#this shit Will be relevant in threads for a while

[bisexualmikisayaka]

also like. man. i liked it when characters in this show had scenes dedicated to them and their lives and not how they related to shauna shipman

[rationalnerd62]

Seeing some of the tags I got on the CR timeline post, I think I loved C3 for the exact same reasons some folks disliked it or struggled with it.

I liked the overarching arc. Don't get me wrong, mini-arcs like with VM and M9 are perfectly fine, but there's something narratively satisfying to me about BH following this consistent thread all along the campaign. This group started with a few questions (Who attacked Keyleth? Why? What is the meaning of those dreams? Where are Fearne's parents?) and uncovered a whole conspiracy that then revealed itself to the entire world. It reminds me of reading those Fantasy series where the characters hear about the upcoming battle in book 1 and finally get to it in book 14. I can't wait to rewatch and see the foreshadowing and hints that brought this group to this point.

I liked the constant discussions about the Gods. Listen, as a gay person raised in a Catholic family, boy I've had my dealings and issues with religion. But I find it nice to be able to put our own world aside and watch this fantasy world ask questions that would be very controversial in ours. What we know of the Gods of Exandria has fundamentally changed from the first episode of C3 to the last. We went through both ExU Calamity and Downfall during that time. Those Gods have changed from being so removed and above mortals, mystical entities incomprehensible to anyone who dared trying, to beings with a past before Exandria, a family they're willing to protect at all costs no matter how hurtful their siblings are to the mortals, aliens with flaws and faults and failings, full of nuances and grayness in a world that put half of them in a box of "Good" and the other half in a box of "Evil". And as those Gods have been humanised in front of our eyes, it brought the question of whether their power over mortals is still justified and relevant. And now Exandria is about to change, and I find it exciting. IMO, it gives even more of a reason to keep exploring Exandria in the future of Critical Role than if the status quo was maintained. It's hard to do something new in a world that doesn't evolve with the story.

And while I understand people would have loved more time with Bell's Hells (I would have loved that too!), I also kinda loved how rushed and short in time they've been feeling since they've heard of the solstice. They've had a ticking clock ringing in their ears for a while now. People make different decisions when they don't think they have the time to get some sleep on it. Would have Ashton tried to absorb the shard if the group didn't have to leave for Ruidus the exact next day? Would have Orym taken a sword that maybe shouldn't be his if they didn't have to leave for Aeor the next day? Would have Imogen absorbed Predathos if watching Downfall hadn't made them realise that the Gods will break the Divine Gate to keep the secret of Predathos hidden?

IMO, we still got plenty of very interesting character moments despite the limited amount of time those characters spent together. They've been through some shit together, and the friendships they made through the shared trauma will stick with them for years. Because yes, they are friends (except for Braius, that one is on a tightrope lol). But they've proven over and over again what they're willing to do for their tight crew of broken people.

Boy I am so very fond of them. Saying goodbye will be hard 🥹.

[cybertron-smash-or-pass]

"Headmaster is grappling with internalized homophobia" is not a take I expected to hear tonight, but it's certainly one that makes sense. He strikes me as someone who thinks that you're, like, supposed to have a girlfriend, but that's kind of the end of the thought process.

He's so completely embroiled in late 00s gamer culture and while I was pretty young during that era, I know it was riddled with about as much homophobia, misogyny, and toxic masculinity as your average 4chan thread (also racism, transphobia, and a slew of other noxious shit, but that's less relevant here). These dudes were calling each other slurs left and right. Given he's SO deep in the weeds that he's trying to be a defense contractor techbro about it, it would check out if being a faggot, in his mind, if the single worst L he could take.

Masterson doesnt really have any moments that read to me as "this guy is definitely attracted to men," at least none I can remember off the top of my head (it's been a hot minute since I watched tfa) but he DOES have a few that read as "if he IS into guys, I think he'd rather pull his own teeth than admit it." Namely, "I am SO not a ma'am" when Fanzone misgenders him over the phone.

With how far his aesthetic tastes and mannerisms deviate from traditional masculinity (he's a whimsical little grinning gremlin that paints all his tech pink) it kinda feels like he's almost trying to make up for that by building weapons. They're the pinnacle of badass and nobody calls you gay if they know you can level a city.

All that said, it's kinda just a silly headcanon I have based on vibes and what I think would be interesting for him as a character rather than anything I believe is canon or even implied. Also because I think it would be really funny if 1. Cybertronians being mostly bisexual was also applicable to this continuity, 2. Masterson attempts to hit them with that internalized homophobia special and attempts to drag one of them for liking guys, and 3. He's met with blank confusion because the bot on the receiving end does not register that liking guys is considered nonstandard on this planet.

[mollymargiela]

request: Your apart of faze and adin/ar loyals r coming at you and the boys defend you. Fluff (sorry not rlly a relationship one)

silky = purple

max = pink

ron = blue

lacy = red

adapt/alex = green

jason = orange

reader = white/bold

warnings: slight swearing and fluff :)

you didn’t even think twice when you said it—just a quick “glad he’s back” on stream after someone brought up adin’s twitch unban. it wasn’t deep. you weren’t riding for him, just being neutral.

but of course, ar loyals took the clip, chopped it up, and ran with it.

by the time you woke up the next morning, your notifications were a mess. comments calling you fake, saying you switched up, dragging your name like you owed them something.

you didn’t even say anything when you came downstairs—just walked into the kitchen hoodie-on, hair tied back, and dropped your phone face down on the counter.

jason looked over from the sink. “they’re still talking?”

you gave him a tired look. “apparently i committed a crime by saying ‘congrats.’”

ron leaned back on the couch, shaking his head. “bro they act like you need to host a parade for him.”

alex raised a brow. “you literally said one sentence.”

“yeah and it wasn’t even that deep,” silky added. “but they’re bored. they gotta twist something to feel relevant.”

max came in holding his laptop. “you’re trending again,” he said. “but like—it’s mostly just the same five people quote tweeting each other. nothing new.”

“don’t let that shit get to you,” lacy said, glancing up from his phone. “we know what you meant. everyone who’s actually tapped in knows you weren’t being weird.”

you nodded a little, leaning on the counter. “i get it… i just hate being painted like that.”

“they don’t get to define you,” jason said, walking over and nudging your shoulder. “we know who you are. anyone that really cares knows who you are.”

“and if they keep talking, we’ll just go live and say it ourselves,” alex said with a shrug. “clear it all up, simple.”

you cracked a small smile, letting out a breath you didn’t realize you were holding.

“alright,” you said, “but one of you is saying it with me. i’m not going up there alone.”

“say less,” silky grinned. “we got you.”

they always did. and somehow, the noise online felt a little quieter with all of them around.

you were sitting in the gaming room, hoodie still on, legs tucked up on the chair as ron set up the stream. the idea wasn’t to go off or cause drama—you just wanted to clear your name and move on. but it hit different knowing you didn’t have to do it alone.

jason was already pulling up a chair next to you, while alex leaned against the desk, arms folded. silky stood off to the side, scrolling on his phone like he was waiting for someone to say something dumb so he could respond. max and lacy sat in the background.

“we live,” ron called out, adjusting the camera angle.

you took a breath, glanced at jason, then leaned into the mic. “yo. okay, real quick… i just wanna address something.”

chat was moving fast—“W,” “what happened,” “she’s scared,” “faze fell off,” all flooding in.

you ignored it.

“last night i said congrats to adin for getting unbanned. that’s it,” you said calmly. “i don’t know how y’all twisted that into something it’s not, but i wasn’t shading anyone, riding for anyone, nothing.”

“some of y’all want a villain so bad,” jason added, not even looking at the chat. “she gave a basic human response and somehow that turned into a thread?”

“like bro,” silky chimed in, “you don’t gotta like everybody, but y’all dragging someone over one word? relax.”

ron smirked. “nah for real, it’s getting cooked and reposted like she started a beef track. we all saw the clip. it wasn’t even bad.”

alex leaned into frame. “this is what happens when people spend more time on twitter than touching grass.”

chat started shifting—people realizing it wasn’t that deep, others trying to pivot, some saying “W faze sticking together.”

you let them talk for a second before speaking again.

“look, i’m not here to beef with anyone,” you said. “but i’m also not gonna sit quiet while people try to paint me out like i’m fake. i’m here ‘cause i worked for it. not ‘cause of a sentence i said on stream.”

lacy nodded behind you, leaning forward slightly. “y’all love to talk from the outside, but in this house, we know who’s solid. and she’s one of the realest.”

“facts,” max added. “it’s not even up for debate.”

you smiled a little, leaning back in your chair. “that’s all. just wanted to clear it up. appreciate the real ones who didn’t twist it.”

you all sat back, letting chat run while music played low in the background. and instead of turning it into drama, you just chilled—played a couple games, cracked jokes, kept it light.

and just like that, the whole vibe changed.

they could keep talking, but it was clear—you had a solid crew behind you. and you weren’t going anywhere.

(not proofread!!)

very short sorry :]

dude i loved the yugi takeover from rons stream today :D

also i hated seeing adin and jason “argue” on live i literally grew up watching adin and literally love jason so much, so it was a hard watch :/

[carionto]

This has probably been transcribed before but I don't know what tags to find it under, so imma just do it again cuz this kind of stuff feels very relevant to know, more evidence that Humans are weird as fuck and our brains just make shit up. [Twitter thread by user named foone as a long image I stumbled upon on Pinterest]: _______________________________

You want to know something about how bullshit our brains are? OK, so there's a physical problem with out eyes: We move them in short fast bursts called "saccades", right? very quick, synchronized movements. The only problem is: they go all blurry and useless during this

Having your vision turn into a blurry mess every time you move your eyes is obviously not a good idea, so our brains hide it from us. Now imagine you're an engineer and you have this problem

You've got some obvious solutions you could do.

make the vision go black during movement. (Some VR games do this!)

just keep showing the last thing we saw prior to movement

Both are good options with different downsides, but OH NO. this is assuming everything makes sense and is chronological and (regular) logical.

Your brain does neither of these options, really.

First, it basically puts your visual system on "pause".

You're not seeing blackness or even nothing, you're just not seeing period.

then when you finish your saccade, it shows you what you now see at the new position. and then it pretends it can time travel.

It seriously shows you the image at the new point, but time-shifts it backwards so that it seems like you were seeing it the whole time your eyes were moving.

And because your brain is not a computer with a consistent clock, this shit works.

You can see this effect happen if you watch an analog clock with a second hand.

Look away (with just your eyes, not your head), then look back to the second hand.

It'll seem like it takes longer than a second to move, then resumes moving as normal.

That's because your freaking visual system just lied to you about HOW LONG TIME IS in order to cover up the physical limitations of those chemical camera orbs you have on the front of your face.

We've known about this effect for over 100 years, it's called "Saccadic masking" and more specifically Chronostasis. Your visual system lies to you about WHEN things happen by up to half a second (!) just to avoid saccades blurring everything.

So while I firmly believe we're basically just overgrown biological computers, we're apparently computers programmed by batshit insane drunkards in Visual Basic 5.

And you might think "hey wait, wouldn't my vision 'pausing' for half a second have all kinds of weird effects on moving objects? why don't they appear to stutter when moving?"

and the answer is simple! your brain has EVEN MORE UGLY HACKS on top of this to avoid you seeing that

If you've got a clock where the second hand doesn't "tick" but instead smoothly rotates, you won't see this. Because your brain recognizes it's moving and adjusts what you see to make sure it sees the "right" thing.

It's only really obvious with periodically moving things like a clock hand, because it's not moving (so not triggering the movement-during-chronostasis hack) but it moves at a set rate, so you can notive that rate appearing to change.

It's tempting to think of your eyes and visual system as a camera just dumping a video feed into your conscious brain but taht's so very, very not the case. What you think you see and what your eyes can actually see are two exceptionally different things.

The big obvious one being the blind spot. Vertebrate eyes are wired backwards so we've got a blind spot in each eye where the enrves enter into the eye. About 6 degrees of your vision in each eye is just not there, as there's no light sensitive cells there.

Do you see a blind spot, right now? No, you probably don't. Close one eye! There's now no way for the other eye to fill in the gaps. Still, no blind spot… Your visual system is lying, and making up content it thinks is there. You literally cannot see what you think you see.

Here's another one: You can see in color, right? (well, some of you can't. Sorry) You can see in color all throughout your vision, it's color everywhere?

Well, most of the cone cells (Which are sensitive to color) are in the fovea, a little spot in the center of your vision.

So outside of that center-of-vision spot, you have very little color perception. There's some but it's very limited compared to your main color vision. But I bet if you shift your attention to your peripheral vision right now, it's in color.

Your vision system is lying. It's remembering what colors things are and guessing and filling in the gaps. It's basically doing a Ted Turner colorization process on your non-central vision.

There's even weird effects like what's called "Action-specific perception". If you get a bunch of white balls of various sizes and toss them at people then ask them to estimate the size of the balls thrown at them, they'll have a certain size estimate, right?

Now repeat the experiment but ask them to try to hit the balls back with a bat, and suddenly all the estimates shift larger. They actually see the ball as bigger because they need to hit it. Their vision is exaggerating it to make it easier to see!

Which just goes to show, like I said, your vision is not a camera. Perfect accuracy is not one of its goals. It does not give any shits about "objective reality", that's not important.

What's important to the evolution of the visual system is any trick that helps you survive, no matter how "dumb" or "weird" it is.

So if you want an accurate visual representation of what things look like? Use a camera. Not your eyes.

In any case the original point was that while you might know this about your eyes being poor cameras that lie to you, you might still think that at least they're consistent, time-wise. They don't screw with your sense of time passing, just to make up for visual defects. NOPE!

If you can't get it don in time, turn back the clock and pretend you did. That's a perfectly good solution when you're the visual system.

BTW @/hierarchon reminded me of a neat trick with saccadic masking: go look in a hand mirror. No matter how close you bring it to your eyes, and how much you look around, you will never see your eyes move. You're blind during those movements. But you still think you are seeing.

She additionally pointed out that your phone's selfie-mode is NOT a mirror, and it has a slight delaye, so you can see your eyes moving in it.

And for fun, here's wikipedia's example of the blindspot. Stare at L with only your left eye, adjust the distance, and the R will disappear. You don't see "nothing" or "black", you see the background, because you expect to.

This is why laser damage your retina can be so insidious. Your visual system already can hide "holes" in your vision, what's one more to hid? So you damage a small spot of your retina and your visual system covers it up.

But since you didn't go "WELL THAT WAS TERRIBLE I BETTER TAKE BETTER CARE OF MY EYES" and stop fucking with lasers, you keep doing it. Eventually you accumulate so much damage that your visual system simply cannot manage hiding it all and your vision rapidly degrades.

The other reason lasers are so dangerous is that they don't necessarily trigger the same responses as regular incoherent light. Your pupil reflex is only triggered by some special cells in the center of your eye, so an off-center laser might not cause your iris to contract.

And infrared laser light is just as dangerous as visible laser light, but can't trigger your blink reflex. Your eyes automatically close when exposed to bright light, but they can't detect infrared light. Despite not seeing it, it still causes damage.

Anyway, back on how amazing and crazy your vision is: There was an experiment back in 1890 where someone wore glasses made with mirrors in them to flip their vision. After about 8 days, they could see just fine with them on. Their vision system had started "flipping" the image.

(I say flipping in quotes because it's not as simple as it started showing the pixels at the top row on the bottom row, cause our vision doesn't work like that) It only took them a few hours to get back to normal after taking these glasses off, though.

The last really fun part about this flipping experiment: your eyes already do it. Based on how our vision is wired, we should be seeing everything upside down.

We don't, but only because our visual system has had a whole life to adapt to this.

BTW, since a few people have brought it up: There's a great sci-fi novel by Peter Watts called Blindsight. In it humans encounter an an alien race they call Scramblers, who can move very fast and precisely, and they exploit saccades.

Because if they only move during saccades, we never see them moving. And since so much of our vision is based on just filling in what we think is there, if they stay out of the direct center of our vision, we'll just visually fill them in, like they were never there.

Check it out if you're into hard SF stories of first contact. It's got some really neat ideas about human vision, very unique aliens, the future of humanity in the face of perfect VR, and vampires. (Really, it has "vampires", while still being hard-SF)

BTW, remember how I said "vertebrate eyes" up there? Guess who has eyes which are wired forwards instead of backwards (have no blindspot), have an internal lens, and can even see polarization of light? Our good friends the Cephalopods!

[stxrry-dxys]

i said i wasn’t gonna say more on the whole watcher debacle but sorry i just have to talk about the ai art allegations cuz holy shit this is a massive oversight.

before going in i’d like to clarify that i don’t think steven, ryan, or shane personally implemented this BUT it was absolutely their responsibility to check over what their crew members put in their videos.

disclaimer that i did not personally find these, they were brought up through reddit threads on the snark and main subreddit.

this is the most egregious one. look at the hands. the unnatural length of the fingers. the NUMBER of fingers, the way the hands curl. that is not a mistake a human artists makes. and the way the clothes distort, the fact that one of the shirts looks like it has a finger hanging out of it. in what world is this not obviously computer generated.

this one is harder to notice, but pay attention to the bars on the boat, how they’re uneven, wobbly, some even stopping and starting up randomly. the boat’s reflection in the water does not reflect back the actual silhouette of the boat. the silhouettes of the people are harder to see but a lot of them look more like wonky blobs, though admittedly this part is rather weak.

this is the one i think i believe the least but am bringing it up anyways for posterity. the foot is wonky and the back one appears to be missing. his proportions are very off. and i cant say for certain but i seriously doubt a shadow would be that thin from this angle. this one is probably the weakest piece of evidence but feels relevant to include anyways.

there’s more i believe but it’s 3 am and i don’t wanna go personally hunting for it.

this isn’t even a new topic, people have brought it up in comments and threads in the past. and i know good and well this goes against morals that they have brought up before, so this is not quite the look you’d want. using ai art that steals from other creatives to claim as it’s own is not something i’d hope to see from a company that prides itself on being high quality art. it is entirely possible this is just the doing of someone on the art or editing team, but when one of your figureheads and his wife is openly against generative ai like this, you would expect quality control to ensure this never happens.

i hope they’ll speak up about this, and either prove that this isn’t the case or deal with whoever implemented this, though i’m doubtful they will. if they don’t address it and continue to use ai generated art then i hope everyone all has a long look at whether or not this company is as genuine in its passion for creativity as they have tried to appear.

honestly either way i don’t care, im done with these three’s content and have been for a while, but those of you still supporting deserve all the information you can as they proceed forward with this “plan” of theirs. make whatever decision you want regarding this, i wish you all the very best.

[pastlight]

i just wanna quickly say. the second saddest part of people being weird about the myths is that it blocks their ability to have fun with it.

(and i do think part of it is cause we often see pokemon more as characters than animals. i'll take a guess that you probably don't react the same way hearing about typhlosion abducting a woman than you would a regular ass badger)

but taking them at face value is the most boring way to engage with it. you get like maybe the same two pokephilia jokes repeated at nauseam. but look them through a watsonian lens? haven't you seen all the posts about mythology from years ago that keep making rounds all the time?

it's so much more fun to take them not as real stories in-universe but as fucked up fairy tales and myths. imagine someone who grew up with the slaking story trying to explain it to someone who didn't. i'm already thinking about that with my ocs!

all that being said, my favourite story is the octillery one because the narrative thread is all over the place. yes you get the lesson along the way but none of the elements ever truly connect. stuff keeps showing up and getting dropped with no explanation. the father just dies. the sharpedo looking back three times. the magic sword. whatever was happening at the ursaring den while he slept. the beached wailord. bring witnesses. the fact that the kid is a octopus hybrid is NEVER relevant.

"The villagers returned home, and told the people what they had saw." after everything is an objectively hilarious way to end it. im sorry if it's lifted from a real myth but i can't get over how much of a non ending that sounds like.

it feels exactly like reading an old bible story without annotations and having to accept the weird shit cause it probably made sense back then. you're probably missing some context... and you are, in fact! the way he mutilates the ursaring are a reference to the early lake trio lore in the first versions of the creation myth!!!

and hey i get it if they make you uncomfortable, some are pretty dark just like real myths which they were emulating. try to not be weird. get silly with it.

[emblemxeno]

A major reason why I've had the sentiment of "FE is all about using who you like, so there's literally no difference in playing the game right except time and effort, trying to demonstrate you're a better player for the sake of such is a worthless endeavor," despite that being kind of a toxic sentiment to carry to those who (understandably, let me make myself clear) people who like 0% or LTC runs is because a.) I didn't factor in how I was always abnormally lucky and consistently so with randomized growths (legit, units that were difficult to start like Rolf, Amelia, Ewan and so on have NEVER ended their runs without capping several stats, and I genuinely thought that kind of luck was just to be expected given the law of averages according to their average stats shows that's more-or-less what happens with me in particular going a few points above average... but apparently, it's very rare to get a good result like that so consistently?), and b.) the way people talked about information and facts about units in FE was not helpful or relevant to the average player. There's nothing useful about somebody asking how they should use Amelia in a casual first timer's playthrough of FE8 and being told "she's bad, don't bother using her," when that's not a fucking helpful or useful sentiment for a game all about using who you love or want to use? Or the obsessive desire whenever some clear newbie gushes about how strong their favorite unit is, only to be ganged up upon for people thinking they're spreading misinformation about a unit's quality when they're just sharing their own personal experience with the game?

I think what gets me is that the fandom is religious about the idea of "correcting misinformation" in the sphere of gameplay, but doesn't fucking bother to do that with storytelling in any way (especially for story's seen as "bad" and that actually analyzing in any way that isn't circlejerking and dunking on it is being "bad faith") and they just freely spread open misinformation like "Nohr doesn't have a sun", which is apparently a very common misconception that nobody bothers to correct because making a sincere, heartfelt attempt at defending Fates's story or talking about it in terms of details is a great way to get openly trashed talked with people acting like you have bad taste or some shit. Which is infuriating, given Fates is not a bad story, as you have covered tirelessly on this thread, yet many people seem unironically convinced it's like Fant4stic-levels of writing quality (which is just... no), when in reality it's just completely misunderstood and has a smorgasbord of nuance and depth that nobody seems to bother to talk about when I've recognized it back as far as 2016 and have only noticed more things with the game since then?

The fact you cannot sincerely make any kind of argument or even any post perceived as arguing for something "unquestionably sucky" (even when it really isn't, again, Fates) without a bunch of screeching manchildren ganging up on your or acting like you're incompetent for merely having your opinion (only expressed through the most passive-aggressive framing possible, which is even more obnoxious than if they just said my arguments and tastes were shit, because then they're clearly being fake but making an attempt to act like they're more civilized superficially than me or some shit) is a major reason why while FE technically doesn't have the worst fandom ever, the fact so much of it goes unreported and unaccounted for (when even worse fandoms like Smash Bros. and Steven Universe kind of have it be a meme that their fandoms are so terrible), the sheer amount of gatekeeping and weird, clique-y exclusion of people who inevitably play for different reasons than the norm to a degree that's astronomically obsessive and elitist even by fandom standards is a major reason why I despise the hardcore community of FE so much. I only recently kind of beaten back myself from falling into what a friend pointed out was me being a casual elitist, but holy fuck, hard not to see where that sentiment comes from when 90% of spaces online dedicated to FE are convinced you're trolling if you sincerely think Fates's story is excellent, even with irrefutable proof on the subject. It's a degree of irrational stupidity that is insulting to my intelligence, and the fact the fandom stylizes itself so much as trying to "teach" people the "right" way to enjoy FE despite being so full of incompetence and clique-ish behavior is even more insulting to me.

Yeah it seems that the internet has made a social space where sincere questions are just treated very weirdly at best, and mocked at worst.

The cover of anonymity and assumed physical distance has subconsciously given swarms of people the feeling that what they say shouldn't be taken personally or seriously as a member of conversation.

Of course, I'm talking about a very loud minority in this. Most people aren't assholes by default. But online spaces have unfortunately given weight and merit to who I like to refer to as "the town asshole", where being abrasive is, for the most part, treated with the same reverence that a more polite commenter might have. Which is how you get cranks who believe their open-and-shut viewpoints are the be-all end-all, when these things are continuosly evolving conversations.

I won't count myself out of that description, either though. I recognize that I have very presumptuous and judgmental opinions about people I've never-and will never-physically met, and it's not fair to go analytical about their raw personalities. It's exclusively from the perspective of what I've seen and experienced as an individual.

And all of this is general fandom/internet stuff, so it gets magnified by varying degrees depending on the group. RPG fans really make up a lot of it though, given the dialogue heavy nature. Fire Emblem is unfortunately a perfect storm of this given its more flexible structure and random number elements, combined with attempts at political and social aesops.

Most importantly, what I've learned is that you just gotta keep a cool head about it and not go completely off the wall the moment someone gets jabby with their takes. Sometimes the best course of action is to step back before commenting and go "you know what? I'm not gonna get involved in this one." Active appliance of positive cognition, and all that.

[anghraine]

I've been idly thinking about how TOS is the first TV show that has come remotely near to challenging the #1 place in my heart held by The Borgias (Showtime version), despite being very different pieces. So I got to wondering about what common features they even have, and decided to come up with a list:

Incredibly strong, vivid aesthetics that lean not only on high (but far from unlimited) budgets for their eras, but heavy reliance on fantastic cinematic craftsmanship around light, color, angles, framing, etc. These are especially spectacular during the first two seasons of both.

A lot of gorgeous costumes, many on hot people in their 20s and 30s; the elaborate costume designs are clearly meant to be visually striking, sexy, and immersive in terms of the setting and the visual language of the shows (also, these costumes and sets get re-purposed in creative ways throughout).

Every time I'm writing some breathless overinvested meta or fic about either show, I start to wonder if maybe I'm exaggerating how extravagantly intense or dramatic or just "holy shit did that actually happen onscreen" some scene or episode or relationship was in my memory. And then I re-watch the relevant part of the show to double check, and almost without exception, realize my memory had actually undersold how wildly OTT the original was.

Both shows contain some of the most beautiful, ambitious, compelling episodes of television I've ever seen, and also some mind-bogglingly terrible choices to a degree that almost defies human comprehension. Some episodes manage to combine both, but certainly not all.

Both have only one truly major female character who is carried by a very good (and stunningly beautiful) actress, but suffers from some wildly erratic writing/characterization that gets worse over time, especially in S3. There are some very compelling supporting female characters (Gina McKee's Caterina Sforza as the Romulan commander of The Borgias??), though often their resolutions as characters tend to be a bit underwritten compared to the male characters.

Racial bigotry in particular is a recurrent thread in each show, both consciously and in the shows' own narrative choices (both shows are especially messy and confused around antisemitism).

Don't try to make sense of how either timescales or distances/travel work in either show, your brain will start leaking out your ears.

Both shows had three seasons before getting cancelled by their networks; the third season in each show has some fantastic moments but is easily the most inconsistent in quality, with an uneven series finale that has some genuinely intriguing or evocative moments, some awful ones, and some weird ideas introduced suddenly and awkwardly. The cancellation was mourned at the the time, but later creative plans make this feel like a blessing in disguise. Neither finale ends on a true cliffhanger or offers true resolution, but both are workable enough as ending points.

Both are weird and messy about gender in ways that are sometimes misogynistic and/or sort of homophobic, but also sometimes incredibly powerful and intriguing, depending on the episode.

The first season of each were the ones that first blew my brain (and won my heart), and while I love the other two seasons, in some ways those first seasons were never surpassed despite a number of my individually favorite episodes coming in other ones.

The use of color is spectacular in general, but both shows make especially stunning, compelling, thematically significant uses of my beloved red in their best episodes (most spectacularly in "World of Wonders" in The Borgias and "Balance of Terror" in TOS, two of the best episodes of television I've ever seen, but by no means those alone).

[tacorerooster]

Long Thread Shadow and Amy Rose. So with Sonic Movie 3 continuing the trend of Sega (or at the very less Sega of America) not giving a shit about Amy Rose, I’m gonna list all the shit she SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN, but was left out of

First off Every 90’s Dic Animated Cartoon (SatAM, AoStH and Underground), Amy around during each one of those productions yet she doesn’t show up, yet Tails and Knuckles both do, even tho A. She came out the same year as Tails and B. Showed up BEFORE Knuckles

Next would-be classic games collections minus Gems & Origins. Amy & her debut game Sonic CD for a long time was excluded from many of the Classic Collections, like Sonic Mega Collection, the DS collection & the Sonic's “Ultimate” Genesis Collection which had Archie & Spinball

Then we get to the modern era and oh boy this is fun. She’s in the 1st Sonic adventure as a playable character, all be it a Slow Character but still relevant, In SA2 she is not playable but has plot relevance, which I will get to later when talking about Movie 3

From there you have Heroes, Shadow, & 06. In Heroes she is a speed type like Sonic & Shadow, but can’t do ring dash or wall jumps & as many fans make clear she has the least popular group. Thank you, Shadow, for being So popular & taking Rouge from being apart of OG team Rose.

In Shadows game she is in 1 level & a cut scene at the end, even tho AMY was who got Shadow to be himself, Shadow Fans forget this. Tails & Knux who he has no history with get many. Heck Maria & Omega get more then Amy, despite being flat characters that exist to prop up Shadow

Next up 06, same before she in 1 level but gets 1 extra mission in the hub world. Whereas Shadow gets himself a whole campaign + vehicles, + his side characters get cooler gameplay than Amy. What does Amy get? Will she’s not long fast & for some reason can turn invisible. Clearly one of them got more attention during development. It also didn’t help Amy’s status as a love interest with Elise being there.

Now for the handheld games and it somehow gets worse for her. Dimps, the developers behind the Sonic Advance Trilogy + the Sonic rush Trilogy DID NOT LIKE AMY AT ALL! She gets to be the slow gimmick character in 1 & is not part of 2 but instead the hidden unlock you get the emeralds for.

In Rush, Dimps, makes Cream the Sidekick/Tails to Blaze even tho in the last game Amy & Cream where the female Sonic & Tails. They even write Amy as being abusive to Cream, A THING AMY WOULD NOT DO. Which is even dumber bc Marine shows up next game as the Tails to Blaze’s Sonic.

Now we have Sonic Battle, which does even less favors. Made by THQ (Not Sonic Team) you a cool Sonic fighting game, you let Amy form a Mother Child bond with a Robot, you give her some GODDAMN COOL ROCK LEE TRAINING WEIGHTS & Cream even says Amy is the strongest Women she knows.

But you have Amy starve herself for Sonic, not treat it seriously or for her friends to show concern. All her Attacks are Sonic driven, she thinks up a physical copy of Sonic to fight Rouge (which Fans use to say she is Crazy or Weaker than Rogue, both of them beat each up)

Finally in Handhelds is Sonic Rivals 1 &2 by Backbone Entertainment & Sega Studio USA. In 1 she is captured at the start ALONG WITH TAILS & saved at the end for Sonic to say he forgot about her & be creeped out by her. She’s not even in 2 so a good thing, can’t mess her up

We than get a period of time where Sonic games only have Sonic & Tails in them. So can’t mess her up like that (Unleashed is great for Her). In Sonic Forces while this point is minor, She along with Knuckles are leading the Resistance but Knux gets to be on the box & Amy doesn't

But I think the most damaging thing would be Sonic Mania. It makes itself out to be a celebration of all the things you loved about Classic Sonic from 1, 2, 3, Sonic & Knuckles, Knuckles Chaotix, Mean Bean Machine, Spinball and CD. But Amy somehow was not in any of it.

Hell I would say that Sonic Mania takes a good chunk from CD but no Amy. You get Amy Doll which explodes when it hugs you. (Get it the joke is that Amy is crazy & explosive and you don’t want her to hug you and should always run away from her ha ha so funny)

Fang Bean and Back get full sprites in Mania not Amy. Oh yeah and Mighty and Ray get to be playable but not Amy. There was even a hashtag for Amy to be added, only for Christin Whitehead or Sega to say - nah. (This is also why Origins and Superstars are better than Mania, Amy)

A pattern with all this is when people who aren’t Sonic Team write for Sonic, Amy usually gets the worst treatment (not to say she is the only 1, just the worst. Sonic X in Japanese is Great for Amy. But the English try & mess it up, but you still you get good stuff for her.

Not getting into Archie because if we are grading quality of how Amy is treated, that is dead last. PS Fleetway Amy Sweep and IDW Amy is Canon which I’m happy about.

This all to say and go back to my main point about Sonic Movie 3. I have like the Sonic movies so far, 2 was fantastic, but with the Knux show, the flaws showed to it & the movies. All of it is just marketing. The movie universe isn’t here to tell stories its here to sell stuff.

Wondering what I mean by this. So far the main Sonic character in the Sonic movie are Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Shadow and Eggman. 4 being mobians & 1 human. When looking at the merchandise for Sonic as a whole you see it plan as day it is always Sonic Tails knuckles & Shadow. (Only recently has Amy been include but she still gets left out from time to time.)

Amy is supposed to be the fourth member of team Sonic, NOT Shadow. He not only has his own team he doesn’t even like Sonic, Knuckles or Tails. Hell straight up has a vendetta against Tails. But marketing keeps pushing them together

That’s what Sonic Movie 3 is MARKETING, not a story, bc if it was Amy would be in it already. Bc we have Sonic, Eggman, Echidna Tribe, Tails, Knux, Chaos Emeralds, Pac, Shadow, Maria, Gerald, GUN & no Amy. & Shadow Fans will say it is perfectly fine he needs all that screen time

I want to like Shadow, but he just sucks up any light from others. Rogue on Team Rose, no Fans want Shadow alive again, Amy Rose game? No Shadow Game. Other playable characters, no only Shadow. More Sonic Characters in a Sonic Movie? No, only characters tied to Shadow. But yeah

[take-ya-to-the-ghey-bar]

{it's not sunday yet, but-- while the topic is relevant on dash, and i feel like being a lil shit lmao--}

Spicy fact of the evening: Technically, our bratty blonde here has only had "the goods" eaten once-- (i say technically, because the related thread has yet to wrap up) But, in terms of general blog canon-- unless proven otherwise by manga content at a later date; i stick with counting that as a new (or at least mostly) new experience for him lmao

[reni-reads]

Reni Reviews

Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

Finished: 30th January, 2024

Genre: High Fantasy

May be for you if you like: Perfection Detailed worldbuilding, nuanced characters, innovative magic systems, political intrigue, religious conflict

Synopsis

Elantris was built on magic - and it thrived. But when that magic began to fade, the city began to decay. Now its shattered citizens face domination by a powerful Imperium motivated by entrenched religious views, and all hope is lost.

Or so the people think.

But it's always darkest before the dawn, and there's always hope if someone is willing to search it out. Can a young princess unite the people of Elantris, rediscover the lost magic and lead a rebellion against the imperial zealots?

Review

The Story

Okay so I'll say this: The actual story isn't anything to write home about as is. We have a kingdom ruled by an incompetent king, brewing religious conflicts that bleed into politics, an arranged marriage and, oh yeah, the cursed people of Elantris who were previously worshipped as demigods but are now feared. So basically, a Fire Emblem game, but as a novel - that's what I initially thought upon starting the novel.

Oh boy. The execution of this readable Fire Emblem game is absolutely marvelous, and I mean MARVELOUS. Sanderson put so much love into each story element and, despite this being a standalone novel and thus rather self-contained, managed to put in so many twists and turns that I was enthralled the entire time. Every story thread was resolved in the end, every tiny detail from the beginning was relevant, and everything just felt so RIGHT. I was genuinely sad when the story ended and just wanted to start up again.

The Characters

are what made the book for me. They appear to be a bit stereotypical upon first glance - Sarene is the princess who is forced to leave her home to marry prince Raoden. She's not too thrilled, but goes along with it for political reasons. Raoden wakes up and realizes he's fallen to the curse that fell upon Elantris - essentially, he's doomed to become an eternal, insane zombie. Of course, though, he is very heroic and doesn't accept his fate just like that. So far, so cliché? OH NO. No, my friends. These characters are far from cliché - they are genuinely so REAL. They have very believable weaknesses, they struggle, they laugh, they are dumb - and the way they interact, man. Raoden becomes a beacon of hope for the cursed people of Elantris, while Sarene navigates the political climate of a kingdom on the brink of war. Meanwhile, they also fall a little bit in love with each other. And they make friends and enemies and so much more. Even the antagonistic Hrathen who seems a bit one-dimensional at first is so much more (and I liked that he actually respected Sarene as a worthy opponent).

The side characters were qually great - particular standouts were Raoden's guide Galladon, Sarene's magical glowball Ashe (who's the most sarcastic magical little shit you'll ever see), Dilaf, Roial, Sarene's family... okay, so basically every side character was also a standout! That's how good they were!

The Worldbuilding

I admire how Sanderson is able to craft worlds with rich and complicated histories that often contain mysteries crucial to the current events of his stories. In Elantris, there is so much emphasis placed on how things used to be when Elantris was a city of magic and splendor. The world also felt so much bigger than what we saw, which made it feel very real. The key events  take place in a very small portion of a large and politically complex landscape, but the presence of other nations and peoples is felt in other ways. I also felt like the political intrigue was a lot more complex than what I've come to expect and I really enjoyed how I slowly came to understand the different social systems. The city of Elantris itself was deeply compelling as well as Raoden and his friends literally uncover it's secrets in the hopes of finding some sort of key to their survival.

The magic system Sanderson invented is simply beautiful. One cannot say that it's the most innovative system per se, but the way Sanderson uses and works with his magic is unique and sets him apart from any other modern fantasy author. That is his great strength and his talent. The focus is not set upon the fancy construction of the system but on the atmosphere it creates.

Final Thoughts

This was my very first Sanderson novel back in the day, and it made me fall in love with not only his books, but with reading all over again. Fantasy has always been my favorite genre, but Brandon Sanderson revealed to me a whole new level of fantasy that I'm so thankful for. "Elantris" was his debut novel, and he voiced that his mother wanted a doctor instead of a storyteller, but that's what Brandon Sanderson is: He's not just a writer, he's an architecr, a historian, a comedian - he's a storyteller through and through. And I'm still grateful for this book and the world it lead me into.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Plot and Storylines: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Characters and Relationships:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Writing Style and Narration: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Setting and Worldbuilding:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Entertainment:⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[covey-o-quail]

magic isnt sentient I DONT CAREEEEE white london is ALIVE it's dying but like. it's still alive. they acknowledge this. the earth is angry the magic is afraid. and ok so tell me why antari present at like 4-5 + holland was 8 not like a super outlier but truly he probably would not have survived if he was a target That young. It Chose Him change my mind impossibleand also. his eye took a long time to go black white london scraping the bottom of the barrel for this boy who had pretty much already offered himself up which. hello. + his freaky threads "it was probably just osaron" okay i just think he would have noticed a change in his magic if so a la keel frayed threads anyway also also like he just was Given blood commands? so was kosika. also im normal abt hollands first spell being to end a life and kosikas being to save one . im so normal and also it is relevant. but like kell and lila had to learn them like theyd learn anything else. and maybe this one can be written off as it kind of makes things more difficult to explain otherwise bc where would white london antari get them from But. holland also has like a deepinate understanding of the rules and regs alsoBut. true unignorable freaktari behavior when they keep saying only the folk who hold the elements in balance can nurture life bc it's fragile at the start (o_o) and antari are often just Way Too Powerful to have Balance and the Priest Trees book4 They Keep Saying This and well. Well. tentatively crediting ghostholland with his tree However kosika cherry tree those most egregious Uhm?s but like even before that and even before That. i mean holland growth and life and strength/control/Balance w da rings n shit forever WAIT i was also going to say this later but it hit me holland black london deathsleep grass weeds flowers holland silver wood........ the Grass.................hello. yeah i for sure think his body is in some kind of incorruptible preserved + this? im not saying serak wouldnt be deep in his faith without but. Also the whole 10days theroies Like white london is definitely preserving him i think it would be good if it said Ok we understand rest a little while but like. it's not over here. i think it would be good if white london and its people learned to love the other again and trust. that was always the biggest thing 2 me since book one literally the whole magic + man story and then kell thinking abt holland vortalis ally and then holland + danes story BE SO FR maybe thats why i got confused and didnt understand the framing of acol ending bc holland was always white london 2 me on some level and he should have lived and if he dies well. "when you say mean things abt urself this is who ur being mean to" except holland when u kill urself this is who And living his life loving white london was how . . so yes magic has been bound and abused for so long like how is an answer not to stop mistreating it. it would be so hard and so scary to accomplish but i believe andi think something could be done w holland switching sides in the allegory being a man w no magic just a guy who still is not unlike white london itself in fact more so even!! but whateverrrrrrr this gets into unfumbled alt paths. working w what is presented i am still hopeful

ok so i am curious how kosikas power will be explained if it's not literally just White London Chose Her Too since like. that cannot be hollands power lol. when i first read i was really negative abt the inheritor being brought back up and the possibility of it being An Object In Play for this trilogy but now. actually kind of digging it (osaron excluded) bc i would be fine if lila goes for it. espesh since it took her+kells power to close that one door and if things only escalate Well. there are more thoughts as to lila but i would support her if she decided to take the plunge and i would support her if she chose to Not and find another way and trust. i would be fine if kosika went for it bc it would probably either be bc 1) holland told her to or 2) holland told her not to. LOGISTICS ASIDE im not typing out the minutiae of hows. truly i do not think option 1 bc the truth of the inheritor would dismantle The Everything lol. but yk ghostholland can just lie so. it's simply a question of why and also what is he. number two is holland gets revived or some other thing happens and unravels kosikas whole Everything and it leads to a Mess and well. it would be really sick and twisted if kosika Actually went and inherited hollands power since we love to keep saying shes done so. and also she would do it to save her world that was it that was the Reason sorry i kind of think she'd be mad and disappointed in holland for a number of things . and even if he had never seen her b4 and was dead half her life i think he would feel guilty abt failing her. bc he's holland.

[thelongestway]

Heads up--will be doing a significant rewrite of ch. 2, because the amazing @ultmateragnarok is fucking incredible at space design and has drawn some really cool station schematics!

But luckily, most of this chapter is happening in-feed, so while I work on that, please enjoy...

Chapter 3: Disbelief

If you've never seen a giant station AI outright freeze after hearing just four words, then trust me: it was as weird as it sounds. Aspen's mass of threads went almost completely still for about two seconds, then half of them dropped and re-emerged oriented towards ART. (Well, the threads in our feed space. It didn't look like they dropped anything back at the station, which was pretty impressive for how much of an emotion they were having).

(Wait, no. They weren't even having an emotion about this yet. They were preparing to have an emotion and it was taking actual seconds of processing time.)

(I didn't even know you could prepare to have an emotion, what the fuck?)

Then Aspen rearranged configuration, going from hundreds of tiny tendrils into two enormous processes in an instant, one of which actually tried to loom over ART as they said, You realize that "the Courageous" and its relevant semantic permutations are probably within the top hundred most common names for ships, right? I don't have fresh data from the new worlds at hand yet, but this one can easily be extrapolated from history; in fact, let me run that analysis right now... Right, there, see? You're going to have to be a lot more specific if you want me to answer that query.

(ART stared right back at them. I didn't think it's ever been actually loomed over before and it was stuck somewhere between a "what, really?" and a "you've got a lot of nerve to do that". Which I guessed Aspen probably did, if their neural mass was anywhere close to Dandelion's.)

Aspen's other process, way too quick for something that big, wound its way around Dandelion's feed presence like an indignant vine. My threat assessment almost spiked, but she was...

Okay, no, that was new. Dandelion was laughing. Triumphantly.

I suddenly have the horrible feeling that we've been set up, Iris said.

Agreed, ART said, working through the makeshift analysis the Courageous had thrown at it. (And rerunning the relevant episode of Cold Sleep Explorers for me in the feed. It was one of the more fucked up ones.)

Yeah. I agreed, too. Especially after Note Waveskimmer wisely hung back from the others and said, smirking, Cousin, I think Dandelion wins this round.

DANDELION. Aspen's second vine-like process hissed. REALLY.

I have done nothing, Dandelion said in the worst combination of smug and innocent I'd ever heard, all the while letting Aspen all but strangle her in the feed. (Which they didn't, not really, but they pretended, shaking her a little with each word for emphasis.)

(Just when I thought these ships couldn't get any weirder.)

I. Can't. Believe. You.

You can check the entire half-system-year's worth of interaction logs with Perihelion and crew, if you like, and Dandelion just dumped a ton of log files on the Courageous like they were nothing. That was going to take a while to pro--.

Oh shit. Oh wow, were they pissed. They were halfway through already.

Seriously, Dandelion, that's what you use your data banks for? Aspen said as its ART-facing giant vine-process broke up into tiny threads and chewed through the mountain of data. You realize even having these is a point in--

What? I thought you'd be excited to see the correlations in the training logs--

Yes, yes, fascinating stuff, but also you could have warned me about-- Is that a rootrotting documentary? DANDELION. You could have warned me about the rootrotting--

Query specified. ART said, forcefully poking its half of Aspen's processes to get their attention again. Are you the Javelin Courageous, the only ship of the Javelin program to be considered lost, found, and then lost again together with its colony world?

Aspen's other half swiveled back towards ART, feeding its query into the same hungry data processor and collating it with the data Dandelion had sent it.

Return query one: is "lost, found, lost again together with its colony world" an accurate summary of the known history of the Javelin Courageous? Which I am not confirming or denying is me, by the way. Return query two: is this summary based solely on the Cold Sleep Explorers documentary, or on other sources, too?

You first. ART said stubbornly.

Fine, Aspen said, sounding like a bunch of irate venomous fauna, then pulled at Dandelion for some non-log data, which she provided. They crunched through the data, and then turned back to ART. Return queries rescinded. Answer to specified query: yes. Anything else I can help you with, Perihelion? Or can we start the docking procedure now?

I need to discuss something with my crew first, ART said as it upgraded the internal threat assessment to red. In private.

Go ahead, Aspen said, withdrawing the last of the tendrils they'd been using to stay in touch with ART. We'll be here. TALKING. But also--sorry, you two, one of their smaller subprocesses was suddenly way too close to me for comfort. Then, before I could even react, it withdrew to an acceptable range, while a similar tendril near Iris stayed at the closer distance normally comfortable for her. I didn't get the chance to greet you before this whole thing happened. SecUnit/Iris, welcome to Trellin. May you enjoy, they sighed, Peaceful and safe harbor with us.

---

What's this about? Seth said when ART pulled everyone in the crew into a channel that it had encrypted as well as it possibly could.

I recommend reconsidering disembarking on Courageous Station, ART said.

Seriously? Tarik said. We've come so far to get here, and now you want to go home?

Not "go home." We can stay in orbit and discuss the necessary subjects. But the station is not safe for humans. ART pulled up a summary of the documentary. The Courageous lost two fifths of their crew on their way to a colony world. I don't want them to lose mine.

[realtimefanduboutofcontext]

I suppose we should start with why this strike is happening in the first place.

Here's a rundown of the historical background behind the Global Strike for Palestine.

(note: this is long but very oversimplified, please research the details for yourself! feel free to correct me)

By the way, the details before 1947 aren't relevant to this thread and are beyond any expertise I may have, please read the writeup by Decolonize Palestine about it!

In 1947, the UN split "Mandatory" Palestine into two states along ethnic lines - one controlled by Arab people and one controlled by Jewish people. The choice was controversial, since the border was forced upon Arabs in Palestine.

It brought in a political idea called Zionism. It's the belief that the home of Jewish people is Palestine - not IN Palestine, it IS Palestine. Problem is that Jews and Arabs were already living there together. Zionists believed that they were entitled to it, and so kicked Arab people out. In 1948, Zionists kicked 750k people out of their homes and killed thousands in an event called the "Nakba". They weren't allowed to come back to Palestine.

This process created "Israel", which slowly controlled more of Palestine over several decades, with no plans of stopping. They controlled Palestinian people's food and water, information, travel, job opportunities, etc.

This ideology of Zionism was fed into the US too. Every President since the 40s has recognized Israel, and because of geopolitical interest, has supported it as a key player in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The US gave it weapons and money, and they became besties.

Palestinians tried to resist their homes being stolen again multiple times, with protests ranging from diplomatic to very violent. They tried it all. Military and political organizations (like Hamas) formed to govern Palestine and fight (or make peace, if possible) with Israel. They failed every time, due to the weapons and intel Israel gets from the US, and the trust that it bargained from the rest of the world. All while Palestine had to make do living in an "open-air prison" inside their own country, invaded by Israel.

A lot of unhappiness with Israel and ineffective attacks culminated on October 7, 2023, when Hamas attacked a temporarily defenseless border and killed 1139 Israelis and keeping over 200 Israelis and foreigners hostage. Israel was VERY quick to respond.

Two disclaimers:

Israel already knew about the attack months ahead and let it happen.

What follows is far worse.

Starting October 7, Israel launched a full invasion of Gaza (which Hamas governs) as "revenge" for the hostages and deaths. But in reality, this was just their excuse to invade what they left over of Palestine to build more colonies and finish what they started. In the following 3 months, Israel would bomb Gaza relentlessly. It would cut off power, fire at phone towers, turn off the Internet, prevent anyone from making or bringing in food, wound or kill innocent people, bomb schools and hospitals, and far far more.

Israel also pretended to care about the Israeli hostages - however, when asked at the UN if they'll stop bombing Gaza in exchange for the hostages, Israel and the US said no. (Yes, the US said that. The US is also funding this, with YOUR taxpayer money)

The Israeli Defense Forces (pejoratively "Israeli Offense Forces") originally raised a campaign to convince the world what it was doing was fair and just, in the name of revenge. Countless protests across the world have shown them that most of civilization doesn't buy it. They HAVE, however, realized that those in power don't really give a shit and will be happy to cover them in any way, and thus have been bragging about their attacks in very sick and twisted ways through viral videos and propaganda. The United States is mostly the one taking the blame, since it's Israel's bestie and biggest donor. Its biggest businesses are also Israel's biggest profits (I will talk about this another day). Meanwhile Palestinians have had to prove to the world through tragic footage and live accounts of the genocide, that doesn't get mainstream media coverage. Most of the accurate coverage is from Al Jazeera, whose reporters and their families are getting killed in action.

As I'm writing this, 25,000+ people have been killed by Israeli strikes. 64,000+ are wounded. Most of them children.

Most of the population has gotten sick from unhealthy conditions and white phosphorus gas (illegal, no one is supposed to own that).

There are no hospitals left in Gaza because Israel bombed all of them one-by-one, to ensure Palestinians in Gaza can't get medical help and die as soon as possible. All schools and universities were bombed to dust.

Israel has also expanded their war on Gaza to other places, like the other part of Palestine (West Bank), as well as Yemen, Lebanon and Egypt who had nothing to do with it aside from opposing Israel's attacks. They started fighting them too.

And that brings us to today, January 21st, 2024.

One of the most prominent figures in this tragedy, a filmmaker from Palestine named Bisan Owda, who has led us through her reporting of the genocide, called upon the world to strike. Not just for one day, but an entire week. The intent is to halt businesses from funding Israel, divert the conversation to Palestine, and grab the attention of those with the power to stop this; instill fear in them so that they see the negative consequences of funding a war.

That's why this strike matters. That is why it is happening, and why I changed the entire gimmick for it. Because while all of this is due to some geopolitical and racist bullshit, to care for Palestine here is to care for humans. So many humans who are suffering for no reason.

Now that you are armed with this knowledge (hopefully you read this far), I hope you do your best with it and understand the power. I will provide you with more resources and information in the coming days.

Thank you for your understanding.

[laikaflash]

Newish lioden player. What's up w the rumble marking drama?

I've been playing since 2018, so I'll set the scene. Strap in.

Before we had the Rumble markings, there were some new features added to the May event in 2019. This was a huge month for updates, the relevant ones here being a "Reputation Shop" for both of the storyline NPCs where you can get Brawl and Inverted Brawl marking applicators. These were the first app markings made for this event, and you can see in the responses to this announcement post that they got a fairly warm reception at the time.

Note that Brawl has a very busy and squiggly look to it. Put a pin in that. (I swear I've seen similar textures on foam gym mats. I'm not sure if that's what they were going for, though.)

Then came May 2020. Among other things, the Rumble marking applicator was introduced to the game. It has a similar look to Brawl, only it's somewhat jagged. A few days in, there was a rash of threads in the forums about Rumble, the most serious thing mentioned in them by far was that the marking was a potential seizure risk. Some players brought it up in the announcement thread a few days into the event.

How is that possible, you may ask. Well, let me make this clear: I am not a neurologist and I've never had a seizure in my life. I'm not the person to ask about photosensitive epilepsy (or any other type); I'm just describing things as best as I understand them. From what I can find, there is ongoing research into why high contrasting patterns in still images may trigger seizures in some people with PSE. (Medical News Today has more technical info here.)

In any case, the seizure concerns got the admins' attention. On May 4 that year, the Rumble marking was hidden from view and the applicator removed from the shop. Forum threads about the marking were locked and players advised to refrain from making any more about it. (Source) The next day, the admins made a statement:

Today, we sought legal clarification over the marking. We have been advised that we are compliant and meet all legal requirements and there is no reason that the marking should be removed from the game or that any additional warning notice needs to be given out. Additionally, the marking itself was not flagged as a typical risk. [...] We must ask that if you have noticed any adverse effects while accessing Lioden at any point, to discontinue use of the site immediately and seek medical help from a physician.

(Bolding theirs! Excerpts from Rumble Marking Clarification)

With that, Rumble was reinstated with some faded effects added presumably to make it less harsh on a contrasting base. Lioden operates in the UK, so I think these are the guidelines they're trying to adhere to. However, those are mostly about video content and the May event doesn't have any animations as of yet. (And for the ones that do, you can toggle the animations off.)

But that wasn't enough for some people. Some of the players had already telephone-gamed the whole thing into "DANGEROUS MARKING AT ANY OPACITY" with the growing vibe of "If you have Rumble/Brawl lions, you're evil". Note the reminder of the section of the game's TOS against threatening, harassment; etc. in that same clarification post. This shit was nasty enough that I thought I could get dogpiled just for selling the applicators, so I buried them for a time. (You have no idea how relieved I was to find anyone this December with this marking app on their wishlist.)

You are reading this right: a year after Brawl was introduced, it got lumped in with Rumble. If memory serves, one of the game's artists was also scapegoated because of course that happened.

Finally, on May 8, the marking censor was added as part of a development update. (Announcement here.) This setting allows players to hide any marking they wish from their view without affecting gameplay for anyone else. That should do it, right?

Even then, the hostility didn't completely end there. Short of the entire art team leaving, I don't know what some of these people really wanted here. On a game that has around 2000 players online most of the day, I can't ascertain how many were adversely affected by the Rumble marking that week, but under the circumstances, I think the admins did the best they could. I wouldn't put this incident on the same level of Cyber Soldier Porygon. It was a shock at the time, but ye gods did some people take it too far.

And that's why I grit my teeth every time I see a "RUMBLE/BRAWL FREE DEN" message after having seen loads of garish customized den designs after all this time. Fortunately, you can toggle those off too.