#it isn't a PROFOUND statement

[21st-century-minutiae]

WiFi is a wireless connection protocol used mostly to connect internet capable devices to routers that are more directly tethered to the internet.

Many phones, which can access the internet through the cellular network, have the ability to produce a wifi signal so that other devices can make use of the connection. This is known as a 'Mobile Hotspot.' Some phones also allow bluetooth connections instead of WiFi.

Because there will often be many wifi connections available at any given location (because the individual providing the wifi has to pay a cost for the data or speeds are limited, so individual households/businesses provide separate access for the members/guests/customers), having a way to identify which is the correct wifi is important. This will be a name, which is very easy to set as whatever the user wants it to be.

It is common for wifi names to be humorous, or in direct reference to other wifi names, because anyone seeing the name will necessarily see the full list of available connections.

[my-deer-friend]

We've shifted so far culturally from the 18th century that we see queerness in every declaration of love and don't see queerness in deep declarations of friendship.

[the-fallen-blue]

I've been seeing a lot of discourse about the Murderbot casting, to the tune of "Wells says she imagined it as brown"/"the narrator of the audiobook is a man"/"the writing just sounds female, the types of things it notices and cares to mention and the way it puts its sentences together is how a woman would"/"it's canonically agender wtf"/"agender people can look masculine you asshole"/"it's supposed to look big and average that means white male"/"that's your own cultural bias in play and evidence says the average in its universe is brown"/"that's your bias in play there's no ironclad indication what the average is in the Corporation Rim"/"here's every single canon description of Murderbot it has no canon physical attributes other than Tall it could be played by literally anyone Checkmate Atheists" etc etc etc and it all just... misses the point?

No one is annoyed with Skarsgård!MB because "white dude" isn't canon.

They're annoyed because written Murderbot presents a level of identification and recognition for them that "white dude" does not.

Or, in other words: it is difficult to imagine a level of abuse more profound than not having the freedom of your own literal thoughts, consigned to a cripplingly limited and cruel social role from which any deviation is met with brutal pain. And it is all too easy to imagine a demographic who are presumed violent, hostile, and inferior, good only for labor and violence, who must be controlled and denied and unpersoned for the good of the rest. The lines aren't hard to draw, here; Murderbot is deeply relatable to many people who are not (visibly masculine) white men, specifically because they are not (visibly masculine) white men. Because they share with it the experience of oppression, marginalization, and being known on sight as wrong, being punished for the slightest deviance. Because it is not just another in the long boring line of ten thousand thousand grizzled white space marine heroman types; it is the thematic opposite of that.

And yeah duh obviously you can look like a boilerplate white dude and still suffer plenty of oppression, but film is a visual medium. Character design is a crucial part of its language, especially when a specific character is the only example of its type available to the audience. It is a shorthand that the audience will understand as a reflection on the wider setting. Which means that casting Skarsgård is, whether they meant it or not, a subtle statement that the ultimate bigotry in Murderbot's universe is against and about conventional white dudes.

Or in other other words, you cannot refute complaints about Skarsgård!MB with ~canon~ because canon has nothing to do with it. It's a thematic inconsistency, a failure to understand the not the story's text, but its subtext and its place in the wider cultural conversation of sci-fi (or at least to accurately translate those meta considerations to the satisfaction of a decent segment of the audience).

Like you can still yell about how bullshit you think that is if you want. Casting's not that deep or it's an important queer metaphor to pass and still struggle or people have no inherent 'right' to representation or whatever else. I'm not telling anyone what to say or believe. But just understand that that's what you're actually arguing with (or for, for that matter), is all I'm saying.

[yandere-sins]

At one point in time, there was a glitch in BG3 where Gale behaved like a stalker to tav starting from the goblin village. Gale just won't take no for an answer and acts like you're betraying him even though you've broken up with him many times. I was wondering if you ever got the chance and ever considered writing for that fandom again, could you write something with this glitch? If not, it's cool. Sorry for bothering you.

Oh! I didn't have that actually, it might have already been fixed by the time I started playing, but thank you for sharing, that's super interesting! :D Thank you for requesting him ♥

»»———————— ♡ ————————««

It was hard enough to travel with complete strangers, whose needs and wants were always prioritized by them over the common good for the group. Every day, there were some forms of arguments and discussions, sometimes being superficial digs and other times profound differences. Balancing the group while also living with the fear of dying day after day gave you constant anxiety and stress.

And Gale's budding feelings didn't help with that.

"Here," he muttered wistfully, holding out a small daisy he had picked from the wayside, looking at you like a shy boy confessing his first crush. Even though the group was on their way to Baldur's Gate to get the answers you so desperately needed, he still had the time to look out for you and try to lift your mood, which had been tense ever since you left Moonrise Tower. But his gesture had quite the opposite effect on you. There was a soothing hum of bickering and laughter behind you, revealing that no one was paying the two of you walking ahead any mind. Yet, you couldn't have been more happy to be spared the nosiness of your companions at that moment.

"You know it was just that one time. It didn't really mean anything, Gale. I told you!"

Your words were a mere hiss in the wind as you frowned upon the flower in his hands, dismissing it completely by turning your gaze straight ahead onto the forest path. There were more important things you had to keep in mind than his desire to court you. It had been your own fault—and the wine's—that you gave in one night, letting this man comfort you at your most vulnerable moment and caving to his desire.

Many nights had gone by since then and you two had worked together in an effort to put an end to the plague of mind flayers and cultists that had taken root in the world. But while it seemed like Gale wanted more and more from you each passing day, you tried to create a distance he wouldn't allow. There lay the flaw in your relationship, which was primarily out of necessity for you, yet a matter of the heart for him.

"What isn't can still be! You just need to give me a chance to prove myself!" he whisper-begged, the sound of desperation in his voice giving you goosebumps. It was as annoying as it was gut-wrenching that he kept trying. Gale saw something in you that you didn't want to see and didn't really care for, as the truth was: if you two had been strangers, you wouldn't even have looked in each other's direction on the street.

Why pretend that you two could actually work as a couple?

"Gale, I said no! I am not interested! Not now, not ever, why don't you understand that?!"

"Because I know! I saw it in your eyes that night! We are the same and we belong together—why do you keep denying it?"

"The same? We— Gale are you insane?! We are nothing alike! In fact, if I had to travel without you, I wouldn't miss you at all!"

The last part slipped out a bit louder than the rest, catching the attention of your closest companions, Astarion's lips curling into a catty grin. At the same time, Karlach looked taken aback by your statement, slowly shaking her head in disapproval. Clearing your throat, you composed yourself and gave Gale a stern look.

"It's not happening," you said quieter but firmly. "Let's get this over with and go our separate ways, I want you to respect that."

Finally, you managed to shake him off as his feet slowed, but you kept walking. Hopefully, he'd finally listen after many nights spent in conversations about you two and the future you didn't want with him. You were sure that one day, he'd find someone who could appreciate all the quirky and sweet traits Gale possessed, but it simply wasn't you.

"Get it over with?" he said behind you, sounding in disbelief. Gale didn't yell, but he said it loud enough that everyone raised their heads and looked up, confused eyes darting from Gale to you. He still held the poor flower in his hand, but his knuckles turned white as he clutched it.

"We spent nights together talking about us and our future, and you just suddenly change your mind and want me to get over it?!"

That was one way to misinterpret your breaking-up attempts.

"How about I just stay here and die in misery because no one apparently can love me! Not Mystra, not you—no one! Might as well become a mind flayer, what difference does it make!"

"Harsh," Astarion commented as he passed you by, grinning from ear to ear as he enjoyed the show.

"I didn't think you'd be so mean to lead on the poor guy," Karlach chided, Gale's show apparently having left a bitter taste on her judgment of you. She shook her head as she walked by, followed by most of the others that traveled with you, Lae'zel giving you her classic tongue click in annoyance.

"Not to tell you what to do, but-" Shadowheart stopped just before passing you, holding out an old dagger to you she must have pulled from her bag, "-it would be merciful to kill him. Before he turns into a mind flayer, I mean."

Then, she, too, walked on, leaving you behind with the mess of a man before you. You took a deep breath as you felt your feeble reputation with the others and your pride wash off you, the cold silver in your hand reminding you that you couldn't just leave him behind. Gale was a part of the group, even if it was hard to allow him to stay close to you after his continuous efforts to guilt you into a relationship.

"Gale, come on, the others will leave us behind if we take too long--"

"No. You told me to get over it, so here I am, getting over it. Over our relationship, over my life! Getting over it all!"

"Gale you're being childish!"

"Childish?!" he gasped dramatically, one might think he and Astarion swapped personalities when you weren't looking.

"I love you, and you call me childish?! I've done everything for you! I've been there for you, helped you, advised you! I told you about everything that happened to me! I- I bared myself before you! Don't tell me my feelings are childish when all I did was give you everything I got! Don't deny me of my dignity! At least I never played with your feelings like you have with mine!"

Oh, what a headache, you thought as you rubbed your forehead, taking a deep breath. You could only hope the others would stop walking eventually until you figured out how to clear up this situation and get Gale to not give up on his life like that.

"I'm sorry, Gale. I just don't feel the same."

They were words you had said countless of times by now, but even so, they didn't have any effect.

"I appreciate your sincerity and your efforts so we could make it this far, and I don't want it to end like this here. You've been a good... friend. You helped me countless times, but I just don't feel the same about you as you do about me. And I told you, but you won't listen, and I don't know what to do anymore."

"Tell me why," he mumbled, taking a step forward. You almost wanted to recoil, not having noticed him practically closing the distance while you tried to come up with your retort. "Why don't you love me? If you could just give me a reason, I could make my peace with it. Tell me what I did wrong, please, I beg you!"

What should you say? "You're not my type" or "I was drunk when we kissed"? Was there any way to not sound rude when breaking up? Were you even breaking up? As far as you were concerned, you two were never together in the first place.

"I'm sorry," you muttered instead, watching as the last glimmers of hope escaped from Gale. "I don't have a reason, I just don't love you."

You took a step back as his gaze sunk to the ground, defeated, heartbroken. It was better this way, even if it made you feel miserable. After all, you didn't want him to get the wrong impression or feel betrayed by feelings that never existed. But you also didn't want to humor him and come to hate him just because you didn't make it clear what you felt.

"Let's go, Gale. The others are waiting. We have a mission to complete."

"Wait."

His hand grabbed you before you could react, his fingers digging deep into your wrist as he pulled you back, applying a painful pressure on your body. The dagger in your hand shivered as you tried to hold on to it, being perhaps the best thing to defend yourself with should something happen.

"Let me go!" you immediately insisted, but instead, Gale came closer, much, much closer than ever before. His face hovered beside yours as he stared at you with unblinking eyes. You felt his fast, heated breath on your face like fire licking at your skin, sweat collecting on your forehead as your heart began to race with adrenaline.

"You can still learn to love me."

"What? Gale, what are you talking about? That's not how--"

"I can show you. I'm useful, I'm a good wizard! I'll be whatever you want me to be. You can still fall in love with me over time! I just need to prove myself to you, right? I need to be better than I was, I understand it now! I vow, I will!"

Raising your hand with his own, he pointed the dagger right at his throat, the apple located there bopping nervously before he continued to talk, his voice having a slight shiver in it as Gale made you a deal that made you gulp as well.

"Or you kill me now. If you think you can never love me, if you truly, honestly think that you'll never feel the same as me, kill me. Do it, please. Because I cannot live knowing there will never be hope for us. I just can't. Please. Please. I accept whatever you decide, so please."

Droplets of blood started to run down his throat as he pressed the tip further forward, guiding your hand towards his death. You wished he was just joking, throwing his life away over something so trite as your feelings for him, but with every second, more blood sprung forth from the wound, and Gale gasped as the pain began to spread.

And even after killing so many and being so appalled by his actions, you couldn't do it.

"N-No! Stop!" you yelled, ramming your free hand into his shoulder and tearing away from him. Finally, Gale let you go and the dagger fell to the ground, far away from either of you two, as you made a backside landing onto the hard dirt path as well.

Immediately, you felt Gale's arms around you as he sunk to the ground, hugging you tightly while your whole body tensed in his bone-crushing hold. "Thank you," Gale whispered, his voice cracking as he repeated the words over and over.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Only when you whimpered in pain did he let go, his eyes glossy as he quickly wiped away the tears from them before getting back up and taking your hand to pull you into a stand again.

"You'll not regret it," Gale promised you solemnly, and you couldn't help the creeping of regret already clawing its way around your body.

"I'll prove myself to you, and you will realize you didn't make the wrong decision."

And with that, Gale moved on, chipper as a carefree bird while you were left behind, your eyes falling onto the silver dagger on the ground, its tip still coated in dark red. Fear gripped you, washing over you as you realized the mistake of giving someone so desperate hope. Hope that would be even harder to shatter now that you proved his crazy theory that you believed in a chance for you two, too. All, just because you couldn't bring it over you to kill someone innocent just because he was desperate. But at that point, you didn't know yet what Shadowheart really meant by talking about mercy.

And that she never truly meant merciful for Gale, either.

[tungledotedu]

Kissinger's name is "synonymous with effective diplomacy, effective American diplomacy, and, I think few would argue with the fact, one of the best strategic minds in the country," Biden said in 2007, introducing Kissinger to a committee hearing on the future of Iraq, a transcript shows. Biden referenced how much he had learned from Kissinger, too. "One of the things I’ve noticed in my long years of having an opportunity to learn from you is, we should always have alternative plans," Biden said, wrapping up his introduction by promising Kissinger a "receptive and friendly" audience in the hearing.

I still think we should celebrate Kissinger's death even if he didn't face justice and lived a confortable life, just so that everybody knows what a piece of shit he was, just so that when some Great Stateman like I don't fucking know Biden tries to eulogize him he is flooded with insults and mockery y quede bien para el culo, so that nobody can even PRETEND he had any worth, millions should celebrate he's fucking dead and this is how he will be remembered, as an imperialist criminal hated all over the world with no redeeming qualities, none should be able to even pretend he was some some great man except for the magnitude of his crimes

[onion-souls]

I remember reading that in some of Lovecraft's later letters, he had a profound change in his racism and otherwise unpleasantness. Do you know what I'm talking about? Might you know where to find those specific correspondences?

(Going to be citing letters throughout this, which can easily be found by googling Lovecraft letter to [named correspondent] [date]. Don't have time at the moment to hyperlink everything.) I wouldn't say profound, but he mellowed out. His most extreme racism shows up largely in his 1910s to 20s writings, which is when he was talking about a "Teutonic master race" of which the Anglo-Saxon was the superior breed, the genetic inferiority of the Celts, and praising the KKK. This started to diminish largely due to exposure to people. He learned he was partially Welsh, and he began a deep friendship via correspondence with Robert E. Howard, who, like many Irish-Americans of the time, had a strong connection to a fantastical image of his Celtic ancestors revived through the late Victorian imagination. His anti-Celtic statements were always something of an affectation of British Imperial attitudes rather than anything that really made sense for a turn of the century Rhode Islander, and they were the first thing to fall away. His antisemitism also shifted after his meeting with his wife of seventeen years, Sonia Greene, and friendship with Robert Bloch; apparently he would still say dumb shit but they were quick to call him out on it. In his November 8, 1934 letter writer John Vernon Shea, he expresses embarrassment on some of his older and then still lingering views and specifically asks Shea not to quote them at Bloch. Possibly the most influential figure in his social circle, however, was James Ferdinand Morton, Jr., an anarchist political writer, Baha'i convert, and NAACP member frequently who took Lovecraft to task for his racism and basically helped him see that the KKK was a terrorist organization. Lovecraft had hideous views but he was also a rather soft sort - not from an anti-racist angle, but actual violence was a thuggish act unsuited of a gentleman. This was also what was causing some of his shifts in his antisemitic statements in that 1934-37 period; he was still bigoted, but didn't like the news that coming out of Europe.

But he also never dropped his anti-Black racism, and I would recommend looking into his correspondence to Morton, particularly his March 23, 1931 letter, where he dismisses Franz Boas' well-evidenced skepticism towards the then fashionable anthropological racial divisions. He was willing to change and even deconstruct his views on everyone else, but kind of put his foot down when it came to Black people. By 1934 (and note that he died on March 15, 1937), his attitudes had largely shifted to a kind of Anglo-Saxon Cultural Supremacism mixed with his growing sympathies with non-Marxist Utopian socialism (somewhat of the Edwardian progressive H.G. Wells sort), best expressed in his November 22, 1934 letter to poet Natalie H. Wooley [Collected with his letters to Robert Bloch] and a January 18, 1931 letter to Morton . He basically started to ease up on the genetic racism (though the anti-Black racism never went away, at least not in anything recorded his writing) and pivoted to a notion that anyone could plausibly achieve an equal level of civilization as the WASP/"Nordic," but he still had a strong streak of racial/societal separatism, expressing a distrust of "cultural mongrelism" as late as January '31 [to Morton]. The one thing I would push back on is the common statement that he was unusually racist and antisemitic for his time, which really isn't true considering that his most extreme statements were also platforms of mainstream political parties in the 10s to 40s, and the pulp fiction published alongside his works were pretty much just as shitty, if not worse. It's just that he and Howard are some of the few pulp magazine writers from the period that we still read, so the cringe lingers. He was always a bigot, despite some evolution, but what's particularly interesting about him is that he was willing to maintain a social circle of people who would call him out on it. Complicated guy, but I think a lot of this is wondering what he would have become if he lived to see the 40s to 60s and kind of hoping that he would have kept changing.

[professional-rat-eater]

i think marius might be the only character ever where, if you talk abt the horrible stuff hes done in canon, youll get ppl telling u to get it out of the main tag even though his monstrocity is. like. canon. and in the books

WARNING: Severe Marius slander ahead. I mean it. Just stop reading here if you're going to argue (again.) It's just exhausting for everyone involved, though genuine conversation is always welcome.

_______________

Right???? Imagine a fan of Armand telling you not to post about what he did to Claudia in his tag. It's a pretty significant part of his arc. Or Lestat dropping Louis in the show, or Claudia's serial killing, or Louis's neglect of Claudia. That would all be pretty strange.

And you also get called performative or a virtue signaller for discussing his most notable contribution to the Vampire Chronicles canon (grooming Armand which has a domino effect for every choice Armand makes after that point, especially regarding his personal relationships.) Interesting to know there are those who think calling a pedophile a pedophile is performative. Is this just an extension of the "it's not that deep" mentality that pollutes the way so many interact with the media they consume nowadays or is it something else?

Because it is that deep. Personal feelings, positive or negative, towards Marius aside. That is what he is. That is objectively what he is. It doesn't matter if it was only Armand, it doesn't matter if he never did it again and it doesn't change just because other characters have also done bad things. This isn't even a comment on whether it was wrong or not, though it obviously was horrific. It is an entirely neutral statement. That is what he is. It is inarguable.

There are fans of every character who downplay what their favourites do, I suppose because they don't understand the genre of what they're watching/reading, but it is undeniable that the characters who remained white or have yet to be cast (and so are still perceived as white due to the canon of the books) have a significantly higher number of people making excuses for them.

Personally, I cannot understand why Marius is the character people are riding this hard for. On top of being a child predator, he's also exceedingly arrogant, seems to have no regard for what he did to Armand beyond what is performative, he's delusional and entitled and arrogant and selfish and immature.

But above all, perhaps what is his worst crime as a fictional character is being profoundly uninteresting. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt in previous posts but he is just boring. He's a racist relic of the past who never evolved past his backwards period-appropriate colonial views. That is why he found a boy who comes from the region we would now know as Ukraine, 'educated' him, dressed him up in pretty outfits and broke him down into pieces just to put the pieces back together in a more agreeable form. You could remove all the SA and that would still be true about him. That aspect of their relationship just really drives the point home. Perhaps some research into the historical mistreatment and perception of Eastern Europeans and how that intersects with colonialism and how this concept is only rendered more profound by Assad's casting would serve these people well.

Then, when Armand reacts like all abused children do instead of being his maker's passive pretty little doll, Marius gives up on him and is content to let a cult destroy his mind even further than it already had been for hundreds of years, completely abandoning him to their torture. A true romance for the ages (sarcasm.)

Marius's abusive tendencies and the way in which they are different to other characters are the most interesting thing about him, and we can't even talk about it candidly without having people who read the absolute horror that was The Vampire Armand as a regular romance telling us off for making them feel bad about a character they chose to post publicly about loving. I'll reiterate again that you cannot willfully misinterpret a piece of media to such an extreme and then be sensitive when you see accounts that differ to your own. Have some courage in your convictions, for God's sake. No one rational and reasonable thinks someone is a bad person for liking a fictional character, but don't come on public social media and start policing people for what they think. Everyone inevitably gets their feelings hurt on social media. It's like the wild west on here. It is unrealistic to expect otherwise.

It's frustrating to me personally, I suppose, because there are so many people like Marius, fictional and otherwise. He's not special in any regard. He took a traumatised boy and tried to tame him and making him 'civilised'. It's a tale as old as fucking time. I'm sorry for the Marius defenders who find this discourse boring but you will need to get used to it because it's only going to get worse when season 3 airs and the writers continue to do what they are already doing, which is portraying Marius accurately. I apologise for everyone who will see that ancient white colonial racist buy the little boy from Delhi and destroy everything that remains of him and get annoyed that we aren't moving past that part and filling up their ao3 tag blindly with fluff.

I expect this attitude is going to change when they introduce Marius formally to the show, or at least it will be drowned out more which will be a relief. The writers know what he is and they're already showing it. They had no issue showing Lestat, Louis and Armand for exactly what they are, so I'm not sure why anyone would be convinced that Marius would be any different.

So sorry anon. This was such a long and rambling response. You're absolutely spot on and it is endlessly frustrating.

[evertomorrowart]

Best of YouTube 2023

Yes, I did spend the first week and change of January on this. I wish I could have had it done for New Years, but too many people came out with incredible work in December, so waiting turned out for the best.

What these creators do are a huge influence on my life, I would honestly have difficulty doing what I do without them. That isn't to say that my favorites of the year are *only* on this image--It was almost impossible to narrow down my favorites. Many creators I wanted to include couldn't fit on a single page, and too many of them made more than one video I wished I could draw too!

But, to all of you, thank you for what you do. You're an inspiration.

For those who don't know, further is an explanation.

At the bottom center is an artistic masterpiece by Defunctland: "Journey to EPCOT Center: A Symphonic History." Over the last several years, Defunctland has risen from delightfully-entertaining commentary on decommissioned theme park attractions to occasionally dropping profound statements on the creation of art itself. "Journey to EPCOT Center: A Symphonic History" is worth treating like the cinematic experience it is: No second screen, you sit your ass down in front of a TV, set down the phone, and then you *watch it.* Any Disney, theme park, or independent film fan needs to pay attention to this one.

Bottom left is Caelan Conrad with their piece "Drop the T - The Deadly Consequences of Gay Respectability Politics." While I do think they've done more visually or artistically-daring pieces before, "Drop the T" is one of the most important videos released on YouTube in today's current climate of hate. We as queer folk (and our allies) need to understand how integral every identity of the queer experience has been since the start of the Civil Rights movement (and before!). While we are not identical, we *are* inseparable, and we deserve having our real history easily accessible.

TERFs and other conservative mouthpieces need not reply. Your opinions are trash. 😘

I cannot stop watching and rewatching this video by @patricia-taxxon, "On the Ethics of Boinking Animal People." It's not just a defense of furry fandom and its eccentricities, it's a thoughtful and passionate analysis of what the artform achieves that purely human representation can't. Patricia goes outside of her usual essay format to directly speak to the viewer about the elements that define furry media (the most succinct definition I've ever heard) and just how *human* an act loving animal cartoons really is.

As an artist who can draw furry characters, but never really got into erotic furry art, this video is a treasure. Why did I choose to have her drawn as a Ghibli character, hanging out with one of the tanukis from "Pom Poko?" Guess you'll have to watch, bruh.

Philosophy Tube continuously puts out videos that I would put on this list--I'm not even sure that "A Man Plagiarised my Work: Women, Money, and the Nation" is the best work she released in 2023. However, this video got many conversations going between myself and my partner, and the twist on the tail end of the video shocked us both to such a degree that I had no choice.

At the very tail end of the year, Big Joel released "Fear of Death." On his Little Joel channel, he described it as the singularly best video he's ever done, and I'm inclined to agree. However, for this illustration, I ended up repeatedly going back to a mini-series he did earlier in the year: "Three Stories at the End of the World." All three videos are deeply moving and haunting, and I was brought to tears by "We Must Destroy What the Bomb Cannot." While it may be relatively-common knowledge that the original Gojira (Godzilla) film is horror grappling with the devastation America's rush to atomic dominance inflicted on Japan, Big Joel still manages to bring new words to the discussion. Please watch all three of the videos, but if, for some reason, you must have only one, let it be "We Must Destroy What the Bomb Cannot."

Y'all. Let me confess something. I hate football. I hate watching it, I associate seeing it from the stadiums with some of my worst childhood experiences, I despise collegiate and professional football (as institutions that destroy bodies and offer up children at the feet of its alter as a pillar of American culture)--

I. L o a t h e. Football.

But.

F.D. Signifier could get me to watch an entire hour-plus essay on why I should at least give a passing care. AND HE DID IT. I might think "F*ck the Police," the two-parter on Black conservatism, or his essay on Black men's connection to anime might be "better" videos, but this writer did the impossible and held my limited attention span towards football long enough to make a sincere case for NFL players--and reminds us that millionaires can *in fact* be workers. That alone is testament to his skill.

Sit down and watch "The REAL Reason NFL Running Backs Aren't Getting Paid." Any good anti-capitalist owes it to themselves.

CJ the X continuously puts out stunning, emotional videos, and can do it with the most seemingly-inconsequential starting points. A 30 second song? An incestuous commercial? Five minutes of Tangled? Sure, why not. Go destroy yourself emotionally by watching them. I'm serious. Do it.

Their video Stranger Things and the Meaning of Life manages to to remind us all why the way we react to media does, in fact, matter. Yes, even nostalgia-driven, mass-media schlock. Yes, how we interact with media matters, what it says about us matters, and we all deserve to seek out the whys.

Folding Ideas has spent the last few years articulating exactly why so much of our modern world feels broken, and because of that his voice continuously lives rent-free in my brain. While the tricks that scam artists and grifters use to try to swindle us are never new, the advancement of technology changes the aesthetics of their performances. Portions of Folding Ideas' explanations might seem dry when going into detail of how stocks work in This is Financial Advice, but every bit of it is necessary to peel back the layers of techno-babble and jargon and make sense of the results of "Meme Stocks."

Jessie Gender puts out nothing but bangers, her absolute unit of a video about Star Wars might be my new favorite thing ever, but none of her work hit so profoundly in 2023 than the two-parter "The Myth of 'Male Socialization'" and "The Trauma of Masculinity." There's so much about modern life that isolates and traumatizes us, and so much of it is just shrugged off as "normal." We owe it to ourselves to see the world in more vivid a color palette than we're initially given.

Panels drawn after Kate Beaton and "Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands."

"This is Not a Video Essay" is one of the most intense and beautiful pieces of art I've ever put into my eyeballs. Why do we create? What drives us to connect?

I don't even know what else to say about the Leftist Cooks' work, it repeatedly transcends the medium and platform. Watch every single one of their videos, but especially this one.

The likelihood you are terminally online and yet haven't heard of Hbomberguy's yearly forrays into destroying the careers of awful people is pretty slim. Just because it has millions of views doesn't mean that Hbomberguy's "Plagiarism and You(Tube)" isn't worth the hype. Too long? Shut up, it has chapters and YouTube holds your place, anyway. You think a deep dive into a handful of creators is only meaningless drama? Well, you're wrong, you wrong-opinion-haver. Plagiarism is an *everyone* problem because of the actual harm it creates--the history it erases, the labor it devalues, the art it marginalizes--which you would know if you watched "Plagiarism and You(Tube)".

Watch. The damn. Video.

In fact, watch all of them!

Thanks for reading this if you did.

[autistichalsin]

NO BUT LISTEN TO ME!!!

HALSIN'S FUCKING EPILOGUE KILLS ME! BECAUSE! Not only do you see how much he is healing, but you also see how much healing he still has left to do!!!

Take this line if the player joins him at the commune:

"Tell me... are you happy with the path we tread together? I took you from a life of high adventure, to one that can be described as anything but. I thought perhaps that seeing everyone once again, and hearing of all that they have been doing... it might awaken some regret, about the life we lead. You could have done anything, gone with anyone... yet you chose me."

That one statement conveys so much. So much doubt and insecurity. He still doesn't view himself as particularly worth settling down for; and in fact, secretly worries the player is (or will soon discover themselves to be) miserable at it. He has a remarkably modest nature, yes, but this is a step beyond. Even with the player's love and kindness, he is in a similar state to that first romance scene, where he thought one little mistake (wildshaping on accident) would make the player leave him forever. Here, too, he's terrified the player will discover the "truth", that they never actually wanted him, and might even leave him. :(

After the player reassures him:

"Forgive me. This past while has been so idyllic that I almost fear something must go wrong. A fear I shall overcome, trust me. We are amongst friends, in celebration."

"I almost fear something must go wrong."

People with PTSD experience this one a lot. Why are things going so well? What's about to go wrong? He acknowledges he will heal in time, but he still isn't there yet.

"I am glad to hear it. Forgive an old fool in need of a little reassurance. I am still expecting to stir from the dream."

Same as the above. He's waiting to find that none of it is real, that he's still trapped at the Grove in utter isolated misery.

Other dialogues, when meeting up with either a romanced player who didn't go with him, or with a friend player:

"Perhaps that is so for you, but for me? It may be that a peaceful life after so many years of tumult has made me sentimental."

Acknowledging the years of tumult, and the effect they had on him, while also noting the good changes the last six peaceful months have brought him.

"You are right, of course. I am accustomed to dwelling on the past, even when it brought me nothing but unhappiness. You changed that, and gave me the most precious of memories."

This one is one of the most profound of all, especially because Halsin, so many times, tells the player not to regret things, to focus on making a future together, etc. But when it comes to his own traumatic memories, he is still unable to stop dwelling on some of them- "even when it (brings him) nothing but unhappiness."

He's done so much healing in his six months at the commune; you can already tell what a new, happier person he is. He even brings up that his restless, roaming nature has settled now that he has a place he belongs. But you can also see where the traumas have left deeper scars on him that will take much, much longer to heal.

(... And this is why I will NEVER choose any dialogue option for the romanced epilogue EXCEPT FOR "I chose you for a reason, and have never looked back." This man deserves to hear it at least a dozen times a day for the rest of his life. :( )

[respectthepetty]

For such a simple man, Hagiwara Kazuaki has depth.

And Nakarai Sei likes that.

When they go to eat after the gallery, Hagiwara makes this profound statement about how the vastness of the Toyko metro reminds him of how connected people are.

The Tokyo underground is very deep like an ant colony in a clear box. If you look at the Toyko underground from a section view, it must be full of holes. Maybe somebody similar to us is surprisingly close to us. I think that whenever I visit Roppongi.

But when Sei presses him about "Why Roppongi," which is a place known for its partying and night life, Hagiwra simply responds "Well, the Oedo line is extremely deep" since it sits 150 feet below ground. Then, the fun music sets in to let us know that this man is a fool.

But, once again, Sei likes that. He even teases Hagiwara later because it's clear that Hagiwara doesn't always realize how funny he is being.

Because Sei likes that Hagiwara, even in his foolishness, is very serious.

In the midst of their very serious relationship issues, Hagiwara constantly makes Sei laugh.

Hagiwara, through email, has been so serious about the difficulties he is having in his relationship, yet whenever he and Sei meet, he is actually this goofy little guy.

He laughs. He smiles.

But he is also very serious when it comes to feeling.

Fujisawa is always serious. He is serious about his work and keeping the distance in his arrangement with Sei.

But Kairo is always smiles. She is always joking her way out of intimacy with Hagiwara. Then, there is Hagiwara.

He is good at his sales job. He is popular among his coworkers. He is the party planner of the group. And he is serious about his feelings, which must be refreshing for Sei who lives with a man who never talks about feelings. But it must also be nice for Hagiwara as well to speak to someone about his feelings.

Hagiwara, in his foolishness, is actually quite sincere. Hagiwara speaks plainly to Sei, so when he talks about his emotions of feeling dirty and like a bad person, we can feel the weight of what he is saying. When he asks Sei questions about his feelings, we know it's genuine. We can trust Hagiwara because he isn't trying to hide his feelings when he is with Sei. When he feels, we know it's serious because he is serious.

In a sense, Hagiwara is the Oedo line running under Roppongi. On the surface, he is all fun times, but when looking below the surface, his depth is surprising. Unlike the one dimensions we've seen of Fujisawa and Kairo, the more Sei gets to know Hagiwara, the deeper he sees his emotions run. And that's why he is easy to read.

Unlike the other characters who keep trying to cover up and dismiss their feelings, Hagiwara feels his feelings, and he takes those feelings seriously, so maybe that's why the Oedo line reminds him of connection since in all his dark layers of depth in this ant colony of life, he is looking for "somebody similar to us [who] is surprisingly close to us."

Hagiwara simply wants someone to feel

the same way he does.

[sweetvoidstuff]

Chain the change

Cha Hyun Su x Reader

Summary: Tensions rise as Green Home votes to evict Hyun Su.

Autors Note:I haven't written stories in quite a while, but I have the desire to pick it up again. English isn't my native language, so I welcome any constructive criticism. Particulary with the titel.

the next part, kinda

Masterlist

~~~~~

The tense atmosphere in the room was palpable as the tenants of Green Home Apartment gathered for the crucial vote. Whispers of uncertainty echoed, and the weight of judgment hung heavy on your shoulder. Demending on this vote Hyun Su would be thrown out or even worse.

Mister Kim's sudden outburst shook the room, his face contorted with rage as he screamed at the other tenants to rid themselves of Cha Hyun Su. The atmosphere, already tense, reached a fever pitch as fear and confusion spread like wildfire. Whispers of disbelief and unease swept through the gathered crowd.

Amidst the chaos, Hyun Su stood at the end of the room, his expression a mix of shock and disbelief, trying to comprehend the gravity of the situation. Mister Kim continued his fervent tirade, demanding that they take matters into their own hands. "We can't let him ruin our lives! We have to get rid of him now or he will turn and kill us all!" he bellowed, his voice echoing in the confined space. Hyun Su, the center of this storm, stood amidst the turmoil, his eyes wide with disbelief and fear. The room held its breath as the realization of the severity of the situation dawned on everyone. Hyun Su struggled to find words to defend himself, caught between the accusations and the impending decision that could change his life.

It was in this moment of tension that you, a bystander until now, felt compelled to speak up. Amidst the chaos, you stepped forward, breaking the silence with a declaration that sent ripples through the room. Standing firm, you declared, "If you're going to throw him out, then I'm leaving with him." The room fell silent, all eyes turning toward you. Your statement hung in the air, a challenge to the collective judgment of the tenants.

The gravity of your words added a new layer to the already charged atmosphere. The tension in the room transformed into a palpable conflict of emotions—fear, anger, and uncertainty mixing together. The decision now rested not only on Cha Hyun Su's fate but on the willingness of the community to confront the consequences of their actions. Not just one, but two lives on the line.

Hyun Su, taken aback by your unexpected stance, tried to interject. "This is unreasonable," in a hushed wisper he argued, concern etched across his face. "What if I turn? What if i become a monster and hurt you?"

Your response was unwavering. "If you're a monster, then all of us are. Listen to what they say, what they are willing to do!," you proclaimed, your words echoing with defiance. "I'll stay with you till the end, whether that's until you fully turn or if it costs me my life. I won't abandon you." Hyun Su, torn between gratitude and concern, tried to reached out to you.

The room erupted into chaos, the revelation sparking heated debates among the tenants. Some questioned the logic of such a decision, while others began to grapple with the profound loyalty you displayed. Mister Kim's hostility turned towards you, his anger now directed at anyone who dared to oppose his extreme proposal. He advanced, his face contorted with rage, but before the situation could escalate further, Hyun Su stepped between you and Mister Kim. The room held its breath, the confrontation reaching a critical point.

At this moment blood began to trickle from Mister Kims nose. First slow but soon a stream of blood ran down his shirt. The room fell into a hushed symphony of gasps, the ominous precursor to a transformation. Eun Hyeok, attempting to calm the panicked crowd, pleaded for reason, but the tenants, gripped by fear, were hesitant to listen.

Hyun Su's own monster stirred, responding to the threat. His eyes turned black, his voice, now laced with a dark undertone, with a smirk he questioned, "I have a question. Am I allowed to vote? If I go, Mister Kim has to go with me, right?"

Eun Hyeok, sensing an opportunity for reason, interjected, "You don't have to do this. Quarantine might be the best option here. For both of them."

Eun Hyeok, taking charge in the midst of the chaos, directed the tenants to assist in quarantining both Hyun Su and Mister Kim. The room shifted from pandemonium to a controlled frenzy as the tenants reluctantly followed Eun Hyeok's instructions.

Hyun Su and you walked side by side towards the makeshift quarantine room. You felt a strong urge to comfort Hyun Su but hesitated, mindful of the other tenants surrounding you. Instead, you decided to take his hand, a silent gesture that spoke volumes. Your fingers gently intertwined with his, and Hyun Su's initial surprise was evident on his face. However, as the warmth of your hand enveloped his, the surprise transformed into a grateful acknowledgment. In the midst of uncertainty, your touch became a lifeline, a tangible reassurance that he wasn't facing this ordeal alone.

As you entered the room, a mix of trepidation and gratitude painted Hyun Su's expression. The solidarity you showed, both in words and actions, had not gone unnoticed.

Gently squeezing his hand once more, you whispered words of comfort, "We face it together, Hyun Su. I'll be back with food later. We'll get through this." Hyun Su nodded, his eyes expressing a blend of gratitude and relief.

Inside the quarantine room, the air felt heavy with the anticipation of Mister Kims transformation and maybe even Hyun Su's that loomed ahead.

Inside the quarantine room, you maintained your grip on Hyun Su's hand until the last possible moment before reluctantly letting go. Your eyes conveyed a silent promise: I'll be back. Hyun Su nodded, gratitude and understanding mirrored in his gaze. You reluctantly released Hyun Su's hand, a sense of reluctance evident in your eyes. "Take care of yourself in there," you said, your voice soft but filled with genuine concern.

Hyun Su managed a small, appreciative smile. "Thank you. " I never expected someone to stand by me like this.

With a final reassuring glance, you left the quarantine room, the makeshift door closing behind you. The hallway outside seemed quieter, the echoes of the recent tumult still lingering in the air. As you stepped back into the hallway, the door closing behind you, the weight of the decision lingered. The small act of holding Hyun Su's hand, you couldn't shake the weight of the decision made and the potential consequences it held for both Hyun Su and the community.

Meanwhile, inside the quarantine room, Hyun Su took a deep breath, a mix of emotions swirling within him. Gratitude overwhelmed him for your unwavering support, and hope flickered in his eyes as he prepared to face the challenges ahead. The makeshift quarantine became a refuge, a space where the unknown awaited.

Back in the hallway, the other tenants exchanged glances, a shared uncertainty written on their faces. The community was at a crossroads, and the decisions made in the coming days would shape the fate of Green Home Apartment.

As you ventured away from the quarantine room, the weight of your commitment lingered. The promise of bringing food later held a sense of normalcy in the midst of chaos, a reminder that even in uncertain times, small gestures of kindness could make a difference. The journey ahead remained uncertain, but for now, Hyun Su found solace in the fact that someone had chosen to stand by him, reach out to him, in his time of need.

[sideprince]

Isn't it cool how you can look at one things so many different ways and they can all work?

For example, you can look at Lupin telling Neville to put Snape in a dress as transphobia, because if the way to get rid of a boggart is to laugh at something ridiculous, then a man in a dress is also ridiculous.

And you can also look at that and think actually this can be interpreted as profound statement that trans people are valid because there's nothing frightening about a man in a dress, the very idea that there's anything threatening about it is "riddikulus" and the relief of knowing you're safe because it's just a man in a dress and not a scary boggart (ie. manifestation of fears), and that nothing's wrong with that, is what makes you laugh out loud and as you explain this bit of literary analysis to JK Rowling herself you flip her the bird with both hands and moonwalk out of there.

[hybbart]

This is perhaps a strange question, but do you have the sketch/lineart/framework/whatever the heck it's called that you use when you draw Tango? I decided I want to learn to draw, and my thought process was, "Ah yes, the easiest way is to try and copy my favourite Tangos cause I know how they look," and it is going... poorly xD.

Alternatively, do you have any advice on how to learn and develop a style, or how to get/keep going?

A reference sheet? I have a couple various ones, though at this point i don't really use a reference unless I need to sample colours, and I'm currently working on a colour reference for myself. Besides the point I suppose... I'll put them at the very bottom of the cut so scroll right past my ramblings if you want to.

As for advice. My advice is do not try developing a style if you are just starting out. style is the last thing that should be on your mind if you're just starting out. Style is something that happens naturally as you grow and learn what you like and get used to your tools, and being able to intentionally create a style is an advanced skill that requires the skill to draw in various styles, strong basics, self-awareness, and proper self-critique.

The rest of this is going to be very incoherent and long winded and backwards so I apologize.

The most important thing to improving is to get over yourself. You need to look at someone else's art and be able to admit it's better than yours or has a quality you wish yours had without that being a statement of self-deprecation. You need to be able to look at your own art and pick out what it is you don't like about it without using it to beat yourself up. You can't improve if you get demotivated by the information required to adjust your course.

If you must, find something in each drawing that you like and focus on learning how to recreate that. If you find yourself with a drawing that you genuinely find nothing you like about it you stop drawing and restart, because that drawing is worthless to you once you recognize that. Analyze why you don't like it, figure out what's causing you to draw that way, ask what you might prefer instead and what the difference between them is, and figure out how to draw what you want instead. The important thing is that when you examine your art and other's art you're using as inspiration you don't instead use it as a tool to put yourself down.

My shadows are flat and poorly angled, and I draw everything lopsides, and I can say those things as simple facts of my art. These are things I still do, and I use tools to fix them, like turning my tablet or using editing tools, or looking up references. If I want to know a certain technique I reach out to other artists I see using said technique and asking, or I research it myself. In the meantime I experiment and accept this flaw in my art. There's other things to like. The important thing is you don't allow your lack of knowledge to demotivate you from correcting that lack of knowledge.

The best thing you can do is ask yourself what you like about art, and what you want to do. It's a bit difficult for me to help with this sort of thing because I've literally always drawn my whole life, so helping someone who is actively choosing to take up drawing isn't my realm of expertise. But art is communication and connection and self-expression. What do you want to express through your art and what medium is that expression best done in, what do you want to convey, what do you want to share that you simply cannot without art.

It's a bit daunting, those sound like profound questions, but honestly they're not. When I draw fanart usually what I wanna communicate is "I like these characters when they do this", and more often than not it's "I really liked this line/palette".

These incomplete character sketches have sat in my main D&D folder and I think about him at least once a month entirely because I was so happy with his proportions and the concept of a dewclaw heel. I ended up reusing the heel in these Jimmy designs.

It can be anything and changes with each piece. Drawing let's me express what I love and emphasize what I love about it or show it from my perspective. I'll use this raau page as an example.

This is actually based on a shop that I've gone to since I was a child, so it's a space that I've seen and thought about many times. Though it's changed, for ease of drawing and to fit into the setting of raau and for the sake of composition, but the things that are important to me are still here. The ceiling that feels slightly claustrophobically low, the rainbow coordinated shirts, the club covers shaped like animals, every inch of the shop being utilized for merchandise until you can barely see the walls, the nook shape of the section, the fluorescent lights with this specific covering that's very "soulless office job" but to me is also the playroom at my grandma's house and how both have no windows.

I wanted to preserve particular qualities of the atmosphere of the place, in order to express that in this image. That vibe that I could not describe in words to anyone who hasn't experienced it themselves so the best I could normally do is describe it and hope it sparks a similar enough memory. But with visual art I can use lightning, context, and composition to simply express it better. I can create the experience for someone else.

Sometimes writing is better at it than words, and sometimes both are needed, so I learned both. Sometimes music is better than either and I'm screwed because I can't do music. That's besides the point though.

When you're starting out you can have a hard time grasping what about a piece compels you. That's why you need to learn to critique art as you learn to draw, and that's also why tracing and copying is good.

Here's an example of me trying out @lunarcrown's art style. I made a collage and traced my favourite frame's shapes to "get my hands on it", if you will, before trying it out on my own, starting with similar poses usually. What I learned from this is I really like how Lunar does hair, actually even though this was a study of Tango I took notes on how she does Jimmy's hair and applied it to my Scar, Impulse, and Skizz, because I'm awful at short men's hairstyles.

I also cemented one of the reasons I love her art is because it does have some qualities that I already incorporate into mine, like the streamlining between flushed materials such as her Tango's skin and skin-tight shirt, or my Tango's sleeves and gloves.

If you know what you like about something it's easier to work towards incorporating it into your own art without simply copying someone else's. And starting out by copying as a way to play around with someone's art the same way an engineer pulls something apart is helpful in doing so.

Which leads me further back into simply go somewhere and draw what you see. The drawing does not have to be good, but being able to just take a sketchbook and see something that scratches your brain and mimic it is important to developing the above skills. Being able to translate reality into an image is important to developing your skills and understanding the fundamentals of breaking things down. Being able to look at something moving or possibly far away and look down and draw it anyways by breaking down its shapes is important in developing your ability to use references.

Drawing is also mostly muscle memory. So it's important to draw things over and over again. You can do this how you want, you're always going to hit a wall where you end up having to sit there and draw circles 50 times on a page to remember how to draw circles like you're trying to get a dry pen to work. You will do this before almost every serious picture. Find a way for you to enjoy this process.

The biggest most important rule about art, though, is that there is not rules. Go about things however you want for whatever reason you want. If you enjoy doing something a certain way do it that way, if you hate a particular process eliminate it. Sometimes the result outweighs a miserable process, if having something look a certain way is more important then suck it up and do so. If you care more about enjoying a motion than what the end result is then do so. You have to ask yourself what you care about in art.

For now, though, if you're just starting out. The best thing you can do is draw a lot of circles and cubes and fruit. It's an unfortunate truth that the best foundation is learning realism, because it's just going to teach your the fundamentals the best, and all abstraction is... well, an abstraction.

Of course, as just said, there is no rules, and if you genuinely do not enjoy drawing those things like me, then you can simply not. It helps improvement the fastest but if it makes you miserable in a way that isn't backed by passion then that's counterproductive. Forcing yourself only really works if you're passionate enough about what you're doing to overcome the temporary discomfort of learning, so if you're satisfied with just being able to mimic something more abstract in the beginning do exactly that and explore what would make you passionate enough to be willing to draw things you aren't stoked about for an end result. You might never be, but that's also fine, you don't have to strive to be the world's greatest artist to justify drawing.

Also accept that you're absolutely going to change your mind on things. What felt like a great line to draw you're going to hate the next day. It's up to you if you leave it be or fix it, neither's the right answer. I tend to lean towards leaving it personally, even when it drive some up a wall, simply because I have very momentary inspiration and don't like returning to old pieces once I'm done with them. Some people will return to a picture over and over again fixing it every time they think of something. Whatever floats your boat.

tl;dr figure out what you enjoy doing with art and just do that as much as you like. Improve by finding new things you want to do with art. Combine as you see fit to create art.

...

okay time for references:

I try to keep my designs simple because the style I developed for mcyt art was intended for animations. I've drifted a bit but in general I keep to simple shape-defined designs with long lines, flat colours, and minimal wrinkles. It's intentionally flat in many ways in order to create more satisfying lines, like the collar of his shirt or the way his hands ' gradient is done with the line art.

Tango is both round and angular, basically he's an almond. His shape is ambiguous in much of his clothing, with very understated joints. This gives him a move cartoony elastic sort of vibe, like he's just a pipe cleaner that can bend any which way, or a piece of rubber that might stretch.

I avoid bogging him down with logic for that reason, his hair is styled like hair but it has the appearance and moves like fire. Which is it? Who knows. Where are his organs? I haven't drawn them so they don't exist.

[sponsored-deactivated20210106]

Just the facts:

Facts:

JV is a very recent convert to (allegedly, see next) Roman Catholicism.

JV is a sedevacantist, a radical brand of Roman Catholic who believes that the Pope isn't actually the Pope (!) is schismatic, and seeks to overthrow the Vatican. (* sede vacante "the vacant chair" meaning "no Pope on the Throne")

As Veep, JV has direct access and control of the CIA. (The CIA doesn't swear an oath to defend the people of America or the US Constitution-they swear fealty to the Executive Branch.)

The CIA, as do all spy agencies, have many bioweapons and chemical agents they are known to use for incapacitation and assassination purposes. Some of those agents cause the lungs to fill with fluid, causing death from "pneumonia"-especially if medical staff are unaware.

The Pope is dead. (Yeah the Vatican probably isn't faking it? This is the weakest "Fact")

The Timeline:

1. In January, newly minted Veep JV criticized his church's role in immigration advocacy very brazenly on CBS' Face the Nation. JV suggested the Catholic Church was in it for the money: "Are they worried about humanitarian concerns or are they actually worried about their bottom line?" (This begins his public hat red of the Pope.)

2. In this past February of the Jubilee Year 2025, Pope Francis publicly and rightfully criticized the Trump administration's increasingly worsening immigration policies: particularly the inhumane mass deportation plan, calling it a "major crisis". For the first time, the Pope appeared to specifically address the alleged Catholic, JV.

3. JV publicly clapped back and claimed the evil deportation policies were actually endorsed by Roman Catholic doctrine, specifically Ordo Amoris doctrine the concept of "rightly-ordered love" or "true charity"-a theological doctrine which is based in Jesus's parable of The Good Samaritan about helping everyone.

4. The Pope, who is the Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church and who can indeed pontificate on the moral teachings with divine authority, then gave public homily and statements (without mentioning JV specifically) TL;DR-it is heretical and schismatic to claim it is Ordo Amoris when the mass deportation and Trumpism's policies and actions are in fact obviously evil and the exact opposite of the doctrine about charity, compassion, hope and love for all.

5. Every other theologian on the planet calls JV a retarded twat. They all side with the Pope on Twitterx.com and...

6. JV refers to himself as a "baby Catholic" and tweeted that there are "things about the faith that I don't know" but he publicly and obstinately asserts that he's right and the Pope is wrong. This is the definition of Heresy, believe it or not.

7. Vance acknowledged that the Pope was critical of him, but stated he would "continue to defend his views"-whatever that means...

8. Oh, look! The Pope's suddenly been taken ill!

9. Oh, look! In intensive care in the best hospital in Italy, Rome's Gemelli Hospital-sure this is just normal, common-or-garden-variety "pneumonia"

10. February 28, JV addresses a National gathering of Catholics, unrepentantly announcing firmly that he's not going to "litigate with [the Pope] or any other clergy member about who's right and who's wrong"-

11. JV: "I don't think it's good for us as Christians to constantly fight with one another over every single controversy in the church"

12. The Freudian slip: "That is how I will always remember the Holy Father, as a great pastor, as a man who can speak truth to faith in a very profound way at a moment of great crisis," JV appeared to prematurely eulogize the still very much alive Pope, with wording that would mirror the actual eulogical tweet less than 12 hours after the April Easter meeting.

13. Still February 28, JV seemed surprised to learn from the Bishops thar Pope Francis might actually pull through, and awkwardly attempted to take intercessory credit: "Every day since I heard of Pope Francis's illness I say a prayer for the Holy Father because while yes, I was certainly surprised when he criticized our immigration policy in the way that he has, I also know that the pope, I believe that the pope, is fundamentally a person who cares about the flock of Christians under his leadership, and he's a man who cares about the spiritual direction of the faith..." as long as that direction is Trumpism, and the Pope doesn't get in the way, and God protects him from assassination attempts...

14. April; Easter Sunday; 🇻🇦The Vatican: JV forces a meeting with Pope Francis seemingly for the sole purpose of shaking his hand.

15. The Pope has a sudden ischemic stroke, enters a coma and shortly dies.

16. This stroke could have been caused by any of the transdermal hemostatic chemical agents routinely used for such purposes, or something else, but the handshake points to Prince JV and his retenue.

The Evidence:

Corpus Delicti quantity (1), dead Pope.

Modus Operandi and outcome consistent with CIA, and JV going to "finish the job-because if you want something done right, sometimes you have to do it yourself"

In Terrorem—JV has repeatedly, appeared to warn the Pope to back off, has eulogized the living Pope, and had a very public imbroglio ce altercatio

Pleno lure Excommunicato Recapiendo JV is a self-avowed schismatic heresy twofer: Obstinency and Sede Vacante

The Verdict:

👩‍⚖️ A Sussus Amogus

Thank you for reading: I write original conspiracy theories sometimes here at @sponsored-deactivated20210106 ...in the best ranting, typo-filled screed (as befits the genre), best that I can manage while on hold or waiting for the bus. I am always annoyed by the sheeple, incapable of any critical thoughts, who regurgitate ad nauseum some bizarre Kremlin propaganda or other State-sponsored narrative, like "jet fuel doesn't burn hot enough to melt steel; the Jews blew up the WTC towers!" (Saudi Arabia) — or religious cult dogma, "flat Earth but the Government is covering it up" and "evolution isn't real and the Earth is 6k years-young!" (Biblical Literalists and Young Earth Creationists). I encourage you to do your own research, but even more important than that: I encourage you to think critically and be contrarian even to the "contrarians"... There's an infinite amount of inaccurate and incorrect information and beliefs (much of it quite harmful) and an infinite number of ways to be wrong. It doesn't matter where you start very much as long as you iterate towards congruence with reality, and continuously refine what that reality is. Sometimes my conspiracy theories turn out to be very close guesses; other times I'm completely wrong — and often the truth remains hidden behind vague and incomplete reporting or obvious cover-ups... a range of possible realities that we could be occupying... assumptions and speculation will only get us so far... then, embracing the uncertainty with patience and humility, keep watching.

[artbyarlo]

Li Yu's transition from fish to man, a successful allegory for a transgender experience

While reading the third volume of The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish, I was struck by a profound moment in Li Yu’s journey. On pages 198 and 199, right after finding out that he would need to call on the help of Prince Jing to get through the next task in his quest to return to his fully human form, Li Yu’s internal monologue details an experience that reflects that of a person struggling with dysphoria. Li Yu’s entire journey demonstrates the experience of being in a body that feels misaligned with one's identity. His quest to discover himself and transition into a body that more closely matches who he is serves as an allegory for the experiences of transgender individuals. However, this moment was so profound in how successfully it articulates the feeling of having to depend on the support of others in a moment of vulnerability that intensifies those feelings of existential discomfort. 

[Keep reading for my full breakdown of these pages.]

This particular facet of the allegory really starts to take shape in the middle of page 198, as Li Yu describes his discomfort with including Prince Jing in this task.

“It was already difficult enough to turn into a fish in front of Prince Jing, and now the system wanted him to be something in between?"

Here, he's expressing how needing to include Prince Jing in this is very uncomfortable because it requires a level of vulnerability greater than he'd previously had to allow, and it encroaches on boundaries that make this task feel much more emotionally compromising.

“Time after time, the fish system only got more scammy instead of less.”

With this statement, Li Yu exemplifies the increased frustration one may feel as one gets further into their transition and begins to feel worn down by the emotional taxation of the entire process and simultaneously challenged by more daunting tasks. 

“Even if Prince Jing had always treated him well, Li Yu was still uneasy.” 

Here, we get to the complexity of this issue. Li Yu's frustration is not at all rooted in a mistrust of Prince Jing. Even though he thinks very highly of Prince Jing, knowing that he is loved and supported by him, he's still not able to dismiss the hurtle that is his own perception of himself. It's not just that Prince Jing will see him because he's not worried about judgment. He's concerned about being perceived and being conscious of being perceived.

“Prince Jing misinterpreted Li Yu’s emotional turmoil, thinking he was worried that his tribulation wouldn’t go well. [...] Don’t worry, I won’t make you wait long.”

I love how Prince Jing's response to Li Yu's distress shows his compassion and further emphasizes previously made points. Prince Jing does not and cannot understand Li Yu's distress. Still, he loves and supports him and is reassuring him that he will make efforts to minimize any external factors that could add further complications or stress. Prince Jing doesn't understand exactly how his involvement could be adding stress but is making a great effort to reduce it, assuming that the issue is that Li Yu fears Prince Jing may delay completing the task.

"It would be better to do it while they were still on the western border, because here, he was in charge. [...] he was worried Xiaoyu's identity would be revealed."

And this moment serves as a mirror to the kind of considerations trans individuals may have to juggle throughout their transition. There isn't just the issue of having to grapple with vulnerability, extreme discomfort, and dysphoria; we also have to factor in scheduling concerns, available resources, and other environmental factors. Throughout that, there is a desire and often a struggle to feel like we are maintaining control in our own experience.

Intentional or not, this moment and careful explanation of Prince Jing’s support and Li Yu’s internal conflict in this phase of his transition back to being fully human successfully plays out as an allegory for an experience of being a transgender person at a landmark point in their journey to address something that gives them dysphoria. This is a moment that I feel I can relate to, and it’s captured so lovingly. This moment resonates and is powerful due to the theme it addresses. Still, it is not unique in that so much of this genre is dedicated to addressing very complex themes, including those around identity, so beautifully. As noted on the pages in my book, THIS is why I read Danmei. 

@wrtnbypaying and I discuss this and other topics in The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish Vol. 3 in depth in our podcast @nolongersubtext.

[phoebeegreen3]

Capri Persson (F1) ― news

🏎 SUMMARY: What if the best driver of recent years isn't actually him? What if the best driver is actually hiding something else? Would he still be the best? Or just a simple fraud? 📓 GENRE: secret identity / rivals to lovers / he felt first, she felt harder / soulmates / slow burn 📬 PARTS: book one (two parts) / CP9, book two (one part) 🏆 CAPRIPERSSON.MASTERLIST

July 3, 2019

From the moment he stepped onto the Formula 3 scene, Capri Persson has stirred the waters of the racing world. With his unmistakable ART Grand Prix helmet—now a signature of his presence—Persson has built not only a reputation but an aura. He is fast, enigmatic, and utterly captivating. His helmet has become his identity, and the mystery it conceals only fuels the legend. To this day, no one truly knows who lies behind the visor of Capri Persson. But what is certain is this: he is a brilliant driver, destined for a place among Formula One's elite.

Persson's rise has been defined as much by his performance as by the enigma surrounding him. His thirst for victory is undeniable, his talent unmistakable. Those who have witnessed him race speak of a natural gift—raw, instinctive, and rare. Yet the question lingers: who is Capri Persson? There are almost no public records, no photographs, no face to match the name. It's a mystery that has followed him since his earliest karting days. While he raced alongside names like Lando Norris, Alex Albon, and George Russell, Persson was the only one who shielded his appearance from the public eye. And the theories have only multiplied.

The most widely circulated story begins long before Persson ever sat in a kart. It traces back to a tragic car crash in his home country—an accident that claimed the lives of a mother and her two-year-old child, left the father in a coma for four years, and left the surviving eight-year-old boy with severe burns. The tragedy made national headlines at the time. Some believe that child grew up to become Capri Persson. The dates align. The nationality matches. And the incident would explain the profound silence that surrounds his identity.

Real or not, the myth does not outweigh the man. Capri Persson has shown the world what truly defines him: the way he races. Clean. Calculated. Unrelenting. His performance in Formula 2 earned him the title of Driver of the Year, and his ascent shows no signs of slowing down. With rumors swirling and Red Bull's team principal increasingly attentive to his every move, the paddock can't help but wonder: will Red Bull be the ones to unveil the mystery and secure the victories of Capri Persson?

extract from Fox Sport, 2019

October 29, 2019

It's official. ART Grand Prix driver Capri Persson is leaving Formula 2 to become the new driver for AlphaTauri in Formula 1. Why not Red Bull Racing?

AlphaTauri had already announced Pierre Gasly as part of their lineup, but one spot remained unconfirmed—until now. Yet even after the announcement, the identity behind the helmet remains largely unknown. Team Principal Franz Tost stated that the entire community is thrilled to have Capri joining the grid, but emphasized that the move does not mean the driver's identity will be revealed.

Persson's own teammate has already spoken about the excitement and the ongoing mystery surrounding him, but Capri Persson has yet to make a public statement. It has been well known since last F2 season that Persson only communicates with the media through written statements personally signed by him. So far, the young driver has remained firm in winning the F2 championship and appears ready to take on his next challenge.

The curious part? This year, Christian Horner has been spotted observing the young driver—though we assume we'll have to wait a bit longer to see them on the same team.

extract from ESPN website, 2019

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