#not to discredit Phil

[galafandomnonsense]

Compilation of my favorite moments from the new video

Video: Dan and Phil Dress to Impress IN REAL LIFE

[dolokhoded]

october 19th may not have been dan and phil's anniversary after all but it is still dan and phil DAY and it's important to ME if it wasn't for october 19th we would have NONE of this the timeline starts with pinof

[ingydar-phan]

Ok I do want to chime in on the convo but actually this is gonna be really long because I’ve been planning to make a huge post about this since the tour trailer came out. Like genuinely I messaged some people asking for tips on how to make a big conversation post weeks ago and then just never did it. So here goes I guess.

I am a firm believer they are going to hard launch soon. In some way shape or form. Before tour starts. That is a stance I have held ever since I watched pizza mukbang 2. And I have explanations.

My main points come from the coming out parallel surrounding Dans internalized homophobia and trauma responses and fear of rejection (more on that later), and also my hypothesized “3 stages” of the gaming channel revival.

I believe that when the gaming channel was revived, starting with the Heartthrob video, they entered stage 1: experimenting with audiences desire for a return to content. This was a phase they themselves discussed in Dans Birthday Stream and in Pizza Mukbang 2. The first few months were experimenting with what a new audience would look like and how much they were wanted, in what contexts, and what kind of content. I also think this wraps into the dynamic difference between Dan and Phil as people. Note, I love them both dearly and want nothing but the best for them both. It has been made clear that they did very different things during the hiatus, with Phil initiating the gaming channel comeback. Before Dan came out, he was under an immense feeling of guilt and pressure, even by his own mind. He had the option of leaving the internet forever, and he certainly considered it. Finish off the gaming channel, go on one last tour, and leave. Never having to adress anything again. But he didn’t do that. He came back. He came out. And he was greeted with the kindest, warmest, most accepting response. And he did work! He wrote a book! He went on a solo tour! And to echo both Dan himself and all of the community, he needed this. He needed this time of healing and this era of self discovery. He wouldn’t be who he is today without it, and I’m so proud of him.

But Phil? Oh Phil was just cruising along. That’s not at all to discredit any form of hardship Phil went through, but it certainly wasn’t the same. Phil was making content before Dan was, back in 2006. In uni, Phil was comfortable in his sexuality (or some form of queerness). But he waited. He waited to come out until Dan was ready. Because he’s a wonderful partner. He was happy continuing Amazingphil regardless of hiatus, of Dans needs, because he knew he didn’t have to pressure Dan into anything he didn’t want or wasn’t ready for. And then, presumably when Dan was ready, Phil proposed a gaming channel comeback. Just try it out, just see how it feels, low commitment. And what happened? Once again, they were showered with love and adoration and support and acceptance. Was the fandom different than how it used to be? Absolutely. But it was beautiful and loving. So that’s stage 1. Experimenting with content and viewership and re-entering the branding of Dan and Phil (Games).

Then, I believe after stage 1 came stage 2. Experimenting with audience reaction to Dan and Phil as a couple. I want to stake my claim here that everything they do is meticulously curated. Sure, Phil’s toe popping out of his sock wasn’t purposeful, but it was certainly handled intentionally. They’re extremely seasoned creators, and everything they do is for a reason. (That’s why I love rpf hehe). This, my “stage 2”, is when they were dipping their toes more into phan stuff. The orange heart. The “gay” community tab. Using the “ph-“ prefix THEMSELVES a lot more. Dab and Evan comparisons. This was the middle ground. How would people react? Would they turn away because it’s too much? Would they begin stalking and creeping all over again? Or would they accept these people for what they are. As much as people like to think Dan and Phil are just silly whimsical guys who are perfect no matter what they do (which is accurate as well tbf), they also know what they’re doing. They do these things on purpose to gauge audience reaction, to see how people feel about it. As others have said, what we see publicly is just a tiny sliver of their real life. Yea, even the domestic videos. It’s curated. And it’s wonderful. It’s so endearing they choose to share these things. Even in times of uncertainty. But that uncertainty was met with absolute acceptance.

Which is how we get into stage 3. I think “stage 3” started developing around the time of Dans Birthday Stream, but really actually started when the tour trailer was posted, and then all the videos after that (pizza mukbang, dressing each other, chained together, tiktoks, etc etc). So, very recently. But something shifted. Maybe it’s in the air, maybe it’s just me, maybe we all need to go outside. But something shifted. Dan and Phil, but especially Dan, saw how they were being accepted and took that as an affirmation. An affirmation that everything is going to be okay. They can commit now. They can go full on. Full hard launch.

I think everyone has a different definition of hard launch, and even I think it varies by context. But what I mean here is not necessarily them making some video called “Dan and Phil are romantically together” and staring at the camera with a gun to their head. It doesn’t, and shouldn’t, have to be that.

Straight people get this privilege of being assumed straight without having to “come out”. They get this comfort of having relationships without having to scream it in everyone’s faces.

And I do indeed agree with what people mean when they say they have already hard launched. They’re husbands, soulmates, 4000 year old tortoises, “basically any other gay couple”, more than just romantic, yea. I get it. But people are fucking stupid. Non-queer people don’t understand nuance, and need everything handed to them on a silver platter. Dan and Phil are together. People who try to twist and turn to try and “prove” they’re anything but a committed romantic and sexual relationship are ignorant at best, but mainly using homophobic wishful thinking. However, there’s more to go. There’s a reason we’re all “terrified” for what is to come. Because everything, the past 15 years of all of our lives, of their life, is coming together. It’s genuinely beautiful.

So what do I mean by hard launch then? Well, I mean a lack of censorship (besides what’s reasonable. Though we’d all love to see them fuck on YouTube, I’m not sure that’s happening any time soon). I mean a lack of shame. A lack of hiding. And it’s already begun. That’s what I feel stage 3 to be and have been. In pizza mukbang 2, they say things such as “cheers dear”, which is intentional. The “gay uncles” and the “kneeing” is all intentional. It’s not just throwaway jokes, it’s them looking us in the eyes and saying “we see you”. I have a whole list of stage 3 things. The intentional Incohearant cards. The “my face hurts from smiling” comments. THE HANDS ON THE SHOULDER TO THE HAND ON THE KNEE. Them being so open about their secluded romantic holiday. The relentless Phil bottom jokes. The yaoi day tweet from the outfits video. The “who would jump for you like that dog jumped for that man” “you”. It’s all there. It’s all intentional. And I’m so grateful for it.

One of my mutuals who I talked about this with (not gonna name cuz idk if they want me to) talked about their theory that DNP have given barely any info about tour because it requires some form of hard launch to preface it. And honestly? I didn’t even realize that was a theory. I sort of already accepted that as fact. How open IS the door gonna be?

So yea, I hope this makes sense. Please feel free to respond with or send asks of any nuances or questions or theories you’d like to add. I don’t intend this to be shaming anyone who thinks differently. Even if I may vehemently disagree with someone in my head, I don’t think these people are evil or malicious or objectively bad or deserving of hate. These are just my thoughts. I’ll likely be adding more. Thanks for reading.

[missycolorful]

I think I'll just say this: I don't agree when people call any of the islanders "bad parents" just because their parenting is flawed.

Like, parents and their parenting is flawed. Inherently. One parent cannot meet all the demands of their child; it is literally impossible. As humans are imperfect, there will always be something missing or lacking in one's parenting. Hell, sometimes even two parents can't meet all their child's needs, depending on their personalities. If that's the case, then I guess all parents are bad parents. But that's not the case, so I don't get why people are so adamant when they see that a parent isn't handling things 100% perfectly and go "wow this person's parenting sucks."

And this is even more so when you take into account... pretty much everything going on in Quesadilla island. These people never really planned to be parents, yet here they are! And this island is out to kill these kids, so it's also a dangerous game of survival now, too! There are horrors around pretty much every corner. Plus, outside or inside forces are making the islanders suffer very often. The islanders are never okay. How they take care of their children is going to be different just by the very basis of their environment. The standards of parenting are different here. Their relationships with people, including their children, were never going to be 100% healthy or positive or okay. It's just not possible.

so, no, I don't think that just cause, say, q!Tubbo or q!Phil aren't great in regards to their emotional intelligence and often isolate themselves, or when any other parents in general don't handle what their children are going through perfectly, that they're bad parents. That kinda statement feels like it diminishes pretty much all the hard work and effort and love they put into taking care of their kids and even kids that aren't their own. Tubbo gives his everything for Sunny, and was/is an active babysitter for a lot of other eggs. Phil works so hard to love and teach survival to and take care of his two eggs equally. (Like, being 'basically' a single parent, of one or WORSE, two, is already hard enough in the real world - imagine being one on this fucking hellscape they're on).

Like, I don't think there's anything wrong with pointing out the parents' flaws. Their flaws make them human, and it'd be foolish to disregard their humanity. And it's interesting to analyze their flaws and what they say about the character, and how they impact their family. There's nuance there, and it should be discussed.

But I think when you're just going "oh, they're bad at parenting in general" because they fumble the bag in other departments lacks nuance. Sure, if you're just saying "they're bad when it comes to certain aspects of parenting," that's a different story, because that's understanding their flaws while recognizing that those flaws don't define all of their parenting. But to just say they're bad at it in general isn't productive analysis of their characters in any way. I haven't watched q!Phil take care of his egg for a whole year (followed by a second egg more consistently shortly after) only for people to shit on his parenting just because his lack emotional intelligence is more noticeable as of recent due to all the trauma and bullshit he's endured. And I haven't seen q!Tubbo put his whole heart into taking care of Sunny as well as multiple other eggs, being Chayanne and Tallulah's reliable godfather, just for people to put down his efforts because he's not always great at more emotionally in depth conversations. They're good parents in a lot of ways, and those strengths shouldn't be discredited just because they aren't good at other things. Their characters deserve way better than that.

tldr these parents are all good in many regards and are just trying their damn best in the worst of circumstances, can we cut them just a bit of slack, please?

[rainbowchaox]

Qsmp! Missa and his Importance to Death Family

This essay I won’t lie primarily became a reality out of spite. People always forget about Missa when it comes to the dynamic of Death Family. Or act he doesn’t exist wanting to add new members. And this is a shame because Missa is so important to everyone that’s part of Death Family. And Missa storyline is about not feeling worthy enough to be with his family. It sucks to see people discredit his importance.

Missa always has and always will be integral to Death Family as a whole. In fact the name Death Family wouldn’t have been coined if not for Missa being part of it. In fact this is what Phil believes as well. They are death family because of Missa. Their family crest is literally a skull because of Missa.

Missa always even when he can’t be there is felt in the foundation of death family. He gets mentioned out of love. Everyone gets so excited when he does come online. And every character within the dynamic has trances of Missa.

People forget that when the egg event started that Missa and Phil were the pair everyone was jealous of. Fit numerous times have said he was jealous of their easy partnership. Missa and Phil had a couple of very good days. And Phil brain chemistry changed completely for his husband since. Phil adores Missa so much. Phil finds great comfort in Missa. Missa is his Sun. He lights up even the darkest days. And Phil always been loyal to a fault. Once you gain his trust it’s even harder for you to lose it. Once you are part of his flock nothing and I mean nothing can dissuade him. Phil is always so paranoid and so scared but Missa makes Phil feel like can just live. And not worry about every possibility.

Not to mention the children. People forget so many traits of Chayanne came straight from Missa. Missa taught Chayanne how to cook. He taught him lessons about being strong. He talked ages about what they are both scared of. Literally the first canon evidence that Chayanne is scared he won’t be able to save anyone. Or even the fact he wears a skull. People have forgotten the only reason he wears one is because of how much he loves Missa. And he does. He loves his papa. Recently it’s known that he goes to him when he is feeling vulnerable or sad. Missa brings him great comfort. He can finally feel like a kid with Missa. If Missa wasn’t Important this wouldn’t be a thing. And Chayanne is so protective over his papa. The most mad Chayanne has been is someone breaking up his dad’s marriage or someone making his papa Missa sad.

Tallulah also always knew how Missa important is to her family. Chayanne and Phil always only had good things to say about Missa. They never stopped considering Missa as part of the family (Despite Missa believing others lies easily that this wasn’t the case). Phil always saw Missa part of the family. So much he always considered Missa her father as well. And Missa because he is so GOOD. Such a great husband and great father. (There’s reasons why Death Family is called the Functional Family.)

And I have said this in my analysis about Tallulah. She NEEDED Missa. Missa loves her just for her. Chayanne gets to be the spoiled baby boy (which is always so cute and adorable, gives me cute aggression. He loves his papa so much.) and Tallulah gets to be the one protecting others. And Missa immediately calls her amazing and such a good protector. He draws the four of them as family. He draws his daughter. Not as the cute girl that loves flowers and nature. But as his warrior daughter that protects him. Tallulah always saw Missa as someone that is safe and someone that her family loves. And when Missa told her he always considered her his daughter. Tallulah heart was so full.

Missa in his family eyes is part of the family. No matter what. He is part of the family. Missa has trances on their house. He has trances on them as people. He is the soul of death family. He is their comfort. He is Missa. Their dad and Phil’s husband. Death Family wouldn’t exist without Missa. And people need to stop thinking Missa isn’t important. That he can be changed with anyone. HE IS DAD and THE HUSBAND. He is so important to Tallulah. To Chayanne. To Phil. He is the soul of death family. And he is so loved. Loved by his husband. By his children. They don’t want anyone else to be part of THEIR family.

[phregnancy]

I genuinely think Phil has been one of the greatest things to happen to Dan. Like not to dwell but I cannot imagine how life would’ve ended up for Dan if he and Phil had never taken a chance on each other. I’m not trying to discredit Dan or Phil because obviously they are grown men who have made their own decisions and gotten their own help (I actually hate the whole “oh my god love saved them and made all their problems go away” type shit in couples, I really hope that’s not what this is coming across as because super not my intention) but I just think their love is something so grounding for both of them. Like a beacon in a dark sea; that feeling of “I’ll be there for you when you need me and I need you and we’ll help each other through it all” is just beautiful to me.

genuinely they’re the best things that happened to each other, meeting changed the course of their lives forever. i know dan thinks he’d be a depressed lawyer if the youtube thing never worked out but i think his depression would’ve been so bad and he would’ve lacked a good support system resulting in him not even having finished school and who knows where he’d end up after that. who knows if phil would’ve had the courage to move to manchester and pursue youtube full time without a cheerleader on his side telling him that he should also follow what he’s passionate about. who knows when dan would’ve confronted his sexuality or when phil would’ve experienced being in love for the first time. ultimately they’d probably be fine and live much quieter lives if they never met, but meeting changed the trajectory of both their lives.

[umlewis]

lewis hamilton, p3, during the post-race press conference, spain - june 23, 2024 (transcript under the cut)

Interviewer: "Lewis, coming to you now. Many congratulations. Great to see you back on the podium for the first time this year. How much of a boost is this result for you and for the team?" Lewis: "Yeah, it's a big boost to finally get a good result. It's been a minute since I've been up here in the race, so a huge, huge thank you to the team, who have done an amazing job just with all the processes through the race weekend, but particularly everyone back at the factory for working so hard; the extra long hours to bring components to the car. And we're slowly, slowly getting closer. I mean, last year we were very fast here, so you have to take it with a pinch of salt, but obviously the last couple of races we've also been relatively competitive. So I think we have closed the gap a little bit, but we still have a good couple of tenths to try and find, so we just got to have all hands on deck and keep pushing." Interviewer: "Are you still fine-tuning this new package, or do you need more upgrades to close the gap to these two guys?" Lewis: "No. I think that's the maximum it's got, at the moment, and so… But, I mean, we're always fine-tuning it with subtle changes that we make, so we are always fine-tuning it when we continue to tune it through the year. But we need to bolt some stuff on, some extra bits to be able to compete with these guys." Interviewer: "Now, you had to overtake Carlos Sainz twice today. He was unhappy about the first of those moves, saying that you should have given the place back. Can we just get your take on what happened at turn one, there?" Lewis: "I mean, look, it's not a good feeling when you do get overtaken, and I think we had a nice, tight battle into turn one. I left him some room, so I think he was still on the track. But ultimately he left the door open on the inside, didn't fully close it, and so I went for the inside and tried to make the corner. I think he came around. I think we touched wheels equally and nothing major. It was like a small scrub. Gave him some room on the exit, and yeah…" [laughs] Interviewer: "Alright. Let's throw it forward now. Do you feel Mercedes are building some momentum now?" Lewis: "We definitely are. We definitely are. We're definitely getting more consistent, and if I can just get my qualifying to be like this weekend then it makes the Sunday so much easier. Also if you get a good start, but my Saturdays have been so bad for the last, like, fifteen races, so it's good to have a clean weekend, and hopefully this puts us in a good position to challenge in the next few races." Interviewer: "Thank you, Lewis. Thanks to all three of you. Let's open this to the floor. Name and publication, please."

[time jump] NOT SHOWN: Journalist: "Kevin Scheuren, Motorsport-Total.com. A question is to Lewis and Lando: Of course, I don't want to discredit you becoming driver of the day today, but Max is bringing in victory after victory, and there were slight boos at the podium, as well. So would you say that there is a lack of appreciation for the accomplishments that Max has in the general public from time to time?" Lewis: "Well, I mean, honestly, I'm not really a lot on social media or reading the news, so in terms of being, like… [phone pings, journalists laugh, Lewis laughs] Yeah. I don't really… I'm not tapped into that to know, exactly, but on the race weekends, he always has a huge crowd, always, so he's always got amazing support and, at the end of the day, he does a fantastic job. Every weekend he delivers, and he's got a great team and obviously a great car, but you can't fault him."

[time jump] Journalist: "Phil Duncan, PA. Lewis, you've obviously said that Mercedes are building a bit of momentum. Do you think that that victory is on the horizon, and how important is it to you to sign off your Mercedes career with a win before the year's out?" Lewis: "I mean, it's not the… It'd be /nice/, but I think, considering where we've come from, I think… Yeah, I think just having consistency and seeing if we can put the team further up in the points, I think it's got to be the target, but I think right now let's just try and have more consistent weekends like this and then we'll see. But we aren't yet currently in a position to be able to fight them for wins. You would say that maybe Montreal… I mean, George probably should have won that one, but if I'd qualified where I feel I should have, there was potential also there, too. So we'll see in the next few races. I think we've got these high-speed circuits. You know, the McLaren's always been quick and the Red Bull has been quick in A1 Ring. Silverstone… They'll also be very fast there, but I'm hoping that we are able to eek a little bit closer to them and give them a bit more trouble in the next four or five races. And then we’ve just got to keep bringing upgrades. We've got to keep improving the car. There's a clear improvement and there's just clear areas where we need to bolt on performance so that we can be in the fight with them."

Interviewer: "Thank you. Yep! Another one." Journalist: "Don Kennedy, HB Today, New Zealand Herald. Question for Lewis: Great drive today. Obviously you'll be pleased Mercedes is moving closer to the front, but how does that sit with you in terms of your decision to move to Ferrari next year, and does that give you some second thoughts, given that Ferrari now seems to be falling behind the car you're currently driving?" Lewis: "No, not at all. I mean, firstly, I love Mercedes. I've been with Mercedes since I was thirteen and I'll always be a fan and supporter of Mercedes, and my job this year, right now, is to work as hard as I can with the crew that I have, with the people back at the factory, to try and move and develop the car in the right direction. And so ultimately, whatever course and trajectory the team is on… For next year, for example, there are things that I've hopefully been a part of and be proud of being a part of. My job will start next year at the other team, who I think are doing a great job. I think they've had a couple of difficult races, but let's not forget they had a race win in Monaco. I can't tell you what is wrong with their car and why they are in the position they're in today, but they did bring an upgrade here and I think they are definitely progressing, so yeah… But it doesn't make me second-guess my decision at all."

Interviewer: "Thank you. Yes, more, more questions." Journalist: "Pilar from Paddock Magazine. Question for Lewis: You have mentioned that you are struggling a little bit on qualifying. Where do you think is the key to start improving the results? Is because of the set-up, or more about the pace of the car?" Lewis: "I mean, our pace is where we were, basically-third and fourth to this weekend-but I think our car has generally been very… It's quite peaky, and that means that it's often out of balance. It's very rarely that it's in balance and it's nice and smooth through a corner, and so set-up has been… I've obviously experimented a lot with the set-up over the last couple of years, but the car doesn't really like any of the set-ups but one, and it's slowly starting to just become nicer to drive. And then, ultimately, tires. Tires have been a huge issue for me, so I think we got it half-decent this weekend. If I can make some improvements over the course of the next races, I think there's more performance there."

[sherpaherp]

Just because it's not Federation Lore doesn't mean that Phil's lore isn't also important

Do not discredit, dismiss, or forget it

[guckies]

Wouldn't Bad's availability make him the best babysitter? Like he's the one always stepping up to do so when he could be spending his time on the server doing other things. But he likes taking care of eggs (and parents often DO explicitly ask him to babysit on top of this) and has the time to do so. And he does a good job at it. Which,, makes him the best babysitter doesn't it?

Roier hasn't been babysitting multiple eggs in over half a year. He may have been the first to do in the first month of the eggs being around but he never kept up with it (for understandable reason, but it doesn't make him a reliable egg babysitter) and isn't really comparable to Bad. I'm not sure by what metric you are determining babysitters at tbh

This could be about several posts so I’m assuming you’re talking about this post but if not lmk anon (time to break out the read more cause we got a lot to say 😞(this is so fricken long and basically includes all my thoughts on the “bbh is the best babysitter” thing))

I’m not sure if you missed this on the post but anon did speak about the fact that Bad isn’t the first choice for the egg parents.

For foolish, he is sometimes the first choice because he’s aware of how often Bad is online but Foolish rarely asks anyone to babysit because he knows Leo will get on and whoever she’s most comfortable with she will ask to take care of her (and most of the time Leo chooses Roier if he’s online). Then Fit who always makes sure, that he can take care of Ramon; Pomme and Richas have like 6 parents so they just hangout with different people because they don’t need to worry about tasks like the og kids; and then Phil has a myriad of people(Tubbo, Forever, Fit, Niki & ect) he asks to babysit before Bad.

Really the only way Parents ask Bad to take care of their kids is when they know their usual go to babysitters won’t be online or if the egg admin cannot get online early enough to play with the parent or someone else they would typically ask. Like the night the eggs went missing, Leo’s admin could only get on really late (which Foolish couldn’t predict because he spent all day waiting for her) when only really 2-3 people are typically online so Bad and Tubbo took care of her because they were the only ones left online and Foolish couldn’t get back on again because of preplanned stream content with friends that he can’t just drop suddenly.

Sorry this might sound a bit blunt but not all of qsmp members are strictly minecraft streamers. Some of them are variety content creators and have lives outside of the qsmp so therefore cannot spend 6-12 hours everyday playing qsmp. (This isn’t saying Bad or tubbo don’t have a life but the others clearly have more strict boundaries of how long they will “work” for ie Phil rarely plays over 6 hours because it’s will end up being 2am for him or cellbit who doesn’t stream on mondays or Tuesdays )

Lowkey though I’m sick of using the term best babysitter because it doesn’t mean anything past just being an available babysitter cause literally anyone can do the tasks. So I am going to stop using it when talking about this. But when people are using this term to make Bad seem like this great person on qsmp is a bit wild. Cause saying he is “good at babysitting” or the “best babysitter” is kinda of like saying he’s the best parent which is discrediting the effort other parents genuinely put in for their egg children. Although y’all may not mean it directly like that, it is what y’all are saying cause babysitting really only involves doing the tasks, keeping the child alive and hanging out with them which is what the parent also have to do.

Like some bbh defenders will talk about bad being available to babysit as if he’s the only single parent and he’s working 3 part time jobs on top of this which he isn’t. He and Dapper just have more free time to play on the server and he doesn’t struggle with egg tasks cause of this. Like when he babysits he does the tasks and then hangs out with the eggs like everyone else would. That doesn’t make him the greatest babysitter alive it just makes him a decent person like everyone else on the qsmp who has and would do the tasks for any egg.

So when y’all say bbh is the best babysitter you are kind of blurring the lines between actually meaning babysitter and really saying he’s the best parent. Which is a stupid thing to argue cause none of them are the best, they are all just trying their hardest to keep their child that they love and care for alive.

Also I was talking about Roier mainly in the past since I’ve only really compared him and Bad babysitting Leo. But what I’m trying to point out is the inaccuracies when people talk about Bad babysitting. Like saying that Bad’s the only one that does it or that he’s the best because he gets on with all the eggs. When literally everyone gets on with the eggs and Roier who has done babysitting exactly like Bad has. Also Roier is still active on the server and babysits Leo & Richas (although it’s more Richas and Roier hanging out). I could say the same for Tubbo who took care of Chayanne and Tallulah for a week or the odd time Foolish or Baghera pick up an extra egg when taking care of their own egg. But I choose Roier because his experiences babysitting from the past are incredibly similar to Bad’s. Although I could argue about how it is different because the eggs that Bad does babysit are very independent now and he only has to do the tasks while the eggs roier took care of back then were way more dependent and needed constant supervision but I won’t because that’s useless.

Plus part of my argument about all this is that the eggs being babysat is completely dependent on who the egg is most comfortable with, who is online and who is with the parent that has to leave; which again isn’t always Bad.

So no I don’t think Bad is the “best babysitter” because any “sacrifices” bad puts in for the eggs are his own free will/doing. Anyone could do the same as him but the only reason he can make those “sacrifices” is because he has way more free time then anyone else on the server apart from tubbo so it’s an unfair judgement. Plus there really shouldn’t be the best of anything on the qsmp cause when y’all argue about there being a best of anything, it just puts down the other members who do honestly try their hardest when doing anything on the server.

If y’all wanna talk about the worst of everything but playing the villain, I could make a post about Quackity (/j!!)

[anonymous-dentist]

Hi AD, sorry but I can be a bitch for a second in your inbox… I made the mistake of going on Twitter and searching to see what people think about Phil and Q being the only ones so far to have unique tickets, first tweet I see ‘ if it’s not about them being birds the only connection I can think that they both have is q!Wilbur’, I see people in the replies say that means the next arc will center around Wilbur, I close Twitter, muffled screaming.

Ah yes…… Phil and Q have unique tickets because WILBURS gonna have a major arc… YEP… nothing to do with those two at all clearly it’s about WILBUR…

They couldn’t even fucking let q!Quackity’s amnesia be about him no it was all ‘oh no he won’t remember Wil!!!’ Or ‘ dw guys hell see Wil and all his memories will come back!’ Even though not even seeing Richas, photos of Tilin, or all the other people he’s known on the island for longer then he’s actually known Wilbur has done anything for him!!!!! Can his own fucking ticket be about him please!

Like man I get missing your favorite pov, I miss Luzu so much but like… cmon man… Maybe just maybe Q and Phil’s tickets are about… them… and not anyone else!

Okay I’m done. Sorry Im rly tired, angry that I’m working on my day off, and had to let that out, anyway I hope you’ve been having a good October so far!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah I’ve seen that too and it’s pissing me off lol. But don’t worry, it’s just people trying to cope with the fact that their special little guy wasn’t the center of Kameto’s Really Cool Event the other day and trying to deal with the fact that q!Wilbur Soot is as unimportant in the grand scheme of things as a grain of sand in the desert.

They’re saying that Wilbur is coming back this month which is. Not confirmed? He said he might be back in October. Meanwhile he just got back from a huge tour and they’re already working on new music in the band and he has another tour to get ready for in December and he’s going to need to film Sorry Boys at some point and he’s more likely to do a just chatting stream about the tour than the qsmp. So.

But it’s just like the sbi and tntduo twitter stans to ignore actual lore in canon of a relationship that isn’t like. Real. (Looks at q!tntduo, which was never canon) (Looks at q!Wil and q!Phil being family in that Wilbur immediately decided Phil was his dad on the train and Phil going along with it and this only becoming canon as soon as q!Wil realized he needed someone to leave Tallulah with and them never expanding on it, thus leaving it as just a self-assigned Father Son dynamic)

Like sure guys keep discrediting the actual ccs active lore (Phil being a known immortal that the Feds 100% needed to get under control by any means necessary) (Quackity’s Entire Lore So Far?????) to perpetuate highly fandomized relationships with a guy with as much canon relevancy as a graham cracker.

[the-bus-called-graveyard-8]

Madagascar: Film-to-Book Details & Changes (part 1 of 4)

The zoo is never called Central Park Zoo—it is exclusively referred to as the City Zoo

Rico talks—just "Yes sir!" but it immediately discredits the whole book lol

The drummer in the subway decides to give up music and take a job on Wall Street that his father offered him

Phil learned sign language from a zoologist lady

When the crates go overboard, Marty's begins to flood and he tries to plug up the holes with all four hooves and his tongue

The "Well howdy-do!" spider has a wife and three thousand children

The lemurs' plane is a L10-E airplane—the same kind Amelia Earhart went missing in—and is referred to as "lemur headquarters"

There is a bit where Maurice demonstrates several of Alex's killer predator characteristics as if he's a car salesman—this is actually a cut scene from the film per the directors' commentary, so perhaps the author of the book was working off the original script

Alex makes a proper home for himself on the fossa side of the island—complete with a moat and a small hut—that looks much like his home in New York.

The penguins use Mort as bait for the fossa instead of Private

Julien and Maurice help with the attack by flying the plane over the fossa and having the other lemurs toss coconuts and melons out the windows to knock them out

When Alex arrives to fight the fossa, he tells Marty that he's "a real mensch". Mensch is a Yiddish word that means "a person of high integrity and honor". Jewish Alex canon?

At the end of the battle, Skipper declares the place "New Antarctica". As Private photographs the others standing on a pile of unconscious fossa, Alex reiterates that the penguins are psychotic

Julien does not tell the Zoosters they are in Madagascar until the very end. When he is met with confusion, he replies "Where do you think you are? San Diego?"

Many of the more "vulgar" jokes were removed—the thermometer Melman gives Marty is not a rectal thermometer, Nana bonks Alex on the head instead of kicking him in the groin, Julien calls the Zoosters "sissies" instead of "pansies", "we killed them and ate their livers" is completely skipped

The Zoosters are a bit meaner and more snappy with each other :(

[pommunist]

In relation to the "Quackity was losing money from the qsmp!!!" point that people bring up in defence of him, like... tbh in my opinion quackity probably could have made quite a bit of money in subs and donos if he ever actually... streamed on his server.....

Via twitchtracker from march 2023 to march 2024 (this is the timeline i use for all numbers/averages in this unless otherwise stated, also i use 1 year for emphasis sometimes even when meaning 13 months, start of march last year to end of march this year) The highest amount of subs quackity (on his main channel, quackitytoo's subs stats arent available) has received within a month (ie. subcount at end of month) is 2.7k in august 2023, with quite a few months dipping below 1k, and the lowest being just over 500 in july 2023 (Though he also only streamed once in the entire month, so this is understandable), coming to an average of 1.6k subs/month. While his average viewer count across those 13 months was about 35.1K, with a high of just under 65k average in august 2023, and a low of 22k average in january. (This is across all categories of game/just chatting)

Only 48 of quackity's main channel streams (67 total if im not miscounting) in that time were under the category minecraft (71%), with over half of them being in the first 4 months of qsmp (really mostly the first 3 months because it started in late march). With only 13 streams in the category in the latter half of 2023, and 8 in 2024.

To compare, ill use badboyhalo as an example: (Im using him because the vast majority of his streams were qsmp until recently, and i didnt want someone to try and say "but they stream other things!" to discredit this (even though so does quackity), and of the other streamers who have been on the qsmp since the start either a) They "stream other stuff" (ie. not qsmp, including other minecraft like phil's hardcore) often so it "wouldnt count", b) Their subs arent tracked on twitchtracker (its opt-in), or c) They stopped playing on the server/very very rarely play on the server so i cant accurately compare the full timeline. I could have probably also used foolish but bbh came to mind first (And his sub stats weirdly stop tracking in october 2023? I assume because that's when he changed his twitch channel name?))

Bbh's highest number of subs in a month was may 2023 with 4k, with his lowest being just under 400 in march 2023 (only 4 streams that month, so again this is understandable), across march'23-march'24, he got an average of 1.8k subs/month. To compare viewers, bbh's average viewcount across those 13 months was 3.7k (nearly 10 times lower than quackity), with his lowest being 1.7k average viewers in march 2024, and highest being 6k average viewers in september 2023. (again across all categories)

(Im not counting by hand all the times he's streamed in the category minecraft, but seeing as its nearly daily its over 300)

Of course, you could use the argument "Bbh streams every day for so long!", and like... Yeah. He does. In the past 13 months bbh has streamed for 2.1k hours. Quackity has streamed 106. One hundred and six hours. Quackity has streamed on his main channel less in a year than bbh streams in one month (avg 163 hours/month if anyone's wondering). And yet their average subs/month are only about 200 apart. No wonder hes apparently too broke to pay his employees fairly.

At time of sending this ask quackity has 6.3 million followers on twitch, bbh has 2.6 million. They have a drastic difference in followers and viewcount, and yet their subcounts are still so shockingly close to eachother.

If quackity needed money to pay for server costs or to pay his employees that badly he definitely could have made more by doing his job streaming more consistently. He doesn't even need to do it as much or as often as bbh does, seeing as hes already very close to bbh in average subs/month on his main channel with his incredibly low number of streams.

And again none of this factors in quackity's streams on his second channel, where he streams more often and for longer, because twitchtracker doesnt track that channel's subcount (again, it's opt-in) so i cant factor that in to how much he hypothetically makes. But as for the other stats on quackitytoo: 35.7k avg viewers, 168 total hours streamed (13 hrs/month), 65 streams in the category minecraft (march 23rd-now, though i might be off by a couple, my brain is fried for numbers at this point), and 4.6 million followers. Based on this, he most likely has a similar or higher amount of subs than his main channel on that one.

And this entire thing doesn't factor in donations at all seeing as that is a 3rd party thing and not something twitchtracker tracks.

Sidenote about the "in the category minecraft" thing: twitchtracker will include a stream in the category stats even if you forgot to change categories before starting stream playing/doing something else. So there are some "minecraft" streams where the time spent in the category is under 15 minutes, or if a stream crashes and restarts it will count as a separate stream. I still tried to count these to give the most benefit of the doubt

(In case anyone is curious about the foolish stats: (again across all categories, seeing as he does play quite a bit of valorant), viewers avg 6.7k/month, total hours streamed 2.4k, avg 190 hrs/month, subs avg (march-october 2023 because of the lack of tracking afterwards) 6.7k/month, ~250 streams in the category minecraft, and 2.1mil followers. Also, before anyone complains about only using english streamers to compare, the only spanish speaking streamer whos been on qsmp from the start and still logged on consistently through the entire year is roier, and his subs also arent tracked. And none of the other languages were there from the very start.)

Sorry about how long this ask got (i bolded the numbers to make skimming easier for anyone who's not reading all that). I just got so curious about people defending Q by saying how the server running costs meant paying his employees fairly was too expensive that i went to check the actual stats, and i was kinda shocked by how low everything but viewcount was. Of course, I never believed quackity was a "millionare" by any standard, but im also not a viewer of his so i didn't know how much/how often (how little/how rarely*) he actually streamed.

And as a final thing, I have no idea how truly accurate twitchtracker's subcount numbers are (and the wording is a bit confusing on the graphs, which is what i interpreted as "# subs at end of month/subs gained within month" seeing as subs last 30 days (i think?)), as I'm not a streamer and I don't personally subscribe to any streamers. I just know that streamers themselves see it as accurate enough for the "highest current/all-time subcount" records. So i guess that's to say disclaimer: this is all just estimates.

WHAT THE HELL ANON ? Ever thought of having a career in financial/statistical analysis because if not maybe you should consider.

I’ll admit that I don’t know anything about how exactly twitch revenue works so I can’t really make comments on what you just said, but I’ll leave it here for anyone who may be interested in the numbers side of things and this seems like quite the thorough investigation.

I just wanna add that, depending of the societal form of the company, Individual fund may be separated from company funds. Aka Quackity’s money ≠ Qstudios money.

[piratical-princess]

More bad (or in some cases pretty good) Xmas movie reviews here! I’ve tried some odd ones.

EDITED TO INCLUDE:

Christmas on Mistletoe Farm: This was EFFING CUTE. Super British. Quirky kids in hand knitted stuff and big Wellies. Baby barn animals everywhere. Comedic English overacting. As charming as a mouse in a teapot. I would watch it every year twice. The colors alone are scrumptious. 9/10

* Christmas Inheritance - As stereotypical as Christmas romance movies get. Small town, lonely innkeeper, main character returns to town to find the magic of Christmas by helping with some pageant or festival or whatnot. Bland but mainly pleasant but stop making characters do that slow head shake while sincerely singing thing, it’s weird . 4/10

A Christmas Movie Christmas - A fun swing at typical Christmas movies. Christmas magic transports two sisters into a Christmas movie of their own where they wake up every day with their hair and makeup already done and cookies already baked. Parts of it are funny, but it led me to the disturbing revelation that all B actors wear false teeth. 6/10

Christmas Chronicles 2: I was excited for this. Hot Santa, Belsneckel, Yule Cat. Nope. Bad. Please don’t bother, you’ll soil the first movie. 1/10

Dash & Lily : in spite of being about New York, this short series is really good and sweet. It’s a scavenger hunt of literature and romance and the art of loving your own weirdness against the backdrop of Christmas. It’s charming and colorful. Definitely not perfect, it is a high school aged series based on YA romance and that can sometimes lead to “youthful” acting, but it is good and I appreciated it and the music was superb. 9/10

Noelle - dang, I really liked this. It seems a discredit to say it’s like a gender bent Elf, but that is the broadest definition. Very warm and loving. 10/10

Scrooge: A Christmas Carol - this is the animated Netflix version. I have mixed feelings. I thought they took the art in some really interesting places. I thought the music was pretty terrible. I thought they did the lower budget animation thing where some characters look amazing and some look poorly thought out. I thought Scrooge was weirdly hot. 6/10

Mickey and Friends: Duck The Halls - Newer style of Mickey Mouse animation that is part Ren and Stimpy and part midcentury modern, which is awesome. Donald Duck stays in the snowy north for the winter and literally falls apart from the cold, lots of body horror. Hilarious. 10/10

Jingle All The Way - I know, it is weird that as a 90s kid, I had never seen this. I was promised a bad movie and I’m slightly disappointed that I loved the hell out of it. From Arnold expecting us to believe that he works in mattress sales and saying “you’re my numbah one custahmahh” with a cheesy grin to a brawl of underground gang Santas to Phil Hartman having the balls to hit on Arnold’s wife and moaning obscenely over the phone about how good her cookies are while Arnold yells “PUT DAT COOKIE DOWN”, it’s all amazing. But really the best part is the unexpectedly complex buildup of a real hero/villain relationship - the connection, the offer of friendship that gets rejected, the ensuing battle that becomes an insane bid for revenge, culminating in a real costumed fight that ends - in the true spirit of Christmas - with the police hauling away a grown man in a latex bodysuit clutching a toy he has ruthlessly stolen from a child that would grow up to become Darth Vader. 15/10

[loveydovey-leviathan]

Last Sunday morning on TVNZ's Q&A affairs programme broadcasted a 45-minute interview with Israeli ambassador Ran Yaakoby. [INTERVIEW]

The entire video was filled with Israel's lies, misinformation and propaganda that has long been debunked-- including the 'beheaded babies' myth that was proven to be false. [SOURCE]

For NZ citizens, please take the time to send a complaint to TVNZ. Write your own complaint or copy and paste from below.

Phil O’Sullivan Head of News and Current Affairs Television New Zealand c/o qanda@tvnz.co.nz Kia ora Phil, Last Sunday morning TVNZ’s Q and A current affairs programme broadcast a 45-minute interview with the Israeli ambassador conducted by TVNZ senior reporter/presenter Jack Tame.  The interview breached all the standards of decent journalism. In other words it was offensive, discriminatory, inaccurate and grossly unfair.

It wasn’t journalism – it was 45-minutes of uninterrupted and unchallenged Israeli lies, misinformation and previously-debunked propaganda. It was outrageous. It was despicable. The country which for six months has conducted genocide against the Palestinian people of Gaza was given free reign to pour streams of the most vile fabrications and misinformation against Palestinians directly into the homes of New Zealanders. And without a murmur of protest from Jack Tame. Even the most egregious lies such as the ‘beheaded babies’ myth were allowed to be broadcast without challenge despite this Israeli propaganda having been discredited months ago.

The interview showed utter contempt for Palestine and Palestinians as well as New Zealanders who were assailed with this stream of racist deceits and falsehoods with Q and A as the conduit.

Tame contented himself with nodding at almost every falsehood told and even offered the Israeli ambassador leading propaganda phrases such as the falsehood of the Palestinian resistance using “human shields”.

There was no holding the genocidal state of Israel to account – no questions about the grave breaches of international law or war crimes such as collective punishment or the use of starvation as a weapon of war. Nothing about the genocidal statements from Israel’s political and military leaders and how these genocidal intentions are being put into practice. Nothing but a few token pushbacks about the number of Palestinians who have been slaughtered in Israel’s Killing Field of Gaza.  

And of course, as is typical with western media, and Television New Zealand in particular, Palestinians and Palestinian viewpoints were nowhere to be seen. From the outset there was barely any pretence of journalistic independence with the interview taking place at the Israeli embassy in Wellington backed by Israeli and New Zealand flags which “bond” the countries and the people together as “fellow-travellers”.

We were shocked and outraged. We insist that:

TVNZ issue a public apology to the people of New Zealand for this journalistic debacle and that you as TVNZ Head of News and Current Affairs take responsibility and resign.

TVNZ publicly identifies and apologises for the lies and misinformation presented by the Israeli ambassador without challenge from Jack Tame.

TVNZ give Palestinian voices the same time as the Israeli ambassador to respond to the ambassador’s lies and misinformation.

TVNZ conduct an open inquiry into its reporting failures over the past six months whereby it has consistently prioritised Israeli spokespeople, Israeli justifications, Israeli explanations and Israeli propaganda while sidelining and ignoring Palestinian viewpoints.

Please respond without unnecessary delay. (your name)

This complaint was given and written by PSNA. All credits go to the original writers.

[cardinaldante]

It was three in the morning when Cardinal Dante woke up, sweltering under Ifrits heat. It wasn't the heat that woke him up however, but the feeling. The feeling of something wrong. He shook Ifrit, trying to wake him, but the ghoul didn't wake, still and unmoving. Phil and Phantom were the same way, and Dante didn't like it. Terzo was gone from the bed when he checked, and Copia was gone as well. Something bad was happening.

Dante left the room, footsteps quiet against the wooden floors. The feeling of wrongness was growing, like something was trying to lead him to the problem. Like a dog trying to lead him, but he was half awake, and the dog wasnt there, and- Dante felt himself shiver heavily as the bad feeling washed over him. He left the safety of the ghouls den, feeling the cold soak in through his socks as he followed the feeling down, down, down- to the deep, dark crevices in the church. He'd never been to the catacombs- these were forbidden expressly because the Catacombs were full of dangerous things- at least, according to the Papa's.

He continued through the catacombs, stopping as a straight feeling of fear swept through his body. Something was wrong. A blueish, white light sweeps through the catacombs, making Dante stumble back as it stops infront of him, turning into Papa Nihil. Nihil tilts his head, no longer looking old and tired, but soft and old and normal.

"You're the...young Cardinal Copia took in." Nihil whispers, stepping forward. "What are you doing down here? You shouldn't... Be here. Saltarian-"

"I came to save you all, but I see..." The unspoken 'I failed' hung heavy in the air. Nihil sighs, glancing down at his hands before shaking his head.

"I was old, and served my purpose to the dark Lord a long time ago. He already told me that I would not survive to see the next year, I just didn't think it would be this soon. And at the hands of one I called my equal, once upon a time." Dante, confused, tilts his head.

"Equal...? But.. Saltarian told me he hated you-"

"We grew up together." Nihil cuts Dante off, looking every bit as old as he used to. "We... Saltarian was like my brother. We did everything together. And then his father killed mines with a demon he summoned in order to take over the church. That's what happened. He sided with his traitor father instead of helping me. And so I cursed him with everything the dark Lord had given me, and paid the price for it. No leader of the church from my family will ever be human again. Even now, with you, you arnt human, are you?" Dante blinks, and Papa Nihil shakes his head. "Anyways, you are just a child. Get the ghouls, they-"

"None of them woke up. I tried to wake them but I.. I think something's wrong with them- please Papa Nihil. I want to help. What do I have to do in order to save the others? I don't.. Papa Copia-.." Dante chokes up, hands tightening into fist. "I can't lead this church, Papa Nihil. I'm just a kid. I don't know what to do. I.." Dante hesitates. "I'm scared." His voice is quiet and soft, and Nihil sighs heavily, muttering something in Italian.

"You remind me too much of when Terzo was a child. I don't know if that's a good or bad thing, but..." Nihil steps forward. "The ghouls Swiss and Sodo are under some sort of spell. You'll need ghouls of your own to stop them. Bring me to the ghouls and I may be able to wake them. We have to hurry though. Saltarian won't wait until they find you to start sacrificing my son's."

"Why does he want to find me? He can't just discredit me in the church- nobody will fight against his rule, expecially if we can't wait the ghouls." Dante walks with Nihil as they head back up the stairs, up to the ghouls den. The ghouls are still passed out around the room, and Papa Nihil looks over at Dante, eyes soft.

"Because Copia cares about you." Dante stares at Nihil as the ghost touches Omega's face, pressing one ghostly hand to his face. "Come on now, ghoul. Serve your purpose. Your master is in trouble." Omega shifts, before his eyes open, the ghoul blinking confusedly as he pushes himself up, hands grasping at a body no longer there.

"Nihil..?" His sleep soaked voice makes him sound more tired than he looked, the ghoul yawning, showing off his teeth. "Where's... Where's Terzo? Wha-"

"Not enough time to explain, you have to come with me now. The Papa'- I found them!" Omega tilts his head, looking confused.

"But I didn't finish-"

"Doesn't matter. We need to go now, Omega." Omega shifts, standing up on slightly wobbly legs before shaking like a dog. "Papa-"

"Take Phil with you as well. He knows how to stop Saltarian, and the ritual he's trying to do." Dante grabs onto Phil as Nihil does the same thing he did to Omega to Phil, waking the confused demon up. It's more of a struggle to get the demon up on his feet, but once he's awake, he shakes off much like Omega did.

"Copia and Terzo are missing." Was the first words out of his mouth. Dante nods, before leaving the room, all three following him. "What's going on- Nihil, what-"

"No time to explain. I'll try to buy you all some time. They're in the Catacombs, in the Ritual room. Young cardinal, you have my permission to go there." Dante nods, keeping an eye on the floor as they run through the church. It's quiet, the moon lighting their path as they run down, down, down, back into the dark depths of the church.

"What the fuck is going on?" Phil finally asks, pushing infront of Dante to take the lead when the boy starts looking around, obviously confused.

"Saltarian's taken all the Papa's and wants to do a Ritual, I think. He wants to sacrifice the Papa's to something- some higher power or-"

"He wants to summon a ghoul." Phil whispers, and Omega glances at his counterpart.

"Not just a ghoul, if he's sacrificing the Papa's- a powerful source of demonic energy, expecially with what they are... He wants to summon something bigger than a fucking ghoul." Dante stumbles, and Omega scoops him up, bolting after Phil. "Dante, we can't touch the summoning circle. Your going to have to destroy it." Dante looks up at Omega, eyes wide.

"Me?! But, I.. I don't even-"

"Just destroy it." Phil stops infront of a large wooden door, hand shaking, tail twitching back and forth. This was the first time Dante had ever seen Phil's demonic features- the other ghoul was always so calm and collected. He realized this was the first time he'd seen Phil- the ghoul who'd basically raised him- nervous and scared. "Dante." Dante looks up, seeing both ghouls staring at him. "Theres a very real possibility we won't be able to save the Papa's. Theres a very real possibility both Omega and I won't make it out of this ritual room. I will come back- Lucifer will make sure of that. But Omega and Sodo and Swiss will not. You will have to lead the church for a while. Are you ready for that?"

Dante was not. Dante was not ready for any of this. Dante didn't want to lead any church, or destroy any ritual, or loose any ghoul. Dante was just a 15 year old boy who was in way over his head and didn't know what he was doing/ getting himself into. But he was a Cardinal. He was Cardinal Dante. And Papa Nihil was counting on him to save the other Papa's.

"Yeah, I am." Omega places him down, eyes on the door. "I am a Cardinal of this church. I have been trained for this." Phil only nods, glancing over at the younger boy. He didn't want him in this, but he was the only human- or well, human enough- person around that could stop Saltarian.

"Kill anything that isn't the Papa's. Saltarian included."

[Will be continued on Monday. A/N under this cut]

A/N: Hi! I know, I know, cliffhangers eh? Unfortunately the writing app I had this on completely fucked me over and deleted all my progress. What your reading right now is what I managed to remember/what wasn't deleted. I wanted to get this out as I have College and I wasnt able to finish writing. I'm so sorry!! I hope you all like this version of the story and hope you all tune in for the ending of this story line tommorow! Thanks for reading!

[azspot]

The politicians who lied to us — George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden to name but a few — extinguished millions of lives, including thousands of American lives, and left Iraq along with Afghanistan, Syria, Somalia, Libya and Yemen in chaos. They exaggerated or fabricated conclusions from intelligence reports to mislead the public. The big lie is taken from the playbook of totalitarian regimes.  The cheerleaders in the media for war — Thomas Friedman, David Remnick, Richard Cohen, George Packer, William Kristol, Peter Beinart, Bill Keller, Robert Kaplan, Anne Applebaum, Nicholas Kristof, Jonathan Chait, Fareed Zakaria, David Frum, Jeffrey Goldberg, David Brooks and Michael Ignatieff — were used to amplify the lies and discredit the handful of us, including Michael Moore, Robert Scheer and Phil Donahue, who opposed the war. These courtiers were often motivated more by careerism than idealism. They did not lose their megaphones or lucrative speaking fees and book contracts once the lies were exposed, as if their crazed diatribes did not matter. They served the centers of power and were rewarded for it.

Chris Hedges