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Every political situation in the Middle East the US gets involved in is not automatically like Iraq.

People saying it's a "lie" that the Iranian government could have nukes are seriously underestimating Khamenei's genocidal regime and slapping every Woman Life Freedom protestor who has continuously warned about the regime's aspirations in the face.

That doesn't mean Trump's actions are all "good" either- bombing nuclear facilities can have deadly consequences for civilians living nearby. It is also concerning that a leader like Trump can decide to go to war without other parts of the government ok-ing it.

But the amount of sanitizing of the Iranian regime- which has murdered, tortured, and raped countless dissidents- is unacceptable.

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I cannot stop thinking about Episode 5 of TADC because Ragatha is, however unintentionally, one of the best examples of how isolating and difficult it is to interact with the world as an autistic person I have ever seen. To the point it genuinely makes me sad to think about her. I need to make a post expanding on this at some point but rn just. The way everyone assumes there’s some sinister hidden meaning to everything she does and says but she’s literally just trying to be nice and she doesn’t understand why it’s not working. The way she tries so hard to make connections but it constantly falls flat, she says things that hurt without realising how or why. She follows the rules she’s been taught will make her friends — she’s kind, she’s forgiving, she’s accepting and apologetic when she messes up, but for some reason it’s just not working. She tries to mimic other people, she tries to laugh at past experiences, tries to open up about her past like everyone else is doing, but now everyone’s uncomfortable and looking at her like she’s crazy and she doesn’t get it!! She doesn’t get it!!! Jax is a jerk and he’s mean to everyone but for some reason Pomni likes him and she doesn’t get it, she doesn’t understand! Pomni tells her it’s okay to be a jerk sometimes but Ragatha doesn’t like being mean, she wants to be nice to people, but she does it anyway, she gets mean like Jax and Zooble do but now Pomni’s looking at her like she’s done something wrong but she just did what she asked her to!! She doesn’t get it!! At the end of the episode everyone goes off into their groups and Ragatha is left alone, after having tried so hard to make friends and fit in and make people like her, she’s still alone, and everyone thinks she’s weird and unapproachable and she just has to give up and accept that she is inherently unloveable. Her evil alter ego tells her she’s going to die alone and nobody loves her and the only thing she corrects her on is the fact that they can’t die here. The few that might like her when she’s around don’t miss her when she’s gone, because there’s nothing to miss. Ragatha has spent her whole life systematically stripping away everything that makes her different and unlikeable in order to make herself more palatable to others, and in the process she has made herself a personalitiless blank slate with no unique identity for others to latch onto and appreciate. She has nothing to add to any conversation because she’s too afraid of being disliked to have a memorable personality beyond being generally polite and nice. And just. God. Someone get this girl some noise cancelling headphones and a therapist on speed dial, being this good of a representation of what it’s like to be autistic, especially to be an autistic person with trauma, is not good for the soul. That final shot just destroys me right in the heart. My poor girl.

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ppl who celebrate fictional character birthdays are annoying pass it on

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my humor might be broken cause I find this trend actually funny

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Even if she doesn't fully believe her apology, I think Gangle’s smile suggests that she knows Ragatha is trying, and, now knowing a little more about why she is the way she is, makes her feel a little more human.

I think this episode really marked a subtle positive turning point for Ragatha and Gangle’s friendship. In the way that getting to hear Ragatha’s pain with dealing with her mother - getting to see her as someone not strictly optimistic, while sharing her real insecurities and weaknesses- helps Gangle believe a little bit more in Ragatha’s genuineness to keep herself and others from abstraction. Maybe like an, "Okay, I know she's repressing something and this makes her come across as disingenuous most of the time, but at least I know she's trying her best and does actually want the best for everyone here."

Even the softball scene where Gangle actually thanks Ragatha for her advice from the previous episode might've been her way of telling Ragatha she appreciates her efforts.

I... just hope Ragatha actually gets that to click for her before it's too late.

(Thank you @wolfeforferdelig for this comment - I agree! )

bro gangle's tiny smile when ragatha apologizes for what she said to her last episode 😭

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So, given the state we saw the C&A building in the pilot episode, I'm guessing that Ragatha was trying to sell the building when she got trapped inside the game, then Pomni got stuck when she went exploring it some time later. :/ Pomni said she put on the headset, so it'd be interesting if all of them getting trapped in the game was an accident and caused by their own curiosity to play. ;)

*I still like the theory though of Cain (of Cain and Abel or C&A) intentionally trapping people that were a threat to him in the game, so maybe some (or all) of them were put in there for malicious reasons, especially since we don't see Pomni's body when they zoom out, so where did her body go since I doubt it got sucked into the game too. O_O Another theory I like is that the humans in the game are just copies of what their brain scans were when they played the game since it's what makes the game so immersive, so it may be a statement of what makes something real/alive if they're digital or flesh so long as they can think. :) Can't wait to learn the truth regardless. ;)

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The way Jax vents about Ragatha perfectly lines up with how Gangle described her to Pomni! Both have grown frustrated to Ragatha positive attitude as it feels like she's less so being genuine and more so playing a facade. Even if her intentions are genuine, it's the way she constantly acts like things are fine that annoys them.

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Friendly reminder that you're not required to publicly take sides in any geopolitical conflict you don't understand.

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kinda messed up that people are more forgiving of Jax for his own coping strategy and not Ragatha for hers... like they're all trapped here together, they all have problems, and sometimes people clash over opposite coping methods.

Its not about taking sides, Pomni wants to be on good terms with everyone. She even brought up Kinger's wife, hoping it would be an opportunity for everyone to know more about him.

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Bystander Intervention Training

so, the US just attacked Iran, and that is fucking terrible. Something we all need to think about right now is how we can stop the harassment and violence against Muslims and Arabs in the US that got so much worse in the early 2000s from happening again to people now.

To that end, I wanted to share some resources on Bystander Intervention. One of the biggest things I learned from training like this is that there are many ways to intervene, and they don't all involve putting yourself in front of the person who may harm you or others. It's ok if you feel intimidated by that because there are more ways to help! And once you do the training, it might not be so scary.

Right to Be has Bystander trainings based on the 5Ds of Bystander Intervention (Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, and Direct). The trainings are free!! sign up here.

I took one of their trainings a few years ago (when the org was called Hollaback!) and it was really very good, they have trainings at multiple levels and focused on various topics. They also partner with other orgs to focus on specific issues (like anti-AAPI harassment and with CAIR Chicago for anti-Muslim harassment, etc.).

Here are a few more resources:

APA Bystander Intervention Tip Sheet

RAINN Practicing Bystander Intervention

I think I'll sign up for one as a refresher.

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“You’re a Good Mom.” (Redraw)

I felt this was VERY relevant to redraw…especially now. Ragatha wants to be better for Dorothy than how she was treated…

Original:

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That face you make when you realise the digital equivilent of a chaos god lied and actually CAN influence/control your thoughts-

Thinking about that is actually scary as hell. Not only is there no structure, sense, or certainty to the world around you, but there's none to you, either, which is so much worse.

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ragatha is NOT abstracting* and i will bury myself six foot under that hill

* well , i don't think she'll FULLY abstract . _____

i know this may be shocking coming from Me , the ragatha angst enjoyer , who made an entire au where she's having a bad day 24/7 . i truly , do not believe that ragatha's going to get killed off . just . hear me out . sit down on this chair .

it's not even that she's my favorite character and i don't want her to die . the opposite , actually , i eat ragatha abstraction fanfics up . my problems are more ... well , it lies more on the writing .

first of all , let's remember what tadc is for a second ; it's a tonally hopeful show with messages about community and not being truly alone . even in episode 5 , where ragatha Goes Through It , it has a glimmer of hope through jax — where he finds a friend in pomni .

it's why i truly believe she'll have some form of positive development , because if Jax , the character that gooseworx said who's Most deserved to be stuck in the circus , can be happy ... then why couldn't ragatha ?

also . i Love assholes with repressed trauma as much as the next guy , but it'll be weird to make the guy who's been antagonistic to most of the cast thus far find more happiness than ..... the clearly-traumatized woman ...........

when you write a story with mentally ill characters and a hopeful message ... what does it say when you kill off one of them ? what does it say to the audience that relates to that character ? here's a hint — stuff that i would find IFFY to put in your show .

obviously , you can do literally anything as a writer , but picture this ; imagine setting up a character like ragatha . someone who has gone through abuse and a lot of trauma . desperate for a community to the point she grasps for any scraps of validation she gets . you put her in a show where every character find some form of hope in the situation they're in . she has shown herself to harbor some form of self-loathing .

by that point , you should see my problem with killing her off . once more : if she dies , what does it say to the audience who relates to that character ?

and now for my next question — what would it add to the show ? what message does it send and how does it add to the theme ? because ... any of the answers to those questions i can think of are NOT good answers considering the last paragraphs .

" it'll show that people truly cares even when you're gone " we'll have episode 2 again , but this time at the cost of a character we've gotten to know for the last five episodes . it'll make ragatha's time in the show a Total Waste . like cool , all she's been set up for the last five episodes is to Die ...

i sure do hope we don't have another dead character who tells the same message of people caring about you when you're gone and also had an entire funeral scene which will make all of this build-up so redundant — oh wait his name is kaufmo .

at that point you could just remove her and put kaufmo in her place , because it's just the Same Message being told . it'll be impactful to see a main character dying ... if that character isn't going to essentially make all of their scenes redundant in hindsight .

" it'll give the cast character development " but not ragatha ?? i will be real with you i will be so Mad if ragatha gets killed off as a catalyst for jax to have an epiphany or character development . like genuinely that would make me instantly drop the show , do Not get me started .

even then , the thing that's going on with ragatha thus far is her thinking nobody cares for her despite that it's the Opposite . by giving the other characters development instead of her in Her Own Arc is Terrible Writing and i'm not going to budge on that .

" it'll mark a tonal shift " an answer i'm slightly okay with , but let's take the above paragraphs again — it'll be iffy nonetheless . do i Love the idea of an unsatisfying character arc where it suddenly ends , therefore breaking the formula that's been set since the beginning ? yes ! would i love it in this specific case considering the context of the show and its themes ? very much Not !

i know these arguments are more of an opinionated , ' think of how that'll work into the story ' rather than actual proof , but when it comes to making predictions , the tadc fandom doesn't really stop and think about how it adds to a character or story beyond It'll Be Shocking . for this theory specifically , i can't see a Good narrative reason to kill off ragatha without stepping on at least one land mine . as someone familiar with writing stories with mentally ill characters — it'll get Weird quick !

do i accept that there could be a Tiny possibility that ragatha Does abstract ? absolutely . i do trust gooseworx's ability as a writer enough to Maybe make this sting less when it actually does happen , but i'll very much criticize it .

so ! i don't think she Wouldn't abstract 100% though . because by this point it's inevitable that she'll sink into the darkness in some way . keep in mind that Barely Anything goes right for this girl . i don't think she'll die , but a very public mental breakdown is inevitable . at most , i see a fake-out abstraction . you know . one where she gets pulled out of it at the last second . just to scare the fans .

personally , do you know what would be more impactful than a death ? a character that fully believes she'll die alone and unloved being proven Wrong . episode 5 has shown how the other characters Care for her . imagine her spiraling and thinking that nobody cares if she abstracts , only to realize that there are people by her side . shit that would actually make me cry , i'm not gonna lie .

she will get a BIG group hug and she'll cry and i would also cry and we crew and we crode and i don't know maybe i'll be wrong Shrugs let's see this post age like milk LOL

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God Ragatha always being belittled and made to feel guilty for not being perfectly demure and well-behaved and facing backlash for just being herself. And then people hate her for doing what she was told to her entire life. And then she finally does what they tell her to do and then just give her mortified looks for it. Making Ragatha feel guilty for expressing negativity like her mother all over again. Girl could start hallucinating her mother’s face over everyone else’s and it’d make perfect sense for her state of mind. She’s been haunted by her mother and shaped by her mother and is now trying to be a mother to her own adult peers because being a woman is fucking insane.

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Yes.

Yes, she does.

Okay so...Ragatha needs 3 things

A Hug

A Sandwhich

Another hug

Cause damn this explains so much about her...

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I don't think that Ragatha is secretly a bad person deep down or that Jax is secretly a good person deep down. I think these characters are just two sides of the same coin; they're both trying to cope with this shitty reality. Ragatha tries to embody and encourage kindness to soothe the others' suffering. Jax tries to instigate violence and cruelty, perhaps as a way to rebel against Caine (or whoever is really behind this Digital Circus).

Ragatha's basically like "We're all stuck here being tortured together, so we don't need to add to our collective misery" and Jax is basically like "Nothing we do matters so fuck everything and everybody." It's like optimistic nihilism vs absurdism, or something like that.

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Hey there, Ragatha fandom...

How we doing? Does anyone need a vent space? Let this be a vent space.