#these terrorists truly have no shame

[seleneprince]

Released Israeli hostage retells the exemplary treatment Hamas gave her when she was with them

I don't why the fuck journalist and the media around the world had the balls to ignore her experience and choose to display it as completely different version that, not only it's fictional, but has nothing to do with reality.

"but she was shaking hands with Hamas memb-" they still have her husband as hostage, you fucking idiots. How do you think she's going to act? Obviously she wouldn't call them out while they're near.

And before you radical assholes start to call me zionist bitch, watch the whole video first and do some research. This conflict isn't black and white.

[shesalittlelost]

I need fuckers like these to never engage with my blog in anyway thank you very much. Child murderers and their justifiers disgust me. They reek of innocent blood on their hands and it makes me nauseous.

[unlikelypandahologram]

Reasons to ship every single version of MegOP

since Very Dumb Discourse™ exists about whether or not certain versions of this ship are valid, this is going to be THE most positive post about all versions of MegOP. refer back to this post for reasons to ship your favorite version of MegOP if anyone gets weird about it with you. now let us begin!!

G1: goofy '80s faction dads fighting each other in a denny's parking lot every week LET'S GOOO, that shit is fun as fuck. orion pax also totally had a celeb crush on megatron before megatron ruined that and shot him and his pals 😔 and there's a lot of angst you can add with megatron becoming galvatron and optimus coming back to life to see how much he's changed!

BW: it's the sheer fucking comedy gold factor of a newly minted college graduate and a terrorist dinosaur IMMEDIATELY singling each other out on a prehistoric rock and deciding to call their daily gang slap-fights the BEAST WARS, what iconic drama queens LMAOOOO. also, megatron made his final body in BM look like optimal optimus SPECIFICALLY to fuck with him, and that's just...incredible

UT: the fact that megatron CANONICALLY acted like a grieving widower over optimus after he died in armada is. amazing. never forget their absolutely insane obsession with each other that they can never EVER give up on played a direct part in unicron nearly ending the world <3

Bayverse: this is the one continuity of all fucking things that gave us the lore about megatron being prime's lord high protector. absolute galaxy brain writing from the tie-in comics. also these two would ABSOLUTELY have the messiest, nastiest, most brutal hate sex imaginable, and that's beautiful. <3

Animated: optimus being a rookie washout underdog and megatron being a super scary much older warlord is a really interesting and underrated fresh take on their dynamic! lots of fun to be had with exploring what their relationship would be like after megatron finally acknowledged him as his archnemesis, lol. also...age AND size difference ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Prime: do i even need to say anything, i'm pretty sure that one flashback still of orion and megatronus being friends is responsible for birthing a million shippers for this pairing alone LMAOOOO. the bitter ex-boyfriends energy was TRULY off the charts in this show, it's a damn shame megatron never appeared in RID15

Cyberverse: same bitter ex-boyfriends energy but this time with dates at maccadams. megatron also dies encouraging optimus to beat the unhinged alternate dimension megs AAHH THE ANGST

IDW1: they're both depressed gay war criminals in this one who CONSTANTLY live in each other's heads rent-free and that's amazing, lmfao. also, megatron becoming an autobot means this is one of the VERY FEW continuities where it's not nigh impossible to figure out a way to give these two a happy ending together in fanon

IDW2: space date space date SPACE DATE. they were falling together and everything. megatron also LITERALLY tells optimus to open himself to him...to give him the matrix...yeah megs my dude i'm sure that's the ONLY thing you wanted from optimus "opening" himself. toootally positive, lol

G1 Marvel: megatron was SUPER fucking pissed and weird as shit about the time optimus died over a video game. it counts

Dreamwave: their first fight had megatron urging optimus to join him AND they disappeared together in a space bridge explosion once which is like, a fanfic-esque setup for them to be alone. also i'm pretty sure this is the continuity where optimus accidentally gave megatron a lobotomy, so...uh...potential for angst is to be had

SG: mirror universe!! evil crazy villain optimus with noble goody-goody hero megatron has so much potential for absolute chaos. bonus if you also bring in the normal versions somehow through multiverse shenanigans <3

KP: the only way this version of prime can redeem himself from the creepy underage human girl bullshit is if he gets a good hard dicking from megatron. next

Prime Wars: huge "ex-husbands go on a road trip with their disgruntled daughter" energy here. megatron also LITERALLY says "oh optimus, if only you could see me now" <3

Earthspark: again...need i say why? they're pals and working together from the get-go, what's not to ship??

Skybound: optimus literally wears megatron's arm. truly beautiful <3

TF One: it's not out yet but give it time. the entire movie is going to be about orion and d-16 being madly in love and tragically breaking up, baby!!

[astropookie]

transparent? placements pt2

hellouuu🥰

as requested, part 2 🌝 hope you like it!!🫶🏼❤️

Picture from Pinterest.

*Birth chart placements

Mars 8H

These ones don’t support the superficial, they can’t take it. They’re perseverant. They’re passionate. Don’t underestimate them, they have A LOT of power and inner strength. They don’t like it. When you’re acting, when you judge or you’re not speaking your mind, they just don’t like it. They hate it. They’re just them, you can’t ignore them, they can’t be ignored. They’re something else. Their self is full of confidence. My friend that have this placement DONT FUCK with people that says something and does another. HE CANT -stand them-. What he admires is honesty and free spirit non-judgmental people, bc this makes them be open to new experiences that could make them become or figure out their potential, passions and desires; what determines them and live without a fucking “what other people think/care” mindset. Also, this is what mars 8H struggles somehow the most. -That’s why?-They admire when they see someone that has become in tune with their potential. So yes, they’re transparent in a way they can’t stand with the ones they’re not.

Scorpio + Earth placements

All the fucking time I’ve met someone with these placements, they always makes it clear when they like a person or don’t. Water (pisces -not too much but yes- and cancer) + earth placement will hesitate and act like they do care about the person to not hurt their feelings, bc of empathy and whatever. HA. Earth placements + scorpio is completely opposite. They’re honest and direct, based on the perspective I have by being friends with them or their daughter🙄. They’ll tell you “I don’t like her”, “she hides something”, “a little weird, I see”. They be having INTUITION, but a intuition that frightens if it doesn’t benefits you and that reliefs if you’re by their side. They can see you. They can tell, what you hide. If you’re good or bad by their terms and morals, if you’re lying or if you want to. It could be that they get carried away by the relationship they have with their loved ones, the love and care they have for them that blinds them to not believe or to not listen to their intuition. But when the emotional is not persistent -when they don’t have a close relationship with you-, the rational side (earth) balance the emotional side (scorpio) to use their intuition to add arguments in their conclusion that’s made with evidence. Still, they always end up knowing. They’re transparent by making it clear if they like you or not, if you hide something or not and I can keep going.

(Example of a chart: scorpio moon, taurus ascendant with taurus degree, capricorn venus with scorpio degree, capricorn chiron, taurus lilith and etc.) (b chart: scorpio sun, moon and venus, neptune, Capricorn rising, virgo mars and etc.)

Lilith trine Moon

Such an interesting aspect. They can reveal what they truly feel without feeling shame, without a barrier. They feel comfortable talking about taboos, that not only mean sex, taboos for me also can mean to show your emotions, embracing them, let yourself feel. Like a river if you’ll like a metaphor. And in the right moment they show them -I’d they believe-. You can clearly see lilith trine moon has A LOT of introspection bc of pure desire of analyzing others🤪. They need it. They could be pretty obvious when they love someone, when they want to protect them. There’s full passion and determination that motivates them. They accept that not everything is logical and they let themselves be. Yet, they have to overcome their superficial feelings to enter that aspect and shi 😚

Sagittarius EVERYTHING

pass this part if you don’t want to read too much

I have to recall and specify -not everyone will agree- placements: Mercury and Venus. In my experience those are the ones that are TRANSPARENT -planets that are in big 6 and I’m only referring to signs and not houses (9H) and also not degrees (9° and 21°) but they count ALOT. I haven’t checked if I have known someone with sag rising but I have with sag moon and it scares me HAKDBSJD. clarifying☝️ they get bored easily and they can do something out of nowhere that you didn’t expect and that’s not kind of appropriate or can be uncomfortable. THIS WAS MY EXPERIENCE WITH 1 PERSON so don’t base yourself on it pls ty.

Obviously. wtf. these series weren’t going anywhere without the mention of Sagittarius. They think it, they say it. They don’t need to think about it, they don’t do it, THEY SPILL IT. Without a filter, without care until a moment later they be thinking if they were too rude, depending on the moon and etc. BUT WTF HAHA. For the weird and complexed ones, they can seem weird. The truth is that they’re jealous of the free spirit, soul and mind they have in front of them. They say it, you wanting it or not, they feel the need to. They’re the kid/sibling that haunts you bc they know too much and they can say something random that have to do with the secret you’ve told them. I’m not saying they can’t keep secrets, but they can speak without thinking. Even tho that, they speak their mind with help of their knowledge. They fucking know something and they say it. They are a little bit of a headache, they presume and talk and you want to cut their tongue. sometimes 🥰

—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—•—

❀ Based on my personal experience and what I’ve analyzed in my surroundings.

❀ English is not my first language.

❀ I’m not a profesional astrologer.

Thank youu. baibaiii🫣🫶🏼💋

Do not copy. Please give me credits.

[fruitypixel]

Man, I think I might be the only one saying this: most of the LOV is nothing but a waste. Their potential to show that they are victims of hero society? Its there, but as the series goes on, they become nothing more than the bad guys turned terrorists.

Were they captured and repented for their crimes? Nope, aside from Spinner, Dabi, and...maybe Mr. Compress? Most of them died without facing the consequences. (Not counting Magne because she died early on)

Shigeraki loses his autonomy as a character during the final fight and gets replaced with AFO. Not only that, but AFO was manipulating his life from the start. Really dude? So what we saw from Shigeraki's downfall was all because of AFO? Really dude? What a way to kill off any sentiment I had for Shigeraki.

Toga...I don't feel bad for this girl. She shows no remorse for the shit she has done yet wants other people to understand her "love?" Her love is not only twisted as fuck, but wrong on so many levels! You don't get to have a break down because both Midoriya and Uraraka disagree with you! Stop playing victim!

Spinner was okay up until the very end. He said Shigeraki was his hero and even praising him. Dude, you were second-guessing yourself multiple times while in league, yet you stayed out of loyalty. He should have bailed when he had the chance, or even better, acknowledged what he has done. But nope! Let's make him sing songs about Shigeraki and have him blame Izuku for killing his "hero." Pathetic.

Dabi was cool, up until the Paranormal Liberation arc. There, he turned into a psychopathic man child with daddy issues. The creator was sooo close with Dabi, he even made Dabi expose his father's crimes to the public. Why did he have to lose his character as a result of his exposure? Was it really that hard to keep him collected? Good god.

The only LOV villain that was well written in my eyes was Twice. I legitimately felt bad for the guy. His backstory, personality, and his motives struck a core with me. Just wanting to be accepted for who I am and wanting to be useful to others, it's so damn relatable. Truly a shame that he was killed.

What a damn waste of antagonists to such a fun series.

[starkdirewolflove]

Latest episode of X-Men ‘97, wow.

Omg there was so much going on in that episode can’t believe it was only 36 minutes.

Love square of Jean, Scott. Madelyne and Logan. Love triangle of Magneto, Rogue and Gambit, relationship drama galore.

I find it really amusing that Emma Frost has a front row seat to the drama with Jean, Madelyne and Scott like her own personal telenovela. Love that Madelyne has been forging her own path and becoming a part of the council of Genosha.

There’s a reporter doing a documentary about the X-Men and Xavier’s school. I’m a bit confused about Roberto being there. When we first meet him he’s a young rich party boy, heir to a wealthy Brazilian family that can just take a private jet wherever he wants to go and is ashamed and afraid of people, particularly his mother learning he’s a mutant so he leaves after episode one. Then he’s just always at the mansion hanging around with Jubilee and he’s in this documentary about a mutant school. Is he out to his family as a mutant or does he not care who knows anymore? I feel like this should’ve been addressed at some point.

Things are still really rocky with Scott and Jean, I can understand why he blew up at the reporter, she was being really invasive about his personal life and calling him a liar about having a son. And who was that doctor to make any statement about the birth? The bigot refused medical help to a woman in labour. But then he goes and has his psychic affair with Madelyne, dick move. And he’s been doing this since she left while shutting Jean out then turns everything around on her. Like Jean has been traumatised by what Sinister did to her. She doesn’t know how long he had her abducted, what he did while she was his prisoner, her mind is all messed up and on top of that her husband had a baby with her clone who had completely stolen her life (not Madelyne’s fault, this was 100% Sinister’s evil plan) and the only one who is actually supportive and understanding of her pain is Logan, no wonder she kissed him. Good on Logan for not trying to make the kiss into a big deal, Jean and Scott are married and he respects that even though he’s in love with her. The betrayal from Scott was even worse for Jean because their psychic connection has always been sacred between the two of them and her anchor when the Phoenix was overwhelming her and then he disregards all that because he’s in love with Madelyne too supposedly. Like I get their shared grief over having to give up their baby, it doesn’t give him a free pass to cheat on his wife.

Gambit was such a gentleman throughout the whole Rogue and Magento stuff, even though it was breaking his heart to see her with another man he respected her choice, didn’t try to blame or shame her about it and said they can be friends still. Rogue had a really rough time this episode. From the start of this season I felt uncomfortable with this Rogue and Magento pairing but when she explained their history to Gambit it was even worse because it just sounded like grooming and made Magento a creepy sexual predator. So Rogue ran away from home as a teenager after the trauma of putting the first boy she kissed in a coma and being rejected by her dad, gets taken in by Mystique who gets her to use her powers as part of her mutant terrorist group then brings this vulnerable teenage girl who is afraid to touch anyone to a middle aged man to help her control her powers and instead of doing that he fills her head with his ideologies and because he can touch her without it hurting either of them they become lovers. 🤢��� so creepy. Magento leverages the council of Genosha that he will only lead them if he can take Rogue as his “Queen” or co leader to the public, so she feels backed into a corner after seeing how amazing things on Genosha were for mutants now. Then after that amazing dance scene she realises that Gambit is the man she truly loves and what they have is more meaningful and goes beyond being able to touch and she chooses her swamp rat only to lose them both by the end of the episode.

The attack on Genosha was brutal but it was so amazingly done. Cable traveling back through time to try and warn everyone about the attack even though it goes against the rules of time travel, seeing Madelyn for a moment, her recognising him as her son by his eyes and him calling her “mom” as he got pulled back through time. The music, the chaos and panic you could literally feel through the screen, Magneto’s holocaust flashbacks, the Morlocks being trapped and thinking no one was coming to save them, Nightcrawler almost dying saving Rogue and Magneto.

Rogue and Gambit were the ultimate power couple fighting their way to the Morlocks, a better dance than the one she had with Magneto. Magneto saving Rogue and Gambit while he tried to shelter the Morlocks from the sentinel blast, so tragic. Then Gambit saves Rogue from getting herself killed by attacking the sentinel in a rage, takes it on by himself to save everyone and destroys it but sacrificing his own life in the process 😭.

The tragedy is they foreshadowed this in the first episode when Jean/Madelyne went into Trask’s mind and then both Jean and Madelyne got a psychic premonition of the attack just before it happened but were unable to do anything to stop it.

When the dust settles at the end you see the X-Men witness the aftermath of the attack, the few surviving mutants gather around the crater where Rogue is cradling Remy’s body. She’s finally able to touch him but only because he’s dead. “Sugah. I can’t feel you.” 💔

That killed me at the end, was so shocked that they killed Magneto and Gambit within minutes of each other. I know they probably won’t be dead forever but fuck that was brutal.

I know next week’s episode is gonna be Storm centric so we’ll probably have to wait 2 weeks to see what happens with the rest of the X-Men and hopefully by then Storm is ready to rejoin the team. There was a moment in the Genosha attack where Val Cooper is helping evacuate mutants to the gardens and she looks back at the sentinels and there’s this look in her eye that made me wonder is she Val Cooper or Mystique in disguise? We haven’t seen Mystique in the show so far but what if she’s been there all along? Maybe she was afraid of being exposed as an imposter by the sentinels because they’d know she’s not human.

[dinarosie]

I read your post about Regulus but I gotta say, I’m not totally on board. Just ‘cause he was the ‘good son’ doesn’t really mean he was loved, you know? A lot of the time, being the perfect heir—joining the Death Eaters keeping up the family’s image is more about duty than being genuinely cared for. It doesn’t mean he was happy even if his parents were proud of him for it.

I believe the reason fans create headcanons for characters like Draco and Regulus, imagining that they joined the Death Eaters due to torture or coercion, is because they don’t have a clear understanding of Voldemort's position within the pure-blood society. They assume that from the beginning, Voldemort was seen as a snake-like, crazed terrorist and murderer by the wizarding world.

But as I’ve explained in this post, Voldemort, especially during the First Wizarding War, was a charismatic and influential leader, almost like a celebrity. He rose to power with promises of restoring greatness to the wizarding world, and as mentioned in the books, much of the wizarding society supported him. For many, especially the youth, joining the Death Eaters wasn’t seen as shameful or horrifying. On the contrary, it was exciting and prestigious, like getting accepted into an elite university.

Regarding your argument, I think fans are free to create their own theories and headcanons about their favorite characters. However, it's important to remember that these are just fan interpretations, not canon. It doesn’t make sense to compare fan-made headcanons with the canon traits of another character like snape. We could create similar headcanons for any character. For instance, we could speculate that Harry Potter suffered sexual abuse from his uncle, or that Percy Weasley was the result of an unwanted pregnancy, which is why Molly never seemed to favor him. But in the end, what truly matters in analyzing canon characters is the author's intent and the clues provided in the actual story. This is especially important when discussing side characters like Regulus Black, where we have fewer details. We need to focus on the purpose the author had in creating the character and the information given in the story.

J.K. Rowling didn’t intend for Regulus Black to be a victim of abuse or neglect. She didn’t suggest that he joined the Death Eaters because his mother tortured him with the Cruciatus Curse. If that had been the case, Rowling would have left clear hints throughout the seven books. But that’s not the story she wanted to tell. Instead, she portrayed Regulus as the favored son of a fanatical pure-blood family, loved and admired by his parents, to the point that it made his older brother jealous. She wanted to show how deeply Voldemort’s ideology had permeated wizarding society, to the extent that young people idolized him like a celebrity. The fact that Voldemort choose his house-elf for a dangerous mission tells us a lot. It shows how much Voldemort trusted him and how far Regulus was willing to go to prove his loyalty. But as Rowling mentioned in interviews, Regulus wasn’t ready for the harsh reality of the Death Eaters’ world. He quickly realized that the real Voldemort was far from the idealized image he had in his mind. At that moment, Regulus transformed from a misguided teenager into a brave man, trying to make amends for his mistake by sacrificing his life.

Reducing his story to that of an abused teenager takes away the depth of his character and diminishes the impact of his redemption arc.

[edwordsmyth]

https://mondoweiss.net/2024/03/are-we-indeed-all-palestinians/

"Whether that is true—that ‘the people united will never be defeated’—is yet to be seen. What is true, unnervingly, undoubtedly, is that our conundrum is not about victory or defeat, rather, it is about the simple fact that there is no excuse for us to hide in our safe silences while our siblings are slaughtered.

How bitter, how shameful is survival if won only in solitude?

It is tempting, almost comforting—particularly as I look at the food on my table and the roof over my head—to indulge in guilt, but it is an unproductive sentiment, it does not start revolutions. Guilt imposes itself like a nagging cavity, you are acutely aware of its presence, but you continue to shovel the same sweets in your mouth, until your teeth rot, until you self-destruct. 

These days I am haunted by a subtler, though deadlier, refrain, an unwanted realization: Gaza has the right to forsake us, to never forgive us, to spit in our faces. How many wars has it confronted? How many martyrs has it given? How many bodies were stolen from it, snatched from their fathers’ embrace? And how many of us stutter when asked about resistance, or disavow our right to resist entirely, our need to resist? How many of us choose our careers over our kin? How many of us could have done something, anything, but did not? Perhaps we are simply afraid. Fear is all around us. It has infested newsrooms and campuses and invaded our apartments and places of worship. It has turned thunderous declarations into anonymous whispers. Those of us who stand with ‘the children of darkness’ will be blackmailed and blacklisted. ‘Either you are with us or with the terrorists,’ bosses and world leaders say to those who listen, planting fear in their hearts.

Do those anxieties constitute a real psychological condition, or are they the aftermath of a successful fear-mongering policy meant to stifle the masses? What is that fear, anyway, compared to the fear of dying of starvation, of being flattened under a military tank, of being suffocated under the rubble, of being the lone survivor of your family, of your heart breaking for the millionth time?

What is that fear if not theater? I hear the phrase we must honor our martyrs, but what does it look like to truly honor them? Witnessing, whatever that may mean, is not enough, at least not on its own. Nor is it enough to honor them with discursive lullabies and empty, pseudo-radical slogans. 

The rallying cry that we are all Palestinians must abandon the metaphor and manifest materially. Meaning, all of us—Palestinians or otherwise—must embody the Palestinian condition, the condition of resistance and refusal, in the lives we lead and the company we keep. Meaning we reject our complicity in this bloodshed and our inertia when confronted with all of that blood. Because Gaza cannot stand alone in sacrifice."

[lola-legendary]

Apology Post (with extra info)

TW! Suicidal thoughts/Intrusive thoughts, poor grammar

(Note: Every hate message I receive referring to the post below will be posted here as well. Pin of shame, bastards!)

I edited this lightly to add some extra information and move the TLDR up here, and added a cut.

Now, with the explanation, things have calmed down a bit. However, due to poor conduct, asks are going to be turned off until Sunday (25/2) and anon asks will be on back at 1/3.

If it continues when I resume anon asks, everything will be off again.

TLDR: I felt guilty and my mental health deteriorated because of the war, so I blocked the Palestine tag and received heavy backlash.

So the post I am referring to is this one. (Note: Said post has now been deleted by yours truly.)

Here, I will detail why I made this post, the events leading up to it and the backlash.

Some background information: I am a 14–year-old girl with unmediated anxiety and depression.

I have always been concerned about human rights. Even when I was a child, I would ask my mom, “Why do we have wars? Why can’t everyone get along?”

I tried to write a letter to my principal asking for more extensive sex ed, but scrapped it once I remembered that I was in a catholic school.

And when the Ukrainian war came along - biggest incident since I got access to tumblr - I was a staunch supporter of Ukraine. When I wasn’t in uniform, I made a point to dress in blue and yellow. No one noticed, of course.

In the early days of the Palestinian Genocide, I was eager to reblog any and all information that crossed my dash, even though I knew I couldn’t do anything to help. If you scroll down deep enough, you can find my posts.

However, as time passed and the war went on, whenever I saw those posts, I started getting thoughts to off myself. Those included, though not limited to:

“Oh, wow, look at you scrolling tumblr while millions are dying. Good job you, why don’t you go and join Hitler in hell, you’re contributing to this mess.”

And it got so bad that I would have mini panic attacks whenever I saw some posts like that.

I blocked the tag last year.

At that time, I sent an anonymous ask to @justagingerwithredhair, one of two people I trusted decently with my mental issues.

I can’t find it anymore, but it went something like this:

“Ginger, I’m sorry but I had to block the Palestine tag, it’s detrimental to my mental health and I can’t deal with it anymore”

and it was received positively.

Yesterday (in my timezone), I posted the post seen in the photo. I had not enough brainpower to realise that it could be taken both ways.

I was blocked by at least one person and received the following anonymous ask.

You can see my response in my blog, but I will repeat it again.

I am not a terrorist, a genocidal maniac, an Islamophobic bitch or a Zionist.

I have spoken out against Israel. I watch videos of Islamophobic people with disgust. I was outraged when the Holocaust was not required teaching in my school. I believe the Israeli Government is in the wrong.

If you keep this up I will be the one hanging from buildings.

You have made me write a post about my life that’s longer than 90% of my fanfictions. Congratulations.

@tobefree-in-palestine

[homeofthelonelywriter]

I got you | Pt. 2

(A/N) Here is the second part. Again, heavy trigger warnings, please check them out before you read this. Also, I'm lowkey tempted to write a third part, let me know if anyone is interested.

Pairing: Simon x Reader (no Y/N)

Warning: lots of angst, death of a loved one, PTSD, civil war, flashbacks, injuries, description of death

Synopsis: It's the day before you leave for the mission and the flashbacks won't stop.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

17 hours.

Only 17 hours and you’ll be back in Libya. Back in your home country. Back in a place you haven’t been since you were a child.

A shudder runs through you as you’re sitting outside the meeting room. Price decided earlier that you shouldn’t attend, the chance that you would be triggered too high. Instead he’d give you a rundown later.

Still. You couldn’t just sit in your room and do nothing. So here you are. Back pressed against the wall, right beside the wooden. door to the meeting room. That way it at least feels a little bit as if you’re part of the meeting, even if you aren’t really.

You jump as the door opens and the team walks outside. Your eyes immediately catch Ghost’s and as soon as he notices you, he nods for you to come with him. Scrambling to your feet, you hurry after him and follow him to his office.

You follow him inside and close the door behind yourself, before turning to face him. With a sigh, he plops down onto his chair and starts riffling through paperwork.

“Come, sit.”

Even though he’s not looking at you, you nod before sitting down in a chair opposite him. He continues going through some paperwork while you watch him. You never noticed how blonde his hair is.

“Price asked me to brief you, is that okay with you?”

He raises his head, his eyes boring into yours and you nod.

“Tomorrow, we’ll take a chopper to a camp there. It is about three hours away from the terrorist cell. As soon as we land, we’ll have another quick briefing. After that, we’ll take a truck closer, until we’re about and hour away. The rest we’ll walk.”

You quickly nod to show that you understand. A swarm of nervous butterflies erupt in your stomach as you swallow the lump in your throat. Of course Ghost notices that.

“Hey, if you don’t think you’re ready for the mission, there is no shame in staying here.”

Your eyes widen and you wildly shake your head. You can’t stay here. You can’t just let your team walk into danger without you.

When you joined the team, you all vowed to protect each other. Keep each other safe. You have to go with them.

“I’ll be fine, Sir.”

Ghost nods, though it is obvious that he doesn’t truly believe you.

“Okay. Our goal is to find a specific document, you we have to enter. We expect the first guards around three kilometres away from the actual cell. Once we get there, there will be more, but nothing we can’t handle.”

You nod again.

“As soon as we have the document, we get out of there. The person that document is for is supposed to arrive at any point within the next few days. And with them, reinforcements.”

You frown and he pauses.

“Ghost…who…who is that person?”

You could see his jaw tick beneath his surgical mask before he shakes his head.

“Not important for now.”

He pauses again, conflict clear in his eyes, but he shakes it off and turns back to you.

“Any questions?”

You shake your head, a frown ever present on your face.

“Good. Go rest. If…if you need anything, I’m here.”

“Thank you.”

You smile before getting up and leaving Ghost’s office. One glance at your watch lets you know that it’s time to go to bed. You walk to your room and change into your pyjamas before falling into bed.

Exhaustion weighed your body down. Ever since the last briefing you’ve had trouble sleeping. Whenever you close your eyes, the bright flashes of gunshots would light up the dark, mixed with the bright red of your families blood.

Not today. You need the rest.

Your thoughts drift to Ghost…to Simon. How he held your hand that night, and how you actually got a few hours of quality sleep. You wish he were here. In your room, in your bed, holding you. Those wishes had been floating through your head since before that day. Of course they had. Look at that man.

But his cold exterior had always stopped you from acting on those feelings. But…he is no longer that cold. At least not towards you.

With Simon in your mind, you slowly drift off to sleep. But it doesn’t stay that way.

Loud. The shots are so loud.

You press your hands against your ears, covering them. But they are quickly pulled away.

“Run!”

Your mother is yelling, and within a second you are both running. Running away from your home. Your father. Your brother. Their corpses

Your sister is in front of you and your mother. She is running, looking back from time to time, almost tripping. She is yelling something. You don’t understand it.

Suddenly, there is a tug on the hand your mother is holding and you look at her. She is on the ground. She isn’t moving.

Before you can even utter her name, your sister grabs your hand and pulls you along. Tears stream down your face as the picture of your dead mother stays in your mind.

Suddenly you’re behind the car again. Your sister beside you. Wait…no. It’s not your sister. It’s Simon.

You are in Libya, but not in the city you were born in. No, you’re in the terrorist cell. Hiding behind a wall. Simon…he is bleeding.

In a panic, you place your gun on the ground and reach over to apply pressure to his wounds but…he is dead. Simon is dead. Simon is dead. Simon is dead. Simon is…

You sit up with a gasp. Your hands feel around your bed, searching for the gun you had just placed on the ground. No, that never happened. You look around, you’re in your room on base. You’re safe. You’re safe. You’re…Simon!

You stumble out of bed in a panic. The rational part of your brain knows that he is okay, that he is just as safe as you, but the panicked part just needs to make sure.

Still in your pyjamas, you sprint through the base, dodging soldiers and ignoring their looks.

You quickly reach the door to Simon’s room and start knocking.

“Please…please, god, please.”

You keep knocking at a frantic pace, begging the wood in front of you to move, to disappear and let you see Simon. And it does.

The door is pulled open and you almost stumble into the room. Simon is standing in front of you, only in a pair of boxer shorts and with a surgical mask covering the bottom half of his face. He looks tired and while you cringe at the thought of waking him up in the middle of the night, right before a mission, you can’t help the relieved sob that escapes your lips as you throw your arms around his neck.

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”

He quickly wraps and arm around your waist and pulls you into his room, closing the door behind you.

“Yo-you were dead. You were dead and I couldn’t safe you. I couldn’t do anything. I’m sorry Simon, I-”

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m okay.”

He gently pulls you off of him and cradles your face in his hands, forcing you to look at him.

“I’m okay, I promise you.”

Tears are still flowing down your face as you give him a weak nod. He whispers a quick ‘okay’ before he pulls you back into his chest. And he holds you again. He holds you until you’ve calmed down, and instead of sobs wrecking through your body, only soft sniffles remain.

As soon as he’s sure, you’ve calmed down, he gently pulls you towards his bed.

“Come on, let’s get some more sleep.”

He watched you lay down and tucks you in, but when you notice that he is starting to pull out the mattress, you stop him.

“Can…can you lay with me? I-If you don’t mind.”

His eyes widen, but after a moment of shock, his face relaxes and you swear you can see a faint smile behind his mask.

“Of course, love.”

He rounds to the other side of the bed and gets in, shuffling until he’s close to you.

“Just…just don’t turn around okay?”

You nod, immediately thinking about his mask. With a content sigh, Simon turns of the light and gets comfortable again, before he slowly wraps his arm around your waist and pulls you closer to him.

“Sleep now, I’m here. I got you.”

Next Part

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Call of Duty - Masterlist

Master-Masterlist

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Brendan O'Neill

Every now and then you see an event and you think to yourself: ‘This will go down in history.’ Last night’s revolt of the Jews of London against a ‘pro-Palestine’ mob is one such event.

Jews and their allies gathered at the Phoenix Cinema in East Finchley to defend its showing of a film about Hamas’s fascistic massacre at the Nova music festival on 7 October. Unbelievably – or not, perhaps – the ‘Palestine solidarity’ set wanted the screening to be cancelled. No way, said the Jewish rebels, loudly and proudly, many of them draped in the Israeli flag. It was truly stirring stuff, a bold act of people’s defiance against cancel culture and the slow, lethal creep of a new anti-Semitism.

Let’s call it The Battle of Phoenix Cinema. On one side there was a motley crew of Palestine flag-wavers, curiously irate that a cinema was showing a film about the evils of Hamas. And on the other side a boisterous gathering of Jews and their supporters. Two thousand of them. ‘I’m still standing’ by Elton John blasted from a loudspeaker. Many young Jews were there, some clearly angry, pushed to their limit by the ceaseless demonisation of the Jewish State and the left’s shameful lack of solidarity with the Jewish community as it has come under attack these past seven months. These people really have had enough.

Some of the younger Jews chanted ‘Terrorists supporters off our streets’. It felt like a brilliant modern twist on the slogan of The Battle of Cable Street in 1936 – ‘They shall not pass’. Back then, Jews and their working-class allies gathered in East London to see off Oswald Mosley’s fascists. Yesterday they gathered to see off that mob that obsessively hates Israel and which seems hell-bent on hiding the truth about Hamas’s fascist-like crimes. You shall not pass, the protesters were essentially saying, as they protected a cinema from the McCarthyite rage of the Israelophobes.

The Phoenix Cinema’s ‘crime’ is that it agreed to host the Seret film festival, a festival of Israeli cinema that is supported by Israel’s culture ministry. This is a mortal sin in the eyes of anti-Israel activists who boycott everything that emanates from Israel; who seem to believe that moral cleanliness entails exorcising every Israeli film, foodstuff, product and even person from your life and your community.

Ken Loach and Mike Leigh resigned in a huff as patrons of the Phoenix in response to its hosting of Seret. Loach, of course, gets funding for his films from the British Film Institute, which itself is government-funded and distributes lottery cash. So he’s happy to get cash from an organisation backed by a government that waged catastrophic wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya but he’ll run a mile from a cinema showing films backed by the Israeli government? Make it make sense, Ken.

[lady-rosceline-hurst]

[BREAKING NEWS]

A prominent member of the House of Remembrance has suffered a major security breach after a random omninet denizen took umbrage to a post by said member.

While an obvious shame upon Lady Rosceline Hurst, the true bombs have come from opportunistic hackers who seized upon this abrupt act of digital-terrorism. While it didn't take long for this breach to be sealed and digital defenses to be upgraded, the past few hours have shown this was too late.

This morning the Omninet was flooded with a nigh-unprecedented amount of leaks. Years of private correspondence between the honored Lady Rosceline Hurst and various other notable figures laid bare for all to see. Some of which is quite... scandalous and unsuited for our program. Though the gossip-drama industrial complex will be fueled by them weeks, perhaps even months, to come.

However what is truly of consequence is the political and economic scheming which has been revealed. The average Karrakin citizen has been given a glimpse into the dirty backrooms of our illustrious state.

Lord Reginald Halifax of the House of Stone has already began to use this incident to continue his crusade against non-baronic peoples, while also decrying the weakness of The House of Remembrance to allow such a thing to occur. Lord Amelia Fraceux of the House of Water has stated that the honorable Lady Hurst provoked this heinous digital-terrorism with, quote, "An arrogant attitude almost as antiquated as our governmental structure." Lord Fraceux is as candid and provocative as always.

Whatever your opinion, stay tuned as we continue to report on the ongoing fallout of this developing situation!

...<DATABASE RECONSTRUCTION COMPLETE>

...<OMNINET CONNECTION SECURE>

...

With the situation handled and our systems back online, the time hath come for me to release on official statement on behalf of mine illustrious House. I shall begin by responding to the uncouth statements by mine fellows in the Houses of Stone and Water.

To the Venerable Lord Amelia Fraceux, I admit I find thine statement on both mine 'attitude' and our illustrious state both disturbing and surprising. This most heinous attack was forsooth carried out by an unshackled NHP of Horus. The behavior of such a demon is most erratic and I assure thee I did naught to provoke it. Thine implication that this terrorist was in any way justified speaks more to thine character than to mine own.

To the Honourable Lord Reginald Halifax, I must express grave disappointment. Whilst our Major Houses art disparate in political affiliation, many of us in the Interest art able to work around these petty squabbles. Mine Illustrious House of Hurst, Jewel of Crossland, doth have good relations with several Minor Houses of Stone upon Upper Laurent. I have already received correspondence from several members of such Houses, whom did wish mine House a speedy recovery and did denounce thine use of this data breach as an excuse to attacketh the great House of Remembrance. Prithee, speakest with more concern for thine cousins and their interests in future. I shall forgive thee, for thou art clearly ignorant of the Dawnline Shore's politics.

On that topic, as a general statement to those of the Concern, I must explain some intricacies of mine House's situation. On a relatively new, still developing colony such as Crossland, expenditures and costs are great for any minor house. I have spent more than a few late nights awake, speaking with mine dear cousin, the House Hurst Treasurer, whist he hath argued against mine requests for an increased cyber security budget. In the end, it seems I was right to worry about such things, but even after this attack I do see the Lord's side. With Harrison Armory barbarians so abundant in the Shore and pirates stalking either side of mine homeworld's dwarf star system, our military spending is equally important. Forsooth, I would allow mine personal correspondence to leaketh one hundred times to keep mine people safe and sound. In the coming weeks, House Hurst will taketh action to ensure that both of these needs are met in future.

The leaks are many and I shall address them individually, mine response is already quite long.

I thank thee, good people of the Baronies, and wish thee a fair morrow.

-Lady Rosceline, Heiress of Illustrious House Hurst, Jewel of Crossland

[girlactionfigure]

Our Repeated Strategic Failures, or How We Never Learn from Experience

1. Failure to understand and respect our enemies.

Since before the founding of the State of Israel, Palestinian Arab leaders have been saying that the land between the river and the sea is Arab land, land in which non-Arab (and usually non-Muslim) sovereignty is intolerable. They opposed Jewish immigration from the turn of the 20th century because they correctly saw, even when many Jews did not, that sovereignty was the eventual outcome of Zionism. Leaders from Amin al-Husseini through Yasir Arafat to Mahmoud Abbas made countless statements to this effect, and repeatedly rejected offers of Palestinian statehood because they required the acceptance of a Jewish state as well. Jews and others with a Western outlook were repeatedly surprised when this happened, unable to grasp that the Arab objectives were not a mirror image of those of the Jews, who wanted a peaceful sovereign state and were prepared to compromise on land in order to get or keep it. For both secular and religious Palestinian movements like Fatah and Hamas respectively (although at the grass roots no Palestinian Arab movement is truly secular), the presence of a Jewish entity on what they believe is Arab/Muslim land is a painful violation of honor and doctrine. Over the years their belief in the absolute rightness of their position, their shame of having been victimized by the Jews, and their steadfastness in working toward their goal has only increased.

How many times have we heard that “what they want is to improve their lives and the prospects of their children?” That if only they could see a “horizon” of self-determination and prosperity, they would end their hostility to the Jewish state? Nothing could be more wrong – or more contemptuous of them. We are asking them, in other words, to abandon what they believe is their birthright to the land, to give up their honor (to Jews!), and to violate the principles of their religion, in return for scraps from our table. They would sooner die (and they do, often taking some of us with them).

Perhaps we are misled by the amount of corruption that exists in the political structures of peoples whose loyalties are primarily tribal, and think that the Arabs are weak and can be bought. Perhaps this is the source of the conceptzia that stupidly tried to buy quiet from Hamas with suitcases of dollars from Qatar, or thought that the billions of dollars siphoned off by Yasir Arafat would somehow make a peace partner out of him. Arafat took aid money to pay terrorists and fill his Swiss bank accounts, while Hamas leaders dug attack tunnels and built themselves mansions. But despite their corruption, neither neglected their main goal.

This strategic error has been repeated over and over, and has been responsible for two of Israel’s most painful failures: the Oslo Accords and the Second Intifada that followed, and the 7 October pogrom.

Give the Arabs the respect they deserve. Listen to what they say, and believe them when they say they are our enemies. They aren’t for sale.

2. Failure to Punish Those Who Hurt Us

We live in the Middle East. In the Middle East, when someone murders one of your people, you kill him. When someone invades your land, you take his land and you don’t give it back. Maybe you don’t agree with these principles and think that murderers can be rehabilitated, or that you can settle disputes over land legally or diplomatically; but the Middle East doesn’t care what you think. If you don’t protect your honor when you are victimized, it is a demonstration of weakness, and will be exploited. Recently the Iranian regime launched over 300 weapons including some 120 ballistic missiles at Israel, the largest attack of its kind in military history. The amount of death and destruction that it could have caused was enormous; only luck, the skill of our pilots, $1.35 billion in defensive weapons, and the help of the US (that we will pay for in loss of sovereignty) saved us. We responded by destroying a radar installation, to “send a message” that we could have attacked the nuclear installation it was protecting. Are we joking? They tried to kill us and instead of “rising up to kill them” as the sages of the Talmud recommend (Sanhedrin 72a-b), we send a message that we could have hurt them? That is not a Middle Eastern response, and it will be interpreted to mean that we are too weak or constrained (by the US) to strike back. This will encourage Iran to hit us again.

3. Failure to Maintain Deterrence

Israel’s response to rocket attacks and terrorism has tended to concentrate on parrying the enemy’s strikes rather than retaliating disproportionately (in the Middle East, the “disproportionately” part is important). While a purely defensive strategy (e.g., Iron Dome) results in less disruption to the home front, the enemy is not deterred from trying again and applying lessons learned from previous rounds of fighting. Psychologically, it normalizes the act of trying to kill Jews. A powerful retaliatory strike, on the other hand, makes the enemy pay a high cost for its aggression and deters future attacks. And it transmits the message that Jewish blood isn’t cheap.

4. Failure to Maintain Independence and Sovereignty

A small country can only control its own destiny by staying independent of any one great power or camp of powers. Such a country must maintain relations with all sides in the great power conflicts and play one side off the other. Israel successfully did this for a time, but by the 1980s, she was entirely dependent on the US, both diplomatically and as a source of military hardware. A key point of inflection was in 1987, when the project to build the Lavie fighter aircraft was cancelled. Today, although Israel’s economy is strong enough that she could pay for her own defense needs without American military aid, her procurement has been skewed for many years to extremely expensive American systems that may not be best suited for her needs (e.g., the F-35). It should have been obvious decades ago, and even more so with the election of Barack Obama in 2016, that American interests may diverge significantly from those of Israel, and that Israel should not put all her eggs in America’s basket. But our government and military took the easy way out, and allowed the addiction to US military aid to grow. Today we have the American Secretary of State sitting in on war cabinet meetings, and fine-tuning our military tactics – and very possibly preventing us from defeating Hamas and removing it from power.

The Consequences

All these failures work together to create disastrous situations for the state. The present situation in Gaza is a direct result of several strategic failures. The failure to understand that Hamas’ top priority was always going to be trying to destroy Israel and kill Jews, and that its leadership could not be sidetracked into providing for the welfare of its population or developing a real economy, led to the policy of allowing large amounts of cash from Qatar to reach the Hamas leadership. But rather than using the money to build civilian infrastructure, it plowed it into rockets and tunnels (after skimming a portion for the personal enrichment of its leaders). The conceptzia contributed to the IDF’s inattention and intelligence failures that allowed 7 October to happen.

Lack of punishment did damage on both an individual and organizational level. The fact that the death penalty (or even permanent imprisonment) for terrorist murderers wasn’t applied led to the release of Yahya Sinwar himself, the architect of 7 October, as part of an exchange of 1026 Palestinian prisoners for one kidnapped Israeli. Sinwar was serving four life sentences for murder. Hamas prisoners developed an autonomy within the Israeli prison system. In a particularly embarrassing affair, some prisoners arranged for attractive female soldiers to be assigned to their areas, exposing them to sexual harassment. Since the Palestinian Authority paid salaries to the families of all prisoners, prison was more like an extended work assignment than a punishment to be feared.

Over the past decade, there have been several limited wars or “operations” in Gaza in response to rocket attacks. In many cases, empty buildings have been hit, sometimes along with a few targeted killings, in order to “mow the grass” for a few years. The government could justify this weak response to attacks that could have been deadly, because most Hamas missiles were intercepted by Iron Dome. But our passive defense did not deter Hamas from trying again, as soon as they were able to do so, often with improved rockets and terror strategies. The 7 October attack was the result of the application of lessons learned from previous rounds.

After 7 October, the government realized that our strategy had to change, and that only a true victory over Hamas would prevent future disasters. But since the beginning of the war, we’ve seen increasingly intrusive interference and micromanagement by the Biden administration, which apparently does not want to see a complete Israeli victory. Because of our absolute dependence on the US for military supplies and protection from Security Council-imposed sanctions, Israel’s freedom of action has been severely limited. Failure to remove Hamas from power will be a victory for Hamas in the war that they started on 7 October.

A similar analysis can be applied to our conflicts with Hezbollah, and of course with Iran. After the war there will be elections, and most Israelis believe that wholesale change is needed. It is to be hoped that the new leadership will learn from our failures and reverse these disastrous policies.

[sexysilverstrider]

JNHK | Inconsolable Promise

   She was his beloved friend.

   Growing up together, Jun never realized just how close they were. It was mere coincidence that they met at the age of 6. It was mere coincidence that they were next-door neighbours in a quaint little town. It was mere coincidence that their moms clicked that they ended up seeing each other almost every day.

   It wasn’t mere coincidence that they clicked so well too after all those years.

   It was a choice made from mother to children. Jun sought comfort and joy in the dark-haired girl. She was quieter than the ever-boisterous him, yet her patience rivalled even his mother’s. The little girl didn’t mind his presence. In fact, she enjoyed it. She enjoyed every little story they shared with each other. She loved overly energetic behaviour and he loved her utterly magical imagination.

   Even as they grew up, their friendship grew stronger than ever.

   Studying in a nearby local trainer school, Jun and Hikari were inseparable. Gossip started to spread about their close bond, but both denied it so easily, saying that they saw each other as siblings and nothing more.

   She had seen so many shameful things about him, yet she accepted him truly. He had witnessed things even she didn’t want to remember, yet he found her so dearly.

   Even after graduation, their friendship never once strained.

   Jun convinced her to do something so daring. So foolish. And she accepted his plan, though this time with wariness—something one of them needed to have.

   And it was that very plan that led them to their Pokémon journey. It was that very plan that welcomed them to their dreams of striving to be the very best. Jun wanted to be like his father. Hikari once told him that she didn’t mind what her future entailed as long as it had something to do with Pokémon.

   Neither realized that her future had a much, much broaden horizon than his.

   They went with their journeys, bumping to each other every now and then. They had Pokémon battles, with Jun losing each and every one to a suddenly determined Hikari. But he wasn’t upset. How could he? She was his best friend. As shocked as he was about his defeat with her, he took it as his lesson to do better. Besides, Hikari didn’t know what path she wanted to take, so maybe, maybe—this path was the right one in order to make her happy like him.

   Their journeys grew, making them stronger, making them tougher. Neither had expected to face such a terrifying terrorist group, but Jun was quicker to jump back to his feet in order to save the day.

   He lost a gruesome lost once. The shame was unbearable.

   He remembered devastation—something he rarely felt even when he lost to his friend. He remembered such foul words from the Galactic Admin that made him almost fall to his knees. Jun only stood there in the cold, cold snow. He knew he should be chasing after the enemy. He knew he should be saving the world.

   And yet, all he did was stand there.

   It wasn’t until Hikari came along and cheered him up. She was quieter than him, but still a talkative person compared to anyone else. Her words held so much meaning, breathing him hope that he thought he’d forever lost.

   It gave him the strength he needed to push forward.

   And just like that, Jun remembered fighting by her side on Spear Pillar.

   Everything happened a lot in a span of years. He watched as she grew more and more assured of what she wanted. First, it was indulging in Pokémon Contests in hopes of earning herself a famed title like her mother. Next, it was training her team to be indestructible after obtaining the title of Champion in Sinnoh. Once, she even tried her hand at completing the Pokédex, catching and documenting every Pokémon in order to satiate her curiosity.

   Watching her grow had been a treat for Jun. Watching his dear friend achieve her dreams alongside him was truly something he’s thankful for.

   And like a greedy man, he wished for more.

   He didn’t remember when it started. Was it when Hikari cheered him up after his devastating loss in Lake Acuity? Was it when he thought he’d lost her the moment she looked back at him before going into the Distortion World? Or was it when she hugged him and cheered for his victory against his own father in the Battle Frontier?

   Or was it way before? Way when he decided the one fateful day to catch their very own Pokémon? Way when they were in school? Way when he kept coming to her house to play when they were little?

   Jun couldn’t remember. But what he did know that his feelings for Hikari were genuine and true.

   It was a few years after their achieved victories. Jun had rented a nice apartment in Canalave City while Hikari had—miraculously but not surprisingly—bought a villa in the Resort Area of the Battle Zone. The latter had the opportunity to lease such a grandeur place thanks to a mysterious previous owner. It was alarming at first and horrifying at worst, but Cynthia soon assured her that it was due to her newfound champion title that she was managed to obtain such a gift.

   Jun assumed that being a champion of a region truly had its perks.

   For being the youngest champion in Sinnoh, it was reassuring to know that Cynthia would guide Hikari the ropes of handling her new intimidating duties. It took Hikari a while, but she managed to get the gist of it and soon enough, the young woman had shown enough potential to be a champion worthy of Sinnoh.

   Jun was happy for her. Very much so.

   So, when it came to him wanting to come to her villa to celebrate another great day of work, Jun decided that tonight was the night to take their friendship to a whole new level.

   “Are you sure you’re able to bring the cake tonight?”

   His laughter earned a disapproved pout on the other side of the screen. “I’m sure,” he replied, mouth tickled to a smile. Walking around his quaint little apartment, Jun took the famous green jacket—gifted by his father—and wore it. Pride always swelled whenever it was wrapped around him. “I bet I can be at your house way earlier than you.”

   “Then the neighbours will think you’re a creep and report you to the police again.” A sigh slipped through her lips. Getting ready as well, Hikari applied a simple layer of lipstick before flashing a smile on the mirror. Black eyes then gazed at her childhood friend through the Pokétch screen. “Remember last time? The alarms were blaring when you decided to drop by my villa through the window.”

   His smile cringed to a scowl at the bitter memory. “Good to know that their security system works, huh.” A guiltless laugh bubbled out to see her rolled eyes. “Either way, I’ll contact you when I’m there and,” One hand took his Pokétch to make sure his face was close and clear, “I’ll be sure to bring you cake. Your favourite kind.”

   His smile was accompanied by warm cheeks to see her radiant joy.

   “Promise?” Hikari took her own Pokétch closer too. Now, they were facing each other. She could see him.

   He would always see her. “Promise.”

------------------------------

   Time passed slowly. So slowly.

   One man sat on a bed. Big and empty. Silence echoed too loudly in a building that deemed too big for one person. Curtain covered the windows, blocking any signs of light and life. All the lights were off, leaving only a flicker of a lamplight that grew dimmer and dimmer over the years.

   When he woke up again today, he really wished he didn’t.

   How long has it been? Months? Years? Decades? The man lost count at the times he grieved and feared for the unfathomable. Even after being terrified of her sudden disappearance. Even after looking around the entire region. Even after contacting the authorities and asking those knowledgeable about the Pokémon of Time and Space. All that came into his palms were nothing.

   Nothing.

   Orange eyes shrunk into dots as grief settled in once more.

   Her smile. Her laugh. Her presence.

   It was nowhere to be seen except in the pitiful realms of his dreams.

   He waited. He waited and waited and waited. That night, confusion turned to worry when he couldn’t reach her through her Pokétch. Worry turned to fear when no one knew who last saw her.

   Fear turned to despair when he looked and looked.

   And looked.

   And looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked and looked—!

   “Promise?”

   A gasp croaked through a dry throat. Sunken red eyes shook inside painful sockets. Head hung low; one hand ruffled through messy, long blonde hair. His frail body grew weaker, aching and begging for sustenance. But his mind and his heart remained constricted, enveloped by madness that continued to sap his sanity away.

   “Promise?”

   Her voice echoed in his mind. Over and over again. Hands pressed to the sides of his head, fingers roughly pressing against a throbbing temple.

   “H-Hi…” Her name was choked inside a dry throat. “H-Hi…ka…r-ri—”

   Drip…drip… A broken name was accompanied by burning tears.

   She was his beloved.

END

[otherworldseekers]

My Thoughts on 7.1 MSQ

Major Spoilers ahead!

I'll start by saying that as far as x.1 msq goes, I found this one a lot more interesting and satisfying than either 5.1 or 6.1. (I don't really remember how I felt about earlier ones anymore.) Overall, I think it had excellent narrative pacing, some really good character development and fantastic thematic resonance.

The Funeral and the Alexandrians' feelings

As someone who has always loved to learn about other cultures and ways of viewing the world, personally I really enjoyed them digging into the distress of the Alexandrians in the wake of Sphene's death. It's not something we can relate to because it is so far off from the way our own lives work, but it is fascinating to see them failing to deal with their grief.

The contrast between what we the players felt as we discovered how Alexandria erases their memories of the dead, that it is wrong and messed up, with how the Alexandrians feel about now having those memories when they never have before. The boy who says "But even though I remember her, I'll never see her again? That doesn't make sense!" really struck me. We see all this as messed up because it's contrary to the way humans work and how we have always lived. But they see having to deal with those memories as strange and messed up, because it's not how they've ever lived. And who's to say which is right? Is having those memories an inherent moral good? We the players tend to think so. But why? As long as the memories are removed with consent, what is really wrong with it? Isn't it just a different way to live?

Wuk Lamat of course brings up the beliefs of the Yok Huy. (Which by the way remind me of the beliefs of the Ancient Egyptians. One lives as long as one's name is spoken.) But the plain fact of the matter is that remembering someone does not make them any less dead. You'll still never see them or speak to them or touch them again. Memories of a loved one may be comforting to some people, but may also simply be painful.

I feel like we the playerbase are quick to balk at the way the Alexandrians live simply because it's so different from how we live. And I think we should all be wary of such knee jerk reactions. There's a lot more I could say on this subject but I will refrain for now.

Gulool Ja and his Parentage

Possibly the most disturbing thing about the Alexandrians' response to the plot is that they don't really seem to care that they are now ruled by default by Zoraal Ja's mystery child and that his cabinet is a bunch of nominal terrorists. They are truly lucky that Gulool Ja is a precious angel instead of a spoiled brat.

That said, I love that little blue guy to pieces and I'm glad he got some screen time and some tentative answers. I was also thrilled to have Zoraal Ja appear voiced and all. Ono Daisuke does just a brilliant job voicing him. I really enjoy listening to him.

It's hardly surprising that Zoraal Ja had a fangirl/stalker. But it's a shame Gulool Ja's mom was such a creep. Considering how shocked and angry Zoraal Ja was at the sight of his baby, the whole situation seems really messed up. And that's not even getting into the human experimentation that Zoraal Ja was responsible for and the mom (whose name I forget) was deeply involved in. I hope Gulool Ja can process it all with the help of his new family.

Koana

The disturbing revelations about Gulool Ja are a direct contrast to the positive development Koana experiences. While the interlude in Shaaloani might seem like it has little to do with the overall plot, I found it an enjoyable side adventure.

The main themes of Dawntrail are about learning to appreciate different cultures and here we have another example. Koana reconecting with his roots and learning about his parents but realizing that even though he grew up without those things, he wasn't truly lacking anything was super wholesome. Also it was fun watching him get to be a badass.

Oh hey, before I move on, how about that Erenville glow up? Bringing the guns out and everything. SE knows their fans.

Sphene

Well, that was unexpected. Considering the technology that Alexandria posesses, this could go any number of ways.

Given the Sinister Smile at the end, it certainly seems there's a Plot Afoot. On the other hand, what what that final bit in Living Memory? Perhaps we're going to get two Sphenes next patch. The fake? one and the real? one. Though of course considering the nature of Sphene who can truly say what would be a fake and what would be real. Does it matter? If the terminals are all shut down, what can Sphene (or whoever is behind her) actually do? Doesn't Gulool Ja have control of everything? Or has the ruler being in control always been an illusion? Are we ever going to do anything about the dome? Is this the first time Sphene has woken up this way?

So many questions and not even any real basis for speculation yet. Suffice to say, the story still has me hooked. I'm going to have a hard time waiting for the next patch!

[fdelopera]

First of all, I love your blog and I'm glad I followed you. Sending you support and comfort on this difficult day.

Second of all, I saw your tags about 10/7 being the Jewish people's 9/11 (which is true) and it reminded me of a thought that's been bouncing around my head.

I grew up in the greater New York area. 9/11 happened when I was in elementary school and I have very clear memories of the attacks and the aftermath.

For the first few days, people hoped that their loved ones in the twin towers had survived and we just lost. So they put up missing posters in New York City, eerily similar to the hostage posters we have today.

The main difference is that no one would have dared tear those 9/11 posters down.

Maybe it was different because the attack was right in the same city where those posters were put up, maybe it happened but the news didn't pick it up, maybe it's because I was a child then and I'm an adult now. 2001 and 2023-4 are practically different worlds.

Sorry for dumping in your blog, I've just been thinking about this for a while.

Thank you for your message. I love your blog too. And I'm sending you support and comfort, and solidarity! As dark as this last year has been, the thing that's gotten me through has been seeing other Jews fighting back against the antisemitic bigotry we face, and being a light to other Jews.

I was living near NYC during 9/11, too. I was living in New York State, about a half-hour away from the City by train. And I knew a lot of people in NYC who were there during the terrorist attack. I had an older friend whose husband was a firefighter — he wasn't one of the firefighters who died that day during the heroic rescue efforts, but he was part of the crew at Ground Zero in the months that followed, searching for bodies and cleaning up the toxic debris. I don't know what happened to him after that time, but I can only assume that he had the same life-long health complications that other firefighters did — the people who survived the attack but died slowly from the toxins they were exposed to at Ground Zero during the cleanup.

And I know exactly what you mean. The posters of the missing people that families put up, as the families searched desperately for news of their loved ones.

Those posters were sacred. No one in NYC would have DARED take a single one of those posters down.

In fact, no one in America would have dared desecrate one of those posters — and if they had, they would have been publicly shamed and shunned. Everyone across America knew about those posters. Everyone was rooting for the people on those posters to still be alive and to come home, no matter how bleak the chances were for their survival.

And so, it is DISGUSTING to see how fast goyim in the US have seemingly forgotten. These goyim in the US who have filled themselves with Jew-hate and twisted themselves into monsters — they truly revolt me.

Everyone in the US was affected by 9/11. And yet these goyim are now running around like a bunch of zombies, pretending that they have no idea what it's like to live through a terrorist attack. They're pretending like they've never seen posters with the faces of missing people who have been taken away by terrorists.

But we all know that they haven't forgotten. Not really. They’re just pretending that they’ve forgotten so they can have "justification" to sate their thirst for Jewish blood. These goyim are self-absorbed, egotistical monsters who hate Jews, and they want an "excuse" to celebrate when Jews are slaughtered.

Here's the reality — if terrorists attacked NYC again, a lot of these goyim would care about that.

And yes, there are many of them who are so depraved and so brainwashed that they would cheer as terrorists slaughtered their neighbors. They wouldn’t care — unless the terrorists murdered them and their family, of course!

But not all of these goyim are so far gone. Not all of them have descended that deep into the Hamasnik cult. And they would at least care about their lives.

And they would demand for the world to care, too.

And the world SHOULD care.

The world should ALWAYS care when people are brutally slaughtered by Islamist terrorists led by scum like Bin Ladin, Sinwar, Nasrallah, and fucking Ayatollah Khamenei who are trying to burn the world down for their own profit.

The memory of 9/11 should be multi-generational, like Pearl Harbor is. Parents should teach their children and their grandchildren about that day. Everyone should know about those posters. Everyone should know that when you see posters of missing people, you don't fucking rip them down.

And everyone should know that if you rip down posters of kidnapped Jews who have been taken captive by terrorists, that act automatically makes you the worst kind of monster. If you rip down the poster of a Jewish hostage, you are just as much of a monster as if you ripped down one of the 9/11 posters.

One thing I’ve learned about Jew-haters from studying the Shoah is that they do know right from wrong, and yet they choose to do wrong. They are cruel and monstrous, and the reason they attack Jews is for the perverse thrill it gives them. They are malicious. And most of all, they are pathetic.

They are filled with nihilism. That’s been another thing I’ve observed about Jew-haters. They are lazy and spiteful and jealous. And instead of working to make the world a better place for themselves and those around them, they want to rip it all down, because they feel that if they can't get what they want, no one else should have a day of comfort either.

They are attacking Jews because we are a source of good in the world. We are a source of light. They see our hope and our love, they see our connection to our 3500+ years of history, they see our determination to outlive our enemies, and they want to destroy that out of their own nihilism, bitterness, and selfish despair.

And we will survive every single one of them. Long after these Hamasniks are gone, long after the world has forgotten their names, we Jews will still be here.

We will outlive them. Am Yisrael Chai.