#something to be said about a genocide that’s been going on for 75+ years using social media as evidence

[zalimaaa]

[mxhirus]

As someone with a "platform", I feel the need to speak out about this. I think the censorship of media on TikTok related to Palestine is insane. Like, I rarely ever see anything about it on TikTok anymore, and I found out it's because they apparently tend to censor or block out certain trigger words (and I figure Palestine is one of them). When I do hear about it, words like "Watermelonia" is used as a substitute.

Another thing I feel the need to point out is that not many people really talked about Israel's Eid 2021 surprise, bombing. The sky was practically ablaze with how many bombs they shot out onto the innocent people of Palestine, and it's disgusting. It's disgusting how long this has been going on. It's been around 75 years (correct me if I am wrong) since this conflict began. As Ramadan is arriving soon, it's becoming more and more apparent that the people of Palestine will not be able to experience a peaceful Ramadan because Israel keeps coming back for more every singular year. Astaghfirullah, It's absolutely abhorrent.

What's going on in Palestine is a genocide, and we, as human beings with basic emotional intelligence, empathy, and capacity, have the ability to do something about it. The fact that anyone would do something against it is completely beyond me. I pray for Palestine everyday, as this is absolutely tragic. My heart will always go out to them for the tragedies they are taking on. Palestine is incredibly strong to be handling this, and so are its people.

That being said, here's a good resource I discovered while on Twitter. arab.org is a website in which all you have to do to help out is click a button. It's great for people who can't afford to donate or are unsure as to how they can support Palestine. A link to an article below on what's going on in Palestine is also provided, since some people might not be caught up (surprisingly, seeing how so much has happened already).

[emostudent]

on the gentleness of men and the strength of youth.

we are looking, for probably the first time in history, at a genocide being shared, in real time, whilst it's still happening, on social media.

we are seeing instagram stories, reels, tiktoks being shared by people living in this hell, we are seeing truth, unfiltered. no one can deny the bodies under the rubble, the destroyed buildings, the wounds, the terrified and tired eyes of doctors and nurses, the scream of kids, the tears of mothers, the gentleness of men.

we have been taught, for decades, by media outlets, tv shows, movies, than men, muslim men, specifically palestinian muslim men, are terrorists, violent and vicious, barely human.

and yet, all i see in those videos, is humanity.

i see fathers cry for their children, tears floating freely and unabashed, because why would you feel shame in crying for your own dead child? i see husbands doubling over the bodies of their wives, sons crying out for their mothers, brothers for their sisters.

i see men covering women before extracting them from the rubble, i can hear the screams of joy when they find someone alive (a kid! a kid survived! oh, imagine the joy, the hope, that even amidst death and destruction sometimes a baby, one lucky baby, something so delicate, can survive, and now that baby is one of the few left, and they have to do everything in their power to save them, even if it means running, with sandals, on top of debris, broken glass, metal wires, so that you can get that kid to a hospital), i can see how they dig out friends, family, neighbours out of collapsed buildings with their bare hands, i can see that the are starving themselves so that kids and elderly people and women can eat, i see them adopting orphaned kids, distracting them from the horrors that surround them, making them laugh, inventing games for them so that they can preserve some shred of innocence, of childhood.

i see men being so incredibly gentle with everyone, holding their children, whether dead or alive, cuddling them to their chest, brushing their debris filled hair, wiping away their tears.

i see men that keep fighting for others even if they are the last surviving member of their family, i see them when they keep reporting these horrors, i see them when they keep operating people (on floors, with no anesthetic or antibiotic, or clean water).

i see young men, teenagers, looking up to their fathers and older brothers, i see them helping them, copying what they do, because if my dad is helping people so must i, don't i?

i see and hear the voices of young people telling us, in english so that the world can understand, to do something, i hear the voices of motaz, plestia, bisan, calling us out for our indifference, asking us for help, condemning those who keep bombing them, condemning those who still dare to say all of this is their fault, when their only fault is to be born.

i see them, i see how they keep fighting, even if they must be so tired, so hopeless, so angry, so hungry because they have to show the world what is really happening, otherwise the world will brush them out, forget about them, the same way it did for 75 years.

and we cannot afford to forget.

but we already did.

to us, on the outside, they are already dead, they are already a side note in a history book, we are already talking about how we are going to remember all these heroes, whilst forgetting that they didn't have a choice.

they are heroes because we keep forgetting. we said never again, but here we are.

[zucchinimalfoy]

I’m not a big person on this platform. I have like ten followers I think? I don’t know, but I don’t care.

I will always use my voice, regardless of how impactful it is, to speak about Palestine.

I will not remain silent, as silence is equivalent to complicity, and I would rather die than sit idly by and watch the israelis slaughter the Palestinians.

This is no new thing. 75 years this has been going on. I don’t know how much I need to repeat myself, because frankly I’m getting sick of saying the same thing.

Because how many times do we need to say genocide before people actually realise that we mean it? How many war crimes need to be committed against the Palestinians for you to know that they’re being slaughtered? How many people need to die for you to finally speak up?

As I have said in previous posts, this isn’t a thing limited to only Muslims. If you are a Muslim, it is your duty to speak up about Palestine, as the Prophet Muhammad PBUH described, the ummah is like the body; when one part is injured, the entire body feels pain. If you are not Muslim, it is your duty to speak up as a human.

This is all a question of humanity, of decency. Can any decent person look at the terrified faces of children and call them terrorists? Say they brought this upon themselves? (which is something an israeli woman actually said about the children in Gaza.)

Do not stay silent.

Do not remain complicit.

Urge your government to demand a ceasefire.

Email your MPs or senators or whoever else you ring. Go to protests, share posts, start discussions.

And most importantly, make dua’a. Make dua’a to Allah SWT for the protection of the Palestinian people. Make dua’a for Him to unite the ummah of the Prophet PBUH in fighting against the occupiers. Make dua’a for all those martyred, and all those suffering. And ask Allah SWT for forgiveness, for He is the Most Merciful.

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

[someoneinjersey]

I know you said you aren’t looking for debates but how else do people learn and broaden their perspective, especially for those who follow you who might be confused as to where to stand especially after your post.

This situation is black and white, if you know the history then it is black and white. I’m not talking about it starting on October 7th but 75 years ago when a part of Palestine was taken away to give to people to make the country of Israel.

And thats when the occupation, terrorizing and dehumanization of Palestinian people began. Can you imagine 75 years of oppression, not being able to leave your own country because they took away the airport, having to request from another country to leave.

Not being allowed to walk on certain streets , not belong allowed to go certain places, being forced out your homes for them to be given to citizens of Israel.

You’re right I can’t imagine what it’s like to be a Jewish person anywhere right now as this conflict continues. I can however imagine how it might feel as a black person.

You can say it I don’t know what their people went through with the holocaust. And I’m not even going bring up slavery, but the fact that black people were in the holocaust. It’s very hard to find records and picture but they’re out there.

Black people was also forced to leave their homes and go the concentration camps, they were even forced in the beginning to get sterilized so they couldn’t reproduce either with each other or when the nazi soldiers graped them.

I understand what it’s like for hundreds on years to be hated for no reason, I understand what it’s like to be discriminated and oppressed personally as a black women. I share and can understand the pain that Jewish people go through everyday.

But at the end of the day if my people was doing something that I know what bad I would have no choice but to speak up against it.

What Israels government is doing is horrific, bombing hospitals on purpose, blowing up food and medical supplies, playground. Having their drones play sounds of babies crying and women in distress so that they can lure people out to kill them. There’s honestly no word that exist that describes how horrible that is.

Israel’s government saying out their mouths for years (theres video documentation) about how much they hate Palestine, that they don’t even see them as human and they’re not going to stop till they complete their ethnic cleanse of Israel.

I could honestly gone on and on all day about the crimes that Israel’s committing, the propaganda that their spread, the death toll of children. I’m not but if you want to say you support Jon Bernthal because you just don’t give a fuck, then ok . But don’t say people aren’t thinking critically because you want to read and write fic about this man without feeling guilt.

By supporting him your supporting his message

And you can ignore this that’s you privilege as a white person.

But not all of us can live blissfully in ignorance.

Okay I guess I wasn't clear enough when I flat out laid out the boundary of "I'm not looking for arguments or debates" so good on you for ignoring that.

I suppose I wasn't clear enough in stating my personal stance on the situation although I did say Israel is committing genocide.

THE POINT I WAS MAKING is that Jewish people outside of Israel are in a tough place regarding how they feel because of how they've been raised and taught and all the misinformation and correct information being presented from all sides. That's what I said. I wasn't talking about Israelis or Palestinians, I was talking about Jewish people particularly in the US.

Thank you for the lecture and your announcement that you can empathize with the victims of atrocities but not the innocent people caught up in the mess of their "home country's" government and most of their peers supporting the war and committing said atrocities.

The situation is black and white but individuals aren't. That's my fucking point. Goodbye.

[coleoffduty]

i didn't know if i really had a place in this conversation, especially as an average joe fandom blogger, and seeing these matters as something too important to try and improperly insert or navigate. but after seeing a lot of my other mutuals speak out about this i felt like even the two cents i could add to this topic is immensely important. keeping the truth and fight alive is what really matters in the end.

with that being said, the ethnic cleansing and mass genocide that is happening to palestinians is real and undeniable.

we are seeing it happen in real time: the constant bombings, entire lineages and family lines being erased, and frontline workers such as doctors, teachers-- any sort of occupation that could further the generations of palestinians being the most targeted. mothers are having to give birth without anesthetics. the highest population are the children, and that's who israel is continuously addressing when it comes to their hate speech as a way to try and justify their actions.

and that is when the language that is used becomes just as important when it comes to this topic. i've seen newscasters address the deaths of israeli children as 'been murdered' and in the same breath when talking about palestines babies, they say 'have died'. there's the use of 'light vs darkness' when it comes to israel officials/politicians describing what it is their purpose in their attacks are, trying to further demonize and paint muslims as inhumane. and most importantly, the improper, racist use of the term 'terrorists' when it comes to the citizens of palestine trying to keep their homes and families alive. it's everywhere. in mainstream news, in the propaganda israel's own citizens chuck out on social media platforms in effort to try and convey themselves as victims-- to nationally broadcasted football games. on a sunday evening before the national anthem, an announcer made sentiments toward israel and its people as they go to 'war against the terrorist attacks'. a moment of silence was provided in that stadium for israelis, while palestinians in their own houses have not been afforded any sliver of that amount of peace or respect in 75 years.

and these are not just any foreign issues or things that are happening overseas. these are ideas and rhetoric that are thriving in our backyards and are so much closer than western politicians want you to believe. as an american, my taxes are being funneled to israel. the fundings from our own governments makes them just as complacent in this genocide as the idf with actual blood on their hands. countries based in colonization follow where the money is, never what their people want or need. because as a mexican indigenous, knowing and being the result of ongoing racial erasure and ethnic cleansing, all of these patterns of operation are so extremely familiar. i know that the children of palestine will be free, but i fear what their aftermath will cost. my true mother tongue has been lost, my ancestors' history has been manipulated and deformed by their oppressors to seem as the aggressors, and the country i reside in and can trace my lineage back to for many generations will never acknowledge that. i'm afraid that freedom won't ensure their peace. the importance is that we circulate the palestinians truth and documentation in order to keep their stories from being lost in the way israel intended, so they never know peace as well.

[saint-theophania]

I'm so confused. I'm not sure what is true anymore!

When I tried talking to a close relative of mine about Palestine, they started going on a huge spiel. They insisted it wasn't genocide, that they voted for Hamas and that Isr*el warned them and gave them time to go south before the bombings happened, that Palestine struck first, and that Isr*el had given them their land.

When I asked them for proof, they dodged the question, claimed they've been in the loop for a very long time (they're nearing their sixties), and said something about the quran.

I don't know what to do and I'm so torn!

warning: this post has a plethora of links (everything underlined) i encourage you and anyone reading to click through them and learn more.

hi lovely sorry it took me so long to respond. i understand why you're confused right now - there's currently a huge, censorship, disinformation campaign being waged by isr*el (and backed and supported by the united states) to keep people confused about what's going on right now. and sadly if you (like me) grew up in the united states/the west very little is taught about palestine and we are steeped in propaganda from the very moment we can talk. it is a failure of the system, and ourselves, and done purposefully to keep us ignorant about an evil from which we directly contribute and benefit.

and if you simply went by what western leaders and cable news are reporting right now you would be vastly misinformed about the true horror being waged and why it is being waged. social media is a powerful tool and is being weaponized by isr*el to fight a proxy war. (a war which they are losing with certain demographics, if the sheer number of us awakening right now and by your very question is evident).

many people are trying to push a narrative of this being a very complicated issue so they can remain "neutral" and i'm here to tell you it isn't - what it comes down to is that isr*el is illegally occupying palestine (which they've been doing for almost 75 years) and are currently waging a genocide against the palestinian people, who throughout the last decades have been forced to live under an apartheid state in both gaza and the west bank - areas which are really just ghettos controlled by their colonizer - isr*el.

i will note here - this is a very basic fact that many are unaware of, to our shame, but gaza is not a country, it is a strip of land under the occupation and total control of isr*el. (to even justify calling this a "war" is unfair in the extreme - wars are fought by more or less equal powers with a standing army of their own - gaza does not have it's own army. the current aggression taking place is david and goliath-levels unequal). more basic facts/questions that we are too afraid to ask covered here and here.

gaza especially is recognized (the united nations included) as the world's "largest open-air prison." palestinians cannot freely travel without the permission of isr*el (on their own land!), and everything - food, electricity, water, incoming supplies, everything - is controlled by isr*el and subject to their whims. they are under constant surveillance and overly policed, killed daily by both the state and isr*eli settlers stealing palestinian land, and thousands of them are held illegally without trial indefinitely by isr*el. (does this sound familiar to you? it should because most of america's police force is trained by the IDF).

and while hamas did attack isr*eli civilians, the attack did not occur in a vacuum and the response to that attack has been very, very, very, very, disproportionate - it is collective punishment against a civilian population and a war crime.

the oct 7th attacks are being used as an excuse to carry out isr*el's dream/ultimate goal of cleansing palestinians off their own land so they can claim it as their own.

but to address the specific claims made by your relative - yes the ongoing isr*eli occupation's aggression is genocide (and has been acknowledged as such by experts in holocaust history, human rights groups, and quite openly by isr*el itself). while hamas did "strike first" they did so in response to the many human rights abuses, systematic oppression, and colonial violence that the palestinian people have been undergoing for close to a century. an oppressed people pushed to the edge of survival and left with no other choice will be forced to use any means necessary to resist their oppressors.

the demonization and dehumanization of hamas is used to paint palestinian resistance as "terrorism" in order to justify wiping a whole group of people (2.3 million) off the face of the earth. civilians - men, woman, and children are not "terrorists" and their slaughter is not and will never be justified.

the claim that isr*el is giving them "warning" and "time" to evacuate before bombing is laughable - where are they supposed to go? they've closed down the borders - no one can get in or out of gaza. they have specifically targeted civilian infrastructure such as hospitals, churches, and residential homes which have been serving as shelter to civilians. they told them to evacuate the north of gaza and into the south (which is impossible when you think of over a million people being given 24 hours to evacuate their homes), and then continue to bomb the south and north anyway. they are also carrying out violence and aggression in the west bank which is not controlled by hamas and so their excuses are simply that, excuses.

no their goal is not to get rid of hamas, their goal is the complete and utter annihilation of gaza and the palestinian people. (which they will not succeed in doing, palestine will be free, whether in this life or the next).

and the idea that isr*el gave palestinians their land? it's their land! isr*el stole their land, violently displaced (such a soft word for such a violent act) over 750,000 people (which has created a diaspora of six million palestinian refugees), forced the remaining into gaza and the west bank, has been subjecting them to a slow suffocating death for decades, and now openly slaughters them by the thousands.

the mention of the Quran specifically by your relative is thinly veiled islamophobia (which is rampant in the west and in the united states in particular). this is not a religious war. and the fact that a majority of palestinians are muslims (though christian palestinians do exist) is being used to paint a whole people as "terrorists" and encourages the dehumanization of palestinian people.

this is why the many many videos and images of dead palestinian babies, men, and woman mean nothing to certain people - palestinians (and frankly brown/black ppl) are not seen as fully human and equally worthy of life. their lives and their deaths weigh less in certain ppl's minds (just compare the global support ukraine received when it was invaded by russia to the indifference that palestine is currently receiving).

to some and (your relative) the horrific slaughter by the literal thousands is justifiable - an "unhappy but inevitable consequence of war." this is not war, this is genocide. these are not battles being fought, these are blatant war crimes being carried out by isr*el who have been given carte blanche by the united states and other western powers to do as they wish.

tbh there are many others on here that can explain better and their masterposts and blogs are valuable resources available here, here, and here. and i recommend these tiktok users here, here, and here. i also recommend the decolonizepalestine.com website as it is highly informative.

and for keeping up with current news in gaza that is not blatant propaganda i recommend al jazeera - which has been doing some of the most comprehensive and amazing journalism i've ever seen. (seriously they are putting their very lives on the line, as several of their reporters have been assassinated by isr*el).

it is a tragedy that we have been kept largely ignorant of a struggle that has been happening right under our noses for years, supported by our own money and aid, and which we directly benefit from. but now that we know the extent of the horror it is our duty to educate ourselves, to reach out and educate others, to uplift palestinian voices, and to do everything we possibly can to help. to do otherwise is a failure of our very own humanity.

[hyunjinswifeee]

I know you don't want to hear from me. But I'm having problems submitting asks right now because this account im using under security check rn because it's new.

Unfortunately. I read an article.

This one https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/israeli-palestinian-conflict

And I need to apologize. I want to apologize for making that joke about Palestinians victims. It was disgusting, violent and totally harmful. And not funny at all. I need to apologize for saying I was uneducated and I want to apologize for the stalking. I did make a few accounts to see what was going down on some blogs.

And I just found out Palestine has been victims for years! 75 to be exact. The death rate between Israel and Palestine is so unnecessary! Have you seen it. During the last couple years you only a couple hundred Israels die and a massive thousand of Palestinians die. And I realized how unfair they are. Not only that. But Israel really wants to be victim. They attacked an Egypt airport (I think it was an airport) in 1957 I believe and I knew it has nothing to do with this. But I was really into this research.

This is not an excuse. But I need to explain my actions. I'm 17. I live with my mother. She is 100% Republican and she is super racist. One day she sat me down and asked if I knew what was happening between Israel and Palestine. I said no. And she explained.

She said Palestine is hurting Israel and Hamas is being sent over to kill Israels people. Something about suicide bombing and such. she said women are getting raped by Hamas and so on.

I thought I was educated because of what the one person, whom I am supposed to trust. Basically lied to me. And I was an absolute dick on the Internet because of my so called knowledge. And I want to apologize to you. I'm sorry and I hope this reaches you. And no, you don't need to stop talking shit about me. I'm down with Tumblr. And I understand your anger towards me. I understand crybabychims anger. And I hope this reaches you. Because I've been feeling super guilty. In fact. I've been going to church. It's ridiculous I know. But I need to get this out of my head. It's haunting me.

My mom has change over the years. She was never always like this. Still not an excuse. But it's odd to me now that I know what she did. And now she's upset that I support Palestinians.

Anywho. Please read this and have some thought. If not. That's totally your choice.

You are correct on the very last part i didn’t have to answer you but because I’m nice i’mma gonna say something to you..

what you have done here was inexcusable having your followers attack @crybabychims @joonberriess @aft3rhrs because you got called out for how you talk to people and not only that but want to be an ignorant and not listen to people when they are LITERALLY giving you information about what’s going on in Palestine

First you said you didn’t support neither Palestine or Israel but when anons were jumping your ass for that first answer that you made on your last blog all of a sudden it’s “Free Palestine”? You weren’t educated enough but there’s evidence right in your face? you had all this time to talk about Palestine you had all this time to be reblogging post about Palestine but you chose to stay silent.. and you said “stop talking about politics and genocide on writers blog unless given permission” since when did we have to have permission to talk about this genocide on a writers blog when other writers themselves are talking about it

And some other things i want to say you said you’re 17 right? It doesn’t matter how old you are you are you can still do your research about Palestine and what they’ve been going through for 75 years!! your mother telling you other things doesn’t make it any better instead of you doing your research you’ve decided to listen to what your mother had to say and stick with it now that’s a problem.

You’ve consistently kept harassing @crybabychims when she said she did not want you on her blog anymore after the things you have done and she has been getting harassed by people because of you but not only is she getting harassed but @joonberriess has been getting anons too harassing her for YOUR doings it’s disgusting and it’s not okay whatsoever and making multiple blogs won’t do you any justice because people are still gonna know who you are and if you’ve been blocked then just accept that and move on no need to keep making other blogs just to stalk other people don’t you think?

You also called someone “ghetto” for how they were talking and yes I’ve seen the conversations you had with that person and let me tell you that shit was not cute of you calling them ghetto black or not that is something that should not be coming out of your mouth period.

And one last thing before i end this conversation is be careful how you say things to people on the internet because it will come back to you how you treat people they will treat you the same way but you shouldn’t be apologizing to me you should be apologizing to the three people that I’ve mentioned that’s IF they want to hear your apology.

[fka-leah]

https://www.aei.org/op-eds/israel-is-not-committing-genocide-in-gaza/

https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/article288383000.html

https://thehill.com/opinion/international/4388533-israel-is-not-committing-genocide-but-hamas-is/

Hi! I'd like to give you some things to read. I've seen your comments that Israel is committing genocide and I hope you come to realize that's not true. Genocide has a narrow legal definition which includes the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. Israel wants to destroy Hamas, a terrorist organization, which is not a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. (It’s also not interested in Apartheid, given that 20% of the Israeli population is Arab and 1.5 million Arabs are full Israeli citizens with equal rights to the Jewish Israeli citizens).

While it's regretful that innocent civilians have been killed in Gaza, the true number is unlikely to be as high that which is widely reported (as Hamas is the one providing the data) and Hamas fighters are very good at hiding their identities behind civilian ones, just as they hide their military installations in schools and medical centers. Hamas doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants when it releases numbers. Additionally, the UN had to revise its figures of the number of women and children killed downwards by half in May.

I know one argument used in favor of Genocide is that Israel is denying aid to Gaza, but that's becoming more and more well known as a lie. Such as in the following, where John Kirby acknowledges the delays are not on Israel's side.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2024/06/26/on-the-record-press-gaggle-by-white-house-national-security-communications-advisor-john-kirby-16/

Israel's conduct in this war has not been perfect and mistakes have been made but within days of the October 7th massacre it was being blamed for things it had not done, such as when an Islamic group from inside Gaza hit a hospital with a rocket. Israel should not be blamed for genocide when it has no such intent. I hope some of this information changes your mind. Have a good day!

I was battling with myself whether I should answer this or not. Whether I should waste my energy and give you the time of day but since I’m bored, why not?

1. Girl (gender neutral) fuck you. The audacity you have to think YOU could give me some things to read. The absolute fucking gall. Respectfully eat a dick.

2. Let me reiterate what I said IT IS A GENOCIDE. You lot love to think this whole thing started on Oct 7th, bitch it didn’t. It would behoove you to do your damn research but since you insist to becoming to my ask talking bs, here’s an article from the United Nations about the 1948 Nakba. Here’s a book by Angela Davis published in 2016. (there’s an audio book to bc I know y’all don’t fucking read).

3. Let’s not act like there aren’t 4k HD images and videos, of the IOF doing the exact thing you claimed they aren’t doing. As if Motaz, Bisan, Plestia and many other (some of which have died and/or lost their families) weren’t giving us live footage of the atrocities they were witnessing.

here’s an article from doctor’s without borders, highlighting the bombing of a camp for displaced peoples in Rafah and the conditions afterwards.

another about Al-shifa hospital. and another from the World Health Organization.

This isn’t something that started happening after oct 7, they’ve been doing this to the Palestinian people SINCE THE 1940s !! Harassing them on their land, stealing their homes, arresting them, torturing them for 75 damn years.

4. Once again girl (neutral fuck you) I graduated summa cum laude, don’t ever think you could give me a reading. I have nothing else to say to you. I was going to sit and pick each word and sentence you sent to me but respectfully suck a dick. This is all you get from me, bitch.

[kabutone]

tiktok making me mad again

a lot of people have been saying “is xyz what it takes for you to care?? look at the suffering happening how could you not care!!” but like girl . that really is what it takes. palestine has been occupied for like 75 years but it took a genocide to really kickstart the free palestine movement (even though it did exist before oct 7).

BLM has been around for way longer before 2020 but it took multiple murders of black ppl by police for people to actually start to care. yes there are people that have been listening since before then, people that have been around since before these movements became so big, but it really does take generations of suffering and then it has to culminate in one big bloody, gory catastrophe to get people to care.

and i am watching yall ignore the millions of covid deaths! i’m asking YOU how you can turn a blind eye to SO MUCH SUFFERING. apparently it’s really easy. how much longer do we have to suffer until you care? how many more people must die before you do something? we reached the “tipping point” long ago and you’re going to your protests without masks.

i’m not asking everyone to dedicate their lives to doing everything for every cause. i’m only asking you to do what you can. cause when everyone does a little bit, it makes a big impact. everyone showing support for palestine is putting pressure on the government to call for a ceasefire (not a permanent one yet ���� but it’s something). this way, it’s not just the palestinians all by themselves, they have the support of millions. i’m still pissed that everyone seemed to give up on BLM before much effective change was made though. but yall refuse to mask!!! if everyone wore masks out, the BARE MINIMUM, imagine how many lives we could save.

the truth is covid is getting worse. the gov is trying to hide the deaths and long term damage the pandemic is doing, but you don’t see it even when it’s right in front of your face. we’ve been constantly suffering in silence for years and our pleas for help are consistently falling on deaf ears. it’s especially maddening when it’s people who claim to want to help, who want to do the right thing, and then refuse effective options for more performative and showy ones.

but i guess wearing a mask actually requires you to DO something. it’s easier to just make posts. you get to post a video of yourself doing poses, AND you get give yourself a pat on the back for making minuscule effort. that’s the extent that your care goes though. but to actually INCONVENIENCE yourself for a cause? ew!! yeah people are dying but… we can’t expect you to go out of your way in the slightest, it’s too much. so, you settle for telling people they’re horrible for not using a tiktok sound, because it’s so easy. it’s really a bad look when the most effort you’ll go to is less than the bare minimum and then you have the nerve to act like it’s the height of activism. it’s so frustrating for there to be better, more effective solutions and people go ‘umm… no…. i COULD help, and i know i said i wanted to, but actually i just wanna make posts and that’s it.’

and for the people that HAVE been doing actual work, like going to protests, donating e sims, contacting their reps, these are the people that are ACTUALLY living their politics and not just trying to look good online. and it’s working!! but i implore you to please please please consider the impact your actions. if you’re putting in effort, you’re someone that truly cares about helping people. just wearing a mask is not only an easy solution, but it’s highly effective. a lot of us feel hopeless bc individually, how do we help people suffering across the world? we can’t personally go help, so we can just do our best to get the government to listen and fucking stop killing people. it’s kinda hard to make a direct impact, but that’s why it’s so important that we have a LOT of people trying. it’s the same with every movement ever. but with masking you are directly helping the people around you, immediately. it’s low effort, but very very high impact. if you want real change to happen, invest in things that will make the biggest impact!!

anyway, kill the eugenicist in your head that tells you certain lives are disposable!!!!

[kittyprincessofcats]

A question for people in Germany or similarly pro-Israel countries:

How do you like... try to educate people/talk to people irl about Palestine without coming across as obnoxious/crazy/like you're overstepping?

To be clear: I absolutely think "there's a genocide going on that our country is actively supporting" is the moment to be as obnoxious as possible, I'm just worried people will get defensive if I get too "aggressive" or if I cross too many social norms, and that they then won't actually listen or take anything I say seriously - that I'll come across like one of those activists who's way too militant about their cause and instead of explaining and educating just shames people for not instantly agreeing - which will then make them defensive and less inclined to agree.

What I currently do is that I just infodump on people and try to list everything our news and media left out, and I try to do so wherever I go - but oh boy is bringing up a "taboo-topic" first thing not good for my social anxiety (and not good for my IBS which gives me horrible stomach cramps and diarrhea whenever I'm nervous either.)

And yeah - mixed results so far.

There have been people who already knew a lot about the conflict and agreed with me (on the important stuff, at least - that Israel is commiting genocide and needs to be stopped).

There have been people who didn't know much yet, but patiently listened to me ramble and agreed that what I'm saying makes sense.

There have been people who didn't know much and seemed unsure what to believe (which I understand, if I didn't have English-speaking social media I wouldn't know what to believe either).

There were some people who said generic things like "You should have compassion for victims on both sides" or "You can condemn both Hamas and the Israeli government" - which are in and of itself statements I agree with, but they're missing the crucial factors that only one side is currently dying in the thousands and only one side is currently commiting genocide and only one side has been violently oppressing the other for 75 years and so on and so forth.

And then there have been the people who I really don't know how to handle: the ones who straight-up refuse to listen or say anything. For instance, there was one time I met up with 3 friends in a park and every time I started rambling about Palestine, 2 of them would conveniently leave and go elsewhere. This could have been a coincidence once or twice, but they did it multiple times, again and again, and only when I brought up Palestine. And if they happened to be there and hear me say something that critisizes Israel (like, even just "Israel has a right-wing government" which is just a fact!), they would awkwardly look away and stay silent.

Have any of you figured out what to do about that last group of people? Or how to do this whole "talking to people" thing in general? I think maybe if instead of infodumping I sent people resources on where to inform themselves and also how to actually help that would be more useful and save me the long talks (?) - I'll also definitely be sending people Kaya Yanar's video, saves me the trouble of summing Israel's lies up myself.

Also, is it inappropriate to bring political flyers to someone's birthday party? A friend invited me to his birthday tomorrow and since I don't want to distract from / ruin his birthday with politics, I asked if it would be okay if instead of talking about it I brought some self-made flyers on how to help Palestine and gave them to the other guests. I know that's still kinda uncool at someone's birthday party, but like... people are dying.

(I still haven't actually made the flyers (what do I put on them? will people not read them if I don't use a pretty font and don't put any decorations? I'm not a graphic designer or anything, I just wanna sum up what's going on and how to help without having to have that conversation out loud and UGH, what if people still feel like I'm disrupting the birthday and will then ignore me... the mere thought of tomorrow just gave me the worst stomach ache as I wrote this post - seriously, Social Anxiety + IBS is the worst combo for doing this.))

[theabominableblogger]

My Reaction to “Avengers Endgame”

Yes- I still haven’t seen this movie.  Yes I know exactly what happens in this movie.  I mainly avoided it for a while due to overhype but with some convincing from my brother, Imma sit my butt down and try to watch this.

Pressing... play!

Right off the bat, I feel like I should warn you guys and say that I have... my opinions... about stuff.  Plus I’m a dumbass about Marvel so just bear with me.

I like that Disney Plus has to warn us about product placement

Clint!

Are we gonna see little Nathaniel running around- THERE he is!

We are gonna see Clint’s entire family get freaking obliterated

Is all the rumbling from the sky or are those airplanes freaking crashing to Earth in the distance?

What if they pulled a reverse WandaVision and showed the people getting snapped out of existence in a future film or show?  That would be freaking terrifying.

They’re [Tony and Nebula] playing paper football...

I wanna see more of THEIR interactions aboard the Milano.  The shots of them just repairing the ship are great too.

“I’m fine.  Totally fine.”  Everyone ever.

I also like you see the visual difference between Tony and Nebula.  While he’s growing gaunt and haggard from loss of oxygen, you can still see that Nebula looks absolutely fine because she’s like 75% android

So between 1995 and now, what the heck has Carol been up to?

“Thanos wiped out... 50% of all living creatures.”  So like entire ecosystems are just demolished.

*anthropology major part of my brain scrambling for answers*

“We lost.  And you [Steve] weren’t there.”  HE WAS IN WAKANDA!

Wait so the arc reactor ISN’T in Tony’s chest anymore?

“Where the hell have you [Carol] been all this time?”  Good question!

*silently bops to opening theme*

For some reason, I just really want the ship radio to randomly turn on so you just see everyone sitting awkwardly as “Piano Man” plays over the speakers

*Thanos slowly cooks his food*  Faster, all together now!  COOKING CAN BE FUN!

“I [Thanos] used the stones to destroy the stones.”  ...what?

“I am...[Thanos] inevitable.”  *starts humming “Inevitable” from TGWDLM*

“I [Thor] went for the head.”  YES YOU DID

[FIVE YEARS LATER] All righty so we’re doing this

*gasps*  Is... Steve running the therapy sit downs like Sam did in “The Winter Soldier”?  That’s awesome.  I really like this tidbit.

I’m also really liking Alan Silvestri’s score for this so far

I’m really trying not to nitpick but I feel like it would take more than 5 years for greenery to just completely overtake a suburban neighborhood

Also wow pre COVID life looks great you guys

“There’s a part of me that doesn’t even wanna find him.”  Are they talking about... Clint?  Is Clint just going the full vigilante route?

DOES HE KILL PEOPLE?!?

I really like Steve and Natasha’s friendship in these movies but for some reason I don’t feel like we get enough of Natasha for me to get behind her on an emotional standpoint

Are they gonna use the quantum realm to jumpstart the multiverse for Phase 4?

Also speaking of multiverse, I honestly really don’t want Spiderman:  No Way Home or Wandavision to get too cluttered by that

I like Tony’s lake house.  And he got a whole vegetable garden going too.  Kudos!

The little kid who plays Morgan Stark is adorable

“Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel.”  Which we obviously won’t.

“We’re gonna need a really big brain.”  So where the [expletive] is Banner?

“Stranger danger.”  *snorts*

“Dab!”  *rolls eyes*

So is the whole Professor Hulk thing permanent?  I know he’s gonna be in the She-Hulk show but I’m wondering how they’re gonna tackle that.  And they’re gonna have Tim Roth too!

*smiles when Tony takes Morgan to bed*

Steve Rogers here [when they do the first time travel tests] is a Look ™

Maybe don’t let the GIANT GREEN MAN keep pressing a bunch of tiny tiny important buttons on a dashboard

*laughs at Steve shaking his head in disbelief when they finally bring Scott back*

*Tony’s car races toward the Avengers base*  NYOOOMMMM

*Tony rolls down his window*  It’s Britney, bitch

“And maybe not die trying.”  And you definitely will.

This whole bit where Scott keeps losing his dorito only to get another one from Bruce feels like a Doritos commercial.

*jams out to "Supersonic Rocket Ship by The Kinks*

Did they just keep reducing the green pigment for Hulk or what?

*sighs when they reveal Fat!Thor*

MIEK’S ALIVE!

Please tell me Noobmaster69 is Kid Loki, whom we meet in the Loki series

“Don’t... say that name.”  “Yeah we actually don’t say that name here.”  I like this.  I like that Thor has so much resentment for killing Thanos at the wrong time and that he felt that could have done better cause he’s A GOD.  So the fact that THANOS was on equal level and BEAT HIM-

Hawkeye’s killing people

This sword fight’s great [between the Yakuza person and Clint]

WHY DIDN’T THEY BUILD ON THIS [Clint and Natasha’s connection] ???

*laughs when Rhodey suggests killing baby Thanos*

These shots of Clint going through the Quantum Realm looks like something straight out of Andy Park’s concept art and that’s awesome

“Well I [Scott] haven’t [encountered an Infinity Stone] but I don’t even know what the hell you’re all talking about.”  *snorts*

“The Aether, firstly, is not a stone.”  Thank you!

The little glance Nebula gives after Thor mentions the Dark Elves just make me think that somewhere down the road, she has either A) encountered them or B) has encountered other Asgardians besides Thor

“Guys if you pick the right year, there are three stones in New York.”  “Shut the front door.”  *laughs*

Also underrated trio:  Steve, Natasha, and Bruce.  Gimme more.

Wait a minute, in 2012, Doctor Strange wasn’t active yet.  So are they gonna go see- OOOOOOOHHHHHH

[NEW YORK 2012] Oh here we go

*cracks up when Bruce very half-assedly smashes stuff on the street*

“I’m looking for Doctor Strange.”  “You’re about five years too early.”  Wait a minute.

HOW DOES SHE [the Ancient One] KNOW?!?

*giggles at Thor and Rocket sneaking in the background with a bored Loki in focus*

“That’s my [Thor’s] mother.  She dies today.”  I love this scene already.

Also WHY IS THOR- or the Thor films in general- have like the most well written characters in the whole canon?

It’s those movies, Guardians 2, The Winter Soldier, Civil War, aaand.... I can’t think of any more of them. 

Oh yeah and WANDAVISION cause THAT HIT ME LIKE A TRUCK-

Rocket just said he thinks of the Guardians as his family I’m gonna die...

What about their [Natasha and Rhodey’s] friendship?!?  I want more of that!

“Ronan’s obsession... clouds his judgment.”  ...HUH

*Thanos uses his sword to lift up Nebula’s chin*  Aw heck no

“As far as I’m concerned, that’s America’s ass.”  *has to take a second before nodding in agreement*

Wait is that Jasper Stillwell?

“Flick me.”  That bit alone could be taken out of context

“We’re in route to Doctor List.”  Who’s Doctor List?  Is that a code name?

“Hail Hydra.”  THE BASTARDS WENT AND DID IT

Please tell me this hand off scene is gonna be the opening for the Loki show.  Please tell me this is gonna happen.

*Loki takes the Tesseract again*  AND HE’S GOOONNNEE!!

LET’S GET TO FREAKING JUNE ALREADY!

*ends up quoting “Yeah, I know, I know” along with Steve*

I’m really glad Tilda Swinton actually came back for this cameo

*keeps slapping my laptop screen when people keep saying Doctor Strange made a mistake when it was an explicit point in Infinity War where he encountered 14 million other AUs to find the best result*

Are you telling me that this whole plan could derail because Nebula accidentally hacked into her own WiFI network?  Are you seriously doing this?

*Thanos and Ebony Maw scan Nebula’s duplicate memory bank and track her down*  Are you freaking kidding me?

...I have 96 minutes left?!?

“The future hasn’t been kind to you [Thor], has it?”  Frigga is underrated

So for these shots with Jane, are they just reusing different shots from Thor 2 or just footage from deleted scenes?

Can we talk about how Frigga is absolutely the best parent Thor has?  Meanwhile her husband ODIN is like “oh yeah by the way you have a secret sister totes magotes i’ll die now byeeee”

*sings along with “Come and Get Your Love” by Redbone*

*laughs when we cut to Quill just very badly singing along to his iPod in the distance*

I want a bonus short with just Rhodey and Nebula doing their thing

*Nebula gets her memory taken over by 2014 Thanos*  Nooooooo...

Are the glasses that Tony wears here part of EDITH from “Far From Home” or are they like a prototype?

Also I haven’t seen “Far From Home” yet because Sony hates me

Doctor Zola?!?

*jams out to the music playing when we see Hank Pym’s lab*

“A little girl would be nice.  Less of a chance that she’ll end up exactly like me [Howard Stark].”  *gasps softly*

Oh my God, he’s [Steve] in Peggy’s office

Alan Silvestri is really killing it with this score

JARVIS!!

Wait and that’s the guy from “Agent Carter”!

Ohhh that shot’s [of Thanos’s ship coming out of the clouds] awesome...

*2014 Nebula hands Thanos the Pym particles*  Oh are you kidding me...

The CGI for Red Skull is also awesome

*gasps when Natasha reveals that she never knew her dad’s name when Red Skull told it to her*

*is super bummed out when Natasha sacrifices herself*

Kevin Feige really went and said “so Phases 3 and 4 are gonna make everybody cry” and the writers went “YES”

Wait doesn’t Cap go and return the stones at the end of the movie?  How’s he gonna handle meeting Red Skull on Vormir then?

“It’s like... I [Bruce] was made for this.”  Please someone get Mark Ruffalo his own Hulk movie before he combusts from giving out more spoilers

So Thanos used the Pym particles to time travel then.  Honestly that’s kinda genius

I just noticed that Scott shrank himself right as the explosion hit the windows

I really want someone to just drop one F-bomb somewhere in the MCU and I really hope it’s Clint because he would 100% say it

*starts singing “Hollaback Girl” when Thanos arrives*

Here’s my question;  how did Thanos acquire Nebula then?  With Gamora, it was with the genocide of her people.

“We [Gamora to Nebula] can stop him.”  LET’S GO!

[Thor uses his storm powers to summon both Stormbreaker and Mjolnir] *softly* Ohhhhh that’s badass...

Now I’m just imagining the cast just in the green screen room just hitting Josh Brolin with a bunch of foam weapons and making all the sound effects while poor Josh is just struggling under the weight of the Thanos reference head on his mocap suit

Who does the voice for FRIDAY?

AN:  Irish actress named Kerry Condon

*Steve deems himself worth to wield Mjolnir*  OKKAAYY OKAAYY

Love how Thanos is like “yes, I’m gonna stab you with an AXE”

“In all my years of conquest...”  Steve you suuuucckkk...

Are we getting the Chitauri again?

“On your left.”  *laughs incredulously*  O-ohhh my God...

*Everyone starts coming out of the portals*  Oh my God I’m getting chills

I would have lost my mind in the theater

I HAVE ACTUAL GOOSEBUMPS RUNNING ALL OVER ME.  This is how good this is

WAIT ARE THOSE THE RAVAGER SHIPS ABOVE THEM?!?

“Avengers... assemble.”  Oh my God this is amazing!

M’BAKU!

Also “Endgame” really just said “We are KILLING FOOLS TODAY”

How are they gonna tackle Peter and Gamora’s relationship in Guardians 3?

[Horn plays La Cucaracha] LET’S GO

God I’m gonna turn feral

*has to pause to scream in excitement when Wanda touches down in front of Thanos to fight him*

*puts hands on head*  OHH MY GOOOOODDDDD

They’re literally just playing Keep Away with a teenage boy.  Marvel, everybody.

*Captain Marvel destroys Thanos’s ship*  WELL IT TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH

OK I got mixed feelings about that [the girl power team up scene]

*Thanos unsuccessfully headbutts Carol*  Oh shit!

*Doctor Strange holds up one finger*  Oh my God this is it

Someone definitely tore off when Thanos pushed Tony off

It was in that moment he [Thanos] knew- he effed up

*All of Thanos’s army dissipates*  Byeee...

Is it bad that I’m not crying at Tony’s death?

*gasps when Peter reunites with Ned at school*

Wait the whole time heist takes place within ONE DAY?

“I love you 3000.”  I really hope we see Morgan again somewhere in one of the movies or shows.  Actually a cool way to reincorporate her would be in the Ironheart series whenever they make it

Even Drax is wearing black!

It’s the “We should be getting therapy but we got a TV show instead” trio [Wanda, Bucky, and Sam]

Wait is that guy- was that guy- the little kid from Iron Man 3?

AN:  Yes

So right after this funeral, Wanda’s gonna storm SWORD right?

AN:  This was finished up on 2/26 so probably YES

*Thor crowns Valkyrie the new leader of New Asgard*  I now cannot wait for “Thor Love and Thunder”

Wait Peter’s looking for Gamora!

Still cannot believe that the time travel suits are completely CGI

I know they had a body double for Chris Evans here but I do think it would have been cool if they used the body double’s voice for Old Steve instead of Chris trying to sound old

He [Steve] put the shield in an art portfolio bag...

*says “No, no I don’t think I will” along with Steve*

*silently jams out to “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” playing during the credits*

Wait and that was the song Fury was playing in “Winter Soldier”

Oh they even got the actual signatures!  That’s awesome!

[hotpinkstaples]

Damn there’s a lot to cover so it’ll be in a few parts I’m anon bc I think ur cool and I want us to be on good terms but I’m not sure yet if we can disagree politely ;(

I got to disagree with you on some parts like Julius callously just straight up collecting ppl like Pokémon. He simply selected people who he thought had cool magic and a potential to be good warriors. He is both childish and ambitious. Simple as that.

He knew he had to create a strong squad so he could be WK one day and he did it in the nicest way possible. He helped Yami become more acquainted with the language and culture and made him a strong knight. He did the same thing for William. He showed kindness and respect when William had none and helped with his insecurities. William knew that realistically speaking, not everyone is going to accept his visage as graciously as Julius so he was content with at least one person(whom he regarded highly) knowing and accepting him. Giving someone a purpose and the will to live not a bad thing yk?

But at the same time, he achieved his goal to be Wizard King without stepping on anyone.

Though I have to agree that he flopped as WK to achieve what he wanted.

So I will preface this with four things:

Really, I am just a Siberian sheep farmer, and thus you are welcome to post a dissenting opinion at any time. I do not bite!! The rest of your asks are under the cut. :D

I have never read the light novels.

My knowledge is 75% anime, 25% manga. I started the anime and watched all the way to the beginning of the Heart mini-arc. Then I stopped and read the manga from where the anime stopped. Therefore, I only have knowledge of the story through the anime up to volume 23. Volumes 23 onwards, I’ve been manga-exclusive until recently, now that the anime is adapting from the manga.

I am a crackhead.

So for the Pokemon part, I was referring to Yami, but like... How you describe Julius is exactly how I’d imagine a Pokemon trainer. He’s a forty-year-old man and his passion in life is to look at shiny magic things, and that’s OK! Julius is an eccentric man, and there’s never anything wrong about being passionate about the things you love.

But at the same time, Julius’ passion is also one of his primary weapons because he did recruit William and Yami specifically because they had interesting/rare magic, and despite how passionate he is about magic, they were recruited for the military. They were also, arguably, at their most vulnerable when Julius came along. Yami was poor, illiterate in the Clover language, and not ashamed to walk off with a stranger for a simple meal, whereas William was basically the Clover equivalent of weird lil forest boy. Now, do I think Julius recruited them because he planned to take over the world? Absolutely not! But he did manage to recruit them into a system he would, eventually, go on to oversee, so it’s very difficult for me to view Julius as some flighty old man just asking cool magic people to join him when he’s shown to be one of the sharpest and coldest people in the room, and intelligent enough to forecast what power he needs to be able to leverage in order to maintain control.

And I agree - he’s ineffective as a leader, and incompetent at his job in general. However, I don’t think his incompetency is just because his head is in the clouds about magic. I think it’s also because of his privileged birth, his aimlessness in life before Zara came along, etc. In any other world, Julius would probably be your favorite archeologist living off daddy’s trust fund, but he’s not that. He’s the head of a military force and the face of a nation, and I truly believe he’s failed both.

As for toxic loyalty.... I would have to disagree. I think superficially Yami is just a dude going about his day, squatting in Mr. Legolant’s house with his Pokemon, but I don’t think Yami is so dumb that he doesn’t recognize how much he’s despised for being a migrant. You’re right, he doesn’t have to be a beacon of change for any other immigrants, but I think it depoliticizes his character and does an overall disservice to his narrative when race/species conflict, class conflict, and genocide are all key themes in the story. You’re right, Yami doesn’t give a fuck most of the time because he’s just not interested in social justice or bringing any meaningful impact to Clover politics, but it’s because he doesn’t give a fuck is the problem. Yami’s complacent in upholding Julius’ institution, just like William is complacent in Patolli’s acts of terror, because regardless of how Yami feels, he’s part of a larger military complex seeking to uphold the Crown, a crown Julius controls as leader of the military.

And I heavily disagree that William wasn’t focused on equality, discrimination, and all that jazz. William’s grimore was not dedicated to Julius pre-elf reincarnation. If it was, William’s struggle in deciding between Patolli and Julius would never have existed because Patolli would have either been contained and or exorcised before it got to the point that it did. More than that, William’s betrayal runs far deeper than the moment he receded to let Patolli chop off Fuegoleon’s arm and put him in a coma. No - William’s betrayal was a decade’s worth of actively building a squadron of bodies that would be fit to hold the souls of the elves once the reincarnation began. I’d argue that William implicitly chose Patolli from the start, even if he explicitly made the case that he didn’t really have a choice. In addition, William was aiding and abetting a terrorist whose entire motivation hinges on the genocide of his people. Sorry to say, but I can’t agree that William didn’t have these things in mind when he was making his choices.

For Fuegoleon and Nozel, I won’t argue they’re seeking to fulfill political ambitions. It’s true! They want the Crown because they want the power and can strive for it due to their position on the hierarchy.

As for overthinking Yami’s behavior... I like to overthink. Lemme tell you why. Yami being aware of Charlotte’s feelings aint the problem, and neither is his him getting into fights with Jack. No, the issue is Yami has a habit of collecting people like Pokemon when people shouldn’t be treated as such!

I make jokes that Yami never got management training, but lemme expand - he hired an ex-con, a mage whose true visage he didn’t learn about until the Underwater Sea Temple arc, an alcoholic with mommy issues, an anxiety-ridden taxi with daddy and brother issues, etc., basically all of the members have some kind of issue that stems from trauma/violence/etc and Yami just invites them to his squad like, literally, it’s a halfway house. Now, the people he recruits are grateful and all, but they’re all fucked up! Every one of them, except Asta.

And that’s why I say Asta was the wake-up call Yami needed, and the character that will drive Yami’s development, because Asta has something Yami doesn’t have - and that’s clarity. Asta’s history, his rise to power, his ambition, all of that hinges on a childhood raised with love and warmth even if he was born with what the kingdom could view as a disability (ie. no magic). Asta knows what he wants because his goals benefit more than just him. Asta wants it for Hage, for his adoptive father, and for his foster family. Asta has his eyes on the prize because his circumstances allowed for him to keep his eyes on the prize.

Yami does not have that level clarity in his life. You said it yourself - Yami isn’t the type to sweat the political stuff, he’s living because he can, and he surpasses his limits because he wants to and not because he has to. He leaves his squad to his business, and he expects them to get their shit together when necessary, but besides that, it’s hands-off.

And that’s where the issue is! Yami is detached from his own squad emotionally. Part of the reason why it’s easy to parentify Yami as the team dad because it’s assumed his detachment is a regular shounen-dad trait, not present but he loves you anyway. I don’t think that’s the case with Yami. I think it runs deeper than that, and part of the reason why Yami can’t bond with his own teammates and actually lead the squad is because he’s overcompensating for his own insecurities and inability to have a clear and necessary vision for his future.

The few times Yami has had to surpass his limits is when he’s had to protect his squad, people who are mentally ill and generally incompetent themselves, and it’s because Yami knows he’s the only one capable of doing it. And that’s a problem! Yami doesn’t offer them the tools to get better mentally and physically. It’s not even a joke anymore because Henry has tried murder-suicide twice in order to win a battle, and it’s for Yami. Before Asta, the Black Bulls were a fractured mess of people with Yami holding them together for dear life, but with Asta, they were able to see life beyond the comforts of the Black Bulls den. Vanessa and Finral faced their traumatic pasts. Grey finally found the courage to enhance her magic. Henry finally came out of the attic. In a way, the Black Bulls are also toxically loyal to Yami because Yami? He’s not a good leader either! Now, is that Yami’s fault? No, but he is responsible for the health and wellbeing of his squad, and his kidnapping by Zenon was testament that he’d ultimately failed in the only real responsibility he’s ever had. Maybe that’s overthinking Yami’s character and motivations, but I think that’s fine.

As for the civil war, that’s just something I would love to see because Bleach never did a Rukongai civil war when we were ripe for it. It’s pure self-indulgence! Of course I know neither Fuegoleon nor Nozel will start a civil war, but I like to think something will, and sometimes I think it will be Asta’s trial... and sometimes I think it will be something completely outta left field, but the concept fascinates me because much of the story is predicated on the ongoing issues of social and political injustice, race/species conflict, even if it’s all fluffed up with cool character designs. Now, a lot of why I want to see Black Clover attempt a civil war is because I hold Tabata to a standard simply because he claims his work is Berserk but for babies. Now, I never thought such a concept would come to light, but as a Berserk stan... I just wanna see if he’s worth his mettle! I think there’s a lot in the story that’s ripe for inter-Clover conflict, but I also understand his limitations. Yes, because it’s shounen, he can’t expand on certain themes, but like, he teases it well enough that it makes it, quite frankly, annoying as heck when he doesn’t pull through. Perhaps it’s my own fault for holding him to the standard, but like, if you gon say you gon write bootleg Berserk, then write bootleg Berserk!!!

I digress. Now, if a civil war were to begin, I honestly think it would be one mainly driven by what happens to Asta post-Spade. If Damnatio turns around and paints him as a hero for having saved the kingdom, then there won’t be any need for a civil war because uwu Asta will become Wizard King and do policy change from the top-down (trickle-down social and poltical justice).

But if Asta were to be charged and jailed anyway, just so he could take the fall for the amount of destruction that’s about to go down, then it doesn’t make sense for there not to be a civil war. Because once Asta goes down, who’s gonna become Wizard King? Yuno? The guy whose birthright is the Spade throne? Even if Yuno remains a Clover citizen, the chances of him becoming Wizard King are next to null because his parentage would be viewed as a conflict of interest.

So really, it’s not a question of who starts the war, but what propels the issue. We already know that in the context of the story, kin punishment exists, so if Asta has to take the fall, who’s to say his family won’t take it too? That the family in Hage and Yuno won’t have to bear the brunt of the blame in order to bring “peace” to the nation.

I’d like Tabata to go the route of a civil war because then he’d be forced to show that the issues in Clover run way deeper than just Augustus and the nobility. It’s their caste-like social structure, lack of infrastructure and resources for the people living in the “outer” areas, their discriminatory practices towards those of lower birth, racism, etc.

But again, that entirely depends on if Tabata wants to tell such a tale, or if he prefers Asta take the assimilationist route, save the day, and become the uwu hero. He can! It’s an easy way to frame things, and mirrors Lumiere’s Big Battle well enough, but I think a war would also be great so that it can really put Asta in a position to exercise his brain in the face of absolute loss, and spark hope from nothing. Asta is my favorite of the new generation of Shounen Jump protags because he has a level of potential I just don’t see in others. He has a drive, but he also has critical thinking skills, and he has a support system when shit gets real. I want to see Asta feel the weight of decisions beyond his control, so that he can experience decision-making from a place of true helplessness, which I honestly think will help him see that there’s more to the dream of being Wizard King than just climbing the ranks. It’s advocating for real change. It’s not only knowing how to empower the people, but also being able to actively challenge injustice in every form. It’s not full-on anarchy like Liebe, but it’s not just assimilationist politicking he was doing earlier. I think with a civil war, Asta will understand that there’s more to his world than just magic, and that he, as a non-magic person, can make change that doesn’t hinge on him following the rule of the law, because the laws have to change, and they can’t change when Asta’s forty and finally Wizard King, they have to happen now. A civil war will expose a lot of the underpinning issues and offer the cast a change to work through them! Also, it makes for good conflict uwu.

But that’s entirely my opinion!!! I’m a HUGE fan of historical political thrillers. Absolutely LOVE that shit. I wanna see it in Black Clover because selfishly, it would make me happy!!

[fiercynn]

please show me exactly where i said you shouldn't vote or who you should vote for, either here or in my other post that clearly neither of you read? literally what i said was "stop calling voting for biden 'harm reduction'" and, in the other post, "stop lecturing marginalized people who are saying they won't vote for biden". but even those simple things are apparently too hard for you to respect, because you are so fixated on the idea of trump that you are willing to let biden get away with literally anything, and you refuse to see that by both sanitizing his actions and negating people's right to threaten to withhold their vote from him, you are part of the problem of him continuing to act this way.

there was literally no time within biden's presidency where it was possible to criticize him without people like you jumping in to say "but you have to still vote for him in 2024 because trump is worse!!!!" despite the fact that the vast majority of americans and democrats (up to 75% in july 2022) have been saying for years that we didn't want biden to run for reelection (more on that here). so why the fuck would biden change what he's doing when any criticism of him is drowned out by the chorus of people who are ready to say they'll vote for him no matter what?

the fact that @mermer404 think saying "i won't vote for a president who is genociding palestinians" is a "nebulous principle" says a lot about you and who you care about, frankly. i am also literally in all of those categories that you listed �� i'm a queer brown disabled woman. you wanna know how i became disabled? because in spring 2022, the TSA – led by the biden administration – dropped the mask mandate for air travel, and as a result i, who had been incredibly careful about isolating and taking protective measures for the whole pandemic, caught covid for the first time in june 2022 from a family member who got it while flying, and for me it turned into long covid. i've now had covid twice more as biden lets it run rampant and dismantles our public health infrastructure. i'm literally in bed as i type this because i'm too sick to get up.

and what exactly do you hope to achieve by condescending to people who criticize biden? do you know how hard it is to get people to vote? i do, because i've worked on campaigns, including for a democratic presidential candidate. on the presidential campaign i worked on more than a decade ago, the stats we were given were that, just to get people who are already likely democrats but who maybe aren't regular voters to vote, you need to phonebank them ten times and/or show up at their door to canvass at least four times, in order to get them out to vote. and that's for people who already agree with you on who to vote for! do you know how much harder it is to persuade someone to change their mind about who to vote for? and do you really think that marginalized people who have decided not to vote for biden have done so without remembering was trump was like, and without thinking about it deeply and coming to what was most likely a very painful decision about it?

by lecturing people who are suffering on why we should vote for biden, instead of taking our concerns seriously, you are telling us that our pain from what biden is actually doing right now – and our efforts to do something about it by publicly threatening to withhold our vote – don’t matter as much to you as you feeling secure that trump is not going to win. not only is that going to make you fail at your goal of convincing us to vote for biden, but it is going to make it hard for you to be in allyship or solidarity with us on other forms of political action – which i guarantee most of us are taking, because we understand that voting can never be your only political action – either, because why would we believe your sincerity if you can’t simply listen, empathize, and not condescend to begin with?

you honestly have a better chance of making a difference by turning all your electoral attention to demanding better from your candidates than you do of convincing people who have already decided against biden. and that's actually the ethical thing to do, considering it is not us who are, you know, responsible for mass death and genocide. so please go do that instead and leave us alone.

oh my fucking god can people stop coopting the term "harm reduction". i know language can change but i refuse to let this term change into the literal opposite meaning just so people can justify their decision to vote for a genocidaire.

harm reduction is literally, meaningfully, about reducing existing risk of harm. a person who uses drugs is at risk of disease or illness because they only have access to dirty needles? provide them with a needle exchange program to make it safer for them. a teen who is sexually active is at risk of becoming pregnant or contracting a sexually transmitted infection? provide them with sex ed and protective devices like condoms or dental dams to allow them to have safe sex.

and yes, there is a part of harm reduction that is aimed at not moralizing about the behavior that you're trying to reduce harm from. but if you're a progressive - as most of the people lecturing us about "harm reduction" purport to be - you should already understand that these behaviors are not ethically bad in and of themselves. it is not inherently unethical to use drugs or be sexually active as a teen, so the fact that harm reduction efforts could "encourage" that behavior is also not unethical! if you think that it is, then you're actually a conservative!

and, importantly, the people who benefit from harm reduction were only at risk of harming themselves in the first place. so helping someone make those activities safer for themselves is not only reducing the risk of harm to that person, but, in doing so, it is not increasing the risk of harm to anyone else either.

voting is giving your active support to a candidate, and thus to that candidate's platform. so please tell me how giving your vote to a president who is actively driving a genocide, perpetuating a pandemic, funding cop cities and a border wall, and driving up deportations - none of which he has pledged to stop if reelected - is reducing existing risk of harm? because harm reduction also isn't "choosing an option that you believe is better than the hypothetical even worse alternative". and voting for biden is, in fact, increasing the existing risk of the harm that he is currently enacting on other people, and encouraging his despicable behavior!

if coopting the term "harm reduction" is the only thing making you feel okay about your decision to vote for biden despite all the people who are dead, disabled, deported, or destitute because of him, then honestly, that seems like a you problem. STOP COOPTING THE TERM.

(and if you feel the urge to respond with something along the lines of "but biden's just doing his best! i'm just telling people to vote for him because i'm scared of trump!" then please at least read this post as well before you say anything to me about it)

[bobasheebaby]

107 The Good Place Prompts

Eleanor Shellstrop

1 “I just don't think the group thing is for me. I'm better when it's one-one-one and we're both looking at our phones and I don't know the other person and we don't talk.”

2 “The closest thing I could find to herbal tea was a root beer I had them throw in the microwave.”

3 “Whenever anyone tells me a story about their life I always imagine all the people as being super hot. Otherwise, I quickly lose interest. Do you not do that? You can do it for free.”

4 “I'm SO ready to learn, it's like my brain is HORNY!”

5 “What can you possibly say to us that will make up for your actions?” “Pobody's nerfect?”

6 “You don't seem like a ... super genius.”

7 “Ugh, of course your hugs are amazing.”

8 “Oh, so now I'm supposed to be nice and make friends and treat him:her with mutual respect?” “Yeah!” “That's exactly what he/she wants me to do, NAME, wake up!” “That's what everyone wants everyone to do.”

9 “Your friend sounds like he’s/she's one pickle short of a pickle party.”

10 “I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.” “Oh, come on. Everyone knows that's worse.”

11 “I know it sounds crazy, but if it weren’t crazy they wouldn’t call it a ‘leap of faith.’ They would call it a ‘sit … of ... doubting.’”

12 “Buzz off, Bambadjan.”

13 “Where is everyone?” “Who knows? Maybe they finally figured out clam chowder is disgusting, 'cause it's basically a savory latte with bugs in it.”

14 “First of all, throwing sand is an excellent way to put out a vodka fire.” “Why would you even know that?!”

15 “No, NAME, I used to do that. Now I do selfless things without even thinking about it.”

16 “Why don't I ever listen to people when they talk about themselves? No, it's annoying, and I'm right not to.”

17 “Are you going to talk? Or just walk around like a nerd trying to get a personal best on his Fitbit?”

18 “I guess ‘try and enjoy this’ is a better plan than ‘have the anxiety sweats.’’

19 “I’ve only ever said ‘I love you’ to two men my entire life, Stone Cold Steve Austin and a guy in a dark club who I mistook for Stone Cold Steve Austin.”

20 “Is that some kind of nerd pick-up line? Because it’s only kind of working.”

21 “You know I’m trying to say ash-hole instead of ash-hole, right?”

22 “It’s suddenly very important that I get drunk.”

23 “Well fork you, too.”

24 “Holy mother-forking shirtballs.”

25 “‘You’re not better than me’ was my yearbook quote.”

Tahani Al-Jamal

26 “You guys came to say goodbye because you're my friends.” “Well, I suppose some part of me possibly has a sense of casual kinship with you, much as one might be fond of a street cat.”

27 “I would say I outdid myself, but I’m always this good. So I simply did myself.”

28 “NAME, you seem thoughtful. And that concerns me.”

29 “I, NAME, shall do my level best to make every event too much.”

30 “I just want to sit and stare at nothing, and silently scream for the rest of time.”

31 “I made a complete fool of myself tonight. I interrupted your big speech and badly stained my cargo pants, which, I have to admit, are quite comfortable. Oh, God, what’s happened to me? I’m praising off-the-rack separates!”

32 “Who else feels that NAME has ruined every moment of your existence since you arrived?”

33 “Right now I'm just a boy/girl, towering over a boy/girl, asking him/her to admit he/she loves me.”

34 “My whole life, whenever I encountered any obstacles, I would simply say, ‘I would like to speak to a manager.’ But in our relationship, there was no manager. There was no one who could fix this for me except me.”

Chidi Anagonye

35 “I’m just not a ‘new experience’ kind of guy. My comfort zone is basically like, that chair, and honestly? The arms are a little sharp.”

36 “Here’s an idea. What if we don’t worry about whatever comes next?”

37 “Principles aren’t principles when you pick and choose when you’re gonna follow them.”

38 “If this isn’t a test, then it’s something way worse: A choice! That we have to make!”

39 “I am absolutely paralyzed by decision-making.”

40 “I’m going to ... start crying.”

41 “I am pretty good at turning every place I go into my personal hell.”

42 “You know the sound that a fork makes in the garbage disposal? That’s the sound that my brain makes all the time.”

43 “Well, I’ve narrowed it down to two possibilities: yes and no.”

44 “There's an old Chinese proverb... ‘Lies are like tigers. They are bad.’””That's it?” “I guess it's more poetic in Mandarin.”

45 “I argue that we choose to be good because of our bonds with other people and our innate desire to treat them with dignity. Simply put, we are not in this alone."

46 “I am breaking up with you.” “Why?” “I can't ... It's complicated, but it's happening. Ya dumped!”

47 “I do have a stomachache. Why do I always have a stomachache?”

48 “You put the Peeps in the chili pot and eat them both up! You put the Peeps in the chili pot and add the M&Ms. You put the Peeps in the chili pot and it makes it taste bad.”

49 “Are you alright? You didn't sleep at all last night.” “I got a solid eight minutes. Not consecutively, but still. It's fine. You're not even that blurry.”

50 “We can be colleagues. Associates is pushing it. And by even having this conversation, you're becoming my confidante. I can't have that.”

51 “I am absolutely paralyzed by decision making and it is destroying my life.” “Yeah, I sort of got that when you couldn't choose a chair to sit on.” “Well, I didn't want to offend you in case you had a favorite.”

52 “This whole romantic situation is such a mess. I am vexed, NAME. Vexed.”

53 “I need to step outside ... for some air ... and I will not be back for many days.”

54 “I'm sorry, everyone, I just have some worries as well as some concerns that could potentially turn into outright fears. Ah, there they go, they're fears now.”

55 “When I'm really upset, concentrating on a table of contents helps me calm down. It's like a menu, but the food is words.”

56 “I have never been that certain about anything. I once even tried to rent socks. How did I say that that easily?”

57 “You broke the world. It's not a compliment!”

58 “This is fun. It's a fun party. There's no question about it, this is a fun ... situation. Hey! You guys are here! The fun continues, nay, increases!”

Michael

59 “If soulmates do exist, they’re not found. They’re made.”

60 “I’ll say this to you, my friend, with all the love in my heart and all the wisdom of the universe. Take it sleazy.”

61 “We have no plan. No one’s coming to save us. So ... I’m going to do it.”

62 “It’s a rare occurrence, like a double rainbow. Or like someone on the internet saying, You know what? You’ve convinced me I was wrong.”

63 “Lies are always more convincing when they’re closer to the truth.”

64 “Kissing is gross. You just mash your food holes together. It’s not for that.”

65 “Birth is a curse and existence is a prison.”

66 “Serious question: should we kill them?”

67 “Lonely Gal Margarita Mix for One.”

68 (Holding a plush Minion) “I won this ugly yellow toddler, which is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”

69 “Hello, everyone. Good to see you all here, mingling around with your various secrets. Who really knows which of you are who you say you are? No way to know unless I pull your skeletons out, right?"

70 “In the words of one of my actual friends: 'Ya basic'. It's a human insult. It's devastating. You're devastated right now."

71 “Where's the H? This keyboard doesn't have an H.”

72 “Dick Tracy called back on his watch phone and said you better "watch" out!”

73 “I got to ride a bike. I put a coin in a thing and got a gumball. And then someone came up to me and said, ‘hot enough for ya?’, and you know what I said? I said, ‘tell me about it!’” “Well I am glad that you got to chew a gumball.” “Oh, damn. I didn't even think to chew it. Missed opportunity, shoot.”

74 “I saw this place that was at once a Pizza Hut and a Taco Bell! I mean, oh! The mind reels! A Pizza Hut and a Taco Bell!”

75 “And what's the significance of the keychain?” “Nothing, I just like frogs. I'm a frog guy.”

76 “I won't let you down.” “I think you will. I think this entire project of yours is stupid and doomed to fail.”

77 “You know the way you feel when you see a chimpanzee and a baby tiger who have become friends? That's how you're going to feel every day.”

78 “You humans have so many emotions. You only need two: anger and confusion!”

79 “It makes sense, right? They're good so they're stupid and trusting.”

Jason Mendoza

80 “I have no idea what’s going on right now but everyone else is talking and I think I should too!”

81 “I can’t believe NAME betrayed us again, why is it always the ones you most expect?”

82 “I wasn’t a failed DJ. I was pre-successful.”

83 “Claustrophobic? Who would ever be afraid of Santa Clause?”

84 “If you’re a devil, how come you’re not wearing Prada?”

85 “I’m too young to die and too old to eat off the kids’ menu. What a stupid age I am.”

86 “Well, my year started about a year ago …”

87 “Dude! We can get mythical animals? Maybe I’ll get a penguin.” “Penguins are real.” “That’s the spirit, NAME. They’re real to me too.”

88 “When I say I'm meditating, I'm just trying to figure out what the fork is happening."

89 “You know, it doesn't matter if you know things. All that matters is what's in your heart."

90 “I'm ranking my favourite Fast and the Furious movies. You said you wanted to know who I am, and this is the best way to get to know me."

91 “He’s/She's my everything. He/She makes the bass drop in my heart.”

92 “Long story short, it was all a dream.”

Janet

93 “I think I might hate things now, too. So far, it’s genocide and leggings as pants.”

94 “NAME told me that instead of being sad, I should ‘go get it, girl.’ So I’m going to go get it, girl.” “Get what?” “Unclear. I’ll get everything, just to be safe.”

95 “In case you were wondering, I am, by definition, the best version of myself."

96 “Ooh, I've never had to walk before, this is fun! [Walks a few steps] Now I'm bored. Walking is dumb.”

97 “Oh, really? Is it an error to act unpredictably and behave in ways that run counter to how you were programmed to behave?”

Minor Miscellaneous Characters

98 “There is some good news. There’s some cake left!” – Neil from Accounting

99 “Well, I'm sure you're busy, you probably wouldn't want to talk to me. I get it, I wouldn't either. I'm as dull as a rock. Ugh, even that analogy was boring. I'm sorry, I'm so dull, and I'm ugly. I'm like a rock. Ugh, stupid Larry! Stop talking about rocks!” — Larry Hemsworth

100 “Oh, and you should smile more. You'll get bigger tips.” — Trevor

101 “Later days, dingus.” — Trevor

102 “Hold that thought. Is it OK if I go work out? I love working out. I gotta stay jacked. It's who I am.” — Chris Baker

103 “This is exhausting. I just want to go back to my container of goo and go to sleep.” — Shawn

104 “So, what's up, what's your deal? Are you single? What's going on?” — Trevor

105 “What up, ding dongs?” — Bad Janet

106 “Hello, imbeciles.” — Shawn

107 “So, we'll just roll on out, and you can get back to putting rainbows up your butt or whatever you do here.” — Trevor

[arlingtonpark]

SNK 127 Review

0/10 This chapter sucks. Continuity is dead.

In my last post I said if we got flashbacks, it’d be damage control for the last chapter. I was right.

The first couple of scenes in this chapter are clear attempts to clean up the last one’s mess. We never saw Jean and Mikasa make contact with Hange, and here, we do.

Honestly, I think this could’ve been handled better.

Jean had something of an arc in chapter 126, where it seemed like he genuinely had chosen to follow Floch, only it turns out he was working with Hange all along. So I get why these scenes are presented out of order. It’s an attempt at dramatic tension.

It fails, though, because not enough time was devoted to showing Jean working with Floch. Jean stood next to Floch in some scenes. That’s it.  

Let this be a lesson to aspiring writers everywhere. If you want to do a story arc, or even just a mini-arc, make sure you have the time for it. If you can’t spare the time to do it justice, it’s better to just cut it completely.

Hange’s character is much better served this chapter. I forgot to mention this last time, but Hange’s character was screwed over pretty hard last time.

Her arc has been about growing into her new role as commander. She failed to constrain Eren, and Floch, and everything’s gone to shit in general, and she doubts her own leadership.  

Then, after escaping the Yeagerists with Levi, Hange considers just walking away and living out in the woods.

They chose not to.

This is a major turning point for her character. She’s beaten down and has a chance to walk away, but she gets back up.

This major plot beat has maybe a few panels devoted to it. At most.

We don’t see the choice get made. In fact, it’s kind of implied that Hange didn’t consciously make that choice at all. Hange is building a cart to lug Levi around, and he notes that Hange’s doing that because they can’t stay on the sidelines.

Was Hange building the cart because they’d already decided they weren’t quitting?

Or were they going to use that cart to carry Levi to the eventual site of their woodland hut?

Was Levi just pointing out that Hange is doing what they’ve always done?

Or did what he say convince them in some way?

Who knows, because chapter 126 is still a rushed mess on every level.

Whatever Hange’s motivations or line of thinking, it should have been shown during the scene in the woods, when it happened, not in this flashback to a completely different scene.

Character development happens when characters make revealing choices. Showing the character’s motivation separately from the resultant action dilutes the poignancy of that character development.

It’s actually worse than that because not only was Hange’s thought process shown after the fact for no reason, the moment the choice itself was made is not shown at all.

The moment where Hange is surrounded by the ghosts of her fallen comrades would’ve been sooooo much better if it had been in the forest with Levi. It should have been in the forest with Levi.

Hange already chose what they were going to do, so there is no gravitas to this moment. It’s just exposition. This could have been a powerful moment. Instead, it’s just Hange monologuing about their motivation.

When the same happened with Erwin, we saw his struggle as it was happening. We were in the moment, so we felt the weight of Erwin’s struggle. He was bearing out his feelings, agonizing over having to throw his life away unfulfilled.

In 127, Hange is sitting in a chair, explaining her thinking, agonizing over nothing because she’s already decided to throw her life away, and is apparently already at peace with it.

This is what damage control looks like. Isayama fucked up and he’s trying to make up for it.

And even then, we still don’t have the explanations we badly need.

Why did Annie choose to help? She’s not doing this because it’s the right thing to do, she just wants to see her father again.

How did they convince her that they could deliver on that?

It’s the same with Pieck and Magath. They didn’t want to just do nothing, but what convinced them that this was better than doing nothing?

Mikasa asked Hange what the plan was, and their response was basically, “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

So in other words, they have no plan!

Jean raises a good point about stopping Eren: it’s a death sentence for them. Hange’s only retort is that it’s the right thing to do, so they have to do it. This is great.

Genocide is inherently wrong, thus the answer to genocide is not more genocide. With this many lives involved, tit-for-tat is not acceptable.

In some cases, there may have to be retaliation, but there are always limits. These moral limits have a general applicability to them. Of course there are exceptions, but they apply in almost all cases.

I love how Hange explicitly rejects Eren’s dumbass egoist worldview.

“‘Just bringing freedom to this island is enough for me’ Do you think a single one of them would be so narrow-minded as to say that?”

Eren doesn’t just care about Paradis. He doesn’t care about the outside world.

He seemed torn about whether to rumble the world. And he did cry over having to potentially rumble the refuge camp.

Gather around, children, because I have some very mean things to say about Eren here: let me tell you something about crocodile tears.

Crocodile tears are when you feel sad for something, except it’s fake, because deep down, you don’t care. The expression comes from an ancient legend that crocodiles cry for their prey while eating them.

Eren agonized a lot in the lead up to making his decision.

-rolls eyes-

What a drama queen!

Rumble the world, or not? If you have to take time to decide which is right, you’ve already failed.

Eren never truly cared about the outside world. He’s just doing this to bring freedom to Paradis; the lives of everyone else is a nonfactor.

It’s great to see Eren finally getting the dragging he deserves. He is, in fact, a narrow-minded ass.

Jean’s point still stands, though. And even though Eren is obviously indefensible, people still keep making excuses for him.

Hange says their “cowardly idealism” is what pushed Eren to do this. Note that this is the second time they’ve said this.

Uh, what?

Was making reasonable overtures of peace to the outside world cowardly?

Obviously not.

Establishing relations with other countries? That sounds reasonable.

Making contact with pro-Eldian advocacy groups? That sounds reasonable.

What about this is cowardly?

And what’s so idealistic about hoping for peace when there are possible paths to it?

Hange did nothing wrong. Eren is the one who did everything wrong.

Eren’s friends were actually working on a solution. They were trying to make a lasting peace between the Eldians and the world.

Meanwhile Eren was just bumming around not doing anything!

Could there have been a peaceful solution?

Beats me, but I’m not going to spend any thought on coming up with one.

By now, I think it’s clear that the point is that there is no peaceful solution. We saw Paradis try and fail repeatedly. The story in general has not even entertained a possible, peaceful solution.

Creating a Wall Titan “nuclear umbrella” over Paradis won’t work. Eren will be dead in a few years, and they don’t want to continue the Reiss’s gruesome traditions.

Armin’s idea of a targeted rumbling won’t work either because it’ll only increase the world’s resentment towards Paradis.

The point is that sometimes peace isn’t possible, but also that excessive violence isn’t justified. I don’t know how the story will end, but I don’t think it’ll be a happy one.

It’s always uncomfortable whenever the series talks about history and playing the victim. It’s such an obvious commentary on Japanese politics, I cringe every time.

Past Japanese war crimes are a very big factor in Japan’s relations with its neighbors. China and the Koreas are still indignant over the crimes Japan committed, and they feel the Japanese haven’t been apologetic enough.

Paradis is obviously a mirror of Japan.

Island nation with a sordid past that leads to rocky international relations even today. That’s Paradis and Japan.

The series’ stance is that these past events should not be such an issue anymore.

That’s not wrong…but I have a reservation.

The biggest flaw with the Paradis-Japan connection is that the Eldian Empire ended thousands of years ago.

The Japanese Empire ended 75 years ago. That’s not much.

China does overplay the war crimes issue, but there are still real issues with how the Japanese have responded. Many Japanese people are still taught a cleaned up version of what happened.

If anything, China should be called out on abusing the issue of war crimes for political reasons. Their government uses it as propaganda to rally popular support and distract from domestic issues.

In Attack on Titan, the Marleyans are not called out for that. They’re called out for playing victim over something that happened 2000 years ago.

The Marleyans, used by the story as a clear parallel to Japan’s neighbors, are portrayed as in the wrong because “it was a long time ago.”

Let me tell ya, that’s not a good look. What we see in the story is just close enough to reality to draw comparisons, but just different enough to be arguably offensive.

I will say it’s nice to know what Isayama thinks on a given issue. Annie calls out Mikasa and Armin on not being prepared to kill Eren if they have to. She aks how they know he’ll even listen to them.

Armin: we won’t know until we try.

Brilliant.

You can tell who’s side Isayama is on whenever the characters argue because the side he’s against will be the one with the dumb platitudes.

Mikasa: How are you going to stop Eren?

Hange: We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Annie: How do you know talking will work?

Armin: We won’t know until we try.

Then…stuff happens.

Annie claims Mikasa will fight her if Annie tries to kill Eren, even if Annie’s just trying to defend her homeland.

Then Mikasa draws her swords for no reason, and Annie looks like she’s about to titan shift for no reason, then…Annie backs off for no reason.

There were definitely some plot beats missing here. Annie instantly goes from getting ready to shift to backing off. What happened?

And why did she back off? Her point still stands. She said Mikasa would fight her if she tried to kill Eren and Mikasa did not deny it.

The only plans of attack discussed have been (1) talking Eren down, and (2) killing him. It looks like they’re going with plan (1) now, but Mikasa is clearly not going to let Annie go through with plan (2) if (1) fails.

That’s a pretty important issue. And Annie raised it herself, only to just drop it for no reason.

Why does Annie think her time is better spent here than on a boat heading to the mainland?

Getting to her father in time to die with him sounds a lot likelier than stopping Eren, especially when killing him isn’t an option.

And then we come to Yelena.

You know, actually, this chapter has a lot of the same problems the last one did. Lots and lots of rushed plot beats that should have been fleshed out more.

One of the dumbest tropes in fiction is when a character looks into another character’s past off screen, learns sordid things about them, then exposition dumps about it.

Oh, look, this chapter exists.

This is lazy, lazy writing. Instead of a flashback montage with narration, we get some word balloons.

Why is this happening? Anything would have been better than this. There could have been a few more pages devoted to this. He at least could have come up with a better way to deliver this information.

Is Isayama just that dead set on finishing this manga before 2021?

Then Yelena delivers a monologue of her own. I can only assume that it is stupid on purpose.

Speeches like this have been given before in Attack on Titan. Annie gave one in her arc.

“You think you’re better than me?! Well you’re not! You’re a shithead just like me!”

-Annie, basically.

Kenny gave a similar one too. He said that everyone is a slave to something, even mother’s to their children. Then he asked Levi if he really thinks he’s so virtuous and then he died.

I mean, I don’t know what you’d call someone who, all else being equal, fought for the sake of their children if not a “hero”.

Yelena’s speech is dumb and that’s the point. It’s drivel that sounds smart, but is really just edgelord crap.

“You give yourselves to the sublime excitement that is the idea of saving hundreds of millions of lives.”

Christ, not this again!

Claiming good deeds aren’t really good because people do them to feel better about themselves is very common on the internet. You see it all the time on Reddit.

In fact, Yelena even says it like she’s trying to sound smart.

“The sublime excitement.”

-SIGH-

The problem with this reasoning is that it’s moving the goalposts. Yelena is redefining altruism and selfishness to get the result she wants.

You could think of many examples of people doing things that are obviously selfless.

Take a soldier. Let’s say their platoon is on patrol, and then the enemy tosses a grenade at them. The soldier dives on top of the grenade and shields his platoon from the explosion. But obviously, he dies.

That was selfless.

-puts on crazy, blonde, mop-top-

HOWEVER!

WHAT IF SHE SACRIFICED HERSELF BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO BE REMEMBERED AS A HERO?

DID YOU EVER THINK OF THAT!?

Shut up I know this actually did happen in this manga that’s not the point.

Yelena has redefined selfishness to cover everything people do, and at that point, the word becomes useless. She’s wrong because when you think about it, “selfish” is a meaningless word in her worldview.

Yelena then proceeds to list off all the bad things everyone’s done, as if they’re all to blame for it.

Annie did awful things, I won’t argue against that. And she doesn’t seem very apologetic about it, so Yelena actually has a point there.

She also has a good point with Armin. Destroying the port was excessive, especially since it never ended up helping in the end. The port was destroyed to delay a Marleyan attack. Too bad the Marleyans just attacked via airship instead.

Reiner broke the wall, but despite what the man himself says, he was still just a brainwashed kid at the time. I don’t think it’s entirely right to blame him. He’s very apologetic about it, either way.

The Battle of Liberio never should have happened, but the Survey Corps was forced into it by Eren and they did what they could to limit civilian casualties.

It’s the same with Jean and Falco. Jean almost killed Falco, but only because Falco got in the way. That’s on him. Not. Jean.

Gabi killed Sasha, but it was a battle! Wars are ultimately fought to the death. If you go into the military and don’t expect to die, you’re clueless. There was no foul play with how Gabi killed Sasha. She boarded their airship, and shot her. That’s war.

She wants to believe that these people are just as bad as she is. Because if everyone is a piece of shit, then she isn’t so bad in comparison. It’s a common tactic people use to rationalize their own shitty behavior.

But she’s wrong, and they all prove her wrong. Jean can’t forgive Reiner, but he doesn’t let that get in the way of stopping Eren.

And no matter what Yelena says, it’s selfless what the 104th and Hange are doing. Long term, stopping Eren is a death sentence for them. They don’t care.

Leave it to Reiner to give the most Reiner response to Jean possible.

“I felt really bad about it afterwards.”

“Don’t forgive me. I don’t deserve it.”

“I’m sorry.”

That was the cringiest thing in the whole chapter. Good on you, Jean, for beating him for it.

(Not really)

This chapter was about everyone coming to terms with working together, but I feel it was half-baked.

Magath and Jean’s fight wasn’t really resolved, just dropped.

Annie and Mikasa’s fight was also just dropped.

None of the bad things Yelena brought up was commented on or dealt with. They weren’t dropped; they weren’t even taken up!

Reiner and Jean’s fight was properly dealt with, but that was it.

Now we’re heading into a fight with Floch and……I guess the emotional processing is over?

You know, I take it back, this chapter was better than the last one, but it still had a lot of the same blatant issues.

Rushed plot beats, unwieldy dialogue, and undercooked plot developments.

So.

On to the next chapter?