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16woodsequ · 9 months ago

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Things People Seem to Forget About Steve Rogers (aka the past is complex)

Things in the future didn't happen in a vacuum, and while Steve missed a lot of stuff while he was in the ice, he would have seen the roots of things like the Civil Rights, Women's Rights and even LGBTQ+ Rights movements in his time.

While I'm sure Steve encountered a lot of people expecting certain right-wing behaviours from him, due to his birth year and the things he missed in the ice, this doesn't mean he would act that way—even right out of the ice.

But first lets take a look at the things Steve missed and see what he did in fact know:

The atom bomb. Steve never saw the atomic fallout, but what did he see? Hydra bombs literally being flown to his home city. There is also a possibility that as a specialty team, he learned about the German Nuclear Program during the war. His unit was tied to the Strategic Science Reserve, so I wouldn't be surprised if between that, and Hydra's bomb initiatives, Steve was well aware of the potential of a bomb threat. I doubt Steve has clearance to know about the Manhattan project, and I think he would be horrified to learn about the impact of the atom bomb on Japan (especially since he essentially thwarted the same thing from happening to New York) but majorly powerful bombs would not surprise him.

• The Cold War. Steve may not have experience the Cold War, but he grew up surrounded by the outcome of the First World War after the Communist take over of Russia. The debates surrounding Communism, Socialism, and Capitalism aren't new. Steve would have grown up with them and would probably be familiar with American pro-capitalist, anti-communist rhetoric. But would he agree?

Here's some things we know about Steve: He's an artist, he grew up during the Depression which was heavily mitigated by socialist measures, he grew up poor, he grew up disabled. As an artist Steve would be well aware of the debates between the political movements, and with his background, and the success of Roosevelt's New Deal reforms, it would not surprise me if Steve leaned more towards the Socialist side of the scale.

All this to say: Steve would not be unfamiliar with the tension between Russia and the USA. Especially since even though they were allies during the war, there were already concerns that the USSR wasn't so much 'liberating' the countries they drove Germany out of, as putting them under new management.

Steve would be familiar with the tensions underlying the Cold War, and his background might lead him to have a critical view of some of the pro-Capitalist propaganda that came out during the Cold War. While I don't think Steve would approve of Russia's methods and the ultimate outcome of Communism there, I don't think he would approve of the Red Scare Witch Hunt that happened in the States either.

• Civil Rights Movement. While Steve missed the major changes that occurred during the 50s and 60s, he would not be unfamiliar with movements for equality. Steve would also not be unaware of the inequality that minorities faced in his country.

For example:

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was established in 1909 and is still run today. The NAACP fought and fights against discrimination and advocates for equality.

In the 30s President Roosevelt responded to "to charges that many blacks were the "last hired and first fired," [his administration] instituted changes that enabled people of all races to obtain needed job training and employment. These programs brought public works employment opportunities to African Americans, especially in the North" (Link)

"The first precedent-setting local and state level court cases to desegregate Mexican and African American schooling were decided during [the late 1930s]" (Link)

In 1941 thousands of Black Americans threatened to march on Washington for equal employments rights which pushed Roosevelt to issue an executive order that "opened national defense jobs and other government jobs to all Americans regardless of race, creed, color or national origin." (Link)

The Double Victory or Double V Campaign during the war was an explicit campaign to win the war against fascism in Europe and the war against racism as home.

All this to say, Steve would not be unfamiliar with many of the issues tackled during the Civil Rights Movement of the 50s and 60s.

Not only that, but Steve led a multi-racial special unit during the war during a time of active army segregation. Not only does he have a Black man on his team, but also a Japanese man. This would have most definitely led to backlash from higher command as well as discrimination from other units against Jones and Morita. Steve and the entire Howling Commandos would be explicitly aware of prejudice against two of their members and likely had to fight for them many times.

• Anything space travel. It's true Steve wouldn't know anything about attempts to reach the moon. But there were still several space discoveries he could know about, especially since he and Bucky are clearly interested in scientific discoveries, considering how they went to the Stark Exbo before Bucky shipped out.

Some discoveries:

Hubble's Law: In 1929 Hubble published evidence for an ever expanding universe, and thus provided evidence of the Big Bang theory.

1930: Discovery of Pluto (makes me chuckle to think this is a relatively new discovery for Steve and he wakes up to find it is a dwarf-planet now. You think Millennials are protective of Pluto? I think Steve would be too 😆.)

1937: "the first intimation that most matter in the universe is `dark matter'"

Personally I think Steve would be absolutely amazed by the advances in space travel.

• Women's Rights. Like with Civil Rights, while Steve may have missed the large movements during the 50s and 60s, he was around for the early movements. The 60s movement is called Second Wave Feminism for a reason. This is because there was already many pushes for women equality in Steve's time.

For example:

1920: White women win the right to vote. This means Steve's mother first voted in his lifetime. I feel this alone would make Steve heavily aware of inequality faced by women. (As a side note I feel that Sarah always emphasized voting to Steve since it was such a major development in her lifetime.)

Also in the 20s the Flapper trend rose, along with hemlines. Women's skirts were shorter and they smoked and drank with men. Middle-class and working-class women also worked outside of the home. The 1920s-1930s 'modern' woman is very different from the Victorian vision of a woman in petticoats and skirts.

Early Birth Control movement: Was "initiated by a public health nurse, Margaret Sanger, just as the suffrage drive was nearing its victory. The idea of woman’s right to control her own body, and especially to control her own reproduction and sexuality, added a visionary new dimension to the ideas of women’s emancipation. This movement not only endorsed educating women about existing birth control methods. It also spread the conviction that meaningful freedom for modern women meant they must be able to decide for themselves whether they would become mothers, and when."

1936: A Supreme Court decision declassified birth control information as obscene. Legalised doctor-prescribed contraceptives.

WW2 Watershed: Women serve in the army and work factory jobs. The government establishes universal childcare while women work.

Women also wore pants and form fitting clothes to work in factories. We also see Peggy wearing pants during the last assault on Hydra. While Steve may need to get used to modern fashion, he would already be familiar with the 'morale outrage' over women's clothes in his time, and probably try to manage his surprise in private as well as possible.

• LGBTQ+ Rights. Like with the rest of the equality movements, LGBTQ+ rights movements also started before the late 1900s.

1924: "Society for Human Rights is founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago. The society is the first gay rights organization as well as the oldest documented in America." This organisation was broken up soon after founding due to arrests, but it published "the first American publication for homosexuals, Friendship and Freedom."

In the 1920s and 30s "the gay and lesbian movement started taking shape. Social analysts began rejecting prior medical definitions of "inversion" or "homosexuality" as deviant.

Communities of men and women with same-sex affiliations began to grow in urban areas. Their right to gather in public places such as bars was tenuous, and police raids and harassment were common." (Link)

WW2 Watershed: While many LGBTQ people lived in rural areas or outside 'queer neighbourhoods' the war brought people from all backgrounds together. "As with most young soldiers, many had never left their homes before, and the war provided them an opportunity to find community, camaraderie, and, in some cases, first loves. These new friendships gave gay and lesbian GIs refuge from the hostility that surrounded them and allowed for a distinct subculture to develop within the military."

They still had to hide their identities for fear of persecution and a 'blue discharge', however "Gay and lesbian veterans of World War II became some of the first to fight military discrimination and blue discharges in the years following the war."

It's unclear how much Steve would have known about the gay and lesbian rights movement. But in the comics he has a gay friend Arnie Roth, and there are many meta posts (X X X) about how Steve may have lived in a queer neighbourhood.

And, according to my history professor, gay and lesbian soldiers were often protected by their friends in the army instead of outed. This is not to downplay the discrimination and pain outed veterans faced, but there was a comaraderie and understanding that developed between soldiers that protected many gay soldiers.

• Computer and the internet. The seeds of modern computers began during World War Two. Arguably it began earlier with Ada Lovelace. While technology has changed a lot for Steve, there is a long history of it's development.

Colossus Computer: Kept secret until the 70s, it's unclear if Steve's association with the SSR, Peggy (who was a code breaker before SSR) and Howard, would have led him to know anything about the "the world's first programmable, electronic, digital computer", but we see electric screens and machines being used in Captain America: The First Avenger. So he would know something of those mechanisms.

Also the first American TV was broadcasted in the 1939 World Fair, And since Steve and Bucky are already shown going to a science fair, I believe it is reasonable for Steve to know about the concept of television, though it looks much different in modern day.

• Rise of Neo-Nazis. Steve already saw the rise of fascism in his own country before the war, so while I think he would be horrified and saddened to learn of the Neo-Nazi movement, I don't think he would be surprised.

Because:

Eugenics: A large part of the Nazi campaign, this part of the movement originated and was inspired by the United States Eugenics movement. "It is important to appreciate that within the U.S. and European scientific communities these ideas were not fringe but widely held and taught in universities."

Lobotomies and institutionalisations were part of the treatments for disabled and 'weak-minded' individuals during Steve's time. With Sarah being a nurse it is likely Steve knew of these treatments and more. And as a disabled child of immigrants, I have no doubts Steve brushed up with eugenics beliefs many times.

1939: More than 20,000 people attended a Nazi rally in Madison Square while "[a]bout 100,000 anti-Nazi protesters gathered around the arena in protest".

In the comics Steve canonically has a Jewish friend, Arnie Roth. If he wasn't part of the protests against the Nazi rally, he would have heard about it and known about the rise of antisemitic sentiment in the US before the outbreak of the war.

So Where Does That Leave Us?

Steve has a history of anti-racist behaviour. While he would still have a lot to learn from the Civil Rights Movement and no doubt has unconscious biases he grew up with, he also explicitly builds a multi-racial team that would have led to clashes with systemic racism in the army. This would have inevitably led to him and the Howling Commandos taking an anti-racist stance in protection of their members.

Would Steve say the N-word? Likely not. The N-Word already held negative connotations by the 19th and early-20th century. I doubt Jones would be willing to follow a man who would knowing use the insult. 'Coloured' or 'Negro' were seen as the more acceptable terms. So Steve may use those words at first, instead of 'Black' or 'African-American'. 'Negro' is a controversial term for some Black Americans, so this would be something for him to learn, but he would not purposely by insulting or hurtful. And I believe he would adapt as quickly as possible upon learning.

Steve saw the early steps of many social movements. Given what we know about Steve—artist, disabled, immigrant, poor, raised by a single mom, gay and Jewish friend, potentially lived around queer people, worked with Peggy and smiled when she punched a sexiest, and built a multi-racial team—Steve would not only be aware of the social movements of his time, but he would be happy to learn of the developments after he went into the ice.

While it would take some time for him to learn all the changes that happened, Steve's background would led him to be pleased with the changes in society. This is the opposite of being racist, sexist, and homophobic. Some things might take some adjusting for Steve to get used to, but he is already open-minded and has a frame of reference for many of the social changes that happened.

People sometimes bring up Steve's Catholic upbringing to argue about some beliefs he might have. But while I do think this upbringing would lead to some biases, I think Steve's life experience helped counter, or helped him unlearn some of those biases, even before he hit the ice.

Also, as an Irish-Catholic, Steve would have faced some discrimination of his own. It is most certainly not on the same level as other minorities, and things were better in the 20th century. Being very clear, any discrimination Steve faced for being Irish-Catholic would not be systemic or commonplace like racism. But adding his heritage to the rest of Steve's background helps give us a better idea of why he was already open to social movements like the Civil Rights movement before the ice. And it may have made him already more understanding of LGBTQ+ people, who he may have lived around, even if he grew up being taught certain biases.

Other Things We Forget About Steve

He is quite tech-savvy. While Steve would have a lot to learn, we know he is capable. There are a lot of jokes about his technical know-how in Avengers, but I think he's actually managing very well considering it's probably only been a few weeks or months since he came out of the ice.

Examples:

Deleted scene where we see Steve using a laptop in his apartment. He presses the spacebar to pause a video, which is a keyboard shortcut. So not only can he set up a laptop to watch a video, but he already knows key shortcuts.

Deleted scene where waitress mentions 'wireless'. Steve is confused and thinks she means radio. But I think he actually knows about wi-fi at this point, but probably had never heard it referred to as 'wireless' before. By this point he knows radio is not as common, so his real confusion is why the waitress is offering him 'free radio'. If she had said free wi-fi (the more typical phrase in my opinion) I think he would have understood.

Canon scene of Steve helping Tony fix the Helicarrier engines. This is my favourite evidence because Tony asks Steve to look at the relays and Steve makes a quip that they 'seem to run on some sort of electricity' indicating he is out of his depth. But we never see Tony tell Steve what to do. Steve figures out how to fix the relays himself. Tony is busy with the debris in the rotors and the next thing we see is Steve telling Tony the relays are all good.

Steve is much better at adapting and figuring out technology than we give him credit for. This doesn't mean he won't be anxious or uncomfortable with the sheer amount of stuff he has to learn (especially if everyone keeps making jokes about it to him). But by 2014, it's clear he's already mastered all of it, which is amazing when you think about it, because that's only two years of learning.

Steve is very book smart. In the comics Steve goes to art college, implying he finished high school. Even if he did drop out of high school to work, we know Steve is very smart.

We see him unloading a whole suitcase of books in the barracks before he got the serum.

The mental math is must take to throw the shield at the right angles for it to bounce back is insane.

Steve is also known as a master tactician. So it is clear he has the brains and smarts to run his team during the war. Not only that, but he is not just Captain in name. He actually has that rank, which means he passed the Captain's exam. I also have a feeling he would have needed to pass some kind of evaluation to get the serum in the first place.

We see in Steve's 2014 apartment that his bookshelves are full of history books. Steve is a veracious reader and spends a lot of his time catching up on what he missed. Things he didn't learn or were taught differently growing up would definitely exist, but Steve is actively working to counter that.

Steve would swear. Swearing has been a constant throughout all of history. So too, the backlash against profanity. Even if Steve grew up being told not to swear he would have heard it. And, Steve became a soldier. If he didn't swear before the war, he most definitely picked up some of it then.

I think Captain America isn't supposed to swear, and I think Steve would be aware of this perception of the symbol of him. But I think when Steve is comfortable with people, he would swear. We see in Avengers he doesn't swear, but in Avengers: Age of Ultron, he does.

We joke about Steve and the "Language" line, but I think that line has something to do with Steve's history of being perceived as a symbol and as Captain America since he said it 'just slipped out'. So, while Steve may have been encouraged not to swear growing up, and expected not to swear as Captain America, I fully believe that soldier, veteran, and Irish man Steve Rogers does swear.

Wrap up

I hope you liked this deep dive into Steve's history and character.

I think it can be easy to take the past as a lump sum and view everyone in the past through one lens. We know the past was racist, sexist, and homophobic, so we view everyone from the past that way.

And while it's true things were different back then, people were most definitely fighting for change and aware of the issues. There is also a lot of nuance to the past, and a lot that can be gleaned from what we know about Steve.

It's true that Steve would have a lot to learn when it comes to terminology and specific technology, but I believe Steve's background would prepare him for a lot of the social changes that happened after he went into the ice.

#steve rogers #meta #deep dive #long post #captain america #historically accurate #research #sources cited #early 20th century #20th century history #20th century #social movements #marvel #mcu #please don't tag the other post #no drama please #iykyk #historically accurate steve rogers

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onepiece-polls · 6 months ago

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One Piece Crack Ship War - Round 2 Side A

KingSan edit made by @fivedayslater

Propaganda under the cut.

GramJam:

To me Kureha wouldn't mind Brook's unique style of flirting in fact she'd probably respond with some (shameless) flirting back. And seeing how flustered he became with Shaky simply responding to his question Kureha would cause his heart to leap out of his chest. (Although he doesn't have a heart Yohohohoho) Kureha is a doctor so walking talking skeleton would likely intrigue her, she would want to study Brook. Brook would actually be the younger one in this relationship. Picturing Chopper's horrified expression as he witnesses his crewmate and his teacher/mom flirt with each other brings me immense joy.

Listen... there is no base for them. I heard about it at one point I think in a crack ship forum that does not exist anymore. Beside the fact that they are both really cool old people, I feel like Doctorine would appreciate a boney boyfriend. She really deserves a younger boy toy that can keep her entertained (she is 141, Brook is 90 like... that is pretty big scandalous age gap too ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ). As for Brook he would be (of course) scared of her but she is like Choppers grand-/ma and he is obviously Choopers new Grandpa so that is a no-brainer. Seriously though since they are both not the youngest anymore Kureha lived throught the same time as Brook did while he was still alive. They can connect on a level that might be hard otherwise. Also can you imagine them just crashing any party together? Just look at the graphic that I put so much time into and tell me that they are not perfect.

KingSan: I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who ships this but also I'm right. Both part of escaped science experiments with weird ass genes club.

#One Piece #op crack ship war #dr kureha #soul king brook #king the wildfire #black leg sanji #tournament poll #round 2 #side a

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scientia-rex · 8 months ago

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Dr Kristophine, hi. I have sensory issues and have very limited ways to eat veg: paprika and cabbage in sweet and sour pork stir fry, spinach cooked in butter or cream or bacon fat, carrots boiled to soft and flavourless. I'm not big into whole fruit, more of a smoothie person. Are these enough for nutrients? Am I making the stuff I do eat useless? People tell me blending fruit makes it useless because I crush up all the fibre, and the way I cook my veg boils all the nutrients out/the 'unhealthy' stuff cancels out the good. Is this orthorexic propaganda or do they have a point?

"crush up all the fiber" jesus Christ tell them to get a life and leave yours alone. I recommend Citrucel on the daily, and I can only imagine how horrified they'd be by the idea of processing fiber enough to make that kind of supplement out of it. You're eating, and you're eating plants. Modern science is really bad at knowing what any given individual person should be eating. Anyone who isn't a NASA-level nutritionist isn't qualified to be giving you advice. Orthorexia sounds a lot more likely.

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misrepresentedmorallygrey · 1 year ago

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PROPAGANDA

Rose Quartz Propaganda

"We saw her character arc in reverse!! We first saw all the good she did and then learned of her terrible actions in the past. If her story was told the other way around, it would have been a great redemption arc. Yes, she did some terrible things, but she had no choice. She did everything she could to stop the colonization of earth peacefully buy nothing worked. Blue and yellow diamond just didn't listen to her and when they did, THEY were the ones who made the zoo and shit. Rose wanted to free them but couldn't get to them after the war! And with the corruption, there's no way she could have known that'd happen. There's so many things she wanted to do but just couldn't. And with spinel, yes it was shitty to leave her alone for so long, but again, between running her court, running the rebellion, dealing with earth, she likely wasn't a very high priority and like with the zoo, there was no way to get to her after the war since the galaxy warp was destroyed. And don't forget, she was practically a child around this time. You're saying you didn't do any stupid, selfish, or harmful things as a kid? She learned from her experiences and grew, we just saw that growth in reverse, leaving us as viewers with a poor perception of her."

"Rose Quartz is Steven Universe’s dead mom. Initially, she’s set up as sort of an ethereal perfect figure who everyone misses and compares him to. Later we get to see more of her backstory and discover that she’s actually like, a person, with flaws, who has done some bad things, but she did those bad things largely in the course of trying to escape an abusive home life and save the people and planet that she fell in love with. It’s very clear that despite her flaws she was trying to do the right thing and that she deeply cared about others. Unfortunately, a woman who was not a Perfect Martyr was way too much for the Steven Universe fandom to handle. She pretty much set off the wave of SU crit blogs because these people were furious either that she had taken violent measures to solve her problems, that she hadn’t taken violent enough measures to solve her problems, or both somehow. Lots of “Why didn’t she just murder her abusive parental figures?” Lots of “She was evil for having a baby even though she knew she’d die in childbirth!” Lots of “She should’ve been able to protect everyone from a magic nuclear weapon with the power of love somehow.” Lots of “She shouldn’t have rebelled (even though not rebelling would’ve meant the destruction of Earth) because her abusers retaliated and that’s her fault.” LOTS of people drawing her as stick thin even though she was fat in the show. People treated her like she was on the same level or even worse than her abusive parental figures who were also the main villains of the show. It was unbearable to witness."

Mahiru Propaganda

"They got unfairly voted guilty in the first round and keeps getting blamed She never meant to hurt anyone and the only reason she did was cause she couldn’t read social ques"

"Mahiru Shiina is the most traditionally feminine character in Milgram, and she’s very in love with the idea of love. That makes her an easy fandom target. In Milgram, we are introduced to ten murderers. It quickly becomes apparent that not all of these murders are conventional. By the time we are introduced to Mahiru, we already know most of these unconventional murderers. Mahiru’s first music video depicts her going on various dates with her boyfriend, even though he is not shown in the frame. At the end of the video, Mahiru wakes up, turns to the camera, and has a horrified expression. Whatever happened, she didn’t want it to happen. And then a lot of the fandom accused her of being a stalker. Was that what got her a 55% guilty/unforgiven vote? I don’t know. I wasn’t there. But she heard what the fandom said. She heard these voices saying she couldn’t be forgiven. Saying that she was a stalker or that she didn’t really love her boyfriend, even though that wasn’t true. She was beaten to near-death by Kotoko, a vigilante who was forgiven by 67%. Fuuta, who also sustained serious injuries from Kotoko, calls out the audience surrogate, saying what we did with our verdicts would have made us the same as him if Mahiru had died. And yet Mahiru doesn’t blame either us or Kotoko. Mahiru’s second music video shows that she was indeed in a proper relationship with her boyfriend. She smothered him with her love. The video slowly revealed the toxicity in their relationship. She asked why she can’t do anything right. The fandom perception was better in that she was safely voted innocent/forgiven. Still, there are issues. Some infantilize her or say that she’s delusional. Yes, she had a sheltered upbringing and has difficulties reading social cues, but that doesn’t take away her agency. On the flip side, some have theorized that she kidnapped her boyfriend and wasn’t in a proper relationship with him. (Not sure what to say about that, but this is a series about sympathetic murderers.)"

#semi finals #females fucked over tournament #steven universe #milgram #rose quartz #mahiru shiina

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walks-the-ages · 2 months ago

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"*scoffs* "There's no propoganda in Transformers One, what are you talking about? It's not that deep! Megatron is totally a villain; he's not justified in any way for killing Sentinel, and it fact it's bad that he killed him. TFOne has no propoganda in it at all except as toy advertisement!"

The "unjustified villain" in question, in one of his evilest moments after he's gone "fully evil" according to this "propoganda-free movie" :

[ID: A screenshot from Transformers One, showing Megatron standing on an arch over a cheering crowd of hundreds of bots, both of his arms raised in the air as the people gleefully cheer him on, shouting "Rise up!" to the crowd of formely-enslaved workers. End ID]

If you think a movie that is literally doing textbook propaganda "can't possibly have propaganda in it because its for kids" ..... idk what to tell you except that's not how that works, and is, in fact, how propaganda itself works.

If you can acknowledge the deep-seated problem with Marvel movies and shows having their villain be "People who want to make the world a better place and do so with Clear Leftist Politics like Inclusivity, Diversity, and Mutual Aid like Arthur Harrow in Moon Knight with his Walkable Neighborhood, Safe Space and Vegan-Friendly Multicultural food nights.... and he also Wants To Kill Babies and Little Old Ladies",

but you refuse to see this level of propaganda when its staring you in the face and shouting in your face what the message is??

Like, why are you even trying to argue with anyone if you can see the message in the movie but still deny and complain that people are going to be on Megatron's side because Orion is trying to maintain the status quo and that the movie is upholding the divine right of kings? When that's literally what it's doing?

Like, it's perfectly fine for Orion and Bumblebee to go around violently slaughtering guards, because just like in Marvel, the little guys don't matter, you can throw those grunts out of five story buildings or slam them through concrete walls all you want, or chop them in half and stab them through the head with a knife-hand on screen as long as you're framed as being either cool or silly and excitable while doing it:

no one will bat an eye and will in fact find you slicing someone in half vertically amusing and light hearted!

but if someone wants to kill the Big Bad Himself?

The literal Baby-Maimer In Chief ?

Oh, no, suddenly, you can't do that!

That's what villains do! Only evil, corrupt, power-hungry people go after the literal fascist dictator who's kept everyone as slaves for their entire lives! /sarcasm

Megatron is one of the only characters in this film voiced by a Black person. He is an enslaved worker finding out the truth and leading a rebellion against a fascist dictator, and when he successfully kills that dictator (despite the best efforts of his so-called friends), and when he wants to tear down the monuments to this Fascist Dictator Baby Maimer in Chief, he's described as "wanting to kill everyone".

Like. Okay. So Bumblebee can go around deliberately terrorizing people and destroying important infrastructure for funsies because he's on a power trip from killing half a dozen guards,

but the second Megatron, who has just killed the Slaver Baby Maimer In Chief wants to destroy the monuments to that fascist?

Oh, suddenly, this is horrifying and destorying the city and 'going to kill everyone!'

As though this is not a clear and direct parallel to monuments to racist, slave-owning "war heroes" in the south being torn down by activists, and the framing of such action as being terror attacks and "wanting to destory the city and their heritage" ?

Yeah, Megatron shooting the monument to a fascist dictator causes stuff to fall and make random bystanders flee in terror...... because it has to, because that is part of the propaganda that tearing down monuments to fascists makes you just as bad or worse than the fascists.

Optimus even flat out says the above in the movie:

We were given the power to change our world, and you chose to destroy it. Just like Sentinel

Optimus literally, flat out, explicitly says that Megatron is just as bad as Sentinel Prime, because Megatron

killed the fascist slaver dictator in question in one-on-one combat no less, just minutes after Sentinel got done branding him like a slave

wants to tear down the monuments to said dictator.

Yeah, sure, Megatron shot Optimus........only because Optimus literally jumped in front of the bullet meant for the Literal Fascist Dictator.

If Orion hadn't of done that, and simply let Megatron kill the Literal Fascist Dictator like Orion and Bumblebee were going around killing guards left right and center, they would never have split factions, or caused a ~civil war~ or had The Divine Right Of Kings choose a new Godly Appointed Dictator of the Entire Planet.

They would have simply started a rebellion and succeeded, and could have rebuilt Cybertron together, for all.

Instead, Optimus decided to jump in front of a bullet to save a Fascist.

And we're supposed to see this action as heroic and for the Greater Good, because while it's apparently perfectly fine to go around killing lowly nobodies (nameless guards), it's the Ultimate Evil to kill Fascist Dictators. 🤦

Oh, and for anyone who missed it, everyone was cheering on Megatron for killing Sentinel Prime.

Everyone except for the three protagonists.

The entire enslaved-miner, noble, and working classes of Cybertron was united in their hatred and loathing of Sentinel Prime and were united in their newfound freedom from a fascist dictator...

... except the heroes of the story, who are terrified and dismayed to see their fellow workers cheering

"Rise Up! Rise Up! Rise Up!"

And, of course, our heroes are rewarded for their Hard Work of Stopping A New Evil Dictator by.......

becoming the new Godly Appointed Rulers of the entire planet with no one else having any say whatsoever in this decision:

The people of Cybertron chose Megatron as their leader, for leading them to freedom and killing the man who kept them enslaved and mutilated them before they were even alive.

The Divine Right of Kings said "no", and instead forced them by Divine Will to have a new leader who thinks that, actually, killing fascists is bad when other people do it, and only they themselves are allowed to go around indescriminately slaughtering people they view as dangerous.

Hey. Do you see any real-world parallels in the messaging and all here?

Does "The people choose one thing and a system designed to take choice away from the people takes that choice away from the people" ring any bells?

Does "It's okay for US to go around killing Nameless Evil People Who Are Evil but if you try to go after A Literal Fascist Dictator, you're actually the real terrorist and you're secretly a dictator here" ring any bells??

anyways as a parting shot I'll just leave you this.

Meanwhile, 5 minutes earlier...

*Brutally eviscerates a bunch of guards, laughs about it while joking about brutally killing some more guards, then abandons D-16 to fight Sentinel Prime on his own without a thought*

#tfone spoilers #tf spoilers #no id #long post #transformers one spoilers #transformers one #Hey guys do you think the movie that cost 147 million dollars to make might have some messages baked into it?#Like guys you didn't have to keep Megatron's origin story the same as the comics. This is not a requirement.#Why are you in 2024 making a movie where the villains origin story is that he's a slave fighting for freedom #and is evil for killing a dictator and tearing down monuments to slavers?#oh wait we know the answer

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lynxindisguise · 2 months ago

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Obviously Project 2025 and the attack on women and members of the LGBTQ+ community is absolutely horrifying and very much real, no matter how much Trump has tried to distance himself from it.

But I want to talk about what's in the Republican Party's actual plan, because these are probably the things that will happen first, and it may also be helpful in terms of speaking to conservative relatives (especially the ones who are not fully gone far-right MAGA worshippers and are, instead, confused as to why everyone is so upset) about what exactly they voted for.

Mass deportations. This is the main platform he ran on. On a human level, this is horrifying, and it's going to cause unthinkable and unconscionable suffering. Maybe it'd be helpful to discuss how immigrants (including privileged white legal immigrants) pay taxes, can't vote, don't have access to benefits, and cannot risk committing even minor crimes for fear of deportation. Maybe it wouldn't. So. On an inhuman level, this is very expensive and a massive waste of resources. If you can't get people to give a shit about other human beings, you can at the very least ask how these deportations are not going to detract resources and attention away from the 'American needs' they keep harping on about.

Getting rid of all environmental regulations and AI regulations and amping up use of coal and oil. This is devastating for the entire world in the fight against climate change. I think this is how Trump means to reduce inflation, though his entire 'reduce taxes and reduce inflation' plan is so incredibly vague. At best, it's more trickle down theory bullshit.

Reducing American involvement in foreign conflicts. This sounds really great, actually. And yet. No foreign conflicts are specified—except for strengthening support to Israel. So. It would seem that the US is becoming even more involved in genocide, and most likely less involved in aiding Ukraine.

Improving the American education system. Hilariously, Trump's solution to a failing education system is to get rid of the Department of Education and leave everything up to the states? When you read on, it becomes clear that this is so schools can teach exclusively American history—and a very specific, propagandized version of it at that.

He mentions wanting to build a DOME MISSILE DEFENSE SHIELD around the US? Why is no one talking about this? This is formally written down. What the fuck does that mean?

He also talks about REDUCING censorship and protecting freedom of speech. In the coming years, I would ask your conservative relatives to hold him to that.

They also promised affordable housing, college, and healthcare. There's no plan for how the fuck they're going to do this while decreasing taxes, but I'd tell your conservative relatives to hold him to that as well.

The whole plan is here if you feel like reading the word 'great' 800 times. If you don't want propaganized idiots telling you you've fallen for the 'leftist propaganda,' come armed with indisputable facts of what the Republican Party has said they will do.

#us politics

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harleyxhoward · 3 months ago

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Analyzing The Abilities of Characters From The Boys

-Le Finale-

🇺🇸Homelander🇺🇸

Thank you to everyone who sat by and waited for this grand finale, it truly means a lot to me! You’re the heroes, truly! I added Superman by Ivory Layne because I associate it with America’s #1 Supe, plus I wanted to plug one of my all time favorite 2010s throwbacks.

I think Homelander’s “Evil Superman” pitch is definitely the main draw of the franchise, but I wish he wasn’t always shackled to that identity. He acts as an introspective analysis of the true evil of corruption on a radical/political level. I mean, the man was birthed in a lab and raised on straight looping American nationalist propaganda. He was essentially being hypnotized by Vought to be an All-American boy, and yet he turned out exactly like America itself; overpowered, inescapable, and caked in far too much makeup.

Homelander/John’s wide range of abilities stems directly from the versatile torture methods Vought used on him in infancy in order to rig the results of the V and produce the most amount of abilities. For example, my assumption is they would drop him, along with other flying Supes, from high places, and if they managed to float for survival they would grow up to be able to fly at dazzling speeds. This is based on the number of trials he endured, such as the oven he would be placed in for hours on end. He’s now invulnerable, but he had to quite literally be forged through flame to be so.

In addition to his range of abilities, the episode of Diabolical that depicts Black Noir feeding him his lesson on optics makes his inability to swiftly dispose of those who show no fear all the more reasonable. When he’s viewed as the monster he’s always been seen as (the whole “you ripped out of your mother and beamed through the bodies of the doctors in the room while flying like a scene from the exorcist” thing) he’s incentivized to be what they expect of him, almost like how he was taught to be what the masses wanted from him. The careful crafting and hardwiring of a monster stays, even though he’s subverting Vought’s benevolent persona.

When a character shows indifference or truly just a lack of terror, he spares them, deeply yearning for genuine human connection with an individual who doesn’t recoil from his advance. Whether it was Madeline, Stormfront, or Maeve, they all proved themselves to be fierce women who he had difficulty letting go of. Madeline in particular managed to survive up until the exact moment she admitted her fear of him, to which he incinerated through her skull with his laser vision.

Even when analyzing how he spares Hughie, Butcher, Annie, or the rest of The Boys, Homelander has ample opportunities to fly over and murder them all. He could kill them all in broad daylight and get away with it, but whether he’s consciously aware of it or not, he fully needs humans on this planet who know the truth about him and refuse to be afraid. The alternative would be too boring, and as I could imagine, horrifying. He doesn’t want to be a king, we see into his psyche too frequently to know he hates himself. He truly hates what he sees in the mirror, and masks it with a veneer of egotism until he eventually breaks down again. He wants people unafraid to challenge him, otherwise he would have used one of his several powers to slaughter The Boys ages ago. You may call it plot armor, but I think John needs someone to go blow for blow with. Butcherlander

John never had the chance to be human. He was directed how to be a god, and given the power to match. While every part of me sees him as the monster he is, rape and murder included, I almost feel like killing him wouldn’t be the karmic serve fans think it would be. I agree with the sentiment that he should be stripped of his power and condemned to live an average human life without access to Compound V (I like to imagine they’ll just blow up Vought tower in the finale, but we’ll see). His scenes with Ryan almost make me believe that he wants to be human, but he can never do that as the supervillain he is today. Maybe if he could try out being a human, he wouldn’t have to try and escape his humanity.

#the boys #the boys season 4 #homelander #antony starr

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aryas-faces · 5 months ago

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Ranking Season 2 Episodes

1) Episode 4: The Red Dragon and the Gold

The only episode I came away from thinking, “That was amazing.” This episode is Aegon’s arc to this point coming to a head; his council is making decisions and corresponding to each other without including him, everyone humiliating him and being callous to his emotions, and when he speaks to Alicent, she double downs what everyone else says: Aegon is useless and will never be a good King so let her and the council be in charge. And this sends Aegon spiraling; so he desperately tries to prove himself and gets betrayed by the person he trusts the most in the world: his younger brother. It is an incredible character arc, the best of the season, and to be honest, I think it elevates the book which says Aegon is fearful, feeling vulnerable, and in over his head, the one part if the show that really expands on the book. I know that some people don’t like what this episode does with Aemond, I don’t mind it. Aemond is a psychopath in the book, and it’s kinda vague if he meant to hurt Aegon or not. The build up to the battle is incredible and emotional and I love how it focuses just on Aegon and Rhaenys and their dragons, the victims of the battle. The battle itself is intense: I was full body shaking during it. The aftermath is also horrifying, seeing the horrors a dragon is capable of. The only down side of this episode is that they try to give Rhaenyra a divine reason to go to war to sanitize her

2) Episode 1: A Son for a Son

Blood and Cheese ruined what otherwise is a good episode. Aegon is hilarious in this episode, Rhaenyra looking for Lucerys’ remains was heartbreaking and than terrifying when she returned to her council looking crazed and wanting blood to spill because of this with villain music behind her (back when I still had hope we were getting book Rhaenyra.) but of course, B&C being ruined puts a stain on the episode

3) Episode 2: Rhaenyra the Cruel

Oh the title of this. The sarcasm/propaganda of it told me we were never getting book Rhaenyra, especially with how she reacts to Blood and Cheese in sadness. I hate the propaganda angle they took with B&C when it really was because of Rhaenyra and Daemon. However, the acting of the Greens this episode is the all around best acting all season. Rhys is cold and calculating and manipulative. Phia is horrified and devastated. Olivia is depressed and guilty. And this is just straight up Tom’s Emmy episode. His rage and grief and despair is so real

4) Episode 7: The Red Sowing

The public shaming of Daemon is enough to make this the best of the Black episodes. Maybe I’m weird, but in isolation, I love the Alicent in the lake scene. It was artsy. Aegon trying to recover is so heartbreaking and his pain is so visceral. The sowing is straight out of a horror movie. The seeds for Rhaenyra the Cruel have planted in this episode, now they need to go through with it (I doubt they will)

5) Episode 3: The Burning Mill

The Green council scene is great, everything with Aegon is great (as usual. he’s the only consistent great this season). I love the shot of him looking in the mirror and half his face is in the dark, foreshadowing his fate. I like Baela hunting the Green army, it’s intense. However, the Septa Rhaenyra scene is GOT season 7 level bad. At least Alicent told her to go fuck off

6) Episode 6: Smallfolk

Why are the smallfolk starving? Why are they blaming Aegon when in ep 1 he was trying to help? Why are they saint-ifying Rhaenyra when she’s the reason they’re starving? Why are they attacking Alicent and Helaena when they’re supposed to be beloved? Why are Rhaenyra and Mysaria kissing when they barely have a bond? At least we get great scenes of Aegon, and Alicent being gentle with his body as she cries and says sorry

7) Episode 5: Regent

WHY IS DAEMON MAKING OUT WITH HIS MOM?! Why is Alicent having a panic attack about not being Regent and not Aegon? Why are they focusing on the Blacks when the Greens have so much more plot and character potential with post Rook’s Rest? I love the sad, heroic, tragic music they played behind Aegon being brought back, and his “mummy” was soul crushing and stole the episode

8) Episode 8

I’m not calling it the queen who ever was. What a shit show. Sexually humiliating Aegon (and putting Tom in uncomfortable situations), the stupid flash forwards with Daemon, “Winter is Coming” gave me visceral cringe (they better not make it so that it’s the Stark words because Rhaenyra said it to them, they better fucking not). The character assassination of Alicent is one of the worst I’ve ever seen. The only good is Tom still putting his heart and soul into Aegon even when saying lines designed humiliate him. And Criston’s lines about dragon battle

#house of the dragon #team green #aegon ii targaryen #anti team black #alicent hightower #anti ryan condal #anti hotd #anti rhaenyra targaryen #a song of ice and fire

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emptyjunior · 7 months ago

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On one level a dune video game sounds absolutely egregious, taking a story about colonialism, religious propaganda and imperial power imposing upon any nations they want for resources and making it like "Click A to design your own Prophet" is horrifying, but in another way it's also unbelievably funny.

Yeah I guess what if you and your buddies could ride that worm that's explicitly a cultural artform and practice. What if you saw Arrakis as a dangerous sand place to host an MMO. What if you treated every person you meet as an ally or enemy divided into neat understandable factions that you could push and pull at your whim. What if you just started stacking on bene gesserit, mentat, warrior achievements like they're power ups.

You know what that sounds like, sounds like Paul Muad'dib Atreides, they get the book more than anyone else Ever has.

You tell me if I got high with Frank Herbert we wouldn't start theorizing what if Paul was born a girl and fucked feyd rautha??? This game understands the book completely

#the goal of this post is to make it extremely unclear to you whether i will or will not play the game #keep em guessing #zag on em #dune #dune awakening #video games

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love-ardour-anarchism · 25 days ago

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The idea that vengeance and fighting back against evil with violent means makes one "just as bad" is so easily retorted because its most often just instrumentalized to justify passivity and acceptance of an evil status quo.

Sometimes inaction is far more evil than to fight back with flawed means.

And the real link between the idea that violent means and vengeance make one "just as evil" and the idea that inaction can be just as horrible is this: What "evil" really is is dehumanization. It SHOULD appall and horrify us to enact violence and hurt or even kill our fellow humans. An organized effort to fight, hurt and kill other human beings like in a war is only possible by teaching people to dehumanize those they fight, hurt and kill in battle. This starts with the baseline of nationalist propaganda depicting the cultural and national "other" as lesser, as violent, as something not to be reasoned with and as the original transgressor. The "other" is the enemy, the enemy is not to be reasoned with. This culture of dehumanization reaches horrifying new levels in war and in the military.

Human beings are turned into tools of war by mass movements and they fight, hurt and kill their fellow human beings who were turned into just the same by a different mass movement.

Of course some mass movements are formed with ideologies in mind that are inherently evil but in order to fight against those other mass movements are formed and they ALSO need tools of war.

It isn't evil to fight evil with violent means. It doesn't make you "just as bad". But in order to do these things, in order to fight, hurt and kill our fellow human beings, even in self defense, and not psychologically break oneself one has to trick the human psyche into not realizing the extent of ones own transgression against human life.

And by doing that one lowers progressively ones own hestitance to fight, hurt and kill our fellow human beings.

The toll of war is dehumanization and it is not coincidental that so many people who believe in dehumanizing ideologies are those who most readily join military organizations while those who believe in humanity are hesitant to.

And it is also not coincidental that war veterans so often suffer horrible psychological trauma if they survive.

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unluckyservice4 · 4 months ago

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Out of curiosity, what are the other remnants of despair like in your universe?

Oh, uh. Hmm...good question. I don't....really socialize with most of them these days for reasons, but uh...

Sonia's in Novaselic committing global domination and colonialism. She's one of the Big Three. The remnants who hoard power over the entire globe, minus Junko herself. Gundam's usually with her, or at least aligned with her. Last I heard he was in the Americas stampeding and ruining their cities. They don't really need the help tbh after the cults took over.

Imposter's in the states too, they're considered one of the other Big Three, they're impersonating some important governmental figure, though I'm not sure who. They're a big reason why the cults got out of hand and run a huge faction in that area, at least that's what I last heard. I dunno the state of that location so they might've moved on.

Fuyuhiko's got most of southeast asia, pretty much this whole place is his Territory, though Towa's a provence under it's own power. That's part of the deal Towa made with the Remnants after all. He also doesn't have much control over where sections like the Future Foundation and other such corperations have settled. FF's got it's tendrils riddling all throughout everyone's territories, so far they've set up a kind of hit and run strategy of coming to a place, outfitting people with supplies and weapons and then dipping, when they aren't trying to go into all out mini wars with one of us. They've mostly been Fuyuhiko's headache since the lions share of their force is in Japan, though Sonia and Imposter have to deal with their own headaches, especially Imposter. The next Hope's Peak building was meant to be in the states but now that means Munataka's got connections over there. I hear there's an underground rebellion in New York or something.

Next is the smaller forces, most of us are still in Japan physically but the influence can still reach global. Mahiru's got a radio station, it's surprisingly practical past the propaganda, gives you updates on what we're doing or any public plans and about famous killers-there's like a top ten serial killer hitlist it's...uh. Graphic. Ibuki and Hyoko are doing their concerts, which end in death or brainwashing or spreading more propaganda. Oh, Peko's still with Fuyuhiko, though I hear she might branch out now and again. She's a trained hitman so personally I am......not eager to look too deeply into her exploits.

Akane is........I honestly don't know where she is. She spent some time with Nekomaru's training area-he runs a training area, but it's extremely dangerous and unhealthy. Steroids, extremely dangerous diets and workout routines, he's got a whole subset of cult members who're like, super beefed up and probably ready to burst a blood vessal at any moment. It's.......It's honestly horrifying. Anyway, Akane spent a while with him and then she came out extremely weak and malnourished and yet somehow still a terrifying powerhouse. She wanders around leveling buildings for fun, I think. I think it's for fun. It's...um....it's like getting hit with a natural disaster honestly.

And Teru-ah....Teruteru's in the party business. And by party I mean sex party. And by sex party I mean you get a full course meal that makes you high and then you end up either dying in very horrificly gruesome ways or you end up going crazy and tear each other apart. um. Sometimes in even more disturbing ways than I just described. Don't go to his parties.

OH I almost forgot Souda. Probably because he doesn't actually do much himself, but he's got his machines set up everywhere and if you try to tamper with any of them you're probably going to set off a trap. That's all he does though, his machines are awful, the entire reason the sky's scorched is because of him, but beyond his machines he's actually harmless. All he wants is to bury his head in a project, it's kinda...kinda sad.

I think that's everyone....?

#((I am FINALLY BACK FROM MY ERRANDS was a nice chat.#((oh wow this went on a blurb....some of these ideas I took from a better fic than mine cuz I haven't really developed the remnants #((but this is ROUGHLY want I wanna do with them

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queenvhagar · 6 months ago

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Omg I liked your response about book!Aegon and I’d like to add one point: the book is NEVER afraid to talk about rape and horrifying things that happen to women, but it NEVER explicitly says Aegon rapes anyone. That’s fascinating, don’t you think? Could just be a coincidence, but it’s a very interesting one. Not that groping people is better but there is an argument to be made for book!Aegon actually being a nicer-than-average guy as awful as that is since that makes him just a horny grabby drunk.

Thank you 😌

You think if it actually happened then it would be in the book as someone's account of the history, but even Rhaenyra's court jester Mushroom's unreliable accounts don't say that he outright attacks and overpowers women for his own pleasure. I'm not sure if book!Aegon is necessarily nicer than average, but I suppose that depends on what average we're talking about. Better than Daemon, who most certainly murdered his first wife, groomed his niece for his own political advantage, and had Laenor killed so he could marry her? Probably. Better than an everyday non-royal family man? Maybe not. But book!Aegon is definitely not a violent or sadistic Joffrey or Ramsey type of character that the writers want to suggest he is.

Of course, the writers would justify their decision to add new things to the show and portray Aegon in this specific way as the book purely being a "propaganda" account designed to prop up the Greens and put down Rhaenyra. This whole take doesn't make a lot of sense to me, though. Why does the book include accounts of both sides being terrible if their goal was to slander the Blacks only? You think if it was truly propaganda it would be more heavy-handed and favorable to the Greens than it is.

To me, their whole take of "what if it was all propaganda 🤯" is them thinking they're clever in their interpretation when actually they're undermining the underlying messages and themes of the story by messing with it so much. Additionally, the idea of the official history being written as propaganda and it being some conspiracy of the academics to portray the conflict differently than it actually was shows to me a lack of understanding of how academia and historians usually operate. There's just no way there would be the level of cooperation and coordination among so many different people to just rewrite and lie about history in this context. Not to mention showrunner Ryan Condal was talking about how stuff like the Blood and Cheese of the books was specifically made up by Alicent and relayed to the historians to be the worst possible version of events, basically saying that a lot of this propaganda against Team Black is an Alicent creation. Beyond the whole "not believing women's trauma" thing going on here... you'll see that Alicent never really had the power or access to give anyone any of this information or try to rewrite history. And at the same time, they're writing her as still in love with Rhaenyra and/or desiring reunion with her, so why would she be making up so much stuff against her? It just doesn't really hold up and seems to be more attempts by the writers to make Alicent into a villainous, hypocritical, hated character.

Aegon and Rhaenyra were both flawed in the books, and to be sure, not everything about either person was entirely true in Fire and Blood. But the show is out to make Aegon a degenerate, sadistic, cowardly, pathetic abuser eager for war and bloodshed and Rhaenyra a righteous, brave, just, level-headed savior who exhausted all options for peace before going to war to save the world from the "Song of Ice and Fire" prophecy... They want this story to be an oversimplified morality tale of good vs evil, so they insist that any accounts in the book that conflict with this interpretation are respective "propaganda" to make Aegon look better and Rhaenyra look worse.

Like, I get that Fire and Blood is written as a textbook, but you can't just so freely change the source material without it affecting the quality of the story being told. Imagine any other major adaptation insisting that their source material is false or fake and their version is what really happened. It would just make it obvious that they didn't understand the source material and were trying to justify their own questionable writing choices while at the same time rooting their own horn about how they think they're smarter than the original author.

#asks #hotd critical #anti hotd #tw rape

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