#like have you ever heard a republican talk?

[lettersiarrange]

Want to emphasize the above commentary ^^^

A lot of times when neurotypicals refuse to answer they're not intentionally trying to be dicks; it's because other neurotypical people will play dumb and ask "Well what did I do?" To avoid accountability. Neurotypicals who don't want to indulge this will refuse to answer, thinking you're trying to manipulate them.

You know weaponized incompetence? "What did I do wrong / I didn't know I was doing it wrong / I don't know how to do it" is a classic refrain for someone trying to avoid taking responsibility and wanting to force others to do work for them.

Another common manipulation tactic is DARVO. Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender.

Consider an interaction like the below:

Person A: I can't believe you. You're such a jerk

Person B: what did I do??

Person A: ??? You called me a 'fat, ugly loser' in front of all of our friends??

Person B: 🙄 you're so sensitive. It was just a joke. Chill out.

Person A: It didn't seem like a joke. And even if it was, it was a cruel thing to say

Person B: God you're so fucking humorless. What is wrong with you. You always act like I'm some kind of evil villain. I can't even make a joke without you blowing up at me.

By asking person A to name what the specific problem was, it allowed person B to refute the behavior and turn it around on person A. We all know person B knows what they did wrong. They just don't care. By engaging at all, person A allows them an opportunity to manipulate them and be even more hurtful and dismissive. Whereas if Person A simply condemned their behavior and refused to engage in the conversation, person B wouldn't have an opening, and Person A gets to subtly convey "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response, because I know you'll just use it as an opportunity to manipulate me if I do. I'm done playing your games."

Now, am I saying it's right for a neurotypical person to refuse to explain to a neurodivergent person what they did wrong? No. I'm just saying that the neurotypical person probably isn't doing it out of malice, or intentional ableism, or spite. They probably assume the neurodivergent person knows what they did and is looking for an opening to manipulate them.

As the above poster explains, the best way to circumvent this is to be genuine in explaining that you struggle with understanding social norms, are upset to have hurt them, and want to do better next time/make it up to them. There is always the possibility that the neurotypical person may not believe you because they've been burned too many times by manipulators, but that's life. They're much more likely to believe you and explain to you what you did wrong, though, if you take the above poster's advice in phrasing.

[fozmeadows]

There's a lot of conversations to be had around the current influx of Americans to Xiaohongshu (RedNote/Little Red Book) ahead of the TikTok ban, many of which are better articulated by more knowledgeable people than me. And for all the fun various parties of both nationalities seem to having with memes and wholesome interactions, it's undoubtedly true that there's also some American entitlement and exoticization going on, which sucks. But a sentiment I've seen repeatedly online is that, if it's taken actually speaking to Chinese people and viewing Chinese content for Americans to understand that they've been propagandized to about China and its people, then that just proves how racist they are, and I want to push back on that, because it strikes me as being a singularly reductive and unhelpful framing of something far more complex.

Firstly: while there's frequently overlap between racism and xenophobia, the distinction between them matters in this instance, because the primary point of American propaganda about China is that Communism Is Fundamentally Evil And Unamerican And Never Ever Works, and thinking a country's government sucks is not the same as thinking the population is racially inferior. The way most Republicans in particular talk about China, you'd think it was functionally indistinguishable from North Korea, which it really isn't. Does this mean there's no critique to be made of either communism in general or the CCP? Absolutely not! But if you've been told your whole life that communist countries are impoverished, corrupt and dangerous because Communism Never Works, and you've only really encountered members of the Chinese diaspora - i.e., people whose families left China, often under traumatic circumstances, because they thought America would be better or safer - rather than Chinese nationals, then no: it's not automatically racist to be surprised that their daily lives and standard of living don't match up with what you'd assumed. Secondly: TikTok's userbase skews young. While there's certainly Americans in their 30s and older investigating Xiaohongshu, it seems very reasonable to assume that the vast majority are in their teens or twenties - young enough that, barring a gateway interest in something like C-dramas, danmei or other Chinese cultural products, and assuming they're not of Chinese descent themselves, there's no reason why they'd know anything about China beyond what they've heard in the news, or from politicians, or from their parents, which is likely not much, and very little firsthand. But even with an interest in China, there's a difference between reading about or watching movies from a place, and engaging firsthand, in real time, with people from that place, not just through text exchanges, but in a visual medium that lets you see what their houses, markets, shopping centers, public transport, schools, businesses, infrastructure and landmarks look like. Does this mean that what's being observed isn't a curated perspective on China as determined both by Xiaohongshu's TOU and the demographic skewing of its userbase? Of course not! But that doesn't mean it isn't still a representative glimpse of a part of China, which is certainly more than most young Americans have ever had before.

Thirdly: I really need people to stop framing propaganda as something that only stupid bigots fall for, as though it's possible to natively resist all the implicit cultural biases you're raised with and exist as a perfect moral being without ever having to actively challenge yourself. To cite the sacred texts:

Like. Would the world be a better place if everyone could just Tell when they're being lied to and act accordingly? Obviously! But that is extremely not how anything actually works, and as much as it clearly discomforts some to witness, the most common way of realizing you've been propagandized to about a particular group of people is to interact with them. Can this be cringe and awkward and embarrassing at times? Yes! Will some people inevitably say something shitty or rude during this process? Also yes! But the reality is that cultural exchange is pretty much always bumpy to some extent; the difficulties are a feature, not a bug, because the process is inherently one of learning and conversation, and as individual people both learn at different rates and have different opinions on that learning, there's really no way to iron all that out such that nobody ever feels weird or annoyed or offput. Even interactions between career diplomats aren't guaranteed smooth sailing, and you're mad that random teenagers interacting through a language barrier in their first flush of enthusiasm for something new aren't doing it perfectly? Come on now.

Fourthly: Back before AO3 was banned in China, there was a period where the site was hit with an influx of Chinese users who, IIRC, were hopping over when one of their own fansites got shut down, which sparked a similar conversation around differences in site etiquette and how to engage respectfully. Which is also one of the many things that makes the current moment so deeply ironic: the US has historically criticized China for exactly the sort of censorship and redaction of free speech that led to AO3 being banned, and yet is now doing the very same thing with TikTok. Which is why what's happening on Xiaohongshu is, IMO, such an incredible cultural moment: because while there are, as mentioned, absolutely relevant things to be said about (say) Chinese censorship, US-centrism, orientalism and so on, what's ultimately happening is that, despite - or in some sense because of - the recent surge in anti-Chinese rhetoric from US politicians, a significant number of Americans who might otherwise never have done so are interacting directly with Chinese citizens in a way that, whatever else can be said of it, is actively undermining government propaganda, and that matters.

What it all most puts me in mind of, in fact, is a quote from French-Iranian novelist and cartoonist Marjane Satrapi, namely:

“The difference between you and your government is much bigger than the difference between you and me. And the difference between me and my government is much bigger than the difference between me and you. And our governments are very much the same.”

And at this particular moment in history, this strikes me as being a singularly powerful realization for Americans in particular to have.

[dickgirlsdaily]

Fundamentally, if the democrats lose the presidency in 2024, it will not be because of "voter apathy" or "the idealistic left" or Cornell West or whatever third party candidate the liberals end up blaming. It will be because the democrats have failed to meet the lowest standards of many Americans.

You can talk about strategic voting until you're blue in the face, but fundamentally, people need reasons to vote for a candidate. There are people in this country watching as their family members get slaughtered by American arms, sent to Israel by Joe Biden. The people watching their families get murdered in Palestine have no reason to support Joe Biden. How can you ask them to?

"Sorry your family got bombed, but I need you to vote for the man who is directly responsible, or *real* people are going to suffer too."

It was at this point While I was drafting this post that I heard he just started bombing Yemen. It's like he's doing everything in his power to sink his own fucking campaign, are you shitting me? This isn't a matter of "stupid commies not being realistic enough", he's not just working for the status quo; just about every action he has taken since October 7th has been an escalation of conflict in the Middle East and made it worse for everyone living there. This is exactly what I'm talking about.

You can scold people for voting wrong as much as you want, but fundamentally the way that democrats can win elections is by pursuing good policy. If the only argument you can come up with in favor of Joe Biden is that he won't do 1 or 2 of the terrible things that Trump wants to do, then that will simply not appeal to the people who are most intensely affected by Biden's failures (not to mention people who have moral objections to genocide, even when it doesn't affect them). You can scream and cry all you want, people are not going to just overlook his role in the ethnic cleansing of Gaza just because he is the Less Bad Genocider.

If a republican wins the presidency in November, you can blame the hundreds of thousands of voters/nonvoters who should've agreed with you and put aside every moral concern they ever had about the Biden administration... or you can blame the one fucking guy whose massive foreign policy failures are going to tank his re-election campaign.

[cleoselene]

don't doomscroll, DO SOMETHING. Don't complain, TAKE ACTION. here are things you can do:

call your Congresspeople. If you are living in a Democratic district, this is so easy! Tell them how YOU want them to fight! Don't just sit back and complain that "Dems in congress aren't doing what I want." CALL THEM AND TELL THEM WHAT YOU WANT. EMAIL THEM. And be nice about it, lead with the illusion that you trust them to do the right thing. "I know you don't really want this to happen, you're a good person!" methodology.

If your reps are like mine and horrible horrible monsters like Byron Donalds, then you have to make your phone calls differently. You gotta strategize these. There are two ways to do this: 1) be incredibly angry and aggressive, but filibuster about it. Don't give them any ability to get off the phone. Don't curse or insult, just properly outraged. The key here is to WASTE THEIR TIME. I spend about 45 minutes on the phone with one of Rick Scott's people once. The other way, i think is more effective, but this is better than nothing. The other way, 2) is to frame the specific issue you're calling about from the most conservative angle possible. If you're calling to support Ukraine, cry about how your daddy fought in 'Nam to stomp out communism, now you want to let a KGB guy like Putin bring back the Soviet Union? Act super fucking scared of communism. Say the words "KGB" and Putin together over and over. Talk about how America doesn't roll over for Russia, not now, not ever. This is just an example of a particular issue, but it can apply to any. My mom calls it the "sandwich technique." Lead with a compliment, then say what you really mean, and end with a compliment. People get tricked into changing their minds.

I realize this is tumblr so if you are really really that phone-phobic, apply this to email. But really, this is worth making the call for. The call cannot be fully ignored. An email can.

Join the class action lawsuit against the government for Breach of Privacy if you have Social Security or Medicare, and tell people you know who do to join it.

get involved at the local level. Agitate at city council. hell, RUN for city council. I promise you that no matter how unqualified you think you are, less qualified people have run and won. There was a town that had a golden retriever as its mayor for a while. You have to start thinking locally. You have to start doing things ALL THE TIME, not just every 2-4 years. This isn't just voting, but making your voice heard. That tumblr post about ten people showing up at a council meeting being able to change thing significantly? True. "But I live in a red area!" yeah, so do I, and that makes it even more important, since they're doing shit like banning books in schools here.

Run for office!! I just said that, but seriously, run for office!! AOC was a bartender before she got where she is now!! If I were not completely disabled, I'd do it. If you don't feel like it's for you, think of the people in your life who are capable who might be persuaded!

Focus on the real enemy. It's Republicans. It's not Democrats. Like I said, if you're unhappy with the way your Democratic rep is doing things, TELL THEM. Sitting outside the party and criticizing accomplishes nothing, it only weakens our only opposition party in this country. If you want to talk about third parties, MAKE ONE THAT'S VIABLE. But realize that will probably be decades of work. Stop complaining and start doing, start reaching out to the people who at the moment have some ability to do things and influence THEM. You can say a lot of things on the internet and expect to change the world, but you won't. (Yes, I realize the ridiculousness of me posting this on the internet, but I will be doing things, too, not just shouting into this void)

[starmada4546]

The Derailing Trump Train

This essay is by-and-large for people like me who regularly have to deal with conservative family members or coworkers or whatever godawful thing makes you have to put up with these kinds of people. If that's not you, the advice in this one probably isn't going to be very helpful, but you're welcome to stick around for the analysis, if you like.

As the veneer of moderate, respectable conservatism slips away, people are going to start getting their buyers remorse. I've already heard people discussing how they aren't fond of Trump's policy on Ukraine, or his tariffs, or how Elon Musk is slashing federal jobs and giving himself multibillion dollar contracts. Its... highly frustrating to say the least. When I hear a very conservative uncle talking about how Trump's promised tax cuts don't include him, it makes me want to scream "How the fuck can you possibly be so selfish?! You people have had almost a decade to realize this man is a serious contender for Worst Human Alive and the only time you can start caring is when it impacts you?!"It really hurts to see a man who has spent the last decade fanning the flames of fascism, destroying lives, spreading bigotry, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, only lose his supporters after he starts hurting them specifically.

For those unfamiliar, there's a meme on the internet that many people like to quote in these sorts of situations. It goes something like "'But I didn't think the leopards would eat my face!' sobs woman who voted for the leopards eating people's faces party."

Since the original incident that started this meme, Leopards Ate My Face has become a term that refers to conservatives who voted for a conservative politician who proceeded to do something to hurt them, usually because said conservative voter didn't bother to figure out what said politician actually stood for. It's a popular meme for good reason; it's cathartic to laugh at the comeuppance of others, right?

I generally speaking disagree. This sort of thing drives me absolutely up the wall. It's selfish people finally getting hurt by their own selfishness, but in a vast majority of cases, those selfish people still won't accept they were ever actually in the wrong. It's always that they were lied to, or that the circumstances changed, or some other bullshit excuse that serves the same rhetorical purpose: I can't possibly have been wrong, so something outside my control intervened. This is, of course, demonstrating a key feature of the conservative mindset, which is the fundamental lack of self accountability. If there was any acknowledgement that everything that was going to happen was well known in advance, that political scholars and economists and journalists were Screaming From The Fucking Rooftops that this was going to happen, they'd have to acknowledge that there were steps they could have taken to have not caused harm for themselves, because in the fundamental selfish narcissism of conservative thought, the only thing that is immutably morally wrong is anything that hurts me.

If there was any acknowledgement that they could have done five minutes of research to keep from committing the most egregious of moral sins, doing something against their own interests, they'd have to accept that they bear the responsibility for that. So it is always, always, someone else's fault. Any evidence they could have used is dismissed out of hand; the news stations are lying, the economists are profiteering hacks, and the political scholars are propagandists.

But go far enough down the train tracks, they start running out of people to blame. When they're far enough out from the election that the opinions and writings of the fourth estate don't matter to them anymore, the republicans control all three branches of government, and most of what vestiges of leftism still exist in the government are seemingly hellbent on being the most ineffectual, pathetic doormats in the history of opposition parties, the list from the center of the Venn Diagram of "People who I think have the power to screw me over" and "People who I hate," starts growing dangerously short for their cognitive dissonance. It may not often seem like it, but there is a limit to how far these people can stretch and distort their own reality.

This is where we see the step of most groups built on ideologies of hate, supremacy, and/or exploitation wherein the members of the group begin to turn on each other, or at the least to begin their own balkanization. Remember, the very last person they can blame for their woes is themselves. They will blame anyone and everyone else, including their Der Fuhrer before they go that far. If they start running out of people to blame, they find new ones.

(This also mirrors a key feature of fascism, where when an outgroup can no longer be reasonably blamed for the problems of a society due to their absence or lack of cultural relevance, and are replaced with new outgroups, thereby making the ingroup smaller and smaller, but I'm sure that's only a coincidence, wink wink nudge nudge.)

So, after analyzing the toxic narcissism inherent to this worldview, I'm gonna go ahead and proceed to light myself on fire with napalm by defending it.

Ok ok, I'm not actually going to defend it. But I am going to ask for it to be encouraged?

This behavior is absolutely fucking terrible, don't get me wrong, but it is also self destructive, at least as far as cohesive fascist movements go. When they start pointing the blame fingers at each other, that is the death knell for fascism. Fascism exists because it's an ideology of hate, but it proliferates because it doesn't market itself that way. It markets itself as a series of benefits for the average everyman, which are obtained through bigotry. When those benefits don't materialize, which they can't, because bigotry has never served anyone but those who already hold all the power, it creates resentment and distrust. This is usually where the fascists point at something else and say "Look, a minority!" but that strategy only works for so long before it becomes put-up or shut-up.

So believe me, when that conservative uncle complains about Trump's tax cuts and you just want to go ballistic, I understand that sucks. But I urge you, smile and nod. It's a low bar at this point, but he's taking a second to think about it. Maybe it isn't going to get him to take his head out of the Kool-Aid fountain, but resentment and distrust don't start a violent boil overnight. In fact, we don't need a violent boil. We don't necessarily need for these people to start voting for democrats, we just need them to decide they'd rather not bother heading to the polls on election day. A small simmer is enough.

Because eventually, when Trump strips enough of the iron off of the track, the train derails.

In the wise and seemingly eternal words of Sun Tzu, "Never interrupt your enemy while he is making a mistake."

[jarenka]

Remember this plot bunny? I was thinking about it again and I was like: Nah, Anakin wouldn't be able win against Palpatine to get him arrested. But he can kill Palpatine! So I wrote a fic where Anakin time-travels in the middle of Clone Wars, immediately kills the Chancellor and now Jedi Order need to do something about it because they can't just say: "Sorry, but Anakin Skywalker just returned here from the dark future and killed Palpatine because he was an evil genocidal wizard who planned to take over the Republic. Thank you for your attention."

“How did you find out that Chancellor Palpatine was directly connected with the separatists?”

“He told me himself”.

“Why would he tell you this? Don't you think this is a bit strange behavior for a person who allegedly has been cooperating with the separatists in deep secrecy for many years?”

“We are…” Anakin sighed. It was a touchy question. "Chancellor Palpatine and I were close friends. He proposed... to join him. He miscalculated”.

It isn’t entirelly true. Palpatine hasn’t yet invited Anakin to join him. He bent over his "dear friend", who fainted in his apartment when they had lunch together.

“Anakin, what's going on?.. I need to call a doctor,” Palpatine’s voice came to him distorted. Anakin was dead. He didn't know where he was or why he was hearing a real voice. He didn't know why he felt someone else's hand on top of his own. His lightsaber landed in his palm, and Anakin directed it to the place where the voice was coming from without hesitation. There was a smell of burnt wool and burnt flesh. Something heavy fell on him. When Anakin finally regained full consciousness, Chancellor Palpatine was lying there, completely dead, with a hole from a lightsaber in his chest.

“Why did Chancellor Palpatine invite you to join him?”

Anakin shrugged.

“I don't know.”

“Can you make a guess?”

“Perhaps he was dissatisfied with Dooku.”

Catch Dooku and ask, Anakin wanted to say, but for the past month Obi-Wan and lawyer Laila Hetty have been training him to answer questions correctly.

“So, you don't know for sure?”

“That's exactly what I have said.”

A military expert, a witness for the defense, will confirm that Dooku has failed several important operations in recent months. Perhaps Palpatine had a hand in his failures, but no one will ever know about it.

“What exactly did Chancellor Palpatine offer you?”

They set foot on very dangerous ground. Anakin needed to lie convincingly.

Anakin heard Obi-Wan's tired voice in his head, “You've been a Sith for over twenty years. You should be good at lying!"

He uttered the phrase he had memorized with Obi-Wan: “He offered me a place as commander-in-chief of the Republican army if I help him to prolong the war as much as he needs.”

“How can you, as a Jedi, hold such a post?"

Anakin sighed.

“Chancellor Palpatine wanted to get rid of the Jedi.”

There were whispers in the hall. Anakin tried to ignore them.

“Why?”

“You'd better talk to the members of the Council about this.”

“Did Chancellor Palpatine just casually tell you that he wanted to destroy the Order?”

Anakin closed his eyes and opened them again. He had to remind himself that everyone around him could see his face.

“I myself confessed to him that the Council suspected him of having ties with the separatists and was going to... take action.”

Obi-Wan Kenobi and Adi Gallia will speak on behalf of the Council. They will both say that some members of the council have long suspected that a very high-ranking official works with separatists, and some of them have already begun to suspect Palpatine. Obi-Wan won't be able to remember exactly if he and Anakin talked about it, but it's quite likely — after all, they were very close and discussed a lot of different things among themselves. Another witness for the defense will be an inhibitor chip specialist who will demonstrate that among the orders of the clone army there is an order to destroy the Jedi. He will indicate that this order was sewn in initially, during clone army creation. It’s not that important to Anakin’s case, both officials and independent investigators are now looking into clones’ creation.

“So, Master Skywalker, let's talk about why Chancellor Palpatine decided that you would agree to his proposal.”

I have no idea, Anakin wanted to reply.

“Remember,” he heard Obi-Wan say, “you need to present a convincing story to the jury. You killed Palpatine, it's quite obvious, but you can be acquitted.”

Anakin looked at the jury once again. They were ordinary inhabitants of Coruscant of different ages and races. Who do they see in front of them? The former posterboy of the Republic, pale and disheveled, with dark circles under his eyes. In the morning before the hearing Ahsoka tried to help him clean up, but she had no idea what to do with human hair. Maybe it's even better this way. The jury will think he's suffering terribly after he murdered Palpatine.

“Chancellor Palpatine,” Anakin began, “had already talked about me leaving the Order. He... he knew about my disagreements with the Council and was ready to help me settle on my own on Coruscant.”

“Were your disagreements with the Council that serious?”

“Perhaps I... exaggerated a little in my conversations with the Chancellor, and he thought that my conflict with the Council was much more serious than it really was.”

Anakin in fact remembered that the Council couldn't stand him, and everyone there didn't like him, except Obi-Wan. He thought they would hate him even more when they found out about everything he had done. Anakin was no longer one of them, he had been a Sith longer than he had been a Jedi, right before his death he turned away from the Dark Side but committed numerous crimes before it. And yet the Order came to his defense. It would be much more convenient for them to leave Anakin at the mercy of Republican justice. He would have received a life sentence for the murder of the chancellor and spent the rest of his life in prison. Anakin was ready for such a fate. It was still better than becoming a Sith, and better than losing Padme. She will stay alive, and maybe even visit him in prison.

Instead, the Council insisted on keeping Anakin in the Temple instead of handing him over to the Coruscant detention center. Master Windu came to him and said: “Anakin, you will be judged by a jury, but I'm afraid they won’t like a time-travel story.”

“I know,” Anakin replied. “You didn't have to come here to tell me about it.”

It seemed to him then that Master Windu wanted to gloat. This was a stupid thing to think.

“During the investigation, they will most likely find some evidence that the chancellor passed information to the separatists. And if you prepare well for the trial, you may be acquitted. We will help you.”

“Why would you help me? I'm not a Jedi anymore.”

“That's not true. You're still a Jedi knight, you have a Padawan, and you killed a Sith who planned to seize power in the Republic and destroy the Order. It's the least we can do for you."

Anakin chuckled.

“The least”? And then what counts as “the most"?”

“We won’t talk about it, it’s illegal”.

Mace Windu smiled with the corner of his mouth.

“I know a very good lawyer,” he said. “She and Master Kenobi will help you prepare for the interrogations.”

After that Mace Windu came to him more than once, asked about the Sith, brought datachips with holodramas and recordings of theatrical plays. Obi-Wan brought him records of pod races and his favorite books. Anakin's cell was spacious enough to train, and he had long been used to doing it alone. It turned out that even the prison in the Temple was a much cozier place than his castle on Mustafar or his personal quarters abroad of the “Executor”.”

Adi Gallia came to ask him about Palpatine's ties with different shady groups. Anakin knew about them, although Palpatine didn’t reveal everything even to Darth Vader, his apprentice and right hand man.

“Are you going to conduct your own investigation?” he asked.

“I'm afraid the Order can't afford to investigate. But we can tell someone where exactly they need to dig.”

Anakin was sure that she was talking about official investigators with unnecessary secrecy, and had no good feelings about it. Most likely they, too, were corrupted by Palpatine and would not investigate his machinations too actively, if they didn’t want to accidentally investigate themselves.

A month and a half later, Obi-Wan brought him a datachip and with a large joint investigation of The Evening News and The Point that Chancellor Palpatine was transferring money to several criminal organizations through shady firms under the jurisdiction of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Journalists were able to trace some money to bounty hunters who carried out the chancellor's orders.

“Six months ago,” Obi-Wan said, “someone killed two The Point journalists who were investigating the creation of a clone army.”

“Has anyone reacted to this article?”

“Oh, it caused a full scale outrage. Our media was scaring us with separatists and bounty hunters for years and now it turns out that the Chancellor of the Republic is tied to both of them.”

“It won't hurt the Chancellor in any way. He's dead.”

“But it means that the Chancellor has committed treason, and you... hmm, maybe you didn't act very wisely, because the Chancellor should be convicted by the court, but at the end of the day your actions were justifiable.”

“He's a Sith, he couldn't have been arrested. He would have had time to give the order to destroy the Jedi. And besides, he could bribe investigators and judges.”

“We know that. But for an ordinary citizen of the Republic, you broke the law and killed the Chancellor instead of initiating an investigation. You need to show that you had no other choice, and you acted in the interests of the Republic.”

“So, the last question. Let's go back to why you killed Chancellor Palpatine instead of reporting him to the authorities?”

This last question was perhaps the most difficult. He couldn't answer it directly. Anakin had many reasons to kill Palpatine, but nobody would believe a time-travel story. Jedi agreed not to touch on this topic at the trial.

It's good that Obi-Wan came up with a plausible explanation for me, he thought. During the time they were preparing for the trial, Anakin even managed to convince himself that Obi-Wan has a point.

“At first I planned to do so. The Chancellor committed high treason, he should have been arrested,” he replied. “But I've known Chancellor Palpatine for a long time. He is… he was a very careful person, and he always had a backup plan. As you said, he wouldn’t just confess his crimes to me, a Jedi General," Anakin thought that here he might be suspected of insincerity. He was speaking in Obi-Wan's words, not his own. — “And then I realized that the Chancellor would not let me live if I refused to join him. Probably he planned to poison me, but I didn't think about it back then. I just realized that I would not have the opportunity to inform someone about his crimes. General Skywalker would accidentally die of natural causes, and Chancellor Palpatine would continue to act on his plans.”

To his surprise, one of the policemen later confirmed that they found a container full of lycaea extract in the Chancellor's apartment. It was a rare poison from Outer Rim that couldn’t be detected with standard tests, and the consequences of poisoning looked like a heart attack. “How did you guess he would have the poison?” Anakin asked Obi-Wan later. “If I were him, I would keep something like this in case of an emergency. Being a Sith he could kill a person with his lightsaber or strangle them with the Force, but such a death wouldn’t look natural. "Natural" deaths occur mainly from poison.”

[batboyblog]

My mom (In the past a red voter but questioning it this election) asked me what good Biden has done, and your "Things the Biden-Harris Administration Did This Week" lists really came in handy. You are making change happen. You might have saved our democracy? tysm

Glad to have helped, and thank you. Listen I know talking politics with a loved one who maybe doesn't agree with you is awkward and some times even painful, but NO ONE can make a bigger impact on undecided and swingable voters than people they already know and trust. I'm knocking doors every weekend, which studies show is second best because they're face to face with a real human, but I only have 5 maybe 10 minutes if someone really wants to talk to me, thats nothing compared to the time people have with the people in their own lives.

So anyone who happens to read this, nows the time, ring up your parents, your grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, talk to that friendly co-worker, you have the power to change minds, to turn non-voters into voters, undecided into Democratic voters, work on the people in your life.

and particularly like to say to young people, LGBT people, who have family that know you're queer and love you but keep voting Republican, now is the time to have a hard conversion with them about what that means for you, and how it makes you feel when they vote for people who hate you. I know its hard, I'm really lucky that the first two people I ever heard express support for gay marriage were my grandparents, I know a lot of people have to carry around with them forever that * about their relationship with older relatives, nows the time to put that away forever, its better to have one hard talk with grandma now then live the rest of your life with that hanging over your memories of her.

And everyone should sign up to knock doors too because we all only know so many swing voters.

[welcometomypov]

"It's four years then Trump is gone" as if they haven't talked about creating a dictatorship and people not needing to vote again. As if they didn't talk about taking the right of voting of women away. Seriously. Fuck you.

Not a single person that I follow, live with, talk with, or vaguely know that belongs to the Republican party wants a dictatorship.

We've had discussions on how we'll embrace our Second Amendment right to STOP Trump if he tries to impose a dictatorship. We don't care if it accomplishes everything that we desire- that's NOT what America stands for and we won't stand for disrespect to our country. The Democrats don't have to worry about the majority of Republicans. If he tries to play dictator, we won't stand for it.

I EXIST ON THE REPUBLICAN SIDE. If someone was intending to take away my right to vote, I think I would HAVE HEARD OF IT. Zero people have ever INSINUATED THAT and it's sad that Democrats are walking around playing like they're not the only ones discussing it.

Also, if someone tries to take away my right to vote, every male in my family will riot. Voting is an American right. No one will change that.

You want to have sex with me? Or at me?

Alright, I guess that's your prerogative, but I'll pass.

[demonicintegrity]

“America is back!” I still don’t understand what that’s suppose to mean— why are they changing USA again. Is that normal? Or just a trump thing?

“Golden age of America” no it’s not

Elon Musk why are you HERE?

“Our spirit is back, our confidence is back” bestie you just made a fool of us on the national stage.

“And perhaps never witness again.” I sure do hope this doesn’t happen ever again. (Copium)

“We won the popular vote by big numbers” oooo I hear boos. And they’re getting drowned out by the USA chants.

“For a map that reads almost completely red” bestie corn can’t vote.

“More Americans believe we’re heading in the right direction.” Weren’t the polls just showing him drop in popularity??

Oh damn. I didn’t see what was happening too much but someone won’t sit down. DO NOT CLAP ABOUT DIRECTING THE SERGEANT??

“Mr. Green take your seat.” - speaker of the house.

What is he saying I can’t even hear it— oh shit. He is going to be removed. What did he say? I saw him standing up and saying smth but it didn’t catch in the mic.

I see a couple “save Medicaid” signs.

“Most successful in the series of our nation.” I don’t believe that one bit. But I know we’re not gonna find a source on it— NUMBER TWO IS GEORGE WASHINGTON??? WHO IS SAYING THAT??

“Joe Biden— the worst president—“ isnt Nixon and Reagan there—

Mental asylums??? They’re coming from mental asylums???

Well. He’s right. He won’t be able to make dems happy. Lmao

OOO “musk steals” signs.

“Why not join us in celebrating many wins for America” I heard laughter. We are not winning.

A freeze on hiring and regulations is not going to help the economy— it will make it worse. And we shouldn’t have stopped aid—

STOP BRAGGING ABOUT REMOVING US FROM WHO AND THE PARIS AGREEMENT??

You think the UN Human Rights assembly was un-American??? Hello??? What??????

“For every one new regulation, we must end ten old regulations.” Those are written in the blood. Like those regulations are in place because people died. That’s not something to brag about.

Oh the signs switched to false. So that’s what the dems are doing. Neat I guess.

English is the official language. I. Don’t know what that is suppose to change.

WHY ARE YOU CHEERING ABOUT THE RENAMINGS???

DEI is not tyranny. You would think he knows all about that. What the fuck.

“Woke no longer.” Define woke for me. Do it.

Critical race theory as poison. Shut up.

The stupid two genders mandate. Fuck that noise.

And banning trans women from sports.

It seems like this is just rehash of—

“Invaded by a male—“ wait is this the girl who got socked in the face by a volleyball. Something that happens regularly? But it was made a big deal this cherry picked time? Hm.

“It’s demeaning for women.” I miss when we were talking about how sports needed to be degendered bc there was no actual need for it. If it needed to be divided it would by weight class or smth.

That. Was your economy idiot. He inherited your economy.

“Eggs get out of control!” Shut UUUUPPPPP.

Oh hey a couple shirts saying resist just walked out. Neat I guess.

“Drill baby drill”

Wait. National gas pipeline in Alaska? Apparently a huge one that doesn’t sound good for the environment—

“And rare earths here in the USA.” What are rare earths hello???

“Perhaps you heard of it.” Oh piss right off.

“Which is headed by Elon Musk, which is in the gallery tonight.” Oh so he’s saying that part out loud. How fun.

“He didn’t need this.” What the fuck does that mean.

No the dems don’t appreciate it.

Wow. Him talking about the cuts makes me get pretty depressed actually. MAKING MICE TRANSGENDER??? NO WAY. No way male circumcision is there. What the fuck.

The laughter from republicans is so sickening actually. It’s sickening. It’s so sickening. There’s no humanity when you take joy in the fact that these services are taken away from people who were relying on them.

(Cutting here bc this is going to be a long post)

Who else is shouting?

It’s worth noting that these numbers are saying are likely a percentage point of the budget. They’re just big numbers and that’s what they’re counting on you getting hung up on.

“False!!” At least now they’re saying it out loud.

Where are these numbers being pulled from?? I don’t believe it one bit.

“More money in the pockets of American families.” You mean right folk?

“The interest rates took a big drop, a big beautiful drop.”

I mean. Sure. You can try to balance the budget but something tells me you won’t.

Gold card. Five million dollars. Buy your way in. Buy your way in. What happened to merit lmao.

Wwwhhhyyyy do you care about people coming in to work. There’s nothing wrong from work from home—

Wdym removed immediately—

THE LAUGHTER AT THE UNELECTED BUREAUCRATS LINE

Yeah. Those tax cuts. I’m suuurreee theyre for the average person and not the rich. Sure.

“start by paying your taxes.” LMAO.

Yknow what would also help the average American? Raising the minimum wage. Making tipped jobs up to minimum wage.

“As one of the most important [dates] in history.” Yeah. Sure will. /neg

“I’m a very superstitious person” uh huh

I love the idea of being made we’re not allowed in foreign markets in the same breath of wanting more things made in America.

“Nobody’s ever seen anything like it.” The opium crisis. Quite literally still feeling the effects of that.

Oh god it’s been an hour. I have homework to do before midnight whoops.

All these plans to build investments in the USA— what?? Is he talking about now? Chip act? He lost me a little maybe I zoned out or maybe I’m stupid I don’t know.

Bare with him. Okay.

“Our farmers are gonna have a field day” I kinda doubt it. With the bird flu. And govt agencies unable to communicate. And no workers and workers protections. Etc.

And shouting out this steel worker— over forty foster children. Okay that is actually quite impressive and respectable with firefighting as well.

Melania is getting a shout out for foster care??? Huh. Never heard of these programs.

The criminalization of deepfakes is good. Didn’t hear about that before this.

Oh don’t use that as a Segway to the border and protecting children. Wasn’t Biden’s border policies not even that different from Trumps?

Oh he’s bringing up the woman who was murdered by an immigrant. That was—

Savage???? Savage?? That’s racially charged. Oh lord.

And I will say, that death is tragic. But politicalizing this feels icky. Her mother said thank you. But something feels just, off color about this.

I mean. No one cared when Nex, a trans student died by bullies. That wouldn’t ever get an invitation from the president now would it?

They don’t want her to die in vain. Which can be a noble intent. I just don’t trust that with trump yknow? Obvs I want justice for that family. But this doesn’t feel quite right.

“But it turns out all we needed was a new president.” Why are you chanting trump.

Oh lord he’s talking about towns over run by immigrants— LIBERATION FROM WHO?????

Oh what happened to that daughter is horrific. That is awful. Making an animal refugee for her is sweet— GULF OF AMERICA ruined it. But. That is a sweet gesture. It’s hard to be upset at that. That is sweet.

SAVAGES?? STOP CALLING THEM SAVAGES???? That’s so racially charged holy shit.

As terrorist organizations. We can’t even say the KKK and nazis are bad without debate but we can focus on that. Okay.

“Rio grand” it’s Rio grande. Preeetttyyy sure it’s grande.

Wage war on the cartels. Which likely means bomb and get civilians in the crossfire. Could you imagine if Mexico declared the KKK a terrorist organization and said they’re gonna wage war? There would be such a fit about the crossfire. And how it was unfair to wage war against America for a fringe group that doesn’t represent us. Which. They actually might.

“Bring back law and order to our cities and towns.” Ironic. Coming from you. He’s acting like a victim as if he wasn’t just feeling the consequences of his actions.

“Voted for me in record numbers.” Shut uuuuup.

Question bc this is my first joint session: is it normal to have these many people who suffered tragedies to these things? This feels like a lot—

MANDATORY DEATH PENALTY FOR ANYONE KILLING A COP??? Oh hell no.

Oh there’s shouting—

That is a thirteen year old. Okay. What an off time to pull him into the spotlight— oh he overcame brain cancer. Good for him. That’s amazing for him. He’s been signed in— AN AGENT OF SECRET SERVICE?? Okay poor kid looks a little overwhelmed. Oh he has a badge now. Cute???

I was thirteen when trump took office. I was

…. JFK Jr is not going to make America healthy again.

Toxins out of our environment yet pulled from the Paris agreement???

Why are you bringing up autism rates. Uhm. What do you mean what is going on.

Toxic ideologies— what do you mean secretly encourage her kid— they them pronouns— THATS NOT CHILD ABUSE. Oh my god. Is this kid okay. Is this trans kid okay? I was thirteen when I questioned my gender is this kid okay. Genuinely. Is this kid still here and okay?

Yknow when he talks about ending child sex changes there are exceptions for intersex babies right? Because they don’t conform. Unnecessary surgery. Purely cosmetic and even harmful.

Hour and half mark. I don’t feel good.

I’m still thinking about that kid whos transphobic parents are there. If that kid didn’t feel safe enough to come out to their parents, imagine their feelings to their parents finding out and then weaponizing that politically oh my god. Is that kid okay?

What a way to get a westpoint acceptance. Damn.

“This is a very dangerous world.” Yeah no shit.

WHY DO WE NEED TO RECLAIM THE PANAMA CANEL!? What do you mean a large American company bought ports on both sides— wait wdym we didn’t give it to china?? What does china have to do with this???

What. Message to Greenland.

“And if you choose—” they never chose to join us??? They never— important for military security. Oh that’s why. They want to make more military bases.

The pan over to some democrats looking like they’re taking deep breaths through this speech which. Fair enough.

PUTIN? YOURE BRINGING UP PUTIN NOW???

Do you mean the peace agreements Israel has broken often?

“Rough neighborhood.” ………….

“No end in sight.” Yeah I wonder why. I wonder who has contributed to that instability Mr trump and musk—

Calling Elizabeth Warren Pocahontas? Wow what a tool.

I remember reading the EU disputing the idea they haven’t spent as much as America.

Oh a mother and son reunited. That is sweet. Good for them. I do wonder though, why exactly is he taking credit for this?

Talking about the assassination attempt. It is tragic that people in the crowd were shot as well. That father who took the bullet for his wife and kids should be recognized. I know some people won’t have sympathy for trump supports but I can’t bring myself to be mean and disrespectful to those hurt in that.

“I was saved by god to make America great again.” Eeeuuuuggghhh don’t like that sound of that.

This is probably the conclusion? And like, from a speech standpoint it’s actually not bad. Better than I expected. But the fact that it’s being said from Trump— okay lmao vanquish communist that ruins it but tracks for American politicians— anyways the fact that it’s coming from trump feels sooo disingenuous.

“Forge the freeist—“ no. No you’re not.

“Highest quality of life” by cutting Medicare and SNAP???

The flag on mars??????? Why????

And the chanting again— and the golden age again Ough.

That’s the end of it. A two hour speech. I don’t feel good that’s for sure. But I gotta process this later.

[eugenedebs1920]

I’ve been a political junkie since before I could vote. I remember, I was in 3rd or 4th grade, listening to the radio when my mom was driving me somewhere. A news brief comes on and it’s about George H.W. Bush and Desert Storm. When the segment ended I said, “George bush sucks!” My mom got mad at me, not because of the statement, but because of the word suck, saying, “where did you learn that word Eugene?! Do you even know what suck means?” Honestly I really didn’t, but I knew it was an insult.

I have never! Not once, bailed on my civic duty to vote since turning 18. Presidential election, midterm election, special election, local. If I was given the opportunity to voice my opinion, I was about it.

I’ve always stayed pretty informed. Sometimes, like the current moment, far too much. The whole process fascinates me. Both the campaigning and the idea behind a representative , democratic election. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not wearing a light up, goofy hat. Although I did attend a Democratic National Convention once. Not the convention itself but I saw Rage Against the Machine perform for my second time, and the DNC time was free!

My first election I voted for Al Gore. I liked him. I thought he was smart. I liked his stance on the environment. I liked that he had the experience under Clinton that he had. I will also tell you, I didn’t then, nor have I ever, repped hats, or shirts, or flags of ANY president or presidential candidate. A pin or two the day I received em, or on my backpack maybe. Never though have I walked around with my political affiliation, or my affliction to a politician on full display. There were times when it wasn’t hard to tell with long hair, patchwork pants, big beard but.

That’s what has me so perplexed, not the hair and beard thing, but the devotion. I don’t get it. It would be different if it was, I don’t know, not Donald Trump! I mean, who really is that guy?

I saw him on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, a couple times as a kid, thought he seemed smug even then, I missed the whole Apprentice thing, didn’t even own a tv during that time. Was too busy living life. Is that where this follow derives from? I never saw one episode. I heard it wasn’t that good, nor did it have that high of ratings.

He isn’t a very elegant speaker. Go read a quote of his. When he says it, it kinda makes sense, but when you read one, it’s nothing. He says a bunch of words but he doesn’t say anything. It’s actually embarrassing that Trump quotes will forever be part of American history. Here’s an example from a rally when talking about Kamala Harris “back home to mommy. And she goes back home to mommy. ‘Was that you darlling?’ And then she gets the hell knocked out of her. Her mothers a big fan of ours. You know that, right? Her father, her mother. No, you always have that.” Mind you a couple things here. Right before this little snippet I clipped, he was talking about California and “whether you’re a Democrat, Republican, or independent this election is your chance to send a message”. Directly before, the next words are the mommy thing. It doesn’t piece together at all! Also. Kamala’s mom passed away quite a while ago from cancer. What is he even talking about!?

Now compare that to an Obama quote from 2004. “Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America - there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats.”

See. It’s coherent, it has a driven message, it’s passionate. I can get behind that. Not talks about Hannibal Lecter, and electric boats. I don’t get it.

Moving forward.

Let’s talk about his presidency. What bills did he pass? There’s the massive corporate and wealthy tax cut that did very little for 98% of Americans. What else? Anybody? “Well, he built the wall and Mexico payed for it” that is false. There have been small sections built, but scattered, not even one long area. He increased the national debt by over $7.5 trillion. His policies, or lack there of with Covid caused hundreds of thousands of avoidable deaths. Those stimulus checks to keep Americans afloat are the cause of the inflation that we just now got back to normal. When he had to “print” money to give us so we could survive, the value of the dollar went down because there was more capital with no transaction, so with less value the dollar represents, the more things cost in relation to it. Economics is some weird, complicated, almost dogmatic stuff, but it kinda makes sense.

Then there’s the whole not accepting the election results thing. I’ve written and talked about over and over again. It’s exhausting! This is BY FAR the worst thing potentially ANYONE has done to America. More so than the 9/11 terror attacks, Pearl Harbor, Boston marathon, that’s a bold statement. Yet, through his narcissism not allowing him to concede to defeat, and claiming the election was rigged, it is an immensely damaging assault on the very foundation of this whole American democratic experiment. His words have sown doubt into the fabric of democracy with his baseless lies. He absolutely had the right to contest the results, do investigations, recounts, audits, and file suit with the evidence he had supporting his claims. The thing is, he had no evidence, there was no proof of any fraud because, there was none. Thats the end of the behavior that was acceptable. When all those court cases were dismissed for lack of evidence, that should have been it, but no.

All the tweets, all the interviews, all the scheming and plotting, after the court cases and recounts and whatnot, that’s sedition! Thats purposely conspiring against the United States. He knowingly pushed false information to Americans, who believed their commander in chief, and perpetrated the worst assault on our nation’s capital since the Civil War. Thats treason!!

The fact that that wasn’t the end is flabbergasting! The fact he is still in the public eye, let alone running for the seat he so immensely betrayed blows my f*cking mind!!

I don’t care about party affiliation, first and foremost we are Americans. First and foremost our allegiance is to the constitution. First and foremost we abide by the law. This sycophantic groveling to this guy is disgusting! It’s saddening. It’s unamerican.

This upcoming election will, and is saying a lot about us as Americans. The outcome will reflect who we are. I’m not sure I can say with confidence what that is. In the words of 4th grade Eugene, It sucks.

[atreyucannamos]

Like okay, I was in a really terrible mood last night. I have to look on the bright side once in a while, right? And on that note, guess who heads up the Noble Arts syllabus, and who yours truly gets to study under?

It's only Lord Castor-Eyros, Second Herald of the House of Smoke - one of my favourite authors! I have read every single one of his books cover-to-cover at least twice, and it got me through some really dark periods in my life.

They say a lot of things, like "authors don't necessarily make good teachers," and "don't meet your heroes" but I feel like neither apply to him. He's just effortlessly charming, and while he never talks down to you, I feel like he always explains even the most complex concepts in language you can just immediately grasp.

I thought Noble Arts would be the easiest for me, but I was mistaken. I'm really understanding what people mean when they say Kavaliers aren't just "good pilots," they're an ideal. A Kavalier is meant to be able to dominate the field of battle in any chassis they choose, then compose a six-stanza poem about it to ensure that when the history books are written, future generations will smile upon the necessity of the battle and the nobility of the cause.

And the College does not consider the Noble Arts a "soft subject." I'm expected to be just as conversant in Low Passacaglian history and transgenic flower hybridisation as I am in field-stripping my mech's leg assembly or the correct procedure for flanking an entrenched enemy. It's a good thing that Lord Castor is such an excellent teacher, because they are not fucking around.

Stablemaster Imani Rudilis heads up the Technical Syllabus, and I gotta hand it to the College, they really do choose only the best tutors. Mx. Rudilis is clear, concise, and you can tell that this is a subject they have genuine passion for. I understood the inner workings of a mech on a theoretical level before - now I feel like I'm starting to understand them in practice.

I'm actually finding Technical the easiest right now. Everything kind of fits together, and even really diverse topics have some relationship to what we've already learned. Like the Stablemaster says, a mech is holistic - there's no such thing as a non-essential component. Designers are constantly trying to shave down tonnages, remove points of failure, streamline the fuselage; Imani is a designer themself, and you can tell they prefer functional silhouettes over ornate frippery. I respect that.

Underbaron Iphianassa... surprised me. I mean, I've heard about her - I don't think there's a single child on Khayradin who hasn't. She's been fighting in wars for almost as long as military mechs have existed. She recognised me, too. As a member of the House of Stone, I expected she'd have the same contempt for me as the rest do - but she doesn't treat me any different to any other student. She knows my Republican leanings, and probably my opinion on her title "Hero of the Ludran Fields," but that doesn't seem to matter.

That's not to say she's going easy on me - I don't think this woman has ever been easy on anyone. Classes are... brisk. We're not just expected to pick things up quickly, we're expected to master them by the end of the day. I think Tactical is gonna be the most challenging syllabus for me. Actual combat scenarios are way different to anything I was trained on before - that was just one-on-one duels in a fast, close-quarters skirmishing frame.

I have also... met some fellow students? And by "met," I mean I've accidentally gotten them dragged into my shitty personal issues. I probably shouldn't talk about them on a public journal. They don't deserve the kind of negative attention I'd bring down on them. But they're a team with me now, whether they like it or not, Passions help all four of them.

[wumblr]

i met a liberal at the bar tonight. we were talking about the amish and i was like did you know they have IT guys. there's a whole unique windows distro for the amish. it's proprietary. and he was like i guess that's why i'm liberal. and i was like what? and he was like why do you say that like it's a bad thing and i was like i didn't say anything you said that. and he said what's wrong with being a liberal and i said neoliberalism is a project of colonial expansion based on extracting resources from the third world by holding a gun to everybody else's head, so, what's good about that? and he did NOT like that for some reason. he was like are you a republican and i was like no absolutely not. i'm a hologram actually. i'm a russian bot. and he was like you're laughing at me. and i couldn't shake the prevailing impression that what he was really saying was you're being mean to me because you're reacting to this incomprehensible nonsequitur about the amish less warmly than you're reacting to the jokes of your friends. like yeah my friends have been sitting here showing me the tiktok that went viral when somebody paid at their job in pennies and talking about when they went to basic training because their parents got divorced, i literally don't know you or what your views are, how could i be laughing at them. but i heard someone got their ass beat for throwing a hot dog at someone so i guess i better be careful. like what even is the bar. i think i saw lightning strike a lightning rod on top of a building, off in the distance. don't think i've ever specifically seen that before. it was like horizontal, touched down in the middle. and my friend was like what would a russian robot sound like and i was like t.a.t.u.

[travelingbandit]

I again wanted to voice my concern for the way that SJM readers exhibit such strong Republican tendencies and ideologies.

I was having a talk with Nightcourtqueenbee (if you’ve haven’t had the dpleasure of speaking either her, she’s certainly….opinionated). She made all the original points that IC Stans make, exhibiting how she can only show empathy for Feyre and cannot critically think well enough to sympathize with any of the other characters. She even went so far as to agree with me that Lucien was a victim of abuse and was abused for helping Feyre, but also he “should’ve just gotten out” and “should have stood up for Feyre”. She was a walking contradiction but I digress.

The part that scared me the most, and it scares me every time I interact with these people on this level, was when we started talking about SJM. Now fans have said things to me like “why would you hate Sarah she’s literally perfect” and I can write an entire essay on how this cult-like mentality is so similar to the one used in the extreme right in America today, but that’s beside the point. What I am most concerned about is the lack of empathy and ability to understand facts. She told me, just because you don’t like something doesn’t mean it’s fact. Which fine, valid. However:

When I was addressing how multiple people of color in the community, some of them my friends and others creators I follow, all explain how SJM exhibits severe racism in her books and quite literally had one of her main characters use cultural appropriation (especially as a fetish which is even more disgusting ), I was quite literally told that it’s not true and that those wings are a part of Feyre and she has every right to wear her ‘costume’. I reminded her that Feyre shifted into Ianthe as well so wouldn’t that make her also a part of Feyre by her logic, to which she basically told me Ianthe was a bitch and didn’t answer me.

The most concerning part about all of this was when I explained to her how SJM takes from multiple different cultures and religions, but closed and open practice, and mushes everything together, changing their sacred terms and bending them to her own will. I have a list by the way if you ever want to see that. As a Norse Pagan myself, I’ve watched SJM use my religion for her own devices and even use words like Aesir and Vanir, completely destroying what they were meant to be, to serve her shitty book series. There have been other fans who have told me they didn’t even know what that was until they read it through an SJM book, and when they eventually saw it in Norse Mythology, they were confused. However I’ve also had another SJM fan tell me “well I don’t believe in it, it’s fictional so why should I care because it’s not real. If we’re not allowed to use other cultures to write our books then we’ll have really boring books.” Which is so indicative of how most people need to rely on stealing from others in order to make decent content.

However the most heartbreaking thing talking to this one specific commenter (and I’ve heard a version of this before from other SJM dick riders), is that I addressed how SJM uses a creature from the Indigenous Community as a minor monster for Aelin to fight in TOG. Now this could be parallel to the Naga in ACOTAR of course (because if SJM has nothing to steal from she steals from herself), but the difference is that the indigenous community has been adamant that their SW creature should not be used. The name should not be said, the creature should not be talked about or written about. And yet despite me telling this commenter that a lot of people in this community (including my own friends) still believe in SWs as part of their religion, all this commented wanted to do was tell me that they’re fictional and why should they care because the creature is fictional.

Also just as an honorable mention of horrible shitty things Nightcourtqueenbee has said: when I addressed the fact that Feyre and Rhys were building their fifth mansion right after the war, her response was “Are they not allowed to build a house?”. And when I compared their actions to US billionaires, she was quick to try to tell me the other high lords have probably done worse. Like okay maybe, but we haven’t seen any of that. We’ve seen what the Night Court is doing.

Another honorable mention: I gave her context in the novella where Feyre quite literally says she wants to find a secretary to do her High Lady duties because she wants to have more time to screw Rhys. And her response was “So she’s not allowed to want sex?”. And the fact that she could only grasp onto one part of my explanation really showed me how low her literacy comprehension is.

My fear continues to grow in this rise of anti-intellectualism and oligarchy, and I just fear that all of these (mainly white) women will never get it. They’re quick to resort to insult immediately when they see another opinion than their own (on par for republicans), and they lack the reading comprehension or empathy to see anything past Feyre. Books and art are political, obviously. And while SJM fans don’t want to think so, books can help shape our world view dramatically. I just worry that they are so far gone that they’ll never come out again.

[raddisheat0r]

I strongly disagree with this. 

Your first argument “The prisoners in Arkham need somebody like Bolton to keep them in line. Lyle does that, extremely well.” ‘The Prisoners’, the people held within Arkham Asylum are mental patients, they are mentally ill. Harley Quinn has HPD (histrionic personality disorder) and was stuck in an extremely abusive relationship leading to her life of crime, Arnold Wesker has DID (dissociative identity disorder) and doesn’t believe that he committed the crimes but the puppet on his hand. Jonathan Crane has ASPD (as well as other personality disorders), however, in the Btas, it is quite clear he is a very disturbed individual.  

Your second argument “Just because he jerked them around a little, doesn’t mean he’s some hellian. Also, that kind of treatment improves behavior.” Perhaps you may have not noticed because the BTAS is a kids show from the 90s but it is heavily implied that Bolton abuses the patients of Arkham, this has been shown in other media in recent years. To suggest that “jerking patients around (…) improves behaviour.” Is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. It doesn’t work in real life, why would it work in Batman? The Batman universe (ignoring all the supernatural stuff, we’re just talking about Batman n Gotham) reflects real life, corruption, mental illness and (yada yada)  

Your third statement “I don’t agree with how he was kidnapping pretty random people though, like a news reporter, Commissioner Gordon, etc…. If he hadn’t done so he'd be innocent in my eyes.” Obviously, you watched the show with your eyes closed, Lyle Bolton, was a character supposed to represent a republican extremist. You can tell by his room and by his use of the wording “liberal media”. Him kidnapping “random” people is him trying to control the city of Gotham to become what he thinks will be better.  

And…Commissioner Gordon…a random person?? HE’S THE POLICE COMMISSIONER!!!

Fourth statement “I also don’t understand the hate for him. The other Batman villains have done way worse. At least Lyle does something beneficial for Gothams society”  Again, the reason for his hate is because he abuses the patients of Arkham Asylum and other fans of the series actually have empathy. I think the crimes of Lyle Bolton vs The Rogues Gallery can be debated but someone else can do that. The entirety of Gotham Society is corrupted, That's why it’s the most crime filled place on earth. yknow what would make it better? An abusive head of security, so he can make the mentally ill patients even more mentally ill, so they can break out and reek havoc on the good people of Gotham.  

Fifth statement “I don’t understand why Bruce wouldn’t buy a better security system for Arkham in the first place. Bolton knows what he’s doing sooo” That's why Bolton got the job in the first place, because of his record but Bruce fired him because he mistreated mentally ill people. Arkham, while also holding mentally ill people holds geniuses, I find it difficult to believe that, let’s say The Riddler, a self-proclaimed genius would have a difficult time with a new “high tech” security in Arkham, the reason it was a wasn't a "revolving door" was because of the abuse. I personally, don’t think the entire problem with Arkham is the security but the doctors, funding, and the system itself.

[thesickleandthepen]

Well, I take one break for two months and everything goes to hell in a hand basket. I'm sure most of you have heard about everything that's happened since Trump was formally elected into office. The hell that is making itself even more apparent I haven't even been able to escape, and I wished to share my thoughts.

To start, I wish to talk about Elon and his role in the government. He is, openly and without shame, the actual leader of this country now. Of course, not in writing, but in every other way. Trump has done nothing but bow to this moron's commands like a dog - ironic, given the narcissist Trump is. The government has now become a playground for the bourgeois, as Marx himself would put it. The wealthy 1% are trampling across this country's laws like a raging bull, desperate to secure absolute power over this nation and, ultimately, the world. It's exactly why they are bowing down to Putin, as displayed during their talk with President Zelenskyy. They wish for nothing more than a country controlled only by the rich and powerful, and it's fucking disgusting.

As it stands, this is what I see as the largest issue we are facing. Yes, the horrible Republican ideals Trump and other states are trying to push is an issue, but ultimately an issue of ideology, and there's too many of them to just silence and move on. There will always be someone like them, someone who simply hates happiness and despises the idea of people living life with a smile on their face and satisfaction in their hearts. However, the rich are an issue that can be directly handled, specifically people like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, etc. they are one person, who is just as squishy as the rest of us.

They don't deserve their money; we, the people, deserve it. We work in their factories and laboratories, designing and moving the very things contributing to the ever growing financial disparity. They are masters at the capitalist game; they abuse, restrict, and steal from everyone they can to get ahead in the very rat race they perpetuate. They sit in their penthouses and gilded mansions, built of our blood and tears, and laugh, as they continue to sap us of our very life force, making us slave away while they eat and shit money like the goddamn pigs they are! Now, they write laws from those same mansions, using the police as their own personal army to enforce the capitalist regime we live under. We have lived under this very thing for centuries too long; manipulated by those at the top, forced to obey their commands and sit quietly as they beat us and drag our souls out, one drop of blood at a time. However, it is time to take back what is owed to us, what has been owed to us.

Fight back. Show them what it means to be human, to not be controlled by the restraints they desperately try to put on you. Whether you protest softly, with nonviolent strikes or walks or even simply helping those in need, or loudly, with riots and assassinations, all of it goes towards a better America, one freed from the muzzle of capitalism and the abuse at the hands of the bourgeois. We are human, and we will fight for our humanity! We shall not let those soulless husks in office chairs drain us any longer!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Lilli Petersen at HuffPost:

When Taylor Swift came out to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris last month, it was the Instagram post heard ’round the world (or at least ’round the TikTok FYP algorithm). “I’m voting for @kamalaharris because she fights for the rights and causes I believe need a warrior to champion them,” Swift wrote immediately following the first, and only, debate between Harris and former President Donald Trump. She signed her message “Taylor Swift, Childless Cat Lady” — a knock at Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance, who has used the term to demean women without children.

With her simultaneous endorsement of the Democrat and swipe at the Republican, Swift, at 34 arguably the most famous millennial woman in U.S. pop culture, also made herself the avatar of an ongoing shift in politics among her demographic of young women: For the past few decades, they have been tilting decidedly left. “It’s popping out in the polling because it’s more dramatic this year than it has been in other years,” said Elaine Kamarck, director of the Center for Effective Public Management at the Brookings Institution. The Harris campaign has been assiduously courting women, and particularly young women. Harris regularly makes abortion rights a talking point in interviews and stump speeches, has embraced the meme-ification of her campaign (including Charli XCX enthusiasm and Swift-themed get-out-the-vote campaigns), and recently went on the popular podcast “Call Her Daddy,” which began life as a relationship and advice podcast and whose audience is now over two-thirds female and over 90% younger than 45. Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, has been... less deft. From Vance doubling down on demeaning childless women and suggesting they should have less voting power, to Trump promising to be women’s “protector,” to, really, just all of the plain ol’ misogyny, it’s not surprising the gender gap isn’t in Trump’s favor.

“You hear important people talking like this, and you say, ‘What the hell?’ You know, ‘People with children should have more votes than people without children.’ What?” laughed Kamarck. “Between Vance and Trump, they are articulating an amazingly old-fashioned notion of women’s role in society,” she added. The shift of young women leftward is not a particularly new trend. Women are regularly more liberal than their male peers, and young people are regularly more liberal than their older counterparts.

[...] She also noted that the research only focuses on women who were ages 18-29 at the time of polling, which means the data reflects the views of multiple generations, rather than the changing attitude of a steady cohort. The overall picture also shows some variance by race: White and Black women under age 50 have especially moved to the left, while Hispanic women have largely stayed the same or even shifted rightward. “But even with the ups and downs, we’ve ended up at a place that’s significantly higher, on a percent level, than it was in 2015,” Saad said. And while young women are shifting left, young men are staying relatively moderate. Sixty-three percent of young women in 2001-2007 had views closer to those of liberals than of conservatives, a figure that jumped to 78% in the 2008-2016 period and then to 87% in the 2017-2024 period. Young men, meanwhile, saw those same figures move from 47% to 57%, and then fall to 50% for the period from 2017 to 2024. The divide is becoming ever clearer as the 2024 election approaches. According to a fall 2024 Harvard Youth Poll, Harris has a 31-point lead over Trump among likely voters under 30 — and when it comes to likely female voters in that age group, Harris leads 70% to 23%. “Brat,” indeed.

[...] Young women, though, are more likely than young men to be involved in liberal-leaning social movements like Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, environmental activism and gun violence prevention. Particularly involved are young women of color, who Kiesa notes have taken on “significant” leadership in activism work.

HuffPost’s Lilli Petersen explores why young women in the USA are shifting leftwards at a historic pace since 2015.

Read the full story at HuffPost.