#hornets for real justice

[hornetsforrealjustice]

drew h i, p u ppy mm m b m em vm vm

~ ⨂

[j4ym3rrick]

would you rather makout with Alex or never be called a dictator again?

WHAT IS THIS QUESTION? first one

[hornetsforrealjustice]

I love this . Thank. I am. fed

-totheark

Can. you draq. m e?

For sure buddy (*´ ∇ `)

[darkersolstice]

Right, going back to what I was saying about food as a theme, this feels a little like a thesis statement for, if not the series as a whole, the character of Umemiya Hajime. And I want to chew on that idea.

And the rest of the post under the cut has spoilers for Noroshi arc and beyond in the manga.

(Which really does draw an interesting circle around what Sakura did in the Noroshi arc that Umemiya failed to, doesn't it? Because he did break bread with his rivals in the Shishitoren arc after declaring them friends, but he didn't think to lean on them for actual aid, and I have other thoughts about that which I am struggling to word in a way that doesn't show what fandoms formed my worldview as a teenager. But that's a digression.)

What do Suzuri, Umemiya and Choji Togame have in common? They literally work to feed their people. Togame, we're seeing do so in the latest chapters released of the manga, helping out with the festival booths. Umemiya with his garden, showing the nurturing side he really wants to lean into. Suzuri, when he gets a job to help the rest of his gang? He becomes a chef. He puts food on the table, quite literally.

(There's something to be said here about how Choji does not fill the role of provider. He may be the strongest fighter, but he is not a leader who feeds his people. Nor, from what we see, is anyone in KEEL in that role, for obvious reasons.)

I am too fucking Jewish to draw the line to Communion and Breaking Bread, but I can play etymology games about community and commonality and communism and communes. Talking with fists is communicating, but so is sharing a meal.

"Truth, Justice, Freedom, Reasonably Priced Love, and a Hard-Boiled Egg!"

Yes, I realize that egg is soft boiled, it looks jammy and gorgeous as fuck, but. This too is Umemiya explaining his thesis.

Which really makes one wonder how many meals Sakura has eaten alone in his time, doesn't it? Hell, one of the signs he's Fucked Up is that he seems to struggle with a spoon while eating egg congee. And then there's this moment, which is passed over so delicately as a joke:

@hahahafangirl mentioned something about how in a particular instance, Suo didn't need to deflect because the narrative did it for him. The same thing is happening here. A 15 year-old Japanese kid who's never had a Ramune is kind of like an American who's never had a juicebox. That's Fucking Bonkers, that shows there's been some Weird Shit that happened somewhere along the line.

And yet, the moment is brushed past so simply to move to talking about Togame's hair and the upcoming conflict. We don't dwell on what is kinda a blatant red flag, one of many building up regarding Sakura's home life.

Uhhh, I don't know how to conclude this, but I hope the fandom eats well.

Next time, perhaps more Suoposting, or examination of the idea of being a Real Monster, or maybe something about using names? I don't know yet. Maybe I will really swing a hammer at a hornets nest and talk about That Choice in the Noroshi Arc.

[wullu]

While it is now clear that romance is absolutely on the table, I fear I have to make a couple of amendments to my previous post.

The biggest deterrents to Justitia and Da On's romance is no longer the age gap or society or even the demon/human condition. But rather: murder Or rather the incompatible meeting of demon justice and human justice.

Justitia is absolutely doing her job, though I think she could have done without the equivalent of a cat bringing their owner dead rodents/birds/critters etc. Still, her work is valid.

At the same time, so is Da On's suspicion because I dont think murder, however deserved, is fair in his eyes. Which is a little ironic because he did aggravate the situation in the Cha Minjeong case by needling the toxic sludge boyfriend -- side note, I am not sure needling is the right word, but when I was watching that scene, I was like bro there's no need to be running your mouth to that man right now. It's the same as kicking a hornet's nest. Still, I digress. Anyway, his own trauma plus his work as a policeman means that the man has strong ideas about following the letter of the law and that justice be served through the appropriate channels -- even when he was annoyed at the rulings presented before.

Hmm, coming to think of it, the real tussle will be how Justitia metes justice and Da On's inability to reconcile that with his growing interest in her. And perhaps, it also forces him to re-examine his perception of black and white/good and bad in contrast to Justitia's measurement of absolutes. And maybe Justitia will also have to revisit what it means to be human and allow room for shades of grey. Right now, Da On is like a very fascinating plaything, so new in his shininess, but also attractive with his convictions and reasoning. So it makes sense she's interested and wants to know more. But falling further also means humanizing herself and giving up a little bit of her core demon identity, which may not feel so tenable in the long run, or is even possible, considering that the penalty for love is death.

I dont even know if the drama will touch on all these aspects, but it sure is fun to contemplate all these.

[klbmsw]

Liz Cheney/Adam Kinzinger Against Trump

Andrea Lamkin  · sptoerSnod1mg2ultu13f0fhtil08f57f03t9f5hh2157hil572i96li1fh6  ·

Now you’ve done it. You’ve kicked the hornet’s nest in Harvard Yard, poked the somber portraits of Adams, Roosevelt, and Kennedy straight in the eye. This isn’t just a breach of decorum—it’s a declaration of war on the ghostly congregation of the Dead Presidents Club, that hallowed fraternity of law-bound ghosts who wrote the damn rule-book on American governance.

And here come the grave robbers—Donald Trump, that bleached blowhard of borrowed bravado, with his pocket fascists Steven “Ghoul School” Miller and Pam “Mouth of the South” Bondi. They strut like vaudeville villains in a Bannon-funded soap opera, thinking they can bulldoze legal tradition with a stolen gavel and a Walmart Bible. Pseudo-Christian Nazi nationalists in ill-fitting suits trying to bend a 390-year arc of justice into a Trump-brand paperclip.

But this isn’t a barroom brawl in Boca. This is Harvard Law. And Harvard doesn’t forget.

Harvard produces assassins in Armani. Its alumni don’t shout; they file. And when they file, they file deep—thousands of pro bono legal warriors with nothing to lose and everything to prove. Judges, clerks, scholars, shadow-dwelling appellate tacticians who see the Constitution not as an accessory but as scripture. They're the kind of people who cite footnotes like they’re firing bullets.

These are the quiet ones. The ones who show up at 7 a.m. with briefs in hand and no intention of letting go until the shackles are tight and the sentence has echo.

Trump and his cronies—these hall-of-shame populists—mistake noise for power. But real power doesn’t yell. It litigates. It outlasts. It waits in chambers, in rows of mahogany and leather, until the storm collapses from the weight of its own fraudulence.

Harvard won’t blink. Harvard won’t back down. And Harvard sure as hell won’t bow to three grifters with God complexes and delusions of tyranny. There's a reason “Veritas” is carved in stone. Because truth—real truth—doesn’t need a campaign rally or a gold-plated toilet. It needs a courtroom, a file number, and a judge who knows better.

So go ahead, grave diggers. Keep pushing. The noose isn’t made of rope—it’s made of precedent. And it’s tightening.

More proof that the rest of the world is playing chess while these wannabe fascists can't even find the checkerboard.

[slenderverseagainsthate]

My friends,

It has been long since we spoke- I apologize for that. There will be time for explanations later.

As revolutionaries, sometimes you must lie in wait for the enemy to make their move; ours has made their move, loudly and clearly, and it is time to take up arms against the darkness which encroaches upon the light.

A new blog, by the name of "Hornets for Real Justice", has emerged, and they are misappropriating the wholesome and diverse imagery of Marble Hornets and twisting it, warping it for their devilish needs; in other words, these sick individuals see fit to decry acts of love and kindness in this world, masquerading as characters from everyone's favorite Slenderverse series.

While I can disclose little, please know that very soon, we will rise up and vanquish this foe.

"Cogito ergo sum."

- Mod Lee

[hornetsforrealjustice]

important

it was a hard decision for me to make but i'm going to be breaking up with mod jay. he hasn't been the most loyal and i just cant take it any more. i will also no longer be doing relationships. period.

thank you all for your support

~ mod tim

[j4ym3rrick]

I think that tim might want to kidnap me jay, and I'm you and Alex's child so I don't think you should let me near him.

(alex will be known as 'father' and you shall be known as 'dad')

wait why do you think that. whatd tim do.

[lazybulette]

Atisha Surana

Full Name: Atisha Surana Name Meaning: peaceful (atisha) Notable Nicknames: Tish Race: City Elf Gender/Pronouns: Female, she/her Sexuality: Bisexual Age: 20 Place of Origin: Kinloch Hold, Ferelden’s Circle Tower - Denerim's alienage before that Occupation: Grey Warden - Warden-Commander of Ferelden, arlessa of Amaranthine Background: Circle Mage Class: Mage (Arcane Warrior, Battlemage) Past Occupations: Apprentice and star pupil of the First Enchanter Significant Other: Zevran Best Friend(s): Morrigan, Alistair Close Friends: Sten, Leliana, Wynne, Shale, Oghren, Jowen, Nathaniel, Anders, Justice, Velanna, Sigrun, Ariane, Finn Pet(s): Fenrir the mabari war hound Family Issues: Atisha has very little knowledge about her family, having been brought to the Circle at a young age. She knows she’s from an alienage, she thinks that her mother loved her very much, and she can vaguely remember the lullaby her mother used to sing to her (due to the fact she used to whisper-sing it to herself for comfort as a little girl). She practically adopted Irving as her parental substitute. Religious Views: While Atisha is very skilled at appearing to be a devout follower of Andrastianism on the surface, primarely to avoid awkward questions, she has no particularly strong feelings about religion and has in fact drifted further away from it after leaving the Tower. Overall Personality: Atisha is a very intelligent and studious person, having thrived in the academia of the Tower, as well as having an incredible drive to succeed. She is very proud of her intelligence, although she works hard not to become over-confident and is very diligent overall. Relying on her soft-spoken mannerisms and silver tongue to stay out of trouble where she can, she is an incredibly curious person to the point it’s often what lands her in trouble. She enjoys philosophy and hearing others’ world views, and tends to be very open-minded towards it even when she disagrees, finding different perspectives refreshing and considering it as something to help her grow and learn. Confident in her own abilities and incredibly stubborn, she is incredibly determined and goal-oriented with a tendency towards being very decisive - at times ruthlessly so, favoring hedging her bets in the face of adversity. While she is dutiful, she has come to love the freedom and vast array of experiences outside the Tower, and has grown to want to see as much of the world as possible, to experience as many different things as they can. She is very flirty, having a tendency to flirt casually, as well as being quite prone to leaning into sassy banter - especially with close friends. Unabashedly feminine, and adores novelty, delighted to find new ways to express herself. Positive Traits:

Polite and approachable

Diplomatic voice of reason

Open-minded, wants to learn from others

Charming

Easy going and difficult to get a rise out of

Loyal

Negative Traits:

Manipulative (increasingly so)

Prioritizes ruthlessly

Exceedingly curious and cannot resist poking hornets nests (real or metaphorical)

Prone to back-talking non-elves and/or non-mages in positions of power

Anxious when her academic knowledge is lacking

Self-esteem entirely reliant on being knowledgeable and intelligent

Notable Equipment: Spellweaver, Fade Wall, Corrupted Magister's Staff, Wade's Superior Dragonbone Plate Armor set, Helm of Honnleath, The Spellward, Lifegiver, Golden Cog, Andruil's Blessing Notable Skills: Master Coercion, Master Combat Training, Master Clarity Notable Spells: Arcane Shield, Arcane Mastery, Elemental Mastery, Attunement, Time Spiral, Combat Magic, Aura of Might, Fade Shroud, Draining Aura, Hand of Winter, Stoic, Winter’s Grasp, Frost Weapons, Cone of Cold, Blizzard, Flame Blast, Fireball, Inferno, Glyph of Paralysis, Glyph of Neutralization, Drain Life, Death Magic, Curse of Mortality, Death Cloud, Vulnerability Hex, Affliction Hex, Misdirection Hex, Death Hex, Mind Blast, Crushing Prison

Status: Alive

[hornetsforrealjustice]

Why am i fat. and tiny

Ca. draw me?

here you go little guy..

[most-tragic-character-tournament]

To tide y’all over until the bracket is finished, here’s a list of every fandom in the tournament! Sorted by when each got its first submission.

It takes time to make the bracket cuz I gotta arrange all of these to be at least semi-equal in popularity to each other, and then make all the edited photos. I’ve been rather busy lately, but it should be up by tomorrow night :)

Minecraft Diaries

The Outsiders

God of War

Ace Attorney

Bungou Stray Dogs

Murdoch Mysteries

Yu-Gi-Oh!

The Raven Cycle

Lego Star Wars

Sanders Sides

Kamen Rider

Castle Swimmer

QSMP

The Magnus Archives

Lego Ninjago

FNAF

Half Life VR But The AI Is Self-Aware

Pokémon

DC Comics

Critical Role

Romeo & Juliet

Macbeth

Witch Hat Atelier

Final Fantasy

One Piece

Warrior Cats

Sonic

Chicory: A Colorful Tale

Trigun Stampede

The Owl House

Ori and the Will of the Wisps

Fallout: New Vegas

MCU

Arthuriana

Tokyo Ghoul

Total Drama Island

Nimona

The Cable Guy

Paranatural

Marble Hornets

Marvel Comics

The Umbrella Academy

Life Series SMP

Fire Emblem

Julie and the Phantoms

Persona 5

Star Wars

Young Justice

Fullmetal Alchemist

Hamlet

The Shadowhunter Chronicles

The Young and the Restless

The Untamed // Mo Dao Zu Shi

Cooking Companions

Demon Slayer

John Wick

Pit People

Battleblock Theater

Star Trek

LittleBigPlanet 2

KinnPorsche

Midnight Museum

The Witcher

Teen Wolf

Beast Wars: Transformers

Lost

The Stormlight Archive

The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System

The Arcana

Jujutsu Kaisen

Ultraman Nexus

Antigone

Angel

Revolutionary Girl Utena

Edward Scissorhands

The Mechanisms

91 Days

Assassination Classroom

Death Note

Repo! The Genetic Opera

Pluto

Kikai Sentai Zenkaiger

Bokura

Mabinogi

Battle for Dream Island

Leverage

Twisted Wonderland

The Iliad

Call of Duty

Tangled: The Series

Team Fortress 2

The Goes Wrong Universe

Harry Potter

Bendy and the Ink Machine

DSMP

Live A Live

Real Life

Stranger Things

Malevolent

Red Dead Redemption 2

Ib (2012)

Spies Are Forever

Madoka Magica

Magia Record

My Hero Academia

Ravenous (1999)

Lifesteal SMP S4

Outsiders SMP

Phineas and Ferb

Empires SMP

Ruse of the TMNT

Origins SMP

Frankenstein

The Otterverse RP

GenLoss

Woe.begone

Danganronpa

Witch’s Heart

Project Sekai

The Silmarillion

The Lord of the Rings

Spider-Verse

Helluva Boss

Greek Myth

Percy Jackson

Limbus Company

Rain World

Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure

Homestuck

Markiplier

Mob Psycho 100

Lord of the Flies

Good Omens

Word of Honor

Just Roll With It

Subnautica

Witchcraft SMP

Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun

Realm of the Underlings

Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint

Clangen

Hadestown

Rats SMP

Steven Universe

The Hunger Games

Fate Grand Order

Arcane

Everymanhybrid

Nashville

Welcome to Dreamworld

The Dolls of New Albion

Pact Web Series

Brandon Rogers

Ghost Quartet

The Dragon Prince

Steam-Powered Giraffe

Six of Crows

Torchwood

Deltarune

Bojack Horseman

Epithet Erased

Steins;Gate

Casualty

Tale of the Nine Tailed

Cookie Run

Succession

Purple Hyacinth

The Wicked + The Divine

Outer Wilds

Carnosaur

Miraculous Ladybug

Transformers Comics

Legend of Zelda

Breaking Bad

Devil May Cry

Castlevania

Dragon Age

Smallville

RWBY

Undertale

The Locked Tomb

Mystic Messenger

Black Butler

Interview With a Vampire

Death By Dying

Higurashi When They Cry

Transformers Animated

Pirates SMP

All The Bright Places

Chulip

Ride the Cyclone

Grey’s Anatomy

Empire of Exiles

Octopath Traveler 2

Hello from the Hallowoods

The Burning Sands of Ma’ssob RP

[bridgyrose]

I'm probably kicking a hornets nest, but I do think villains in media should be allowed a chance for redemption more often. Yes, even the ones that kill. Thing is, while I do like to say media doesn't directly alter things in real life, certain portrayals of ideas and actions in media will often time reinforce fears or standards that most people hold. When you have disabilities, sexuality, gender presentation, or even just weird quirks played off as jokes in media, it often times comes off as a joke in real life. And it's the same thing for villains.

Some villains are best left as villains, those that are written with a character arc to continue getting worse, usually dwelling deeply on an ideal they hold that tends to make things worse that they actively choose. But most villains in media aren't like that. Villains in comics are usually made out of choices beyond their control. Bad luck, experiments gone wrong, thrown or tossed away by society and loved ones, created by others and thrown shunned when no longer needed. Some are created by abuse and neglect, some fall on hard times and don't have the right support to get themselves out of whatever hole they're in.

But its not just comics that use this. She-ra and RWBY have a mix of villains that are created from trauma and abuse, some that choose the path on their own, but most seeing it as their only option or the only thing they know. In Steven Universe, the main villains thoroughly see what they're doing as the only way. In ATLA and Korra, fear is a driving factor for a lot of the villains.

But the big thing a lot of people miss with all of these antagonists is that oftentimes, the only separation between them and the heroes are the circumstances that brought them there. Catra was abused by the same person Adora had been praised by. Entrapta was manipulated and lied to, abandoned by most but embraced by the villains for being different. Cinder and Neo were abused and neglected. Neo started acting out while Cinder was given a choice of life or death. Hazel ran on grief, Salem was punished by the gods for not being able to accept loss, Zuko was punished and thrown out by his father, Azula was neglected and treated as a monster by her mother... and of these villains listed, there's only two I can think of that most people didn't want to die.

But killing off a villain is a disservice to many stories and to how we see justice in real life. People make mistakes, are pushed into situations where getting better isn't easy, accidents can be life changing, and it's easy to shrug them off as never being able to change. The reason we need redemption arcs is so we have a narrative tool to see people getting better. To give a choice that many may not see. A well written redemption for a villain, tailored to the needs of the character in the story, can show us that viewing certain people as monsters or irredeemable is detrimental to how we pursue justice and order. And just like characters in a story, there is no one way to be a good person in real life. For some, it takes effort and rehabilitation, recovery and kindness, a second chance to try to do things differently.

But if all we do is kill off villains in stories, what does that say to all the accidental villains of life? If fictional characters can't be given a simple narrative tool to show things can change, then why give anyone chances in real life? If we're all judged and condemned by forces out of our control, then why try to be better. But seeing fictional characters being able to change, be given the narrative tool of redemption to change, that can make the difference to hear for someone who needs it.

[hug-your-face]

Warning: This post contains a lot of speculation and personal musing and should NOT be construed to be "news." It's just a perspective I'm having that is giving me a little bit of comfort this week.

So.

I just found something in my email box from September 2020. That's right, back before we even had the COVID vaccine:

(highlights abt Justice RBG, bless her; and Bidens 2020 campaign omitted for brevity. The email continues...)

(The articles in the above screenshots are currently still up, linked here and here. Full text of both articles pasted under the readmore.)

As of today, Feb 5 2025, both TikTok and WeChat show up on the App Store.

It's just..... interesting. Seeing the playbook from 2020 being picked right back up again in 2025.

I'm not saying I'm right, here -- what the hell do I know?! -- but it gives me a new perspective on all the EO Horrors and Musk Ox Insanity.

That maybe instead of there being a supremely organized force bent on destroying us all... that it's just... Drumpf taking hold of the reins of American government the same way he held the reins of his shitty real estate company: Dirty, conniving, backroom deals, and all singularly focused on one thing: His own aggrandizement. MEANWHILE, every Nasty out there is just jumping on his bandwagon to advance their own cause -- which might be quite unrelated to his own.

If the causes are aligned, he works with them. ("You wanna make lots of money on tech/healthcare/raw milk; I wanna make lots of money too, so I'll ban apps or make you head of HHS, and you give me kickbacks.")

If the causes aren't aligned but are compatible, he makes deals with them. ("You wanna oppress women and the gays; I wanna make a lot of money. If you give me lots of money and financial interests in some of your moneymakers, I'll have my guys roll back protection on women and the gays.")

If the causes aren't compatible, he uses the power of the office to get them in line. ("You wanna compete with me? You wanna shoot your rockets and make your cars? Poor little meow meow running afoul of government regs? Well I don’t give a shit. What can you do for me? Oh, you can win me the election? Okay you do that and I'll give you the government checkbook.")

If the causes are actively hostile or a threat, he'll try to shut them down. ("What's this ACLU nonsense? They're fighting me? I want em dead. How do we do that? We make them terrorists and defund them? I like it.")

And meanwhile he has his people shoot out so much noise and shock, to try and keep everyone off balance and confused. ("Those skinheads are a bunch of great guys! Deportations! Education is bad!") Just look at how he debated Hillary: He was always shooting noise into the air to try and disrupt her.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, it's still horrible!

Because there isn't one iota of compassion for anyone in the mix. Nobody.

But for some reason, it's a DIFFERENT PICTURE to me than an army of white supremacists who are singleminded in their desire to dismantle the government and replace it with a dictatorship.

Because it means my enemy isn't really one giant powerful thing that's steamrollering over me and those I love. It's not as committed AGAINST my ideals as I and my friends are committed TO them.

My enemy is a... bunch of feral animals in a trenchcoat. And some of those animals prey on each other! Its a honey badger and a monitor lizard and a couple of pythons and a swarm of hornets and a stingray and some piranha all harnessed to each other by a mass of bungee cords called The System Of American Democracy. And they throw a trenchcoat over themselves and call themselves The Administration. And as long as they can all move in more or less the same direction, yeah, they seem pretty formidable. No wonder they wanna deregulate so much and go around the law: it forces them to work together. It's their Get-Along Shirt and they want out. But they also want the power it gives them.

But oh my god they have so many weak spots!

As soon as one of those feral animals feels the pressure of our resistance, that will put pressure on all the others. Can you just imagine the mess and infighting that would happen underneath that trenchcoat? They have no unity! No common cause! It only SEEMS to us like they have a common cause because they're all so deplorable!

Like I said, it's still horrible. Evil done for no other reason but profit is still evil. Aid shut off or good people harmed out of indifference is still evil. Eisenhower warned us of the military-industrial complex, but not the tech-bro nepo-baby complex. Our country was founded to keep church and state separated, but not to keep money and state separated.

So I dunno. But it gives me hope. Because if we can start showing that all these supposedly Big Evil Causes that are being aimed at us all boil down to nothing more than money and greed, maybe they aren't so scary.

If we can see that we aren't fighting a singlar "Fascism" but in fact just a collection of selfish entitled hollow mean shits with some temporary power, then our fight looks a lot easier.

"Riddikulus!" I yell.

Maybe as soon as we strike a significant blow to ONE of the factions, and Drumpf cuts them loose for being a "loser," the others will start to fight each other. Like that scene in the 1998 Lost In Space. These monsters eat their wounded.

God I would not want to be in his position. Tap-dancing on top of that mass of rabid animals, trying to keep them all in line by playing one off the other and playing them all against the collective will of the ENTIRE American public and even the rest of the WORLD. (Didja see what Canada, Mexico, and China did abt the tariffs? They aren't under the trenchcoat and they don’t wanna be.)

So yeah. I still think it's bad. And there's gonna be a lot more bad. But I think I'm coming out from under the delusion that its unstoppable.

I hope this perspective helps someone else.

Thanks for reading.

Trump Approves Deal Between Oracle and TikTok

Sept. 19, 2020

WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Saturday that he had approved a deal between the Chinese-owned social media app TikTok and major American companies, an agreement that will delay the U.S. government’s threat to block the popular app in the United States over national security concerns.

The deal, which must still gain formal U.S. approval, would create a new U.S.-based company, TikTok Global, in which Oracle, an American software maker, and Walmart would own 20 percent, placing more equity in the service into the hands of American companies and investors.

While the structure falls short of an all-out sale of TikTok, it is still a concession by ByteDance, TikTok’s Chinese owner — one that has apparently satisfied the administration’s concerns about China’s ability to harness data from users of the app. The Commerce Department, which planned to bar TikTok from U.S. app stores as of midnight Sunday, said that it would delay that plan for one week.

The deal capped weeks of drama over the fate of TikTok that underscored how much relations between the United States and China have deteriorated, with their race for technological superiority and their mutual suspicions extending to a social media platform known for silly video clips and a trendsetting, mostly young user base of 100 million people in the United States.

Mr. Trump has increasingly taken aim at Chinese technology, including TikTok and WeChat, saying companies and apps with ties to China pose a threat to American national security and threatening to ban them from the United States. The situation intensified in early August, when Mr. Trump issued an executive order essentially mandating that ByteDance strike a deal to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations by Sept. 20, or cease some commercial operations. A second executive order set a later deadline for ByteDance to fully divest from the product.

That decree prompted top officials, including Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, to inject the U.S. government into private-sector discussions about a deal to transfer some control of TikTok to an American company.

‘It’s So Essential’: WeChat Ban Makes U.S.-China Standoff Personal

Published Sept. 18, 2020 Updated Oct. 5, 2020

Every day for nearly five years, Juliet Shen’s 94-year-old grandmother in Shanghai has begun her day with a WeChat message to her 40 children and grandchildren scattered across the globe.

“Good morning, everyone!” she writes.

And each time, the diaspora of family members across China, the United States and Central America respond with a cascade of warm replies. Ms. Shen, 27, who lives in Brooklyn, also chats with her parents in China and her brother in Nicaragua in a separate WeChat group, where they share thoughts about their daily meals and other quotidian routines.

On Friday, Ms. Shen called her own meeting with her parents and brother to discuss the U.S. government’s plan to hobble WeChat, the hugely popular messaging service that is a lifeline for many Americans to stay in touch with family and friends in China. When she heard the news about WeChat, Ms. Shen said, “I felt like the wind got knocked out of me. It is the only and easiest way I’ve stayed connected to my family.”

The escalating tensions between the United States and China have long been a largely esoteric issue for many people, something that seemed to be made up of officials bickering with each other over measures like tariffs and items like semiconductors. But the U.S. government’s action to cut off the Chinese-owned WeChat and another app, TikTok, from American app stores at midnight on Sunday has now made the battle intensely personal for millions of people.

The feud is jeopardizing an essential means of communication when Americans are already restricted from traveling to China because of the coronavirus and travel rules. The Commerce Department’s action on Friday focused on new downloads of WeChat and the ability to transfer payments through the app, but those who already have the messaging service are likely to see its service degrade over time because they will be unable to update it with software improvements and security fixes.

Scanning a QR code using the digital payment services WeChat Pay at a market in Beijing. The Trump administration will bar such payments in the United States at midnight on Sunday.Thomas Peter/Reuters

The Trump administration’s action further decouples the digital systems of China and the United States, creating an increasingly fragmented internet. The United States is imposing the type of exclusionary restrictions that China has long placed on foreign tech companies that tried to operate there. Facebook and Google dominate in most of the world, but they do not offer their services in China. Twitter is also blocked in China.

WeChat, a do-everything social network that is owned by China’s Tencent, was one of the last major bridges connecting the two digital worlds.

“This move is a page ripped straight out of China’s playbook,” said Lan Xuezhao, founding partner of Basis Set Ventures, a venture capital firm in San Francisco.

Ms. Lan, who was born in China and travels there once a year, said that the internet experiences in the two countries had diverged for years, but that this latest escalation was “a new level.” She herself has lots of family in China, including older relatives who all use WeChat and are not prepared to move to a new service, she said.

“There’s no way that people like me don’t use WeChat,” she said. “It’s so essential.”

She added that she planned to use a virtual private network, a service that can disguise the true location of a user, to continue using WeChat in the United States. It’s a common tactic employed by people in China to gain access to Google, YouTube and Facebook.

Lan Xuezhao, founding partner of Basis Set Ventures, said WeChat was “essential” for people who lived in the United States and had family in China.Yan Cong for The New York Times

Much has been made of the Trump administration’s moves against TikTok, the viral video app owned by China’s ByteDance, but the Commerce Department said a full ban of TikTok would not take effect till Nov. 12. TikTok is in deal talks with the American software maker Oracle and others, which may give it a reprieve from being blocked.

That means the fallout is more severe for WeChat users. Lindsey Luper, 17, who lives in central New Jersey and has both TikTok and WeChat, said her family used WeChat to send money and canned goods to relatives in China who needed financial support and food. Losing access to the app is “very scary,” she said.

She enjoys TikTok, but she said what was happening with WeChat was much more distressing.

“It’s like comparing a game on your phone to the messages app,” she said. “If both were getting banned, clearly one you need for communication with pretty much everyone in your life. And the other one, it’s unfortunate, but it’s not a necessity in the slightest.”

To prevent a WeChat ban, a group calling itself the U.S. WeChat Users Alliance has filed a motion in a federal court in San Francisco asking for a temporary injunction against the block.

Other people said they were scrambling to find alternatives to WeChat. Sirui Hua, 29, a resident of Jersey City, N.J., told family and friends in China to sign up for QQ, a messaging app also owned by Tencent. He is also planning to use Apple’s FaceTime to video chat with his parents in China. But it is hard to replicate the experience of WeChat, where he has more than 2,000 contacts, he said.

Every Saturday evening, Mr. Hua’s parents, who live in Jiangsu Province near Shanghai, message him — their only child — on WeChat for a one-hour video chat. Lately, they have warned him to stay home and to always wear his mask as coronavirus rates increase in the United States. It’s a reversal from early this year, he said, when he warned his parents to stay home in China because of soaring infection rates there.

During the pandemic, WeChat has been a particularly important line of connection, he said. Mr. Hua has his WeChat desktop app open during the day, getting messages from dozens of friends in China. His phone app is where he sees the app’s scrolling Moments feed, similar to a Facebook Timeline, which keeps him updated on how they are doing.

Other WeChat users in the United States rely on the service to keep in touch with customers or maintain important cultural traditions.

Hong Allen, 53, works for Usana Health Sciences, a nutritional and dietary supplement company that is based in Salt Lake City and has operations in China. Most of her clients and customers are in China, and she uses WeChat to communicate with them. Now, she is afraid she will lose all her contacts.

“I really don’t know what to do,” said Ms. Allen, a resident of Vancouver, Wash. “How do I live?”

Huajin Wang, 43, of Pittsburgh, uses WeChat to send a virtual red envelope of money — a Chinese tradition of giving a cash gift in red packets for special occasions or holidays — to friends and family. The U.S. restrictions would prevent that small but meaningful gesture, she said.

“It’s just a small amount, like 50 cents a person, but it is a tradition and sending it make me feel connected to these traditions,” Ms. Wang said.

Ms. Shen said she and her family decided to fall back on email and Skype for communication, the tools they used before WeChat became a daily fixture for them. She added that the feud between China and the United States had slowly pulled her family apart.

Her father, a U.S. permanent resident, was held by Transportation Security Administration officials while traveling to China six months ago, and his laptop was confiscated, she said. Her parents, who have lived in the United States since the 1980s, were on their way to take care of their aging parents in Beijing and Shanghai. Now they are afraid they will face difficulties returning.

“It’s an impossible choice,” Ms. Shen said. “They feel pressure to declare loyalty. It feels like no matter what we do, we will be punished.”

[all-lars-bars]

I'm thinking about Undertale and Marble Hornets, so now I'm gonna assign Soul Types to MH Characters.

This is going to be a long fucking post, so I'm putting in a read more block here. I don't wanna take up too much space with my ramblings.

Alex Kralie: Justice

No, not just because he has a gun. Although I guess that does help with my reasoning.

Everything Alex does, he feels is justified. He feels that what he is doing is righteous, that it all had to be done for the greater good. The only way to stop this thing is to kill everyone infected and then yourself.

I realize now all of this could also fit for Integrity, but I like Justice for Alex more.

Jay Merrick: Perseverance

Jay is the one who started this whole investigation. He was persistent nearly this whole series, only giving up during season one. But once he got more clues or questions, he searched for answers with a steadfast tenacity. He's stubborn to a stupid degree.

And this all, ultimately, became his downfall.

Brian Thomas: Integrity

Brian seems to be an honest man who has trouble going against his own morals to me (i.e. wandering around the abandoned hospital or shooting Alex in the face).

He does what he feels he has to, but not without remorse. I feel he has to justify his actions to himself. He also got real fucking pissed when he found out Tim lied about his past with the Operator, showing his strict belief in truth.

Also another definition I found for integrity is "the state of being whole and undivided" which I think would be a fun ironic nod to his whole "You are broken" schtick

Tim Wright: Determination

Listen, man, he is the main character AND the final girl. My bro's gotta have determination, baby!

But also I feel that despite everything, he is the person with most drive to survive. After everything he's been through, he keeps moving forward. He keeps getting up, keeps running, keeps fighting. He's the only one who never truly gave up

He refused

And despite everything, it's still him

If you can't tell yet, I think a lot about these guys. I also think a lot about Undertale.

I would be delighted to hear anyone else's thoughts on this. I love combining my interests, new and old.

[slenderverseagainsthate]

hey its @house-for-real-malpractice here

specifally house, yeah like the guy for real malpractice

just saying im a big fan and if yall ever need a doctor im lit in the same state as like the rake and the everymanHYBRID guys

idk i wanna fight hornets for real justice

hey!! so unfortunately modern medicine is vastly inferior to the natural, holistic, and organic approach to health.

you should be ashamed of yourself and the poisons you are putting into our children. if you avoid plastics, processed foods, soy, GMOs, and chemtrails your children will not succumb to any sickness whatsoever. thanks for the interest though!!!! ₊˚⊹♡

꒰୨୧◞ 。love, mod brian⠀.ᐟ