#or lack of tactics

[chargetheintruder]

Three simple Questions.

1-- WHY isn't anyone in the Press reporting on Trump's Sentencing today? He is in fact a convicted felon, found guilty on 34 counts of fraud? And today was supposed to be the day. 7-11-2024. July 11th.

More to the point, Ex Post Facto (after the fact) laws are NOT Constitutional and never have been. NO recent "Supreme Court" decision CAN overturn even one of Trump's guilty counts without creating Ex Post Facto law. That's not how it works: new laws and new rulings take effect that day and go forward.

So, is the Press so deeply paid for that even Snopes is bought out and lying and throwing softballs on Trump's behalf? What the fuck is going on and why is Trump's sentence not reported when EVERY felon's sentencing IS usually reported in the most smug manner imaginable?

2-- Elon Musk aside, why IS Trump still stupid enough to say whatever the fuck he feels on Twitter/x, whenever, and then think nobody's listening? To get to the point, Trump admitted on that platform that he still has firearms. Which is a no-no for convicted felons. And which might make Trump either a National Security risk or a homicide risk, pick one.

3-- And why do the so-called "decent people" of the Democratic Party in Washington, D.C. simply refuse to have a spine on one damned fool thing ever? So you "can't" use the 25th Amendment, force the issue until Joe is Stubborn PASSES a Cognitive Impairment Test, and make Kamala Harris President Pro Tempore? So you "can't" just TELL America at a Press Conference that Trump's Former Staff and Major Supporters are ALL behind Project 2025, because delegating responsibilities, that's been a thing for so-called "conservatives" since Reagan? So you "can't" convince an angry Mark Zuckerberg to come back and run for the White House with Kamala Harris in any capacity? So you "can't" make an immediate decision ever and "can't" do what it takes to save society until voters go postal and revolt against every toxic, back-biting Press Meme that gets shoved down your gullet, the way the whole "losing all of Congress" thing was in 2022? Really? You creaky ship of cowards just has to go along with EVERY RENTED PIECE OF JUNK INFO THE PAID-FOR PRESS VOMITS AT YOU BECAUSE CEOs ARE SOOO FUCKING BORED?? REALLY?

I'd strangle some of you myself, but I'm not sure you even breathe much lately. I'm not sure, some of you have a pulse. You're so passive I'm not sure if you're alive or capable of knowing what the fuck a crisis is. Because you've ran us all OUT OF FUCKING TIME. ENTIRELY. No, listen to me, it takes time to actually put the President Pro Tempore (Kamala Harris) in charge and it takes time to cough up new Presidential candidates and it takes time to wage a pre-emptive counter coup-d-etat against the Trumps and their Psycho Idiot 28 Percent. It takes time to actually get the deeds done and enough people moving to get it done.

But nooo, it sure as shit looks like you WANT us all to lose and WANT American society to DIE, worse than every last English tea-swilling little knock-kneed bitch ever. What is your problem?

[furiousgoldfish]

the society: you will feel so much better when you forgive your abuser, do it for your own sake

the abuser, on top volume: I'M NOT SORRY, it was entirely your fault, and it didn't even happen, and I'll do it again! I'm doing it again right now! I will end you if you ever even say something!!! I only regret not being worse to you because maybe then you'd LEARN TO BEHAVE!!!!!!

society: forgiveness is going to make this all okay, we don't need to address this behaviour. I know I'm right about this

society: and remember, if you don't forgive them you are just as bad as they are! ;)

[divorcedfiddleford]

You made a post saying “it has been zero days since our last alex hirsch hates ford so much bullshit” and i know it was mostly hyperbole, but you have some really good takes that I would love to be elaborated on in terms of how ford is written

it really wasn't hyperbolic. over the years he's just really shown a lot of hatred towards this one character.

content warning: discussion of abuse

i want to start with this clip from the commentary which i think of as a microcosm for how the writers and especially alex think about ford.

transcript:

rob renzetti: i mean he [mcgucket] should've basically knocked ford out, and... and destroyed the... you know, tied him up, and, destroyed... and... alex hirsch, speaking over him: yeah he should've beat ford with a wrench and taken this thing apart piece by piece! he's the one who understood how to built [sic] it, but...

... so that seems like a pretty violent course of action. shall we unpack that?

ford is a character who's pretty explicitly written as a victim of abuse, and who now has c-ptsd as a direct result of the abuse he experienced. alex hirsch believes that ford deserved everything bad that happened to him, that it's ford's own fault, and that he also deserved worse things to happen to him. this is why, given every narrative chance, alex hirsch has piled more suffering onto ford's plate. the biggest example of this i can think of is in the journal, when he wrote that fiddleford was actively erasing ford's memory (despite this being a massive timeline contradiction which i still refuse to accept). because god forbid ford even have one remotely healthy relationship with somebody. that would be too good for him. ford was manipulated and lied to by bill, but alex repeatedly compares him to icarus, a teenager whose demise was the result of his own ignorance. this comparison is still so fucking offensive to me. the sun did not lie to icarus, did not guarantee icarus all of the happiness and success and sense of belonging which he had been denied all his life, did not actively shut out the voices of those around him who would try to help him.

alex in general has a very strange relationship with abuse. he seems to get really upset when people read his characters as victims of abuse. the strongest instance of this is actually not with ford, it's with pacifica - especially in the nwmm episode commentary. the episode says "pacifica's parents have conditioned her to respond to a bell" and alex says people got "the wrong idea" about it. like. dude. what the fuck. you wrote abuse. even if you didn't mean to, that's what you wrote. you can't say people got "the wrong idea" just because you didn't think about the subtext of what you were writing. anyway, back to ford: i believe this extends to him as well. alex wanted to write a character who's a foil to stan and who was a selfish unlikable victim of his own arrogance. however that's not what he wrote. he somehow seemingly accidentally wrote a really compelling and relatable awesome autistic guy who had to fight for every good thing he he ever had in his life only for it to be taken from him every single time. but alex can't let go of seeing ford as just "the opposite of stan". when he talks about "how someone as smart as ford could fall for bill's tricks", he refuses to realize he wrote a situation in which a man was being psychologically manipulated and tortured.

it goes back further, too. people repeatedly theorized that filbrick was... not a very good father, to say the least. on top of the very explicit and canon fact that he threw one of his children out on the street (seriously, there is no defense for this), people pointed out that stan would flinch at filbrick, that ford seemed upset by things filbrick said but dared not talk back, that filbrick was mad at stan not for hurting his brother, but for "costing the family potential millions". but alex can't have people seeing ford as sympathetic. ford can't have it bad like stan did. ford had to have everything and he lost it all because he sucks so much. so he wrote the graphic novel story where ford is filbrick's favorite child and filbrick also is not even a bad parent you guys he's just stoic. ignore the whole thing in dreamscaperers where stan perpetuates the abuse that filbrick did to him. ignore the fact that ford was shouting at stan and then completely shut up as soon as filbrick entered the room and did not say another word for the rest of the night. ignore all that because i just made up this story where he cries at a present from stan. filbrick loved his boys for sure you guys!!!

i'm not even touching on how alex repeatedly villainizes traits commonly associated with mental illness and neurodivergence. ford's hypervigilance becomes arrogance. his passion for knowledge means he's a know-it-all. his difficulty socializing and making friends means he's a misanthrope. his lingering resentment for the way he was raised means he hates his brother and is the worst human being to ever have lived. i could go on, go even further into how the finale reaffirms this, but i feel weird talking about this too much.

[serpentface]

Interview Question for Etsushir:

What was the vibe like as a foot soldier during the suppression of the North Finn Rebellion? Did it feel doomed from the start or did it only fall apart once the Odomache was assaulted and killed?

[aurorangen]

That morning's conversation replayed in Vincent's head. All 3 people sitting in front of him work at the police station, the very same station that led the disappearance case 20 years ago. Even though he felt guilty concealing information, he'll wait a bit longer and forget about it for the time being. But he kept on wondering - why was Isaac so tentative about detectives anyway?

[g0nta-g0kuhara]

you can't be a good leader, let alone an ultimate-level one, if you can't work with people or connect with them on a personal level? DICE are referred to as 'friends bordering on family' for a reason. just because he doesn't do that in game doesn't mean it's like 'oil and water'/something he's fundamentally incapable of

I meant that he's like that *in the game specifically*. Of course he's close to DICE, or else they wouldn't've been in his motive video. Hell, outside of the killing game he probably would've worked just the same with the other v3s. Its just the situation that he's in that has him acting on edge and paranoid, pushing the others away do better do what he wants in what he thinks is for their own good. And so he eschews collaboration in favour of trying to pull the strings from outside to best "lead" the others through the killing game as much as possible.

[ninicaise]

damen & laurent are so iconic i think because as the tumblr expectations demand they Do share 2 single braincells where one of them is for pining & being horny and the other one is the most powerful braincell in the universe and it's for being the smartest most competent people in the five entire kingdoms. and that is inherently a very interesting combination

[dare-to-dm]

Still enjoying Baldur's Gate 3. My spouse is interested in the game too, though I think it's unlikely that he'll be able to get into it. He doesn't have much experience with turn based tactical games, and I think that ultimately the high level of complexity in BG3 is going to be a barrier to entry.

I can't even advise him to play an easy character like a fighter because you have to control every action taken by every member of your squad. Sometimes he watches me during combat and whenever I open up the action wheel and scroll through literally dozens of choices he's like "...this looks really complicated".

He loves Dragon Age, but honestly that series is far simpler to get into. It does have a lot of granularity in its tactical options, but you can also just choose to lower the difficulty and let the AI control your teammates and you can do just fine.

[sonknuxadow]

maybe the movie just sucks and they didnt realize until it was too late to backtrack and now theyre scared to drop a trailer

[zeb-z]

idk it’s like. yeah Bad, you should be talking about the cursed team. yeah Tubbo, you’ve got an excellent theory crafted here, a super solid argument that your team is cursed. but it’s no surprise that red will not hear you out, because blue’s relationship with red is just in such shambles. Bad has burned bridges and destroyed any sort of love, any sort of trust, any sort of anything. Pierre has spat on the flames. The fact they managed to have a genuine talk about the enchant agreement is a miracle (and only because it was half OOC in my opinion, and because Phil is the only one on red who will extend a bit of trust because he just doesn’t want to fight), but still hasn’t done much for blue’s favor.

everything that red has suffered when they have tried to talk, everything Bad has done to them specifically with ruthlessness in the name of victory, has now shown to have consequences. so yeah, blue could so be the cursed team, and Tubbo could be right to a terrifying degree and have it all figured out - it’s not gonna stop red from fighting because they can’t hear him out. how can they trust a thing he says? why would they talk to Bad now at the final hour? why would they sit there and show mercy when so often none has been shown to them?

it’s the name of the game. to tear them all apart and see just how far they’ll go. the eye wants them to burn bridges and turn on eachother in the name of victory, and Bad played very well. it’s a shame he represents more than himself, but an entire team. it’s a shame those bridges he burned might have been the ones they needed now that red is in the lead and has a chance of winning. yeah man, blue might be cursed, but red has found evidence in their own favor - and why on gods green earth would they take blue’s word when Bad has proven time and time again he will abandon honor for victory?

[fruityfroggy]

I don’t know what I’m doing but FUCK IT *chucks oc x canon fanfic into the distance*

Warmth Amidst the Rain

- A hand to hold, a shoulder to cry on in these dark moments of mine. I didn’t know I needed you more than ever.

Pairing: Lilya x Verdigris

Word Count: 795 (apparently)

A/N: This is my first fanfic, so it’s not the best. Read this as self insert if you want. I’m also bad at dialogue writing (and decided to write most of this at 2am), so bear with me if you can, okay? Anyways, I think this counts as light angst, since the actual angst supposedly happened in the scene before the stuff that takes place here. Sort of a more vulnerable side of their dynamic, y’know?

Rain. It just doesn’t quite sound right when it’s gradually starting to ascend from the damp ground in droplets. It was growing eerily quieter with each passing minute, with small, plopping sounds echoing wherever she went.

That was what worried Lilya, as she rushed down the rippling sidewalk. She had to find Verdigris soon, the sand of time is growing uncomfortably shallow now.

After a few moments of searching, the muttering of a familiar voice in the distance snapped her out of her thoughts, just in time for her to notice a figure by the edge of the forest nearby.

“Mantén esto a salvo por mí... por favor, Berillus…”

Lilya instantly dashed in the figure’s direction, a slight breath of relief escaping her as she skidded to a halt behind the woman she was looking for. But concern clouded her mind the second she got a closer look at her. She sensed that something was wrong. Very wrong.

Verdigris’ hair and clothes were drenched with rain water, clinging tightly to her skin as she looked down at something in her hands. Flinching momentarily with uneven breaths, it was as if she was a blighted flower in the wind. It was clear that she was indeed, out here this entire time.

Lilya wanted so badly to kick herself in that moment for not noticing her disappearance sooner, but it wasn’t the time for that. Instead, she carefully placed a hand on the brunette’s shoulder. She felt freezing cold to the touch at that point.

“Verdigris…” There was a beat of silence between the two, the sound of rain filling the air around them. She didn’t know what else to say. Lilya’s never really comforted anyone that often, but she wanted to comfort her. Effectively.

“Victor…” Verdigris finally spoke up, but her words came out hoarsely. “He’s gone…they’re all gone now…leaving only pieces of them behind…inanimate pieces…” She didn’t look up from her hands, but Lilya could feel a sense of loneliness and melancholy without even seeing her face. “I’m sorry…he was a good man…” she replied gently. No, no, but that wasn’t good enough of a response, was it?

Suddenly, she remembered the rain-soaked sleeve against her fingertips. A bit hurriedly, Lilya took off her jacket and wrapped it around the arcanist in front of her, giving her shoulders a light squeeze before reluctantly letting go.

Verdigris immediately turned to look back at her, her usual “concerned expression” tainted with something more…sorrowful that she’s trying to bite back. “Lilya, don’t be like this. I’m going to get your clothes wet. You really don’t need to-“

“Shhhh…” the pilot shut down her worries for a moment. She took off her gloves and stuffed them in her pocket, before carefully shifting the hair from Verdigris’ face and wiping away her tears. “I’ll be fine, Verdie. You need this more than me. Wouldn’t want you to catch a cold, alright?”

Her hands were warm on Verdigris’ face like a beam of sunlight cutting through the dark clouds. She instinctively held onto them with her own hands in hopes of holding that warmth even closer to her. “Am I not cold against your skin? Aren’t you uncomfortable holding me like this?” Verdigris asked softly. “No,” Lilya replied like it was a very obvious thing. “I’m comfortable as long as you’re alright. I…we can’t lose you, okay? It can’t be you…”

Something about those words had struck Verdigris harder than expected, and tears started to well up in her eyes again. She let go of Lilya’s hands and pulled her into a tight embrace, receiving a small surprised gasp in return.

“Вы слишком добры ко мне... как мне заслужить..... все это?”

It was too hard to hold it in anymore, it’s unclear how long it’s been there all these years. But Verdigris couldn’t help but break down in tears against the pilot’s chest in that moment. She’s said those words before, but she’s never been on the receiving end of it, and that felt very different.

Her trembling body felt so delicate in Lilya’s arms, scarily delicate. In that moment, it felt as if one wrong move could shatter the brunette completely. So she held her gently, wanting to hold her tighter, but deciding against it. She lightly caressed her the back of her head comfortingly. “Не волнуйся, я здесь... я всегда буду рядом, когда тебе это понадобится... все будет хорошо, дорогая…” she cooed.

Amidst her blurred vision, Verdigris felt herself being lifted, a firm but warm grip on the side of her knee and shoulder. Was she a child again? Being held and carried home by her father…like old times? It was hard to tell in that moment, but all she heard was “Hold onto me. We’ll be safe soon, солнышко”.

[angelof-thevoid]

Hobbies / Scholar

Soft scratching sounds fill the room as she draws pen against paper, leaving steady and precise ink strokes in its wake. When the tip runs dry, Ikora dips it into the small bottle of dark liquid perched in the corner of her desk, metal making the slightest clinking noise when it makes contact with the glass. 

Impractical as it may be, there was something soothing about traditional writing when taking personal notes of her research. Usually, everything could be found in a digitized form available from a database or via their ghosts. But she still believed there was value in practicing good handwriting. 

You never know if something could happen where you would need it, a hard lesson learned after the red war. Lacking access to digital information and hard line connected communications as cabal soldiers trampled the city underfoot taught her that the older ways of technology still had their uses. 

Radio was a main staple until they purged the red legion and got the city networks back up. Information written down and passed through scavenged scraps of paper when they needed to share vital details quietly. She also didn’t have her personal data pad, and telling Ophiuchus every troubled thought or concern was out of the question. Some things were best kept private to a guardian’s own mind. 

Besides, there was something soothing about recording with her own writing, seeing letters brought into reality guided by one’s own hand instead of automated by a screen or keyboard. A different kind of satisfying to have something other than the boring pixel perfect font, Ikora’s work is a flowing script with the minor flaws of her real hand.

It was also a nice way to make use of a calligraphy set gift given to her as a holiday present, being astutely thought to appreciate old historical techniques and hobbies. Ikora even considered the idea of using it to do personally written letters to others closest to her, but part of her wondered who for. She would want to do it for someone who could share her appreciation of an old art. 

Zavala was a pragmatist and likely thought keeping things digitally was more efficient than taking handwritten notes. There’s Chalco, but Chalco seldom sat still enough and it wasn’t an impossibility that anything sent to her post would be waiting a while. Ikora would hope to send a letter to someone who would see it.

Someone who would also send letters the old fashioned way. Ikora finishes off her notes and gives the ink a chance to dry on the page before pulling open a drawer for storing private papers. In it she finds an old piece of hive leather with writing scratched into it by a practiced hand, its strange odor long faded from when it first arrived. Now that’s an idea. Ikora smiles to herself as she rummages around for a fresh piece of paper and checks the small bottle of ink to make sure it remains wet. Pleased with the liquid she dips the calligraphy pen, clink clink clink, and begins to write.

Dear Eris-

[furiousgoldfish]

it's all 'you wanted it, you wanted this' with the abusers until you want them to take accountability for their actions and apologize and stop doing it, then suddenly it's 'noo i'm shifting the blame to you' and they do it again, almost as if they never do anything just because you wanted it, and specifically do the things you don't want.

[sparring-spirals]

chetney, who will probably need someone to help carry him through this river: hey we should go through this river 👍

imogen, whose sorcerer noodle arms would stop her from carrying anyone: chetney did you want one of us to carry you. i mean. not me. but.

orym: *already trying to set up a rope so he can try to wade across*

fcg: holy shit we have immovable rods?

chetney: *fishing* (successfully)

ashton: hey hand me pate, who i distrust, so we can use him as bait

fearne: oh wait, would that be danger-

laudna, the owner and creator and caretaker of pate: i mean. he'll come back :) HEY PATE

[themyscirah]

This is how this went right?

Parallax!Hal: I miss being a hero... wish I had my ring back

Kyle: oh well you can have mine then! That way you can have a second chance : )

Parallax!Hal: YES!!! A SECOND CHANCE TO PLAY GOD AND RESHAPE THE WORLD AS I WILL IT MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Kyle, now ringless: .................huh. im gonna be honest here I really didn't see that coming

[redbean-nom]

Rebel Admirals Rex & Kalani from an au where the clone and droid rebellions were a bit more successful

Rex's fleet (rebel fleet Remembrance) - the whole 'ahsoka's not actually a jedi' thing worked and most of the 332nd got dechipped. (maul still escaped, but they managed to patch up the maul-damage before he got to the hyperdrive, so the Tribunal is mostly okay). the extra resources & manpower allowed the clone rebellion to operate on a much larger scale, and they eventually allied with pantora as a whole with the backing of senator chuchi. cody and later wolffe brought their imperial fleets to join the rebellion about a year later (after the chips started wearing off).

the fleet (one venator (the Tribunal), four star destroyers, associated clones, gunships, fighters, and tanks, plus a handful of stolen imperial walkers and shuttles) formally joined the rebel alliance around 10bby.

(rex got put in charge of the fleet because he's the least traumatized out of all the surviving officers. cody ran off to live with obi wan on tattooine.)

Kalani's fleet (rebel fleet Independence) - something happened and he and kraken managed to steal a chunk of dooku's ships (and later a good chunk of whatever was left of grievous' fleet on utapau) after his death. they essentially got lost in the chaos of o66, since the rest of the separatists thought they were deactivated after the shutdown order, and escaped with essentially a full separatist fleet. since they were active instead of stuck on agamar, kalani noticed that the leader of the empire happened to be the republic's supreme chancellor, and decided the empire was the new target of the CIS army. he later encountered the clone rebellion and decided that since the clones had effectively deserted the republic and were now fighting the empire, they were therefore allies.

the fleet (one dreadnought, three cruisers, one stolen imperial carrier, associated droids, fighters, transports, and tanks) formally allied with the rebel alliance around 10bby, with the backing of serenno and raxus secundus.