#you don't have to like what they're doing but you don't really have grounds to make them feel shitty over it

[rametarin]

This approach is so tone deaf that I'm facepalming.

They keep acting as if those evil evil boys are being brainwashed by Andrew Tate and Alex Jones because of weird mind-perverting fascism rays shooting out of their smartphones, and that's why they need to mandatorily shine counter-propaganda into their faces while banishing "harmful" figures from the algorithm. It's utterly psychotic. On par with the state trying to banish LGBT themes for fear it'll "turn the kids gay."

Except, ideologically, the people trying to own the pillar of progressivism, are demanding everybody bow to one specific interpretation of how anti-racism, anti-sexism and anti-gender bigotry works, under what pretense, and if you don't conform to that specific model, you're just in favor of concentration camps and white supremacism. To the tune where if you disregard their absolutist vision of privilege theory, class struggle their and other self-masturbatory old wives tools of "analysis" (nothing of the sort), then they declare you to just be a bigot.

The election results do not even show that the country is getting "more right wing." At least, not really. The results show that the very un-liberal people using beliefs and standards rooted in Marxist dialectics and philosophy are trying VERY hard to express dominance over the party and how it drafts legislation on what grounds, and many otherwise liberal, progressive people rejecting that, leaving them without a home.

It's showing that while not being democratically elected so much as appointed and sneaking around democracy in the democratic side, the hard-left are alienating many young men by telling them THEY are the problem, whatever they do, and that they shouldn't get a say or be treated like equals because "their demographic oppresses women." They get shouted down and shut out of any discussions among leftists based on this, purely on the basis of, "YOU'RE PRIVILEGED, NO SPEECH FOR OPPRESSORS. SHUT UP. CONFORM OR GO SIT WITH THE REPUBLICANS."

Not only does it drive young men away from the left, it leaves them feeling like maybe the only place for actual anti-discrimination is the right wing. How do I know? SURPRISE SURPRISE, THEY'VE BEEN DOING THIS BULLSHIT SINCE THE 80S, BY MY WATCH!

And then they have the audacity to twist and spin these figures this way to make it seem like maybe American boys are just going "HRMM THIS FASCISM THING SURE SOUNDS GREAT I LOVE WHITE SUPREMACY AND HATE MINORITIES."

This gap they could conceivably be falling through, which is a fraction of the size they're describing it as, is a gap of their own making, specifically to poison the well of just whom and why they have opposition. And full impunity to characterize those whom disagree with them.

And this is why Trump&Co. continues to win, and why the liberals will eventually kick these hard-leftists out of their avenues to affect the party. They're revisionists and biased, borderline liars, deliberately cooking the figures trying to make their echo chamber fantasies about Nazis growing like fungus on every surface, every wall, in every corner.

I couldn't have said it better myself.

[7s3ven]

Hear me out guys… retired soldiers now bodyguards! task force 141 x spoiled heiress! reader

( just an idea )

You’re like, a nutcase. Your father adores you but sometimes you can go out of control. Like for instance, the time you jumped off a cliff into the ocean below to impress a boy.

Yeah, your father wasn’t very impressed with your behaviour.

On top of your recklessness, your father has enemies who always seem to target you. You’re his obvious weakness and he can’t spend another moment of anxiously wondering if you’re okay while he’s working.

So, he hires the best bodyguards he can find. And they turn out to be retired soldiers from an elite unit known as Task Force 141. Perfect.

You don’t take kindly to being continuously followed by four large men who don’t even try to be subtle. It’s not like taking care of you is easy either. You’re a troublemaker, you always have been since your mother left you for another family (your reckless tendencies tend to stem from the fact that you’re causing trouble to get her to notice you again).

Task Force 141 has had enough when you attempt to sneak out of the house to a party on a Friday night. But it seems apart from shopping and acting like a brat, you aren’t good at anything else.

They hear a crash and someone swearing loudly before you roll off the roof, landing in the bushes right outside the window where the four men have a perfect view of you. They were watching a football came until you interrupted.

Jonny bursts into laughter, slapping Gaz out of amusement, while Price fetches you and forces you back inside.

“You know, your house has a back door for a reason.” Simon utters as he cleans your scratches but there’s a mocking indication to his tone.

“Yeah but like, going out the window felt more cool.” You argue back, furrowing your eyebrows.

“Was it cool when you face planted into the ground?”

You can only pout in annoyance.

From then on, they don’t leave you alone, especially not on Friday nights. You have to deal with being squished between Price and Simon as they watch a boring documentary on… fish? Jonny definitely chose that one.

But hey, you aren’t exactly complaining. Being stuck between the two men means being able to feel their muscles and smell their strong cologne. You tolerate the four men more after they cleaned your scratches from landing in a bush and carried you to your bed.

And so what if you catch feelings? Anybody else in your position would have done the same.

“We can’t date ya, lovie. We’re too old and we work for your dad.”

Do you care? Not really.

“My dad literally hired you because I was a troublemaker. Ya think I give a shit? ‘Sides, the older the better.”

Jonny jabs a thumb in Price’s direction, “Even the captain? You should’ve seen ‘im in his prime. Way better looking.” He hands you a picture that he just happens to have of Price.

You glance at it then lift your head to look at Price. Your lips curve into a teasing smile. “Yeah, you’re right. What happened, Captain?” You joke.

INCORRECT QUOTES FOR THE LAUGHS:

Kidnapper, negotiating with TF 141: We have the annoying heiress. Give us ten thousand dollars and they will be returned to you unharmed

Y/N: Whoa, whoa, wait, you think I’m only worth ten thousand dollars. MAKE IT ONE MILLION–

Price: Y/N, STOP

Simon: Can I be frank with you guys?

Jonny: Sure, but I don’t see how changing your name is gonna help.

Gaz: Can I still be Gaz?

Y/N: Shh, let Frank speak.

Gaz: In your opinion, what’s the height of stupidity?

Simon: *turning to Y/N* How tall are you?

Price: Where's Simon, Gaz, and Y/N?

Jonny: They're playing hide and seek.

Price: Where?

Jonny: I don't think you get how this game works.

Y/N: You really put aside everything and came all this way for me? How did you even get here so fast?

Simon: Several traffic violations.

Gaz: Three counts of resisting arrest.

Jonny: Roughly thirteen cans of energy drinks.

Price: Also, that’s not our car.

[nevertheless-moving]

Considering the amount of emotional and moral nuance he managed to muster up immediately post Guanyin temple (despite having a terrible week and zero good role models) AND considering his front row seat to the dissection of Jiang Wanyin and Wei Wuxian’s downfall, I think that in a time travel fix-it, Jin Ling would actually be pretty successful at brute forcing yunmeng family therapy.

I mean he'd probably cry, but even that would be good! Because 1) modeling negative male emotions beside anger, and 2) Oh shit that’s shije’s kid we made Shije’s son cry, fuck, fuck! Bam! Instant high ground! Also he has the most authority of any second gen character by virtue of the fact that he could pull “DO YOU WANT MY MOM TO DIE??? BECAUSE YOU TWO ACTING LIKE MORONS IS WHAT GOT MY MOM KILLED! NOW SIT DOWN AND SPIT OUT ALL YOUR FUCKING SECRETS OR MY MOM WILL DIE AND I’LL BREAK YOUR FUCKING LEGS!!” It would work! Tell me it wouldn't work!

Not to mention once he gets a few sect leader years under his belt, he might be the best person to manage a fix-it, in general. He's got perspective. He's got political training. Others might get too caught up on the specifics of the Wen remnants or the Ying Tiger Tally or Vengeance against One Person or Another — Jin Ling is critiquing the basic structure of how Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng are living their lives and he's getting away with it.

He would even be good at dealing with Jin Guangyao, the slipperiest motherfucker in the timeline. Jin Ling's got as good a handle as anyone on his motivations, and he has sincere (if messy) affection for him, which would hit Guangyao right in his weak spot. Depending on your headcanons it may or may not be in vain, but he's got a real chance of getting the man to set some more modest and less destructive life goals.

Similarly, I think he'd do a pretty decent job at a harsh-but-fair critique of Xichen's neutrality and Mingue's rigidity and Huissang's delibrate uselessness, though getting them to listen would be more of a crapshoot.

All of this makes it especially funny how badly he would handle Wangxian.

For context: Wei Ying and Hunguang-jun are not just the gayest people Jin Ling has ever met, they are the gayest people he's ever HEARD of.

He wouldn't want to bring it up. He wouldn't mean to. He doesn't want to talk about it. But when he inevitably calls Wei Ying a mild slur only to be met with genuine bafflement Jin Ling would completely lose his shit.

Because I don't think Wei Ying is going to get offended, or defensive, or have a response that his nephew could coherently mock. Wei Wuxian probably thinks these time traveling guys are actually pretty funny! Him and Whom?? Not even a serious topic of contention. You got me for a second, haha.

Jin Ling would break. Wei Ying says the Xianxia equivalent of "I'm straight? Obviously?" and Jin Ling would nod once, scream, then climb across the table to strangle him.

It's — look. How do you fucking explain that all of the worst moments of your life were, in someway or another, characterized by Wei Wuxian and Lan Wanjii being FLAMBOYANTLY into one another.

The man who saved his life also killed his father and Jin Ling stabs him but it feels awful and — ok Lan Wanjii is cradling Wei Wuxian tenderly. Ok they're just going to go. They're leaving like that. Hunguang Jun was — is — was the Yiling Patriarch's widow, so that's another layer to add onto everything else. Hunguang-Jun is visibly expressing emotions with his face and voice and Jin Ling is going to go throw up now

Jin Ling's kidnapped at the burial mounds and everyone’s lost their spiritual energy and all his friends and family are going to die and — those two are smiling at eachother. They're telling inside jokes. They're holding hands.

Jin disciple's (his own clans disciples) just shot at him and and Xiao-shushu really is what people sa— WEI YING SHOUTS ABOUT WANTING TO FUCK LAN WANJII

THEY ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF BEING KIDNAPPED AND HE DOES THIS

Jujiu is bleeding from the stomach and crying he's bleeding and crying his jujiu is doing that and Xiao-shushu caused it and his whole life is a lie and Hunguang Jun and the Yiling Patriarch are visibly groping in a corner.

And then they never stop groping again. Forever.

So yeah, I'm fairly confident that if Jin Ling had to be even peripherally involved with coaching Wei Wuxian through a bisexual awakening and homoerotic courtship, he would explode. He would black out with rage. He'd make an honest and embarrassingly unsuccessful attempt at killing Lan Zhan. He would walk into a lotus pond and stay there until he drowned. He'd start heavy drinking. He'd punch a random passerby in the dick.

In conclusion, Need More Jin Ling Time Travel Fics

[mintmatcha]

happy birthday aizawa i know he can't wait to come home and cream you

You're already washed up and under the covers by the time Shouta makes it back to his house. The keys rattle as he places them in the bowl by the door, his groans as he peels off his shoes, then he whistles low, calling the cats.

A birthday cake is waiting for him in the kitchen, but instead, he goes to the stairs. They creak under his weight, twelve steps in total- a sound you miss when you're at your apartment. Shouta comes into the bedroom, already halfway through unbuttoning his shirt. His eyes crinkle with delight when he sees you, nestled among his blankets as if you belong here.

"Hi, birthday boy," you say. "You should go have some dinner."

There's a flutter of an eyeroll, diluted by his smirk. "Where are Sushi and Sesame?"

You point to the two lumps under the covers, one at your feet, the other at your side. "You know where."

How quickly things become normal with him. There's still no label for what between you - no 'girlfriend', no 'partner', just the two of you, together- but there's the stability of a routine. His spare key is looped on to your keychain, a drawer by the bed is reversed just for you. Even the cats have become comfortable around you.

The shirt gets discarded on the ground. Before you can complain, he scoops down and picks it up, tossing it into the laundry basket. You've already trained him well.

"Can you kick them out?" he asks.

"Say please."

"Please."

You don't move. Instead, you pout your lips together and bat your eyes. Shouta leans against the door frame, brow raised skeptically.

"But they're so cozy, Shou." You giggle your toes and Sushi beeps in protest. "And warm."

He trudges over and pinches at your feet through the covers. The movement is enough to awake the beast; a paw hits back through the comforter and Shouta chuckles.

"There's no space for me," he points out. "It's my birthday."

"You should really have dinner before you go to bed." you say. Aizawa's hand is walking up your leg, fumbling through the blanket. "You're too skinny."

There's a squeeze when he reaches your knee.

"I'm trying to have dessert first." Shouta's voice has dipped down low. "I bet you're just wearing panties under there, aren't you?"

He's right. You're in his favorite pair, the one that pishes to the side easily, but you'll never admit it. Instead, you hook your finger in the 'come here' motion.

"Mm, come and find out."

"Kick the cats out of the bed."

"Can't you?"

He squeezes your knee again, but this time, it's playful. "I don't want to be the bad guy."

"Neither do I!" You throw a hand over your heart indignantly. "I'm just their stepmom!"

Aizawa sits up a bit. His expression goes a bit wider, a bit softer.

"Stepmom?" He says it like it holds weight, like it means something. Maybe it does. Maybe the undefined terms of your relationship are becoming a bit more salient, maybe you're cementing yourself by his side.

"Well," Shouta rolls a shoulder, trying to stay casual as he speaks. "They love their step mom very much."

Neither have you have said that word before. The L One. The one that changes this causal thing into a real relationship. You have to look away for a moment, process what you should say next.

"Well," you say, hand over Sesame's lump of a form. "I love them too."

[thekindlygrammarfairy]

The only thing that seems like it'd work is fixing public education. I remember when I was maybe 12, my class was taken into the library and taught basic internet searching skills, how to spot unreliable websites, and so on. None of it was new to me, but having it presented in an official capacity made me think about it more often and harder from then on.

I had assignments that revolved around research, which taught me a bunch of stuff about how to find good information.

Hell, even the ability to type at a reasonable pace is something I picked up from school.

So, what schools are like these days is going to be speculation, I don't know what's up, and it's going to vary wildly from place to place. But here's my best guess:

Schools, at least in the US, have been slowly bleeding talent, money, and respect since the start of the pandemic. Essentially, kids are left to self-educate. I like teaching myself stuff via online tutorials and stuff, but that only works because I have the necessary self-discipline and underlying skills. It seems like in most schools, everyone is in survival mode, and a lot of stuf that would have been taught because it's "The Right Thing To Do" is hitting the cutting room floor. Nevada's elections are having an issue with young people not being able to sign their names, for example, because we cut cursive teaching. I don't think of cursive as particularly useful, but some things are written in it - and being able to sign your name is of obvious importance.

Services like Instagram and Tiktok are appealing because of their ease of use, and the network effect, and their ability to direct you into a hyperspecific niche. But the time and energy spent in these apps and services (having tried both, they can be incredibly overwhelming) is not spent socializing in a real, tangible community. On Tiktok specifically, it seems like it's actively harder to do something as basic as learn a creator's name. For example, Amaury Guichon's name is on every one of his tiktoks, but everyone calls him Chocolate Guy. This is not true of any other creator I'm aware of. The experiences are smaller and less lasting than any other media, but are the most readily accessible.

The "I don't want to pay money for internet anything" culture is strong, with my generation and younger. Even if quality stuff is out there, we don't want it, because it's behind a 99 cent paywall. Part of this is the soft age-wall for getting a credit card, but part of this is just stubbornness. New York Times and Washington Post, both respected and reasonably-truthful newspapers, are paywalled, but Conservative """Newspaper""" du jour are free. When I see a paywall on a newspaper, my first instinct is to get around it, not pay up. A few outlets, like the Guardian, have started working with, rather than against, this behavior, but they're in the minority. The impact of this attitude on creators on platforms like YouTube and Twitch is a whole other discussion, there's some good and some bad. But "old media" (books, movies, TV, etc.) is suffering - and people who should be experiencing that stuff are suffering too.

Third spaces for young people basically don't exist. Why exactly this is is a long conversation, but the result is that everyone's on their dang phones, even if they'd get along really well with someone who lives half a block away.

Because of all of the above, patience is not a virtue most of us have. On the internet, anything you don't like can be out of your face in seconds, and there's always an infinite void of content to gorge yourself on. In meatspace, not so much. I don't think the "zoomer attention span" is real, I think it's more along the lines of Gen Z have not been taught to tolerate mild discomfort very well. The effects of this on social organizing patterns is... bad.

The result of all of this is that young people (and I'm part of this) don't have solid social ground to stand on. Everything is online platforms and services that are fickle, fragile, and can't be negotiated with. Finding friends is difficult, and everyone's social skills are atrophied to some extent.

How do we fix this? Fund schools, make spaces for young people to hang out in, and find tunnels out of doomscrolls. I've seen a promising trend in YouTube shorts of people linking longer related videos to pull people out of that infinite scroll.

And tumblr is a good example of this. We have a mix of shallow and deep content, and a culture that's not flexible, malleable, and disposable in the same way that TikTok's is.

I am concerned for gen z. Like I don't think they're doing okay. I think algorithms and a systematic denial of easy access to facts because of Internet enshittification has made them unbelievably miserable with very little sense of how warped their online experience is. Idk how to fix it.

[factual-fantasy]

27 Asks! Thank you! :}} 🤡

I'm on the fence about it..

While I've poured a lot of effort into my redesigns and would love to show them off.. at the same time I don't want a repeat of Octonauts were everyone just disrespects my boundaries and copies my designs line for line. And sometimes worse, copies them and claims that they made the designs themselves.

TADC is pretty popular right now so I just think posting full ref sheets is not a good idea 💀

@beryl-shade @chickenheadguy

Yeah for a while there I didn't know anything about the game and only had OCs. Buuuuut I wanted to make proper grounded lore for my cookies, aaaand I loved the canon cookies designs so much that I just bit the bullet and dowloaded OvenBreak, Kingdom and Tower of Adventures.

I didn't like the gameplay for OvenBreak and abandoned that game pretty quick. I became OBSESSED with Kingdom and I still haven't tried Tower of adventures-

I have a very bad perception of time.. but my guess is I've been playing CookieRun: Kingdom for at least 2-3 weeks or so.. ? Its been a blast so far :)))

@wolfie-777

I've been drawing for as long as I can remember.. so I cant pin point exactly what my first OC was.. but in this OC challenge here, you can see one of the oldest that I can remember! :0 (There's no way he was ACTUALLY my very first one <XDD )

I've been to many different doctors in attempt to find the problem. <:( They believe they've found it. So now its just a matter of trying to treat it. 😔

@sergioho45

Only if they come with syrup and butter 👁️👁️

Thank you <:')) I've been doing my best to take it easy and stay away from Tumblr for a bit.. I'm hoping I get my confidence back soon and can return with some more TADC stuff <:}}}

@pewpewae (Referencing this post)

Thank you.. that means a lot to me 🥹💞💞

@caprico54

THEY WHAT

@milmaxtor

THANK YOU!! :DD AND AWWWW I WANT TO KISS THE KITTY ON THE FOREHEADDDD

@captain-skyler1987

YOU ARE THE COW??

@spookycolorooooo

Awe! Thank you! :}} AND AWW THEY'RE SO CUTEEE 😭😭😭

(Referencing this post)

There's also evidence to suggest that he wasn't dubbing my comic "for fun" or just as a "gift". It looks more like he was using it to expand his portfolio. Pretty scummy.

Also thankfully I haven't had any of his supporters flood my ask box, But I'd been on the look out for them.

@youlikwjazz004

I've watched a few of the movies but I don't really remember them <:/ my only opinion is "WOW that thing is very weirdly shaped" XDD

@lostlornghost

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do with this information <XD

@misscherrypie

<:'}} Thank you so much! Your guys's support means the world to me😭😭

@knifecatss

The first thing that came to mind is that she loves to eat! XDD

@zboigames

While I'm glad you likes my Mario stuff, the ask button and my pinned post says I don't take requests!

@milmaxtor

AWWW I LOVE HER SHES SO SILLYY!!!

Realllll 😭😭for me I'd want the cautious and swift dark cacao warriors to be playable considering their role in beast yeast..

@ardent-38

Thank you! :DD Also I have not seen that movie <:((

(Also you thought of me? Awe,,🥹🥹)

So am I <XD I present to you!,

A crunch bar! :))

:Dd Thank you! I hope your Halloween/Friday was good too! :))

🥺...... Dark Cacoaaaaaa.....

(Link in asks)

Oh no... the lore is getting complicated...

Wait, don't you mean OvenBreak? They don't look like that in CookieRun: Kingdom..

Yeah so I've seen, but I'm not interested in Golden Cheese 😅 I like Dark Cacoa :)))

GAH! I BEEN BOOPED!

[imaginespazzi]

Nivi I am so glad that you are back and talking about basketball 😭😭 I am seeing so many “Passive Paige” posts on Twitter and even on here, and I’m like we cannot be doing this every fucking game… like do people not understand team basketball. And literally our issue last year was running Paige to the fucking ground. Why do that this year when we have the luxury of PLAYERS for the first time in a longggg time?

I just find the Passive Paige argument in general to be a little overexaggerated. There were exactly three games last year where you could accuse Paige of being truly passive. The Texas game, the Notre Dame game, and the last one which unfortunately just happened to be the most important game of the season, was Iowa. I don't excuse her performance in any of those games and I'm sure neither does she, but it really doesn't warrant the amount of criticism that has been heaped on her.

Like last year, this girl game back from a terrible injury and got the weight of the whole world put on her.

She absolutely should not have that weight on her every game this year. Did y'all see her smile at half time? I don't think I saw Paige smile like that once last year.

But beyond that, y'all are not listening to these press conferences. The team needs to learn to play without Paige as well. It's a big issue that Geno keeps on harping on. Her forcing a takeover when they're up 50 on a mediocre team just to statpad helps absolutely no one. It tires her out and it takes away her teammates opportunities to be better.

That being said, there was exactly one point in the game where I was annoyed at Paige and it was in the 3rd quarter drought when she passed up a shot because Sarah was heating up. That can't happen in a big game but until it does, I'm going to choose to believe in what Paige has said.

[mvmnbnv]

All this stuff as far as vi and her skins plus the way they're going about her arc with caitlyn just makes her come off as pathetic...like really.

You're on the ground crying while eating cupcakes lmao??

They were gonna put a cupcake on her jacket???

She's over here hallucinating her tits off about no one but caitlyn??

And do we see any of the same stuff with caitlyn at all? No. Not in her skins, not in what media they do release. This all feels one sided and it makes me feel even more icky about the ship and makes me pray they don't make her as pathetic as they've already hinted at making her this season.

Like Goddamn vi where's your dignity??? Did you lose it when you put on that uniform??? You were literally someone's pride and joy once. People looked up to you...where'd this pathetic attitude come from? I hope I'm wrong and they have her move tf on in some way cuz Jesus christ its embarrassing to see really. And for someone from piltover....like bro I used to not care and say it didn't matter but now it bothers me

Hoping it's a break her down completely and build her back up kinda thing .

[emilianadarling]

You can't reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into is a really, really important message that needs to be internalized.

Feelings don't care about your facts.

In Doppleganger, Naomi Klein characterizes conspiracy culture as often "getting the facts wrong, but the feelings right". And when there are real unaddressed issues, real things people are feeling, it leaves a vacuum. And that vacuum leaves a lot of space for misinformation and disinformation to take hold; for right-wing strategists to speak to those feelings, even if the 'solution' they're offering will actually make the problem worse.

And it's very hard to combat that problem with facts, especially when the act of doing so is interpreted as telling someone that what they're feeling isn't real.

If facts don't work, what does? There is no easy answer, but here are some learnings gained from others who have lived through or studied similar challenges:

Narratives: Hannah Arendt was a German-American Jew and political theorist; after WWII, she wrote extensively about totalitarianism. She argued that narratives can be more compelling and convincing to people who are more moved by feelings than they are factual data. For those people, the consistency of the narrative built by lies/propaganda is more compelling; once they have bought into that narrative, they will go to extreme lengths to ignore facts that contradict it. When lies are repeated over and over, it enforces that sense of consistency over time. A compelling narrative grounded in truth can be more compelling and effective than 'facts'.

Stories, Not Silence: Naomi Klein, a Canadian author and activist, has written about various topics over the years but most recently published "Doppleganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World" about COVID-era political polarization and conspiracy theories. She argues that to drain conspiracy theories of their energy and power, we need to be better at telling stories about topics and concepts that have become dominated by the right rather than ceding that space with leftist silence. She also argues that we need to become better at connecting in person, or at least connecting in a way where we are less vulnerable and susceptible to lies about each other.

Connection and an Envisioned Better Future: Timothy Snyder is an author and leading scholar on tyranny, freedom, and Soviet Russia. He argues that authoritarian regimes depend on people getting used to hearing the things they want to hear, and in moving people further away from shared facts we all agree on and towards emotion - either emotion to divide us, or to bring us together. Over time, the strong emotions and repetition of what you want to hear changes you: from a person who cares about facts and can function in the public sphere/democracy to a person who can't. Authoritarians argue that no one can be trusted and there are no facts - but if there are no facts, it's all emotion. It's all what feels right to us -- and we cede the field to people who are good at making things feel right to us. Fantasy becomes better than facts. Changing this means both a positive vision/fantasy for the future of the country and collective action. Collective action is hard, but possible: it means connecting with people in real life, talking with people we disagree with -- and it doesn't have to be everyone all at once. "If 10,000 little groups do 5,000 little things, that will make a tremendous difference."

This isn't comprehensive by any means, but there are some shared themes. Other important elements -- like trust and how to rebuild trust that has been damaged or broken -- are also critical, but would warrant an entire post of their own.

Thanks to OP for the hard but worthwhile prompting thoughts. The road ahead will not be easy, and it can be hard to understand or grapple with perspectives so different and detached that it can feel like we're living in alternate realities instead of the same country as each other. When the things that seem to have such wild appeal to a certain portion of the population are so viscerally repellent to others. But at least we are gifted with the learnings and hard-won insights of other who came before or walk alongside us.

The article 10 Ways to Be Prepared and Grounded Now That Trump Has Won provides good advice here. First, trust yourself. Find others you can trust. Grieve. Release that which you cannot change. Find your path to resistance.

But then, at minimum -- even if you yourself don’t want to engage with them (which is fine) -- we’ll all have to give space to those who can and do experiment with new language to appeal to others who don’t share our own worldviews.

I think it's important to understand that the vast majority of voters do not spend much time thinking through their political decisions because it's simply not something that occupies much space in their minds. You can't reason someone out of a position they didn't reason themselves into, and it's extremely difficult to fight feelings with facts.

Now that the Democratic party's inner core is highly-educated cosmopolitan urbanites, it seems to have lost the ability to deal with that reality.

Most people do not feel like trump is a fascist, or that he wants to be a dictator. Most people do not feel like any of Biden's massive legislative/executive accomplishments improved their lives at all. Most people do not feel like Harris's platform would've actually gotten done or helped them. Most people feel like Trump ran a better economy and that it's Democrats' fault that inflation got so bad.

In an individualistic, selfish nation with one of the worst education systems in the industrialized world, a political party cannot win by serving up a charcuterie board of various poll-tested policies that it then tries to explain to people who could not care less and don't understand anyway. It needs to create an overwhelming feeling, a feeling that changes the minds of people who don't give a fuck about anything but themselves and their wallets. Trump found that overwhelming feeling. Through bravado, cruelty, and levity, he created this zeitgeist of blunt, confident grievance that countless prideful people who feel left behind by the economy could grab onto. This feeling inspired people far beyond his cult of enthusiastic fascists and self-identified bigots.

The country chose trump because Trump's brand, vibe, and message inspired compelling emotions in more people, especially in people who have no interest in civic engagement, don't follow the news, and have been given little understanding of government/economics by our failing education system.

This problem wasn't fully apparent in 2022 during the midterms, when more low-propensity voters stayed home and highly-educated, highly-engaged people made up more of the electorate.

[threepandas]

After The War: Foxx Hunting (Prev <-)

"Commander."

On anyone else, the tone would suggest simple statement. But there was a lilt. A slight inflection, I had long learned to spot, at the end of the word. That made it a greeting. A call. Monotone filled with subtle, near untraceable mocking.

"Tired of running yet, Commander? Or do you want to struggle more? You can, if you want. I can let you. We have time. After all, it really won't change much. There's no where you can go."

Head tilted ever so slightly, at an almost an invisible angle. Posture, military perfect, impossibly so. That perfection bought with pain, torture, born out of brutal necessity. His lips quirked, in an amused curl. At just that same, impossibly slight amount. Too small and indistinct for his tormentors to notice. To take from him.

Just enough to stay human, I had thought. Too stay sane, I had hoped.

I was wrong.

My biggest mistake hunted me. Had all the power in the GALAXY now, to hunt me. All the time he could ever dream, in which to do so. And it was all my fault. Me. It had to be. I... I was the only thing that changed. Tried to make things... things BETTER!

How arrogant. Hubristic. Who the fuck was I? To think I had the RIGHT, to shape and change the fate of an entire GALAXY to my whims? I didn't even know the story. Had been GUESSING, based off STAR WARS. So... so fucking confident. A-and what did that get me? Oh god. O-Oh god!

The blaster burns on my arms and legs screamed, as I forced myself up, one more time. Always, please god, always! J-just one more time! Don't give out on me yet. Not.. not until we are safe. Then. Then! We can cry. Howl and weep, break down and scream.

(My fault. My Fault. MY FAUL-)

None of the characters were an exact match. People were and weren't where they should be. Plots happened out of sequence or not at all. So why? WHY? Did I believe so hard in the Clones? IS it because I loved, still LOVE, the Vode? Did that trust transfer? That emotional connection? Was I tricked? Or was I just a fool? Does it MATTER in the end? If the result is the same?

I brought a monster, straight to Power.

Now they're dead. All my brothers, my sisters, my mentors and friends. Dead, dead, DEAD! Glowing weapons on the ground and a temple filled with DEATH. D-Did the nurseries get out? Please, oh god, let the children have survived my mistake.

Blood stains my robes. Only a tiny fraction of it, is mine.

Sticky and slick, oily and so many colors. The blood does not mix. Too many species, too much ash from the air. If I do not clean or remove it soon? I am likely to get chemical burns, from the reactions developing on the cloth. But again and again. My mistake finds me. A pursuit predator. Intent on wearing me down.

"How long will you try, Commander? You know just as well as I do, that I can afford to wait you out. You'll drop eventually." His tone was so mild, even as his words were horrifying. Overhead, a transport kept steady pace, as I desperately ran from commandos on the streets. "How many days has it been without proper rest? Rations? To stop and think? We've survived far worse then this, Commander. For far longer. We can endure, can you?"

I pull my magic around me, through my screaming legs, to fling myself across a jump they shouldn't be able to make.

Despair surges, as behind me... I hear jetpacks. Ah. They've gotten better gear, at long last. E-Everything I've ever wished for them. Gear and food and safety, at long last! A-At long last. I have to laugh, hysterical and afraid. I just... I just never thought my wish? Would be fulfilled for the purpose of hunting me down.

(I'm so tired. Please, god. No more. Let it stop. Let this nightmare END!)

Jumping, I land in a roll on a level several floors down. The impact is ugly. Agony on my burns and bruises. I may have not taken any direct hits? But those glancing strikes? Still leave marks. Trails of seared, blistering, blaster burns. Like tiger strips. As though you hade been struck, by whip made of fire. Not to mention the concussion grenades.

Yeah, half way through the attack, the Clones had stumbled. Either broken free of the Not Sith's control or come to their senses, deciding to switch to non-lethal weapons. Probably trying to go for the capture instead of the kill. But given the sheer variety of the Knights? One Being's sedative was another's lethal toxin. And the gas attacks...

I... I'm still not even sure if... if Master Rim'Llahiy survived long enough, to get to the healers. The seizures were BAD. He... he didn't deserve that. All he'd ever done, was keep the gardens. Live a quite life. T...Try to defend his home.

Around me, as I run, screens light up. Somehow, I'm the focal point. I... I don't know how he's doing this. It has to be Sketch or Gear, one of the Slicers. Who else could hack into so many systems so easily? The... the knowledge that they're helping him? That everyone of the Guard is HELPING him hunt me? I feel sick.

Was any of it real? Was I friends with ANY of them? Or... Or was I just them happy little slave master, patting myself on the back, because I didn't beat them, unlike the others? Aren't I gracious. Don't you just love me? Say thank you for my grace. Let me feel good about my self! My pretty little charity of the day! Before I skip back off to fairy land! Leaving you all in hell.

Do I deserve this? I... I have to deserve this... right?

Even though I tried. Even though I fought and fought and FOUGHT. Even when that Not A Sith BASTARD tried to kill me at every turn, just to shut me the fuck up, and I WOULDN'T. Because they deserved to be free. Because it was WRONG. Because we took VOWS, remember? Days and days, convincing and campaigning.

I have to... to somehow, deserve this. Because? B-because if I DON'T?

Then What Have I DONE?

City levels and blocks blur together. I couldn't tell you where on this god forsaken ecumenopolis I am anymore. But the others! The others have gotten off planet by now. Surely... surely! They have escaped! Right? They HAVE too. I-It HAS to have been worth it. Becoming bait. M-making myself a target. This... this one last time?

It.. it was WORTH it. Right? Right?!

Please! Please god! Let it have been WORTH IT!!

I skid around a corner. Too tight, not judging it right in my panic, my shoulder clipping the wall hard. Scraping flesh through my robes. Just more bruises and hurt to add to the pile. I don't slow. Can't slow. Feel it but push the pain away. The crash later will be ugly, when I release the magics flowing through me. When the adrenaline fades. But... but either I will live to endure it? Or it will not matter at all.

Too late, though, I see the trap.

I have been corralled. Like a a sheep from my first life, harried by dogs into a pen. Tricked into a corner. No where left to go. The platform I thought was a street? Was an alley between two buildings, leading to a third. A perfect little killbox with only one way out. I stumble, horrified, as I register the truth too late. Spin, already knowing it's too late to double back. But hoping... HOPING....!

Jetpacks. The commando squadron of the guards, touching down at the entrance, a solid line of armor and skill. Better weapons, jet packs, upgraded armor. They... they even seem rested. For the first time in years.

A stark reversal. Now it is I, who is barely holding on. Now I am the one, who has been ground to dust, by the exhaustion of fighting without end. Of running and running. No real food and no real rest. No medicine. No help coming. I want to laugh, scream, weep. So it's to be poetic justice, is it?

But I can not give in.

Forgive me. But I can not, WILL NOT give in. Body exhausted, I draw my blade. The plasma humming as the magics charge. The alleyway fills with light. I took Vows. Owe my soul to the Galaxy and it's people. Regardless of Regime, I have service I must complete. And to do that? I have to be alive.

(I don't care, that they took over. Let them have it. But how could you? How COULD YOU?! The Temple was my home. I am a hypocrite. Here, at the end, I must face that. And now I know it to be true.)

The ship over head dips lower, kicking up a hurricane of wind. My robes whip around me, but I do not move from my opening stance. Ready, not ready, but resigned to it none the less. The Commandos are a silent wall as, from above, a rip cord descends. Clipped to it? Marshall Commander... no, Supreme Commander Foxx.

The Clones newly elected Emperor.

A man I THOUGHT was my friend.

He looked nothing like Commander Fox of the Vode. Hair too long and curling. Face deceptively young looking and boyish. Non regulation piercing hidden under the helmet all Guards wore, day in and day out. They hadn't been able to customize their armor like the others. So they customized themselves.

He wasn't in armor, now. It was somehow worse. The dress uniform an affront, a reminder, like a curse of broken glass. I... I hadn't even known he owned such a thing. It made sense, given his old position. Yet, somehow... somehow? I doubted this was the uniform he had been given. It looked... looked Regal.

"Are we done, now? Got it out of your system? Or should one of us put you on the ground first? Grind your face right against the filthy floor?"

His voice was mild as ever, as he calmly unclipped himself, let the cord retract. He tucked his hands behind his back. Strolled forward with measured steps, assessing eyes, like a general examining untested troops. Picking me apart for weakness, looking for openings in my stance. Injuries on my body. I had seen him do this before. Just... just never thought... it'd be used... a-against me. (How arrogant, I had been.)

"This can stop at any time, Commander. All you have to do? Is stop running. You don't have to worry anymore. I'm not going to hurt you. We're not going to hurt you. You've struggled long enough, don't you think? It's time to be done. To come home. Be taken care off. That's all we want to do, Darling. Commander."

"Surely you can see, that it's BETTER this way? No more war. No more Knights on sabotaged missions. Diplomats to war zones. Children where they shouldn't BE. The Order can be SAFE now. YOU can be safe now. Loved and precious as you always should have been. It's okay now, Commander. Come here. It's okay..."

Foxx's eyes blazed with conviction. They had been brown, like his brothers. They... oh god, they SHOULD have been brown. But as I stared into his face, at those unfamiliar eyes on what should be so familiar a form? Red stared back. The red, Red, RED, of the Fallen.

Foxx had been... had been Energy Sensitive. The Cloners had fucking LIED, when they said it wasn't possible. I had always suspected. Didn't dare bring attention to it. Didn't want my friend to be... to be KILLED. Experimented on. I should have trained him. Done more.

Desperate people will reach for anything, to stop themselves from drowning. And the Dark offers such tempting things. Vengeance and Power. Freedom, no matter the cost. It pays sweetly then corrupts slow. There is always a cost.

I can not risk it.

Shifting my weight to my front leg, in preparation to surge forward, I never get the chance. A two fold thwip! And sharp pinch in my upper arm. I got the first. But the second... a? Dart? No. NO! Panicked, I flood my body with the magics meant to purge drugs and... instantly the world spins. I have somehow just made it worse. W-what?

"Confiscated from slavers, 'bout five months back. It's a high end drug." The Commando with the dart gun said, as though commentingon the weather. "Fairly new, too. Made to react specifically to the Cosmic Energies. Our esteemed Chancellor, may he rot as he deserves, had them developed through several shell companies."

"Really wish you hadn't done that, Commander. Cause, see, the side effects? Are pretty nasty." Foxx commented. Various helmets nodded, the guards body language sympathetic but lacking any remorse. What ever it took to bring me in. To make me Safe.

"Now you're going to be sick for a while. But on the other hand? You are a stubborn one. So maybe this'll give you time to think, hmm? Time to enjoy the pampering a bit. You'll get used to it, learn to be good for me. I know you. You're a smart girl."

My legs couldn't hold me anymore. Despite struggling, I couldn't keep my blade at the ready. Helplessly, I watched as he watched forward. Used a single finger, on the hilt, to push my blade to the side. The lightest of tugs, stealing it from me entirely. At long last, the tears came. I... I was scared. Really, really scared. P-please... Foxx, please...

"Hunts over, Commander. It's time to stop running. You've lost."

"But, that? That's okay. You can lose now. Be weak. Wretched and pathetic and flawed. You don't have to be perfect any more, Commander. I've got you. You're Mine. Ours. Perfect, just the way you are. And today?"

"Today is the start of the rest of your new life, Commander."

"Welcome to the Empire."

[atopvisenyashill]

What do you think rhaenys dornish letter said? Or as well, what is the most believed/popular theory about what it said? Do you think we'll ever know?

i don't think we'll ever know the truth of it, no.

Most popular theories are

Rhaenys was still alive and and either about to die, being held captive, or had remarried someone else

Rhaenys had a child that was being held hostage by Dorne

Rhaenys' bones had been found

They were threatening Aenys

So what's most likely? Well I'm not sure that the threat to Aenys is likely - I don't think Nymor is going to send his daughter and heir with a letter that's like "neener neener we're gonna put a hit out on your son if you don't back off." That just seems likely to get Deria killed? Look at the terms that go back and forth between the Lannisters and Robb - they're not sending fucking Myrcella or Tommen or Tyrion or Kevan, they're sending like, lesser cousins, in case the person receiving the letter doesn't like the message. I think that goes the same for "we're holding Rhaenys/your child hostage" - in that case, he's likely to just keep Deria as a hostage but he doesn't.

So this leaves a) Rhaenys' bones are being offered as closure or b) Rhaenys willingly wrote the letter for whatever reason. I think the bones theory is the one most believed because it's the neatest and simplest. I don't know that I agree with that though, because why would he not tell Visenya? Why would we not know that Nymor offered her bones up and Aegon agreed to stop the fighting? Why was Deria not taken as a hostage?

So then we get into Rhaenys writing the letter, or part of the letter.

Basically, what my read on this is that-

Rhaenys is found alive by the Ullers and tortured in the Hellholt but crucially she is kept mostly healthy and alive because Meria and the Ullers know she's a useful hostage

They have Rhaenys write some sort of letter to Aegon, like Sansa does in the capital, and it was sent to Meria first to check over or to add some more threats to it in her own hand

When Visenya and Aegon lose their minds and burn Hellholt to the ground, Rhaenys wasn't healthy enough to be moved and died in the fire

Nymor finds the letter (maybe it got lost on the way, maybe Meria had it the whole time but once Rhaenys was dead didn't see the point in sending it, etc etc) and adds his own bit that basically goes "You killed your own wife. Was it worth it?"

Deria goes specifically to ensure that Aegon knows this isn't a threat, this isn't them being full of themselves, it really is a peace offering, and part of that peace offering is that Rhaenys bones - maybe they show signs of being crushed? idk - have been smuggled to Dragonstone

The idea that Rhaenys married someone else, lived long enough to have a child (come on, she would have miscarried when she crashed!), had been tortured into insanity - I just think it's either too soapy or Aegon would have reacted worse. I think Aegon didn't want anyone to find out that he was responsible for Rhaenys' death, maybe even wanted to spare Visenya the knowledge that they had caused it in their anger, and that's why he keeps his mouth shut about it.

[sysig]

So much experimenting to be done, where to even start (Patreon)

[virune]

genuinely never understood the preoccupation with bullying people for being harmlessly weird. like if seeing someone wearing eccentric clothing or having an unusual hobby elicits some kind of unfounded aggression in you then i don't know what to tell you. get a grip maybe

[skunkes]

if life is categorized by Before Loss and After Loss then I exist in the before but with a countdown to the after. and the countdown is always always present and debilitating. the loss will be debilitating too but i cant help myself. i will always suffer twice.

[kyouka-supremacy]

Well.

[coffeewolfart]

I have not played Eureka yet (keyword on the yet part I've got a party assembled to play Horror Harry's Haunted House as well as a mystery I made), but I have played games mostly in Pathfinder and D&D 5e where party/perspective splits have happened quite often and here's my thoughts.

I think splitting up a party (either for practical in universe reasons or even just narratively taking scenes to focus on one or more characters) can be much more fun than people can give it credit for. Even just outside the practicalities of covering more ground in a small amount of time, or one party member who's really good at something being able to go do that without worrying about the other party, there's a few scenes you can only do with a couple of characters or with a character on their own. Scenes of heartfelt conversations between two characters, internal monologues as the player really shows what's going on inside their head when they're alone, or even just showing what a character acts like when one particular person leaves. These scenes can be fun to see and fun to play, but they can really only happen when the party is split and the benefit for the rest of the player group (aka getting to see more sides of the different characters) can only be gained when they are seen. For example if one investigator has a whole scene with an important NPC that is meant to characterize that NPC and they're whole deal, but no other player saw it, then only that investigator's player is going to have that characterization. Sometimes that's fine and can be interesting in it's own right, but sometimes a fun or heartfelt moment doesn't need to be secret from the other players.

In terms of private information and splitting the party, I am more on the side of only necessary or important information being kept a secret from the other players. Things like supernatural traits or investigator secrets are already confidential by default, but there can also be situations where an investigator is given information that changes the way the entire mystery is viewed and handled. Now, I am not advising every Narrator do this, but I personally am against the idea of splitting up the players out of game whenever the characters are split in game. There are some situations where it would be better or even necessary to have a scene for some player's eyes only, but there is also fun that can be had when you know more information than your character and can only lead them along the course they would naturally follow based on what they know.

As one example, in a game I was in as a player: PC A ended up meeting with and talking to NPC B, who was an alternate version of PC A that was nearly identical to them but was a villain. After their talk, NPC B left and the players at the table (including me) immediately realized that NPC B would likely be going for my character (who had a very personal relationship with PC A). This was actually really exciting and fun for me, because I got the chance to play my character as completely oblivious and going alone with NPC B because she genuinely didn't realize this wasn't PC A. It was a great case of dramatic irony and while my character did manage to escape without getting hurt it was still a very tense moment.

Of course, there are some drawbacks to letting most scenes play out in front of players. Mostly because meta-game knowledge might come in and influence the investigator's actions even without the players realizing it. Sometimes a player might learn a fact about an investigator out of character and start to play their investigator as if they know that secret, or may prepare for a combat situation when separated party members are confronted by a monster, or any number of other things. There may also be situations where players don't mind waiting by themselves for a bit while the Narrator and a player handle something privately. It all really depends on the players you have and what they find engaging about the game, and there's really no one size fits all solution.

Ultimately, communicating with your players as well as knowing them and their preferences beforehand is the best way to figure this out and make a judgement. If you don't know how comfortable players are with something, ask them. If you're worried about if players are disengaged or if a player thinks they may be taking too much of the spotlight, ask the group what they think. It sounds so simple and maybe even embarrassing, but it's just the most effective way to figure this out. And if your group or a player isn't comfortable being honest about how they feel, that's probably a sign something has gone wrong and you should probably work that out with them and make sure that the environment you're creating is comfortable for everyone.

If you think metagame knowledge is going to be a problem with a group, then consider having a party split out of game as well as in until you feel like they wont metagame. If you feel like your players are good with keeping player and character knowledge and feelings separate, then it might be fine to let them be present for more scenes without their character there. It might require you having a bit of trust and knowledge about your players, and if metagaming does happen you should still call it out, but in some cases it is just easier to run split parties all at the same table. I would also recommend setting a timer in any case just to make sure you're spending a roughly equal amount of time with each group (though please don't rush anyone to finish scenes.) If a player is feeling disengaged and like they don't get to participate as much, try to figure out why and maybe consider giving them a little bit of the spotlight (though try to make sure it's not a one man show too often unless you're running a private session with just that player.) Eureka's mechanics are already really good for giving a character their own time to shine, especially with the way skills are balanced and the Eureka! mechanic itself giving each investigator a chance to figure something out that could crack the case.

But yee, those are my thoughts.

A big part of Eureka is splitting the party. Normally games are loathe to do this because of the potential to bore players while they passively watch others play the game. I'm curious how you deal with this when you run Eureka. Sending players away seems like it could make it either better or worse. Like if it's at a home, people can go hang out by the snack table and drink and chat, but that doesn't work as well at, say, a game store. I'm curious how people felt about having to leave the game several times.

While the risk of boring the players or putting too much stress on the GM is a real concern, the addage of "don't split the party" actually originated in the TSR D&D era, where splitting the party made them weak and vulnerable to all sorts of situations that would be less of a problem for a full strength party, However, for a game like Eureka that produces more conventional narratives (everyone take note that I did not say that Eureka produces more narrative or is "more focused on narrative", just more conventional narratives) and has more of a focus on intrigue and horror, the party splitting up to cover more ground and collect more clues in the limited time they have to solve the mystery, but also making each one of them more vulnerable if something happens, is an actual trade-off that can improve the gameplay and story.

First of all, besides it just being really entertaining, I really recommend you listen to the Tiny Table Actual Play of Eureka. It has some really good examples of splitting the party and sending players away that are executed really well, and also some good discussion of it in the post-mortem episode and the interview.

I’m going to answer the ask directly from my own gameplay experience, but I really really urge anyone who has played Eureka to comment with their own experiences with splitting the party and sending players away.

Alright, so, obviously how long players are willing to wait their turn is group-dependent, but with our own group, we’ve actually kinda had the opposite problem from players getting bored. Instead, Narrator and the players whose characters are currently in the spotlight start to worry that they’re selfishly hogging too much session time, and try to rush the scene along (to its great detriment), when in reality the players who were sitting out were happy to keep waiting. Realizing this led to us altering the advice regarding splitting the party in the rulebook, and actually recommending the Narrator go a little longer before switching to the other characters.

I personally am happy to wait up to like 90 minutes if my character is out of the scene, because I have faith in my group and also in Eureka that the payoff for waiting will be that much greater, seeing the characters relay what they have learned while they were apart in dialogue rather than the player just saying “My investigator tells them everything that happened.” It really heightens the tension, lets the characters shine, and can even really help with solving the mystery, because having the events and evidence recounted out loud can help with making connections that might have gone over people’s heads the first time.

Of course like the rulebook says, it also comes to the judgement of the play group as a whole, and should definitely be discussed beforehand basically as part of session zero, and even mid-session if it needs to be. (Communicate your preferences to your play group!!!!!) There’s plenty of scenes and situations where having the other players leave the room instead of sitting and watching would add nothing at all to the experience.

Now I want to hear other people’s opinions. If you have played Eureka and had a party split where some players left the room or otherwise excused themselves, how did it go?