#so maybe polls will be only 24 hours in the future

[gamebunny-advance]

Baseless NSR Theory #82: Gigi & Mystery Man

Y'all should know better than to get me hyped up about my own theories, but let's run with this since I haven't done one in a while.

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After thinking about it some more, I feel pretty confident that Gigi is NOT Mystery Man (MM). The stained-glass portraits are a little abstract from the characters they represent, but the broad strokes are always there. No character is depicted with a completely different skin hue, and Gigi's face and features are a little round for the angular MM.

Granted, given the mysterious nature of MM, I can't completely rule out that his portrait is an outlier. Let's consider that the only (human) characters depicted with gray skin are also the nameless NPCs: the ones that are almost literally supposed to be a part of the background. If MM's nature is truly about secrecy and blending in, then having a giant accurate portrait of him in your main office would probably work against that.

Still, in other "official" pieces of art depicting MM, he's always shown with sharp, angular features that Gigi just doesn't have, so I'm going to go forward with the assumption that Gigi and MM are not the same person.

(Art by Ddaddystar, a concept artist for No Straight Roads, Source: 1 | 2 | 3)

However, they could still be related in someway. It's possible that MM has underlings that help him with whatever he does. Even though we never see them, we know that DJSS has at least one other person working under him related to his work as a rocket scientist, so it's very possible that all or most of the other Megastars also have staff directly under them for their non-music roles in NSR.

If MM's role in NSR is related to secrecy, perhaps spying, given his stereotypical spy outfit, it's possible that MM has set several spies around the city to aid in that work.

(duckduckGo image search of "cartoon spy")

And since this is a setting that works on "cartoon logic" where the spies might have a uniform, it's possible that MM's underlings have calling cards connecting them to him. Perhaps, something like a hat and glasses and a toothy smile.

Oh, would you look at that.

Of the evidence that Gigi is working for NSR under MM, there isn't a lot to directly connect him to them. However, he has a few of the same, "he knows more than he should" moments that also implicated Kliff as untrustworthy in the opening parts of the game, so I do believe that the player is supposed to have some doubts about him even if it's only to be a red herring.

For starters, he's one of the few NPCs that force-triggers an interaction to continue the story. The same thing happens when Zam stops you to join the revolution. This implies that in both instances, it's the NPC stopping you to talk instead of vice versa. Given how casually they all talk to each other, the implication at this point is that he was friends with B2J before the events of the game, but as will be revealed later, this isn't actually the case.

Mayday and Zuke later mention that neither of them are actually familiar with Gigi and just assumed he was a friend of the other. This never gets commented on further, but it does confirm that Gigi is just so naturally charming that he infiltrated their friend circle without either of them really noticing until much later.

Mayday isn't even certain about his name while Zuke doesn't know it at all, implying that he may have never directly told them, or didn't tell them unless asked. This would be natural behavior if he assumed that they already knew his name, but then is this a case of Gigi also thinking that Mayday and Zuke are supposed to know him, like they've met in the past and B2J just forgot him, or is he purposefully concealing his identity?

Let's also consider the meaning of his name. "Gigi" in Malay translates to "teeth/tooth," an obvious reference to how his teeth are always showing. While it's possible that this is his real name, it's more likely that it's a nickname or an alias. So the matter is if he told Mayday that that's his name, or if she and others just started calling him that when they realized they didn't know his real name. Something like people originally calling him, "That guy who's always showing his teeth." then morphed into just calling him "teeth." Either way, he's concealing his true identity, which would be necessary for a spy.

I do assume that most of the time the characters are actually speaking Malay, but is shown in English for the benefit of the player. When Mayday encounters DK West, she doesn't ask why he speaks a different language, she asks why he speaks with a different accent, possibly implying that all the characters are actually speaking Malay, DK West just has a different dialect.

Both times Gigi stops you, it's to talk about how he's seen what B2J have been up to (first their audition and later their battle with Sayu) and to offer them a drink. He seems really insistent on giving them those drinks he offered, since after he was turned down the first time since B2J were busy, the next time he prepared for another rejection by having the drinks with him and just inviting himself to the underground hideout, which is supposed to be secret.

Granted, (I lost the source, but I swear this is at least *80% true), the reason why Kliff found out about the hideout without being directly told is that Mayday apparently posted that info online, so it's not impossible that Gigi found out about it the same way. B2J didn't react to him knowing about it the same way they did Kliff, but it's possible that by this point they realized that their hideout just wasn't as secret as they originally thought.

*I can't remember if it was just that she posted her phone number online so that's why Kliff was able to text her, or if she posted all their info. Either way, she's unintentionally created a paper trail that could lead people to her.

However, after he enters the hideout, Gigi is effectively written out of the game as he has no other interactions with B2J besides seeing them off when they leave.

This seems odd as the other two guys who join the hideout but do nothing (Robot and Yiruk) still appear above ground to talk, whereas the two guys that actually do something (Zam and Kliff) only appear underground after they're recruited. If Gigi also wasn't doing anything important in the sewers, then you'd think he'd also stay above ground to talk like the former group.

Unless he is doing something.

It's possible that Gigi is collecting intel in the hideout. Since Kliff is apparently already monitoring how the fights are going, Gigi could theoretically just get the info he needs from Kliff instead of directly watching himself as he appeared to do earlier. That would also give Gigi the time to focus on other areas of interest. Perhaps something like leaking B2J's main source of outside communication: Zam FM.

When Tatiana calls into the radio show, she admits that she's been spying on them the entire time, though by what means aren't elaborated on. At the time, the implication seems to be that she was just listening to the show, which theoretically could be listened to by anyone who knows their signal and wouldn't necessarily need additional spying to achieve, but that doesn't exempt that she could have had other spying methods.

Let's consider that Tatiana didn't consider B2J a threat until after DJSS's defeat, but doesn't get actually angry about them until Sayu's defeat. Gigi's first attempt to get info from B2J was directly after DJSS, but he failed to stop them from meeting with Kliff who gave B2J the tools to defeat Sayu. After Sayu, he finally just forces his way in, possibly as a response to Tatiana's rising stress over the situation.

However, I must concede that if Gigi truly is a spy for NSR/MM, then why wouldn't he report about Kliff's involvement? Even if he didn't know the personal history between him and Tatiana, I think it would be pretty important to report that they have a significant ally that they should keep tabs on and then naturally Kliff's involvement would make it to Tatiana.

But also keep in mind that in this theoretical, Gigi is still reporting to MM first. So if MM disregarded anything he deemed irrelevant and then sent that revised report to Tatiana, then Kliff's involvement could have been lost even if Gigi made note of him. The message could have been diluted from, "Kliff is an ally of B2J." to, "An information specialist is an ally of B2J."

It's not like NSR was trying to destroy B2J from the inside. NSR's main goal was to have B2J defeated by a megastar to strengthen NSR's political support/make an example of B2J, as to maintain order. To do this, they needed to prove EDM's superiority over rock by its own power. Using any sort of foul play to defeat B2J would conflict with those ideals and likely lead to chaos irrupting in the city had they won or even significantly hindered them in this way.

For example, an easy way to discombobulate B2J could have been to shut down Zam FM, which they actually tried to do before he got in contact with them. However, after he was able to get set up, there wasn't much they could do without rousing suspicion. Gigi theoretically could have taken down the show while he was there, but if something had suddenly happened to cut off B2J's communication with their fans, then the fans might suspect NSR of foul play and start revolting on their own or at least spread the word that this happened, which could weaken NSR's support.

With that in mind, Gigi's orders might have been to report on B2J's activities and plans, but not to directly interfere, thus explaining why B2J didn't have many major set-backs and why NSR didn't have any meaningful advantages over them even if they had someone on the inside.

In conclusion, I think there's a strong case that Gigi is actually an NSR spy, and a weaker but still compelling case that he's also connected to Mystery Man, who might be the director of NSR's spies.

[cordeliaflyte]

it keeps amazing me how you make polls that are like “should i do this” and it’s something i’ve done that i think is maybe unhealthy but i also know mo better alternative to it. and i keep wanting to comment extensively and uselessly on your polls instead of pressing buttons. i’d say “thought elimination regime” is fine (and your plan is better than mine, which very much is “gaming for hours on end”. like when i’m dealing with Thoughts i just play games that require all of my focus until the Thoughts pass. alternatively i draw while listening to unfamiliar music. this for some reason also consumes most of my brainpower) but not if you’re planning to do it for months. like it’s fine for a week or so (or less). at least that’s how i approach it. maybe i’m lucky that my horrors mostly pass in a week and having thoughts becomes somewhat manageable.

aside from gaming and drawing + unfamiliar music, i’ve played backgammon, solved sudokus, i think you can crochet like that, i think when i crochet while having a video of someone else crocheting something in the background i end up having zero thoughts (or like. if you’re doing a pattern that requires a lot of counting. like crochet houndstooth stitch is two different stitches alternating and you have to keep track which one you’re doing. which leaves my head mostly empty. this might be skill dependent), and it’s very likely that knitting can be like that too but i haven’t tried personally. i think using one of those adult coloring books while listening to unfamiliar music could work for me as well but i tend to just draw. you could do origami but i don’t really remember how well it works for thought elimination, maybe combined with music. i think that’s it of what i know. sorry for rambling in your inbox again

😭 but the alternative is making decisions for myself and god knows i cannot do that... you are very much invited to comment extensively on my polls. one thing i have never understood is how most people hate unsolicited advice. i genuinely love unsolicited advice. i want other people's opinions on what i am doing 24/7 i want people to tell me what to do.

unfortunately my Horrors will definitely not pass within a week they have been going on For A Very Long Time. in this hyper specific iteration it has only been a couple of months and in this iteration only a couple of years. but still they are genuinely consuming the majority of my thoughts </3 and the other things i am worrying about are also very stressful </3 and unlike The Horrors they are things i can actually take action on and need to if i want a future.

now i am the one rambling. thank you these are very good suggestions 👍

[absentlyabbie]

🥔

it's over!! the end!! it's finished!!!

RESULTS: 60% 🥔(🎉) 40% 🍚

concluding observations:

it was honestly downright eerie how consistently parallel the week-long version of this poll tracked with the results of its 24-hours predecessor. rice had a stronger showing this time, breaking 40% multiple times and ending on an even 40% as well. but really, the numbers fluctuated only very slightly throughout the full week's polling, which i did not expect and remain baffled by. i honestly thought there'd be more variance or fluctuation this time, more back and forth.

the 24hr poll ended with a little over 6,000 votes and the weeklong poll ended at just under 35,600, but the results are damn near exactly the same. it's WEIRD. for people who like numbers and shit this would probably be a fascinating little case study.

some of the most common phrases in the tags/comments/replies, with variations: "evil poll", "why pit two bad bitches against each other", "i'm so sorry rice/potato", "x is easier to grow", "y is more nutritious", "potato/rice is more versatile", "[samwise gamgee/gollum quote]", "op how could you do this to me/how dare you make me choose", "you can rice a potato but you can't potato a rice", "no rice no life".

there was great passion and great angst abounding on all sides. some had zero problem making an immediate choice, some agonized for apparently hours, others made a fast choice and instantly regretted and wanted to change their minds. mistakes were made and mourned via misclick.

both options are extremely popular with various people from all cultures and countries, and while culture and heritage continued to be one of the strongest influences on how respondents chose, they were by no means a foolproof predictor.

overall, the greater majority recognized the beauty and versatility of both options, offering respect and understanding to those choosing the alternative or making choices with rue and sadness and apology to the unchosen starch. but there were vocal contingents on both sides who vociferously declared their intent to not only die on their selected hill, but to kill on it.

numerous respondents, when presented with the choice of having to give up either rice or potato for life, vehemently decided they'd rather just not have life. which. extreme, but i get it.

i have been cursed many, many times in the tags, replies, and comments, and am grateful most of you so kindly made it clear your threats were made with affection and exaggerated outrage, and i'm also very glad some of you will never, ever find me in the brickspace.

those of you who just do not like one or the other (or even both) of these options are entirely valid and don't let anyone tell you different. but for those of you who just don't believe one or the other can do many things or that one or the other is bland/tasteless, i'm so sorry you've not experienced the true joys of them both yet but also hope that joy is in your future.

deepest condolences and love to those who could only make one choice (or none) because of texture/sensory or dietary issues or allergies. also, some of y'all seem to just really be Going Through It right now and i offer you this hug: 🫂

but the true winner is ALL of us, because this question is imaginary and no one can take either 🍚 or 🥔 away from us

now if i ever want to start a war on tumblr again and really make people hate me, maybe i'll poll 🍞 bread v 🍝 pasta

taking my life into my hands to resurrect this godawful hellpoll and let it run for a week this time

[lifeline-au]

INT. BASEMENT - 1997 - MIDNIGHT

SPAMTON huffs an irritated sigh and turns away from the lazer gate- deciding against trying to brute-force his way through. (Thankfully.)

We cut to a shot of SPAMTON walking through the hall opposite to the barred-off path, tentatively waving his pen around like a flashlight, casting it upon the cracked walls and strange overhanging cables that drip through the ceiling.

One wire hangs low enough to hit SPAMTON in the face as he gets distracted. The salesman yelps and quickly pushes it away, glancing around to make sure nobody was looking. (Nobody was.)

SPAMTON, (nearing the height of his impatience): Really!! God, if Swatch wants me to get that machine so badly, they can go an’ unlock the gate themselves-!! At least let me actually be able to straight to the damn thing, instead of-

His sentence is abruptly cut off as something huge breaks through a hidden plug in the wall, narrowly missing SPAMTON by an inch.

The salesman cries out in surprise, completely booking it and rushing straight past the WALL PLUG, and into an off-room branching off from the hall.

Rows of steel teeth hiss and chomp at its disturber, rearing back to give chase. It snaps at SPAMTON’s heels as he runs to the end of the room, ducking behind a chest in the center and peering over the side at his pursuer.

The WALL PLUG is caught by its cord- only making it about halfway before giving up and retreating, glaring back at the salesman as it recoils.

SPAMTON laughs if only to ease his panic, pulling himself up from the ground and leaning on the chest before him.

SPAMTON (out of breath, triumphant): H- Hell yeah!! That’s right, get lost!!

At this, another WALL PLUG appears beside the old one. The two of them circle around the entrance, clearly displeased with the little salesman for disrupting their quiet.

SPAMTON (despondently): ...Shit.

SPAMTON: Alright, alright- problem for future me to deal with.

SPAMTON fully brushes himself off, readjusting his tie and glasses before staring down the chest before him.

SPAMTON (smugly): Let’s see… Old files, maybe? Customer records? Anything… Swatch doesn’t want me finding?

He pries open the box with a bit of effort- before a cloud of dust comes bursting through in plumes, filling the air with useless data remains and… well, things you don’t want to be inhaling.

Good news is, SPAMTON sucks in a whole breath of the stuff, leaving him in a horrible coughing fit. He might just hack up all his lungs at this point- it takes him a good ten seconds to recover enough to stand up again.

SPAMTON, (between coughs): Al- Alright, not doing- th-that again.

The salesman spends a… disappointingly long time recovering, wiping his eyes and brushing off his once-pristine clothes with a look of extreme frustration. The feelings of hardship and failure are clearly unwelcomed.

SPAMTON, (incoherant rambling): Stupid fucking basement. Stupid fucking Swatch. Stupid fucking… whatever. Whatever!! I’m getting to that lever or dying in the attempt!! And then Swatch gets to deal with my cold, dead body, and all my paperwork, and everything else- and- and- you!!

The salesman whirls around, pointing a furious finger at the two WALL PLUGS still lingering outside.

SPAMTON: This is all your fault.

The WALL PLUGS glare back, but give no further response.

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BASEMENT STORYLINE

CURRENT LOCATION: Basement Lobby.

?: The following 8 posts will be in a choose-your-own-adventure sort of format. A strawpoll will be released at the end of every post- you have 24 hours to vote and make a choice.

There is one ending.

Yet your influence and choices here will be… important.

CHOICES:

Make a run for it.

Calm down.

Talk to the wall plugs. (Politely.)

Shine a light in the wall plugs' eyes.

POLL HERE.

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[hopeymchope]

Random Danganronpa S musings after having 24 hours to digest the announcement

— Get a load of that cover art. I’m sort of surprised that they spoil the existence of Toko’s other personality right there on the front, but I guess that’s a pretty early reveal in the very first game and it’s also heavily telegraphed in advance, so no biggie. The real question here is: WHY is Komaru so prominently shown when her starring role is the only game not included in the collection? I would fucking LOVE to later find out that we’re also getting Ultra Despair Girls in this set somehow, but I don’t think there’s any chance of that. And I seriously doubt she’s going to be integral to the events of Danganronpa S: USC. So what gives? Perhaps it’s just another way to mislead newcomers, like the prominence of Kaede and Hifumi. The entire selection of characters here is sort of curious and makes me wonder if this art already existed before now. I don’t believe I’ve previously seen it, though.

 — I wonder how they’re fusing the turn-based combat into the board game this time? Obviously there shouldn’t be some random “exams” that occur at the end of a board, because the story is no longer centered around completing years of school. So what’ll be the driver behind encountering enemies? Maybe they’ll be on random board spaces? 

— They showed us the screen where you can choose higher-level cards that represent more powerful versions of the game characters just like in Ultimate Talent Development Plan. But the main reason to use those rare-unlock options in UTDP was to get tougher characters for use in the Despair Dungeon. I’m not expecting a dungeon crawler to be included with this one, so what’s the purpose of the S-level cards and such? ........ Unless I really should expect dungeon crawling to be integrated into this somehow! I’m just spitballing now, but maybe we will progress through various boards, and some boards will represent dungeons/combat areas? 

— Of course I assume Junko is behind the invasion of Monokuma and his army of Mono-bots. I’m quite confident that this is going to be another AU where she has a whole new plot for driving despair just like she did in UTDP/Despair Dungeon. Perhaps the entire resort trip is part of her overarching plan. We’ve already seen Junko (on the title screen) and “Junkuro” (seen above) in the screenshots so far, too, so Mukuro is presumably acting as support for Junko’s plot once more. And I wouldn’t be surprised if Tsumugi is in on the plot again as well... even though I’ve long wanted to see a version of Tsumugi who isn’t just evil. I was actually disappointed when I unlocked the scene in UTDP that revealed she was still putting on a front to hide her true nature. 

— The prescence of “Junkuro” strongly implies that we won’t once AGAIN won’t get to see Mukuro as herself. :( That was one of the big disappointments of UTDP for me, although I realized at the time that UTDP was mostly made out of existing assets. However, now that they’re making a bunch of new sprites and CGs for Danganronpa S, it makes the idea of trapping Mukuro in her disguise just much harder to swallow... I hope I’m wrong and we can unlock some way to play as Mukuro as herself. UTDP at least gave us a retro sprite for her, but it doesn’t seem like it’d be that difficult to give her a proper sprite set.

— What can we glean about the gameplay from the above screenshot? What drove the player to wander into a dead end of the board? Will such dead ends potentially hide some special items, rare events, or secret pathways? Is the player’s choice to venture down there somehow connected to the “Mission” stated at the bottom? Are these “missions” going to be side objectives or the main requirements to progress? It’s also noteworthy that every image/video of the board we’ve been given shows the same section of the same board. Is there only going to be one massive board for each runthrough, or will we still see different board options/”courses”? I hope for the latter, but I could do without the Despair Course...

— Dude, I was shocked to see that Togami is ripped on the title screen. Still, I guess it’s believable enough that he’d take the time to sculpt his body as much as possible. I was much MORE shocked to see Kazuichi looking fucking CUT in the swimsuit scene. What the hell?! How many abs can you develop from mechanic work? Because I am assuming none. I guess he must work a lot of crunches into his days. 

— Remember the “Future Course” in UTDP? It took a ton of time to unlock it, but I loved that there was a way to bring in the Danganronpa 3 anime-only characters, even if it was just for simplistic retro-style sprite interactions. I wonder if we’ll see anything similar with those characters in this release? They already have the retro sprites, after all! So here’s hoping for more time with the Future Foundation crew. 

— Really digging the fact that you now unlock story/interaction scenes on a menu where you can rewatch them. That’s going to make the scenes I’ve experienced so much easier to track! I’d really like to see them provide some hints for any spaces on the menu that are unfilled, but I won’t hold my breath.

— The selection of characters featured in the Collector’s Edition art print is sort of random, isn’t it? When you take all three together, is there any commonality they share? This feels like the result of some Japanese fan poll that determined these to be the most beloved/marketable options or somesuch.

[pynkhues]

.... any succession fic recs? 👀

Yes!! I haven't read a lot for it yet, but some of the stuff I've read has been staggeringly good. I'm generally more into gen fic in this particular fandom, but have enjoyed some Stewy x Kendall, Gerri x Roman and Naomi x Tabitha too.

A few recs under the cut!

“I wanted to get out. From under all this. Take the money and run.”

Kendall tells Stewy even though he knows he’ll never get it, not like Naomi does. He’ll never understand the crush of it, the heart-stopping head-fucking fear of failing a tyrant. Kendall’s been ignoring the shape of it for a long time, putting pieces of it together in the back of his mind in total darkness like a blindfolded man. It doesn’t matter that one day his dad will die. It doesn’t matter about the money or the hostile takeover or the stolen files or any of it. There’s no running. Kendall’s Logan Roy lives inside his head.

Stewy laughs. Stewy laughs for a long time.

“There is no out, Ken, what the fuck are you talking about? You were born this and you’ll die this. You are what you are, and what you are is a fucking Roy.”

Kendall hates him, for a moment. Lightning-strike furious. What the fuck does he know about any of it, about his dad’s swinging dinner plate-sized hands, about getting 24% name recognition in reliable international polling, about puking every time you think about a car swerving off the road in the rain. About finding out that you can do something unthinkably, unimaginably terrible, and it doesn’t matter to anyone you know but you. There’s a scar on his arm that no one else who hasn’t already been told how it got there can ever know about, and he’s sick of it, and it’s not fair. He hates Stewy for a moment because Stewy’s right.

“I wanted to do the right thing, Stewy, for once in my fucking life.”

Stewy laughs again, more briefly, and the predator flash of his eyes in the neon of the motel sign is a torture all its own.

‘There is no right and wrong, Ken. How the fuck do you not know that yet? Not for people like you. Like us. There’s shit you get caught doing and there’s shit you don’t.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You really, really fucking don’t,” says Ken, and fuck, there it is. The road less travelled, that only he has ever driven on. The path he’s down where Stewy can’t follow. That place beyond Stewy Hosseini where he never thought he could go.

“You’re not telling me something, and when I find out what that is, and I will find out what it is, Kendall, don’t you think I won’t, so I am warning you that when I do find out I am going to be righteously fucking pissed,” says Stewy, and if Kendall thought those were a predator’s eyes before—

“Yeah, you will,” says Kendall, because he knows exactly how perceptive Stewy is. Exactly how weak he is. Exactly, precisely what both of them are.

And treat this night like it’ll happen again by postcardmystery. 8k words. Kendall x Stewy. Post s2. (CW: internalised homophobia, some homophobic language)

I tried to pick a shorter excerpt, but I literally couldn’t, this fic is so. good. The voices are pitch perfect, and it’s got this incredible build to it overall that goes back and forth between time and point of views and just rips your heart out. The premise itself is pretty simple – after the press conference at the end of 2.10, Kendall calls Stewy, and they drive through rural America while Kendall has a breakdown, and it’s just - - unspeakably good. I love it so so so much, I have no words.

r/roysucks Connor’s gf just posted on Instagram (instagram.com) submitted two months ago by webbedscrum_2279 23 comments share save hide report

[–] DM_ME_SAMESMAIL 40 points two months ago I too like to escape to my yacht in the Mediterranean when my family and I are on trial for covering up rape and murder. permalink embed save report reply

AITA for accusing my father of multiple crimes on his own news station? By amleth 3k words. Gen fic. Post s2.

And now for something completely different – epistolary fic which is just reddit news threads of the Roy family drama. I love an epistolary fic and this is just totally charming, and made me laugh a lot out loud.

“You’re quiet,” she observes. “That’s a first.”

“Yeah, well, the Turks beat it out of me. Gave you a run for their money.” He waggles his eyebrows. “So what is this? Whips and chains? Are we doing the whole boat-sex thing? I heard Shiv and Tom are looking for a third —“

Gerri finds what she’s looking for: a black leather binder. She drops it on the bed and begins paging through it, and Roman cranes his neck enough to recognize that it’s just full of documents, not like, dick pics. “I’ve given some thought to what you proposed a few weeks ago, and I agree that we should make things official in some way,” she says, and he blinks.

“Uh,” he says. “Which — what part of it?”

“Take a look.”

Gerri closes the folio and hands it over. It’s deceptively heavy, and the print on these pages is way too fucking fine, he thinks, paging through it. “Is this some kind of, like, Fifty Shades of Roy sex contract? Because it’s not that I’m not into it, but I think there’s a strong argument for going paperless —”

“Strictly speaking, this isn’t legally binding,” Gerri says. “Just something I threw together with regard to our business arrangement going forward. But with no respect to the family — the past few weeks have really illustrated that no one should take anyone at their word right now. Give me a little more than your word.”

Evacuation strategies for a yacht on fire by devourthemoon. 11k words. Gerri x Roman. Post s2. Explicit.

After the events of s2, Roman and Gerri fake being married as a professional alliance, only, y’know, maybe it’s not so fake. This fic is just so, so much fun, and messy in the best possible way. The author nails all the character voices, and the sex scenes are just the right amount of hot and ridiculous, and I just love it all a lot too.

Kendall estimates it will take an hour for the first articles to go up. Some rapid-fire blog without oversight—the New York Post, maybe, or wherever those Vaulter hippies have skulked off to—will slap a catchy headline on it and report his words verbatim. Give or take a gif of his face when he switches to script number two. New York Times, Washington Post, AP, those fuckers take longer. They like to bleed the story like Middle Ages plague doctors for its marrow, fact-check and add context and analysis and as many backlinks as their servers can handle. Still, a couple of hours, and his face will be plastered on every major news outlet. His voice will play over the nightly talk shows. He’ll trend on Twitter. A few more days, and he’ll be the star of analysis segments, podcasts, weekly briefings. Maybe, fuck it, maybe he’ll trend on Twitter again.

It’s been years since Kendall read Shakespeare. But that shit sticks with you, gets under your skin and emerges when you least expect it, like eczema or Keynesian economics. He knows how the media will spin this. Kendall Roy Attacks CEO Logan for Years of Corruption. Prodigal Son Disrupts Family Legacy to Restore Credibility. That’s how Hamlet ends, right? And Macbeth, Lear, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, even Titus fucking Andronicus. The spilled blood sinks into the ground, the seedlings sprout forth from the soil, and a new castle is built on the bones. Order out of chaos, or at least close enough an approximation that the tabloids will buy it.

Legacy for profit by owlinaminor Post-2.10. Kendall Roy. Kendall through Shakespeare analogies – just - - ooooof. It's a beautiful, lyrical character study that weaves through Roy family history and teases at a future none of them are even sure they want. It's gorgeous writing.

For the next few days Shiv would have to keep the pressure on Kira like an open wound because there were other women, victims that Nate’s people were going to find one by one as soon as that phone call disconnected. Mo was her father’s friend, good friend, for a long, long time. Nate and Gil, Sandy and Stewy, too many sharks in the water and the share price probably dipped to a new low but she would never check a stock ticker. Her husband’s nerves fraying at the edges on national television. She had promised a woman she’d never met before that she would kill roughly one third of the top male executives of her family’s company. Her company.

The last look Rhea gave her before she shut the car door was concern close to fear—no longer the same woman who heard their pitch in the safe room, who laughed with her at Argestes. Rhea had only looked into the abyss; she got cold feet and she didn’t even know what it’s like to grow up in it.

Her family’s company is hers, will be hers. Even from a whale fall, new life would spring.

Feed his flesh to wayward daughters by reogulus. 2k words. Shiv Roy. Set during 2.09.

This entire fic is set around Shiv bribing Kira not to testify, and god, it is so good. It’s bleak and rough, and really hones in on the complex ground Shiv walks as a character. It's another brilliant study of what it takes to be a Roy, and the way they make the awful choices in order to fulfill this legacy that they don't even know they want.

Kendall sets down his fork. “So. Tell me. Is it everything you wanted? Is it what you thought it would be?”

Roman stills. He never does that. He’s constantly a menace in motion, slouching and fidgeting, worse even than Kendall at his amphetamine peak. “What? The view from the tippy-tippy-top?”

“His regard.” Kendall wipes his mouth with the edge of the white cloth napkin. It comes away pink from the steak. “Dad. He’s all yours now.”

Roman still hasn’t moved. Finally, he lurches, like corroded machinery come uncertainly to life. “Yeah, man. It’s fucking tight as hell. I love every beautiful daddy and me moment I was a good enough little boy to earn.” He snorts. “Fuck you.” His face goes curiously slack then, like something Kendall’s own face would do. An intermission in the performance, an energy cut. Something genuine finding its way to the surface. “Why don’t you tell me. When you got everything you wanted, how the fuck did that make you feel?”

Nauseous, is the first word that springs to mind. Sick. Scared. I’ve never had everything I wanted, there’s that. I’ve never once had a single fucking thing I wanted. There’s that, too.

Interim leadership by arbitrarily 2k words. Roman + Kendall. Post s2.

I love Roman and Kendall scenes generally, but this one which features Kendall and Roman meeting for the first time a few months after the press conference in 2.10 is just a bit magic. The push pull dynamic that's just inherent to them mixed with the genuine affection and brotherly love is really special, and arbitrarily embraces both in equal measure. It's a great little fic.

There are lots more of course, and I'd also recommend checking out other works by these authors, but I hope this is a good place to start! :-)

[snkpolls]

SnK Chapter 130 Results

The chapter poll closed with 1775 responses. This month’s poll results were brought to you by u/staraves, Crunchwrap, Luna, Momtaku and Giovata! Thank you to everyone for your support!

RATE THE CHAPTER

Maybe it was finally getting Eren’s POV, or maybe it was finally seeing the rumbling in nine glorious double page spreads. Either way “Dawn for Humanity” was very well received with close to 70% giving it the highest possible rating, marking this the most acclaimed chapter since chapter 123.

Beautifully drawn and written. I like the teasing of Eren's PoV

Good to see some Eren and Historia (finally!!) but the lack of answers is really hurting my heart, cmon yama!!

Epic chapter, amazing artwork. And astonishingly, with 5-6-7 chapters left i still don't know where this is going.

Definitely in my top ten best chapters. The ending was gloriously horrifying to read. Also, we finally got some Historia content, which is a big plus.

Cool as hell chapter.

I feel like this chapter wasn’t that great. It kind of gave way to more speculation without giving many concrete answers. The things that it DID answer felt like stating the obvious.

Tease me more, daddy Isayama

This chapter most likely is the best i've ever seen. So many answers and sooo many questions left behind. This chapter directs us to think about the previous chapters and obviously ISAYAMA'S THOUGHTS. That thing makes me happy. I'm very grateful.

Death is on its way, ladies and gents. Also the end is almost here. What the fuck is going on? I just want some answers about  E V E R Y T H I N G (especially about Eren's psyche).

Is there a singular word for the feeling of a mosquito bite?

  WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT?

“The revelation of Eren’s freaky final boss form” was our favorite moment (22.7%) followed by “Eren’s POV finally! Sort of?” (15.8%) and “The rumbling! At last!” (13.4%). “Historia and Eren’s tense discussion on the farm” came in fourth (11.6%).

Fuck yes! Erens back!

Our Queen has finally returned!

The whole chapter was building up to the reveal of Eren's titan form, and I enjoyed it.

Finally back at our one and only true hero Eren.

SWIMMER TITANS ARE NOW THE GOLD MEDALIST FOR THE SWIMMING CATEGORY IN OLYMPICS 2020 special edition

FINNALY HISU POV, even if it’s just a flashback. Honestly I’m just happy to see her again, becuase she’s my favorite character, and even if the flashback gives more questions than answers.

loved zeke-eren bro talk

everyone who thought that Floch was lying in charter 125 are 🤡🤡🤡

reiner tiddies

  WHO WAS THIS CHAPTER'S MVP?

“The colossal synchronized swim team” made an impressive showing (28.5%) but their majestic moves across the ocean were not enough to topple Eren (53.6%) for chapter MVP. Historia (8.1%), Zeke (5%), and Annie (3.5%) also received some love.

EREN IS THE GOAT

Eren is the worst boy in the world.

EREN JAEGER GENOCIDAL MANIAC

I really missed Historia, so it was nice to see her.

can the rumbling start a synchronized aquatic dance?

  WHAT DOES THE CHAPTER TITLE "DAWN FOR HUMANITY" REFER TO?

I thought of it as some sort of "End of the world" titling.

Dunno; but it doesn't really work if the rest of the world gets rumbled, does it?

I want to see the japanese title to decide

Eren wants to kill “animals” to give a new life to “humanity”

A dawn, or a beginning of a new day, has arrived. Whether this new day is a good or a bad one for humanity, we do not yet know. Everything is still possible, but once this day is over, the world as we know it is no longer here, for better or worse.

A new age for humanity is incoming. The story will end as a tragedy with Eren achieving his goal.

Dawn means the start of the day. So I think the start of the rumbling will be the start of humanity for this world. I think we started to see this with the world fleet being there to try stop eren. I believe every country is helping people flee regardless of race. Maybe I'm just too idealistic.

Ce chapitre fait reference au fait qu’eren est pret a tout pour sauver ses amis

Eren will achieve his goal (end the cycle of hatred)

Hope for humanity outside the walls. Dawn for me is something like hope, even if today was a bad day, tomorrow, after dawn, things might get better. Maybe the Warriors-Paradis alliance will somehow reach Eren and stop the Rumbling?

dunno but got the vibes of ‘it’s darkest before the dawn’ might be a tip for a change coming

Eren has now officially started eradicating the world and also it's dark ideas against people on paradise and conquering freedom for his people and that is why this moment onwards is "the dawn of humanity "

Dawn for Eldians to be exact. Dusk for Marleyans.

Finally defeating Eren, ending the curse of Ymir and freeing everyone from the shadow of Titan powers.

Dawn of Terror? Dawn of "What The FUCK Is That??" Dawning that the remaining places of humanity are to be trampled?

It could refer to a ""dawn"" for the alliance, who intend for neither side of the conflict to be eradicated, as they believe everyone is part of ""humanity"". Despite their deliberation at the beginning of the chapter, the fact that they're finally setting sail to stop Eren is testament that they've not lost their hope in the pursuit of this ideal, hence they can be interpreted to be the ""dawn"".

Eldians in Paradis Island being free from the wrath of outsiders and being avenged

I think it refers to a new beginning a new start for the eldians living on the island or it can be used as an ironic way that the humanity outside the walls is going to end so it's complete destruction hence the beginning of the new cycle

The Rumbling & Historia's child, humanity's destruction and its rebirth

Continuation of "End's Eve" as this is the dawn of the day where humanity fights for its continued existence

"Dawn" refers to Humanity's realisation of many things. Eg: how Eldia is not a weak nation, how the Rumbling wasn't a lie, how people are people and they are all the same - wanting to live and shedding the same blood no matter what nationality they have. "Humanity" refers to those still alive and realizing these things.

Dawn of the final day - 24 hours remain

  WHAT ARE THE FUTURE IMPLICATIONS OF ANNIE DECIDING SHE'S TIRED OF FIGHTING AND NO LONGER WANTS TO STOP EREN?

Despite learning that her hometown is doomed, just over half of respondents feel confident Annie will stay the course and continue to work with the alliance. Among the rest of responses, 27.4% think this will trigger Annie’s exodus, selecting “Annie will leave the alliance and try to be with her father,” 16.9% believe this will cause Annie to do something stupid resulting in her death, and lastly 4% of the fandom believe this bad news will trigger Annie’s homicidal instincts causing her to switch sides and join Eren.

Annie saying she didn't want to have to be prepared to fight mikasa, Connie, armin, jean, Reiner and eren again made me feel sad for her ;-;

I just wanna say that it wouldn't make any sense for Isayana to bring Annie back and then write her out so it's obvious she will continue in the alliance lol (but I don't really agree with any of the options offered, I think she will decide by herself to stay)

Poor Annie's breakdown made me feel terrible for her. I still think she wants to leave but I think there are chances of the Warriors and/or Armin convincing her to stay and fight. As one of the nine shifters, she kinda has the responsibility to fight, even if she doesn't want to, and I get completely why she doesn't want to, poor thing. I have a sneaky suspicion that she might choose Porco's way out and we might yet see a new holder of the Female Titan power. :(

  WHAT WILL BE THE FATES OF THE ELDIANS IN LIBERIO, SPECIFICALLY THE WARRIORS' FAMILIES?

When asked about the residents of Liberio and the fate of the Warriors’ families, a combined 58% believe that they are alive for the moment selecting that they were evacuated (39.3%) or else managed to escape (18.4%). Close to 30% aren’t so optimistic, believing Liberio is flattened and they are dead. We also had plenty of write in responses:

They are going to die, but I can see Annie meeting her father and die together in each others arm by the rumbling. It's sad I know, but it would be a fitting end for both of them :(

They are probably arrive. Either they overcame the Marleyan authorities that tried to surpress, or The Rumbling avoided Liberio entirely. I just doubt they would kill off Mr. Leonhardt offscreen.

They may have started to fight the Marleyans and then ended up flattened by the titans since they didn't escape earlier.

They took a ship to the south and we will meet them including Reiner's family  and Mr. Leonhart.

Am I supposed to feel sorry for these people? I don't. The Warriors don't deserve happy endings for everything they have done.

Bands of survivors have made it out but Annie will meet her dad when he is dead or dying

some died while revolting, some are alive, annie's dad is wounded

They're currently fineish because Eren didn't go where Hange was expecting, hence why all their estimations have been off

I mean, they must be alive somehow. It seemed  that there were only soldiers in Liberio and the others evacuated so I'm hopeful that at least Annie's father survived

I want to have hope ;-;

I just want Annie to see her father again, and for Reiner to get what he wants.

What if the city Eren attacked isn't Liberio? I feel like it's too important to be flattened just like that (thematical resonance + too many side-characters like Eren's own grandfather are there) and we're being misled about the place Eren is attacking.

  HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT HISTORIA'S STANCE ON THE RUMBLING?

Many of us had expectations about Historia going into this chapter. Her initially disagreeing outright with the rumbling but seemingly giving in was a surprise to 8.4% who thought she would have been all for it all along, and 19.9% who never expected her to agree with it at all. 6.4% of you expected her to do the opposite of what is implied, with agreeing at first but changing her mind in the conversation, while 23.3% reported expecting the exact turn of events. However, a huge 41.5% of you aren’t taking everything at face value and do not believe Historia does or has ever supported the rumbling.

  DO YOU BELIEVE EREN IS THE FATHER?

After almost 2 years of the fandom fighting over the identity of Historia’s baby daddy, this chapter has finally definitively proven that… we still know nothing. Nonetheless, the narrowly winning belief (37%) is that Eren is the father, closely followed by those who believe he is not the father (34.4%). Some are unsure what to make of the situation (18.2%), and some of you don’t care enough to speculate (10.4%).

there is a TON of hints, him being the father makes prefect sense.

i will bet on my freedom that eren is the father

Historia x Eren ftw!

Eren being the father would be the most meaningful for both the story, as well as for Eren and Historia and their chemistry together if you ask me, though I can accept otherwise.

Whoever disagrees eren is the father doesn't read the manga seriously

I have not any positive thoughts about Eren-Historia's flashback. Just pain, I feel pain for her. I don't get the point to destroy her character like that.

I really hope Eren isn’t the father — it just doesn’t seem right.

I don't believe Eren is the father since it will contradict what he said to Zeke: "I'm only left with 4 years"

Sorry shippers, I don't think we'll ever get a straight answer about who's the father. But I kinda prefer it that way, because then we'll each get to decide what we thinks is correct.

IF YOU DONT STOP THIS I WANNA MAKE BABIES WITH YOU

Still don't care about who's the father

Who is the father?

  HOW HAVE YOUR FEELINGS ON THIS CHANGED DUE TO THIS CHAPTER?

35% went into the chapter thinking Eren was not the father and 30% believing he was, with this chapter doing nothing to change their minds. For those who were affected, this chapter influenced 14.2% to join the team #DaddyEren and 5.6% to burn their membership card. The remaining 15% don’t care enough to speculate.

If Eren is the father, I think it's possible Historia wanted his baby to keep a part of him with her after the rumbling is over, or perhaps it was an attempt to make him want to come back when he's done or even not commit genocide.

why does everyone keep saying Eren is the Father confirmed? There is literally no evidence to support that, and it actually contradicts Erens statement when Zeke discusses Mikasas feelings towards him.

I just want Eren to be the father

Historia's pregnancy smacks of her own plan but I'm not sure Eren is on board with it.

I want confirmation on the father cause if it's not eren ima be pissed off

don't care who the father is, whole world is ending.

I can't stand the mystery surrounding Historia's pregnancy anymore, this is worse than serum bowl.

WHO THE FUCK IS THE FATHER

  SO THEN WHAT'S THE REAL DEAL WITH HISTORIA'S PREGNANCY?

“What’s the deal with Historia’s pregnancy?” Jerry Seinfeld asks. But we cannot answer – we can only sustain ourselves on memes and ship wars. Despite Eren and Historia’s somewhat uneasy conversation, a solid third of you are still pretty sure that Eren is the baby’s father. A little over a fifth of you think she did the dirty with Farmer-kun instead. And another fifth is convinced something else is going on (watermelon baby?), but aren’t sure what. Some of you scream to the sky, sick of all the drama. And a few of you wouldn’t rule out a baby created through PATHS. It might be Ymir’s doing! No, not that Ymir. THAT Ymir.

Historia is playing 5d chess I just know it. I just don't know how yet

Why'd Historia act like that if Eren wasn't the father?

ymir is the father

Eren has to be the father for the good dev of eren & historia characters

I really hope the pregnancy thing is just a red herring, but it wouldn't be the first-time Isayama appealed to fan-service if not.

If I see more speculation on whether Eren is the father I'm gonna puke. I mean how about focus on the real story? Like how the world is about to be destroyed??

We need more Historia. We literally need her POV for the story to make sense right now. I can't believe that with ""5% of the plot"" left Isayama is *still* pulling this all this time? There *has* to be more.

I always knew Mikasa was the father

  WHY DO YOU THINK HISTORIA IS PROPOSING A PREGNANCY?

Despite a majority of respondents believing the pregnancy is authentic, there is no consensus as to why Historia would propose it. The most popular answer when asked was “I don’t know” (32.2%). The remainder of the fandom is split between Historia proposing the pregnancy in support of Eren (23.1%), as part of an alternative plan (21%) or as an act of defiance against Eren (17.6%). Only a small percentage (6.1%) believe she actually wants a child.

What the hell is the pregnancy for? It doesnt make any sense for Historia to suggest that all of a sudden

How did getting eren and historia's conversation make things more confusing😔Like what went through historia's mind when she thought of having a baby i-

What if the "what if I have a child" scene with Historia actually happened EARLIER than the rest of the conversation? It would explain why they switched places, and if Eren really is the father, would explain why he feels he has such a say in Historia's child's future ("even if you agree, I don't" ) , and why when he spoke about the MPs he said "WE have two options: fight or run". It would also give him a  motivation to oppose his friends, since they are trying to stop him.

I don't see his conversation with Historia in romantic light. She was scared of him and Eren was trying to manipulate her with her own words about being ""the worst girl on the world"". We still miss some important parts of their conversation, but if she agreed to help him because he reminded her how ""the worst girl"" she was, then I would be very disappointed. I saw her as strong woman and I hope she will not turn to be a mild sheep who isn't brave enough to follow Ymir's wish and ""live her life with pride"" (or ""live sticking her chest out"").

I have no idea for which purpose Historia want to become pregnant, but I'm glad that I was right that she decide it for herself and doesn't get forced at all!

Historia has a trick up her sleeve and I can't wait to see what it is.

  WE LEARNED WHAT ZEKE REALLY TOLD EREN ABOUT THE ACKERBOND. ARE YOU SATISFIED WITH EVERYTHING WE HAVE LEARNED ABOUT THE ACKERMAN CLAN?

75% of the fandom wants more resolution to the Ackermysteries with 38.4% wanting MOAR and 32.3% wanting at least a little more. Only 22.3% are satisfied with the ackercrumbs we’ve been tossed and 7% have no opinion.

love guru zook

ackerman bond means LOVE!!!!!!!!!!!! sweet for all ackerman related shippers ohhhh

I'm satisfied to see yet another example of people trying to pin eren's BS onto zeke (with the ackerman theories) be proven completely wrong

Mikasa's charachter wouldve been a lot more interesting if her ackerman genes had an effect on her decision making and her trying to overcome them would be a lot more intriguing to see. Instead it turned out to be some lovey dovey pancake bullshit. I mean what would Zeke even know about Mikasa??

WHAT IS UP WITH HISTORIAS PREGNANCY AND ACKERMANS BLOOD AHHHHH

I think the fact that the Ackermans can access the Paths without being shifters is going to be super relevant. My pet theory is that Mikasa will be able to cross into the Paths dimension to kill Eren and truly free Ymir Fritz, but let's see how that goes.

  HOW ACCURATE WAS ZEKE'S ASSESSMENT OF MIKASA'S FEELINGS TOWARD EREN?

One of the few areas of agreement in this chapter was with Zeke’s assessment of Mikasa’s feelings towards Eren. Close to 80% think that despite having never met Mikasa in person, Zeke correctly understands that Mikasa’s concern for Eren has little to do with genetics and everything to do with reasons of the heart. However, the majority of people who took the option of writing in their answer cited both as a factor in Mikasa’s bond.

Eren, when your sadistic and bloodthirsty big bro can see how much Mikasa loves you, you probably should take it seriously lol

Zeke. Is. Big. Bro

He's a lying liar who lies.

usually when panels sway to the right, they are true, so I believe this is the case.

Did anybody honestly not already know this? We learned nothing new from this as far as I'm concerned.

Mikasa really cares for Eren but the Ackerman genes amplify her love for him.

Everybody's emotional attachments have some basis in biology. It doesn't make them any less real or meaningful

we learn Zeke ships eremika 🤔unexpected but naice

The ackerman blood does boost her physical abilities but i believe it doesn't affect her mentally (she probably has ptsd and seperation anxiety)

What is between Eren and Mikasa?There is something we still Dont know.I wish for more Mikasa....

I think the bond itself is clearly related to her trauma but the intensity of it probably has more to do with her Ackerman genes

Both ? Even tho Ackerman genes could have a big part in it

I think Mikasa loves Eren but it's not JUST romantic or JUST familial.

Her devotion is strong on its own- but her Ackerman abilities definitely have played a role in her saving his ass all these years.

Very accurate, he is Love Master Zook.

Only  a fool believe that shit regarding Ackerman bonds and so on. [...] The hate speech I believe is some kind of Eren pathetic attempt to release her of her feelings towards himself, just in case the worst scenario is coming up in not too far future.

The Ackerman instincts amplified her love towards Eren.

Zeke was right [...] As much as Mikasa being ready to snap titans necks in two for Eren is due to her love for him, Eren being willing to go through with a world genocide to prevent Historia's sacrifice definitely results from his love for her.

  HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT THE PLACEMENT OF FLASHBACKS DURING THIS CHAPTER?

The majority of the fandom really enjoyed the inception-like flashbacks, but 1/5th just found it confusing as all hell. A sixth of the fandom is just fed up with Isayama blue-balling us. We’ve been in this relationship 10+ years, Yams, it’s time for you to give it up!

Loved the interwoven flashbacks, and made sense considering a lot of the "unknown" conversations(Eren with Yelena, Floch, Historia....) all tie into each other. Made sense to them like this, and plus there is still some mystery from his talk with Historia.

E-H convo should've been shown months ago; now is not the time for flashbacks.

Just Yams trolling the shippers

The confusing flashbacks also reflect Eren's state of mind. The placement was well done.

I don't mind it, but i feel Isayama was, to a certain degree, struggling to work all of this information organically into the story, so he was forced to choose this flashback method to get it out there.

The juxtaposition is very purposeful, while I don’t necessarily like what it implies, it is indeed impactful.

The way the flashbacks were placed would look amazing in the anime, but in manga format it looks a lot more confusing!

People might say this is Isayama being mysterious and showing us everything but revealing nothing as he always does, and yeah and if this was 10 chapters ago I might see that as a positive, but this late into the series it feels like it was just a waste of a chapter.

They were good because they connected with each-other; though I had to reread the chapter several times to distinguish who was talking because it flipped so much.

These kinds of chapters are slightly annoying in the moment, but are more than worth it in the long run.

The Historia flashbacks are confusing af

  WHAT IS THE MEANING BEHIND EREN IMPLYING HE "WANTED THIS", REGARDING THE FUTURE OF THE RUMBLING?

Continuing Eren’s ongoing theme of the question of free will and determinism, this chapter presented us with the possibility that Eren wanted everything that has happened from the start. Depending on your interpretation, of course. The majority of respondents to this question (54.7%) believe that Eren has been convincing himself there was no other possible future due to seeing said future play out in front of his very eyes, and 17.1% somewhat similarly believe Eren did not want this in the conventional sense, and he is an unreliable narrator. A smaller 12% believe this is confirmation that Eren’s vengeful nature caused this, closely followed by 9.5% of you who just think he is a lunatic.

Despite him talking as if this future was fated to happen he still seems aware enough that his own decisions still led to this outcome. From his perspective  all of this was meant to happen because he already saw his future memories, but he doesnt deny that the path he took was still by his own will.

Eren said from the start he would, "destroy them all." He hated being a slave. I think he *does want this. He wants whatever will guarantee freedom.

Both future can't be changed AND Eren is a fucking lunatic

Even if the future could be changed Eren preferred the full rumbling

He literally had no option from the very beginning , his actions is definitely justified .

it's probably all the attack titan's will, not his.

he's trying to fool himself into thinking he never changed

Eren has accepted that the future cannot be changed, and has realized that the unchangeable future is the future that he has always wanted

Eren is so close-minded & immature

I've given up trying to understand Eren's logic. It's just too bizarre. I will wait until the story is finished to form any opinion about him.

Eren was bored in his original universe and wanted humanity to have a threat so he made the aot universe via Ymir and became that threat himself.

Even if a significant part of Eren wants to eradicate his enemies out of rage/revenge, really deep down it’s been shown he wishes there was another solution but right now he doesn’t want to admit he’s surrendered to his destiny. So Isayama’s going to come back to this by having Eren admit to himself he isn’t really free/this isn't what he wants, which will be the culmination of his character arc (what will he do then?…).

Eren kinda forgot about the mothers

  THIS BURST OF PANELS SHOWS A VARIETY OF SCENES FROM EREN'S POV, BUT SOME SCENES APPEAR TO BE FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE OR ENTIRELY NEW SCENES. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Nearly 45% of the people who voted, thought it was a deus ex machina move from Founding Titan by Proxy, which granted Eren a glimpse at all Eldians’ memories. Almost a third think that Eren was actually able to control their memories. 14% of all voters are just “wtf…? I dunno” at all the Pathsnanigans.

I don't know and I don't like it. Hope it isn't another pathsfuckery while all I want in life is KRUEGER'S POV.

Eren's path shit also implies the story has always been bending to that moment too. From the pigs, to even Dina from that Bert shard. If it's ever revealed he orchestrated Carla's death to stimulate Grisha and Eren's hatred, the whole demonisation of RBA gets turned on his head.

I don't like the idea that Eren controlled the Smiling Titan but it's starting to feel more and more likely...

The second one except it WILL come up again cause it’s fucking Isayama like tf do you expect lmao

The new POV scenes are definitely intentional but I hope the explanation isn't some magical PATHS stuff where he orchestrated characters (like Dina's) actions or is suddenly an all-seeing almighty being. Grisha was enough pls.

DUDE, THIS MEANS THAT BIRD HAS P A T H S!

dumb answer choice

FT/Ymir lets Eren see the memories of all Eldians. It will come up again. I don't get some of the angles/perspectives though.

It's possible some of these things haven't happened yet, or that Eren has access to the memories of more shifters somehow. For example, Berthold might be a memory Annie or Reiner have and Eren will receive if he eats one of them while they try to stop him.

I have absolutely no idea what the deal is with the Falco and Bertolt memories but I'm sure they're not inconsistency errors considering the care that went into showing that the Mikasa/Grisha/Levi etc. panels are clearly from Eren's POV. I expect answers really soon (and no, I do not think he controlled Dina’s titan to kill Carla, that would be pure character assassination). Hange's panel looks like it's from the future, as well as Mikasa's unfamous 'see you later'. The geese are also interesting but I have no mindblowing theories about them unfortunately..

Excited to see from where Hange without glasses memories from though.

Eren is the air, the trees, the birbs, everything

Marcel is more like to come back from the dead before I ever understand half the shit inside Eren’s head.

If Eren somehow got his mother killed that'll be the ultimate bruh moment

  THIS CHAPTER SHOWED US ANOTHER MEMORY OF FEZ-KUN, FINDING HIMSELF IN TROUBLE AGAIN. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE MEANING BEHIND HIS HIDDEN STORY?

The mystery of the Fez persists once again, with this being the tenth chapter since he was first shown. Though by a small margin, the consensus is that the purpose of his story is to reaffirm Eren’s determination to wipe out the world at 44.8%, with 33.4% of respondents believing he will be a tie to Eren’s compassion and remorse for what he is doing, and 17.1% believing it highlights Eren’s inherent hypocrisy for caring for him even though he will die by his actions later. Many write-in options expressed confusion at who this kid is.

Eren believes that suffering and oppression of minorities will never end just by small acts of kindness and simular "passive" acts, like what Levi did, it does not provide a long term solution or prevent Fez-kun'sfrom furder torments, which is why Eren feels like the extreme solution of the rumbling is his only option

Eren gave a mission to Fez-kun

Eren using another kid to get his way without caring about his life. What else is new.

He's the "even someone on the street" part of Kruger's advice to love someone to break the cycle of tragedy.

He’s showing that little boy he has to fight to survive, like he did with Mikasa when they were kids.

I think he found himself in trouble again (he looks to be bruised on the cheek in 120) and Eren will come to his rescue. However I think Eren will not just save him by beating up or killing the Marleyans, but inspiring the Fez kid to take action and "fight" just like he did with Mikasa. This arc has had a lot of focus on the almost inhumane level of violence Eren showed as a kid when killing those kidnappers, so I can see that being for the purpose of a direct parallel where Eren pressured the kid with the fez to stand up for himself.

I think Eren saved Fez-kun of those guys, but then he will kill him later, showing his own hypocrisy (those guys can't do bad to a child but I can).

I expect his shard(s) to contrast the other previously unknown panel from 120: Historia’s shard was revealed to be yet another instance of Eren manipulating a friend by putting his desires above her own, thus robbing her of her free-will. I hope that Fez-kun symbolizes the "beauty in a cruel world"

It show that Eren just have an other plan and not just kill everyone for no reason???? Lest not be that blind :) what esle u want to understund thats an option too? you want isayama to told u?

maybe eren intends for some people to escape when he announced the rumbling which allows people to prepare themselves, idk.

Eren will save their family and he told Fez to lead his family to a certain location that the rumbling won't reach?

What are all these crappy options? He represents Eren’s journey to changing his viewpoint about everyone being an enemy, as he told Reiner.

Just thought he was part of the collage of events, no further meaning.

Who’s Fez-kun

  SWIMMING TITANS?

88% of you welcome your Swimming Titan overlords, but 12% aren’t so convinced - there’s a pretty even chance it’s because the image is just too absurd, too terrifying, or a pants-wetting combination of both.

SWIMMING TITANS

swimming titans

Seeing those colossal titans was crazy

The panel of the titan swimming underneath that ship haunts me in my dreams.

HELL YEAH FUCKING SWIMMING TITANS

  WHEN THE MILITARY SIGHTS ERENSAURUS AT THE END, RATHER THAN CALLING IT THE FOUNDING TITAN OR EREN JAEGER, THEY RECOGNISE IT AS THE ATTACK TITAN. WHY?

Despite the threat of Eren Jaeger previously being referred to by name or as “the Founding Titan”, this chapter encapsulated the horror of the allied forces as they recognised it as the Attack Titan. The plurality (40.3%) is that this was just for the purpose of Isayama being able to drop a “Shingeki no Kyojin” in this climactic chapter, though a close second option (34%) is that there is historical information to distinguish the Attack Titan from the others. 15.2% of you believe the Attack Titan is the Titan Bogeyman for Marleyans, and 10.4% attribute the naming to the fact that it’s attacking them, duh.

I think the Maryleans/World Forces knew it was the Attack Titan bc of the Eldians in Marley (like Annie's dad) warning them ahead of time. I think once they realized The Rumbling was happening, they asked for more deets from the folks who heard Eren's message in the Path's Realm.

I wonder why the rest of the world was only  using Mikasa ships instead of various ships lol

IT CAN'T BE STOPPED ANYMORE

  NOW THAT WE FINALLY GOT TO SEE EREN'S SPINE-CHILLING (BADUM-TSS) FORM, WHAT DID YOU THINK?

This manga has turned into a horror show, and y’all seem to be loving it, according to over fifty percent. Thirty percent are aghast at the sight before them, and nearly a tenth of you don’t really know what to think of the Grim Reaper titan yet. Some of you wanted something more fully formed, but this creepy crawly is freaky enough, isn’t it? Let’s just be glad none of us live in Marley right now.

My jaw dropped when I saw Eren’s titan form. Horrific.

I love Erensaurus a lot. This chapter gave the same level of anxiety that Zeke's attack in Shiganshina gave me. Good

YEAH EREN IS SCARY AS FUCK I LOVE IT MORE FREEDOM MORE FREEDOM MORE FREEDOM

Eren's titan looks a little like the earth devil

Did Eren pick the design of his new Titan or did Ymir just give it to him?

Really interested in where it is going especially because Eren's Titan got lips which could be an indicator for it to have the ability to speak

Eren’s Founding Titan form looks like something out of Silent Hill

I'm not saying anything about Eren's titan. What even the actual fuck, Yams

Oh lawd he comin

  WHY IS EREN'S CURRENT TITAN FORM A SKELETON WITH NO FLESH?

Eren is looking awfully spooky right now. That’s a good sign, isn’t it? I guess looking like a death metal album cover is better than looking like whatever Rod Reiss was supposed to be. 34.9% figure that as this is probably the largest titan ever, it’s just too big for flesh. It’s not like PATHS sand is infinite, after all. 34.6% think that the form is incomplete because of the missing titan powers; this is only a third of his potential scariness! 23% think there’s no real reason he looks like this. Not an in-story reason anyway. Finally, 7.6% think Eren is still not done forming this devilish beast.

Eren's upper skeleton body thing looks like wings of freedom...

The reason Eren's body was like this, if he was muscular, he would radiate a lot of heat, so the Allience's couldn't reach him. But now, no muscle, no heat. They can reach easily.

Eren's form is creepy as hell! I also think he might be dead/dying/the titan now.

Seriously, how the fuck does Eren's Titan move?

When a shifter generates a titan body, they need to have a special task or purpose in mind. Is Eren's titan meant to be a bridge between Paradis Island and the continent?

  WHAT IS ISAYAMA TRYING TO SAY WITH THE PUPPET-LIKE MOTIF OF EREN'S TITAN?

Many have noticed the puppet-like strings connecting Eren’s torso and head to his stegosaurus spikes in the final panel (though not in the first shot we get of Eren -- we’ll just ignore that), but what does it mean? Him being a slave to himself (38%) just edged out him being a slave to fate (36.7%), with a slim minority (3.3%) believing Ymir could be the true puppeteer. Of course, there are the 21.9% of you who are remaining steadfast in the belief that Eren is NOT a slave, he is FREE.

He is a slave to the future memories and instead of trying to find a different way, he is convincing himself that this is what he wants from the start to compensate for how little freedom he has.

He's trying to justify to himself that he isn't a slave

Eren is a slave to that sweet sweet feeling of self-righteous rage.

Ymir might be acting through Eren.

I think eren has become a vessel for ymir and it's ymirs will that we're hearing.

  WHERE IS EREN'S HUMAN BODY MOST LIKELY RESIDING?

The results for this are a mixed bag, with the three most popular answers extremely close in votes. It’s most agreed upon (29.1%) that Eren has no human form, and has merged with the Titan on some level, with a close second (28.8%) being him being separated from the Titan but not in the conventional sense, and using the Warhammer Titan power to operate it from the ocean. 27.9% of you believe he is in the standard position of the nape, and only 14.2% of you believe the head of the Attack Titan could be his true location.

So, does Eren now only have his head left or was he fully healed thanks to Ymir?

where is Eren (No,not his titan)? There is no nape on that thing, just bone

I NEED TO KNOW HOW EREN IS TRANSPORTING HIMSELF

  THE CHAPTER ENDS WITH CHILD EREN'S DETERMINATION TO "DESTROY THEM" OVERLAPPING WITH ADULT EREN COMMANDING THE RUMBLING. WHICH STATEMENT IS THE MOST ACCURATE REGARDING THIS COMPARISON?

This curious panelling choice ends the chapter, giving us a peek at Eren’s inner monologue – but in true Isayama fashion it’s not clear exactly what it means. 45.6% believe it shows that Eren hasn’t fundamentally changed the way he views the world, his will and titan powers giving him the means to influence it. 26.4% think it’s a reminder of Eren’s tragic tendency to believe that peace cannot exist without the complete elimination of an opposing force. 16.8% think it demonstrates Eren’s willing or unwilling continuation of the cycle of hatred and revenge. Finally, 9.1% think there’s a hint here that Eren’s childhood self was cursed with thoughts from his future mind.

ALL OF THE ABOVE

All of the above, minus the P A T H S.

I hate eren do the same thing as what he had been through

It's Eren's tendency to lose himself to the desire for vengeance, which in the mange is always depicted as leading to a catastrophe in the end.

His childhood trauma comes back to him when he sees a loved one die / about to die and feels the powerlessness of having been unable to do anything because of being weak. Then pain and anger return for this reason

It's a parallel showing his determination to fight back against those who would deny he and his comrades their freedom.

It is once again Eren reassuring himself he's doing what's right, by telling himself that the cycle of hatred is what's causing this and that he needs to break it

The thoughts are child Eren, simply overlapping with the current situation. It may not be adult Eren’s thoughts.

THIS BITCH CRAZY.

I just want to say that the history is repeating its self . What we thought it was the past it's actually the future

He is using this memory of his mother being eaten to motivate himself, like a main drive. It's not the first time. Anger/Rage was always the main drive that he used to keep fighting/seeking for freedom

This is already similar to some of the options presented, but I like the idea that this is showing deep down he is driven by his childlike rage, and as much as he tries to convince himself it's for his friends, he really just wants to revel in violence because he's broken and he thinks wiping everyone out is the only way he will be at peace.

  THIS CHAPTER ALSO PRESENTED US WITH TWO ALMOST DICHOTOMIC MOTIVATIONS FOR EREN, BETWEEN LOVE FOR HIS FRIENDS AND HATE FOR THE ENEMY, BUT WHICH DO YOU BELIEVE IS THE STRONGER DRIVING FORCE?

The two most powerful and conflicting emotions driving Eren right now have the fanbase somewhat split over what pushes him further. It seems that most are optimistic about Eren’s prime motivation being the wellbeing of his friends at 59.7%. Meanwhile 40.3% believe that Eren’s love for his friends has been eclipsed by the roiling hatred and thirst for vengeance within him. Even at this point in the story, it’s hard to be absolutely certain – safe to say Eren is a real menace when he feels this strongly about anything.

I feel like I finally fully understand Eren's mindset, even though there is probably still more to his POV. He just wants his friends to be happy and live long lives, so he had to push them away especially after Sasha's death.

This chapter Eren can't disentangle love from fear/hate/loss due to what happened to his mother, which is why his feelings about his friends now manifest so destructively.

Eren's memory chain went from remembering his friends smiling, to Sasha's death and Fez-kun being beat up, and eventually to his mother's death and his vow to kill all titans, showing that deep down he knows his motivation to protect his friends is bullshit and that his "enemies" are mostly innocents, but he keeps moving forward due to hatred and revenge.

Eren has never healed his trauma. It was "eating" him slowly and turned him into this he hated the most - a devilish monster.

I think the chapter settled very well that revenge surpass even his wish of protect his friends

The transition to Eren's pov and the fact we didn't learn anything new beside some basic confirmations, is really strange. And if Eren ends killing the friends he wanted to protect, he will be a complete disappointment. I really am afraid of SnK's ending.

"I want my friends to live long happy lives" he says after treating them like shit, breaking their spirit, and partially ruining their home island with millions of titans. I hope he doesn't act surprised when they show up to stop him (assuming they can catch up of course).

I don't believe the word "animals" align with Eren's current perspective, nor how he sees his "enemies". He holds the same ideals as he did as a child, but realises the nuance of his enemies and how people on both sides are ultimately the same. He just believes this radical action is the only necessary way to end an unstoppable inter-generational conflict in his lifetime so these problems aren't handed down to future generations anymore.

he's being driven both by hatred and love, but right now his rage is winning and he's using the safety of his friends and Eldia as an excuse to appease his conscience.

  ON A SCALE FROM "SECRET PLAN" TO "KILL 'EM ALL", WHERE DO YOU STAND ON EREN'S TRUE INTENTIONS?

This chapter all but confirmed that Eren indeed plans to wipe out the entire outside world for most of the fandom. The majority are skewed towards the opinion of Eren definitely rumbling everything, with less and less respondents holding onto hope that Eren has an alternate plan.

Eren wants this rumbling and he's ready to sacrifice others to get what he wants, even his friends.

I gotta say, I thought Eren would've had a real plan that wasn't just massacring everyone else on the planet. I was already against the plan, but I suspected he'd walk the other side of the ocean and then announce to the world that the existence of titans was no more and destroy all the titans as proof, and all the shifters would just be normal people again.

His goal is to wipe the titans out of this world, and not to flatten it.

I support the rumbling, cause Marley deserved this by trying to eliminate Paradis, but at the same time there are so many good people there(including eldians themselves) that haven't done anything wrong. Military and leaders of marley should be eliminated, but not the poor people that had no choice.

This hateful world is needed to be purged and I support Eren for this. And when Rumbling is over that beast piece of sh** must die by Levi's hand.

I thought eren had a secret plan for the rumbling but after getting his pov this chapter looks like he really is going for it

Somehow, I can't shake off the feeling that we still haven't seen 100% of Eren's plan, there is still some twist waiting. I am not trying to justify Eren's current actions, it's more like ""if there is something that will throw this whole scenario upside down it better come up soon, because right now IT DOESN'T LOOK GOOD"".

I want to believe thtat Eren has a secret plan in the rumbling but the chapter says that this is what he wanted, he had always been like this, he was always “free” sadly, he’s enslaved by his beliefs of freedom that he resorts to these drastic measures.

I think that this chapter confirms two things: one, the Rumbling is Eren's true plan [...] BUT two, there is "something beyond that hell", which is the "scenery" Eren says he saw in ch. 121. I think it's the endgame after the Rumbling is stopped (no way is it going to be completed), and it's what caused both Grisha and Historia to go along with his plan in the end even though they didn't agree with it and thought it was awful. Eren's "everything is still ahead" and the weird cut in Historia's flashback are too... strange and seem to point to this being a game changer and the final plot point of the series.

If the rumble will succeed, then I've spent 7 chapters seeing characters do nothing to accomplish nothing. I don't wanna feel my time wasted.

I unironically want Eren to kill everyone outside the walls. Nuff said.

  WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE REPEATED BIRD IMAGERY?

Birds are a focal point of this chapter, with the combination of a four-panel tracking of a soaring seagull and a flash of a memory of some nearby geese. The majority of respondents (62.5%) believe the birds simply tie into the theme of, and likely Eren’s motivation of freedom. In a distant second (20.9%) is the answer that it relates to the idea of everyone being connected under the same sky, a fitting motif amidst this chapter’s exploration of the conflict as well as unity of different groups. 12.7% of you are hopping on board the “Eren is a bird now” train, and 4% of you just really don’t like birds.

The two birds from the Paths panels appear in episode 1 of the anime iirc, not sure about the manga though.

Eren is bird confirmed thank  <°^°>

I like the Bird Theory that says he’s transferring his consciousness to a bird. yeah it sounds a bit odd but it’s interesting and I’m willing to accept anything at this point

The birds are secret surveillance cameras

I like birds

idk man this shit is confusing as hell.as for falco thing i think eren has become the bird. anything can happen at this point.

Eren is the Eagle we see in the chapter 91 that Falco says to fly away lmao

  THIS CHAPTER HAD SOME AMAZING ART, SHOWCASED IN THE MANY DOUBLE SPREADS (EXACTLY 9... OH GOD WHAT DOES IT MEAN ISAYAMA??) WHICH WAS YOUR FAVORITE DOUBLE SPREAD?

Whether it was the break back in May, or Isayama’s dedication to highlighting this chapter’s importance, the art has definitely taken a step up and blown us all away. Though it is very split, the final double spread showcasing the commencing of the rumbling garnered the most votes (18.2%). At second (15.7%) was the imposing silhouettes of colossal titans rising from the ocean, and at a very close third (15.5%) was the very next spread, of these titans wiping out the battleships as casually as if they were wading through seaweed. If there’s one thing to make of this from what the winners have in common, we have all definitely been waiting to see the rumbling for a while.

Isayama's improvement as an artist it's inspirational.

the art is god tier

Those Rumbling pages are so gorgeous they make me wanna say "Kill them all, Eren ! Destroy the fucking world !"

Mappa has their work cut out for themselves

MAPPA's fucked lol I hope they're up to the task.

That Attack Titan spread has the single GREATEST bit of shading in this entire manga.

Solid Art, phenomenal design and usage of double spreads

I just wanted to add that this is visually one of the most beautiful chapters I've seen in a while. The colossals, holy shit. I can't wait to see this animated. All of those double-page spreads were pretty fantastic but I have to say there's nothing quite like the chill that runs down your spine when you see all those colossals emerging from the smoke and the mist, where you see for the first time how huge and terrible they are (and also when you realise the first line of defense is already down). I had legit goosebumps.

  CHAPTER 130 MARKS THE END OF A VOLUME, WHICH HAS BEEN FILLED WITH ALLIANCE-FOCUSED CHAPTERS. WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS NOW THAT WE'VE FINALLY RETURNED TO EREN?

After six consecutive chapters focusing on the alliance with no Eren, the majority of you (57.6%) are relieved to finally move beyond the alliance, though have enjoyed the recent chapters, with 20.4% being completely over the alliance. 7.4% say they were originally sceptical but the chapters did well to make the alliance likeable to them, and 14.6% are open to more chapters just focused on the alliance.

Please for the love of God more of this and less of the alliance, the alliance was so rushed and as it's continued it hasn't been developed much further beyond plot convenience. The less of that I have to read before I get to read amazing stuff like 130 the better

i wanted more on the alliance, not flashbacks smh

it was something enjoyable after a while. Especially 126 made me grimace all over the volume till 130 came up. Not saying I was waiting for Eren but it was so cheesy.

Eren chapters are written worse than Alliance ones

This chapter single handedly made up for the below average, cringe-inducing chapters 126-129 Alliance bullshit. I have faith Isayama will create a very satisfying ending for this series now.

This chapter was legit a great way to end the volume off, it truly feels like its really the beginning of the end

  DESCRIBE THIS CHAPTER IN ONE WORD

The top 5 write-ins are below, followed by the average chapter score for each description. This months’ average chapter score was 4.59.

Amazing [4.89]

Epic [4.84]

Eren/Ereh [4.69]

Rumbling [4.46]

Confusing [3.88]

Honorable mention: Ragnarok

We’d also like to mention that there were a lot of write-ins related to genitals and coitus… seems like y’all were really hyped up by that first fanlation >.>

  WHAT ARE YOU MOST HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER?

Despite this chapter theoretically giving us everything we had hoped for in a while, the responses show that we still want to have WAY MORE answers (34.6%), MORE Historia (16.9%) and MORE rumbling action (14.5%). We’d also like to know where on earth Zeke is and if Floch is going to be the little troublemaker that we know and have strong feelings about. Will the boat make it to Odiha? Will Levi do a thing? Stay tuned!

There's still some mystery that have yet to answer and I want answers

Where the fuck is Zeke

WHERE. IS. LEVI.

i want more eren, historia and zeke. They're interesting. I don't care about the alliance.

"Zekey-dekey-doo, where are you?" ...I'm so done with you guys.

need update on zeke and historia's situation.

I want it to end soon #TeamEren

I expect in the next chapter something more around the alliance and maybe (hopefully) Floch's comeback!

Enough of Hisu, she is just a side character.

Want more Rumbling

All I can say is, I'm beyond anxious to see how the series ends, and it's eating me up inside.

  WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES?

Most of our lovely respondents are rambunctious Redditors as usual, followed by a fair few from the flock on Twitter, distinguished Discorders, and discussors who want for nothing. Then there are some ravishing real-lifers, titillating Tumblrites, ...aaaand the rest (you’re all great). We’re still side-eyeing you Snapchatters though.

  ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER?

Honestly I just wanna let it out, but not on google Poll for obvious reasons

Not about the chapter... but you guys always come up with funny answers that I feel compelled to chose even if it’s not really what I think. I love to answer this. Thank you!

Zeke the relationship expert, huh?

This chapter went through far too many dodgy translations for its own good, and even the official typeset had one big mistake in it even though it conveyed the mood of the convo between Eren and Historia far better than all the others.

this is all so confusing I miss erwin

I don't want genocide to be how this ends.  I believe Isayama doesn't intend a story this complex to send a message that genocide is great.  Considering some of the mindscrews he's already pulled via Paths, I'm hoping the best mindscrew is yet to come.

Reiner was a snacc

Historia the Antifascist Queen

This is the best chapter

this series is so great man

This whole chapter was a certified Bruh moment (in a good way)

This whole chapter was about Eren dehumanising. And he killed his mom. I wouldn't be surprised if he'll eventually want to kill all Eldians and his friends either.

Loved everything except for Historian's forced reluctant pregnancy.

Here's to 3 more weeks

I hope Eren doesn’t love anyone from the series.

I feel like Isayama is still increasing the pressure to help his final plot twist, I’m still lost as I really don’t agree with Eren’s actions while I see the fandom going crazy over him. Maybe I missed something, maybe I’m wrong, maybe I don’t fully understand Eren. This chapter felt good, I don’t hate the Alliance because they’re part of what I think is the right choice for humanity, but we all honestly wanted to know Eren’s thoughts or a bit of it, as we didn’t see him for a while. English isn’t my first language I’m sorry in advance, loved your poll

I honestly have no idea what's going to happen and the whole time I was reading it I was internally screaming.

Ok I know Ymir (the lesbian) has been dead for years but I miss her so much. She was the dad. Forget Farmer-kun, forget Eren, it was all Ymir.

okay no offense but where’s Levi ☹️

One big tease of erens pov and who the father is

One of the best chapter I ever read! Love it!

Didn't expect the Eren POV but welcomed it anyway. We now have confirmation he wanted everything that happened to happen and even the implication he orchestrated the death of his own mother. That's very tasty

Eren's pov has been hidden for too long and right now I don't think the payoff is worth it

eren exhibits bird behavior & he killed his mom 😕

Eren is a bird confirmed or some shit

Eren later takes Ymir's place in Paths as a sacrifice for many years to fix everything, learning everything he needs by traveling around as, say, birds, as needed to send to his past self to guarantee "that scenery"

Eren is in control of more than we previously thought and this shows evidence of a timeloop scenario

Eren can see the future and can probably manipulate the pure titans at different points in time like the Founder does. It's also likely he's gonna fuse with more shifters to visit other pieces of memory.

Eren is able to use the full power of the FT, that why he can see not only his own memories, but also the memories of other Eldians. All of them are connected to him after all.

He will turn into a bird in the end

So exited that we finally got to see Eren in his Founding Titan-like form!!!! Can’t wait for next month (AoT fan from Japan)

Enjoyed the chapter due to a return to debating the morality of the Rumbling, and seeing it in progress. Also tend to enjoy interaction between Eren and Historia. However, I think the chapter is slightly let down by being cryptic. It's hard to tell what is going on with Eren due to how scenes from this issue and others can be interpreted.

nah mate do people actually read this?

This chapter marks something that has changed everyone's thoughts. Not just about Eren, but Annie, Historia, Zeke, etc. We heard them speak differently, and got a few answers to our questions. We got to see that Annie does indeed have emotions. That Historia did not want this. That Annie never really wanted to kill, nor does she want to anymore. That Zeke actually cared for Eren. That the father is most likely farmer-kun. It's one of the best chapters we've had. Each chapter we get, we get closer to the end of this wonderful story. I can't wait to see what Isayama has planned for in the final chapters. Truly hoping for the best!

reiner's tits dammit

Despite the devastation, I now feel like there is meaning hidden beneath the madness

Creepy and interesting chapter. The official translation confirms further that Eren is going to destroy the world. I’m hoping that the next volume shifts focus to Reiner a little more. I’m also excited for more loose ends to be cleared up.

Damn, only 5 more to go before the end of the greatest story of all time

Enjoyed it but I’m really hoping for some more insight into what’s going on with both eren and historia, I’m not a huge fan of the pregnancy subplot

eren just wants to see if marleyans are made of cake

Eren makes the most amazing villain ever. Will go down as one of my favorite characters ever if the story ends how I hope it will.

Everyone forgets Historia saw her dad’s memories without eating him, without being a shifter, and without touching Eren. We’re still waiting for the payoff...

Fantastic chapter, though it felt really short

Floch was Eren's lieutenant all along, he was his representative, and his actions are therefore Eren's responsability all the same. Get fucked those who didn't want to believe that Eren would consciously choose Floch, believe in him or to set things up for Eren in Paradis.

I'd like it if the Ackerbond was not as supernatural as it was claimed before. Not because of EreMika, MikaHisu would be much better than both options of this chapter. Now we know that Levi or Kenny's loyalty were real, and it warms my heart. Also, my bastard wasn't lying! He knew about the plan.

It confirmed everything we already knew: Historia didn't support Eren's plan, Ackerman weren't slaves, Mikasa's feelings for Eren doesn't have to do with the fact she's an Ackerman and the fandom is stupid for still believing Eren is the father despite him literally telling Zeke that he can't answer Mikasa's feelings, because he only has 4 years left to live.

My heart was beating so hard during Eren and Historia's conversation because I just couldn't believe we were actually seeing her again, it had been 2 years since we got anything this relevant from her and I also just really wanted Isayama to get on with it and tell us who the damm father was so that we could finally move on to other things. I still don't believe it's Eren, but I'm done with that theory, man. No more teasing, please. Two years is far more than enough.

Chapters like this one, which perfectly captures the culmination of Eren's entire journey, make me glad to be alive at this moment in time to experience Isayama's masterpiece. I'm not ready for this story to end in just one more volume.

The ending of this story will not be a gentle tapping of the brakes but a screeching halt followed by hydroplaning and crashing into a ditch

What if the rumbling is all one big sex reveal party for Historia's baby and the Colossal Titans are arranging all the corpses into a female symbol or something.

For 8 months I have been waiting for Eren Jaeger. My favorite fictional character ever. He comes back in best way possible, wow.

Great chapter, too bad half of this dumb fandom misunderstood it and are falsely claiming it confirmed Eren as the father. *facepalm*

Obligatory mention that eren is a manipulative bastard and is a little too far gone in his goal

Ambiguity: The chapter. More questions than answers, no way this ends in 4 chapters. Overall we are all going "Wuh?" like Historia after this chapter.

We are being fucked with.

I cry, eren has been one of my favourite characters in the AoT universe

I didn't think it was possible for Eren to get any worse, but he always manages to surprise me.

I don't care about eremika or erehisu. I just need my rivaere (: haha

i don't care for the alliance and the ship-baiting was making me weary. I just want more eren, zeke and historia. They're the interesting ones.

‏I don't know what the end will be but i know it will be sad ending!..We all suffer and I mean the world of AOT and the fans who read manga... I will accept all probabilities and the death of heroes, but please do not make Mikasa kill Eren..I mean after all this love that will kill him .. I read many analyzes of the possibility of this happening and I see it as a very bad and irrational end..It is not logical at all..If you did it, the AOT would be one of the worst deeds and to the landfill..Isayama If you have suffered a lot in your life and childhood, we have also suffered in our lives, but please do not bring this suffering into the AOT world

I dont want this to end @ isayama

I hated what direction this story was taking, now I really hate it.

I just feel Isayama hasn't answered so much stuff yet and has also raised the stakes so high that I can't possibly imagine how the story will end. I believe Mikasa's slowly been established as the character who will defeat Eren, but I have no idea how she'll do it... But at least there were beautiful Mikannie crumbs, so I'm happy af and hope they'll have more scenes together now that Annie's about to give up (I mean, there are parallels™ everywhere when it comes to our wonderful lost girls...)

I just hope it's building up to a really good ending.

i just wanna know what's gona happen next man this shit be driving me crazy

I love everything! I hope floch dies though

I love you eren

I need answers!!!

I need Zook back

I really hope this series doesn’t end with a message like “genocide is necessary for peace” I hope someone stops Eren

I really loved the art and double spreads, and seeing Eren's POV after a while

I think it's the 2nd best chapter we've gotten this arc. The 1st being 123. I loved it. I also think it's putting to rest the secret plan theories regarding Eren. I've made my final prediction for the series. I think it's a tragedy that will end in Eren destroying the world & manipulating everyone's memories except for Historia & Mikasa & a new age for humanity will begin.

I'm so glad my girl's back, but I'm confused as hell. There's definitly more to her meeting with Eren and her choosing to be pregnant, we'll see. Also Zook being a love conselor and having a Ackerman phd was hilarious, I love him even more. Erefloch canon.

If he wanted to protect his friends why didn’t he just forge some Marleyan passport/citizenships for them, god wtf

If you think about it we actually didn’t learn anything that wasn’t already heavily implied

im shook

Isayama gave more than i wanted my heart can't take it.

it was very good thank you for asking

It's finally moving forward (as isayama likes to say)

It’s a good chapter but I still with doubts.

JUST DO IT EREN

Just wanna see ZEKE

Kiyoger Theory!!!!!

l'm glad we got to see a bit from Eren's POV. But I still need more answers ;_; why choose rumbling, Eren??? not looking for justification for his actions here but i just want to know /why/ he did it. Still feel like theres a missing link somewhere tbh.. I just hope the ending of snk wont be a disaster like game of thrones where Daenerys' switch came out of nowhere. At this point I just want the series to end asap, the tension build up is killing me lol.

Leaks for 131 when?

Let’s get rrready to RUMBLEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!

Loved seeing the rumbling but I wish we could have gotten more character driven moments

Loved this chapter! I'm glad we finally got to learn more of Eren's POV and finally learn what was Historia's role in all of this (or at least beginning to learn her involvement in the plan). Seeing him initiate the Rumbling was epic. The destruction is about to begin!

my brain is too small to understand some of these theories

Now we know that Eren and Floch just pretending to follow Zeke's plan ever since from the beginning but I want to gain more explanations of Eren's secret plan

Oddly placed Eren flashback, but I'll take it

Something's up. I'm still not convinced we can take any of this at face value.

So many flashbacks were a bit hard to follow, but it really seems like the series is gonna end soon and I’m a bit nervous about how well any ending will play out

thank you Isayama for this masterpiece

THE ART IS JUST AMAZING but for me its so short 😭😭😭

That Eren with mid long hair is baby

the alliance has come together way too fast and theyve only really had 1 dispute so far. there needs to be more conflict to make it more realisitic. I think annie saying that they won't be able to/don't want to kill eren is foreshadowing this.

the Art is amazing but flashback scenes were a little mess

The chapter was full of messy memories, so it symbolized Eren's brain well :)

I think that now I understand Eren better. I used to believe he had some secret plan, but the true was always there - Eren is not any master mind. His plan was simple - destroy the whole world. The trauma he had after losing his mother has never been healed. It was always in him, growing bigger and bigger. He still cares about his friends, but he is also lying to himself saying that ""he is doing the rumbling  because he wants to see them having long, happy life"". He is doing it because his hatred to the ones who are responsible for Carla's death took control over his heart. Eren is adult, young man but deep down he is still the same, hurt crying child who bears painful memories of losing his mother.  

The cycle of war and hatred is saddening. This ain't something fictional, it's something we have always been observing from the earliest human consciousness :(

We all got a big storm comin

We are NOT ready for this shit

we need annie to live longer pls

Well here’s our proof eren is actually going through with the rumbling.

What it would feel like to be Eren right now

what kind of eva BULLSHIT

what the hell is going ON

Where is Floch

where is LEVI

Wheres zeke?

Yams, you're so diabolic. You  just want to make the real-life's rumbling with all that "confusing' ship tease xD

Yooooo, we need more explanation about maybe, everything? But amazing and bomb ass chapter though

[purplesurveys]

1189

survey by chasingghosts

What do you like about the house you live in? I relishhhhhhhhh the fact that we have a rooftop with a nice and calming view. I’m the only one in the family who makes good use out of it, so it’s a nice place to escape to whenever I need or want to be alone.

What furniture do you own? The only Adulting-related thing I’ve ever bought so far was my bedside lamp haha. I'm not comfortable investing in bigger things yet, and I’m still at the point where I’m rather carefree when it comes to my purchases i.e. expanding my BTS merch lol. I don’t put a lot of pressure on myself, and I appreciate that my parents don’t either.

What's the most cliche song you can think of right now? I feel like most of the Top 40 genre have generic and cliché concepts, but that won’t stop me from listening to them from time to time.

Name three of your favourite crepe toppings. I never liked crepes. I never understood why they have to be so thin hahaha. Do you watch How I Met Your Mother? What did you think of the ending? No, it never interested me.

Have you ever played paintball? Did you get hit? I never have.

Right now, are you too hot, too cold or just right? Too hot. It’s remained quite chilly in the evenings until tonight, which is an unwelcome but expected change considering we’re in May and the drastic change in temperature was bound to come any time soon. Still, the inside of the house is at least several Celsius degrees higher so I’m fine with staying here even though I’m already mildly sweating.

What was your favourite fairy tale when you were a kid? I never was into fairytales and I think I may have skipped out on them entirely as a kid.

Do you depend on others for happiness? I wouldn’t say I’m dependent. My conversations with my friends simply complement the happiness I can already provide myself with.

How do you feel today? Tell me about it. Physically, mostly uncomfortable because of the heat. Otherwise, I had a great time just spending time in bed all day, catching up on rest, and watching In The Soop and the new Run BTS episode.

What's the weather like today? Terrible. I never do well in the heat.

Do you ever use a laptop in bed? Yep but I put it on my lap or wedge it between my tummy and thighs while sitting up. I never directly place it on my bed since it heats up that way.

What were you doing in 2014? Crushing on and eventually asking out some girl. I was also starting to open up that year and was gaining more friends in school. Overall, a more than decent year; I don’t have any negative memories from that time.

Are you wearing socks right now? What colour are they? Nopes, I’m all barefoot.

What time are you taking this survey? 10:20 PM.

Have you ever eaten Caribbean food? I don’t think so, but as with all kinds of food I’m always open to trying it out should the chance come up.

Do you need to make any purchases soon, big or small? Just the remaining balance from all the merch I bought in the last two weeks. One thing I’ve picked up so far from collecting merch is that K-Pop merch is expensive as FUCK, so considering BTS’ core audience is on the younger side, most shops are super flexible and let people pay a downpayment first. Anyway, that said, I have several purchases I’ll have to fully settle by the end of the month.

What was the first movie you saw at the cinema? How old were you? Stuart Little 2; I was 4.

Do you feel hopeful for the future? Sure, but I don’t really dwell on it for too long because it would also just make me anxious. I like living in the now.

Where did you last fly to on a plane? Bicol.

If you were going on a daytime date tomorrow, what would you wear? Oversized tee + mom jeans + bucket hat, assuming the date is on the casual side.

Are your parents still together? If not, do you know why? Yes.

What is the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out like in your country? I’m from a third-world country, so you take a guess...light kidding aside, I hear of more and more people getting vaccinated everyday and that makes me glad, but the whole process has still been very slow. On my end, I don’t think I’m getting vaccinated until July or August, or potentially even later than that.

Have you ever been evicted? Why? My friends and I were once asked to leave a McDonald’s because they were being loud and rowdy playing a card game inside. We had it coming tbh; I just hated that I was dragged into it.

Would you say you're an organised person? When it comes to work, yeah. Not always with my room.

Have you ever worked as a manager or supervisor? I haven’t.

Do you eat at a table or on the couch? I usually eat at the dining table. But when I’m at work, since I can’t really ever leave my laptop, I have to contend with eating at my work desk even if it’s a little convenient.

Tell me something good about the last week of your life. Butter teasers!!!

When was the last time you heard a siren? What kind? A month ago maybe? when I heard the faint siren of an ambulance from somewhere far away.

Do you like jogging? No.

What brand is your TV? I don’t have my own TV in my room, but the ones we have everywhere else in the house are Samsung.

What was the last thing you voted for? Michelle had put up a poll on Twitter asking if people liked the apple chunks in apple pies crunchy or soft, and I’m guessing it’s because she’s planning to make her own recipe soon. I don’t entirely hate apple pies, so I still voted hahaha. I went for crunchy.

Do you remember much from high school? Sure. My memory’s not exceptionally crystal clear, but I’ve still been able to keep more than a handful of memories with me.

What's the longest you've ever stayed awake? Why did you do it? I’m not sure exactly but it has to be a little over 24 hours, and I probably did it just because I felt like staying up.

What's the most amazing animal you've ever seen in captivity? This is such a downer of a question...but idk. I find all animals fascinating, which is why I never like visiting zoos or animal parks.

Do you live in the state/province/territory you were born in? No, my family left Manila a few months after I was born, I believe.

What do you want to eat right now? Sushi sounds fucking fantastic, but alas it’s 2:36 AM and my best bet right now would be some cheap California maki from a convenience store.

Have you ever been wrongfully accused of something? Sure.

What are the five apps on your phone that you use most often? If I had to guess, probably Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Messenger, and Safari.

What's one of the most useless things you've ever purchased? I haaaaate the idea of buying things I know in the first place would be useless. But related to this, the last purchase I kind of regret is my current phone charger cord. It cost nearly P500 but was already detective from the get-go :(

[hqgolden]

hello loves!

so we have mentioned a few things in the discord, but as always that is not official until you see it here. the two topics are character additions & a gossip blog. i’m going to put everything under a read more since this will probably get long, but there is a poll linked beneath that i want you to vote on after you’ve read through what these proposed ideas are!

on character additions:

i originally had a low limit because personally, i didn’t think i would be able to handle that many muses. with the help of the others & my other roleplays closing / being left, that is no longer the case. i personally prefer to play close to ten characters, however i am not willing to let that be the case here. i know we seem to have polls for character additions often, and the last one was pretty close, but i want to explain some things about this final proposal.

the final character per player cap is suggested to be raised to 6. however with these final two muses comes extra guidelines. as an admin team we will require them BOTH to be diverse, so body diverse, age diverse (35+), non-cis, gender diverse, or people of color. these two have nothing to do with your already standing ratio, it does not matter what your other characters are, these diversity rules apply to muses five & six specifically. additionally to even be allowed these muses, you must not have been on an activity check or hiatus in a week, and it must be 5 days after you were granted your fourth character (from their follow if you submitted an account or their acceptance if you are using a multi-muse).

and we as admins will be monitoring your activity. if you have shown a tendency to only rp with certain people, extremely favor ships, or post just to pass checks, we can deny you.  i don’t want this to sound too harsh, but 6 characters is a lot to handle and we aren’t willing to let people who are already struggling or barely posting to get that high. you all know how strict i am about not allowing people to just hog spaces here.

and this will be the very last allowance for a character cap raise. i typically hate saying things like this because i do admit that circumstances change and maybe we might raise it in the future, but i have no plans to allow this cap to raise anytime soon. the only reason i am willing to do it now is because we aren’t as full as we were when we opened and so i don’t see an issue in allowing a member who can be dedicated to six characters and actively play them to hold those spaces.

so yeah, here is that poll. we will let it run for a full 24 hours before decisions are made.

on a gossip blog:

gossip blogs can be a lot of fun, however they can also cause a lot of toxicity in a roleplay. as an admin who has run one, i often would find myself sort of stuck when i would get an anon about a character that was particularly nasty. when i reached out to the player about it, turns out 90% of the time they are the ones that sent it.

so my proposal is to allow a gossip blog that sort of operates more like  a news letter where the admins compile the gossip and post it. we might still answer asks, but in a format that the original ask is no posted, and here’s why:

any gossip sent in will only be off anon & you can only bring up your own characters. this way the admins can ensure that you are comfortable with what is being shared and said, and it completely removes the ability of someone to bully another character on anon. as admins we may come up with additional things to post based off of threads we’ve read or chats in the discord, but we will approach all members involved to get permission before just posting anything about your character.

this blog will be silly, and fun, with things like “lost chinchilla found on 8th floor” not just who is hooking up with each other. this is meant to be a fun addition, not a toxic place where only “popular” characters are mentioned. and by having members be responsible for sending things in about their characters, it removes a lot of issues that i think are what cause the blog to end up being about the same characters.

also i doubt we will do any type of superlative things, in fact we are pretty against it. so none of that “best smile,” “top 5 prettiest,” or any fmk stuff.

so yeah, just like with above here is that poll, we will let it run for a full 24 hours at least before deciding anything.

pretty please <3 this post once you have voted!

[cutsliceddiced]

New top story from Time: How COVID-19 Will Shape the Class of 2020 For the Rest of Their Lives

They call it commencement because it’s supposed to be a new beginning.

College graduation is one of life’s last clean transitions, a final passage from adolescence to adulthood that is predictable in ways other transitions rarely are. Relationships end with breakups or death, jobs often end with quitting or firing, but college is one of the only things in life that ends with a fresh start. Except when it doesn’t.

One morning in March, Clavey Robertson took a study break and climbed onto the roof of his dorm at the University of California, Berkeley. He had spent the past year working on his senior thesis on the erosion of the social-safety net since the Great Depression, and he needed to clear his head. In the distance, Robertson could see a tiny white speck: the Diamond Princess cruise ship, carrying crew members infected with COVID-19, lingering in the San Francisco Bay.

Photograph by Hannah Beier for TIME

Hannah Beier, a photography major in the Drexel University Class of 2020, has been virtually photographing her classmates in quarantine. She directed this series of portraits over FaceTime.

Two months later, Robertson’s transition to adulthood is in limbo. He skipped his online commencement and he’s living in his childhood bedroom, which had been converted to a guest room. His parents have lost their travel agency work, and his own job prospects have dried up. “No longer am I just a student writing about the Great Depression,” he says. “Now there’s a depression.”

College graduation is often marked by an adjustment period, as students leave the comforts of campus to find their way in the raw wilderness of the job market. But this year’s graduates are staggering into a world that is in some ways unrecognizable. More than 90,000 Americans have died; tens of millions are out of work; entire industries have crumbled. The virus and the economic shock waves it unleashed have hammered Americans of all ages. But graduating in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic will have enduring implications on the Class of 2020: for their memories, their earning power, and their view of what it means to have a functional society. For these young adults, the pandemic represents not just a national crisis but also a defining moment.

Hannah BeierJoshua McCaw, Drexel University Class of 2020, in his childhood bedroom in Brooklyn

Even before COVID-19, the Class of 2020 came of age at a time of fear and uncertainty. Born largely in 1997 and 1998—among the oldest of Gen Z—the Class of 2020 were in day care and pre-kindergarten on 9/11. Their childhoods have been punctuated by school -shootings and catastrophic climate change. Their freshman year at college began with President Donald Trump’s election; their senior year ended with a paralyzing global health crisis. “We stepped into the world as it was starting to fall apart,” says Simone Williams, who graduated from Florida A&M University in an online commencement May 9. “It’s caused my generation to have a vastly different perspective than the people just a few years ahead of us or behind us.”

Researchers have found that the major events voters experience in early adulthood—-roughly between the ages of 14 and 24—tend to define their political attitudes for the rest of their lives. And the Class of 2020’s generation was -already disaffected. Only 8% of -Americans -between 18 and 29 believe the government is working as it should be, and fewer than 1 in 5 consider themselves “very patriotic,” according to the 2020 Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics survey of young Americans. They are at once widely skeptical of U.S. institutions and insistent on more government solutions; they’re disappointed in the current system, but hold out hope for a better one.

Hannah BeierBrooke Yarsinsky, Drexel University Class of 2020, celebrating her birthday in her family’s kitchen in Marlton, N.J.

For the Class of 2020, COVID-19’s lasting impact may be determined by what happens next. If the rising cohort of young workers are left to fend for themselves, mass youth unemployment could lead to permanent disillusionment or widespread despair. A forceful, effective response that invests in the rising generation of American talent could restore their faith in the system.

It’s not clear to the Class of 2020 how the pandemic will play out. They just know it will change their lives. “Everything” is at stake, says Yale history major Adrian Rivera. “It’s this pivotal moment where we’ll never forget what’s done,” he says. “Or what isn’t done.”

School is often a refuge from the gusts of history. But the events that rupture the classroom routine, from President Kennedy’s assassination to 9/11, tend to be the ones that stick with students forever.

The coronavirus disrupted more class time, for more students, than almost any other event in U.S. history. It started with a scramble: The University of Washington announced on March 6 that it was cancelling in-person classes for its 57,000 students. Then Stanford University followed suit. Over the next few days, campuses from Harvard to the University of Michigan announced they’d be transitioning to online learning. Soon, hundreds of other colleges and universities followed.

Hannah BeierBen Scofield, Drexel University Class of 2020, on his bed in his new apartment in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn

By Friday, March 13, an eerie silence fell on campuses across the nation. “Something about that day was really weird, because every time my friends and I would say ‘See you later’ or ‘Catch you after break,’ I just had this sinking feeling that I wasn’t going to see them,” says Vincent Valeriano, a member of Iowa State University’s Class of 2020. “Saying goodbye felt like it carried a lot more weight than it used to.” He ended up watching his online -graduation -ceremony at home, in his pajamas.

For underclassmen, the shortened semester was an irritating disruption. For seniors, it was a total upheaval. “There’s no way for there to be closure,” says Sam Nelson, who recently graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Missouri. “I know in real life, closure doesn’t exist, but this is one of the last moments for young people to say goodbye to young adulthood and move into the next phase of their lives.”

The Class of 2020 hugged their closest friends and mourned their lost semester, but scattered back home without so much as a goodbye to many people they’d lived with for years. Acquaintances who laughed in hallways or shared inside jokes in seminars simply disappeared. Fraternities and sororities canceled their formals and philanthropy events, attempting Zoom happy hours that didn’t come close to the real thing. For some couples, casual hookups quickly escalated into long-distance relationships. Others quietly packed up their feelings for college crushes and left without saying a word.

Hannah Beier for TIMESarah Pruitt, Drexel University Class of 2020, at home with her mom in Colchester, Conn.

The loss of a milestone like an in–person commencement had a special sting for some families. Arianny Pujols, the first natural-born U.S. citizen in her family and the first to graduate from college, still did her hair and makeup as if she were walking across the stage at Missouri State University. She and her family held a small ceremony in her grandfather’s backyard, and then she stood on the sidewalk in her cap and gown waving at cars with a sign that said “Honk, I did it!” Brenda Sanchez, 22, whose parents are immigrants from Mexico, says they will miss both her graduation from Humboldt State University in California and her sister’s college graduation the next day. “My parents didn’t go to school. They didn’t graduate,” says Sanchez, who is herself an immigrant and is protected from deportation by President Obama’s Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy. “Your heart breaks a little. You did work hard, you did earn this degree, but you’re not going to see yourself walk across that stage.”

Instead of graduating into their future lives, many Class of 2020 seniors feel like they’ve gone backward. “We were ready to be in the world as young adults—not good adults, maybe clumsy adults, but some kind of adult,” says Ilana Goldberg, who recently graduated from Tufts University in an online ceremony. “We’re not in the system anymore, but we’re not far enough out of it to have our footing in the world.”

Hannah BeierLauren, Parsons School of Design Class of 2017, and Dylan, Marist College Class of 2017, quarantining in Lauren’s family home in Woodstock, VT

Eric Kolarik, who was supposed to be sitting at his University of Michigan commencement ceremony in early May, is instead back home in Traverse City, Mich., raking leaves, helping his mom with the dishes, doing the same chores he did in high school. “I’m 22 but I’ve assumed the life of 15-year-old Eric again,” he says. “You feel like a failure to launch.”

If only they knew that a stolen senior spring is the least of their problems. The Class of 2020 is falling through a massive hole in the U.S. social-safety net, into a financial downturn that could define their lives for decades to come. Graduating seniors have lost on–campus jobs that got them through school. Many haven’t been working for long enough to qualify for full unemployment. If they’ve been listed as dependents on their parents’ taxes, they don’t get a stimulus check. They haven’t had time to build up significant savings.

Hannah Beier for TIMEDestiny, Drexel University Class of 2019, at home in Palmyra, PA

“I’m not sure they’ve fully processed what 25% unemployment, disproportionately affecting younger Americans, will actually mean,” says John Della Volpe, director of polling at Harvard’s Institute of Politics. He recalls that during the last recession, the Class of 2009 scrambled to scoop up opportunities, “like a game of- -musical chairs.” The Class of 2020, by contrast, is essentially frozen in place by a pandemic that has trapped much of the nation inside their homes. “There almost are no opportunities in any sector,” Della Volpe says. “It’s like suspended animation.”

More than 1 in 5 employers surveyed by the National Association of Colleges and Employers in April said they were rescinding their summer internship offers. The overall number of postings on the online jobs platform ZipRecruiter have fallen by nearly half since mid-February, while new postings for entry-level positions have plummeted more than 75%, according to ZipRecruiter labor economist Julia Pollak. A year ago, less experienced job seekers were enjoying brisk wage growth and rosy job prospects. Now, Pollak says, “it’s particularly hard for new graduates.

Sanchez, who worked two jobs and started her own eyelash-extension business to help pay for school, has applied for more than 70 jobs in recent weeks without success. Williams, who dreams of working in the entertainment industry, had no luck with at least 15 jobs and struck out with fellowships that are no longer taking applicants; now she’s cobbling together gig work. Robertson had planned to try to get a job in labor activism; these days, he’s considering graduate school instead.

Hannah BeierJillian Yagoda with her boyfriend Benjamin Halperin, both in the University of Maryland Class of 2020, in the apartment they share in College Park, Md.

It’s not just dream jobs that have disappeared. Historically, many young people take positions in the retail or restaurant industries as they find their path. According to Pew, of the roughly 19 million 16-to-24-year-olds in the labor force, more than 9 million were employed in the service sector. Suddenly, a significant chunk of those jobs have evaporated. In April alone, the leisure and hospitality industry lost 47% of its total workforce, with 7.7 million workers newly unemployed, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Which means the economic crisis has hit the youngest harder than any other age group. More than half of Americans under 30 say someone in their household has lost a job or taken a pay cut because of the corona-virus crisis, according to Pew, and the youngest workers are more likely than older generations to say that the pandemic has hurt their finances more than other people.

Graduating into a bad economy can affect everything from future earnings to long-term health and happiness. Researchers have found that beginning a career in the teeth of a recession can depress earnings for 10 years, and trigger broader impacts for decades. One study from UCLA and Northwestern found that the young people who came of age -during the early 1980s recession had higher mortality, and were more likely to get divorced, and less likely to have children. Till von Wachter, a UCLA labor economist who has spent years studying this issue, has a name for these young people who enter the labor force at the worst possible moment: “unlucky graduates.”

Hannah BeierSisters Camilla Nappa, Drexel University Class of 2020, and Sophia Nappa, NYU Class of 2022, isolating at their father’s home in St. Louis

Rather than brave a job market battered by COVID-19, some in the Class of 2020 are seeking refuge in graduate school. But that presents its own conundrum. As of 2019, nearly 7 in 10 college students graduated with student loans, with an average tab of nearly $30,000. Going to graduate school can mean –taking on even more debt. “I’m having to take out grad loans, but I can’t work to pay them off,” says Sean Lange, who plans to enroll in a master’s program in public policy after graduating from New York’s Stony Brook University in an online ceremony in May. He’s not even sure he’ll get his money’s worth for the $18,000 annual tuition. Especially if his classes end up being taught online.

All of this—the forgone memories, the abrupt goodbyes, the lost opportunities—will stay with the Class of 2020 forever. “The coronavirus pandemic is the biggest cultural event since World War II,” says Jean Twenge, a psychologist and author of iGen, who studies millennials and Gen Z. “It’s going to have a huge impact on -everyone, but young adults in particular.”

Hannah BeierMagda, Drexel University Class of 2022, with her family in Lynbrook, NY

Even before COVID-19, much of Gen Z was disappointed in the government response to the issues facing their generation. These are the students who joined the March for Our Lives gun-safety movement amid near weekly school shootings, and went on strike over inaction on climate change. They were too young to be swept up in Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, but old enough to gravitate toward Bernie Sanders’ message of progressive revolution in the 2016 primary. Those who were old enough to vote overwhelmingly opposed President Trump in that year’s general election. They favor student debt reform and universal health care. They are the most -racially diverse generation in U.S. history.

Their skepticism of public institutions is largely fueled by a sense that the government is doing too little, not too much. A study last year by Pew Research Center found that 7 in 10 wanted the government to “do more to solve problems.” The divide is generational, not political: more than half of Gen Z Republicans say they want the government to do more. (Less than a third of older Republicans agree.)

Near mandatory use of social media has already contributed to sky-high levels of depression and anxiety among Gen Z, according to Twenge. She analyzed data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and found that the number of young adults reporting symptoms of major depression had increased 63% between 2009 and 2017, with a marked turning point around 2012, when smartphone use first became widespread. The pandemic has likely only made them more anxious and disillusioned. Pew found that Americans between 18 and 29 are more likely than older ones to feel depressed during the pandemic, and less hopeful about the future than the senior citizens who are far more vulnerable to the disease caused by the virus.

Hannah Beier for TIMEKathryn Murashige, Drexel University Class of 2020, in the sunroom of her childhood home in Kennett Square, Pa.

Which helps explain why young activists view this as a now-or-never moment for their cohort. They know that the pandemic will shape their futures, even if it’s not yet clear exactly how. “Either we will end up with a generation that is far more resilient than earlier generations,” says Varshini Prakash, a leader of the Gen Z–powered Sunrise Movement, “or it could be a generation that is far more nihilistic, and far less likely to engage in our politics because they’ve seen the institutions fail them at the times they really needed it.” The youngest cohort of Americans “could be traumatized for life,” says Robert Reich, a former U.S. Labor Secretary who is now a professor of public policy at University of California, Berkeley. “They could turn economically and socially inward. They could lose faith in all institutions, and they are trending in that direction anyway.”

In other countries, like Egypt, Tunisia and Spain, widespread unemployment among educated young people has led to social unrest or radicalization, mostly because of a sense of betrayal. They think, “we thought there was some kind of bargain, a social contract, that if we play by the rules we get a job at the end of all of this,” says Heath Prince, a research scientist at University of Texas at Austin. So far youth unemployment in the U.S. is mostly correlated with drug addiction and right-wing extremism, Prince says, and hasn’t tipped into the realm of mass uprisings. Then again, -unemployment hasn’t been this high in nearly 80 years.

“My generation isn’t feeling like they’re being spoken to or listened to, and at the same time, a lot of us are becoming economically disenfranchised,” says Robertson, the University of California, Berkeley, graduate who studied the New Deal. “I definitely think a lot of us have lost confidence in the government.”

The only way to address an unemployment rate reminiscent of the 1930s, according to some scholars, students and activists, is a federal government response that echoes the scale of 1930s reforms. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal included major initiatives to get young Americans back to work. Six days after he took office in 1933, Roosevelt proposed the Civilian Conservation Corps: within four months, the federal government had hired 300,000 young men to plant trees and maintain parks and trails. Three million young people were ultimately employed as part of the program. In 1935, Roosevelt created the National Youth Administration (NYA) as part of the Works Progress Administration, designed to give young Americans work-study and job training. (A young Lyndon B. Johnson got an early political break as an administrator of the NYA program in Texas.) The Americans employed by these New Deal programs grew into the selfless, patriotic army that fought World War II, now known as the “Greatest Generation.”

Some Democrats say the COVID-19 pandemic calls for a similar approach. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts has called for a “Coronavirus Containment Corps,” to expand the public-health workforce and employ an army of contact-tracers to help fight the spread of the virus. (Warren, an admirer of the New Deal, noted the CCC acronym is no coincidence.) Senator Chris Coons (D., Del.) joined with Senator Bill Cassidy (R., La.) to champion a national service bill that would expand Americorps and fund 750,000 jobs to help train new health care workers to fight COVID-19. And proponents of a Green New Deal, like Prakash and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, are working to shape the environmental policy of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.

Given Republicans’ skepticism of big government programs, none of these ideas are likely to make it through Mitch McConnell’s Senate or onto President Trump’s desk. But the political landscape has already shifted the universe of the possible, with Republicans agreeing to recovery measures—such as sending $1,200 stimulus checks to eligible working Americans—that would have been unthinkable only months ago. And if Democrats reclaim the Senate and the White House, broader reform could be closer than it looks. Young people who are skeptical of government’s ability to solve big problems say their faith can be restored. “I have no faith in this Administration and this government,” explains Lange, the Stony Brook public-policy student. “But I believe in Big Government.”

Eric Kolarik spent his last semester at the University of Michigan working on a paper about the 1918 flu pandemic. Now, with classes canceled and his job search on ice, his copy of The Great Influenza is on his childhood bookshelf, alongside his old high school copies of The Crucible and Of Mice and Men. “There will be a sort of unity that the Class of 2020 has with each other, and it’s not fond memories,” he says. “People will say, ‘You’re the Class of 2020,’ and everyone will know what that meant.”

The pandemic has marked the end of one phase for this unlucky cohort. The recovery could mark the beginning of another.

Cover photograph in collaboration with Melissa Nesta

via https://cutslicedanddiced.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/how-to-prevent-food-from-going-to-waste

[newstfionline]

Headlines

U.S. election officials warn of November chaos due to budget crunch (Reuters) A Michigan town wants machines to speed up counting of absentee ballots. In Ohio, officials want to equip polling places so voters and poll workers feel safe from the coronavirus. Georgia officials, rattled by a chaotic election last month, want to send voters forms so they can request absentee ballots more easily. In all three cases, the money is not there to make it happen, say local officials responsible for running elections in the states. This year’s nominating contests have shown that voting in the pandemic age costs more: Officials have to buy masks, face shields and other equipment to virus-proof polling places. They also must spend more to mail and count ballots. Many officials say they don’t have the funding to do either job properly. Election experts say Americans are likely to vote in record numbers in November, when control of Congress will also be up for grabs along with state governorships and legislatures. A funding shortfall could lead to “widespread disenfranchisement,” said Myrna Perez, director of the elections program at New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice, a non-partisan public policy institute. “We run the risk of people really questioning the legitimacy of the election.”

Landmark Supreme Court Ruling Affirms Native American Rights in Oklahoma (NYT) The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that much of eastern Oklahoma falls within an Indian reservation, a decision that could reshape the criminal justice system by preventing state authorities from prosecuting offenses there that involve Native Americans. The 5-to-4 decision, potentially one of the most consequential legal victories for Native Americans in decades, could have far-reaching implications for the people who live across what the court affirmed was Indian Country. The lands include much of Tulsa, Oklahoma’s second-biggest city. The case was steeped in the United States government’s long history of brutal removals and broken treaties with Indigenous tribes, and grappled with whether lands of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation had remained a reservation after Oklahoma became a state. Muscogee leaders hailed the decision as a hard-fought victory that clarified the status of their lands. The tribe said it would work with state and federal law enforcement authorities to coordinate public safety within the reservation.

‘Maybe I Shouldn’t Have Come’: U.S. Visa Changes Leave Students in Limbo (NYT) Oliver Philcox was nearing the end of his first year of graduate studies in astrophysics at Princeton University when the coronavirus outbreak began. Classes were halted in March, and then moved online. By May, he had decided to travel home to Britain. “In the long run, that was a terrible idea,” said Mr. Philcox, 24. “But I had assumed I would be able to go back in September.” Now, the return to an American institution has been thrown into question for Mr. Philcox and countless other international students after a directive by the Trump administration that students whose classes were moving entirely online for the fall would be stripped of their visas and required to leave the United States. Many universities see the move as a political one—an attempt to pressure them to reopen rather than hosting all classes online during the pandemic. For some international students, the directive poses frustrating questions of logistics and uncertainty. But for others—notably those whose home countries are embroiled in conflict or have communications technologies that are insufficient for online learning—the decision has the potential to disrupt their lives and drastically alter their futures. The Trump administration’s plan to require in-person classes for international students would affect around one million students. China sends the highest number of students—with about 370,000 enrolled in American universities in 2018-2019—followed by India with just over 200,000 students enrolled that year.

Bolivian president has COVID-19 as virus hits region’s elite (AP) Bolivia’s interim president and Venezuela’s No. 2 leader announced Thursday that they have been infected with the new coronavirus, just days after Brazil’s leader tested positive as the pandemic hits hard at some of Latin America’s political elite. Three Cabinet ministers in the administration of Bolivian leader Jeanine Áñez have also tested positive for the virus. The infections in Venezuela, Brazil and Bolivia, which is seeing a spike in cases, come after Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández tested positive in June and was briefly hospitalized.

Stuck at Home Because of Covid, the French Discover France (WSJ) The French are venturing into unknown territory: France. Every summer French vacationers snub their homeland in favor of far-flung destinations, allowing France, the world’s top tourism destination, to become a playground for foreign tourists. That means millions of French have never climbed the Eiffel Tower; or soaked up views from the summit of Mont Blanc; or sauntered along Nice’s palm tree-studded Promenade des Anglais. The French have never seen themselves as “Leven als god in Frankrijk,” as the Dutch like to say, or “Living like a god in France.” It’s an embarrassment of riches that has long stood in contrast with the perennial malaise that many French feel toward France. “Being French is to live in a paradise inhabited by people who think they’re in hell,” Sylvain Tesson, the French adventurer, once wrote. With border reopenings in flux around the world due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, the French suddenly have France to themselves, and they’ve decided it’s time to see what all the fuss is about. A survey of 2,000 French vacationers released last month by Protourisme, a French consultancy, found that 86% of respondents are planning to vacation in France this summer.

Flood-weary Venice puts “Moses” inflatable barriers to test (Washington Post) Venice has conducted a trial run of an ambitious anti-flood system of 78 inflatable barriers in hopes of protecting the lagoon city from devastating high tides. Premier Giuseppe Conte on Friday at a ceremony in Venice pressed a button that activated compressors to pump air into the bright yellow barriers, which then started rising from the sea to act as a kind of a dike-on-demand. The project, riddled by corruption, was supposed to be working in 2011. Now the latest date is 2021, but Conte expressed hope it could be ready by this autumn. In November 2019, Venice suffered its worst flooding in more than 50 years. The project’s name, Moses, recalls the Biblical figure who, the Old Testament recounts, parted the waters of the Red Sea. But it also is the Italian acronym for Experimental Electromechanical Modules. The movable flood gates are attached by hinges to cement blocks on the seabed along three openings from the sea into the lagoon. After high-tide danger ceases, sea water is pumped into the gates to make them heavy so they can be lowered.

At 78, a Sardinian ex-kidnapper is on the run (Economist) Some said Graziano Mesina had absconded to the neighbouring French island of Corsica; others that he had fled to Tunisia. But what became increasingly clear on July 3rd was that the man known as the last balènte, or Sardinian bandit, was yet again on the run—at the age of 78. His younger sister, Antonia Mesina, said he had called by her house the previous day, just before the supreme court in Rome turned down her brother’s appeal against a 30-year sentence for a drug-trafficking offence. “I’ve not seen or heard from him since,” she said. Police carried out house-to-house searches in his home town of Orgosolo, but soon learnt that no one else could—or, perhaps, would—help them. The town’s mayor said it was a coincidence that a surveillance camera near Mr Mesina’s house had twice been shot up before he vanished. But if there was complicity in the reaction to his disappearance, it may have had less to do with the code of silence that once shielded Sardinia’s brigands than resentment towards Italy’s sluggish judicial system. Mr Mesina’s case had dragged on through the courts for seven years. Grazianeddu, as he is half-affectionately known, has been the subject of books, films and songs. He had, and evidently retains, an extraordinary talent for evading justice. Since his first arrest, aged 14, he has escaped or absconded on ten occasions, including from a top-security prison. Strikingly handsome when younger and widely acknowledged as intelligent and charming, Mr Mesina was reputed to have a string of lovers whom he visited in disguise while on the run. Police are said to have visited the homes of several elderly ladies in their search for the missing pensioner-bandit.

Poland’s Race Is Too Close To Call (Foreign Policy) Polish President Andrzej Duda faces off against his liberal opponent Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski this Sunday in one of the first tests of right-wing populism in the age of coronavirus. Polls show the race is too close to call with the most recent one showing Trzaskowski winning 50.6 percent of votes to Duda’s 49.4 percent. A Trzaskowski victory on Sunday would represent a consolidation of support for those opposed to the rule of the right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS). The Warsaw mayor only managed to win 30.5 percent of votes in the first round of voting on June 28 but may gain support from those who backed other opposition candidates and from Polish expat voters, who have recently registered in large numbers. On a practical level, it would allow him to veto legislation from the PiS-controlled parliament.

Turkey’s president formally makes Hagia Sophia a mosque (AP) Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday formally re-converted Istanbul’s sixth-century iconic Hagia Sophia into a mosque, hours after a high court annulled a 1934 decision that had turned it into a museum. Erdogan signed a decree handing over Hagia Sophia to Turkey’s Religious Affairs Presidency and declaring it open to Muslim worship. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demanded that the hugely symbolic world heritage site should be turned back into a mosque despite widespread international criticism, including from the United States and Orthodox Christian leaders. The move could also deepen tensions with neighboring Greece. Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides said Turkey’s “escalating, flagrant violation of its international obligations is manifested in its decision to alter the designation of Hagia Sophia, a world heritage site that is a universal symbol of the Orthodox faith.” Nationalist and conservative groups have long been yearning to hold prayers at Hagia Sophia, which they regard as part of the Muslim Ottoman legacy. Others believe the UNESCO World Heritage site should remain a museum, as a symbol of Christian and Muslim solidarity.

China worries about stock market speculators (Daily Telegraph) China’s financial watchdog is increasingly worried about speculative leverage on the soaring Shanghai and Shenzhen equity markets, fearing a repeat of the boom-bust debacle in 2015 when the crash almost spun out of control. The China Securities Regulatory Commission has blacklisted 258 brokerage houses accused of offering illegal margin accounts at 10 times leverage. It told investors to “raise their risk awareness” before the buying frenzy reaches dangerous levels. The state media followed with sober reminders of the “tragic lesson” five years ago, when the market spiked and then plunged 40 percent. That episode shook confidence in the authorities and combined into a currency crisis that proved hard to contain. In the end the People’s Bank had to burn through $1 trillion to defend the exchange rate and counter capital flight.​

Australia restricts number of citizens returning as virus surges (Reuters) Australia will halve the number of citizens allowed to return home from overseas each week, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, as authorities struggle to contain a COVID-19 outbreak in the country’s second most populous city. The state of Victoria reported 288 new cases on Friday, a record daily increase for any part of the country and sparking fears of a wave of community transmission in a country where most cases have involved returned travelers. “The news from Victoria remains very concerning,” Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

U.N. Security Council votes on Syrian aid (Foreign Policy) A U.N. mandate to deliver aid across the Turkish border into Syria expires today, and so the U.N. Security Council will vote on a resolution put forward by Germany and Belgium to extend it by six months. An earlier amendment to the resolution put forward by Russia would have reduced the number of border crossing points from two to one; it was rejected by the council on Thursday. Permanent members Russia and China argue that cross-border aid is unnecessary and can be managed by Syrian government authorities.

Israelis angry at Netanyahu over new outbreak, economic pain (AP) With an unprecedented new surge in coronavirus cases battering Israel’s economy, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest confidants was dispatched to a TV studio recently to calm the nerves of a jittery nation. Instead, he dismissed expressions of some of the public’s economic pain as “BS.” The flippant comment by Cabinet minister Tzachi Hanegbi is symptomatic of what critics see as a bloated, out-of-touch government. It also has become a rallying cry for anti-Netanyahu protests spreading, like the virus, across the country. One out-of-work Israeli erupted in anger during a live television interview, berating Netanyahu and warning the country is “going to burn” if aid is not given soon. It is a dramatic turn of events for Netanyahu, who claimed credit and was widely praised for Israel’s successful management of the early stages of the crisis. Now his approval ratings are plummeting, and public health experts warn that Israel is close to being unable to cope. “The management of the corona crisis is a humiliating national failure, it is dangerous and without precedent,” opposition leader Yair Lapid said this week. “People are furious, and they are right to be furious.”

[ardenttheories]

So, I’m semi-back. Here’s a quick update.

My final year of uni ends on the 15th of May - one day after my birthday. That’s my final (and only) exam this year, so I’ll be all done once I’ve managed to complete it. Heck yeah! 

I am applying for a Masters, but luckily I’m being nowhere near as essay-heavy with it this time. I’m going for a Creative Writing Masters (which I do almost entirely at home, thankfully), so if I’m lucky, the next year (and yes - it really is only a year) shouldn’t be as awful as this has been. 

As a result, I feel more confident about my abilities to get back to this blog soon. I’ve still got two assignments and exam revision to do, but I’m going to try and implement a schedule. 

Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I’ll try to post new content, starting soon. This will give me Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday to write new content, and the ability to put things into a queue. I will also try to respond to asks during these days, too - hopefully this way I’ll be more capable of keeping on top of what’s being sent into the blog. 

Most of the askbox is actually related to my T/R/F Classpect theories, so I’ll take note of the order they’re in, delete them, and then see what’s left as actual questions posited towards me. 

This will also come in line with me setting up either a Patreon or Ko-Fi - or even both. Patreons would be allowed access to content 24-48 hours beforehand, and would be allowed to vote on content they’d like to see next. So some posts (maybe each week) will be tailored to what the Patreons agreed on via poll. If people had other ideas for Patreon rewards or exclusive content, let me know! The Ko-Fi would exist if people just wanted to give support without having to be on a set amount or monthly programme. And don’t worry - I do NOT intend to keep any content locked behind Patreon. Most of it will revolve around them seeing it early, or getting to decide what comes next. Community polls, if I need them, will still be a thing. I’m not going to prioritise Patreons over my whole following if I’m doing a poll on something important (e.g. some sort of overhaul on how the blog’s run). 

Additionally, I’m going back and forth on potentially making a YouTube series in the future based around these posts. I recognise that they’re a lot to read, and for people who suffer with dyslexia or have short attention spans, they’re really not accessible. I’m hoping that if I can make them audible, people will be able to comprehend them on a wider scale. It also just seems like a lot of fun, albeit a lot of effort. It’s something I’ll only do once I’m really into the swing of things here. 

But yeah! Still a lot going on, but I do have plans to make things more streamlined. Thank you so much for sticking with me through all of this silence! It makes me happy beyond words to know there are still people here and engaging with my content. 

[patriotsnet]

Why Are Republicans Against The Era

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/why-are-republicans-against-the-era/

Why Are Republicans Against The Era

Republican Governors Revolt Against Cdc Mask Guidance

Bill Maher explains why intelligent people vote Republican

Republican governors are rejecting new mask recommendations the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued Tuesday, casting the health guidance as a step back amid a push to vaccinate millions of Americans that is already struggling in their states.

In statements and public comments, governors said their states would not return to the mask orders issued in 2020.

“The CDC’s new guidance suggesting that vaccinated people wear masks indoors flies in the face of the public health goals that should guide the agency’s decision making,” Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said in a statement. “The State of Nebraska will not be adopting their mask guidance.”

“Public health officials in Arizona and across the country have made it clear that the best protection against COVID-19 is the vaccine. Today’s announcement by the CDC will unfortunately only diminish confidence in the vaccine and create more challenges for public health officials – people who have worked tirelessly to increase vaccination rates,” Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey said in a statement.

Newly revised guidance from the Atlanta-based agency recommends that some fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors if they live in areas where the virus is spreading rapidly.

Most of Nevada, Utah and Wyoming are areas of high concern. So are parts of California, much of Indiana and Kentucky, and eastern swaths of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.

Video: CDC Reverses Mask Guidelines

CNBC

President Truman Integrates The Troops: 1948

Fast forward about sixty shitty years. Black people are still living in segregation under Jim Crow. Nonetheless, African Americans agree to serve in World War II.

At wars end, President Harry Truman, a Democrat, used an Executive Order to integrate the troops.

These racist Southern Democrats got so mad that their chief goblin, Senator Strom Thurmond, decided to run for President against Truman. They called themselves the Dixiecrats.

Of course, he lost. Thurmond remained a Democrat until 1964. He continued to oppose civil rights as a Democrat. He gave the longest filibuster in Senate history speaking for 24 hours against the 1957 Civil Rights Act.

House Votes To Reauthorize Violence Against Women Act Despite Gop Opposition

WASHINGTON The House on Thursday passed an extension of the Violence Against Women Act, which provides protections for survivors of domestic violence, and includes new gun-related provisions that are opposed by the NRA.

Lawmakers approved the bill in a 263-158 vote, with most Republicans voting against it.

The measure, which expired in February, was sponsored by Congressional Black Caucus chairwoman Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., and Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa. The bill today, which would extend the law for five years, includes new provisions that would make it harder for domestic abusers to gain access to guns.

Those include an attempt to close the so-called ‘boyfriend’ loophole, prohibiting those convicted of stalking or abusing individuals with whom they have been in a relationship that did not include marriage from buying a gun.

Read Also: Liberal Congress Members

Lawsuit Regarding Deadline Extension

On December 23, 1981, a federal district court, in the case of Idaho v. Freeman, ruled that the extension of the ERA ratification deadline to June 30, 1982 was not valid, and that ERA had actually expired from state legislative consideration more than two years earlier on the original expiration date of March 22, 1979. On January 25, 1982, however, the U.S. Supreme Courtstayed the lower court’s decision, thus signaling to the legislatures of still-unratified states that they may continue consideration of ERA during their spring 1982 legislative sessions.

After the disputed June 30, 1982, extended deadline had come and gone, the Supreme Court, at the beginning of its new term, on October 4, 1982, in the separate case of NOW v. Idaho, 459 U.S. 809 , vacated the federal district court decision in Idaho v. Freeman, which, in addition to declaring March 22, 1979, as ERA’s expiration date, had upheld the validity of state rescissions. The Supreme Court declared these controversies moot on the grounds that the ERA had not received the required number of ratifications , so that “the Amendment has failed of adoption no matter what the resolution of the legal issues presented here.”

Emergence Of New Conservatism

The relief programs included in FDRs New Deal earned overwhelming popular approval, launching an era of Democratic dominance that would last for most of the next 60 years. Between 1932 and 1980, Republicans won only four presidential elections and had a Congressional majority for only four years.

Though the centrist Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was president from 1953 to 1961, actively supported equal rights for women and African Americans, a conservative resurgence led to Barry Goldwaters nomination as president in 1964, continued with Richard Nixons ill-fated presidency and reached its culmination with the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980.

The South saw a major political sea change starting after World War II, as many white Southerners began migrating to the GOP due to their opposition to big government, expanded labor unions and Democratic support for civil rights, as well as conservative Christians opposition to abortion and other culture war issues.

Meanwhile, many black voters, who had remained loyal to the Republican Party since the Civil War, began voting Democratic after the Depression and the New Deal.

Don’t Miss: Is Trump A Republican Or Democratic

Hayden Rider And Protective Labor Legislation

In 1950 and 1953, the ERA was passed by the Senate with a provision known as “the Hayden rider”, introduced by Arizona senator Carl Hayden. The Hayden rider added a sentence to the ERA to keep special protections for women: “The provisions of this article shall not be construed to impair any rights, benefits, or exemptions now or hereafter conferred by law upon persons of the female sex.” By allowing women to keep their existing and future special protections, it was expected that the ERA would be more appealing to its opponents. Though opponents were marginally more in favor of the ERA with the Hayden rider, supporters of the original ERA believed it negated the amendment’s original purposeâcausing the amendment not to be passed in the House.

ERA supporters were hopeful that the second term of President Dwight Eisenhower would advance their agenda. Eisenhower had publicly promised to “assure women everywhere in our land equality of rights,” and in 1958, Eisenhower asked a joint session of Congress to pass the Equal Rights Amendment, the first president to show such a level of support for the amendment. However, the National Woman’s Party found the amendment to be unacceptable and asked it to be withdrawn whenever the Hayden rider was added to the ERA.

Democrats V Republicans On Jim Crow

Segregation and Jim Crow lasted for 100 years after the end of the Civil War.

During this time, African Americans were largely disenfranchised. There was no African-American voting bloc. Neither party pursued civil rights policies it wasnt worth their while.

Democrats dominated Southern politics throughout the Jim Crow Era. Its fair to say that Democratic governors and legislatures are responsible for creating and upholding white supremacist policies.

Southern Democrats were truly awful.

You May Like: How Many Democrats And Republicans Are Currently In The Senate

Why Are So Many Republicans Refusing Vaccination Because Russia Is Telling Them To

What is the difference between doubt and distrust? Doubt can be overcome by evidence. Distrust cannot.

According to a recent Washington Post poll, refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine has now become completely politicized in the USA. Among Democrats, 93% report that theyve already gotten at least one shot or are likely to, compared with only 49% of Republicans.

Why so much refusal to vaccinate among the GOP? Because theyre being targeted by a deliberate campaign of disinformation. Science denial isnt a mistake, its a purposeful lie.

Despite ample data that the vaccines are safe, false stories circulate on the internet claiming that scientists are lying to us, that the vaccines can make you infertile, that they contain microchips, that they can alter your DNA. Do these worries arise organically? Maybe some do. But such disinformation is often intentionally created to serve someones financial, political or ideological interests.

Among those with something to gain is the Russian government, which is diligently working to undermine confidence in the vaccines as part of its goal of destabilizing American society. It has been spreading misinformation for years on a host of other virus-related topics, including flu and Ebola. From there, its a short hop to having their message amplified by conspiracy-embracing, right-wing media, whether witting or not, and by the soulless churn of algorithms on social media.

But can it work with strangers?

Why Do Republicans Hate Everyone

BATRA’S BURNING QUESTION PERIOD: Memo to Trudeau: Why do you hate Canada? Where’s the budget?

In fairness, the question should be: Why does the extreme right-wing;hate everybody? The majority of republicans are just as friendly as your average floundering democrat. In reality-tv-obsessed America, however, the people who yell the loudest and say the most outlandish things are those who make the news and get elected President.

With that in mind, we can still generally answer the question: Why do republicans seem to hate everybody?

Lesson one: look to history. There are countless periods in political history in which we find anger-driven uprisings against all things other by the right-wing. Every time the economy swung in favor of the wealthy and against the average worker, the right-wing increased its political power by blaming The Other: Irish, Italians, African Americans, Chinese, Japanese, even alcohol. Today that blame is targeted at Mexico and predominantly Muslim nations.

Same problems, different scapegoats. Assigning blame is the easiest way out of complex situations especially for the simple-minded. Assigning blame is also the shortest path to a culture of hate.

Like chanting, hate is a infectious. It spreads like a cancer and a wave in a stadium. As a result of decades of fear-mongering on right-wing media combined with GOP election strategies of encouraging blame and;disgust;of the opposition, hate has become a permanent motivator in;republican brain function.

Read Also: Democrats More Educated Than Republicans

Why A Republican Who Co

By: Ned Oliver– February 21, 2019 6:19 pm

Supporters of the Equal Rights Amendment rallied at the Capitol in Richmond earlier this year.

The Equal Rights Amendment only needed two Republican votes to pass the House of Delegates.

And two Republican delegates signed on as co-patrons to the ratification resolution that passed the Senate, where the chief sponsor was also a Republican.

So what happened?

After the ERA failed in subcommittee, where four or five members of the majority party can kill legislation, the only way it could get a full vote on the floor of the House was through a rules change.

Thats what Democrats tried; twice on Thursday. But when it comes to procedural votes, the Republican caucus is known for toeing the party line.

I dont believe that we change the rules in the middle of the game, said Del. Roxann Robinson, R-Chesterfield, one of the two Republican ERA co-sponsors with Del. Chris Stolle, R-Virginia Beach.

Thats the bottom line. Bills live and die here all the time, and when your bill doesnt go the way you want it, you dont just change the rules to make it happen.

Does she consider her votes to be against the ERA?

I voted against the rules change, she said. Definitely I voted against the rules change.

Whether voters appreciate that distinction in November remains to be seen, but political observers say they doubt it.

Robinson and Stolle also face uphill battles, with Kaine winning their districts by 10 and six points respectively.

Which Came First: Republican Hate Or Gop Misinformation

Hate is a great motivator. All political parties have used it to get out the vote. Generally, those who seek elected office shape information in a way that helps a certain voting block hate their opponent. Thats how we elect people in America. That is a sad reality we just have to accept in order to fix it. Hope doesnt fix it.

Whats unique and new about negative politics in the post-Obama era is that we have this thing called the Internet and dare I acknowledge itSocial Media. ;Social media has completely isolated the Republican Party base. The Internet and social media have created hard-edged, isolated buckets of information where facts dont matteragreement;and emotion matter. For republicans, agreement with their own bias is considered fact, whereas disagreement is a lie they literally transform reality to support their own opinion: the Post-Truth Era. In order to maintain that alternate reality, they have to hate those who dont agree, otherwise their reality bubble starts to break apart.

This is the case on both sides of the aisle, but the hardliners have taken it to a new level, which is why they seem to hate everything. Theyre even taught to hate things that help them like the ACA, unions, and public education.

Social media and 1000 cable channels dont increase the information we receive they focus the information and repeat it 1000 times more often. Anything can become the truth when its repeated enough times.

Recommended Reading: What Caused Republicans To Gain Power In Congress In 1938?

Us District Court Lawsuit Supporting Ratification

On January 30, 2020, the attorneys general of Virginia, Illinois and Nevada filed a lawsuit to require the Archivist of the United States to “carry out his statutory duty of recognizing the complete and final adoption” of the ERA as the Twenty-eighth Amendment to the Constitution.On February 19, 2020, the States of Alabama, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Dakota and Tennessee moved to intervene in the case. On March 10, 2020, the Plaintiff States filed a memorandum in opposition to the 5 states seeking to intervene. On May 7, 2020, the DOJ filed a motion to dismiss, claiming the states do not have standing to bring the case to trial as they have to show any “concrete injury”, nor that the case was ripe for review.

On June 12, 2020, the District Court granted the Intervening states motion to intervene in the case. On March 5, 2021, federal judge Rudolph Contreras of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the ratification period for the ERA “expired long ago” and that three states’ recent ratifications had come too late to be counted in the amendment’s favor. The plaintiffs said they will consider their options, including appealing this ruling. On May 3, 2021, the plaintiff states appealed the ruling to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Mcconnell Walks Back Language About Stopping Biden Administration

Finally, on free market philosophy, Trump completely upended the way Republicans talk about the relationship between government and the economy.

Prior to Trump, the partys closest thing to a guiding light among members were then-Rep. Paul Ryans budgets, which called for partially privatizing Medicare, lowering tax rates and slashing overall spending. Tea party grassroots activists often took their cue from more libertarian-minded thinkers like Ron Paul, the former Republican congressman from Texas, who played up the beauty of the free market. They opposed barriers to trade, hated bailouts and subsidies, and looked down on the takers” who wanted the government to finance their lifestyle.

In fact, just one cycle before Trumps first run, a popular conservative take was that the working class paid too little in taxes relative to the rich a position illustrated by the party’s 2012 presidential nominee, Mitt Romney, and his famous .

While Trumps administration tended toward conservative orthodoxy, his message to voters frequently undermined it. He promised not to mess with entitlements. He threatened individual companies whose CEOs crossed him and slapped tariffs on imports. He boosted spending and said it was a good time to borrow.

Don’t Miss: Do Republicans Or Democrats Give More To Charity

House Republicans Vote Against Equal Rights For Women

A House resolution removing the ratification deadline for the Equal Rights Amendment passed Thursday with just five GOP votes.

Nearly every House Republican voted against a resolution that could help ratify the Equal Rights Amendment on Thursday, citing a litany of excuses not to enshrine equality on the basis of sex in the Constitution.

The House of Representatives voted, 232 to 183, for a resolution to remove the 1982 deadline for states to ratify the ERA. Five Republicans joined all 227 Democrats present in voting for the measure; 182 Republicans and a conservative independent voted against.

During Thursday’s floor debate, some Republicans said they opposed the resolution on constitutional grounds, but many argued against the Equal Rights Amendment on its merits.

Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner warned that banning discrimination would mean women could no longer enjoy discounts. “Girls get substantially lower rates on auto insurance because they’re better drivers,” he said, adding that, with a constitutional ban on sex discrimination, such advantages “would become unconstitutional and girls are going to have to pay boy-drivers’ rates for auto insurance.”

Sensenbrenner also said that, although women “live longer than men,” women would also have to pay more for life insurance than they do now.

Rep. Vicky Hartzler said the ERA “would not bring women any more rights than they currently have right now.”

TAGS

Proposed Removal Of Ratification Deadline

On March 8, 2011, the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, Representative Tammy Baldwin introduced legislation to remove the congressionally imposed deadline for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment. The resolution had 56 cosponsors. The resolution was referred to the Subcommittee on the Constitution by the House Committee on the Judiciary. The Subcommittee failed to vote on the resolution, and as such, the resolution died in subcommittee when the 112th Congress ended in January 2013. On March 22, 2012, the 40th anniversary of the ERA’s congressional approval, Senator Benjamin L. Cardin introduced âwhich is worded with slight differences from Representative Baldwin’s . Senator Cardin was joined by seventeen other senators who cosponsored the Senate Joint Resolution. The resolution was referred to Senate Committee on the Judiciary, where a vote on it was never brought. The resolution, therefore, died in committee when the 112th Congress ended in January 2013.

On February 24, 2013, the New Mexico House of Representatives adopted House Memorial No. 7 asking that the congressionally imposed deadline for ERA ratification be removed. House Memorial No. 7 was officially received by the U.S. Senate on January 6, 2014, was designated as “POM-175”, was referred to the Senate’s Committee on the Judiciary, and was published verbatim in the Congressional Record at page S24.

Don’t Miss: Republicans 2016

[heroesclimbfind]

Your ranking & my ranking of the best rock climbers won’t match. Here’s why.

TLDR: Rock climbing operates like every other sport: Sponsorship is about a lot more than performance; and gender bias prevails. Please stop acting surprised.

Non-rock climbers won’t stop talking to me about Alex Honnold. Not necessarily about his free solo ascents of big walls, but just about his segment, more generally, on 60 Minutes.

“So how do you measure success in rock climbing? Is it speed—how fast somebody gets up a wall?” they ask.

For America, fittingly, TV finally made rock climbing a recognizable sport. If it weren’t for Alex Honnold in 2015, rock climbing would continue to be discussed exclusively by rock climbers.

Relative to other competition sports, rock climbing remains obscure. In fact, I still meet many people who don’t realize it will be part of the 2020 Olympics. And, non-climbers certainly do not understand how it will be scored (to be fair, neither do climbers, but that’s another issue).

Still, any sport—well known or otherwise—participates in a massive multi-billion-dollar industry. In 2010, the New York City Marathon increased the city’s economy by $340 million. The Chicago Cubs generate an alleged $600 million each year for the state of Illinois. The sports industry produced almost 500,000 jobs in America in 2013, from coaches, to referees, to agents (Bleacher Report). This estimate does not, for example, include the stadium vendors, ticket sales specialists, or related third-party jobs (Economic Modeling Specialists Int’l).

Basically, sports are a mega moneymaker.

Rock climbing gyms, youth teams, and training camps are cropping up everywhere. Whether you like it or not, rock climbing is becoming a more popular sport.

Why is this important? Well, if you pay attention to the goings-on of the climbing community, there is a subtle but salient debate occurring. It’s about who contributes the most to our community.

Is it the first ascentionist? Is the person who bolts the lines? Is it the most well-rounded, best-performing, highest-ranked athlete? Is it the World Cup winner?

When you pay attention to the climbing community’s debate, it’s clear how young and immature this sport—and its stakeholders—truly are. I don’t mean this as an insult. Rather, I’m saying it as a reminder, a gut check.

Rock climbers have the acute advantage of learning from other competitive sports: how to handle sponsorship, how to handle diversity, how to protect the environment, how to reward good citizens…

Let’s start with sponsorship.

In 2011, Adidas purchased family favorite Five Ten for $25 million in cash (Gear Junkie). In 2014, Columbia Sportswear bought Prana Living for $190 million  (Dealbook, New York Times). In 2016, Petzl reported 700 employees and consolidated revenue of €154 million. There are myriad climbing gear and clothing companies from Sterling Ropes to Mammut to Evolv to Metolius to Mad Rock to The North Face.

Sponsored athletes from each of these multimillion-dollar companies are hired to showcase new gear and model clothing. Athletes inspire young people to participate in the same sport and endorse the quality of a particular product. When sponsored athletes mess up, they’re dropped. It’s pretty simple.

Ryan Lochte, 12-time Olympic medalist in swimming, lost his endorsement from Speedo after he lied about a non-sports related incident in Rio. Doping cost pro-cyclist Lance Armstrong sponsorship from Nike, Oakley, and 24-Hour Fitness, as well as earned him a lifetime ban from competing in any sporting event governed by the U.S. anti-doping agency. Golfer Tiger Woods lost sponsorship from Accenture, AT&T, Buick, Gatorade, and Tag Heuer after his extra-marital affairs became public. The list goes on.

Because rock climbing is growing in popularity, companies have the luxury of choice. There are so many talented climbers today; it’s nearly impossible to say one person is holding the torch for us all (except maybe Adam Ondra). So, sponsorship is a fickle thing.

Bad behavior begets repercussions. Even minor incidents can cost you major endorsements.

Now let’s talk about gender.

There is a huge disparity in funding and sponsorship opportunities between male and female rock climbers. Just 29 percent of sponsored rock climbers are women. Ergo, there are 2.5 men with climbing sponsorships for each sponsored woman (Alan Kimbrough Moore’s Blog).

When such a huge disparity in funding and sponsorship exists between genders, this means that women have fewer opportunities to obtain coaching, gain competition experience, travel for climbing, or, generally, spend time on training. In turn, this will affect performance. The cycle continues as women trail in performance, and cease to gain sponsorship. Experienced female climbers lack the same financial rewards as their male counterparts, and they stop climbing earlier. And so on.

“The self-perpetuating cycle of women’s sport being given less attention than men’s, and seen as less ‘deserving’, continues,” writes Tamsin Kelly in, “Are Men And Woman Treated Equally In Sport? Sadly, not yet,” for the Huffington Post.

Outside climbing, only 7 percent of sports media coverage is devoted to women’s sports and just 0.4 percent of commercial investment goes to women-only sports, according to The Women’s Sports and Fitness Foundation.

Nevertheless, over 60 percent of sports fans polled said they would like to see more women’s sport on TV (WSFF).

As you can see, it’s not an issue of demand. It’s an issue of the economics of opportunity.

Lack of sponsorship may also affect, for example, the amount of time female climbers spend developing new areas or establishing first ascents. Instead, pressured to “prove themselves” in a male-oriented industry, female climbers seek to repeat hard sport routes, boulders, or big wall climbs.

And “prove themselves,” they do. In 1990, Lynn Hill was the first woman to redpoint 5.14, Masse Critique in Cimaï, France. This was after the first ascentionist, a Mr. Tribout, claimed no woman would ever be able to climb it (Wikipedia).

Although there were a lot of there “firsts” in-between, in 2012, Sasha DiGiulian became the first American woman to climb 9a (5.14d), making her the best female sport climber in America by difficulty. She was also the first North American Woman to onsight 8b+ (5.14a) (not to mention, she would go on to be 3-time US National Champion).

Meanwhile, during those same years, Joe Kinder was working on high-quality first ascents, including Bone Tomahaw, 9a (5.14d), Weekend At Bernie's 8c (5.14b), Southern Smoke 8c+ (5.14c), and Maquina Muerte 8c+ or 9a (5.14d) (The Project Magazine). This made him at least one of the strongest American developers, if not the best developer, of new hard lines.

Who is the better climber? Better community member? Better role model? Who deserves sponsorship the most?

Personally, I believe sports have four major areas of contribution to society, and I will order them by what will likely be the least to the most controversial for rock climbers:

Health – Sports promote active, healthy lifestyles.

Community – Sports provide a sense of community to rally around causes, such as the environment, a sense of identity, and diversity.

Economy – Sports provide jobs and contribute to local economies, often through entertainment.

Celebrity – Sports celebrities increase cause-related marketing and become role models for future generations.

I bet you can see where I’m going with this logic.

There are many ways sports contribute to society, and many ways an athlete can contribute to the sport.

Frankly, I’m pretty frustrated with current dialogue surrounding climbers’ contributions.

When you limit contributions to a singular measure (or grade), it becomes quite exclusive, alienating. 

The narrative also tends to be biased by a white, male-centric history.

What if we lived in a world where the most talented climber was that person who could hang from the smallest hold? In this world, women—generally perceived to be stronger than men at crimping small holds—would be on top. How would you feel about this measure of performance, of being “the best”? How would this change the dynamics of sponsorship or gender diversity?

When you think back on Alex Honnold and his 60 Minutes of global attention, it would be quite plausible for him to have said, “In climbing, the smaller the hold, the harder the climb.” My family would have believed that. My non-climbing friends would have bought it.

Grades are just one measure of difficulty. So is climbing without a rope, so is trying new beta or movement, so is putting up a first ascent or being ”first” to any degree.

It seems clear to me that rock climbing is just like other sports. Yes, I know. You want to it be different because rock climbing—to any rock climber—seems like a lifestyle more than mere entertainment or an extracurricular activity.

However, sponsored rock climbers are simply professional athletes. They advertise for brands in order to sell more products and boost local economies. They become role models for future generations of the sport, and these generations look for diversity of gender, race, identity, geography, disability, and age.

Future generations say, “I admire this athlete because she’s from my hometown… she has a particular skill… she looks like me… she’s my same age… she has passion… she shares my values...”

Famous athletes have the privilege to promote causes, from environmental protection to the eradication of childhood poverty. Rock climbing, like swimming, golf, and basketball, provides athletes with a platform to promote equality and human rights.

NFL players who kneel during the national anthem use their limelight and notoriety to advance the cause of Black Lives Matter. The U.S. Gymnastics team leverages their popularity and podium to advance the #MeToo movement. Alex Honnold operates the Honnold Foundation to provide solar energy for a more equitable world.

If a rock climber uses her prominence in the community to speak out against bullying, we should champion that cause, not criticize it. When climbing companies behave like sponsors of any other sport, we should accept that rock climbing is maturing as a business, keeping in mind that we, as consumers, still have power. Eventually, when lessons are learned and the time (and rehabilitation) is right, we should forgive inhumanly strong athletes for their humanity (yup, looking at you, Michael Phelps).

I like to imagine Joe Kinder’s enthusiasm, his genuine zest for the sport when he said, “I am really pleased with my generation of climbers. We are at a really vital point where climbing is growing like crazy, it’s getting more respect as a real sport, and it can only get bigger and better,” (Climbing Magazine).

Rock climbing will only get bigger. That’s true. But, better is up to us.

[margaretbeagle]

How a Candle Company Uses Social Media to Drive a Better Customer Experience

The best marketers today are building loyal fans by engaging with their audience in the comments and in messages. By approaching every conversation with genuine interest, they are leveraging social media to drive a remarkable and unforgettable customer experience that has fans coming back over and over again. But how exactly can you create this remarkable customer experience on social media?

One marketer that has mastered the art of social media to drive a better customer experience is Bryanna Evans. She's the Social Media Manager at Southern Elegance Candle Company (SECC), a home fragrance and budding lifestyle brand that captures the warmth and hospitality that the South is known for. Not only has her focus on engagement helped them build loyal fans, but it's also helped them double or triple their revenue, as its founder and CEO D’Shawn Russell told us: "Our social media makes us a lot of money… We went from doing maybe $20,000-30,000 a month just posting pretty images to well over a $100,000 a month now simply by engaging people more."

Read on for a behind-the-scenes look at how SECC creates a positive customer experience on social media that has customers coming back over and over again. You'll hear directly from Bryanna Evans, Social Media Manager at SECC, and you'll learn:

How a positive customer experience on social media can bring significant value to your business

How your audience can help you with your business' marketing and product development strategy

The tool Bryanna uses to more efficiently engage with SECC's audience

What social platforms are most successful for customer engagement

This post is part of the #BufferBrandSpotlight, a Buffer social media series that shines a spotlight on the people that are helping build remarkable brands through social media, community building, content creation, and brand storytelling.

This series was born on Instagram stories, which means you can watch the original interview in our Highlights found on our @buffer Instagram profile.

Tell us more about you! What's Southern Elegance Candle Co. (SECC) all about and what's your role there?

Southern Elegance Candle Company is a home fragrance and budding lifestyle brand that captures the warmth and hospitality that the South is known for. The fragrances we offer are inspired by our CEO, D’Shawn Russell’s experiences growing up in the South. Through our products, individuals are able to experience the joys of southern-living no matter where they are.

My name is Bryanna Evans and the role I play at Southern Elegance is multifaceted, but my major responsibilities include social media management and overseeing customer service. Although many think of them as separate entities, I feel that they overlap quite a bit. Both assist in my process for developing strategies that appeal to consumers, content creation, and building authentic connections with our audience.

Why does customer experience on social media matter?

In this digitally charged age, everything is at the touch of our fingertips. We’ve been conditioned to expect information just as quickly as we consume it. The same holds firm for customer experience on social media. It’s often the first impression potential consumers have of the company and whether it’s worth investing in them, (browsing their social media platforms, following accounts, purchasing products). It can make or break a brand.

How does SECC create a positive customer experience on social media?

We use our platforms to cultivate a welcoming environment centered around unity and inclusivity. Our tagline ‘Modern Values, Southern Charm’ plays a huge role in our content creation process- from graphics to captions, we try our best to ensure that anyone who comes across our feed feels accepted. We engage with our audience as if we’re long-time friends whether they’ve been following since the beginning or just visiting out of curiosity. That energy also translates into how we approach questions, answer comments, email, and DM’s.

We engage with our audience as if we’re long-time friends whether they’ve been following since the beginning or just visiting out of curiosity. That energy also translates into how we approach questions, answer comments, email, and DM’s.

What are SECC’s most successful social platforms for customer engagement and why?

Instagram and Facebook are our most successful platforms, with TikTok on their heels. I would credit our success to our genuine interests in our audience. The internet has made many skeptical- It’s often hard to know if a brand really cares about you as a consumer or just your money. This feeling can be amplified through robocalls and chatbot assistants. If someone comments on our posts, we comment back. If they call they’re met with a welcoming voice. We spark conversations through quizzes, videos, contests & giveaways.

I would credit our success to our genuine interests in our audience. If someone comments on our posts, we comment back. If they call they’re met with a welcoming voice. We spark conversations through quizzes, videos, contests & giveaways.

Instagram post found here.

How do you learn from your community to help guide your marketing and product development strategy?

Our community is very vocal about what they desire from us. We often get messages regarding fragrances and products they want to return or see. However, in the event that we decide to launch a new product or scent, we try to include them in the process as much as possible. We allow them to test scents, vote for new fragrances, and name candles. We actively seek their feedback and test interest in future projects through story polls, surveys, and asking questions.

Facebook post found here.

How does managing SECC’s social media account and community look like on a day-to-day basis?

We always have a lot going on, so content is planned on a weekly basis. Personally, organization is key. I have to manage my time wisely; to do so I use a personal planner, a social media planner, and two whiteboards. One whiteboard has a tentative time-based schedule written out. This allows me to pivot if something arises and I need to help out on the floor or have an influx of calls for the day. The other contains important reminders for upcoming projects and tasks.

My workday usually starts at 8 AM. When I arrive I review my planners, and reminders for the day. The next hour of work is dedicated to answering customer service emails. For the next half-hour, I create any graphics I need for the day and schedule a few posts, if I haven’t done so over the weekend. Afterward, I dive straight into our Instagram and Facebook DMs. I also reply to comments from anywhere between thirty minutes to an hour. I then take a bit of time to check my work emails and knock out a few things on my to-do list. I also take this opportunity to plan and execute at least one TikTok video for the week for the company account.

We post to our Instagram and Facebook stories daily- depending on what’s happening on the floor I post behind the scene footage around 11:30 AM or 1:00 PM. Throughout the day I share stories we’ve been tagged in or important announcements like sales. After lunch, I go back to answer any new customer service emails, schedule any other posts if needed, answer DMs, story replies, and comments. My day typically ends at 4 PM. Before I leave for the day, I make sure to answer any lingering emails.

We post to our Instagram and Facebook stories daily- depending on what’s happening on the floor I post behind the scene footage around 11:30 AM or 1:00 PM. Throughout the day I share stories we’ve been tagged in or important announcements like sales.

Walk us through how you use our new engagement tool. What are your favorite features?

Buffer’s new engagement tool has really helped to boost the efficiency of replying to comments. My favorite engagement feature by far is the alerts, as they’re a huge time saver. I love how they allow me to prioritize which ones I need to reply to ASAP. When I see a shopping cart or question icon I know that may need to have detailed information available for that individual. An added perk is that the tool makes it easy to scroll through comments on each post and locate those pesky spambot comments so they can be removed or hidden.

Our new engagement tool in action. 👟 Have you tried it yet? We'd love to hear about your experience! If you haven't yet, you can take it for a spin here: https://t.co/nEohwIGJT4 pic.twitter.com/OtksZTG8DX

— Buffer (@buffer) February 24, 2021

What advice do you have for brands that want to start using social media to build a community of loyal followers?

My advice for brands looking to use social media to build a loyal community is to start conversations, gather feedback, and be real with your followers. Social media can be intimidating but at the end of the day, there’s no wrong or right way to go about it. What works for Southern Elegance, may not work for another company. It’s all trial and error. It’s important for brands to experiment with different approaches and see what sticks. A good start is looking into the topics, trends, and habits of your target audience and using that information to curate engaging content.

What works for Southern Elegance, may not work for another company. It’s all trial and error. It’s important for brands to experiment with different approaches and see what sticks. A good start is looking into the topics, trends, and habits of your target audience and using that information to curate engaging content.

How do you stay up to date on social media trends?

I actually follow some of my professors from college. They regularly post articles, start conversations around emerging trends, social media, public relations, and marketing practices. I try to stay active on social media- Even if I don’t post daily, I set time aside to go through each platform, take note of memes, recurring topics, trending hashtags, etc. If I see something I think I can apply or rework to fit Souther Elegance I take notes and dig deeper.

Additionally, in my free time, I take online courses, and attend “YouTube University.” Social media is constantly changing and I’ve found that the best way to keep up with the algorithm changes, updates, and latest strategies is to just put time aside to actively learn.

What's your favorite SECC product and why?

My favorite Southern Elegance product would have to be our wax melts and warmers. I just turn my warmer on, pop a wax melt in, and go about my day. My favorite fragrances are our Charleston: Sweet Tea and our Savannah: Peach & Champagne as they remind me of my time spent growing up in Georgia and attending my alma mater Georgia Southern University.

Instagram post found here.

Have any questions for Bryanna? Feel free to reply with your questions to the Twitter post below and Bryanna or someone from the Buffer team will get to them as soon as possible.

How a Candle Company Uses Social Media to Drive a Better Customer Experience published first on https://improfitninja.weebly.com/

[uk-news-talking-politics]

US election: The polls got it wrong again - it's time to ban them ahead of elections

By Donald Macintyre

Maybe it's a case of looking for a scapegoat to hit out at after the profound disappointment that the hoped-for Biden landslide seems not to have happened. But there's really only one explanation for the cliche of the day - that the US election is 'much closer than expected'. Whatever the final outcome, the polls got it wrong. Again.

After the searing experience of 2016, so many of us secretly rejoiced at polls that on average showed Joe Biden 8.5% ahead – a bigger margin than any since Bill Clinton's in 1996.

You can't help thinking that in the future, historians will look back at our touching faith in the veracity of polls with the same amusement as we have about the reliance of the ancient Greeks on augury—the minute examination of bird livers and the like.

Polls have not had a good decade. It's not just the near-universal expectation they helped to create of a Remain victory and a Hillary Clinton win in 2016. Even before then, 2015 was a spectacularly bad year for what is a global phenomenon. In Britain, the polling predictions of a hung parliament were confounded by David Cameron's outright victory. They utterly failed to anticipate the Greeks' massive rejection of the EU's bail-out terms. And they underestimated the showing of Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud in the Israeli election.

That was the year, as it happened, that I decisively lost my own faith in polls. Taking time out from covering Ed Miliband's campaign, I dropped into ultra-marginal, ultra-bellwether Worcester to visit local Tory MP Robin Walker. He told me that a detailed constituency canvas of around 20,000 constituents showed significantly greater support than when he had won the seat in 2010.

It wasn't that I didn't believe his figures. It was more that, much to my shame, I simply ignored them. I was mesmerised - like almost everyone else - by the polls. If I had taken them more seriously I would have almost exactly called the actual election result.

Much of the reporting of this election - especially, but not only, in the US - has been more illuminating than the polls. Whether it was the New York Times casting doubt on whether Biden had done enough to shore up the Latino vote, or the New Yorker revealing that local Democrats were forecasting a much closer result in Wisconsin than the 7.2% lead suggested by the polls, or the Guardian's Chris McGreal's interviews with seemingly sane voters sticking with Donald Trump, you got a more sobering picture than from the headlines generated by the polls.

The polling organisations will no doubt explain this away. But it's hard to escape the suspicion that they were 'herding' – guarding against becoming an outlier to preserve their competitive reputations for their real business, which in many cases is not political polling but marketing surveys for corporate clients.

The events of the last 24 hours have strengthened the case for a ban on the publication of polls in the run up to election day - perhaps for significantly longer than the 24 hour ban which already operates in France.

Polls affect behaviour. In 2015, for example, Netanyahu notoriously - but successfully - seized on the latest polling to warn his right wing supporters on election day that Israeli Arabs were rushing to vote in "droves". This time at least, given the Democrats' huge efforts, there is zero evidence that the polls generated complacency in the Biden camp. But that can happen elsewhere and may have done for Clinton in 2016. Polls can help to galvanise the apparent losers and certainly contributed to the absurd depiction of Trump as the underdog.

A thoughtful column on Monday in the New York Times by the leading analyst Nate Cohn pointed to some of the challenges facing pollsters. These included the fact that white non-college educated voters are less likely to respond to telephone polling and the difficulties faced in securing representative samples in internet surveys. But he also warned that they would have fewer excuses than in 2016 for calling it wrong. If Trump were actually to win, he said, "they will be in for a whole new round of self-examination. This time, they might not find a satisfactory answer."

That may well not happen. If Biden does win, their errors may be more quickly forgotten. But the polls generated hopes not only of a Biden victory but an end to the hideous, divisive, deformities Trump has inflicted on his party and the country. Instead Trumpism, even if he is defeated, is much more likely to survive.

If nothing else, the polls meant that the sense of let-down is much greater than it would otherwise have been.