#there has not been an inciting event or issue

[autumnmobile12]

My Hero Academia AU: What Happened on Friday

An Ambush Simulation comic.

Fair warning, this is not one of my usual lighthearted ones. If you’ve read the fic, you’ll know the scene, but if you haven’t, be warned there is brief domestic violence and some blood. Nothing more serious than what's already in My Hero's canon.

Read right-to-left.

Ah, yes. The inciting moment for The Summer Camp Ambush Simulation.

Addressing the reason why things escalated so quickly, since the answer is not really given in the accompanying fic either, we need to look at Endeavor’s point of view. He’s invested twenty-three years into his goal of trying to complete his perfect successor. He has almost succeeded with Shouto, except the events of Hosu City nearly jeopardized that beyond repair. Shouto is his last chance. He can’t have another kid, it’s unlikely he can train a grandchild to succeed him. (You can’t tell me he didn’t consider that.) Shouto being charged with vigilantism and having that black mark could have ruined everything he’s worked so hard for.

And now Touya, his past failure and current problem child who has been charged repeatedly with vigilantism, is stepping between him and Shouto and mouthing off. He’s interfering, just like his mother did.

Old 'habits' die hard.

...

I thought about cutting the comic short with the brothers heading to the bathroom, but I thought it was important to also include Touya's toxic behavior. Yeah, he has PTSD, abandonment trauma, and who knows what else, but acting like this isn't healthy either.

In Chapter 2, Touya fixates on the fact that Endeavor hit him. He barely pays attention to the fact Shouto was there.

In Chapter 3, Shouto is the one whose pov provides the whole picture. He was being scolded and then Touya stood up for him. Touya has never stood up for him, nor does he really understand why he did it. During the confrontation, Endeavor hits Touya. Endeavor has never done that before. Two of Shouto's 'normals' got overturned in the span of two minutes. He's confused, but he still tries to do the right thing by his hostile sibling.

And rather than accept his help, Touya lashes out at him again once the shock wears off. As he is in canon, he is still spiteful, self-destructive, and a bit self-pitying and returning home after the coma in this AU did little to change that because the core issue is Endeavor being a bad parent.

...

And if there's any confusion as to why Shouto sees Rei briefly after Touya is knocked to the floor, this is a bit of dialogue from the fic it's from:

"I spent my entire childhood listening to my mother crying because you hurt her over and over.  I refuse to live through that again with my brother."

...

Fun fact: I did not draw these pages in order.

Through the whole bathroom scene, all I could think was, "Shouto...baby...gloves."

...

Further comics for this AU, click here.

[benchwarming]

what if i just quit my job. like what if i just......quit it.

[demilypyro]

So I reread Gwenpool Strikes Back and I think I actually like her "616 mutant origin" more now than I did before. Because I didn't fully get what they were doing before.

The inciting incident that starts the miniseries is Gwenpool discovering a new ability. It isn't very well explained in the moment, but it boils down to this: she can imagine things happening before or in-between the panels of the story, and if she then "flashes back" to them in her thoughts, they will retroactively become real events that really happened.

The best way to explain this is using the battle royale she organizes in issue 3: she imagines having set this up off-screen, and it became retroactively true. She initially didn't have a prize in mind, but just has to imagine that Tony Stark donated a bunch of money to be a cash prize, and suddenly it's like that happened. It became true retroactively. She seems to be able to just decide things happened off-screen, and the universe will agree.

As far as abilities go, this is absolutely King Crimson levels of convoluted, and this definitely makes Gwenpool a ridiculously powerful character, but for the purpose of the story, sure, let's say she can do that now.

Now, as we all know, at the end of the miniseries, Gwenpool has a conversation with Ms. Marvel. Kamala doesn't believe Gwen's claims that the Marvel universe is a comic book, and suggests an alternate theory: she may actually just be a mutant with amnesia.

We the audience know this is not true, and so does Gwen. She IS from the real world, and Kamala simply can't comprehend Gwen's perspective on her universe.

But what matters here is that while listening to Kamala's theory, Gwen imagined it. While unintentional, she used her power. She had a "flashback." Which made it real. Retroactively real.

Entirely by accident, there are now two truths:

Gwenpool is from the real world, and is a normal person

Gwenpool is from the Marvel universe, and is a mutant

Though this wasn't Gwen's intention, these statements are now both equally, irreversibly true, and always have been. And so, the Krakoan gate opens. The universe now considers her a mutant.

It's not just that she was accepting Kamala's version of events. She WASN'T a mutant. But now she is. Her powers changed the past. She accidentally retconned herself into being a mutant. Gwen and the audience both know that her 616 mutant origin didn't really happen, but as far as the universe is concerned, it did. Her power made it true.

I feel like they could have done a better job explaining this, but they probably didn't have all the pages in the world to spend on exposition. Either way, I like GSB more now that I properly understand what they were going for.

[alwaysbewoke]

At a Black Student Union meeting at UCLA's Campbell Hall on January 17, 1969, Bunchy Carter and John Huggins, another BPP member, were heard making derogatory comments about Karenga, the founder of Organization Us. Other versions mention a heated argument between Organization Us members and Panther Elaine Brown. An altercation ensued during which Carter and Huggins were shot to death. BPP members originally insisted that the event was a planned assassination, claiming that there was a prior agreement that no guns would be brought to the meeting, that BPP members were not armed, and that Organization Us members led by Ron Karenga were. Organization Us members maintained the meeting was a spontaneous event. Former BPP deputy minister of defense Geronimo Pratt, Carter’s head of security at the time, later stated that rather than a conspiracy, the UCLA incident was a spontaneous shootout. The person who allegedly shot Carter and Huggins, Claude Hubert, was never found. During the Church Committee hearings in 1975, evidence came to light that under the FBI's COINTELPRO actions, FBI agents had deliberately fanned flames of division and enmity between the BPP and Organization Us. Death threats and humiliating cartoons created by the FBI were sent to each group, made to look as if they originated with the other group, with the explicit intention of inciting deadly violence and division. Following the UCLA incident, brothers George and Larry Stiner and Donald Hawkins turned themselves in to the police, who had issued warrants for their arrests. They were convicted for conspiracy to commit murder and two counts of second-degree murder, based on testimony given by BPP members. The Stiner brothers both received life sentences and Hawkins served time in California’s Youth Authority Detention.

america has NEVER been great. never ever.

[odinsblog]

“I sometimes hear people say that Russia was forced to attack Ukraine because Ukrainians wanted to join NATO. Those people also often say that NATO promised it would not expand to the East, but later broke this promise. And this, allegedly, is the reason why Russia keeps attacking its neighbors.

If you have ever heard people say something like that, please know that this is not true. And it will take me less than five minutes to prove with facts that both statements are false.

First, let's have a look at the timeline of events.

Russia first invaded Ukraine in February 2014 by occupying the Crimea peninsula. At that moment, Ukraine was a neutral country by law and expressed no intention of joining NATO whatsoever. For instance, during the Revolution of Dignity, the protesters insisted on Ukraine joining the EU, not NATO. It was only in autumn 2014, after many months of war, that Ukraine abandoned neutrality.

So what came first? Russia attacking Ukraine, or Ukraine wanting to join NATO?

The answer is clear.

Had Russia not threatened Ukraine's existence, there would be no reason for our country to seek collective security. So please do not repeat the lie that, I quote, “Russia attacked because Ukraine wanted to join NATO,” end of quote. This does not correspond with the facts.

Now let's have a look at the story of NATO allegedly promising not to expand to the East.

If you ask people who say this, when exactly, such a promise was made and who made it, most of them will not be able to provide a clear answer. Spoiler, because no such promise has ever been made and the whole story is a Russian fairy tale.

Those more sophisticated will tell you that the promise was made to the President of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev. They may even refer to the 1990 U.S.-Soviet negotiations on the reunification of Germany. Again, let’s consider the timeline.

In summer 1990, when these talks were held, the Soviet analog of NATO, the Warsaw Pact, still existed. Its dissolution, let alone the Soviet Union's dissolution, was not on the cart. No one even talked about it or imagined it. It was only next year, in 1991 that the Warsaw Pact, and later the USSR, quite unexpectedly ceased to exist.

Now explain to me just how the very issue could be even discussed in the summer of 1990. It is not surprising that Mikhail Gorbachev later himself refuted this falsehood. When asked by a journalist whether any such promise had been made, he said this was a myth.

Now let's look at it from another perspective. How could NATO even promise anything like that?

Initially, it is not NATO that decides which country joins it. Countries themselves need to want it. And actually, the membership criteria are very difficult. It requires a lot of political will and reform. All the NATO members that joined it after 1991, really wanted to be part of it.

Their people wanted this.

And here comes the most uncomfortable question for Russia: Why were all of the nations that had been part of the Soviet Union or the Socialist bloc so eager and desperate to join NATO?

Well, maybe because in three decades, Russia has invaded or incited war in at least three of its neighbors, Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine. At the same time, Russia has not dared to invade any of its NATO neighbors.

Do you see the pattern?

The only reason for countries in the vicinity of Russia to seek NATO membership has always been and remains the need to protect their people from Russia.

Therefore, Moscow has only itself to blame for the fact that all of the central European and Baltic nations ran away from it and hid under the NATO umbrella as quickly as they could.

Do not let Russian officials or their supporters in the West fool you. Russia attacked Ukraine not because NATO expanded to the East, or because Ukraine wanted to join NATO. Russia attacked because it denies Ukraine's right to exist and wants to conquer our land and kill our people. It is through our shared strength that we can and must stop Russia and put an end to its aggressive plans for the rest of Europe.

For this to happen, keep supporting Ukraine and don't buy Russian lies.”

👉🏿 https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2014/11/06/did-nato-promise-not-to-enlarge-gorbachev-says-no/

👉🏿 https://www.tumblr.com/odinsblog/686191406300184576/appeasement-does-not-work-appeasement-didnt

👉🏿 https://www.tumblr.com/odinsblog/684530801484922880/believing-putins-reasons-for-invading-ukraine

👉🏿 https://www.tumblr.com/odinsblog/742088177664344064/violated-agreements-1991-russia-cosigns

[sunflowerwizard]

We Don't Talk About Abdel: the ""Canon"" Gorion's Ward and Why I Hate Him

If you've only played Baldur's Gate 3 you may have heard of Abdel Adrian. The Hero of Baldur's Gate, late Grand Duke, and Bhaalspawn who died, badly.

There is, unfortunately a lot you might not know. Spoilers ahead for the original Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn, and Baldur's Gate 2: Throne of Bhaal. And their shitty novelizations you should not read.

Your choices matter. Allegedly.

There are many ways to handle continuity in a series of choice-heavy RPGs with custom main characters. There's the approach the original Fallout games did, by setting the second installment long enough after the first, that your player character can be vaguely alluded to without much friction. There's the Bioware approach, of uploading your save data from previous games to slightly effect the world in the next one. And then there's the Baldur's Gate series, which splits the difference and makes the worst of both worlds: a century has past and there's no cheeky vagueness to transplant your own player character as the Hero of Baldur's Gate. It is Abdel Adrian's world and we are merely living in it.

I'd argue there's one thing that very clearly separates a Commander Shepherd from an Abdel Adrian, and that's serving a role in a game that lines up with the story being told.

What's the deal with Bhaalspawn?

I'd like to get one thing out of the way first. Bhaalspawn =/= The Dark Urge. I only mention this because I've seen some people assume all Bhaalspawn operate on the "sleeper cell turbo murderer" framework that the DU does. The majority of the first Baldur's Gate game, the player character themself doesn't know they're in any way unusual. You get ominous dream sequences as the story progresses, up until the Big Reveal.

At which point, one of the themes reveals itself: nature versus nurture. Your PC is a 20-something year old young adult who lived inside a walled town, and had their entire support system torn away the second they left. Unless you've chosen to roleplay that way, they may not have ever felt a particular inclination towards violence. This is in stark contrast with Big Bad, your half-brother Sarevok whose upbringing was filled with struggle and violence.

It's even more apparent in Throne of Bhaal, when you're confronted with it outright: what if your places had been switched? Maybe you would've committed even more atrocities than your half-brother.

We now have to talk about the books. Unfortunately. Canonically the novelization of Baldur's Gate is the origin of Abdel Adrian. He is Philip Athans' brainchild and there's fuck all we can do about it. Unless I get a word of god response from Wizards of the Coast or story beats are directly contradicted in other BG-related media that has come out since, I am treating the events of the books as canon.

A narrative treadmill of a character arc

The game starts out in relatively bog-standard hero's journey fashion. It's morning in Candlekeep, you're leaving home for the very first time with your adoptive dad, and he's been very cagey about the details other than "we need to leave, I'll explain later."

Abdel Adrian, has already left Candlekeep at the start of the novel. He's already in his mid-twenties, and has been traveling the Sword Coast as a sword-for-hire for nearly a decade (presumably cornering the child soldier market). He also really likes killing people, hence his line of work. The big inciting incident with Gorion happens because he sent Abdel a letter about needing to talk, at which point Sarevok shows up, kills Gorion, who tells Abdel to seek out Jahiera and Khalid with his dying breath.

I'll break down my issues with this point by point. -Abdel is very clearly not a level 1 character. Perhaps this is a petty point, but isn't half the fun of this style of fantasy story watching the protagonist grow in skill, until they can eventually face off against the seemingly indomitable Big Bad? Spoiler: Abdel is already at the peak of his Swordsmanship Power™ and we will not see any growth on that front.

-What are the stakes, actually? We went from "everything I know and love has been torn away from me. I'm a level 1 adventurer in a big, dangerous world and cannot go home." to "I'm a big tough fighterman with a penchant for murder who's going to avenge the father figure the book tell-not-shows you I cared about" Like my previous point, we have no baseline, no sense of what the main character has truly lost. I'm much less interested in watching someone start from the middle and fight their way to the top, than seeing someone from rock bottom getting there.

-His Bhaalspawn heritage manifests itself as murdergremlin tendencies. If you've not encountered a player with murdergremlin tendencies while playing a ttrpg, you've almost certainly heard horror stories about them. The guy who loves to escalate encounters into combat, who threatens and maims because "it's what my character would do" and often times view themselves as the main character.

If that sounds exhausting, this is the character whose head we're trapped inside. A guy whose two big motivators are murder and sex, whose external moral compass is his love interest (Jahiera deserved better). AND EVEN THEN by the end of the second book, the only growth he has experienced as a character is "maybe sometimes I won't murder everyone who makes me angry" when he just point-blank refuses to kill the antagonist of BG2. Oh, but not before he had sex with and violently murdered the other main antagonist who was also a woman.

"Okay the books are awful, but why be angry at Abdel?"

Because by virtue of WOTC continuing to use "Abdel Adrian" as THE Hero of Baldur's Gate and a canon character, those books are still canon. SOME elements had to be retconned for being incongruent with the games (did I mention in the first novel Abdel leaves Khalid to die during a fight in the first novel?) but otherwise? I've seen no revisions to his base character. And now every piece of Baldur's Gate media is built on this shitty, rotten foundation.

Are these points somewhat petty? Yes! Either Wizards should've come up with an entirely new stand-in Bhaalspawn to wash the shit taste of those novelizations out of everyone's mouths, or they should've written future material to only vaguely allude to BG 1&2's protagonist. The Bhaalspawn saga was wrapped up perfectly fine in Throne of Bhaal. Either he should've stayed dead with Cyric taking on his domain, or find another way to bring him back. Abdel Adrian having .0001% Bhaal Juice still in his blood and thus turning into The Slayer is a "Somehow, Palpatine returned" way of doing it.

On the off chance anyone is morbidly curious about the terrible novels, me and some pals did a live-reading not too long ago. If this post gets 100 notes I will make a Greatest Hits compilation of terrible moments. Spoiler: one of them includes the "spider in her cleavage" scene.

[centrally-unplanned]

Let's talk about narrative formation for a sec:

I saw this thread going around as a counter-narrative "explainer" around the Supreme Court decision. First off Russell, "I don't have a tribe" is just such a line. I'm sus tbh? But the important thing is you found a way to feel superior to the other tribes, good for you. Still, if you deliver you deliver, what is the "just the facts" summary?

Right now the "headlines" around this case are essentially "the president granted immunity for official acts", which is a bad headline, because of course the president had immunity for some definition of official acts. You could never sue the president for the consequences of vetoing a congressional bill, or for the unintended civilian damages of a military operation, and this is true in most all countries. You might be saying "well sure obviously" but in law these things have a process - do you think laws around monetary damages liability have a clause at the end saying "oh except the President, this doesn't apply to him"? No, every law does not have that rejoinder - the way the president is immune to those laws is via having immunity above those laws, in the US via court precedent supposedly derived from the constitution - in other countries you might have an explicit bill about this, or an explicit constitutional clause.

Which is why OP can say things like this:

Executive immunity has always been a thing. The underlying rationale is that presidents cannot be encumbered in carrying out their necessary official duties with fear that they will be sued into oblivion for doing so... ...SCOTUS today laid out the tension: the president needs to be able to act within the scope of office without fear of politically-motivated prosecution after leaving office; but the president also cannot be "above the law."

And be correct; most headlines were setting up the idea presidential immunity as shocking, when in fact it is normal. He proceeds to explain that the court set up the terms of immunity, denying Trump X while affirming Y, and make it look very balanced, like they just defined the parameters of immunity a bit. So he can conclude with this:

And it can be a strong "calm down" note, which can even be true to an extant - but only because he is buying into the narrative social media set, and setting up his conclusion against that as the barometer.

In reality, everyone in the court knew that presidential immunity existed, that wasn't what the case was really about. It was always and forever about those parameters. And these are the parameters it set:

Taking into account these competing considerations, the Court concludes that the separation of powers principles explicated in the Court’s precedent necessitate at least a presumptive immunity from criminal prosecution for a President’s acts within the outer perimeter of his official responsibility.

Outer perimeter is defined in the document as essentially the maximum possible breadth of presidential power. There is nothing inherent about this - presidents could, for example, have immunity for every veto they issue, but still be liable to libel & incitement laws for speeches they give as president. This is explicitly rejected:

The indictment also contains various allegations regarding Trump’s conduct in connection with the events of January 6 itself. The alleged conduct largely consists of Trump’s communications in the form of Tweets and a public address. The President possesses “extraordinary power to speak to his fellow citizens and on their behalf.” Trump v. Hawaii, 585 U. S. 667, 701. So most of a President’s public communications are likely to fall comfortably within the outer perimeter of his official responsibilities

You see how outer perimeter comes back into play - any and all acts that could possibly be considered official fall into this bucket.

So the only place immunity doesn't fall is when an act is "unofficial", aka not part of their role as president: Which is where you get to the evidentiary standards pieces, things like:

In dividing official from unofficial conduct, courts may not inquire into the President’s motives. Such a “highly intrusive” inquiry would risk exposing even the most obvious instances of official conduct to judicial examination on the mere allegation of improper purpose.

Or the parts where they say evidence & testimony from "official acts" cannot be used as evidence in trial based on the context.

You saw a lot of headlines that were like "Trump has immunity for official acts, but not unofficial" acts, like that was ever in contention. Outside of the Trump campaign no one thought the President could wander drunkenly into a bar and murder someone and get away with it. The case was forever and always about where is the line for immunity, what counts as official, and how you determine it.

And at almost every possible avenue this decision pushed the line towards immunity, to expanding presidential authority. But it gets to appear balanced to our boy Russell when it does shit like this:

Finally, SCOTUS considers and rejects Trump's "far broader" argument for immunity. Trump's team argued that he can't be prosecuted for anything unless he is first impeached & removed for it. SCOTUS says there's no textual support for this argument.

See, they rejected ludicrously spurious claims that impeachment existing as an option made legal drunkenly murdering people in a bar. Compromise!

OP is a contrarian - they like to push against the mainstream. I get it, I have that instinct too. And he is smart, he noticed the radical redefinitions of evidentiary standards - but only in the replies:

But since the mainstream narrative around the case set up a sort of false dichotomy, of the case being about "immune or not", "official or unofficial", it makes the contrarian instinct push back on the idea that the case is a big deal. Trump isn't getting immunity for all his past actions! After all, he didn't have this ruling as a playbook and so fucked up by trying to do some of it in secret. So it's fine!! He gets to say this:

And be like "haha" because the narrative he is fighting against is that "official versus unofficial". It lets him ignore that Sotomayor understands that; what she is saying is that Presidents - who have killed American citizens before! - can probably just define actions as official under this doctrine if they do it right. Outer perimeter, baby. You cannot question their motives. Threat to national security, trust me bro.

(Do I think in practice the SC would actually ignore a murder? No - but they would waive immunity by contradicting their own case here. They would discard consistency for practicality. The real concerns are less fanciful, but still serious)

So this is an extremely long-winded way of saying that narrative formation does matter vis a vis truth. I can't blame the headlines too much or anything, this shit is very complex, but because they misrepresent the details of why the case is so worrying, it gives easy fuel for people to dig a little bit, feel superior to the headlines, and ignore them. And the majority opinion did a lot of work to brand it that way - casually dismissing, even mocking, the dissent opinions while misrepresenting their concerns. As a news org you shouldn't carry water for them like that. Don't let Russell get his "I have no tribe" points that easily - make him earn it.

(And, to cover my own base - the one big place the court wasn't maximalist was that they extended presumptive immunity, not full immunity, to the outer perimeter. Which is vague, that is not some precise term, but it does give them an out)

[screamingfromuz]

Recap- morning of day 6 12/10/2023 correct as 10:00

official numbers

Israel

1300 dead

3300 injured

100-200 held by various groups. Hamas claims for a 100, the Jihad claims for 30

340000 displaced Israelis

Gaza

1200 dead

5700 injured

190000 displaced (Amnesty)

1500 dead Hamas operatives (according to the IDF this is the body count that was found withing Israeli borders)

Major events and important facts

several hundreds of tons of explosive have been dropped on Gaza- there is no official new number, but from my calculation, over 2000 targets were hit. There is nonstop bombing of Gaza. Anyone in the command chain of Hamas is targeted

Israeli authorities have publicly told Gazians to flee to Egypt for their safety. there are reports that Hamas is ordering citizens to stay around places that are known to be marked to be bombed. Egypt shown displeasure with the idea that they will have to take the fleeing Gazians in, and told Israel off for telling the Gazians to flee to Egypt. The Rafah Border Crossing is being opened and closed periodically due to Egypt and Israeli actions.

Gazians are struggling to get people out of the rubble- therefore numbers are probably bigger.

still no official number of captured Hamas operatives.

Estimations of missing people due to the Saturday attacks are around 250.

Israeli counts (including kidnapped) include foreign citizens and Palestinians that are Israeli residence/citizens. unknown at the moment about foreign casualties inside of Gaza. there are foreign citizens in Gaza.

Israel shut both electricity and water to Gaza, Egypt is being talked with in order to arrange humanitarian aid. There are talks of airdropped supplies. The UN took a stand against the siege and are pressuring Israel to tone down the attacks and allow humanitarian aid.

Hamas reported that at least 4 prisoners were killed as a result of the bombing- I don’t have confirmation of more.

Hamas issued Monday night a warning that if Israel will not stop attacking, they will start killing captives- no new information in the matter. Hamas posted a video where they claim to have released an Israeli woman and her 2 children. I am working to verify it.

Northen Israel situation is messy. The Jihad and Hezbollah on one side and the IDF on the other are attacking each other with gunfire and missile fire were exchanged. A missile launcher that was directed toward Israel was found and dismantled by Lebanon’s army. Yesterday there were warnings of a few unmanned drones that crossed the border into Israel. There are definite tension there.

Syria is apparently trying to stay out of it.

there are still regular attempts to enter Israel by Hamas operatives, most are killed immediately. Unconfirmed reports from social media claim that Gazians that try to flee are presumed as Hamas operatives and are shot. No official confirmation by any side.

The west bank is getting more and more tense. Settlers are using the opportunity to attack Palestinian civilians; Hamas supporters are encouraging Palestinian youth to preform attacks; there confrontations between the IDF and Palestinians in the Palestinian and mixed cities.

In the past Few days Israeli and Palestinian groups have been arranging a community peacekeeping groups to help protect each other from extremists.

Yesterday evening Israel has declared a unified war cabinet with several opposition members. Israeli coalition members were met with anger and disdain by the Israeli public, blaming them for the situation.

Ben Gvir tries to incite a civil war.

The hostages are treated as bargaining chips by both sides.

[ragnarokhound]

puts this on your list of things to do

Skcnwksks *adds another stone atop the mountain, and the world sinks another inch closer to hell

But okay fr. I actually read Knight Terrors: Robin today, and with the enormous grain of salt that I am working mostly with fandom osmosis, esp re: their established relationship, I think they alllllmost wrote something that worked. Almost. Long rambling nitpicks under the cut:

I think if they had about three more pages they could have established Tim and Jason's relationship and their problems with working together a little better; and either cut Babs out as the middle man who introduced their individual issues to the audience, or used her more effectively as a mediator.

They very clearly wanted to showcase two problems: Tim is working himself to death trying to save everyone, and Jason is suffering by insisting on working alone. Good! I like this concept. It's annoying to me that Babs is the one who tries to reach out to both of them about these issues, gets rebuffed, and then is never heard from again. I'd much prefer it if they tried to talk to each other on their own and it went poorly at first, only to be forced to open up in the nightmare realm. It would tighten up their combined arc if they'd had one single conversation before the Inciting Incident occurs.

Like, don't get me wrong. I am waffling about this because Babs is a good entry voice to help introduce our primary actors. She is the person they have in common, and by having her be the voice in their ear, we see that other people in their support networks are worried about them.

But man, why not just have Tim monologue to himself about being ready to wrap up his third bust of the night and consider hitting up Jason to see if he needs help on the intergang drug bust he's in the middle of. It could be on Tim's way to the next place he's going, demonstrating that he's stretching himself thin and looking for even more to do; even with people like Jason who he isn't all that close with. And then Tim and Jason have their own snarky conversation (with some veiled flirting) about not needing each other's help or each other's nagging, and that's when the nightmare mist hits.

Because the story is only tangentially about people other than Jason and Tim. They're both too wrapped up in their own problems to notice other people reaching out to them about their fucked behavior. So Babs could have been used as a yardstick for each of them - Tim dismissed her fears at first, Jason hung up on her outright - but only if she comes back.

If Babs had also been there at the end to check in with them, yeah, it might have lessened the impact of Jason's plea for help and getting only Tim in response, but it would have been the indicator that they were now ready to hear the worries expressed by their loved ones. A very *clear* indicator of what has changed in the narrative that justifies Babs' involvement in the first place. You could have her come in right as Tim and Jason are catching up after the initial plea, having just escaped her own nightmare (*editors note: see Babs' knight terrors issue, lmao). She could groggily direct them to someone who needs help. All three of them are working together now, Tim and Jason are on their way to opening up to more people; huzzah

And hell. If you want to justify why Tim knows stuff about Jason he shouldn't - or why Jason might know something about Tim that he shouldn't for that matter - a little extra time spent together in the nightmare zone is great for that. Make them see each other's worst memories. Make them see each other's defining moments. Make it the twisted, terrible, self-directed-blame version of events that exists in their heads, and then they can separately call bullshit.

You literally put them into a shared mind palace!! Why did Tim know that about Sheila? Because he just saw it in Jason's head. How does Jason know Tim has a savior complex too big to shoulder? Same deal. IMO, this would have made their insistence that the other person is better than they think much more natural. It's not an empty sentiment because 'I've literally seen what you think of yourself and I am telling you that it isn't true'. (They're in a shared mindscape. Why not imply that they are seeing what the other is seeing too. That they're having a shared experience and are privy to each other's thoughts, emotions, and memories? Easy to do. "I feel like I'm walking to class in the 10th grade...but when I was that age, I was 6 feet under." "And I'm positive I'm picking up ammo for a gun I don't own. I think it's safe to say we're sharing a dream.")

I'm also ??? about why the nightmare zone let them talk at all?? Maybe that's something that we don't have time to explain/ it doesn't need explaining, but if I were a terrible nightmare creature and I was menacing two people at once, I simply wouldn't let them exist in the same space. Isolation is key to breaking someone's will. If you let them talk to each other they could help each other. Fool. Buffoon. Literally the only reason to let them talk to each other is if you think they'll make each other worse lmao.

There was a clever visual trick in which Jason hits the void barrier and Tim sees the ripples he makes - but iirc that is the closest we get to an explanation of how they might be breaking through to each other. And it happened after they were almost done with their second conversation. Too little, too late, IMO.

Arguments could be made that they were able to break through because they were approaching a hard limit. Jason hears Tim again when he yells at his double to shut up, when Jason himself is just about ready to throw in the towel. The moment of deepest despair, the realization for both of them that they're not cut out to solve the problem with their current method. Something something, breaking the pattern - but why let them, unless the nightmare can't do anything about it? I do like a monster with a secret weakness, so I'm willing to let it slide now that I've talked it out lol but still. It feels like an unearned conversation when the only convo they had before was mostly exposition.

Anyway. Tldr; if the writers had a few more pages and shown us Tim and Jason's conflict with each other rather than water it down via Babs (OR BROUGHT HER BACK TO TIE IT ALL UP WITH A BOW) it would have been a tighter & more interesting story.

[she-is-ovarit]

This is... huge.

GENEVA (22 May 2023) – Threats and intimidation against women expressing their opinions on sex and sexual orientation is deeply concerning, said Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls in a statement today. In the context of disagreements between some women’s rights activists and transgender in a number of countries in the Global North. Alsalem warned that violence against women and intimidation against people for expressing differing views.

“Discrimination based on sex and sexual orientation is prohibited in international and regional human rights law.

I am concerned by the shrinking space in several countries in the Global North for women and feminist organisations and their allies to gather and/or express themselves peacefully in demanding respect for their needs based on their sex and/or sexual orientation.

Law enforcement has a crucial role in protecting lawful gatherings of women and ensuring women’s safety and rights to freedom of assembly and speech without intimidation, coercion, or being effectively silenced. It is clear that where law enforcement has failed to provide the necessary safeguards, we have witnessed incidents of verbal and physical abuse, harassment, and intimidation, with the purpose of sabotaging and derailing such events as well as silencing the women who wish to speak at them.

I am disturbed by the frequent tactic of smear campaigns against women, girls and their allies on the basis of their beliefs on non-discrimination based on sex and same-sex relations. Branding them as “Nazis,” “genocidaires” or “extremists” is a means of attack and intimidation with the purpose of deterring women from speaking and expressing their views. Such actions are deeply troubling, as they are intended to instill fear in them, shame them into silence, and incite violence and hatred against them. Such acts severely affect the dignified participation of women and girls in society. 

I am also concerned by the way in which provisions that criminalise hate speech based on a number of grounds, including gender expression or gender identity, have been interpreted in some countries. Women and girls have a right to discuss any subject free of intimidation and threats of violence. This includes issues that are important to them, particularly if they relate to parts of their innate identity, and on which discrimination is prohibited. Holding and expressing views about the scope of rights in society based on sex and gender identity should not be delegitimised, trivialised, or dismissed.

According to international human rights law, any restriction on freedom of expression should be carried out strictly in accordance with the human rights standards of legality, necessity, proportionality and to serve a legitimate aim. Those disagreeing with the views of women and girls expressing concerns related to gender identity and sex also have a right to express their opinion. However, in doing so they must not threaten the safety and integrity of those they are protesting against and disagreeing with. Sweeping restrictions on the ability of women and men to raise concerns regarding the scope of rights based on gender identity and sex are in violation of the fundamentals of freedom of thought and freedom of belief and expression and amounts to unjustified or blanket censorship.

Of particular concern are the various forms of reprisals against women, including censorship, legal harassment, employment loss, loss of income, removal from social media platforms, speaking engagements, and the refusal to publish research conclusions and articles. In some cases, women politicians are sanctioned by their political parties, including through the threat of dismissal or actual dismissal.”

ENDS

Reem Alsalem is the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences;

The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

[reasonsforhope]

"More than 150 workers whose labor underpins the AI systems of Facebook, TikTok and ChatGPT gathered in Nairobi on Monday [May 1st, 2023] and pledged to establish the first African Content Moderators Union, in a move that could have significant consequences for the businesses of some of the world’s biggest tech companies.

The current and former workers, all employed by third party outsourcing companies, have provided content moderation services for AI tools used by Meta, Bytedance, and OpenAI—the respective owners of Facebook, TikTok and the breakout AI chatbot ChatGPT. Despite the mental toll of the work, which has left many content moderators suffering from PTSD, their jobs are some of the lowest-paid in the global tech industry, with some workers earning as little as $1.50 per hour.

As news of the successful vote to register the union was read out, the packed room of workers at the Mövenpick Hotel in Nairobi burst into cheers and applause, a video from the event seen by TIME shows. Confetti fell onto the stage, and jubilant music began to play as the crowd continued to cheer.

The establishment of the Content Moderators Union is the culmination of a process that began in 2019, when Daniel Motaung, a Facebook content moderator, was fired from his role at the outsourcing company Sama after he attempted to convene a workers’ union called the Alliance. Motaung, whose story was first revealed by TIME, is now suing both Facebook and Sama in a Nairobi court. Motaung traveled from his home in South Africa to attend the Labor Day meeting of more than 150 content moderators in Nairobi, and addressed the group.

“I never thought, when I started the Alliance in 2019, we would be here today—with moderators from every major social media giant forming the first African moderators union,” Motaung said in a statement. “There have never been more of us. Our cause is right, our way is just, and we shall prevail. I couldn’t be more proud of today’s decision to register the Content Moderators Union.”

TIME’s reporting on Motaung “kicked off a wave of legal action and organizing that has culminated in two judgments against Meta and planted the seeds for today’s mass worker summit,” said Foxglove, a non-profit legal NGO that is supporting the cases, in a press release.

Those two judgments against Meta include one from April in which a Kenyan judge ruled Meta could be sued in a Kenyan court—following an argument from the company that, since it did not formally trade in Kenya, it should not be subject to claims under the country’s legal system. Meta is also being sued, separately, in a $2 billion case alleging it has failed to act swiftly enough to remove posts that, the case says, incited deadly violence in Ethiopia...

Workers who helped OpenAI detoxify the breakout AI chatbot ChatGPT were present at the event in Nairobi, and said they would also join the union. TIME was the first to reveal the conditions faced by these workers, many of whom were paid less than $2 per hour to view traumatizing content including descriptions and depictions of child sexual abuse. ...Said Richard Mathenge, a former ChatGPT content moderator... “Our work is just as important and it is also dangerous. We took an historic step today. The way is long but we are determined to fight on so that people are not abused the way we were.”

-via TIME, 5/1/23

[Note: In addition to Big Tech outsourcing and exploiting workers for social media and AI moderation, many companies also exploit and vastly underpay mostly overseas workers to straight up pretend to be AI. I'm really glad issues around this are starting to get attention AND UNIONS because exploited overseas labor is so often the backbone of AI--or even the "AI" itself.]

[moondirti]

ooo i saw smth on tiktok and i have some thoughts

i couldn’t find the persons source but allegedly these are the atsv writers’ explanation on canon events. shown on the close up is a visualisation of what happened to gabriella’s world after miguel replaced his alternate self. it ‘breaks’ off the spiderverse web

people r saying that gabi didn’t ‘die’ and TRN-660 wasn’t destroyed, that it was just disconnected from the spiderverse based on miguels interference. (which could explain why it glitched out instead of being swallowed by that black hole we saw on pavs world.) this would mean that there are worlds/timelines seperate from the spiderverse, which might be the reason why the next movie is called beyond the spiderverse

anyway. I was just thinking

if this is true then i like to think that gabi was supposed to be the spider-person of her world and the inciting incident to that would’ve been her fathers death (not my own theory but this supports it), but since miguel replaced him, she never went down that path. so no spiderman for TRN-660 = no connection to the spiderverse

there’s the issue of miles 42’s world. there’s no spiderman there yet our miles was able to reach it. but that wasn’t done by selecting known spiderverse timelines - just by scanning his genetic code and sending it to where it came from.

anyway, idk! what do yall think abt this! v curious. also, if anyone has the source to the images above then i’d appreciate it<3

[jedineedlove]

LMK Heaven Needs Work Theories / Season 5 Ideas!

The heavens of the Lmk universe has been in need to fire some guards or update protocols. With the death of the Jade Emperor, they should know it's the time. I made them and us a small map of needed changes and more mistakes they've made. The episode the Revenge of the Spider Queen is the best example of this.

When the crew and Red s\Son sneaked around the palace, Peach orchard, and the alchemy lab is the best example of how low the security of the palace is. How mortals were able to sneak around the place is extraordinary.

They parked a huge ship at the front entrance, demons were running ramped around loudly, the orchard was being trampled, the lab had dangerous viles spilled and dark magics unleashed, and even worse the security that was there the lion guards were activated and running after intruders. None of this was quiet this was a huge amount of noise in a very quiet environment.

But where were the guards, the guys in charge of protecting this place? Why with all this noise was no one reacting to it. Either they got overconfident in their powers and did not see anyone else as being a real threat and did not have their guards out at all times. This is my most thought theory for it because they have shown time and time again to be overconfident and think they are the biggest fish in the pond.

The other theory is there was something going on at another place, either at another building in the realm or in further parts of the palace. A big event might explain it if they were loud enough maybe. It might also explain the lack of just other beings sure we saw some maidens and maybe scholars but other than that no other gods or goddesses were around.

Some might say it's just a show thing but Megaopolis has a lot of background art and characters this could have been a chance to have shown more of their ideas of the heavenly realm. A guard in armor a known figure or two just sneaking around. They did not do that here. Why?

ALSO with the aftermath of this damage, I thought of FIC IDEAS or even POSSIBLE IDEAS for SEASON 5 it's whichever you think it is!

With the Jade Emperor gone the realm need a new emperor but into someone can handle the power a full true leader might not be chosen for a bit. However, they might have a temporary leader until then. My thoughts instantly go to Erlang Shen.

We did not get to see much of him except for a few scenes. But this could be the chance. With how things work in the celestial realm they would most likely have the temporary Emperor aka Erlang Shen be handling issues like the aftermath of the Camel Ridge Trio's invasion, LDB, and most of all the crew's "rampage" through the palace and their "thieving". With their strong sense of what is right or wrong. The crew might be put on trial for all the destruction but with no thought of their good motives and reasons.

Maybe seeing too many parallels like many of Sun Wukong's former opponents have between MK and Wukong, they might feel threatened. Then my mind went to the golden fillet. it's how they handled Sun Wukong before why should it not work again for MK right? (That's their opinion not mine.)

But I also thought of Wukong getting blamed or taking the blame for what the others did while he was tied up. I can see the dragon lords getting mad and blaming Wukong for Mei's actions because he "obviously influenced her." NOT seeing that's just Mei's personality. With a conflict against heaven for the next season I can see more explanations of Wukongs actions during his time there and maybe, even more, incite into what happened during the "betrayal".

[purpleheartskies]

Robby has a "Hero's Journey"

Also titled Robby is the underdog - Part 2 and "Finding balance" - Part 2

Follow up to Robby is the underdog - Part 1 and Part 1.5, as well as "Finding balance" - Part 1

The Hero's Journey is a transformative character arc that doubles as a popular story structure and is often mapped to the 3-act structure, another popular story structure. In analyzing Robby's story, I found that Robby has a Hero's Journey that matches a lot of the major beats in the overall story in the show. Given that there are multiple characters going through transformative arcs, I've been working on analyzing other characters' journeys as well, but this post will focus on Robby's Hero's Journey.

The "inciting incident"

Robby's "want" and "need"

Characters with transformative arcs usually have a "want" and a "need". The "want" is an external goal that is linked to the plot. The "need" is linked to the character's "internal conflict/struggle" and as well as to the overall theme. The character starts out believing in their "lie" (their false view of themself and/or the world) and pursuing their "want". They eventually believe in the "truth" and achieve their "need" in a positive change arc, or reject the "truth" and don't achieve their "need" in a negative change arc. The "ghost" is the event in the past that haunts the character. The "wound" is the deep pain point at the heart of the character's need for transformation. The "wound", "want", and "lie" result from the "ghost".

Robby's "ghost" is Johnny abandoning him. His "wound" is his trauma from Johnny abandoning him. His "wound" has manifested into his main character flaw, his "hate"/"anger" that is mentioned throughout the series. His "lie" is believing that he is like Johnny and will end up like him because Robby is filled with "hate". He believes that his "hate" is a part of who he is. He also believes that he is to blame for Johnny abandoning him. Robby's "truths" are the opposites of these "lies".

Robby's "want" is a true relationship with Johnny. This has been a huge driving force for him. In s1, he wanted to get Johnny's attention when he got a job with the LaRussos and later when he showed up at the s1 avt. When Shannon told Robby that Johnny wanted him to move in (s1) and that Johnny wants a relationship with him (s2), Robby went to Johnny. Robby has always wanted Johnny to genuinely try to change. Robby wants Johnny to want a genuine relationship with him, but Robby knows, based on Johnny's behavior, that Johnny isn't trying for one. Robby comments about this throughout the series. In s1, he said that Johnny didn't care for 16 years. In s2, he said that Johnny cares more about the rivalry with Daniel than about him. In s3, he asked Johnny where he'd been for over a month since the school fight and why he missed the juvie visit, also pointing out that Johnny chose Miguel over him again. In s4, he said that Johnny wants a relationship now just to feel better about himself. In s5, he said that he and Johnny still have issues, some that are too big to solve. This was in stark contrast to Johnny's claim that he and Robby are good now.

Robby's "need" is that he needs to "find balance in his life" by overcoming his "hate" and understanding who he is. As I mentioned in my "Finding balance - Part 1" post, finding balance in life is a major theme in the story and is about coping with and consciously working through trauma long term. Robby's ultimate goal as a character is to break the cycle of generational trauma that is being passed down to him, especially through Johnny but through Daniel as well (because of Daniel's history with Cobra Kai). This aspect of Robby's story is also being explored through his mentorship with Kenny. Breaking the cycle is incredibly difficult and with the most odds against him, Robby is the underdog in the series.

Robby's characterization is that he has childhood trauma and that has worsened to c-ptsd as the series has gone on. A big part of Robby's trauma is that he doesn't know who he is, that is Robby has not formed a self-identity (which can happen for people with such trauma). In s4, he said that his fear is that he will end up like Johnny but that he won't because he is better than Johnny. Robby is better than Johnny. Robby just doesn't know this (yet) because Robby needs to understand himself, especially why he has "hate", to develop a healthy relationship with himself as he heals. His statements like "You were right. It was a mistake trying to help me because I can't change," "All those years you weren't there, I blamed myself," and "I screwed everything," indicate his exaggerated self-blame. Robby has also called himself his own worst enemy. Robby also needs to understand that he is not to blame for Johnny abandoning him. In s5, Robby started fawning, which is essentially giving up who he is. Robby needs to start healing, actually working through his trauma and believing his "truths" instead of his "lies", and discovering who he is so that he can visualize the future he wants and make it happen.

Robby's "want" and "need" are related. Robby has trauma primarily due to Johnny's behavior and Johnny having never established a (healthy) relationship with him. Robby's "want" and "need" drive his Hero's Journey.

Robby's Hero's Journey 

I'm going to talk about Robby's "Hero's Journey" using Christopher Vogler's 12-stage model mapped to the 3-act story structure. (Quotes from references are in blue.)

1. The Ordinary World - We see the hero's normal life at the start of the story before the adventure begins.

This stage was all of Robby's scenes leading up to him seeing Johnny give Miguel the gi and hug near the end of s1e5. In these scenes, we're introduced to Robby's (unhealthy) relationships with his parents, his lack of a stable home life, his partners-in-crime/bullies Trey and Cruz, his truancy, and his delinquency; basically, his life and world before he started on the Adventure.

2. Call to Adventure - The hero is faced with an event, conflict, problem, or challenge that makes them begin their adventure.

The "event" is also known as the "inciting incident" and usually happens in the midpoint of Act 1. s1 was Act 1, and this happened near the midpoint of s1. The inciting incident in a story has the following qualities:

Happens to the protagonist (Robby)

Protagonist's first (not full) awareness of the story's central conflict (finding balance)

Tailored to the protagonist's dominant character flaw (Robby's "hate")

Should be linked in some way to the antagonist or antagonistic force (Johnny and his behavior)

The inciting incident was Robby seeing Johnny give Miguel the gi and hug when Robby went to see Johnny, after Shannon said that Johnny wants Robby to move in with him. After the incident, Robby went to the LaRussos to get a job so that he can get a LaRusso Auto shirt with his name on it to "get back at" his dad. Robby took a more decisive action to pursue his "want".

This stage spanned the scenes from the inciting incident in s1e5 to the end of s1e6, ending with the Call itself.

Call to Adventure Daniel: "You wanna stick around. Learn something." Robby: "Sure"

3. Refusal of the Call - The hero initially refuses the adventure because of hesitation, fears, insecurity, or any other number of issues.

This occured in s1e7. Although Robby had started learning from Daniel, Trey and Cruz threatened Robby to help them steal from the LaRussos. Robby at first gave in and was going to help them, but he ultimately didn't because of Daniel's bonsai lesson. This stage ended when Robby changed his mind and stopped them, thus embracing the Call to Adventure after all.

4. Meeting the Mentor - The hero encounters a mentor that can give them advice, wisdom, information, or items that ready them for the journey ahead.

This spanned s1e7 to e10. Robby's mentorship with Daniel had already begun when he was faced with the Refusal of the Call, but Daniel's bonsai lesson inspired Robby to keep moving forward with the Adventure.

The Mentor "Well, you are the tree, Robby. You've got strong roots. You know who you are, right? So now all you've gotta do is visualize what you want your future to look like, and then you make it happen."

Daniel's other lessons were important too, especially this one:

The Mentor "You may know the moves, but none of that matters unless you have balance.... I didn't mean balancing your body. I mean balancing your life. Look, Robby. I know it's hard growing up without a dad, believe me. Mine died when I was young, so I know. But when those bad feelings all weigh you down, you gotta... you gotta search inside for the good stuff, you know, and just... Because then you can find some balance in your life. Understand. It's not easy, but you'll do it."

These two lessons are tied to Robby's "need" as a character. He needs to figure out who he is ("search inside for the good stuff") and overcome his "hate" ("bad feelings") so that he can find balance. Daniel also indirectly mentioned Robby's "want" (the relationship he wishes he had with Johnny because he grew up without him) when talking about the "need" to find balance. Robby's Adventure isn't to just learn Miyagi-Do/karate, as much as it is to learn how to "find balance in his life". After Daniel said this second lesson to Robby, he flashed back to Johnny giving Miguel the gi and hug---the inciting incident.

Later, Daniel found out about Robby's relation to Johnny and kicked Robby out. Robby then went to the avt wanting to get Johnny's attention; that is, Robby was still pursuing his "want". Robby's conversation with Daniel in the avt locker room was especially important. When Robby had been facing off against Hawk, Robby was focused on Johnny and lost his "balance". Daniel reminded Robby about what he'd learned (their lesson in the woods about "finding balance"). Later, in the locker room after Hawk injured Robby, Daniel reiterated the "need".

The Mentor Robby: "I just wanted to get back at him [Johnny]." Daniel: "I know. But you're never going to find balance that way. You can't let that bad blood change who you are. I'm not saying you need to like the guy. I know I never will, but he... he is your father. And believe me, you're lucky to have one. You just gotta try to remember, he's... he's not a monster. He's just a guy with a lot of demons. Mr. Miyagi always told me there's no such thing as a bad student, only a bad teacher. And your dad had the worst teacher there ever was. It sent him down a wrong path. But you don't have to go down that path. Do you understand? You don't have to ever become him. Trust me. You let go of all that anger, and I guarantee you, no matter what happens tonight, you go home feeling great."

Robby's "want" and "need" were referred to again in this conversation. Daniel also presented Robby with the "truth": he is not like Johnny and doesn't have to end up like him. That is, Robby can break the cycle of generational trauma that Kreese passed down to Johnny and that is now being passed to Robby. After this, Robby continued with the match, saying that he has to face him [Johnny]. Robby found balance for the rest of the match. 

5. Crossing the Threshold - The hero leaves their ordinary world for the first time and crosses the threshold into the special world.

Daniel and Robby ended s1 reopening Miyagi-Do primarily to take down Cobra Kai, thus crossing the threshold into the "special world" of the dojo war.

Crossing the Threshold "I know I said you have to let go of your anger and show forgiveness, but... when the fight comes to you, you have to be ready to fight back."

This marked the end of Act 1 of the 3-act story structure. In fact, Kreese made his first appearance in the series in s1e10 and closed out s1 with the line "the real story has only just begun". (In the their interview with the Koves, Hayden said that they knew they had a series based on two moments: (1) Robby going to Daniel for a job and (2) Kreese returning. The first moment starts Robby's Call to Adventure. The second is one of two major expansions of the special world: Kreese's return. The other expansion being Daniel and Robby reopening Miyagi-Do.)

6. Tests, Allies, and Enemies - The hero learns the rules of the new world and endures tests, meets friends, and comes face-to-face with enemies.

This spanned everything Robby experienced in s2e1 to s4e4. Throughout this stage, Robby lost allies and enemies and gained new ones all while experiencing many tests. He's at first mentored by Daniel, with the Miyagi-Dos, and started dating Sam. He then lost them all after he accidentally injured Miguel in the school fight (the 1st pinch point in the 3-act structure). The Miyagi-Dos abandoned him and didn't have his back while he endured juvie. He eventually joined Cobra Kai and was mentored by Kreese and later by Silver, with the Cobras, and eventually started dating Tory (in late s4). 

While in each dojo, Robby tried to fulfill his "need" to find balance by using the karate philosophies to overcome his "hate". In Miyagi-Do, Daniel told Robby that he needs to "let go" of his anger to find balance. However, Robby struggled to do that in s2. For example, twice Robby was at the punching bag trying get his anger out: (1) after Shannon abandoned him and (2) after Johnny trounced his Miyagi-Do demonstration. He also wanted to fight the Cobras who wanted to join Miyagi-Do, but Daniel told them that he had once been a Cobra and all that mattered now is that they're all Miyagi-Do. In the school fight, Robby had been pushed to his limit and the results were devastating. After the school fight, Robby gave up trying to find balance using Miyagi-Do, "It was a mistake trying to help me because I can't change." In s3e9, Tory told Robby that in Cobra Kai you learn to channel your anger into fighting. She'd presented Robby with another option for overcoming his "hate" to find balance. Robby later joined Cobra Kai, after first refusing to, knowing how toxic it is and not wanting to be used in the dojo war. In s4e4, Silver said that Robby had learned to channel his anger into fighting. Robby told Johnny in s4e10, "I had all this hate inside of me. I thought I could use Cobra Kai to control that." After the avt, Robby gave up trying to find balance using Cobra Kai. 

During all of this, Johnny continued to hurt Robby by continuing to neglect and abandon him, and choose Miguel over him, even doing things like trouncing Robby's Miyagi-Do demonstration, not helping him after the school fight, missing the juvie visit that Johnny himself had scheduled, leaving Robby with that mark on his head with Kreese, and brushing off Robby when he said that Miguel had attacked him in school fight. Overall, Johnny became further from him after the school fight and even further from him after Johnny decided to move on from the past at the end of s3 (because of conversation with Ali). Robby's "wound" (trauma) deepened, his main character flaw ("hate") worsened, and both his "want" and "need" became harder for him to obtain. 

During this stage, Robby's bullies also rubbed his "wound" in his face. In the school fight, Miguel taunted Robby after headbutting him that Johnny taught Miguel that move. In juvie, Shawn taunted Robby that his dad hates him. (Both bullies also taunted Robby about Sam not loving/wanting him.)

Daniel also affirmed Robby's "lie": "This whole thing was a mistake. You wanna end up like him. That's up to you." Although Daniel later apologized, his actions at the time contradicted his words (that Robby isn't defined by his mistakes), so Robby didn't believe his apology. Everyone thinking the worst of Robby after the school fight also affirmed Robby's "lie" that he is like Johnny and can't change. 

Between Robby using "Cobra Kai" in s3e5 for the first time and Robby officially joining Cobra Kai at the end of s4e1, Tory and Sam both commented about the type of person Robby is wrt his choice of dojo/people. In s3e8, Tory told Robby, "I know who I am. You're still pretending to be something you're not," insinuating that he isn't Miyagi-Do. In s4e1, Tory commented that Robby was still straddling the fence. Later, Sam told Robby that he's a "good person" and is making the "wrong choice" because she assumed that he had joined Cobra Kai, thus insinuating that he isn't Cobra Kai.

Kreese and Silver both told Robby to challenge his "lies". Robby told Johnny, "You know, all those years you weren't there, I blamed myself. Sensei Kreese is right. I can't be my own worst enemy, but you can be." Though Kreese told Robby in s3 that he's like Johnny. In s4, Kreese told Robby that he has the potential to be better than Johnny. Silver later told Robby, "You're afraid... you need to dig out that fear and face it...." 

In s4e1, Robby told Sam that Johnny had a choice and he chose to become a drunk loser who still hasn't figured out his own life and now he wants to make up for lost time to feel better about himself. In s4e8, Robby told Miguel that Johnny is just using him to feel better about screwing up with Robby. These are "truths" that contradict Robby's "lies". Johnny and his behavior are to blame for Johnny not being there for Robby.

Overall, Robby was in Miyagi-Do for all of s2. Then the school fight happened and he had a whole season where he transitioned from Miyagi-Do to Cobra Kai. His transition happened in s3e5, the midpoint of his season of transition, in the episode titled "Miyagi-Do" that introduced the offensive side to Miyagi-Do. Of the different Miyagi-Dos who went on offense, only Robby's actions are considered to be Cobra Kai, highlighting the major transition in Robby's journey from Miyagi-Do to Cobra Kai and two options for his identity.

Robby stayed at Cobra Kai at the end of s3 after a violent confrontation with Johnny. This was the midpoint of Act 2 and of the series. The midpoint usually features a major reversal of some kind. The most significant shifts in alliances in the external conflict happened at this point. Robby's allies, the "good guys" (Miyagi-Do), became allies with his enemies (Johnny and Miguel), and Robby became allies with the "bad guys" (Cobra Kai). The flipside is that Johnny's alliances changed. He now teamed up with Daniel and Miyagi-Do and officially stood against Kreese and Cobra Kai. He was still on opposing sides to Robby. This is actually the midpoint of Johnny's Hero's Journey. (I plan to make a post like this for him. Note, anti-hero characters, like Johnny, can also be written with Hero's Journeys.)

In s4e1, Robby joined Cobra Kai and stayed for a whole season. He is the only kid to specifically have distinct season-long arcs in the two main warring dojos, matching the major overall story beats of those seasons. It's also notable how the other characters and the plot (dojo war) are affected by which dojo Robby is in. 

7. The Approach - The initial plan to take on the central conflict begins, but setbacks occur that cause the hero to try a new approach or adopt new ideas.

Robby's central conflict is overcoming his "hate" and figuring out who he is so to find balance. 

The Approach was from s4e4 to s4e10, and started with Silver's conversation with him in s4e4 about facing his fear---that is, facing his "lie".

The Approach "You've learned to channel your anger, but you're afraid... If you want to become a champion, you need to dig out that fear and face it. Because if you don't, it's going to hold you back forever."

Robby went to Johnny after this. In their conversation, Johnny told Robby that Cobra Kai is a poison and that Kreese had brainwashed Johnny. Robby said that Johnny had trusted Kreese, but Robby doesn't trust anyone anymore. Robby then told Johnny that Robby's greatest fear is ending up like Johnny, but that's not going to happen because Robby is better than Johnny. That is, Robby's greatest fear is related to his "need": who he is. In this conversation, Johnny also once again proved that he doesn't care about Robby and chose Miguel over him again.

The Approach "For as long as I can remember, I've been afraid... afraid that I'm gonna end up like you. But that's not gonna be my fear anymore... because I am better than you."

Before the school fight, Daniel had told Robby, "This whole thing was a mistake. You wanna end up like him. That's up to you." After the school fight, Robby told Daniel, "But, you were right. It was a mistake trying to help me because I can't change." Robby has always believed that he'll end up like Johnny, but Daniel's lessons about understanding who he is and finding balance had given Robby hope that he can change. After the school fight, Robby believed once again that he is like Johnny and will end up like him. Robby had tried to find balance by letting go of his "hate" but he hadn't been able to let go of it.

The Approach started with Silver stating that Robby had learned to channel his anger into fighting, which had been a reason for Robby joining Cobra Kai. Robby was now ready to take on his central conflict of finding balance. In s4e1, the future Robby visualized for himself was to become a champion. But to do that he needed to figure out who he is, which meant rooting out his fear and facing it. His fear is that he will be like Johnny, but he wants to be better than Johnny. In s4e6, when Daniel came to Robby, Robby first commented that Daniel will say, "this isn't who you are, Robby...". At one point, Daniel said, "...you won't be you anymore. One day you'll find yourself with some kid's blood all over your shirt, and you'll hope it's not too late to change course." Robby and Daniel both referred to the "need" in this conversation. In s4e9, Daniel taunted Robby about wanting to get back at his dad, a reference to their s1e10 conversation that had also been about Robby's "want" and "need". Daniel then told Robby to never put his passion ("want") in front of principle (essentially, his "need") because even if you win you lose. (Note! This is an important foreshadowing for Robby's next 2 stages.) In s4e10, after Robby lost the championship, he cared more about who he had become to try to win the championship than he cared about his loss. He had trusted Kreese during his match with Kenny and hurt him. Robby decided that who he is isn't worth sacrificing for this future of becoming a champion using Cobra Kai's teachings. He doesn't want his fear to become a reality. He doesn't want to become like Johnny by trusting Kreese and losing who he is to Cobra Kai. Robby doesn't want to repeat the cycle. Like Daniel had said, Robby would end up with a kid's blood all over his shirt and he'll wonder if it's too late to turn back. In s4e7, it was revealed that Robby's weakness is his compassion. This is the opposite of his "hate". Robby's compassion is a big part of who he inherently is. This is the part of himself that he had to give up in order to become Cobra Kai.

8. The Ordeal - Things go wrong and added conflict is introduced. The hero experiences more difficult hurdles and obstacles, some of which may lead to a life crisis. Usually involves looking in a mirror, literally or metaphorically. Can include being pushed to their limit until their identity is shattered or they face death or their greatest fear, and their essence (greatest flaw) is revealed. The hero also faces his shadow (his greatest villain) and reaches his goal. The goal itself does not satisfy the hero's deepest need.

"But eventually, we all need to look ourselves in the mirror and realize who we really are... It's not about how you start. It's about how you finish." - Robby after joining Cobra Kai in s4e1

The Ordeal is the "crisis" and usually marks the midpoint of the journey or is delayed to later in Act 2, like in Robby's case. (I mentioned earlier that Johnny's midpoint is in s3e10. Johnny's confrontations with Kreese and Robby is Johnny's crisis/Ordeal.)

This stage spanned s4e10 to s5e5 and started with Robby looking at Kenny during his match with Hawk in s4e10. Later, Robby went to Johnny and told him:

The Ordeal "It's this kid, Kenny. I took him under my wing... Be the mentor I wish I had when I was younger. But when I saw him today, and it... uh... It's like looking in a mirror. And I realized I screwed everything up. And I had all this hate inside of me... and I thought I could use Cobra Kai to control that. But it just made things worse and now it's never gonna get better... ... I'm sick of blaming you, Dad."

The Approach and the Ordeal are always tied together, as the Approach is the lead in to the Ordeal. In s4, Robby's only scenes with Johnny are related to these two points in Robby's Hero's Journey. s4e4 kicked off the Approach with Robby's conversations with Silver and with Johnny, while s4e10 kicked off Robby's Ordeal with his confrontation with Kenny (the mirror) and with Johnny (his Shadow). During this time, Daniel (the Mentor) also approached Robby twice (s4e6, s4e9) and talked about Robby's "want" and "need", reminding Robby about his central conflict (finding balance).

The Shadow is one of several character archetypes that plays a role in the Hero's Journey. The Shadow can be the part within the hero that they don't like or that is deep repressed feelings or trauma. The antagonist or villain to the hero usually is the physical version of this Shadow. (Take Sam's dream in s5e3. She also has a Hero's Journey, and she was fighting the darker version of herself in her dream. She had been relying more and more on her aggression in s4. Her darker version had Tory's voice. Tory is Sam's antagonist and the source of Sam's ptsd. Sam's dream was her Ordeal.) 

Robby's main conflict is with his "hate", as his main goal is to break the cycle of generational trauma. Robby's "hate" due to his trauma is his internal Shadow. Johnny is the character and antagonistic force who represents and causes Robby's "hate"; Johnny has been Robby's external Shadow throughout the series. Daniel called Robby's conflict with Johnny "bad blood" in the avt locker room in s1e10. In s2e1, Johnny also said that he doesn't want to have "bad blood" between them. In s3, Robby said that Johnny should be his worst enemy because he abandoned Robby. In s1, after Robby saw Johnny give Miguel the gi and hug, Robby went to Daniel to piss Johnny off. In s4, when Sam brought up that Johnny knows Robby is a "good person" and that Johnny's "trying to change", Robby shifted to anger and said that Johnny had a choice and he chose to become a drunk loser who still hasn't figured out his own life and now he wants to make up for lost time to feel better about himself. Robby then joined Cobra Kai to prove that the Cobras and he are better than them, the Miyagi Fangs. Robby especially wanted to prove that he is better than Johnny. Robby reacted based on his "hate" both times. In this scene in s4e10, Robby is talking about this "hate" that he feels because of Johnny's behavior and him choosing Miguel over him consistently. (He can also be referring to the school fight wrt his "hate" for Miguel, but had Johnny supported Robby over Miguel after the school fight, Robby's "hate" for both of them probably wouldn't have worsened so much.) Although Miguel is an antagonistic force towards Robby, Miguel is more an extension of Johnny (and Sam). Robby's actions are primarily driven by his "want" (a genuine relationship with Johnny) and his "need" (understanding who he is, overcoming his "hate", and finding balance), which are both tied to Johnny as he is the main source of Robby's trauma and "hate".

"The Ordeal is all about taking your protagonist to their lowest of lows so that they can rise up and be resurrected in such a way that they can truly handle the major conflict once and for all."

After s4e10, Robby is faced with all of Johnny's behavior in s5. Robby starts to fawn, which involves completely "letting go" of his "hate" by giving up who he is as a person to be who others, especially Johnny, want him to be. Robby first started fawning when Johnny abandoned him at the bus stop in s5e1. He still resisted becoming friends with Miguel in s5e4, even stating that he'll never be friends with him. That is, until Johnny pushed Robby to his limit by essentially unleashing Miguel's wrath onto Robby in s5e5. After this and then the baby news, Robby started fawning completely with Johnny, Miguel, and all the other "good guy" characters.

"This is when the protagonist hits rock bottom, making them — as well as the reader and audience — feel as if they are at the dark end of their days." "Two Hero's Journey stages away from The Ordeal is The Resurrection — The "climax" where the hero faces their final test, using everything they have learned to take on the conflict once and for all. Within that Resurrection, your protagonist needs to have a moment of transformation. But before that transformation can occur, something has to push them to the brink — to their lowest point. While losing an ally or mentor can help set the stage for the need for them to transform so that they can handle the final test, we need more. They need to lose hope, courage, or strength to carry on. The reader and audience need to feel as if there's no returning to the Ordinary World because that is how bad things are."

The Ordeal started with Robby believing, "I screwed everything up... It just made things worse and now it's never gonna get better". After looking in the "mirror", Robby decided not to act on his "hate" anymore: "I'm sick of blaming you, Dad." In s5e2, Robby was tested with the inciting incident again. After Johnny had tricked, lied, manipulated, and endangered Robby so that Johnny could safely retrieve Miguel, Robby watched Johnny give Miguel a fatherly hug in a way that Johnny has never given Robby. This time, Robby didn't act on his "hate", as part of his "new approach" to his central conflict.

In s5e4, Robby told Tory that he and Johnny still have issues, some that are too big to solve. Robby looked in Miguel's direction, indicating Johnny's relationship with Miguel. Later, in s5e5, Johnny pressured Robby to fight Miguel, ignoring Robby's request for space from their relationship. Robby stopped fighting at one point, allowing Miguel to continue. After Miguel stopped, Robby took all fault and accountability between them. Johnny then dropped the baby news, and Robby started fawning completely. A baby with Carmen, as Miguel said to Johnny "you and my mom", meant that the Diazs would now be permanent family with Johnny and the baby would be another priority over Robby. Robby's hope of having the relationship he's always wanted with Johnny are pretty much gone given that Johnny already prioritizes them over Robby in every way including allowing Miguel to beat the shit out of Robby because of the baby coming. "Now it's never gonna get better." Robby's Ordeal culminated with these two events in s5e5, which are the 2nd pinch point in Act 2. The 1st pinch point and the 2nd pinch point are usually related in some way. The apartment fight in s5 was like a redo of the school fight in s2. 

9. The Reward - After surviving The Ordeal, the hero seizes the sword — a reward that they've earned that allows them to take on the biggest conflict. It may be a physical item or piece of knowledge or wisdom that will help them persevere. This can also be a person or relationship. 

Robby's Reward started with the dinner scene in s5e5. He seemingly got his "want": a relationship with Johnny. But one thing about the Reward is that it's supposed to feel unfulfilling:

"It is here that the hero receives the object of desire they have been pursuing in the story thus far. But it cannot be enough to fulfill the central conflict in the story. That's because your hero must have an internal need that the object doesn't satisfy."

Robby's Reward has come at a great cost. Robby was going to lose his "want" if he expressed how he really felt when he heard the baby news, so Robby resorted to losing himself. Fawning is also described as "self-abandonment". Robby decided to completely let go of his "hate" by giving up who he really is in order to have a relationship with Johnny, falsely believing that he has also now found balance. That is, Robby gave up his "need" in order to obtain his "want", falsely believing that doing so satisfied his "need". Daniel had told Robby never your put your passion ("want") in front of principle ("need") because even if you win, you lose. This statement in s4e9 was a foreshadowing of Robby's decision in s5e5 that Robby will give up his "need" for his "want" and obtain a false victory. Also, by giving up who he really is, Robby has given into his "lies" and rejected his "truths": that his "hate" is part of who he is and that he is to blame for Johnny abandoning him. That is, that Robby is the one who needed to change himself so that Johnny wouldn't abandon him.

From s5e6 to s5e10, Robby also returned to Daniel and Miyagi-Do to take down Cobra Kai. He apologized and reconciled with all, though they didn't acknowledge their faults against him or offer any apologies in return. They all "successfully" took down Silver and Cobra Kai, Robby showed Kenny the truth about Silver, and Robby made up with Tory. Victory was seemingly achieved in the "special world" of the dojo war.

"The hero can also be too easily satisfied with the Reward, leaving unresolved conflict. This sets up an even more shocking twist later when the Shadow rears its head again, shattering the false comfort provided by the physical Reward."

The writers have said in their interviews that all the feelings are still there. There was a glimpse of this in Robby's comment to Johnny about fatherly advice in s5e8 when Johnny was giving fatherly advice to Miguel but gave none to Robby and got annoyed by Robby's comment. Robby then played it off as a joke and went back to fawning. However, Robby's comment indicated that Robby still hasn't obtained his "want", a true relationship with Johnny, despite his decision to give up his "need" during the Ordeal.

The end of s5 was the end of this stage and brought Robby's journey to the end of Act 2 in the 3-act structure.

10. The Road Back - The hero returns to the original world and sees the light at the end of the tunnel, but they are about to face even more tests and challenges.

"One version of step ten sees the hero returning to their ordinary world, believing that the adventure is over. It seems like the hero has defeated the Shadow because the Reward has been claimed. This false sense of security creates the massive fake-out you're setting up! This scene often shows the hero and the remaining cast of characters at peace, feeling safe and secure."

The Reward (end) / The Road Back (start)

In the external plot, Miyagi-Do (Fang) have taken down Silver and Cobra Kai and seemingly won the dojo war, which ends their time in the special world. Robby has also seemlingly defeated his Shadow and obtained his "want". However, Robby gave up his "need", falsely believing that he has achieved it. Given that he hasn't achieved his "need", his journey isn't over yet. And, this stage includes the "fake ending". The writers have said that they had more planned for s5 but decided to leave those things for s6. They wanted to leave the characters at the end of s5 feeling good because they'd won. This implies that this stage will continue into s6 and something bad is in store next for the "good guys". This fits because the Road Back to the ordinary world is often tumultuous and contains the 3rd plot point of the 3-act structure. Regardless, the writers have always known where the story was headed after s5, as tweeted during filming s5. They have also left cliffhangers:

Kreese escaping, and Johnny's unresolved conflict with his own past; Johnny himself has yet to wipe out Kreese's legacy, as Johnny has promised. (Daniel taking down Silver wouldn't count for Johnny's journey.)

Robby's "resolutions" were all one-sided, so are all technically unresolved. Johnny and Robby not having a proper resolution is the biggest one. Robby's and Johnny's Hero's Journeys are both tied to their relationship.

Silver's arrest is tenuous (Hayden confirmed that Silver's biggest issue will be his damaged reputation)

The Sekai Taikai (the final big battle in the dojo war) has yet to happen (the writers confirmed it most definitely will)

11. The Resurrection - The climax. Also known as the "dark night of the soul". The hero faces a final test, using everything they have learned to take on the conflict once and for all.

12. The Return - The hero brings their knowledge or the "elixir" back to the ordinary world.

These last 3 stages should happen in s6, which will be Act 3. During "The Road Back", Robby's Shadow, aka his "hate" and Johnny, will rear its ugly head. An event that will be the 3rd plot point in the 3-act structure will happen. The 3rd plot point usually involves the biggest paradigm shift. (For example, with Robby's pov largely untold, this could be when Robby's pov starts to be told.) Robby will once again be confronted with his central conflict and with the "truth" about his "lies". This time, he will make the decision that fulfills his "need" properly, regardless of whether he can obtain his "want", and he will be firmly on the right path to finding balance in his life. He will also become ready to try once again to become a champion... of the Sekai Taikai. 

Robby's Adventure hasn't just been to learn karate, as much as it's been to start his journey of healing and finding balance in his life. But, healing from trauma is never easy. It's a not a smooth, linear path. It's not just "letting go" in the moment but is a constant struggle of working through your emotions due to your trauma, which is difficult to do especially if the trauma is ongoing as in Robby's case. Daniel for example has also struggled throughout the series with his own trauma and finding balance in his life. 

So far, Robby has been trying to find balance using what he's learned from each dojos. However, Robby's healing can't happen until he can either give up pursuing his "want" or obtain it in a healthy way, so that he can obtain his "need". Whether he gets his "want" will be up to Johnny and if he chooses to heal himself (that is, address his own "need" of making up to Robby directly for screwing up with him). Regardless, in s5, Robby clearly recognized that Johnny and him still have problems. Robby is aware of Johnny's continued abandonment, neglect, and abuse, but Robby understandably "wants" his dad and chose to win his "want" in s5, not realizing that he lost his "need". Robby needs to work through his trauma in a healthy way and learn/accept who he really is, regardless of having a relationship with Johnny, in order to "find balance in his life". The lessons about balance aren't just for karate but are for life as well. In s4e10, Daniel told Hawk during his match with Robby: "This fight is not about him. The biggest battle is always the one within. Okay, concentrate, defense, focus, power. You find your balance, and those points will come. All right?" This also applies to Robby's journey and his conflicts with his "hate" and with Johnny.

Robby's Hero's Journey is coming to a head. The climax, aka the Resurrection, is around the corner. From my analyses, the other characters' journeys are converging at this climax. Given that Robby is the main protagonist (as he is the character most central to the characters and the dojo war), it's most likely that his Resurrection will play a role in the other characters' Resurrections. We'll just have to wait for s6 to see...

References:

I referred to a lot of sources while preparing the post. These are some of them.

Christopher Vogler's book "The Writer's Journey.

https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/

https://screencraft.org/blog/

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/

https://thewritepractice.com/

(Note: Please don't reblog or reply with any dismissive comment or tag expressing negativity towards the show writers, the writing, or the serious aspects of the show. Such comments/tags minimize the contents of the post. This blog (link) explains more about my general thoughts about posting after s5.)

[a-room-of-my-own]

GENEVA (22 May 2023) – Threats and intimidation against women expressing their opinions on sex and sexual orientation is deeply concerning, said Reem Alsalem, the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls in a statement today. In the context of disagreements between some women’s rights activists and transgender in a number of countries in the Global North. Alsalem warned that violence against women and intimidation against people for expressing differing views.

“Discrimination based on sex and sexual orientation is prohibited in international and regional human rights law.

I am concerned by the shrinking space in several countries in the Global Northfor women and feminist organisations and their allies to gather and/or express themselves peacefully in demanding respect for their needs based on their sex and/or sexual orientation.

Law enforcement has a crucial role in protecting lawful gatherings of women and ensuring women’s safety and rights to freedom of assembly and speech without intimidation, coercion, or being effectively silenced. It is clear that where law enforcement has failed to provide the necessary safeguards, we have witnessed incidents of verbal and physical abuse, harassment, and intimidation, with the purpose of sabotaging and derailing such events as well as silencing the women who wish to speak at them.

I am disturbed by the frequent tactic of smear campaigns against women, girls and their allies on the basis of their beliefs on non-discrimination based on sex and same-sex relations. Branding them as “Nazis,” “genocidaires” or “extremists” is a means of attack and intimidation with the purpose of deterring women from speaking and expressing their views. Such actions are deeply troubling, as they are intended to instill fear in themshame them into silence, and incite violence and hatred against them. Such acts severely affect the dignified participation of women and girls in society. 

I am also concerned by the way in which provisions that criminalise hate speech based on a number of grounds, including gender expression or gender identity, have been interpreted in some countries. Women and girls have a right to discuss any subject free of intimidation and threats of violence. This includes issues that are important to them, particularly if they relate to parts of their innate identity, and on which discrimination is prohibited. Holding and expressing views about the scope of rights in society based on sex and gender identity should not be delegitimised, trivialised, or dismissed.

According to international human rights law, any restriction on freedom of expression should be carried out strictly in accordance with the human rights standards of legality, necessity, proportionality and to serve a legitimate aim. Those disagreeing with the views of women and girls expressing concerns related to gender identity and sex also have a right to express their opinion. However, in doing so they must not threaten the safety and integrity of those they are protesting against and disagreeing with.Sweeping restrictions on the ability of women and men to raise concerns regarding the scope of rights based on gender identity and sex are in violation of the fundamentals of freedom of thought and freedom of belief and expression and amounts to unjustified or blanket censorship.

Of particular concern are the various forms of reprisals against women, including censorship, legal harassment, employment loss, loss of income, removal from social media platforms, speaking engagements, and the refusal to publish research conclusions and articles. In some cases, women politicians are sanctioned by their political parties, including through the threat of dismissal or actual dismissal.

Reem Alsalem is the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences;

The Special Rapporteurs, Independent Experts and Working Groups are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.

[champagnepodiums]

Some Early(ish) Thoughts on the whole Alex Palou Contract Situation™️

I am dumping the thoughts that have been percolating in my head all weekend about the situation here, hopefully it’ll all make sense but cohesiveness is not generally my strong suit but these are the things that have stuck out most to me so far about the whole situation:

The Inciting Incident: I think it’s REALLY interesting that an internal e-mail from Zak Brown somehow just magically managed to make its way to Jenna Fryer who ofc did her due diligence and wrote about it. The telling? thing to me though was that Nathan Brown from IndyStar was very quickly (like I think it was within an hour or two) able to confirm the story. On a Friday evening 🙃. Like it doesn’t seem like a far stretch to assume that McLaren wanted to establish this story to reflect favorably for them.

The Concept of Loyalty in Motorsports: This whole situation has sparked lots of discourse and it is interesting (and frustrating) that people on Twitter at least, already seem to be siding with McLaren and slamming Alex Palou for not being loyal but really — why should he? He is the hottest prospect in motorsports right now and if McLaren has failed to provide things they have allegedly promised (F1 opportunities and a comparable IndyCar program), why does Alex owe them his loyalty? (I am talking specifically about loyalty here). If teams can break contracts, why can’t drivers?

The babygirlification of Alex Palou and why I admire him through this: okay like it is very humorous that the smiliest driver on the grid is the one causing trouble but people are acting like just because he’s outwardly smiley, there’s no way that he can actually be apart of this and make no mistake, both can exist at once. I think all racing drivers at the top level have to be a certain degree of ruthless and I think Alex Palou is just willing to bet on himself and ruffle feathers in the process to get the best deal for himself. I personally think that it’s admirable, I mean, he is the one strapping himself into a deathmobile so like why should he be stuck with Zak Brown’s promises that I don’t think he really had much intention on completely following through with (see Pato’s F1 deal lmao)

Chip Ganassi Issued the Statement Against McLaren because He Saw An Opportunity to Be Petty and He Couldn’t Resist: The Race published an article that basically was like “Is it fair to McLaren that Chip Ganassi called them out but didn’t call Alex Palou out because this is his fault” and that’s stupid for so many reasons. Like did Chip really have to make a statement? Probably not. But was he going to pass up an opportunity to say some mean shit about his nemesis? No lol. But also it makes absolutely no sense for CGR to slam Alex Palou, especially if all of this means that he will stay?

We Actually Don’t Know What is Going On: There was a lot of speculation and opinions from everybody over the weekend about the situation (most of which I cover above) and I think something we should keep it mind is that all we know at this moment is Zak Brown’s version of events (the ex-management company too but uh, I don’t trust anything they say so). There is still so much that we don’t know so while speculation is fine, I think completely writing off Alex Palou should be avoided — it’s honestly probably what Zak Brown wants everybody to do.

I think that sums up what I’ve had rattling around in my brain. I’m up for discussing this whole situation so feel free to send your thoughts my way 🫶🫶🫶