#look this is something of an ideological thing for me ok

[nhaneh]

funny thing is I don't really have any interest in hoarding knowledge or resources for myself in any way, I'm just bad at publishing stuff because I feel like that'd require a bit more stringent quality control than what I might expect of something made largely for my own use.

sometimes I think maybe I should set up something like a google drive or a git or something to just throw my personal- and work-in-progress stuff for people who are interested, but I dunno what limits for space or bandwidth or anything are like.

like I'm sure some people would possibly find the ColorSet unpacker python script useful?? It kinda sucks through and I want to make a better version of it and maybe one that could work as a standalone executable instead? and possibly a packer counterpart to the unpacker?? But also I keep thinking like "would this even be useful to anyone lmao??"

in theory you could probably make some kind of art program plugin that does all of this for you - even the bit with loading actual colorset information into layered colorset pairs, but I mean that's a lot of effort and I still largely use a 20+ year old version of Paint Shop Pro myself so...

[turnedpalefromlackofsun]

some ladies tell me they feel like incels for being attracted to female fictional characters

i live under a rock so i have no idea whats "incel" about having sexual attraction.

isnt that what this is? guilt for finding women sexually attractive? did i reduce that right?

finding females sexually appealing is ok. ive seen that rhetoric ngl. i got harassed once for liking this woman character's boobs by a supposed lesbian. she said its weird to sexualize women and shes a real woman liker because she doesnt objectify them

i dont know wtf that means

youre not sexually attracted to women? the hell does that sentence even mean

too many people using too many words i dont know

and also i cant cleanse your sins. i upgrade my honkai battlesuits based on my boob and jiggle physics tier list.

technically i started with theresa because of that battlsuit where her entire asscheeks are out

yeah idk about the sexuality politics. dont let the pro lgbt fandom activists force you back into the closet. that would be embarrassing.

imagine telling your future girlfriend you didnt date her earlier because you were repressed because the online fandom lgbt told you its sinful and unnatural to be sexually attracted to women but its ok to be lesbian somehow.

imagine trying to explain that. imagine she looks are you and is like "wtf are you talking about. isnt being a lesbian that sexuality where you find women sexually attractive" and then she thinks your iq is too low and leaves you because shes chronically offline and she's never seen this level of cognitive dissonance in her life. and this is when your girlfriend has 6 younger brothers. ex-girlfriend now. imagine that.

dont let it happen. these are my words of encouragement.

[houndsrending]

Ok I've been sitting on illustrations of my oc's from my "sci fi communists fighting a fascist space empire" setting that exists in my head for several months and Im posting them now because they look pretty good actually.

Names and brief Lore Explanations of these guys in order:

Julian Ramirez- Leader of the Cosmoists, the oldest still presently active communist party in the galaxy. In his late 70s, believes that the present conditions arent fit for a revolution and is more focused on spreading communist ideas and getting more party members then trying to actually Launch A Revolution at this time. Born into a rich family and got into communism in his early 20s after starting medical school and seeing the oppression going on on his homeworld, went on the run just after becoming a doctor when the empire sought to arrest him for subversive activities and has been a fugitive ever since.

An Da-Rae- Leader of the Communauts, the largest active communist party. 55 years old, believes that the window of opportunity for revolution is quickly closing due to the empire being in the process of liberalizing and is actively working towards a revolution. Originally a member of the Cosmoists, split the party 18 years ago. When she was 25 the empire destroyed her homeworld and she went on a several year long revenge spree targeting everyone responsible, then discovered communism after finding out about the Cosmoists.

Lin Wei- Leader of the Militancy For The Liberation Of Colonized Worlds, the largest communist party comprised entirely of people from planets the empire is in the process of colonizing. 36 years old, believes the planets the empire is occupying can only be free with its destruction and a revolution is of course necessary to Bring That About. Lin Wei is a alias, and he wears a welding helmet with a voice changer inside to hide his real identity to protect his family from retaliation from the empire.

The Cosmoists dont get along with the Communauts or the Militancy, the Militancy and the Communauts are allies.

[fruitsyrups]

i think your hat post is really cool and interesting but susan’s hat is a cat and i will die on this hill

this is true!!! when i was talking about the modern human hats not resembling animals i meant all of these ones

(excluding the minerva-bots and finn of course)

[v00do-d0ll]

Ok so I have this hc that I want other ppl besides me to see, and if anybody wanted to turn this into a fic; I would be yours because I can’t write for shit

(This also might trigger some people so please proceed with caution.)

(TW: SA )

…

Anyway, I’ve always liked the idea of Bruce protecting his kids as Bruce Wayne, so hear me out.

The batfam are at a gala minus Alfred because I see it being someone else’s gala that they have to attend. The POV would start with Tim and jump to Bruce later but I digress..

So Tim is forever 17 and has just come out as Bi and this is the first gala that he attends after that and some grown man comes up to him and starts hitting on him. The man is being very inappropriate with the things he’s saying and the way he’s touching Tim

And even though Tim is Red Robin; he freezes because he’s also Tim Drake and those ideologies are still ingrained into him to not make a scene. He’s extremely uncomfortable trying to get the man to leave him alone and telling him no.

But the man is not backing down continuing to say things like “ You’re bi, so I know you want it.”, “Don’t be shy. It can be just between you and me” and crowding his space.

And Tim is trying to find a way out. Darting his eyes around looking for his siblings but can’t seem to find them.

As he’s looking around, the man starts walking him back towards the hall. Hands trailing down his stomach getting closer to his inner thigh and he forcibly kisses him. Awareness of what this man is trying to do becomes completely apparent. He tries to push the man away but his body isn’t cooperating with him.

He’s scared.

But then he turns his head and see’s Bruce making his way over to him with the deadliest look he’s ever seen him have on his face but he’s grateful because that’s his dad.. not Brucie, but Bruce, his dad is coming to get him out of this situation.

Then it switches to Bruce’s POV

It starts with Bruce in the middle of the gala crowd talking it up as Brucie Wyane and he decides to look around just to check on his kids

He glances over at Dick and Damien together by the food table

Jason and Steph look like their about to do something they shouldn’t

Dukes talking to another attendant of the gala

Cass is beside him but he’s missing one..

He can’t find Tim..

Alarm bells start ringing in his head and he starts to look for Tim more obviously, turning his head left and right. Cass picking up on his distress but not knowing why

Bruce turns his whole body to the back of the gala room and that’s where he finds Tim being crowded by a member of the gala. His immediate instinct is to go to him but stops himself because he’s trying to learn how to give his kids more freedom, and he knows Tim can handle himself. So he stops for a second and takes in the situation.

But the longer he looks he sees that Tim, his son, is completely frozen. A look on his face that says he needs help but can’t get out the words to ask for it. His eyes are darting around frantically like he’s looking for someone. As he’s about to take a step to go help Tim he freezes because the man is walking him back towards the hall way with his hands inching further and further down his stomach dangerously close to places his hands don’t need to be and forcibly kisses him.

He sees Tim squirming trying to push the man away.

and Bruce realizes this man’s intentions.

Tim, his son, is about to be assaulted. The same thing that happened to himself that he couldn’t get out of.. is about to happen to Tim. And he sees the moment Tim recognizes it to in his eyes.

Bruce wastes no more time, he completely ignores the people he was once in a conversation with as they ask him where he’s going. He’s walking quickly towards his son when they make eye contact, he sees the relief wash over his body.

He reaches the man and grabs him. The man turns his head looking like he’s about to say something but blanches from seeing who it is. He doesn’t get a chance to say anything because as soon as he faces Bruce, He gets punched so hard he falls over. The rest of the gala has frozen because Brucie Wyane is punching some random man for seemingly no reason.

And Bruce keeps going, because for once he was there in time to protect one of his kids. The rest of the batfam comes over trying to forcibly pull Bruce off the man. None of them knowing why Bruce started punching the man but knowing one thing..

There is a reason.

When they finally get Bruce off the man. Bruce instantly turns to Tim hugging his son, holding him. Tim is in shock as Bruce keeps asking him if he’s alright. Tim not responding but looks directly into Bruce’s eyes. The man’s blood on Bruce’s knuckles. The complete look of worry written on Bruce’s face as he holds Tim’s in his hands.

And Tim just.. sinks into his arms and holds on so tight to Bruce because his fathers here. His father saved him. He’s okay, He’ll be okay.

The police get called and the man is taken away and they all go home early. That night though, Bruce goes to Tim’s room to check up on him and talk.

He makes sure Tim is okay and finds Tim blaming himself for not being able to get away.

“I’m Red Robin! I have fought worse people than him and won. But all that was going through my head at the time was Jack and Janet “Don’t make a scene” and I froze. I couldn’t get away, I tried but my body wouldn’t listen. I wanted to call out but my voice closed up and I was looking around to- ”

Bruce interrupts him

“ It’s not your fault, you did what you could. This is not your fault Tim, It’s his fault for forcing himself on you. I’ve been there, I know how you feel. it’ll be okay. I promise, I’m right here.”

Tim looks at Bruce because he didn’t know that

“You’ve been.. who?”

Bruce just looks at him. He’s doesn’t need to say anything because he knows Tim will understand anyway. He’s smart like that.

“oh.. Does that mean- ”

Bruce cuts him off again

“Yes, but it was a long time ago, you don’t need to know because I’m okay now. And I want you to know I understand. But can we just keep this between us? No one else needs to know about that, especially Damien.”

“Yea B. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“Me too, but at least I got Damien from it, and I love him just as much as I love you. You are both my children and I would do anything to try to protect you.”

“Thanks B.” He leans in to hug Bruce and they just hold onto each other for a little longer.

“I’ll let you go to sleep chum. Good night Tim” he says as he kisses Tim’s head and ruffles his hair. He heads to the door and turns to look back at Tim

“Goodnight dad.” He says with a small smile

Bruce freezes for a second and sighs with a slight smile on his face. He looks at Tim one last time for the night with all his love for him shining in his eyes and closes the door to go to his room.

By the end of there talk Tim and Bruce are closer than ever because he not only learned something new about Bruce. He now feels more secure in his place in the manor, in the family, as Bruce’s son.



[avelera]

You may have talked about this before, but what's your opinion on Arcane!Machine Herald? Because I've seen him get a lot of hate because he diverges a lot from his original self-made cyborgy lore, but I personally LOVE him to bits. I was kinda worried because Arcane S1 already had lots of mechanical bodymods and an entire race of sentient robots so I was like "ok how is he supposed to be radical compared to that?" and then he engineered himself into a worldending cosmic horror being, i love him

I have no investment in League or its lore so Arcane Machine Herald doesn't have a strong emotional attachment to me one way or the other?

To me, the design emphasizes the magical aspect of the Hexcore taking over Viktor. The one complaint I do understand from League fans and somewhat share is that Viktor's Herald villain arc is a bit muddled with his S1 scientific motivations, to me.

The thing is, to me, Viktor is a scientist, and the Machine Herald and Commune leader stuff is a bit too mystical to me for the Viktor we knew. I have trouble reconciling how he pivoted to that if it was his own choice. That's why I tend to headcanon that the Hexcore was pretty active not just in persuading Viktor to become a Cult Leader, but also for the aesthetics and tone of the cult leader choice, leaning into mage imagery like robes and a staff.

Of course, that robs some agency from the character, which is overall less interesting, but I can't help but feel a true villain arc that was totally self-directed by Viktor would have been a bit more scientific, it would have been more him willfully replacing parts of himself to stay alive.

But as you noted too, that doesn't really work within Arcane, neither does that original Machine Herald motivation. We've got Bolbok on the Council who is basically a robot, we've got Sevika and the entire undercity with tons of metal body modifications. Viktor making it some sort of cause to replace humans with machine parts to cure their imperfections doesn't really work in Arcane as something that's an ideological stand or a philosophy of any kind. It's just day to day life. So from there, I understand leaning more into mysticism as his route for making people "perfect".

Perhaps my... hmm, not point of criticism but simply a personal story squick is that I don't like cults and I don't like the hippy sort of imagery they went for with Cult Leader Viktor, for me the whole vibe was very squicky throughout (which is why I was thoroughly baffled when people ever thought the cult was a good thing, I was silently screaming with discomfort the whole time) and a part of me really struggled to reconcile how S1 Viktor would ever choose to craft a place like this. Like I said, that's why I kind of had to go with the idea, for my own sake, that Viktor on his own wouldn't craft some weird hippy monastery where everyone just works and praises him all day, that this is an element of the Hexcore. That Real Viktor if he could control his own actions and was fully present (rather than half living on the astral plane) would also be horrified.

As for how this lends to the Machine Herald design *shrug* that's also a very "mystical" look to me, it follows from the more magical take on Herald, but it is artistically cool and very alien. Personally, I see it as simply the humanoid form of the Hexcore, its choice for what it will look like, and it's basically just using Viktor as a battery at that point to power itself in turn and to give itself a voice, Viktor is all but wholly subsumed, he didn't design that look, he has been the cocoon for the Hexcore growing inside him, and Ekko + Jayce + Anomaly Future Viktor are needed to rip it off of the real Viktor, who is immediately horrified by all that occurred and, to me, had very little agency throughout while being constantly fed the belief that he did have control. Honestly, I think Viktor was contending with an ancient seed of Void power using him as a vessel and he was hilariously outclassed by something far more ancient and powerful than him using him as an incubator for itself but, again, that's just one possible interpretation.

I know this got a bit off topic but yeah, I agree on some points about how the original Herald stuff just doesn't work in Arcane and the rest is sort of my more general feelings about the Herald and the Herald look.

[bloudercrest]

A RANT

Have you ever been doubting yourself because you either have troubles waiting and being impatient for your manifestations or desires to come? Or have you constantly been looking for validation to see if anything has changed if this is your problem it’s OK because we’ve all been there.

Being impatient

Let’s say for example you have ordered a package from a website like Amazon or whatever etc. you know it’s coming already so you won’t be impatient and checking every second or doubting yourself is it gonna come because you know it’s there? You know it’s coming you know the second you placed that order changes have started. Now put that ideology and APPLY it to your desires. People tend to overcomplicate manifesting but really it’s so simple. Think of it embodied and it’s there already.

SEEKING VALIDATION FROM THE 3D

If you consistently seek validation from the 3D STOP IT NOW!! The 3D is literally a mirror of your imagination. The 3D is nothing more than a mirror. now with this thing about it if the mirror is the 3-D then that means the thing you have to change first is yourself your belief because once you have the belief everything will kick in and I’ve seen a lot of other people save the same thing so I’m aware this is basic knowledge, so if everyone is telling you this, why haven’t you applied yet? The answer is simple because I know from my personal experience. Ignoring the 3-D is HARD. Especially if you’re just getting into the lot of assumption. For example when some people listen to a subliminal right after they would look in the mirror to see if any changes happened but when it doesn’t they quickly say the subliminal didn’t work or subliminals don’t work in general and they generalize their misbelief, the other people and the community. DONT DO THAT!! When you are listening to a subliminal or affirming in general you have to believe and act like it’s there. Don’t go looking for changes because if you’re looking for changes that subconsciously telling yourself that you do not have it if this doesn’t make sense, let me break it down.

Let’s say you have an iPhone 14 you know you have the phone so would you say “I want this phone?” No, you would not. You would say “oh yes, I have this phone.” so why can’t you do the same thing with your desires? Do not let the 3-D define what’s yours and what isn’t because I’m telling you the second you think of something you want that is the literal second it’s yours.

IMPOSSIBLE - IM POSSIBLE

[spinosacha]

OK I'm sorry I didn't intend this to be a mini essay but it became one

I think the person who's going on about moral purity to you isn't aware that one of the major aspects of media literacy is being able to identify propaganda within media.

I'm not saying that arcane is propaganda, not intentionally anyway, but that you need to be aware of how things are portrayed, and that's a major part of identifying propaganda, writer intention, and even how your own internal bias effects how you interpret things. Depiction isn't endorcement, but positive portrayal is. It's not a case of moral purity, its understanding what the show is trying to tell us by how the characters actions are portrayed.

Yes Silcos death is a pretty clear cut sign that the writers dont think he's the good guy, so let's go for singed instead, singed gets the happiest ending in the show but nobody believes he is meant to be taken as the good guy. Why? He does bad things for a righteous reason (his daughter) so what's the difference between him and how caitlyn is seen?

I'd argue its the fact that the writers don't commit to caits bad actions. Cait uses a chemical weapon on the undercity, but the writers intend you to believe she doesn't harm any civilians in the process. The logistics of that don't really match up, realistically civilians would be harmed, but the show portrays it so that they were not. What's the reason for this difference between how chemical weapons act in real life, and how they act in the show? Well, if the gray was like real chemical weapons, caitlyn would have more blood on her hands, why are the writers actively avoiding that?

Then she is manipulated into becoming the Head of martial law- but even then, she's still shown to be the one in the right, she criticises Ambessas methods at every turn, is willing to betray her the soonest opportunity she gets. Police violence? She's very against that!

So you get this character who should by all means be truely morally gray, she is using a chemical weapon, she is a dictator, for what she sees as a good cause-but she's somehow still as blameless as she possibly could be. This creates the feeling that the writers aren't trying to portray her actions as all that bad. She has tbe aesthetic of a morally gray character without the backing of one.

Compare that to singed. He does horrible experiments, there's a reason for that that is arguably noble (saving his daughter), but there isn't a "but". You can't say "singed created shimmer, but actually nobody got hurt by shimmer!" Like you can say "cait gassed the undercity, but nobody got hurt by it! (Who didn't deserve it)"

Without this distinction how do we differentiate between depiction that IS endorcement and depiction that isn't? How do you identify that a piece of media is condemning far right ideology or promoting it? This has nothing to do with puritanical thinking, and disregarding how things are portrayed is textbook poor media literacy, unfortunately.

(As is not being able to convey your thoughts in a civil and responsible manner funnily enough, which looking at her blog.. she doesn't excel at that one.)

Anyway! Sorry for the essay lol, the weird moral highground people are taking over media literacy when not even understanding what it entails has been bothering me and her response to you and others embodies that so much I had to say something haha. Hope you don't mind :)

You put it really nicely! I tried to add to your take but I think you explained it really well, it’s def the propeganda aspect that I also wish more people would be aware of and how to be critical of the ways things are depicted in media and what bias that could reveal.

But yeah, most of the time I don’t engage in discourse fights but I was feeling a bit feisty yesterday lol. I think Arcane lents itself well to talk about morality in a very interesting way but I think we in the fandom could stand to speak in a bit nicer tone to each other but I get that people are passionate.

[supgnomie]

While reading Wind and Truth I kept a list of reactions in my notes app gonna copy/paste them all below:

Day One:

28 - the wind talking to Kaladin is not making me feel better about the fact that the storm father lied

49 - idk man the thought of Kaladin learning to play music for “this last part” is already making me want to cry

50 - Wit definitely just said FUCK bootstrap ideology and I’m here for it

50 - “a virtue is something that is valuable even if it gives you nothing. A virtue persists without payment or compensation.”

52 - hey I’m actually crying a bit

68 - who is the author of the excerpts? Kal?? Or is Kal one of the witnesses??

- ok maybe Syl is the author

85 - DAMN SHALLAN THATS SICK

100 - HORSE GIRL ADOLIN HORSE GIRL ADOLIN

I never thought it was possible for Shallan to be even more of an unreliable narrator but HERE WE ARE

I’m sure there will be no horrifying consequences for Shallan-I-Make-My-Own-Reality-Kholin

Horse radiants! Horse radiants! Horse radiants!!!

110 - shardplate Shallan!!!!

Adolin’s hug is longer 😏😏😏😏

Day Two

- oh what? Jasnah and Wit aren’t working out? Who could have predicted this. (Me. Their chemistry is non existent.)

- Jasnah is so right. It is not fair that Dalinar literally is a mass murderer and it’s fine and she can’t do anything right.

- Honestly Adolin getting to experience a shower made me so happy because he must be SO. HAPPY and I love that for him.

- “He does it just to annoy me.” - Gaz suddenly highly relatable for pettiness

- Oh yeah no I do not trust the stormfather no more.

- Non-binary rep let’s goooooooo!!

- Lift checking out all the windrunners is taking me out

- GAY GAY GAY

- Really gotta admire navani’s faith given *gestures vaguely*

- SHIT FUCK MRAIZE

- “Right up until he looked up and found the Herald Ishar standing in front of him.” OH. OK.

Day Three:

- Syl and Kaladin talking about figuring out what they want for themselves is going to make me cry these babies have grown so much.

- MAYA JUST CALLED ADOLIN A SLUT 💀💀💀💀💀

- Baby Szeth ☹️ I knew math was dangerous

- Yuh I do NOT like or trust Szeth’s spren.

- Adolin winning over the Azish commander has my crying my sweet sweet boy 😭❤️

- “I want to be enough” 😭😭😭

- I’m so fucking worried Adolin is going to die in this ugh ugh ugh

- “I know the why.” - as a teacher I fucking FLINCHED

Day Four

- “the dogs will die”. The stormfather feeling sad watching the refugees pour through is rough.

- “Stormfather what lies have you been telling me!” “Only the ones that you deserve.” Damn damn damn!!

- Adolin is such a gem (visiting the wounded 🥺)

- Syl and Kaladin dancing 😩❤️

- “In that - at the edge of the world and the advent of the end of all things - Kaladin Stormblessed allowed himself to be happy. For what felt like the first time since Tien’s death.”

- Ok yes duh he is learning to play the flute because it’s a wind instrument Brando you have done it again

- “Tonight, he wrote a different story for himself. If a man who loved music. If a man who had time for music.” I’ll never stop crying.

- Adolin’s ideas about oaths I kind of super love and am here for

- Oh oh? We gonna get to see what a wimp ass bitch Szeth’s spren is?

- On this realm nightblood appeared the way it imagined itself 🥹🥹🥹

- Hey I am finally liking Szeth as a character.

Day Five:

- steel inquisitor moash so cool so cool so cool

- Szeth is so good. I am already mad at how everyone is going to wrong him. And I don’t trust this voice in his head at allllll who is itttttt

- TRANS REP AZISH TRANS REP

- “Chasmfiends could sing.” Giant crab puppy good bois I adore them.

- Omg Jasnah broke up with wit via text

- NO MORE GOOBERING 😭they gotta fight for their right to goober

- OOPS RLAIN

- I don’t trust Hmask at all and if he does anything to Adolin I fucking swear

- “I do my job. You always seem to be questioning yours. I find that aspect of you embarrassing.” FUCKING ROASTED BY A SAD BALDIE KALADIN

- Omg Szeth crying over his lamb ow owie ouch

- Szeth is Tien 😭😭😭😭

- “Neither truth nor answers are easy to find. We still have to try, rather than giving up that responsibility to someone else. Maybe someone has found the truth. I certainly hope so. But let’s talk about what you genuinely want and work from there.”

- “I don’t have a whimsical bone in my body.” Yeah ok sure Adolin 😒

- Kind of in love with Szeth’s dad and king of pissed at Szeth’s mom. Like… cannot fathom abandoning my child.

-

Day six:

- Sivi to Szeth, “how old is your dad? Obviously bee keeping age.”

- I’m getting real anxious about Gav.

Day seven:

- ADOLIN IS GETTING UP. TALN IS FIGHTING BACK. I AM SO ANXIOUS AHHHHHHH

- *attack on Titan music*

- The whiplash between Adolin nearly dying and renarin confessing to his crush.

- Adolin ☹️ hims poor leg

- Gav being noted as “an odd spren” in every vision is driving me crazy. What is it Brando?? What are you doing?? I know this is a hint of something!!

- “That was honestly kind of racist.” 💀💀💀

- ah fuck fuck fuck fuck ejdjwjdjsjdjwj

Day Eight

- these visions are not for Dalinar they are for Gav??? Maybe???

- fuck fuck fuck fuck

- SHALLAN IS THE DAUGHTER IF A HERALD DISBXJWJSKWJDJ

- Ok ok ok so Shallan on her wedding day is wearing boots that Kaladin gave her and Adolin on his wedding day is wearing a new sword that Kaladin gave him (when he ALSO got new swords from 46 other people including SHALLAN.)

- “Taravangian only saw destinations.” Fuck this book is so good.

Day Nine:

- I didn’t write many reactions because I was so fucking anxious.

- The whole fight with Nale and Kaladin I was ready to pass out.

- “Even if an emperor makes the laws, when we uphold them, the laws become ours. The responsibility ours.”

- holy shit I can’t believe Sig just did that to his spren codndjwkfjwjdj

- WAR NEVER UNITES

- Adolin smiling while thinking about Kaladin as he endures absolute hell is going to break me.

- fuxking djcnskcks d

Day ten:

- Every generation kicking the Odium problem to the next generation to deal with is hitting a lil close to home

- “We’re not sending a soldier up to hide steps we are sending a king.” Hello I’m crying already.

- Elhokar : (

- WHAT THE FUCK NOT ELHOKAR ITS GAV I FUCKING KNEW IT. I KNEW THE VISIONS WERE FOR HIM.

- Cry count: 1 - the deadeyes coming to Adolin’s aid.

- Cry count: 2 - idk the deadeyes just make me emotional

- Ishar just used that power of that pink haired girl from One Piece - Perona

- Cry count: 3 - “that was what it was to be mortal. Sometimes you succeeded anyway. Sometimes you failed.”

- “What are you? His god?” “No. I’m his therapist.” Brando stop FUCKING WITH ME FOENDJKDKEDKW

- Cry count: 4 - he said the words 😭❤️

- Cry count: broken

- HONOR IS DEAD.

- BUT ILL SEE WHAT I CAN DO

- RAHHHHHH

- The Herald of Kings and Wind and Second Chances 😭😭😭😭

- He dug through Kaladin’s pack and found a small woolen sheep and a little wooden toy horse 😭😭😭😭😭

[max1461]

I guess what really bothers me about right-wing political/cultural natalism is the instrumental attitude it takes towards people, and in fact especially towards the people closest to oneself, to whom I think it is kind of most egregious to take an instrumental attitude. Like, under this attitude, a spouse (and, let's be realistic in this context, a woman) is for producing children, and children are for spreading their parents' (again, being realistic: their father's) genes, culture, ideology, whatever. It's all about instrumentalizing those who should be most precious to you, in service of, as I put it in another post, some flimsy narrative, some grand story about your ingroup that... look, I'm not opposed to having stories about your ingroup! I'm not opposed to caring about the stories you have about your ingroup. Like, that's part of human life, right, even for people who try to disavow it. But what I mean by "flimsy" is that these sorts of grandiose stories, in contrast to the reality of individual human-human bonds, to me they seem just hopeless thin. Watery. Like, what is "my ideology" or "my culture" in the face of my loved ones? It's barely anything, you know.

It's not that I don't have ideological convictions or that I don't care about culture (although, evidently, I care about it in a less ownership-centric way than a lot of people, but that's a topic for another post), but, like, the idea of putting some kind of grandiose, hollow civilizational narrative above the lived reality of my life is not very desirable to me.

Call me old fashioned, but I think the most important thing about romantic relationships is love, right, and commitment, compassion, etc., plain and simple. I think if you're marrying someone to use them as an instrument, well, if they're ok with that and on the same page as you then I have no problem with it, but I certainly don't think we should move towards this as a culture. And I think that a society in which most relationships are more instrumental than they are passionate/comfortable/emotionally fulfilling/whatever you value in a lover, well, I think that society is doing quite a bad job at something quite important.

And with children it's even more egregious, because your children certainly do not enter into their relationship with you voluntarily. I think that if you decide to have children, you have the responsibility to commit yourself quite significantly, at least for a good chunk of time, to being an instrument of their flourishing, right, to enabling their own pursuit of their own ends. Because... you chose to create a person! You didn't have to do that! I think you have quite a extensive web of responsibilities to your children and if you decide to become a parent this is something you should be really well on board with.

So, this is what really bothers me about the (seemingly) currently ascendant natalist impulse. This is why I find it so thoroughly "skeevey". It represents this instrumentalization of the very people who more than any others should be ends to you and not instruments.

[jewish-sideblog]

"Both indigenous and colonizers" CAN PEOPLE STOP TALKING ABOUT SHIT THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND PLEASE

This wave of antisemitism and bullshit about "indigenous vs colonizer" makes me so scared as an indigenous person in the US of what will happen when Land Back movements do result in actual sovereignty restoration and then tribes do what people do and disagree over land and resources, like we were doing for thousands of years before Europeans arrived. Will we be reduced down to colonizers too??

It feels like Westerners, especially USAmericans, have such a black and white idea of what it means to be indigenous and what it means to be a colonizer/settler (because those terms are always conflated) and it makes me so angry and frustrated to see people apply those standards and lines thinking not just to complex sovereignty movements in their own countries but also to incredibly complex conflicts and wars happening on the other side of the world.

The damage I've seen done to sovereignty movements here in the US alone, people going around claiming that we want all "settlers" to go back to Europe or that we're going to start massacring people, has been horrible and the fact that it's all just to justify antisemitism makes me sick.

Genuinely. They're blocked now, but that same person said something to the effect of "Would an Iranian praying in a Mosque built on the ashes of a former synagogue be decolonization?"

And that was the point at which I was like. Ok. It seems like most people genuinely don't actually know what the terms "colonization", "colonizer" and "coloniality" mean. Obviously, that wouldn't be decolonization, because the Jews never colonized Iran. Emigration and colonization aren't the same fucking thing!

I used to have so much faith in my generation. I thought we were critical thinkers, capable of flexibility and engagement with new ideas. But I'm realizing now that we're basically just rebranded boomers. Back in the day, anybody you disagreed with was labelled as a "Communist". It didn't actually fucking matter if they were communist sympathizers, Soviet sympathizers, or even if they were remotely allied with socialist ideals. You could just call them a "Communist" and be done with it, without even understanding what that term means.

It's the same shit today. Instead of a HUAC witch hunt targeting communists, it's a social witch hunt targeting "colonizers" and "Zionists". I am terrified that the moment indigenous rights movements in the Americas and Oceania start making practical strides in Land Back, regaining rightful control over the ways your own land is used, you'll all be labelled as "colonizers" or "imperialists" or whatever the bad buzz word of the month turns out to be.

People simply can't wrap their heads around the idea that indigenous decolonization doesn't have the end goal of ethnically cleansing non-native people from the Americas. And it's because they're so absorbed in colonial thinking. They can't even fucking imagine what sovereignty could look like beyond an authoritarian structure based on control and violence. It's the same with Israel and Palestine-- they think that Jewish sovereignty must look like complete Jewish control to the detriment of Arabs, and they think Palestinian sovereignty must look like total Arab control to the detriment of Jews. The idea that a shared state or a two-state solution is "racist" stems from that false dichotomy.

Establishing an ideological binary of violence that pits "indigenous" against "colonizer", "native" against "settler", and "us" against "them" with no room for cooperation or collaboration is the core of colonialism. Because the core of colonialism is the idea that only one group can have true power at a time. And that's just not the way the world has to work.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Also preserved in our archive

As we’re facing the next COVID surge (brought on by holiday travel), I thought I might try a different kind of COVID post. You can skip to here for some easy to do tips and tricks you might have missed, or you can read down for my discussion of why this is important.

I have recently been writing and thinking a lot about why so many of my friends and family’s actions on COVID are so different from mine. Namely why so many people I know no longer seem very interested in either preventing themselves from being sick or, importantly, not spreading sickness to anyone else.

In my own case, the experience of staying home to stop the spread in 2020 forced me to strongly reconsider my behavior up to that point. Why had I ever thought it was OK to go to work or ride the subway with the flu, unmasked and taking no precautions, knowing that the flu certainly hospitalizes and kills people each year? Even if the flu was no big deal for my body, my behavior had limited other people—particularly disabled people—from comfortably being in public during flu season. I had knowingly spread around an illness. I radically reconsidered a lot of my behavior, and in particular, 2020 pushed me to focus more specifically on disability justice in my activism. A disability justice framework pushes us beyond thinking about individual access to consider how ableism limits us all from liberation.

Getting back to why this reconsideration didn’t happen on a mass level, understanding disability justice also means understanding that ableism is the current social order. And if it’s the order of the day, like other oppressive ideologies, that means we are all drenched in it and it is impossible to avoid ever doing something ableist. Furthermore, most people are going to act in ableist ways, most of the time. None of this are exempt from this, but not even trying is definitely worse!

I am also well aware that good COVID information is hard to come by, especially if you are not on the regular lookout for it. And if you do go looking for it, it can quickly get overwhelming. So I’d like to offer here a very short, distilled list of things people might have missed since 2020. (I’ve not taken the time to track down citations for all of these things; you’ll have to trust me that I got them from trustworthy sources or you can verify on your own. I’m happy to give more info on any of these too.)

Some of these things are easy enough to do. I’m offering this list because from a “stop the spread” mindset, each specific thing you do is helpful. This list is not meant to be comprehensive, and it’s hopefully not overwhelming. You don’t have to be perfect or avoid COVID 100% of the time or make this part of your identity, but I’d like to ask everyone reading this to take one step up in your mitigations for the holiday season, since this is reliably a time with huge increases in virus transmission. With around a thousand people still dying every week from COVID in the US, you don’t know whose life you may save by being a little more careful.

Masking This is the biggest bang for your buck, precaution-wise. If it’s hard for you to mask all the time in public, consider masking in places that disabled people really can’t avoid, like the pharmacy, the grocery store, and on public transportation.

I’d also suggest that if masks are uncomfortable, try different kinds of masks! The Aura is my favorite mask – it’s tight to my face so my glasses don’t fog and head straps don’t hurt my ears like ear straps do. Wellbefore sells masks in different sizes and colors, and Armbrust has sampler packs. Just try a bunch and see what works for you!

Finally, know that if at all possible, you should wear an N95 or KN95 mask. This is a change since spring 2020 because the current variants of COVID are more contagious.

Mouthwash Washing your mouth out with a mouthwash containing CPC (cetylpyridinium chloride) before or after seeing people, or just regularly, will kill some of the virus in your mouth and keep you below the threshold to get sick and/or shed the virus to others. This is a really easy one; CVS brand mouthwash has CPC.

Sip mask These valves will allow you to drink without breaking the seal of your mask. This is great for airplane travel, crowded conferences, or other risky spaces that you need to be in for an extended amount of time.

Airplane The most dangerous time on an airplane from a virus transmission standpoint is the time sitting on the runway (because of the way they circulate and filter the air onboard). Even if you don’t mask up during the flight, this is the best time to mask. (And if you do mask, this is the worst time to have a snack or drink – try to keep your mask on for all of this period.)

Space out risky or crowded events Don’t go to a wedding and a concert in the same weekend! Illness takes 3-5 days to develop after exposure, so give yourself time to know if you got sick from the last thing before potentially spreading that to the next thing.

Air purifiers work! This is a great one for places that you can’t avoid, like school, work, or daycare. You can make your own Corsi-Rosenthal box, but there’s also a variety of high quality air purifiers you can get for $70-100. You want to make sure it has a HEPA or Merv13+ filter on it, and check how quickly it changes out the air in a room. Since COVID is airborne, there can be COVID in a space even after the person has left it. Setting up air purifiers and/or opening windows until enough air has circulated before you remove your mask is a great way to make a space COVID safer

Test before going to events, even if you don’t feel sick Rapid tests (the kind you’re used to getting from the government and at the drug store) False negatives from these are rampant but a positive test reliably means you have COVID. The accuracy of these tests also increases a LOT if you take two of them 48 hours apart.

Better home tests are now available Metrix and Pluslife are both testers you can buy that offer a similar level of accuracy to a PCR test (that is, very accurate!). These devices are expensive, but so is another COVID infection: think of the missed work, cost of Paxlovid, and potential for Long COVID to keep you down even longer.

It’s a good idea to get an updated vaccine 2x a year too; like the flu shot, these vaccines are updated to try to fend off the particular variants that are circling. Be mindful though that vaccination will not necessarily stop transmission, especially of asymptomatic cases. Handwashing is also good for general prevention, but it doesn’t really stop COVID transmission. In the early days of COVID, researchers guessed that it was spread by physical droplets. That’s why we were instructed to wash our hands and groceries. But now we know that COVID is airborne; it spreads more like cigarette smoke than spit!

Of course, no single thing works perfectly. The best model is still the Swiss cheese model, but that also means each thing you do helps. If you’re reading this, please consider doing *one more thing* to take care of yourselves and others. I love you

[thewistlingbadger]

idk if this is a 'hot take' but i see way too much of people lusting after Sevika only after erasing her less palatable elements. in headcanons she's admittedly tough and violent but wouldn't hurt anyone unless she had to (i've even seen one where she "only raises her hands in self-defence"). bitch one of the first things we see her do is attempt to square up to a bunch of teenagers for the crime of trying to free their dad! she's willing to kill children with her bare hands. she personally enacts the edicts of a drug kingpin. she taunts vi and jinx during their altercations with the most provocative, soul-destroying shit she can think of. she's the type of fighter who grins manically as she scalds her opponent's cheek. she is not simply someone who nobly sacrifices her own moral purity for 'the greater good' but is otherwise a soft loving Mama Bear™, she gets *nasty* with it! and don't get me wrong, i give enormous moral lenience to most Zaunite characters because the violence of the oppressed is by definition incomparable to the violence of their oppressors. there are myriad explanations and justifications for every single thing they've done. but beyond that, i NEED it to be ok to say that she's a fucking dick sometimes - both interpersonalliy, and on a greater ideological scale - because regardless of how justifiable we find her actions, we should collectively be in a place where we can thirst for Sevika without defanging her as a character. she's compelling and fascinating and attractive BECAUSE she's imbued with agency, which necessitates the capacity for genuinely immoral actions and unlikable behavior! i mean come on! if the white twitter lesbians can so eagerly embrace the moral greyness of their rich fascha femme, we can do it for our butch freedom fighter!! i believe in us!!!

anyway tldr i love Sevika warts and all and everyone do your thing but if you don't love her warts i think you're missing out

Valid valid and valid. Not a single thing you said was incorrect. Sevika is DEVIOUS point blank period. In season 1 she is a minor character so I can understand why she's overlooked a lot but when you actually do look at her she can be VILLAINOUS at times. "It's just a matter of time before you implode and Silco finally gets the hint that you're just about as good for our cause as you were for your family. Jinx." Like DAMN Sevika!! Okay it's like that!! This rudeness that she showed Jinx is a bit fascinating to me because the only other character in this show that is just about as rude as Sevika is in this scene is Mylo. I made a post talking about how she has some similarities to Mylo and someone responded to that by also highlighting that at least Mylo was a teenager beefing with a child, meanwhile Sevika is a whole ass adult beefing with Jinx. I just think that's interesting and funny.

You brought up something that truly is just a plague to all fandoms. Whenever someone says they like a character that has a negative reputation in the source material, everyone starts coming out the woodwork to say it's bad to like that character. People don't seem to understand that just because you like a villain and find their character to be enjoyable doesn't mean you actually condone their actions and would be ok with someone acting like them irl. There are many reasons to like a villainous character and sometimes one of those reasons is BECAUSE they're a villain. Sometimes you like that a character does bad things because it's interesting and entertaining, and liking that doesn't make you a bad person. You should be able to like antagonistic characters for their villainy. Do I understand what they did was bad? Yes. Do I still like them? Yes, and not in spite of it but BECAUSE of it. And you don't have to erase those parts of a character just go openly admit that. You should be able to openly like a character in their full extent. You shouldn't have to ignore certain aspects just for your adoration of a character to be accepted.

Sevika really always has been That Bitch she has no problem telling people how it is directly to their faces. She calls Vander weak in front of everyone. She tells Vi Vander "had his chance" knowing damn well what Vander meant to her. She calls Silco out on his bullshit SEVERAL TIMES in front of him. Sevika isn't restrained as a character at all she's always being her full self. I feel that season two has made Sevika more popular and because her screentime was limited and the writing was different in season two people have allowed her character to become warped. I definitely think that if someone is ok with justifying and excusing the actions of Caitlyn and/or Vi then they should keep that same energy when it comes to Sevika. Sevika is a tough, loyal lady that has a very fun personality and she's also a criminal who has done terrible things for the sake of the cause and most times? Most times she enjoyed doing those things. Most times she went out of her way to revel in instigating. Silco didn't even know Vi was back yet and did that stop Sevika from almost killing Vi? Did that stop her from whispering "who Jinx? She's like his daughter" and looking dead in Vi's eyes just to see her reaction? No. Sevika is a bit messy like that she likes to play with her food lol and honestly I don't blame her lol

[kit04kat]

Ranking the batfamily most to least likely to become a supervillian. (Plus all my ramblings about why I put who where [disclaimer, i have not read the comics due to me not having that kind of money]) I started thinking about this while reading a fanfiction where Dick, Jason and Tim were taken in by villians instead of Batman and it got me thinking. Anyways, let's get to the rankings.

1: Tim Drake. Starting off strong with our resident boy-genius with stalker tendencies. This may shock some of you, but I look at this human disaster and see a plethora of supervillian potential. You take away this man's adult supervision and the world may never be the same. What was happening with the league of assassins? And the fact that he tried to clone his best friend out of grief? Also I feel like we all skimmed over the fake uncle shenanigans too quickly. I once saw someone say something like Tim's moral code is copy-pasted off a house rules sticky note on the fridge and I agree.

2: Jason Todd. Seriously, we all saw this coming. Now, you might ask me, "but Kat, why is Jason at number 2? Didn't Red Hood already do the villian thing?" And to that I say, Ha! I am ranking them on supervillianiousness(???) Jason had his whole revenge plot and crime lord thing in Gotham but after that was done, he kinda settled out a little bit. So no, I don't think Jason has ever been a supervillian, just a villian, and after that he was more like an antihero/vigilante. That being said, I don't think he is incapable of being a supervillian, which is why he is number 2.

3: Stephanie Brown. Ok, I'm gonna be honest, I was really wavering on the order of the people in the middle. Also, I'm not gonna claim to know a whole lot about the adventures Steph has been through. That being said, I feel like she is just a tad bit more unhinged than the rest of the people in the middle, and therefore more likely to go insane. And if she had the proper motivation, she could totally be a badass supervillian. (Kind of reminds me of Jason in that way)

4: Damian Wayne. Alright, here's the thing. A lot of Damian's character development has been about him overcoming his heritage and learning that the things he learned with the league of assassins were bad. That being said, I don't think he will ever leave behind those ideologies as thoroughly as Cass and Bruce did. I think he sees the world in a lot more shades of grey than they ever will, and because of that, I've decided to put him forth on our list.

5: Barbara Gordon. I'm putting Oracle right smack dab in the middle. Not because I couldn't figure out where to put her, but because that's where she belongs. Listen, do I think she would ever become a supervillian? No, not really. However, if for some reason she had to become a supervillian, she'd be able to do it. If she ever turned to the dark side, it would be completely thought out. Calculated. And my girl doesn't do anything half-assed.

6: Duke Thomas. Now, Imma be honest, I don't know a whole lot about Duke, and I didn't really know where the best place to put his would be on this lineup. I put him in 6th cause I don't think he'd turn into a supervillian but he's more likely than the last three. He probably deserves to go further up the list, but oh well.

7: Bruce Wayne. I know some people will probably say he should be further up the list, but here is my reasoning. Batman's whole kinda thing is that he's always toeing the line. He's doesn't kill because he knows he wouldn't be able to stop. He is Darkness, Vengeance, the night, all that stuff. (It's why Batman needs a Robin) If he broke, he'd be broken. I don't think he'd be able to come back from that (I also disagree with myself a bit, cause there's no way his kill count is 0. I mean, he's been beating people up at night instead of therapy for decades) Anyways, that being said, man is stubborn and has been doing this vigilante stuff for a longggg time. I simply don't think he's gonna turn.

8: Dick Grayson. We are getting towards the bottom of the list here, to the people I think are least likely to become a supervillian. Dick has been through so much. With Renegade, Red X, Spiral, whatever was up with Ric, he took up the cowel and became Batman when Bruce was gone (which is something he never wanted to do), he's had so many of his friends die, family die, and that's not even all! He's been through a lot, but he's also the light to batman's dark. He's been through all that and still chooses to be good. There's no way he's ever becoming a supervillian (even if it is a very interesting plot in fanfiction)

9: Cassandra Cain. Last but certainly not least, Cass. I personally think she is the least likely to become a supervillian. She was raised as a weapon and taught to kill, but she has completely overcome that. She won't kill at all, much like Bruce, but she's also more emotionally sound. Her morals are strict, and she doesn't have to fight with herself to keep them. I love her so much, truly one of the best of us.

I'm gonna put Alfred as a honorable mention. He doesn't get to go on the list cause honestly, if he ever became a villian, it's over. He's have the world in his clutches before the week is over. Gotta respect him for having the patience of a saint.

This was so long! Anyways, feel free to add to this or tell me how you would rank them differently!!

[butchpeace]

is it normal to feel. idk. i guess the best term for it could be survivors guilt??? over what i did and believed when i was trans identified

i had a friend who was a TIM. they were a very nice person and i wish that me, and the GSA group that i was in told them that it was ok to be a shy, feminine male and that there was nothing wrong with him except we now told him he was a girl and now hes completely absorbed in gender ideology and theres no getting him out (and i think he genuinely knows he is not a real woman. he has admitted to being a boy who wants to be a girl and to having AGP. he’s also the only decent TIM i have ever met and has been very supportive of my own desistance so there is probably still hope for him before he ruins his life forever but idk how to start that convo)

i had several friends this year that have all started T. i dont recognize them anymore. i encouraged them. we all did. now theyre completely unrecognizable. one of them changed their pronouns and gender identity THREE TIMES in the course of a few months before going on T. it didnt take her a FULL YEAR of identifying as trans to go on t and just GET hormones. im horrified. but everyone is just telling her how valid she is and how great she looks

my other friend started t at the beginning of this year. theyve completely changed as a person. the light in their eyes is gone. theres nothing left of the person that i knew before but sure buddy tell everyone youre happy when youre obviously fucking miserable. its just your voice deepening and the effects of t that make you look more masculine. i can just see things everyone else cant.

i almost wondered if i was crazy and it was my problem. so i cut them off. i made up something about myself and why i was cutting them off so i didnt have to tell them the truth. i should tell them the truth before its too late but i know i wont. but it was driving me crazy and i couldnt bear to tell them the truth

i want to tell the trans people in my life to wake up before it’s too late. there’s nothing i can do now and theyre all going to destroy themselves. i got myself out but i feel horrible now and theres nothing i can do about it.

but now i just feel like my only solution is to isolate myself from everyone so i dont go mad and i dont hurt anyone. everyone notices this of course and think there is something wrong with me. which there is i guess

everyone tells me its not my problem but i feel like it is my responsibility to warn people before its too late. i was lucky to get out

This is my philosophy regarding my friends who are currently trans identified. Maybe it will help you:

All I can do is gently tell them my story, hope they recognize themselves in it, and be there for them when they need me.

If you're cutting someone, or a group of people, out of your life anyway, you might as well open up to them about what you really think before you do. Worst case scenario you're not friends anymore, but that's already the situation you're in. You already have nothing to lose by talking to them openly.

It's not your obligation, but the truth is it's going to take all of us to fight this and help our sisters come back.

Too many radfems think of trans identified women as lost causes, or bemoan that they're transitioning without actually doing anything to try to help them. If we were all more open and honest about our thoughts and we tried our best to be there for the women in our lives, we would be in a much better situation as a community right now.

I have women I've known for years and who transitioned around when I did, or shortly after. Many of them have expressed that they relate to my story, some have talked about coming off testosterone, some have started identifying differently and some even as women again. Most don't agree with my opinions or radical feminism fully, but the point is that the door is open for them.

On average, I think women are spending less time in transition, and detransitioning sooner, compared to my generation. The tide is turning. These women aren't lost, they just need a little help and sometimes a little time.

It could be good to send them some stories from detransitoners. Maybe youtube videos or just a link to the site Post Trans might be helpful. They need to hear the stories of other women who have transitioned.

Be brave and good luck! 💪

[rhodes-1]

"caramel arrow and dark choco this" or "affogato and caramel arrow that" ok well can i talk about dark choco and affogato they both had close ties to dark cacao at some point and they both serve as mirrors for each other (and in my opinion, more than affogato and carrow) affogato cookie entered the citadel around the time caramel arrow cookie became first watcher. and if carrow is the silhouette from the cod story, then she became the first watcher after dark choco left the citadel, thus affogato cookie did not know dark choco personally. however this brings me to an interesting part of episode 13.

he still refers to him as prince, at least here (getting to that). this is also like. the only time we see affogato cookie scared/terrified? or one of the few times. even when affo leaves the citadel he's not exactly terrified of dark cacao cookie learning the truth. he continues onward to fight for his place in the world.

then there's this. so this is the first time they've REALLY met. affogato cookie might've heard of him through rumors or stories before this scene. (he could also be referring to the whole cod as a whole but i digress. he is referring to both dark choco AND the rest of the cookies of darkness.) and then in episode 14, he no longer refers to him as 'prince.' looking back it's because he's the king now lol im dumb. but also he places an interesting amount of confidence in dark choco cookie.. anyways, they also became evil for paralleled reasons and betrayed dark cacao for paralleled reasons. affogato cookie didn't exactly turn to "evil". he found no place that would accept him, so he wandered for years until he got the idea to create a land of his own. (or just by taking over an existing kingdom) he's power hungry as a result of this, as being king would essentially give him the power to do whatever he pleases to. he says he thinks for the cookies of the kingdom, but deep down he only wants to satisfy his own needs. as suggested by his quotes, he hardly looks back, but when he does he sympathizes with himself. dark choco's selflessness led him to the path of evil. he had a desire for power in the form of strength because he thought that would save his kingdom. the strawberry jam sword took advantage of his good intentions, causing him to strike down his father and flee the citadel. but even after this he doesn't appear selfish. he blames himself for everything- his naivety, his past quest to save his kingdom... they are quite literally foils of each other, selfish desires vs selfless desires. ^^^ this is also what fuels their decision to betray dark cacao cookie respectively. affogato does it to fuel his own selfish ambitions. dark choco's was against his will, but ultimately fueled by his love for the kingdom. (like i previously said, the sword took advantage of that.) some other parallels: >affogato cookie is basically an outsider to the citadel. dark choco is literally a prince to the dark cacao kingdom. |-> this also leads to some other parallels like their dress style, ideologies, and even weaponry. >they both sought power of a different kind. (affogato a figurative one, and dark choco a literal sense of power) and then they only have ONE line of dialogue together. at least carrow and doco (another duo) get like...three interactions. tops. as of writing. THEY GET ONE. and it's really unfortunate because i wish these parallels were addressed in an additional line of dialogue between them; acknowledge the fact you're opposites in the unconventional way please. and the only fan content i could find of them together is shipping and even THAT is very few. (there are probably 8 people who ship them from what i've seen. and that's saying something because this is the literal "shipping website") there's probably some more things i've missed about these two, like their actions after the events of episodes 13 and 14, as well as the upcoming part two of the mystic flour update, which i hope answers a few of my questions. but this only proves my point: there is so little of them together and yet so much you can pull from this.