a MEN situation, as if it's not that men are notoriously known for being shitty times and times again as if this issue doesn't happen and ALOT. So naturally, I'll side w women first (even if they turn out actual liars later on, bc yk what? men side with other men UNAPOLOGETICALLY, REGARDLESS IF THE MAN TURNS OUT SHITTY, THEY FIND WAYS TO VICTIM BLAME) but also bc I can SADLY EAAAASILY believe it happened, since it HAPPENS ALOT!! and if she's lying I DO NOT CARE, that's on her!!! That makes HER a shitty person, it doesn't change my morals or the way i approach these issues bc if one woman lies there are thousands others sadly not lying. And they're all accused of lying, not believed, attacked and bullied into retaliation, into shutting up, into fear, into reverting back to not daring say there is a problem in the world we live in, just so the system continues working in favor of men abusing and controlling women without any change or resistance! That's what I mean by standing w her, not bc i personally know her or that im 100% certain or convinced she's telling the truth but bc she's a fellow woman, bc it's a very REAL SERIOUS women issue that any of us can find ourselves in one day, it can happen to me, to u, to my sis, friends... Etc. Again, if she's lying that's on her and we can rest assured she'll be punished for it, if not judicially, then publically, i mean victims get punished for simply speaking, and are threatened with death, so let alone if it turns out they lied, have we not seen what happened to amber heard? All that public ridicule ??

And this supposed worry for him that she's lying and might ruin his career sounds so fake and soo 'awww men are the real victims in this world' to me bc hello!?!? R we living in the same reality or are u actively trying to pretend we're not living in a world that is biased towards men and protects abusive men. Have we not seen ezra miller strolling freely in the premiere of the flash like he's done nothing??

Men don't need you to defend them bc they're disproportionately at more advantage than the woman. + Counting the fact that SA is hard to proof + the fact that the court could be biased towards men in these situations. All of these factors stand against the women. U don't need to worry abt men. They seldom suffer consequences for their actions especially if they're famous and rich and have teams.. And if he turns out innocent and his career is damaged u better believe I'll be here rooting for him again and supporting him it's that simple.

Idk, this is how I see things, to me this situation is a typical man vs woman situation. I don't see it as a 'tenoch my beloved whom I wanna stay in denial about him VS someone who might be taking advantage of him'

And i wanna clarify that me standing w her is not an act of betrayal towards my previous love for tenoch (like some are actively trying to guilt his fans into) + if he is truly innocent and truly a feminist he'd actually understand, he'd know the importance of believing victims. As long as I'm not ACTIVELY hating on him or bullying him or being racist like some ppl are (which is fucked up). For now, I'm just absolutely NEUTRAL ABOUT HIM. My love and simping for him is just on pause until it is confirmed that he's absolutely innocent.

So, tbh about the second part of ur message about him being manipulative and all, I don't wanna engage in that, or in deciphering his statement or picking out red flags etc.. Bc people can see whatever they wanna see when they wanna see a fault, flaw or red flag.. Etc. Bc one day everything will be clear and we'll find out. As I said, I'm very neutral abt him for now.

To conclude, i stand w women the same way men (most) openly and actively and shamelessly stand with horrible men even after they were proven to be shitty, ex: andrew tate's fans. There is such a double standard that exists for women that many aren't aware they're falling for; Men can be soooooo easily flexible with their morals and support abusers whereas women have to absolutely make the most perfect rational logical CORRECT DECISIONS at all and any time. I choose to believe her simply bc she's my gender (at least for now) and if I'm wrong im wrong and we as women are allowed to be wrong. Men stand w men all the time even after they learn they're shitty. So, sorry I'm not sorry that I show up to my own gender the same way men (again most) show up unapologetically to their own gender.

And it's not an act of hatred towards Tenoch it's an act of defiance to the patriarchy/sexism/misogyny... It just happened to be a situation that involves tenoch in the mix.. But just bc i loved him alot, won't make me go easy on him (equally doesn't mean imma start bullying him). Neutral.

Anyways, wish you and everyone else safety and support throughout ur lives. Trust me as a North African (Algerian), the situation and men of my country aren't any better so I understand..

[loosesodamarble]

Hi Erika! 💙 Thank you again for all of the wonderful discussion about the world’s best grumpy, tsundere spatial mage. You always have such wonderful and thoughtful ideas, and your headcanons are so spot on and delightful! 😊 It’s switching gears a bit, but I wanted to ask you about Demon Slayer (I’ve been on a bit of a KNY kick—lots of excitement for Season 3 I think). I apologise if you’ve already answered this somewhere in a past post, but who are your favourite Demon Slayer characters? Thanks dear! 💕

Hello hello, Acacia~! Sorry for taking forever and a half to answer your question but here's the answer now! (Also gonna tag you @acacia-may to make sure you see this because it's been so long.)

This ask has been sitting in the inbox so long that Season 3 of the anime is currently airing now. Whoops! 😅🤣 I don't think I've answered this exact question regarding my KnY faves, especially since I mostly post Black Clover... So thanks for making me think of Demon Slayer again~! 💖

Now for my favorites, I think I'm gonna go ahead and start with some honorable mentions before listing a Top 5.

I'm gonna talk a lot so the meat of this post will be under the cut.

..........

Honorable mentions

I've talked about how similar Zenitsu and I are to each other and that's why he's an honorable mention. I vibe with the kid. He's so funny with how extra complainy he is about... everything. Poor child. (Side note: the store I work at sells some KnY character pens and the Zenitsu ones don't sell well and I lowkey feel bad about that.)

And Tanjirou is the MC. He's so sweet and kind to his friends. But he's a strong-willed fighter and knows what's right for everyone. Killing demons is how he saves humans threatened by demons and humans who have become demons. I love the way he learns in each arc, whether it be something emotional or in terms of how he fights. His worldview and morality don't really change but I do feel like he experiences growth nonetheless.

Top 5 Faves

5) Sanemi: I like this jerk, okay? I am drawn to jerk older brothers who secretly love and want to protect their siblings (Nacht, Nozel, and Sanemi have a little club in my mind.) He's a little off-putting at first but you know there's depth to his character when we see how he speaks to Kagaya with such respect. He acts rough but he's thoughtful deep down. And his bond with his mother and Genya! Like! This man is soft deep down, let me have it!

4) Nezuko: Before Nacht was my tumblr pfp, it was actually Nezuko. She is the cutest sister character in any series I've read (which actually isn't that many but sssshhhhhh!). I love her anti-demon flames. I love how she's allowed to fight and get bloody (mostly because she has a healing factor and can get absolutely wrecked but come back from it). She doesn't get to say a lot but she still has strong moments. Like how Tanjirou dreams of her telling him not to worry about their family not having nice things and to just try his best. Gosh, when that got animated I cried... I love Nezuko so much... Baby...

3) Mitsuri: Mitsuri is such a sweetheart! She's one of the two KnY characters that I'd date if given the chance. I love how she carries herself. She wears her heart on her sleeve whether she be happy or sad. Like, her second introduction to Tanjirou is crying openly in front of him. In the present, she's not afraid to be vulnerable. Her story in the second light novel is also really nice as it shows how Mitsuri became the open-hearted gal she is in the present. She went from feeling self-conscious about her reason for being in the Corps to learning how she brings cheer to people's lives and that renewing her convictions. She knows the Corps members have hard lives but her attitude doesn't make light of it. It's okay to have cheer after hardship because bogging oneself in pessimism will only hurt. Also, and this might be me bragging a little but I actually used Mitsuri and Obanai's failed romance in a college essay about romance literature in Japan. It was a silly little essay but to be able to cite one of my favorite mangas for a college assignment was fun (and actually my second time doing it. First time was talking about Daki and Gyuutarou in regards to depictions of "geisha"). I just love Mitsuri a lot and would love to be more like her (attitude, appearance, and ability-wise honestly...).

2) Kyoujurou: I love this man so much that I saw the movie in theaters and cried all three times because man does his death really hit hard in the anime. Kyoujurou is bright and warm and inspiring. While he's unable to help Tanjirou regarding the Dance of the Fire God, he still offers to make Tanjirou and the other boys his students. I think it's a mix of genuinely seeing their potential and just wanting the chance to teach the younger generation but it's kinda hilarious how quickly he latches onto the trio. I really like Kyoujurou's philosophy on life, how the fleeting nature of it is what makes it beautiful (mayhaps he read a bit of the Hojoki in his free time?/lh+j). It's a little sad to see people leave or even die but change is what makes life what it is. Kyoujurou also the second KnY characters I'd want to date so there's that.

1) Inosuke: MY BABY BOAR BOY! From the first panel he was in, he had me entertained. Inosuke is loud and chaotic and fun. I'm not usually about chaotic boys but Inosuke learning what kindness and friendship are are what endear me to him. He's so confused by affection is absolutely the cutest thing. And despite acting macho and like he's supposed to be a leader, all of his major victories are a team effort. Working alongside Tanjirou to beat that puppeted demon on Natagumo Mountain, the fight against Daki, and even in his fight of the final arc. I do kinda wish he had more solo moments though because he should get a little more spotlight, but what he does get, I enjoy thoroughly. He's the character that got me to make a KnY oc (Shizuka) because I wanted someone fiery but also sweet to play off him (and be shipped with him). Inosuke is a feral boy but still a sweet guy and I find that really cute for whatever reason. The bonus chapter about his early life is really stinking adorable as well! It's great! Inosuke is very adoptable in my mind. Thus, he is my favorite character.

[scentedchildnacho]

The role of Cities in a World Economy (Interview with Saskia Sassen - C...

She kind of lost me about sympathy for commuters....and new cities.....commuters are usually very difficult to like because their intention is Trojan horse and the movement of it is gentrification

I have become the type of slavish poor woman that eventually has understood Africans and what is this woman completely without agency that can't learn she doesn't live there so don't ask it for things you don't give back there

Uhm i have become poor enough to film the low income class for the depravity and narcississm and addiction it's become and i dont feel bad for indentured servitude their cops in intent

I do feel bad for the criminal or unappreciated but driving around I'm sorry that's not suffering

I mean I'm very poor and roughly battered and detained so I have no confederate looking glass and leisure like green leaves Daniel.....but I don't care at all about their story of justified piracy

Very harsh judge I have the robotics to not be assaulted by any more bodies I haven't asked for get away from me

Salome?....I'm sorry but the things felons go through like care for a bloody head on the ground near a jail toilet for commuters to consider acting in bar ville Mississippi ...

Salome as women's hygiene when is she going to finally file toxic shock through the whole dance sequence

That to me is the meaning of Armenia if low income women cannot generate taxation then eventually it falls into its shadow or subconscious

Then having to think about new cities for low income people turns it into this gas monster that devours everything in sight....if new cities went to people criminal that makes sense that's all I have ever known it to be

But as really poor I more like Edward said...I have to be told in it I'm better then an inner city and I'm not or I'm a new enough immigrant for a new city and I'm not it's just a debt monster that looks like epochs of bad hellish karma

Edward said is kind of a voice of reason like why do I have to be unhappy with what is where else would someone like me be.....why would my generational influence have more or better then decline makes no sense really what special merit or moral am I

Saskia sassen is a neo nazi then .. people who stalk many disenfranchised people with commuter low income whores threaten people more with pure breed expression retards

Truth is I maybe will survive because things here are not mine ..and if it's the woman needed here drives in as a paramilitary force that distributes aid and directly intervenes in the work force terrorism....showing up as whore to quickly steal money from refugees is not going to be okay

Situations here for disabled people might be even worse then Iraq....and if people aren't france then most people around low incomes will die of pre existing conditions because no one qualified showed up just creepy pick things off front line miseries

And that's why I can't have basic relief normalcy and restoration creepy people like sasskia help Caligula have a new gladiator dome

Ultimately it is latin america and football players do have to battle lions and tigers....and I after attempted opossum attacks or elk tramplings have to say I forgive how butt fuck nasty people?....low income....butt fuckers

I have seen shelters and schools and quite frankly domination and submission starts again because it's more canadians that stalk harass and scare people of fucker witches

I wouldn't call sasskia crazy so much as a really frightening Canadian hooker that people don't know the inuit for ....things truly eve ill and I've never seen a split personality that virulent before are from the far north

Intuit svavar the colonial light is truly brutal.....I don't speak many de possessions but sasskia can?

Ive looked into if my pre existing condition and mental health rights to be re placed with a physicalist are way off normal expectation and I've found out I was a well baby with an easy common neurobiological complaint not obscure untranslateable words like schizophrenia.....and most low incomes are trained in the worst prejudices like euthanize a genetic complaint and kill themselves

My condition is 90s Clinton the phenyl multiple sclerosis fragile x syndrome appears most relevant to my condition and sasskia is the worst most terrifying thing I can think of for my executive reasoning faculties

I'm sorry but a common street prostitute has better data and information then sasskia honey don't go around kissing him you don't though know where he has been

[procrastinatorproject]

(I think those were my tags, actually 😅 No worries about the confusion, I just wanted to clarify, so you're not surprised why this random person is answering 😋)

Because onscreen STAR TREK media has almost always focused heavily on Starfleet, much of what little we see about civilian life in the Federation is defined oppositionally:

Aaahhh, I see what you're saying. Yes, that is a really good point, actually and very much applies to PIC S1. Many of the characters are massively defined by their relationship to Starfleet (Picard, Rios, Raffi) and the others can't escape it, either (Agnes thinking she works on behalf of Starfleet Security, the Fenris Rangers doing good work where Starfleet won't, etc.)

And then the new writers took what little distance we had to Starfleet in S1 and decide to throw it out of the window entirely for S2 & 3 and go back to "there is no life design worth pursuing that doesn't end with you in Starfleet" 🙃

I still think if the S1 writers had been allowed to continue their original story, writing the original characters, things may have turned out different. They might have brought some people into Starfleet in the end, but I think there's a decent chance they would have been more willing to offer up alternatives (though maybe that's just my wishful thinking speaking). I think it definitely would have been possible to have a story that moves beyond just working through its relationship to Starfleet and actually exploring the civilian life of these characters.

Just like I think the franchise could, if they were brave enough to finally move beyond nostalgia, have a show that's, say, a medical drama set at the Interspecies Medical Exchange. Maybe we have a handover from one of the established Starfleet crews and interactions with Starfleet do happen, not least because its such a huge organization that it would likely play a big part in people's lives. But at the end of the day, it's a medical drama set in the Star Trek universe, playing out a mix of hospital soap and space soap. I think the franchise could support that, even if that's maybe a bit naive 😅

To your other point:

[A]ny serious critique of Starfleet or the Federation as unsustainable, so if the story formulates any such critique (which PICARD also does repeatedly), it's either hand-waved away or simply dropped in short order.

Yes! I love season 1 of Picard with all my heart, but I am also conscious of its flaws and this is definitely a big one. They spend a lot of time in the early episodes deconstructing Picard, the Great Captain. They make it abundantly clear that his typical MO of Giving A Great Speech and centering himself and his morality and his worth and self-sacrifice isn't a sustainable, useful way to solve problems. (See: threatening to resign in protest, tearing down the "No Humans" sign on Vashti and acting like he knows how to combat entranched racial divisions in a place he hasn't been to in almost 20 years, etc.)

This is made clear repeatedly and I thought it was a really interesting and brave deconstruction of this Great Captain Narrative that we got especially in TNG (with the occasional nuance, yes, but still this at its core). And then they drop the ball on that when in the final episode, Picard saves the day by Making A Great Speech and cerntering himself by offering to sacrifice his life. Sir... the lesson you were supposed to learn was not "you need a better speech and even bigger self-sacrifice"......

So yeah, that's definitely one of the big flaws I see with season 1. And I wish we had gotten a chance to see how the writers were planning to handle the other critiques of the Federation and Starfleet we got in the first 10 episodes. Whether their own season 2 would have addressed the botched Romulan Rescue some more or looked more critically at the Synth Ban and the xB situation.

But instead, we got a change in direction and the new writers decided it was best to pretend none of the earlier story had ever happened, apart from a couple throwaway lines, mostly to be dirisive about it and make it abundently clear that anyone who liked season 1 (and then season 2) was an idiot.

So, looking at the whole show, your critique is incredibly justified and one of the many, many reasons why seasons 2 and 3 broke my heart so much I'm still struggling to recover from it.

Now, something very meaningful that @song-spero pointed out:

#to jump off of all of this #the structural problems of star trek are issues of GENRE and star trek's relation to it #sci-fi is descended from the travel narratives #specifically from travel narratives from the so-called age of exploration #as well as from the american frontier myth--two inherently imperial/colonial master narratives #to challenge the colonialism in star trek requires challenging sci-fi as a whole and trek's role in defining the genre #that's also why it is so hard (as procrastinatorproject notes) to have anti-imperialist star trek that is also a cash cow #genres have become part of branding#and to break genre conventions is to become unmarketable

I think Picard S1 (and, if we look at beta canon, The Last Best Hope) tried to deconstruct some of the genre staples (like the colonialism, cultural imperialism, and white savious tropes tied up in the Romulan Rescue Effort), but ultimately, but ultimately, they didn't stick the landing. And we'll never know if they'd eventually gotten there if they had been allowed to continue their vision, because then all of their efforts were unceremoniously scrapped.

But I think that's not inevitable! Star Trek as a franchise is big enough that I believe it could support a critical show like PIC s1 set out to be (or a show where Starfleet isn't the main character at all). Just not in this very particular moment in time, when the streaming industry is hyper profit-driven, to the point where extremely successfull and critically acclaimed shows are jettisoned for tax purposes, and where studios are even more dead set on playing it safe than has always been their wont.

Maybe, once this round of Trek shows collapses under the studio-imposed weight of nostalgia-wank and we get another decade to whet our appetites again, we'll find ourselves in a different media landscape that will make more room for the franchise to breathe again and actually explore how far we can push the boundaries of what Star Trek could mean.

Or maybe I'm just a bit too naive and optimistic. Who knows 😅 But then, that also feels very Star Trek.

When attempting to critique the values of a long-running franchise like STAR TREK, it's important to draw a distinction between superficial issues and structural ones.

"Superficial" in this sense doesn't mean "minor" or "unimportant"; it simply means that an issue is not so intrinsic to the premise that the franchise would collapse (or would be radically different) were it changed or removed. For example, misogyny has been a pervasive problem across many generations of STAR TREK media, which have often been characterized by a particular type of leering-creep sexism that was distasteful at the time and has not improved with age. However, sexism and misogyny are not structural elements of the TREK premise; one can do a STAR TREK story where the female characters have agency and even pants without it becoming something fundamentally different from other TREK iterations (even TOS, although there are certainly specific TOS episodes that would collapse if you excised the sexism).

By contrast, the colonialism and imperialism are structural elements — STAR TREK is explicitly about colonizing "the final frontier" and about defending the borders, however defined, of an interstellar colonial power. Different iterations of STAR TREK may approach that premise in slightly different ways, emphasizing or deemphasizing certain specific aspects of it, but that is literally and specifically what the franchise is about. Moreover, because STAR TREK has always been heavily focused on Starfleet and has tended to shy away from depicting life outside of that regimented environment, there are definite limits to how far the series is able to depart from the basic narrative structure of TOS and TNG (a captain and crew on a Starfleet ship) without collapsing in on itself, as PICARD ended up demonstrating rather painfully.

This means that some of the things baked into the formula of STAR TREK are obviously in conflict with the franchise's self-image of progressive utopianism, but cannot really be removed or significantly altered, even if the writers were inclined to try (which they generally are not).

What I find intensely frustrating about most modern STAR TREK media, including TNG and its various successors, is not that it can't magically break its own formula, but that writer and fan attachment to the idea of TREK as the epitome of progressive science fiction has become a more and more intractable barrier to any kind of meaningful self-critique. It's a problem that's become increasingly acute with the recent batch of live-action shows, which routinely depict the Federation or Starfleet doing awful things (like the recent SNW storyline about Una being prosecuted for being a genetically engineered person in violation of Federation law) and then insist, often in the same breath, that it's a progressive utopia, best of all possible worlds.

This is one area where TOS (and to some extent the TOS cast movies) has a significant advantage over its successors. TOS professes to be a better world than ours, but it doesn't claim to be a perfect world (and indeed is very suspicious of any kind of purported utopia). The value TOS most consistently emphasizes is striving: working to be better, and making constructive choices. Although this can sometimes get very sticky and uncomfortable in its own right (for instance, Kirk often rails against what he sees as "stagnant" cultures), it doesn't presuppose the moral infallibility of the Federation, of Starfleet, or of the characters themselves. There's room for them to be wrong, so long as they're still willing to learn and grow.

The newer shows are less and less willing to allow for that, and, even more troublingly, sometimes take pains to undermine their predecessors' attempts along those lines. One appalling recent example is SNW's treatment of the Gorn, which presents the Gorn as intrinsically evil (and quite horrifying) in a way they're not in "Arena," the TOS episode where they were first introduced. The whole point of "Arena" is that while Kirk responds to the Gorn with outrage and anger, he eventually concedes that he may be wrong: There's a good chance that the Gorn are really the injured party, responding to what they reasonably see as an alien invasion, and while that may be an arguable point, sorting it out further should be the purview of diplomats rather than warships. By contrast, SNW presents the Gorn as so irredeemably awful as to make Kirk's (chronologically later) epiphany at best misguided: The SNW Gorn are brutal conquerors who lay eggs in their captives (a gruesome rape metaphor, and in presentation obviously inspired by ALIENS) when they aren't killing each other for sport, and even Gorn newborns are monsters to be feared. Not a lot of nuance there, and no space at all for the kind of detente found in TOS episodes like "The Devil in the Dark."

[izzythehutt]

Forgive me if you’ve spoken about this before, or if my assumption is incorrect, but I think it would be interesting to hear your opinion on the interpretation of Jesse as a Christ-like figure considering from what I’ve gathered you’re a Christian? A lot of people who I see draw comparison between Jesse and Christ (including myself) are either not religious or have had a negative experience with religion so I think it would be interesting to hear from someone who has a different experience.

I think the main problem with that interpretation is that none of Jesse’s suffering is particularly redemptive or self-sacrificial, which would be the baseline requirement for him to be a Christ-figure.

Don’t get me wrong, a lot of bad things happen to him: but it’s never because he’s consciously choosing that suffering for the sake of another person. The one exception to this might be continuing to cook for Jack's gang to keep them from killing Brock, and even that is a coerced choice between two evils—and Brock’s mother would never have died, Brock would never be in the position of being threatened in the first place, if he was not a pawn in Jesse and Walt’s codependent self-perpetuating psycho-drama.

That’s what it all goes back to. Listening to Walt, being Walt’s partner in crime—gets Jesse beat up by criminals or used as emotional leverage against him. The overwhelming guilt Jesse feels all stems from things he did to help Walt, save him, in service of their mutual criminal partnership or out of wrath/hurt at what Walt has put him through.

It’s because of his cooperation with evil that Jesse (and his loved ones) suffer, and that makes him far more of an Adamic figure than a Christ figure.

For my money, the closest we ever get to a truly Christ-like act in the show would be Flynn throwing himself between his mother and father to protect her, knowing full well that Walt could easily overpower him and acting under the assumption that his father has just murdered another member of their family. Junior is as close to an innocent as Breaking Bad has—the only character more innocent than him is the baby—and if he had somehow ended up injured or dead by Walt’s hand because he was shielding Skyler, that would be truly laying down his life for another person. Respect for Flynn, you were more than breakfast memes.

I don’t necessarily know how useful it even is to think about this particular narrative in this way, tbh. Breaking Bad is not an allegorical or didactic show, nor is it particularly moralistic (though it is keenly interested in morality.) It can be read on a realist, psychological level, and through the lens of noir, crime and western genres. It’s definitely not consciously symbolic.

But, if you were going to make the case for a Biblical symbolic interpretation, the glaringly obvious one is Walter White as the Luciferian figure par excellence. Is there a fictional character who more perfectly exemplifies the sin of pride than Walt? A brilliant scientist (Lucifer was, after all, the Angel of Light—the greatest of all the angels) who makes a spectacular fall from grace and proceeds to drag many others down to his level.

So, if Mr. White is “the devil”, then that would make Jesse his Adam. Exiled from the garden of (comparative) innocence in the pilot because he agrees to the partnership between them (his ‘deal with the Devil’, so to speak) Jesse then spends the next sixty-some episodes making a lot of terrible choices, directly and indirectly leading to a lot of pain and suffering, because of that partnership. That’s the entirety of salvation history (as Christians understand it) in a nutshell. This is Jesse Pinkman’s equivalent of taking the apple of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil—his original sin.

Man is made in God’s image, and like Adam and all his sons, Jesse still has a conscience—the spark of divinity lives in him. He still wants to do the right thing, but his relationship with Walt constantly pulls him back into the world of crime and evil. By the end of the show he’s become a literal slave to sin—his ability to make the blue meth, the gift his devilish mentor gave him that helped Jesse attain honor, power and money in the drug trade, now keeps him literally shackled in a hole in the ground. It’s not exactly subtle, is it?

But he does break free in the end. Not from his literal slavery—Walt has to be the one to free him from that—but from evil.

Jesse’s refusal to end Walt’s life at his command is him simultaneously breaking free of Mr. White’s control over his actions and refusing to continue the cycle of violence his old teacher fostered and Jesse enabled at every turn.

He does it all on his own. He makes the choice. After a lot of suffering, so even if there’s not a salvific figure in this universe persay, there is purgation.

(Ironically, Walt shielding Jesse with his body and taking a literal bullet for him would be an almost textbook Christ-like sacrificial death....except Walt was the person who set off the gun in the first place. Also the idea of putting Walter White and Jesus in the same thought, let alone comparing them....repels me for what I hope are obvious reasons, lol.)

What I liked about El Camino was Jesse finally having serious moral growth and maturity (not shocking that Walt had to die for it to happen.) The scene where he calls his parents, absolves them of blame and takes responsibility for his own actions was such exponential growth for him—the boy becoming a man. And his ultimate fate is to spend the rest of his life in a kind of exile. All of this comes at such a high cost, but there is atonement. It does all mean something.