#the both-sidesism

[zorrxchicle]

i haven't read nearly enough to call myself a marxist with any kind of confidence but my god, trying to discuss any topic in depth from a purely liberal perspective is so.

[slyandthefamilybook]

bad post, worse notes

[ourfag]

aw hell

so the model ship scene. where ed’s getting excited about all the trinkets stede’s got while izzy crowds around him trying to corral his behavior. and then ed snaps at him and complains that he’s sick of the life he’s living and urgently needs something new.

my focus has always been on the element of passive suicidal ideation that the scene introduces in ed and i just kind of assumed that the purpose of that rant was to communicate to the audience what ed was communicating to izzy.

but now im actually parsing that that’s what the scene is showing us. ed communicating his discomfort to izzy, in fully explicit terms, with no obfuscations. he’s genuinely trying to share that he’s struggling. and izzy’s response amounts to “not the time, suck it up”

and then a handful of scenes later we see him communicating this exact same discomfort to stede, who responds with sympathy and a suggestion. no wonder ed fell so fucking fast, that probably felt like night and day

[emblemxeno]

Meetcha half way: Miklan and Xander are both awful, terrible people.

You're allowed to think that way, I genuinely think whatever floats your boat is good, anon.

I don't share that opinion. Forgive me for the rant ahead.

Fates, IMO, made it clear what nuance it was going for. Aside from the little sisters and non-story important characters, there weren't purely good people. However, there were always clear hate sinks that the player was meant to despise.

War makes good people do bad things; evil people start or take advantage of war to benefit themselves; good people are taken out of the equation early on or don't get involved as often. Bam, that's it.

3H on the other hand, tries to justify every fucking action an antagonist takes. It tries to make everything an "I can see where you're coming from" situation, even when it falls on its face. For example, Lonato. No, actually, I don't feel bad for the guy trying to assassinate the archbishop in a plot of revenge for the execution of his son who was caught trying to assassinate that person already, especially when he's mowing town resistance in the process while knowing he could potentially harm or kill his other son in the process.

For fairness, Xander also does bad things and has no qualms harming a former sibling. But that was a fact established as soon as chapter 2, early in the story to intentionally give the audience a lasting impression. Yes he cares for his family, but his fear of his father outweighs that. The next logical step in analysis would be to discover why.

Lonato doesn't get that. He gets praised, shows that he's actually a douche, yet gets off the hook in various directions, excused by the Western Church (undeniably horrible group, but he himself shouldn't be exempt), the Central Church (should Ashe be on Crimson Flower because most of the cast isn't allowed to have a rigid backbone since they must be allowed to steamroll their own homes on Byleth's word), and even in Ashe's support with Catherine.

Miklan is no different, where they shift blame from the individual's actions to being about Crests, something that's contradictory to ingame information. He was disinherited well fucking after Sylvain was born, so it stands to reason that it's because he was an irresponsible, jealous, violent creep, and not because of Crests. But the game wants us to feel bad! He doesn't get a nuanced death because whining about Crests takes priority in the game's writing. Three Hopes cemented this by making him a fucking ally, highlighting that "oh he's actually a good leader even without a Crest!!1!" Yeah, I'm sure all the women he kidnapped, villagers he robbed, and families he tore apart will just be hunky dory with knowing that.

Xander meanwhile dies like a little bitch, taking himself out by letting Corrin stick a sword through him. That's thematically poignant, because he was the most common antagonist and a plot consistent hurdle that Corrin had been preparing to face ever since he made the choice to side with Hoshido. It's supposed to hit that it was really fucking easy, that Xander wasn't taken out through raw strength, but the weight of his own actions. That's exponentially more ingame acknowledgement of the wrong that Xander did, than any one character in 3H can manage to say about anyone they're fighting against besides maybe the Slithers.

[albertserra]

“Does anyone know if the cast of my favorite show is pro Palestine” I’m going to throw a brick through your window grow the fuck up

[ansburg]

DRAGON AGE ORIGINS REPLAY: 8/?

Grey Warden, please don't hurt my son. He is not responsible for what he does.

[cobra-creampuff]

my sister is telling my dad the story of last night and they are hard core both sidesing it. "well, you know, she doesn't take apologies well..." 1. that's her fucking problem not mine. 2. that doesn't have any fucking bearing on the two and a half hours straight of transphobic talk. 3. not taking an apology well is one thing, telling someone they're "lucky" you're not assaulting them when they say they're sorry for being a bit rude is actually a totally different thing LOL!

[rhaenin-time]

Sometimes, I'm haunted by the fact that Condal literally said that for him, Alicent represents "Women for Trump," and then proceeded to gut her characterization and agency (inconsistent with her actions) to make her appear as sympathetic as possible while also trying to make the case that she's not responsible for her own actions.

I have to say... yikes

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Both Sides

The Faith of Our Times

TIMOTHY SNYDER

JUL 21, 2024

Why does American television and press “both-sides” our politics?  Why are such different presidential candidates presented as equally flawed?  Why do the outrages of Trump, for example at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, lead to the humiliation of Biden?

Both-Sidesism is the habit of reducing the world into two perspectives, treating the two as fundamentally alike, and then ignoring or adjusting the data.  One cause of this odd behavior is the ownership of media companies.  Another is fear.   

But Both-Sidesism is not just a practice.  It passes in the United States for a principle of journalism.  Indeed, the dualism is almost unquestionable. Americans tends to take it for granted.

But it makes no sense.  No data from the world around us indicates that two is the correct number of perspectives, nor that any two perspectives, once chosen, would be equal. 

These are, rather, articles of faith.  Once accepted, they enable the public performance we wrongly call “media.”  Both-Sideism does not mediate but mystify.  Its practitioners, called “anchors” or “publishers,” are shamans or priests. Mystifiers.

To be sure, “media” people do not think that they are mystifying.  Nor are we in the habit of seeing them as practicing a religion. 

But let us step back.  Let us consider, for the sake of argument, that Both-Sidesism might be a dualist cult.  Let us place its beliefs and practices in the context of the history of religion, and see what happens.

The number two has helped humans make sense of the world, from distant times to the present.  It has had a powerful sway over human minds. 

The number two can address the mystery of creation.  In Indo-European societies, the universe sometimes began as a coupling of two entities, for example the Earth and the Sky.  Or the first Being could be of two sexes, or twinned.  In several myths, twin gods ride to the rescue of early humans in peril.

Duality can also help humans to frame the problem of evil, as in Manicheanism.  Its founder Mani (enlightened by a spiritual twin) claimed that the universe was divided into darkness and light.  Human action is then understood as struggle between these two forces.

The number two can also help us handle time. The Romans had a two-faced god, Janus, who was in charge of doors, passages, and thus transitions in general, beginnings and endings. He is very much present with us at the beginning of each year; January is named for him.

In Daoism we find something of all of the above in the notion of yin-yang: dark and light, chthonic and lively, female and male, wet and dry, which constantly join and give way to one another.  Their interaction brings the world into being, and also enables natural and guides human action.

Both-Sidesism is another dualism.  When confronting a phenomenon, for example an election or a party convention, the acolytes of Both Sides perform two steps.  They reduce events to two personalities, then treat them as equal aspects of the two-headed divinity known as Both Sides. 

Again: that there only two sides, and that the two aspects are the same, are unspoken articles of faith.

Once this initial ritual has been performed, the task of the priesthood is to sense disturbances that disrupt the apparent equality of the two aspects of Both Sides. The mythic utterances of the priests of Both Sides – bad journalism -- resolve the cultic tension that appears when a difference between the two aspects emerges. 

Equality is restored in a peculiar way, one that emphasizes the sacred character of the dual god, at the expense of understanding reality.  The priests cannot undo the deeds of one aspect of Both Sides – for example a coup attempt or a call to deport millions.  And if they described it accurately, they would only be deepening the mystical inequality between Both Sides’ two aspects.  They must normalize.

Our Both-Sides priests correct the mystical imbalance with two mantric maneuvers.  The first is to proclaim, groundlessly, that the perpetrator of the crime has learned his lesson, executed a pivot, turned a corner.  The second is to humiliate the other side, the one that did nothing.  And thus the mystical equilibrium between the two aspects of Both Sides is restored. 

This normalization has consequences.  If one of the two aspects of Both Sides seems to have done a great evil, the priests of Both Sides always ritually vituperate the other side.  The price of the restoration of mystical equality is the rehabilitation of the criminal and the degradation of the blameless.   Subscribe

Our media people do not see it this way, of course.  The restoration of the mystical equilibrium of Both Sides brings our priests a pious satisfaction, visible on the red faces of correspondents in Milwaukee this last week.

If pressed, the shamans of Both Sides insists that their dualistic dances are nothing other than correct method to describe the universe.  The cult and its performance is protected from critique by the totemic terms “objectivity” and “balance.” 

All shamans do this: they insist that their dogma must be our reality.   But when we allow the cult of Both Sides to shape our own minds, ethical judgement and factual investigation disappear, and with them any chance for constitutional order and democracy.

Ethical judgement would involve a notion of right and wrong, which the activity of the priests erodes.  The worse the evil of one side, the more artfully it must be forgiven, and the more viciously the other side must be berated.  Believers in the cult of Both Sides experience this as moral action, whereas in fact the performative relativism erodes all morality.

Factual investigation would involve identifying other perspectives which the cult of Both Sides disregards.  It would necessitate separating the two aspects Both Sides from each other and confronting their words with the facts of the world.  To believers in the cult of Both Sides, it is a relief clothed in righteousness never to have to perform such labor.

Earlier dualistic faiths were no more outlandish than our own cult of Both Sides.  Indeed, they had something to say about foundational issues.  The Indo-European, Near Eastern and East Asian beliefs, to which I briefly referred above, generated stories about the world that inspired philosophy and science.  The cult of Both Sides is the dogmatic distraction from the bloody sacrifice of a republic.

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PS  I want to be clear: this essay concerns the dominant both-sides ritual in the American “media,” and not the work of actual investigative journalists, who follow very different methods, and whose work stands at the basis of what we now about Trump’s ongoing attempt at regime change.  I dedicated Road to Unfreedom to reporters as “the heroes of our time.”  They are.

[witchqueenvisenya]

"Torturing them before the reveal, removing the obstacle, then almost immediately denying them happiness all over again seems sadistic even for someone like George R. R. Martin."

listen this was written by a jonsa shipper about concerns that grrm might turn jonsa into some dark nightmare but i really do wonder where the schism in these people's understanding comes from because this is exactly how they wish and speculate dany's arc will go, and if that doesn't tell you everything you needed to know about that fandom idk what will

[oleworm]

Never believe a pop star who makes so much money pretending to care about minorities when she has a rich Republican family to protect her

[thedragonagelesbian]

anyway before i was thinking about lyrium-based blood magic i was thinking about lace tracing cyrus' new vallaslin-- knowing she probably shouldn't, but he's just so proud and radiant and beautiful, for one fleeting instant drawing the lines of his nose and brow before his mind turns to lyrium soup, but as she tries to pull away--tries to stop hurting him--cyrus catches her hand and crushes it to his cheek, eyelids fluttering and skin flushed and slurring a hundred adoring praises for her until she finally wrests her hand away and he's left suddenly cold. empty.

[phoebe-ofthe-cosmos]

i hate a "uwu am i as bad as my oppressor if i harm them in a similar way that they've harmed me" ass story. if your cause is just and theirs is not then no you are not the same!

[frostwork]

Sorry not sorry Druckman puts such a sour taste in my mouth so I straight up don’t give a fuck about the new ip lmao Im so disappointed that I got baited by the funky music and thought it was Kojima’s new freakshow.

[rotisseries]

expecting the league of legends netflix tv show to have a well developed class revolution arc is like when people expected the barbie movie to be the next great feminist text or like getting queerbaited by a marvel movie

[ashanimus]

I feel like the problem might be solved faster if we start taking store executives homes apart brick by brick