#like I see some people like these posts excuse me what

[gothhabiba]

@ anon

I think it might be actually dangerous to publish your ask, but I'm sure from my response people will be able to tell what it's about anyway.

You're full of actual, absolute shit if you're pretending not to know by now that verification processes to ensure the legitimacy of Ghazzawin's fundraisers have been undertaken, and that details about what these processes entail have been shared by several people. Several people, some of them currently in Gaza, put themselves through countless hours of work video-calling people, judging their knowledge of dialectical Arabic, seeing their faces and their children's faces and their living conditions, seeing IDs and bank information, asking invasive, personal questions that they didn't want to be asking & that the people responding probably didn't want to be answering, and physically visiting people in Gaza and video-recording their interactions, just so that people like you could be sure that these fundraisers were legitimate. If you're ignoring all of the blood & tears that went into that process just so you can hand-wring about scams, no one needs to be concerned with convincing you of the legitimacy of anything, because you were never going to donate to these people anyway. You are just looking for any plausible-sounding excuse not to do what you already didn't want to do.

If, by some miracle, you actually didn't know about the verified fundraiser spreadsheet (which is frankly still blameable bc, where on earth have you been?), then there it is. The post of mine that you're referring to never even mentioned responding to asks; using this spreadsheet is an absolutely valid, reasonable way of donating directly to families.

Now let me treat some of your statements as though they were questions (which, they were not).

How do people in Gaza have internet access?

Internet infrastructure in Gaza is very robust (e.g. in what cables are made of, how deep they're buried, amounts of redundancy in the system, &c.) because they have been getting bombed by Israel all the fucking time for decades, so they expect this infrastructure to be put through a lot. There have still--if you've been following the situation at all--been several outages caused by damage that Ghazzawin have needed to repair. Though I do have to say that I find it odd that you doubt Ghazzawin have internet access, but also say that you buy eSims...?

A lot of people right now are indeed connected via eSim, which to my understanding only need to connect to wifi once, right when they're activated. People put themselves at risk to connect to eSims because they need to get a good wifi signal, which usually means walking for several miles trying to find high ground. One of my contacts once urgently called me (this is the only time he hadn't just texted) because he had been told his friend had found a signal and so they needed an eSim right then, before they went back to their tent.

I've been trying for some time to connect another of my contacts in Gaza to an eSim, but we're not having success. At Crips for eSims for Gaza they / we (I'm on the server getting advice and helping out but I'm not using their funding; I'm using what people on tumblr have given me to purchase eSims with) keep a constantly updated sheet of which eSim providers use which networks and which networks work in which areas--because the situation is constantly changing. Because my contact doesn't have an eSim on a personal phone, she has to go to a central location to be allotted three hours of internet access from someone who has managed to get connected. Lots of people, on their fundraising posts and pages, specify exactly how they've gotten internet access, how difficult it's been for them to get it, and how stressful it is to be relying on this tenuous connection, spending hours away from their families (at high risk of being shot at by IOF soldiers the whole time), just to message people for hours straight and then go home again.

2. How do people in Gaza have tumblr accounts?

This is a stupid question. Anyone with an email address who is capable of picking a username and password can make a tumblr account. I have personally helped several of my contacts in Gaza with the process.

3. How do people in Gaza know to come into people's tumblr accounts?

This is also a stupid question. I don't really see how you could ask this question if you saw Palestinians as, like, real humans beings. You understand that people talk to each other, yes? Like with words? As soon as a few people had success fundraising to evacuate Gaza on tumblr (nearly a year ago... this news has had a lot of time to spread), obviously they told other people about it.

One of the ways that Israel conducts its genocidal war is through the destructiveness of frustration and boredom. It's a strange situation because everything is extremely dire, urgent, terrifying, and dirty, but there's also seldom anything to do. People are singing, telling stories, going to the beach, inventing games and contests, to entertain children, but also to entertain themselves. And this is the situation--with a bunch of desperate, bored people packed into a tiny piece of land--this is the situation that you think it's impossible for people to talk to each other in? Come on.

If you want to donate to Anera and World Food Kitchen and buy eSims, that's fantastic. Please do that. But if you are as ignorant of the particulars of what this situation is like as your ask makes you appear, then I hope you refrain from speaking on what the situation is like.

I've been nattering on for a long time so here's my call to action:

Decide what you're capable of giving right now, or the next time you get paid

Scroll down on the vetted fundraiser spreadsheet and find someone very low on funds, or with injured children who urgently need treatment or evacuation, and give that money.

AND / OR give it to the PCRF or the IRW

[dykedvonte]

I was rewatching mouthwashing, and I ended up thinking of the different reactions that Curly and Jimmy had in doing their tasks. How during the scene of Anya evaluating Jimmy and showing dread towards the idea of doing his evaluation, Curly was the one that offered to take it off her hands. He had no issue with adding more to his plate, because he knew - or well, thought, he knew that Jimmy wasn't going to "bullshit" with him since he's known him for a long time. When Anya hands Curly a note from Swansea, Curly goes to check out what the issue is and he takes care of it without a complaint, the only "complaint" he has is how this incident could have damaged the pods. Which is reasonable, those pods are their only way to be saved if anything tragic happens on the ship. However, in comparison to Jimmy being asked to do things, he's passive-aggressive about it. When Anya asks Jimmy if he could help her out with Curly's painkillers, he tells her that people should be worth their titles, specifically using her title as a nurse when she asked him for help and then when she says forget it, since he made her feel insecure, he still goes "Oh no, I'LL take care of it" as if he was doing a chore, a favor for her. Then, there's that part where he blows up at her for things that she didn't even ask him to do - more so the others asked him about it, like the code scanner, him deciding he needed to find the axe for the foam, and then, there's the medicine part (which when she does ask, and she reconsiders - going to do it herself, he takes that away from her). Jimmy complains about the tasks he has to do and he treats it like a big issue, a "woes me" that he has to do this and that - wanting the praise of the capital without actually doing any work. While Curly doesn't complain about it, in fact, he even mentions that he's aware of how well he is doing at his job as a Captain during that cockpit scene with him and Jimmy. If Jimmy only had to do a small amount of tasks to get irritated and annoyed at being captain, while Curly didn't which I feel like encapsulates their personalities. Curly understands what he's doing is a job, it's a responsibility, why would he complain at any point for doing what he's suppose too? Why would he be upset at people asking him to do tasks? While Jimmy on the other hand, isn't used to it at all and it's different to what he's had before and he's realizing that he doesn't actually like doing the work he has too. I just wanted to ramble about it even if it seemed kind of obvious xd

It’s obvious but it is a thing people miss or understate when trying to find parallels in Curly’s and Jimmy’s relationship/personalities.

Like the way people portray it as neither taking responsibility when it is almost split down the middle of Curly taking responsibilities and faults that shouldn’t be his and making himself unequipped to handle the ones that are while Jimmy refuses to handle the responsibilities he has because he wasn’t expecting the work that comes with them.

Not a lot to say but people forget that another thing the game comments on is prioritization of issues and responsibilities and how the guys fail at it in one way or another in the situation.

[sisterofsomeone]

Until Death Do Us Part

Chapter 2/10

Chapter 1

Summary: On your wedding day your marriage is sealed with a sanctified bond. A powerful magic that allows your minds to meld and cannot ever be undone. It is also required to share your darkest secret for the bond to be bestowed. While committing to this bond with your new husband, your secrets are shared. Yours is mostly harmless, that you find his brother Seokmin very attractive. His is… less so.

Series Warnings: Wonwoo x fem!reader, slight Seokmin x fem!reader, established relationship, angst, swearing, drinking, smoking, smut MDNI 18+, unprotected sex, pet names (baby girl, pretty girl, princess), oral sex (male and female receiving), breeding kink, slight daddy kink, size kink, reader has a vagina that gets described as a pussy/cunt, slight dub-con for a second then clear consent,

Chapter warnings: Swearing, this one is pretty tame ngl

Word count: 5.7K

Author's note: Hello again, long time no see! I've been sitting on this series for over a year now and have just been itching to get some more of it out, so here's chapter 2! I'd love to hear what you guys think <3

This is a work of fiction and in no way is meant to represent the actions, ideals, or attitude of the idol Jeon Wonwoo.

The crowd swarmed the floor as Wonwoo and Seokmin returned to their seats above the festivities. You were swept up again by the maddening masses of men trying to sell their sons to you. Your father had never seemed so happy. Your mother and sisters relished the attention, their dance cards filling quicker than usual. You tried to pull a smile across your features but with every new name to remember and face to learn it was getting difficult. You felt a deepening sadness and a gripping in your chest as if you’d lost something.

“Father, I need to be excused for some fresh air.” He nodded, gesturing to the castle guards to follow you as the crowd of fathers parted for you.

“Would you like me to escort you miss?” One of the men offered, a tall younger man - Vernon if you remembered his name correctly.

“I’m sure she’ll be okay boy.” Your father's large hand settled on his shoulder. “But why don’t we discuss your newly acquired title hm? I am so sorry to hear of your father’s passing.” A smile was spread across Father’s face as the younger man nodded eagerly.

A guard stepped away from his post as you ventured to the outskirts of the room and towards one of the many pairs of side doors.

“Miss.” He nodded towards you, eyes dull. “The balconies are this way if you would like some air.”

“You don’t need to follow me any further, thank you for showing me the way.” He didn’t react to that, other than a small sigh escaping him. Under the moon's light, his skin seemed duller and sunken, the dark bags under his eyes were stark against his pale eyes. The nameless guard stood watch at the balcony doors as you stepped outside. The sun had set while you were inside, the air now cold and harsh against your skin. You felt the raw sting of the wind, regret settling into your bones as the idea of heading back inside ran through your mind. But the moon looked so pretty.

“Selûne?” The night stayed silent. “Moonmother?” The pain was back in your chest, that awful grip on your lungs that froze you from the inside. “Moonmother, are you not there?”

“Trouble getting through to your deity?” The man was tall, taller than any other you’d spoken to that night. He swirled this tall glass in his hand, the liquid a warm brown as he eyed your form, drinking you in as the glass remained untouched.

“Who are you? How’d you-?” His smile showed sharp canines, white and shining in the cold moonlight.

“Oh, you’d be surprised how easy it is to convince people to let you go wherever you want when you’re the Royal Guard.” His smile was brazen; the confidence oozed off of this strange man in almost palpable waves. “Well. At least when they think you’re the Royal Guard.” He took a long sip of his drink without his eyes leaving yours. The shot of fear that rushed up your spine was almost primal, the innate fear of that predatory gaze still lingering in your bones. Your legs trembled beneath your dress, eyes not daring to leave his for fear of missing him move. You watched him intently, his long dark hair curled slightly at his ears. To most, you assumed this man would be called beautiful; you dare say if you met him on the street, he might steal your breath away. But right now, there was no beauty in those features, just a sense that if you broke the surface of this gentlemanly façade, a torrent of anguish would wash over you. The power behind those brown eyes, the calculated cunning, the slight tensing of the muscles under his dress shirt. He was a predator ready to pounce.

“You don’t have to look so terrified. I’m not here to hurt you.” He said after downing the rest of his drink. “Just here to give you some…” That awful smile accompanied his pause, bearing the full set of perfectly sharp white teeth he had. “Let us call it friendly advice.” He stepped closer, now only a few feet from you. “Marry Wonwoo. Do whatever it takes to marry that man. I already know you’re fucking him, so it shouldn’t be too hard.” His eyes lit up at the blush blooming across your skin. “If you don’t.” He shook his head. The sigh that left him felt too fake, performative. “A lot of people will be very disappointed.”

“Why?” The word was so quiet you almost couldn’t hear it.

“Why? Oh, darling, don’t worry your little head with the why. Just do as I say, and everyone will be fine.” His glass was empty now, the condensation gathered upon his fingertips as he leant his elbow on the balcony rails beside him. His hair fell slightly in front of his face, but he didn’t make a move to fix it; he just continued staring.

“I’ve got a lot riding on you, you know.” The glass was falling towards the ground below you both before you knew it. The glass smashed into a million tiny shards on the gravel path below, and as you tore your gaze away from the stranger to look, you felt a heat like nothing before lick at your wrist. Yelping, your instinct was to force your body away from this heat and push yourself further into the wall behind you. But as you did, as you felt the cold stones digging into your back, as you began to try to make sense of this whole situation, you found yourself all alone again.

The guard hadn’t heard any of this secret rendezvous, it seemed, or if he did, he was very good at hiding it. You touched his arm, afraid now of being so far away from the safety of the crowd. He was more than happy to escort you back, walking steadily beside you.

The wall of people was as intimidating as it had always been. The judging sea of eyes and gossiping whispers clogged the room, pulling all the oxygen out of you again. You tried to steady yourself, raising your gaze up towards the painted ceiling. There was a sudden rush beside you, an arm intertwining with yours and pulling you along with them through the crowds. It took a few moments before you realised this person was your mother, leading you through the throngs of people towards the centre of the room once again. It wasn’t until she stopped so abruptly and you’d crashed into her back that you realised why she was almost frantic. She’d come to stop at Wonwoo and Seokmin’s feet.

“I’m so sorry, I’ve finally found her!” Your body tipped forward as she pushed you closer. “My daughter is incredibly grateful for this honour.” You could feel what she was trying to say to you and curtsied softly.

“I apologise for stepping outside. It’s not that I do not appreciate the honour, I needed some fresh air is all.” You didn’t raise your stance yet, waiting for one of them to speak.

“It’s understandable that someone of such low class would be overwhelmed at an event such as this.” Their mother’s velvety smooth voice rang through the room as a silence fell upon the crowd. “I wouldn’t have expected anything more from you child.” Her fingernail was sharp as she pushed your chin up, eyes darkening as they locked onto yours. “My my, what a fire in your eyes darling.”

“Thank you, your majesty.”

The next morning broke with a storm.

The windows rattled as they were pelted with rain, the sky dark and overbearing. You spent most of the morning wrapped in the warmth of your quilt, barely conscious enough to pull yourself from its safety.

The early hours slowly gave way to the relentless sun and its cold light. Your chest still felt heavy. Somewhere deep within you, somewhere that you weren’t sure you could ever reach, there was a weight settling.

“Darling, are you awake?” Your mother’s voice was soft and calm as she made her way into your bedroom.

“Yes, mother.” The bed sheets rustled and bared you to the cold morning air as they fell away from your body while you stirred. “I’m awake.” Your eyes fell upon her, and that small weight in your chest lifted slightly. Her smile reached her eyes as she seated herself at the end of your bed.

“How are you feeling?” She gently ran a hand through your hair, pushing the strands out of your face.

“Overwhelmed.”

“And” she paused “how does your man friend feel?” Her tone was tentative as if speaking to a wild horse that may bolt any moment.

“Man. Man friend?”

“Oh, come now, you think I didn’t know? I was young too once.” You let out a sigh, how could you ever begin to explain that this man friend your mother was so worried about was the crown prince?

“He’s… changed. He’s not the same man I knew before.” Your voice trailed off, the sudden and unexpected threat of tears stealing your ability to speak. “He’s just not who I thought he was.”

[wistfulenchantress]

i agree. i honestly responded to the other post in more of a meme format, but if we're talking actual tropes, it really is mike with the candy cane in front like 'come at me bitch!' and that IS brave. he's a bit silly, but he is genuinely one of the bravest people in this show and he's been through some shit.

he never gets appreciation for it, either! (i will make yet another post about this later today im in public and can't let my frustrations about the mischaracterizations of mike wheeler leak onto my face right now.)

seriously, though, i entirely agree. mike leads WILL through the upside down, not vice versa. and if we're talking guns (which i hate. american public school child here, trust me i do), only nancy wheeler gets one at all. not just in this show, i mean literally anywhere.

just in the sake of humor (incorrect quotes time thing), i love poking fun at mike, and appreciating the 'will with a gun' concept. but panicking around guns is barely a flaw. it seems like a normal response to people firing metal things really fast to kill people everywhere!

ps kudos to mike putting his arm in front of will in that scene, seriously he's so brave.

ok that's all i had to say. this wasn't supposed to be an excuse or anything, i was just saying things that i think. idk. that's all. thanks for your thoughts, prev. i love more insight into wills character (as well as mike, but that's all i ever see), and i read what you said three times through bc i liked it so much.

have a good day EVERYONE WOOOOOO

ok someone wish me luck on my drivers test love you guys bye

What I NEED to see in Stranger Things Season 5 is Will protecting Mike with a shotgun, bc season 1 Will just easily knowing how to use a gun is underrated and I feel not talked about enough and WILL USEING A GUN NEEDS TO BE BROUGHT BACK PLSSSSS I NEED TO SEE IT

and to add the cherry on top I need Mike drooling over him while he thinks Will looks fine as hell protecting him/using a gun to protect him

[tofumaple]

First meeting but it’s like in some random AU where Komugi just gets teleported to Teyvat and has a breakdown because there’s no Iroha 😔

[flaticeball]

hey! as the first season of connor bedard gets underway i, your local indigenous hockey fan, have a request of you: please don't let this kid's sure to be marvellous and jaw-dropping rookie season make you complacent with the racism of the blackhawks as an organization. it is beyond heinous that they were able to secure the first overall pick this year for a number of reasons i'm sure we're all familiar with, but i am pleading with the hockey community not to let the racism of this org fall through the cracks.

they drafted connor bedard and handed him a jersey with a giant racist caricature on the front. their mascot is named tommy hawk. they continuously fail to curtail their fans' egregious displays of anti-indigenous racism at games.

i'm not going to ask anyone not to post about bedard. i know he's huge news and i'm bummed as all hell that i won't be able to enjoy the beginning of what is sure to be an incredible career myself. but i am asking, given that his presence on the team is likely to increase the prevalence of people making and reblogging posts about the blackhawks, that you please care, loudly and actively, about the racism of this organization and how much it hurts indigenous fans to see that go unquestioned so often.

consider mentioning it in posts. consider amplifying the voices of indigenous fans and community members about the issues of these types of sports organizations. consider reading up on the history of the person they claim to 'honour' with their hideous effigy of a logo. consider censoring the logo in your posts if you are able to (please do this if you are able to). consider tagging posts so that indigenous fans are at the very least able to blacklist that team and not have to see it.

above all, please just. don't forget about it. don't forget about us. we belong here too.

[theprincessandthepie]

replaying dragon age inquisition is just an exercise in “the rebel mages would not fucking do that”

[lord-squiggletits]

Speaking of Tyrest. A lot of people forget that he treated Pharma with absolute disdain, not only using him as a test subject for a clearly painful mass murder machine, but talking to Pharma like he saw him as nothing but some henchman to order around that was nothing more than a 'diseased cripple' if Tyrest hadn't come to rescue him.

Like it really is an interesting background dynamic with some curious implications, but when you look at fandom posts from around that issue/the years after, for some reason people just saw "Pharma worked with Tyrest" and concluded Pharma is a card carrying bigot ksjfnskxkd. Like yeah Pharma didn't do anything to stop Tyrest but it seems his main beef with the Autobots was with Ratchet in particular and maybe a general disdain for his ex-comrades. As well as continuing to hate Decepticons which like, not even the "good Autobots" are immune to (even in Pharma's introduction, First Aid says in his journal something like "yeah we all hate Decepticons, but Pharma REALLY hates them"). And despite what fandom likes to construe there's really no evidence in IDW1 that Autobots and Decepticons are different "races" or "types" of Cybertronians, so Pharma hating Decepticons really isn't a bigotry/robot racism thing. And instead probably has something to do with, idk, the 4 million year long galaxy-spanning blood feud war, or maybe being blackmailed and tortured into insanity by the Biggest and Most Decepticon-y of Decepticons.

Tyrest treated Pharma like trash, the other Decepticons working for Tyrest (how come no one ever brings that up btw) also hated him, so if anything it seems that Pharma was more of a rogue element only staying with Tyrest bc he was his best option and probably had no way to even escape.

I'm glad that at least in recent years the fandom has acquired a keen reading eye and good taste to finally recognize Pharma as the (accidentally) complex character he is instead of making him some posh, racist Starscream clone SHSJDGSGDH

[thenixkat]

Anyway, if you aren’t Black don’t use any variation of woke. I don’t care what conservatives are calling fuckers/using as the new sjw/political correctness/what have you.

If you know what fuckers mean use what they mean, and if you don’t why are you copying what people are saying?

Woke ain’t for you. If the discussion isn’t about Black people being aware of and/or educating other Black people about racism/antiblackness/structural inequality/all the other bullshit then it doesn’t need to be used in the discussion.

[deus-and-the-machina]

ffxiv garlemald discourse is so funny because people will go "ugh people just cant stand it when things aren't black and white" and then you look at how the empire are portrayed in stormblood and shadowbringers and its like hm. that seems like a pretty intense and accurate display of violent imperialism to me! Wow I wonder why people in this day and age may find it hard to feel sympathy for them or even hate them on principal. god its such a mystery.

the games like 50/50 to me on how it tackles these themes because I actually like the garlemald arc in EW, I think it has a lot of horrific and powerful scenes depicting how self destructive fascist propaganda and beliefs are, but I also think it doesn't go far enough on some fronts. the garleans' xenophobia is most notably and obstacle to getting them to accept the contingent's help, which is what they're there to do,

but there's never an admission of harm from any garleans on the uuuuuuuuh massive amount of war crimes the nations around them are still suffering from they're just kind of like "we misjudged you...but you actually wanted to help us all along" like yeah thats great now can we get you all some deprogramming because you keep talking about returning to your prime and glory days and I think we need to unpack some stuff you really SHOULDNT return to. im not even really talking about EW proper but the patches where things are a bit more chilled out and people are recovering.

It feels like they wanted to have their critique of imperialism and also have things end with the beauty of human connection and reaching out and these things just don't mesh well because hey a lot of your modern day audience is not gonna like having to treat people yelling xenophobic things at the cast and your character with kid gloves after you showed them hours and hours of the awful things these people's beliefs have done. especially in the present day hoo boy.

[moongothic]

I love the crocodad theory a lot but I fear that the fandom will start misgendering him or respect the character less because of transphobia.

Oda have written queer characters before who are respected by the fandom such as Bonclay but for Crocodile its another story. He is their alpha male badass character and adding queerness to his character might make them mad. Not that I care about those bigots feelings but its already not easy to navigate this fandom without queerphobia being thrown in your face.

Ppl can digest a queer character who fit in the stereotypes but once they dont, its another story.

Same, people are weird as fucking hell and gross about Crocodile maybe being trans already, we can be sure it would get worse if him being trans was confirmed in the story, there would be absolutely no avoiding it

But at the same time...

Transphobes are gonna be transphobes regardless, and I don't want that to become a reason for any storyteller to not create trans characters. I don't want Oda to bend over backwards to please the transphobes when they're the ones in the wrong. If anything, I want Oda to just go all the way with the message of queer liberation and freedom in One Piece. Like it's not perfect, but it's already there, but it's so subtle many queerphobes have been able to ignore it this whole time and I don't want Oda to let them ignore it anymore. I want him to rub it into their faces so hard they'll start complaining about "Oda going woke"

And like, let's be real. If Crocodile was trans and Oda pulled it off just right (without falling into certain pitfalls that he's be stumbling with this whole time with queer rep), that could unironically be like. Great not just trans rep but trans masc rep in particular

Like maybe it's just the media I've consumed but trans masc rep is typically very non-existant and/or very much like Yamato, who, while valid as hell, might not be how many trans masc people want to be seen as by others (as in, "confused girls")

We've known Crocodile as a character for 23 years at this point, and for the first 8-9 years of that he was very much seen as A Manly Cis Man (like you said) without a hint of a doubt (until Impel Down). If it turned out he had been trans this whole time, that would force people to rethink how they view trans people.

As just regular fucking people

That person you knew for years turned out to be trans? So what? What does that actually change about them? It's still the same person deep down. Those are the things Oda could force people to think about.

And honestly? If that helped convert even just a single transphobe, or educate someone without an opinion on trans people, to just letting trans people live their lives in peace, I think it'd be worth it

But like, yeah. The transphobes are gonna be loud regardless. It fucking sucks, and I hate the fandom for it. But, damned if you do, damned if you don't, there's no avoiding it. And I think the potential positive impact would outweight the already festering negativity.

[here-there-were-dragons]

i have to wonder what super hardcore militant vegans think should be done about obligate carnivore animals, because in all my painfully-rapidly-approaching-30-years i've literally never actually seen anyone give a clear consistent much less halfway feasible answer on that

[critterchitters-closedcaptions]

trying to decipher if the overwhelming dread & Thoughts are cause of the state of the world or cause i need a shower.

vent post in the tags. idk. do whatever 👍

[smolsix]

so more LN III thoughts (not as many at least, read more is just for users who are avoiding altogether)

I keep thinking abt how the single player you'll be playing with an AI like LN II, and I think the game would offer a lot of replay ability if you can choose which kid you play as as they both do different things (the wrench kid has the wrench for puzzles and breaking things, and the masked kid has the slingshot). in multiplayer it makes enough sense you can pick which one to play as, but if you can choose in single I think it'd make the game have a lot more play value and that's super cool.

the fact it has online co-op can mean so much for cool additional things, and i do hope character customisation is still there (LN with Six's masks/hats and LN II with Monos also) even if you have to unlock it which would also still offer replay ability.

[6-2-aestheticsofhate]

Does anyone else get annoyed when people talk about people infantilizing Gabriel but they only bring it up in the context of like, sex. And not how so many people will brush aside everything Gabriel has ever done and say it wasn't on him because he was forced to by the council and they generally pin EVERYTHING on the council.

So many people remove Gabriels agency in his actions. I'm sorry but you don't become the righteous hand of the father who carries out his will and violence by accident. Implying that Gabriel did not take pride in doing what he thought was right and defending heaven and God when he clearly did and took pride in his role and was GOOD at it. He struck down Minos with no mercy without listening to him. He yelled justice as people looked on in anguish at their slain king. He struck down a man who only wanted to stop being tortured for eternity and who tried to gather an army in a bid for freedom. He sees the punishment and infinite torment of Hell as just. You can't look at Gabriel and not see him as complacent if not playing an active hand in the twisted culture of heaven. He is more sympathetic than the council and during the events of Ultrakill he actually starts to change but you cannot separate Gabriel from his violence completely. His entire character arc is realizing the amount of violence he embodied and questioning why. He did what he thought was right but it wasn't and he never questioned it. Gabriel wasn't forced to do this, not in the way most people think. People depict the council as this evil entity always over Gabriels shoulder telling him to do horrible things but in actuality its more like... they're spreading a corrupted version of their faith and Gabriel agrees with them and carries out what they say because he thinks theyre right.

People will also depict Gabriel as younger than the other council members but theres no indication of that in-game or out. He and the council were all presumably made by God on the exact same day as he had made all angels on one day in the bible. They are all the same age and the same maturity, but people will depict Gabriel as younger or more ignorant almost as a way to justify his actions or not knowing what he was doing and it was all older angel manipulating him when he is just as old as them and had existed before humans were even created.

If Gabriel and the council upheld the same beliefs and worked together... why is Gabriel redeemable or his actions excusable but the councils isn't? Why is Gabriel's spreading and enforcement of the corrupted version of Gods teaching permissible but the Council's isnt?

The right answer is that neither are good. Gabriel before the events of Ultrakill may have been kind to some but to others he was brutally violent. He may have saved Ferryman but he left the other sinners in the Styx because he thought they deserved it. He only saw Ferryman, another who worked for God, as worthy of saving. You can see the difference in how Gabriel treats people who he sees as good and who he sees as bad. He shows a lot of kindness and grace to those he thinks deserves it but to those he sees as irredeemable he had no qualms about killing them or watching as other angels mangled their limbs and left them with just enough body parts to continue their torture but be unable to disobey or rebel again like they did with the Insurrectionists. Gabriel stood by and watched this happen and did NOTHING or actively participated in it.

Depicting the council as irredeemably evil and Gabriel as a someone unable to disobey them does such a disservice to Ultrakill's story and Gabriel's character arc when Gabriel's entire story is realizing his beliefs led him to do horrible things in the name of justice and regretting it. That's his entire arc and brushing aside his violence and the wrong hes done is missing the entire core of his character.

I don't even think the council are GOOD but they're not outright evil like most people assume. They were people who were blinded by their faith and twisted it to their own ends... but Gabriel saw no issue in this until the events of Ultrakill and actively participated in it.

If you can see the shades of gray in morality with Gabriel before his realization in 6-2 that what he was doing was wrong then why do you not extend the same sympathy to the council when they could also clearly grow and change if they had the same realization? They have the same amount of blood on their hands as Gabriel. Hell, they could have less because they canonically didn't go out and fight and Gabriel pointed out they got too used to sitting around. They may spread the dogma of the faith but they are not out committing the violence themselves.

Gabriel is such an amazing nuanced character with many shades of gray to him and seeing people reduce him to a poor innocent manipulated character who had no choice in his actions is so aggravating. He's one of my favorite characters due to the nuances of his character and people just... toss all the nuance to his character aside and ignore it in favor of sanding off all his rough edges and pretending they don't exist.

[codes-and-stuffs]

just saying this because i've seen some debate about which teams are and aren't hypocritical or united in their mission or whatever and. of COURSE every team is hypocritical !!! they're made up of many people of different philosophies !! they're teams of circumstance not choice! yes one team member is going to act utterly different to the next !! the individuals are all separate people!

now in the narrative yes, other characters are viewing each other as representatives of their team - that makes sense, it's part of the story and their limited perspectives and their own separate struggles within this literal purgatory lol

but don't you guys forget it! we have the advantage of being able to see the meta pov, and what's clear is that these teams are just people who are pack bonded by being pitted against each other. there isn't any team who is entirely cohesive on what they want. there isn't any team who hasn't been hypocritical or unfair in some way. that's just out of the nature of how the teams were made !

(and really, none of these teams are exempt from having been a bit of a dick from time to time, and pretending otherwise is a little bit silly, right?)