#'agree to disagree then' just say that you cant think critically enough to hold an actual conversation

[worthyking]

talking to my white grandfather about Palestine ohhhhh where's my noble peace prize

[catintheruemorgue]

annoying things they do

summary: small things these guys do that just grinds your gears a bit.

characters: oda, dazai, kunikida, twain, akutagawa, atsushi, mori, poe, ranpo, fittzgerald, steinbeck, chuuya, yosano, gin, kouyou, higuchi, alcott and lucy

these are all based off things i do or have inconvenienced my life lmfao i’ll probs do a part two with everyone i missed this just got wayyy to long lol next im posting being friends with double black 

Oda:

If you're wearing shorts and have bruises he will poke them when you're resting your legs on him. He’s silent about it too and if you yell at him he pretends to act like he doesn't know what you're talking about.

Will smack your sunburn but this one is actually an accident. He just wanted to pat you on the back because you're amazing.

Will space out when you talk too long, sometimes certain objects are just so… mesmerizing

Dazai:

Loves to jumpscare you the only exception is if it was a trigger. In that case he will just call your name and whip something at you for you to catch at random.

When you're driving he likes to reach over and honk your horn. It's almost caused so many roadside fistfights.

If he sees a dog in public he will bark and growl at it.

Kunikida:

Won’t let you on the bed without socks on. You could be sick as a dog and he’ll still enforce this rule.

Cleaning is hard because he has a hard time throwing things away. You'll spend extra time as he holds two identical pens, trying to decide which one he wants to keep. He’s learned to plan certain days in his schedule for cleaning now.

Won't let you turn up the music in the car and will keep it at a level that's so low it's annoying.

Twain:

Walks around the house shirtless but then complains about how cold it is.

Blasts his music so loud when he wakes up in the morning and it's always early 2000’s hits. It's not rare for you to have Pocketful of Sunshine by Natasha Bedingfield stuck in your head by 9 am.

Always has to climb something, this stems from his adventurous side. It's not really that annoying but when you’re in a crowded area and he runs off to go climb the tall statue, screaming at you to take a photo… Yes it is. Especially when children try and follow him and you're stuck receiving glares from the parents.

Akutagawa:

Will not let you throw any food products out. He tells you it's a perfectly good meal (even if it's not) and that he will eat it tomorrow. It’s sad because you know this stems from childhood but it’s still annoying.

Reuses the same gross, musty ziplock baggies. You keep buying new ones but he doesn't get it lol.  

Will tell you if your breath smells, hair is messy, outfit is ugly. He does not see an issue with this and it's nice knowing someone has your back but he doesn't have to be so rude about it..

Atsushi:

If he drinks he's one of those drinkers who will not let you take it from him. Keeps an iron grip on the cup. He finishes it no matter how drunk and always throws up. Thankfully he rarely drinks.

He stops to help everyone, literally even if they just look like they need help. You've been late to so many things.

Will eat anything. Once you made steak and somehow forgot about it. It was hard as a brick yet he still almost broke his teeth eating it. You think you saw some tears as he told you it was delicious.

Mori:

Listens to people's conversations in public and isn't afraid to comment, loudly, about it. You know it's loud because they either stop talking or try and confront you guys.

Comes up to stops fast and brakes so hard you feel like he does it on purpose.

Sometimes if he and Elise get into a “disagreement” he’ll try and rope you in to take his side and you always do, knowing it would probably give him more satisfaction if you chose to side with her.

Poe:

Asks for constructive criticism but will then argue with you about why you're wrong.

Always humming a song he heard Twain singing and then it gets stuck in your head too.

Will deny stupid things like why your favorite mug is in the trash or why he just let out rather loud scream in the bathroom. You know he's lying because he looks away and makes sure his bangs are covering his eyes.

Ranpo:

Will call you out on any lie even if you don't mean to lie you just forgot about some of the details.

Don't take him grocery shopping if you have a set amount you want to spend. He won't even sneak, he will just say he wants something and throw it in the cart.

Such a backseat driver even though he can't drive.

Fitzgerald:

Likes to act like he's still in his twenties and will somehow get the two of you invited to college parties where he will attempt to do a kegger in front of everyone. You end up being the one to hold him up and he always ends with a, “LETS FUCKING GO!”

Likes to ask for the senior discount even though he's not that old, he just likes to hear the women validate that he's not old.

It’s scary how he used to buy without looking and now will scream if the price on a price tag is too high.

Steinbeck:

Always looking at the grass for wheat to chew on. It's so cheesy when you walk into the city and he's got it sticking out of his mouth.

He gets weirdly intimate with nature and you feel like you're third wheeling.

Has the mentality that he has to provide for you because he is the man. He gets so shocked when he finds out you still want to work.

Chuuya:

Has a hard time making decisions you could ask him what he wants for dinner and his mind will just break.

Gets way too pissed at movies and will actually get up and walk away. Once you were kicked out of the theater because he wouldn't stop yelling at the screen. Another time he walked out you waited a whole ten minutes before you realized he wasn't coming back.

Sometimes activates his ability at night and it's so scary waking up to him floating halfway across the room.

WOMAN TIME!!!!!!!!!!

Yosano:

Will glare at you so intensely if you say something she disagrees with.

Always tries to rope you into drinking with her even if you’ve said no the past ten nights.

Will describe wounds or injuries in such detail and just won’t stop, almost like she’s trying to fuck with you, but she’s not.

Gin:

Claims to be nothing like her big brother but then will go on to make the same facial expressions and do some of the same mannerisms as him.

Will spend hours trying things on just to put it all back, leave the store and change her mind when you’re almost home. Then she’ll have you run back with her to buy it all.

Is used to sneaking around so scares you a lot. Also on the topic of being silent sometimes she just won’t respond, thinking you can just read her vibes / mind.

Kouyou:

Will judge what you eat, especially fast food but will try and steal a fry in private when you're not looking.

Will say things like, “Well that's just the way the world works.” If someone tries to share their baggage with her. You understand she’s had a pretty rough life but it's caused you to almost spit out your drink multiple times.

At functions forgets about you for about an hour while she mingles with everyone else, you could tap on her shoulder and she'll dismiss you like you're a subordinate. Until you clear your throat again you'll see the slight blush as she apologizes.

Higuchi:

She has no sense of privacy. If she hears a crash or loud noise she will bust down the door. It’s sweet but not when the noises are usually from you knocking all the shampoo bottles down again.

Horrible road rage actually puts you on edge to be in the car with her. She doesn't even have to be driving.

Likes to act like she's a professional at everything and people usually believe it because of her suit. It's so nerve wracking when she giggles when they walk away with false information.

Alcott:

Will agree to everything you suggest but you can only tell when she doesn’t want to do it when you’re currently doing it.

Yet she’s not afraid to grumble about how annoying it is when someone bumps into you and doesn’t apologize. It’s sweet but you’re left dealing with the situation if the person is aggressive enough to say something.

Always corrects your spelling or if you say something like “I could care less.”

Lucy:

Will fish for compliments in a very obvious way like, “Wow. Wish someone would call me pretty..” and then just stare right at you.

Kicks you so violently in her sleep but won't let go of you so you cant get away.

Constantly stealing from restaurants. You're banned from a couple restaurants because she got caught trying to steal a cup or salt shaker.

[duchessfics]

Sarah Paulson’s Characters Watching a Horror Movie with their Girlfriend

Requested by @urleastfavtree: Since Halloween is coming up, could you do Sarah Paulson’s characters watching a horror movie with their S/O’s

I chose horror movies for each, but they are easily replaceable with whatever you prefer. These are shorter than my last headcanons, but I hope you like it!

Billie Dean Howard

For Billie the horror genre doesn’t have that much of an appeal. She already deals with the paranormal on a daily basis. So when she watches a movie she wants to leave that side of her life behind.

However, even though she isn’t interested in watching horror movies, she knows you love them. So she’ll tolerate them for her babygirl. Her only rule is no paranormal/supernatural movies

Even though most of those films are tacky for her and she knows they aren’t real, it hits a little too close to home and you respect that.

So you decide to go with a scary movie classic: Halloween. Even though this is an older movie and seems silly at times you watched this movie as a kid and it holds a nostalgic appeal.

Of course Billie will do anything and everything to make her darling angel happy. But she also selfishly loves how you cuddle into her at the scary parts. Holding you tight to her makes watching any horror movie worth it.

Lana Winters

Lana has an aversion to horror movies because of her past and absolutely refuses to watch any kind of slasher/serial killer movie. She feels less bothered by paranormal movies, but still won’t choose to see one.

But you ask her about seeing the movie Alien and explain that it’s not a typical horror movie with a slasher or something paranormal. She begrudgingly agrees and lets you take her to a special Halloween showing at the local movie theater.

Even though Lana keeps a brave face, when the alien bursts out of the crew member’s stomach and as Dallas makes his way through the air ducts she tenses up and holds your hand.

By the countdown of the spaceship destroying, she has moved your arms to wrap around her and partially hides behind your hands at any noise.You ask her if she’s ok and say that you don’t mind leaving if this is too much for her. 

But she shakes her head and says she wants to see the ending. Once the movie is over, Lana admits that the movie was actually pretty good, but that movie was enough excitement for her for a long time.

(https://fishkreizler.tumblr.com/post/180133040284/cordelia-goode-ahs-apocalypse-8x10)

Cordelia Goode

Cordelia thinks scary movies are kind of silly, but she is also happy to watch them with you. While most would expect Cordelia to be the scaredy cat, you are the one hiding your face in her arms. But when she asks if you want to stop watching you say no.

In celebration of Halloween, you manage to convince your girlfriend to watch the whole Insidious series. You try to put on a brave face, but the moment you see the red-faced demon standing right behind Josh you squeal and hide in Cordelia’s comforting embrace. 

She laughs at your reaction...laughs as if not just seeing what you saw and asks if you’re sure you can handle this. You tell her it’s ok and you want to watch them all.

But by the time you finish the series, you flinch at every noise and shadow, clinging to Cordelia and not letting her go.

She holds you soothingly and suggests you watch a lighter Halloween movie before going to bed. While Cordelia doesn’t understand why you like movies that scare you, she goes along with it and will comfort her sweet girl through it.

Bette and Dot Tattler

While Dot doesn’t mind scary movies (in fact she actually kind of likes them) Bette hates horror movies. She’ll have nightmares for weeks if she even hears something too scary.

Bette is your sweet girl so you don’t ask her to watch horror movies except for one time a year: Halloween. And you have to coax her a little, promising to hold her close and give her lots of hugs and kisses (maybe some ice cream too).

So for this Halloween you pick the movie Creature from the Black Lagoon. Something about the film appeals to you and Dot loves it, smiling at you once and awhile.

On the other hand, halfway through the movie Bette whimpers she can’t watch anymore. So you hold her close and run your fingers through her hair in a soothing manner, letting her bury her face in your shoulder.

By the time the movie is finished Bette sleeps peacefully in your embrace while you and Dot talk about how good the film was. Then you both decide to reward Bette for sitting through this, by making some candy apples to appease her sweet tooth.

Sally McKenna

Ok, let’s state the obvious--Sally loves horror movies. Sometimes you and her will disappear for days watching her favorite ones. However, for this Halloween you plan to introduce her to a franchise that came out after she died.

You wait until November 1st since you both spent the day outside of the Hotel Cortez on Halloween. And that November morning you wake her up in a giddy voice and tell her you want to show her something.

Sally is confused at your cheerfulness so early in the morning, but listens. That’s when you pull out DVDs of the whole Saw franchise.

Sally has never seen them, so you pop the first one in right then and begin your movie marathon. Sally loves them for the gore and loves her baby girl even more for knowing her so well.

By the time you finish the last movie you both are exhausted of seeing bloody corpses, but Sally holds you close before softly saying that the movies gave her a couple ideas for future guests. You say her name in warning and she tells you she’s kidding, but the twinkle in her dark eyes says otherwise.

(https://televisionsgif.tumblr.com/post/152378339702)

Audrey Tindall

Audrey’s reactions to scary movies is probably the most similar to Miss Sarah Paulson...aka she hates them because they terrify her. Like, a lot.

You manage to get her to agree to watching a scary movie, saying that it’s more of an adventure movie. But Audrey disagrees when you pick out the movie IT (2017 version).

That creepy painting coming to life? No. The headless boy chasing Ben only to run into Pennywise? Also no. A leper? Nope. She literally gets up and washes her hands after that. A room full of clowns? Hell no. And Pennywise climbing out of a refrigerator? Fuck no, she rebukes.

You try to keep your laughter contained as you watch her reactions, but her yelps and cursing cracks you up. By the time the movie finishes, Audrey is winded like she went out for a run and is left exhausted.

Audrey makes you check the closet and under the bed where you act like something grabs your arm (which ended with you being called an asshole as you laughed). But you hold her close when you get in bed and soothe her, promising to keep and eye on her until she falls asleep.

Ally Mayfair-Richards

While Ally has overcome most of her phobias and fears, she doesn’t like to watch things that make those resurface. Plus she doesn’t want horror movies to be around Oz.

Although you like horror movies, you understand where she is coming from and respect her wishes. However, this Halloween, after Oz goes into a candy coma, Ally says she’s willing to watch a scary movie...but nothing too scary.

So you pick out the movie Zombieland. It’s definitely gory, but the comedy makes it a lot less scary. And Ally even starts laughing at the different phrases Tallahassee says. 

As you watch the movie, you keep cuddled up together. Although Ally doesn’t say anything, you keep getting distracted by her brushing her fingers along your hip. Eventually it feels like she is trying to drive you crazy.

And even though you intended to watch the movie, you don’t protest when she starts to kiss you. Then you pull her into your lap and you both end up making love with the movie on in the background. But that treat was better. Much, much better.

(https://yourghostcat.tumblr.com/post/179898885939/what-are-you-talking-about-you-cant-work)

Wilhemina Venable

For Wilhemina, she doesn’t like horror movies. Not because she’s scared of them, but because they seem like a pointless waste of time.

But you tease her, saying that she’s just scared of the movies but doesn’t want to admit it. At first, Wilhemina just rolls her eyes, but you tell her she should prove that she isn’t scared of these films. Otherwise you think she’s lying. So she says fine and tells you to pick out a movie

You smirk and say that you’ll do her better and choose a series: the Final Destination series. And you begin your movie marathon.

As you watch the films you giggle at Wilhemina’s critical commentary when watching each movie. And these movies are ridiculous. But when you get to the end of the last movie her mind is somewhat blown at the twist.

Then you admit that you didn’t think she was a scaredy cat, but you wanted to spend some time with her. She says that she figured, but warns that you should watch your back because now she’s reserves the right to give you a scare.

Tagged: @marilynroselleprentiss, @saviorinsilk, @chokemepaulson, @versonstar​, @lush-les-lady​, @cordwliagoode​

Let me know if you would like to be tagged in later works!

[literaphobe]

hi michelle! so want to start saying that i identify as bi and honestly, I would LOVE it if jake was bi. I think it'd be great. But i'm also okay if he's not, bc how cool is it that they're allowing a man to break down traditional gender norms/roles! i think one of the greatest parts of loving a show like b99 is that it lets us escape the 'real world' for twenty minutes every week. and that means something different for every person watching the show. 1

SO while i believe you are entitled to your own opinions, and you can share them on your blog bc it's yours, i don't think its fair to invite people to share their opinions but shut down anyone who feels differently than you. for example, you said to someone who said they didn't care if jake was bi that you hope they 'get well soon'. also, you posted saying that if bi people didnt want jake to be bi then they're wrong. im sorry but thats really hurtful. you dont get to decide how people think 2

just bc someone feels differently than you doesnt make their feelings less valid, ESPECIALLY someone who identifies as lgbt+. you run a popular blog and it makes me sad to think people might feel their opinions are less valid or wrong bc they see it here. again, im not saying you cant have opinions or post them. but maybe just think about how your words can affect others. also saying this off anon bc i respect you and am open to having a conversation. Thanks for reading, hope u have a good day

hi. thank you for ur mannerly tone and for having the courage to go off-anon.

mlm/bi representation will always be more important than ‘straight man comfortable with his sexuality’. while i am not saying that straight men in media shouldn’t be portrayed as comfortable in their sexualities, the stance that it’s okay to take away representation from people in the lgbt community as long as we have Good Hets is harmful, and it gives people in the tv/movie industries a cop out. they don’t have to give us more lgbt characters! straight characters who Know What’s Up are good enough to make them seem woke and avoid criticism! and whether you’re comfortable with this happening as an lgbt has nothing to do with it. we have to hold the media accountable, we can’t just settle for less. whether you want to watch b99 uncritically or not is entirely up to you. i get that it’s exhausting to analyze the media content you consume! i more than understand just wanting to escape and not ask for more! it’s tiring! it’s draining! it’s disappointing, it hurts so much and it gets so so lonely. but we can’t just let the world stagnate. progress needs to be made constantly, and shows can’t be made to feel like they can just do one or two good things and not be expected to do anything else! i’m not asking you to fight for this, i just want the acknowledgement that this is the right thing to do

i didn’t exactly... invite anyone to say anything. i truly am just sending my thoughts out into the void. and yes, i am aware that my words reach a wider audience because i have a larger than average follower count. of course i know my words can affect others. that’s what i’m trying to do. aside from getting thoughts out my brain, i want to promote a less passive line of thinking. i want lgbt folk to want better for themselves. unfortunately, because words and actions have responses, people will climb into my inbox and start conversations that i inevitably have to take part in (sometimes i don’t though. it really depends on where my head’s at that day. having to discuss this repeatedly is draining). most of the time, i’m just making a statement

i don’t particularly enjoy “shutting down people who feel differently from me”. usually, if i’ve done that, i really am tired because i’ve likely discussed and explained numerous times whatever it is the person who got shut down said to me. i might also come off as mean-spirited or perhaps aggressive if i know some anon is just trying to pick a fight/spew hate at me. if you don’t understand where i’m coming from/don’t believe why having an opposing stance is harmful (this might vary depending on the issue), i am (given i have energy that day) more than willing to elaborate on whatever it is i say here. if i say stuff like ‘get well soon!’ it is a tired response to something i have already covered in depth and i am making some semblance of a joke to deflect/put a lid on the stuff i really want to say (likely because i have already said it) 

i never said that bi people who didn’t want jake to be bi were wrong. i was trying to get them to think deeper and explore why they don’t want that. being lgbt sometimes means that we allow and normalize a lot of unfair treatment. we think that we have it good enough so we decide not to ask for more, to settle. and i will never blame any lgbt for falling victim to this line of thought. we were brought up to think this way, we were conditioned to think this way. acceptance does not equal inclusion, and sadly many of us are so grateful for the acceptance that we do not bother to even think about having inclusion. or, better inclusion, for that matter. of course, it is definitely not up to me to decide how anyone thinks. i’m just trying to convince you! very desperately. but if you don’t agree no matter what i say then what can i do? it’s your life. it doesn’t affect me much in the grand scheme of things. i’m not going to hate you for disagreeing. i’m not going to sic the dogs on you. am i going to be kind of annoyed if someone walks into my inbox, turns on anon, and hurls insults at me? yes, that’s hurtful, and it’s kind of funny sometimes depending on how dumb you sound, but it’s mostly tiring and a lot of pain. so like... read, if u don’t like it, move on, if your well-being is drastically affected from reading the things i say, i’ll tag it so you can blacklist 

the sad thing is, being a member of the lgbt community doesn’t automatically make your opinions on lgbt issues valid/unproblematic. internalized homophobia exists. things i described in the point above can lead to this. just because a bi person says ‘im bi! and i don’t care/don’t think bi jake is important!’ doesn’t mean that suddenly, there is no need for him to be canonically bi, that we aren’t being queerbaited/pandered to by the show. do i think that the show is intentionally/heinously queerbaiting us? not exactly. but lack of awareness and lacking understanding on why bi-coding jake w no intention to make it canon is just as harmful bc it produces the same result (in jake’s case)

once again, i don’t intend for people to feel “less valid/wrong” when they read what i have to say on this blog. self-reflection is important. sometimes, people have opinions that are wrong! including myself! which is why more often than not i think deeply into the things people say to me here and consider whether my opinion holds up. you don’t have to feel bad for being wrong. we are all constantly wrong on stuff. everyone, at some point, has had a bad take/the wrong take on something. if you hold yourself up to this standard that you must always be right or you are suddenly a horrible person/must feel bad and demoralized, i suggest that you change your approach to issues such as this. i hate to say this but it is not my job to make sure everyone is 100% cool and chill about everything i do and say here. some things need to be said. some things need to be acknowledged. i’m sorry if any of you have been hurt/upset by anything i’ve ever posted but after a certain point... that is your issue and not mine 

[mattgambler]

My thoughts on Sekiro - Shadows Die Twice

TLDR: I talk about what I liked and disliked about Sekiro and why it in my eyes is probably* the best game From Software has released to date. Which means I also compare it to Dark Souls a lot.

*I havent played Demon Souls or Bloodborne, so I cant really talk about those. As someone who played through all three Dark Souls games as well as several other soulslikes on stream, I always stood by the unpopular opinion that Dark Souls 1 is a good game, but also a vastly overrated one - with one of the most unbearable fanbases out there, right up there with Undertale, albeit for very different reasons. My opinion is of course strongly coloured by my interactions with diehard fans of Dark Souls, both on stream as well as everywhere else on the Internet, but at the end of the day I never hated Dark Souls. I wouldnt have played through all three games otherwise. I *did* hate smaller aspects, like the fact that I ended up entering the tomb of the giants without ever finding a lantern and therefore  being forced to crawl through that place in near complete darkness until I found the emergency lantern in there, simply because I was unlucky enough to have none of the necromancers drop one for me. Or how the curse mechanic in the sewers got me trapped in a place that i already struggled with, but now with only 50% of my original HP. Or the entire “Git Gud” mentality that is so grossly abused to defend poor game design that the travesty that is camera control in the Ornstein and Smough fight looks like a piece of art in comparison. Onionbro and Solaire would weep if they knew. There were other things that I didnt enjoy, like what the Souls games count as a story, but I have an easier time pinning that down as personal preference and something that just isnt for me. Vaatividya makes good videos. The tomb of the giants without a lantern however, that just shouldnt exist in any game, not to mention a game that is glorified to such an extent that it could get its dick sucked every day by a different dude without running out for centuries. Can you taste that sweaty salt yet? Along comes Sekiro, a game by the same dev studio, with the same feel, minus many of the things that I have hated and criticized for several years now. Guess what, I like it.    This isnt a review, Im not trying to tell you if you should buy, Im not telling you that there are no microtransactions in the game or what framerate it isnt capped at. There are tons of videos online that jump-attacked all over that on day 1 of release or earlier. Im telling you why, in my opinion, this game is so vastly superior to Dark Souls that it simply warms my heart. Let me start a list and then never finish it: - You can swim - You can jump - You can talk - You dont immediately die when you fall off a cliff - You cant accidentally walk over a cliff like a moron, at least most of the time. - You can’t simply rely on dodgerolls and invincibility frames all the time - You can understand the story without having to go to Youtube to have it explained to you by someone - You can’t kill strong enemies simply by chain parrying them over and over, or at least it is hell of a lot harder - You can’t simply kill strong enemies by knocking them off a cliff (I think) - You can’t abuse magic for an immediate easy mode - You can’t abuse coop for an immediate easy mode

... I’m getting a little unfair here, I know. I actually think coop is a cool feature, even though I personally never used it and even the multiplayer pvp invasions are an original and interesting concept, although I’m not personally into it. Magic is cool too, although poorly balanced and therefore in my opinion less interesting. The reason I added those last two points to my unfinished list is not because I dislike them, but because of the lately relevant “does Sekiro need an easy mode” controversy. Especially the most elitist diehard fans of the souls franchise strongly disagree with the addition of an easy mode, which is funny... ... given that Dark Souls 1 has several. Personally I dont think Sekiro NEEDS an easy mode, but it sure wouldnt hurt anyone. I personally wouldnt have minded playing on a lower difficulty, I had three or four bosses greatly overstay their welcome before I finally managed to smash their asslike faces in. ...but Im rambling. On a surface level, just looking at the feel of combat, movement and overall story coherence Sekiro is already miles ahead, but I can understand that it therefore feels less like a Souls game and that not everyone will like that. I can understand and respect that. DarkSouls 1, as well as 2 and maybe even 3, have a couple of features that I greatly appreciate and that partly even surpass Sekiro in my otherwise overly critical eyes. Dark Souls 1 has the best and most memorable map in my opinion. Dark Souls 2 has incredible DLCs, especially Frozen Eleum Loyce was awesome and beautiful, with the minor exception of that retarded snow zebra area and how you would respawn *before* the loading screen to get there again instead of after. I also liked the Pursuers concept a lot, as well as the idea of despawning mobs if you killed them often enough. I dont remember much about DS3, it was okay as far as Im concerned but I enjoyed it the least out of the three, probably because of burnout as I had played through all three (blind) in a row. Im mentioning all of this because I want to clarify that in my eyes Sekiro is not THE TIMELESS MASTERPIECE NOBODY WILL EVER SURPASS that Darksouls 1 is often celebrated as. But in many ways it is headed in a direction that makes more sense to me than “if you are not enjoying it then you are doing it wrong and you should maybe think for once”. (Not that Sekiro streamers werent told exactly that just the same) Let me tell you, there were many instances in Sekiro where I also didnt think, didnt consider every possible option the game had given me, honestly Im pretty sure I sucked most of the time, in the eyes of your usual GITGUD-Bro. But I struggled, I improved, I succeded, and I had a way better time during it all, even though I did the same shit in the Souls games as well. Just without falling off edges in waist-high water every 10 minutes, or being invaded by some bowing edgelord, or losing 50% of my max hp as punishment for dying to the wrong enemy. There is this myth going around online that Dark Souls might be a harsh mistress, but at least a fair one. The one spreading that rumour must have been the Bed of Chaos herself, because that is nothing but horseshit. Sekiro isnt exactly fair all the time either, there are many moments in the game that feel all too familiar in their GOTCHA nature. Like how the game conveniently places the key to one of the hardest areas of the early game in your path so you go check it out just to get crucified there by Lady Butterfly and a special drunkard, just for you to learn after finally breaking both of them that you would have had a way easier time if you had simply ignored that area and soldiered on on your original path. Sure, one could have simply abandoned that area and returned later, but how many of you did? I sure didnt. The game likes to oneshot-kill you if you fail to dodge the wrong attack, be it a giant carp, a giant snake, or a giant TERROR man. Even worse, in Sekiro you cant even get your souls back! You die, you lose 50%. ALso 50% of your cash. Suck it. Im not particularly happy about that myself and Im not sure what the motivation behind that design decision was, but you take the good with the bad, right? Another thing that Sekiro does that I dont understand is how the game has you collect loot. Every time you kill an enemy you need to hold a button to collect. You can kill several in an area and then grab everything at once if they arent too far apart, but at the end of the day it eludes me why From Software didnt simply go for autocollecting instead. It’s not a big deal (even though I would forget about picking up loot every now and then) but at the same time it isnt adding any enjoyment to the game either, no matter how hard I try and emphasize with whatever a gamer who likes this might possibly think. It is not hard, its is not really relevant,  and I cant think of a single advantage it has over autocollecting. Maybe holding that button is supposed to feel rewarding? I consider it meaningless at best and tedious busywork at worst. At the same time the game introduces a stealth system that actually means something, while at the same time keeping it both well integrated as well as completely optional. Im truly impressed by how that is even possible. I also like the immortality mechanic, that results in you only truly dying if you go down twice, and even refreshes that revive if you kill enough enemies inbetween deaths. It doesnt help that much, as it doesnt refill your estus fl.... healing gourds, but it allows for a little bit more practice against tough enemies before you die, a little bit more lenience while exploring in an area where it is easy to fall, a little bit more standing power in a world where a giant carp can simply eat you. I appreciate it and it is far from making the game anything close to easy. Its more like an extra gourding flask. I could keep going and praise this (surprisingly satisfying enemy style and variety given the setting) or criticize that (less replayability because of fewer possible weapons and builds), but at the end of the day my opinion is crystalclear - Sekiro is stunningly beautiful, very enjoyable, hard as fuck, and while I have heard people say that “it is not a true soulslike”, I have to shrug and agree. It is better.

[knightofbalance-13]

Speaking Over LGBT People: Totally Okay! (Sarcasm)

http://dudeblade.tumblr.com/post/163784145881/is-anyone-else-really-afraid-vol-5-lgbt-rep

What a bunch of fuck ups.

First, let’s do Fairy Wizard AKA the pseudo intellectual who said RT should have super buff characters because realistic then said RT should have super fate characters because unrealistic.

Honestly, I have very little hope of rwby ever getting ANY lgbtq+ rep, much less anything meaningful. Time and time again the writers had countless opportunities to do so, all of which were passed up. I would be surprised if this volume got anything more than volume 3 did  (though it’s more likely we’ll get nothing like always). As far as which characters end up being queer is concerned, RT have written themselves in a corner of their own design. If they confirm BB then people will be mad at them for “sacrificing artistic integrity to satisfy fans” (as if rwby has any of that left) and if they *don’t* confirm BB or actively make it a canon notp then people will riot at the queerbaiting (and there’s been A LOT of that in rwby, especially considering the bmblb controversy/clusterfuck).

No actually, you people will be absolutely obnoxious about it if there is any LGBT character (not Bumbleby which, surprise, isn’t the only route for making an LGBT character), demand more and more while bitching about every straight couple in the show, screech homophobia whenever things don’t go exactly your way while l also claiming to speak for every LGBT person as if they are a hivemind, which is ACTUALLY homophobic as fuck.

The only people who pushed themselves into a corner is YOU people: Either it doesn’t happen because you were so fucking toxic about the subject and then blame RT, leading them to stop interacting with fans or outright be spiteful towards them. Or it does happen, you bitch about how you didn’t get it immediately or some equally stupid with the same reaction. Everyone blames the LGBT community for it further discourages diversity while you ruined the show because you are THAT insecure about yourselves that everything in life must mirror you or bow to your will. Either way, you look worse and your situation gets worse. Although I doubt you acre since this lets you play victim.

So if the character never shows up: you have no one to blame but yourselves.

Either way, if their takeaway is “gee we should have never included this character so let’s kill them off” then that would be THEIR fault for misreading and mishandling the situation, NOT the fans’. Personally I think that’s highly unlikely to happen, but the fact that this is considered a concern is quite telling of RT’s history of lgbtq+ rep and the treatment of its queer characters.

“If their takeaway is that I should have never gotten into a relationship with this person, it’s THEIR fault for misreading and mishandling the situation, not the abuser.”

That’s what you sound like, you victim blaming fuckwad. They never said WHEN the character was coming, MONTY made the promise on a whim so they have no obligation to keep it and with all the shit you’ve given them: They have EVERY right to never write the character. You sound like a fucking abuser blaming your partner for your actions. That is how irredeemable your actions are.

Ultimately I wouldn’t feel sorry for RT and you probably shouldn’t either. They kinda brought this whole thing on themselves and it’s time they realised that baiting people for years while making homophobic jokes in your other shows has consequences.

“You spoke out against me while I was hitting you for years so you deserve this.”

Yeah, keep victim blaming. That doesn’t make you look bad at all.

Next we got this Santaclausindian person:

Well, they said there would be queer rep, than proceded to not plant the seeds for one at all. Of course it will be bad. They had four seasons to do it. Without even subtle hints, any gayness will feel shoehorned in.Â

Didn’t you people say :you don’y need to plant the seeds: Just do it?” I guess it doesn’t apply as a defense, only an attack.

If they go with the wlw roote, which is the most likely, seeing how the show is supposed to be about the girls, they can either make one of the big ones queer, or a side character or even a one-shot. Now the latter won’t be enough at this point, maybe if they never promised it, but after 5 years of nothing, I don’t think they can get away with throwing a bone.Â

YOU all are the ones insulting them and calling them bigots for not having an LGBT character in a show that BARELY has an romance. YOU all are the ones who attacked Arryn and drove her away. YOU all are the ones trying to label the CRWBY as every form of bigot you can think of. YOU all are the ones being homophobic by thinking LGBT people are so weak and fragile they can’t take a joke. YOU all are the ones attacking LGBT people for not agreeing with you. YOU all are the ones harassing people. YOU all are the ones who cant criticism. You don’t deserve a bone, in any sense of the word. You all deserve jackshit, AT BEST.

And finally we have Dudeblade AKA the straight guy who thinks he knows the LGBT community better than ACTUAL LGBT people.

They had their chance.

They had so many chances to introduce or reveal a character to be LGBT+.

And you had your chance to not be a terrible human being, you all did. But not only did you waste it completely, you insist that everyone else around you is wrong, that no one but people who act and think like you deserve respect. AKA Psychopathy.

But what do they do instead? - They decide to let a song (somehow) slip by that all but says that “this couple will get together.” and say that “it’s not canon.”

Boo. Fucking. Hoo. Your ship didn’t get confirmed, never mind the fact that this EXACT same thing happened with Black Sun Shippers and yet you never said a word so it’s only wrong when it negatively affects you AKA the exact opposite of equality. Not to mention you act like the only way for there to be an LGBT couple is Bumbleby, ignoring bisexuals, gay men, pansexuals, asexuals and trans people who aren’t attracted to the same gender. And mind you, you act like you know the community better than an ACTUAL LGBT person who called you out on your bullshit, you suicide baited them and then acted like it was their fault.

“It’s not the right time yet.” - Falls apart when you have let so many opportunities slip by.

So many that you can’t name any.

“We want it to feel natural.” - So, you’re saying that you don’t consider it to be natural to begin with. Good to know.

Ah eyes, not like they took their sweet ass time with Renora, the only hetero ship that is even close to confirmed. Not toemntion the fact that you think that heterosexuality isn’t natural, mr. “heterosexuality is a cliché.”

“We aren’t good at writing romance.” - Explain Renora, Arkos, Black Sun, Iceberg, and Qrow in general. Or are those exceptions?

Dubious, Sunk, hasn’t happened, didn’t happen and I counter you with the background guy holding up a picture of Sun’s abs. 

If there’s backlash, well…

No, shut up. Stop talking. You obviously don’t understand what logic is so I suggest you stop.

You Dudeblade have crossed so many lines, calling CRWBY every offensive term in the book, using Monty, Shane, Sheena, and Arryn to attack them then when Arryn showed a tweet that contradicted you, you tried dismissing it then using it for yourself. You delete criticism and call everyone who disagrees with you whiteknights. You attack LGBT people and claim to know more about their sexuality than them because you’re a fucking yuri fan. You lie, cheat and misinform just to create insults, you try apply criticism against you suing defenses against RT then don’t follow them a bit as if you are somehow better than everyone else, you actively set back equality for not just LGBT people but for races and genders by being homophobic AND heterophobic, racist and sexist as fuck and so much more.

By the end of this: YOU will be the ones with the backlash. YOU will continue your bullshit and people will see your shit, they will see that you were using them, they will see that you don’t actually acre and how monstrous you truly are. They will see that you used people, kept them hostage, refsed to see yourself in the mirror, cared only about yourself and harmed people’s lives. And here’s a preview of YOUR backlash.

[theconservativebrief]

Bari Weiss and Eve Peyser thought they would hate each other and are now friends. I’m glad they’re happy, but I’m not sure what the rest of us are supposed to learn from their experience.

Weiss is a staff editor/writer at the New York Times opinion section, where she’s developed a reputation for making arguments that maximally annoy the online left (example headlines: “We’re All Fascists Now”; “Three Cheers for Cultural Appropriation”; “Aziz Ansari Is Guilty. Of Not Being a Mind Reader.”). Charitably, she’s a provocateur; less charitably, she’s a troll with a huge platform.

Peyser, on the other hand, is a reliably left-of-center writer at Vice. Weiss describes her as “like the caricature of the person I know hates me on the internet: Gawker Media alum, probable Democratic Socialists of America member, many tattoos.”

So, naturally, they met up. Weiss insisted on going swimming so that Peyser wouldn’t wear a wire, a very normal precaution. And — surprise, surprise — they got along. Swimmingly, one might even add!

The piece, published in the New York Times and structured as a conversation, is ultimately about the deleterious consequences of Twitter on interpersonal relationships — how it can create enmity and contempt where none would exist in person. So the authors would probably view the hostile response the article has received in some corners of Twitter as evidence for their thesis.

The piece’s critics make some good substantive points: Journalists are supposed to be able to build productive relationships with a wide range of people; Peyser and Weiss are actually quite similar to each other and even agree on most of the topics they discussed; the piece treats disagreements on issues that matter as peripheral to whether you’re a good person or not.

But I want to make a much simpler point: You do not have to do this. You do not have some kind of civic duty to reach out to and actively befriend people you disagree with, and doing so is a very high-cost and ineffective way to address political polarization.

The undercurrent driving the Weiss/Peyser team-up is that what they’re doing is, in some way, a model for how we all should be behaving. Their piece ends with an ask from the Times: “Maybe you have a political nemesis whom you subtweet.… If so, we’ve got a challenge for you: Invite that person to have a beer or coffee, or join you in a FaceTime chat. Tell us how it went.”

That goes quite beyond what even Weiss and Peyser themselves are arguing. If they want to be friends, fine, do your thing. But the Times op-ed page as a whole appears to believe this is something you — not journalists but you, the reader, average person — should be doing, part and parcel of good citizenship.

This notion has spread widely since Trump’s election: that Americans just don’t talk to each other enough, that we need to build friendships that reach across our personal info bubbles if America is ever going to heal. You see this in Mark Duplass’s abortive attempt to build bridges with right-wing polemicist Ben Shapiro. You see it in the group Better Angels, which aims to “reduce political polarization in the United States by bringing liberals and conservatives together.” The group holds workshops that function as scaled-up versions of the Peyser/Weiss meeting, and it’s gotten copious press coverage for its efforts, including a whole David Brooks column.

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For journalists, understanding what other people are thinking and why is part of the job. For average citizens and voters, it’s another burden to add to the list after work, schlepping the kids to and from school, taking care of elderly family members, and attending PTA and church/synagogue/mosque meetings, etc.

What the call for cross-partisan friendships asks people to do, essentially, is to make an altruistic sacrifice of time, perhaps money, and definitely emotional energy, in an attempt to heal our politics.

But if we’re going to make that ask, we should be pretty confident that good things will come of it, because the cost is not trivial. And there is no good evidence, to the best of my knowledge, that these efforts are effective at scale.

It would be one thing if this attempt at depolarization were an attempt to persuade participants of certain specific, socially beneficial beliefs. Insofar as individual beliefs are deforming our politics, the beliefs that do so the worst involve bigotry — especially, in the American case, racist sentiment. There’s a role for small-scale persuasion in trying to reduce prejudice, as well as large-scale structural changes.

But the “can’t we all get along” gambit of Better Angels and the NYT op-ed page isn’t that. This is a small-scale attempt to make people nicer to each other, with a hope that this will somehow improve political outcomes in the United States.

And that can be a big ask. Asking a Muslim mother to sit and listen patiently as a white Trump voter explained why the “Muslim ban” appealed to him — that’s not a trivial request.

It’s not clear to me what exactly that conversation is accomplishing. The Muslim mom knows there are people who hate her and her family. She doesn’t need to be reminded face to face. She isn’t learning anything. And when the goal of the conversation is “depolarization,” not prejudice reduction, it’s far from clear that her white interlocutor will emerge with less socially deleterious views either. There’s some evidence that contact with people from a vulnerable group can reduce prejudice against that group — but notably, a recent meta-analysis concluded that the effects are weakest for racial prejudice, and the evidence sparsest when it comes to adults.

There’s also some reason to think that interventions like this, in certain circumstances, could do harm. In a wonderful paper, evocatively titled “When Going Along Gets You Nowhere and the Upside of Conflict Behaviors,” the psychologists Mina Cikara and Elizabeth Levy Paluck argued that promoting cooperation and avoiding social conflict can backfire — and promoting conflict between groups can, on occasion, bring positive change. The authors write, citing this study:

For example, an intervention, in which low-power groups (i.e., Mexican immigrants, Palestinians) were able to voice their grievances to the high-power group (i.e., White Americans, Israelis), and in which the high-power group had to take their low-power perspective, resulted in more positive regard between the groups compared to when grievances were not voiced or heard.

It seems plausible to me that Twitter could serve a purpose like that. From its very inception in the late 2000s, Twitter was massively appealing to journalists and had a disproportionately large and influential black community. This happened, probably not coincidentally, after a large “white flight” of wealthier white users from MySpace to Facebook. And it pushed white journalists into contact with black voices in a way that they (we) hadn’t been before. It was a more even playing field, where a group with less power had the same claim to a voice as a group with more power. If we should expect that forcing high-power groups to hear the perspectives of low-power groups promotes tolerance, on net, then maybe we should expect that on Twitter too.

That’s not to say Twitter is perfect; using it makes me wildly unhappy much of the time. But it does make me wonder if the Weiss/Peyser hypothesis, that Twitter prevents us from listening to each other and we should really just try to get along as people outside it, is right. And if we’re not sure that hypothesis is right, then asking that people bear significant personal costs to reach out and befriend their political enemies starts to make less sense. That goes not just for takesters but for politicians like Barack Obama, who often emphasize the value of civil discussion and collaboration ahead of heated disagreement and confrontation. We need both.

We have a tendency, as a culture, to equate morality with bearing a heavy burden. Actually running and operating an orphanage and taking care of orphans day to day looks more saintly than funding 15 orphanages while living in a mansion does. And this kind of reasoning makes for effective, click-friendly articles. “Befriend people you disagree with” seems like the kind of thing you should do but is something you probably resist doing for one reason or another (it’s hard, it’s unpleasant, etc.). That tension, between duty and revulsion, has the makings of good content.

But I don’t think it makes for good moral reasoning. If you want to heal America, donate to and vote for candidates you think can do that. Give cash to poor people in the US, or people working to reduce prejudice. Do what you feel you can. But don’t let anyone guilt you into befriending people you don’t actually want to befriend. Don’t force yourself to listen to people spouting hate against you and your family in the name of civil comity. Life is too short, and the costs are real.

Sign up for the Future Perfect newsletter. Twice a week, you’ll get a roundup of ideas and solutions for tackling our biggest challenges: improving public health, decreasing human and animal suffering, easing catastrophic risks, and — to put it simply — getting better at doing good.

Original Source -> The “why can’t we all just get along” theory of politics

via The Conservative Brief

[bensopinionsonvariousthingsblr]

So what are my favorite games Part 1

So just to make things clear i haven been writing 1.because this is actually my second attempt at writing this i accidentally closed the tab the first time, uh and i only lost a few hours of work. and 2.because I’ve been working at my job a lot more frequently as of late. anyway, i could probably write an entire full length essay on all of these games but I’ll try to shorten things up, oh yeah uh some games on the list might not be that good, as I may include a game from my childhood that i have fond memories of, but maybe wasn’t as good as i remembered it, anyway its a top 10 so lets begin.

First of all id love to start with some outside looking in, all these games are incredible to me and i would love to put them in the top 10 but i couldn’t, if you want to hear my opinions on them (wow thanks, you actually care) you can ask me on twitter and ill do my best!

15.Sonic Generations                                                                                              14.Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege                                                                      13.Rollercoaster Tycoon 3 Platinum (Waterpark&Zoo DLC is amazing)                12.Splatoon 2 (specifically the Octo Expansion, that was really good)                    11.Hyrule Warriors Definitive Edition (Def. edition because its portable with good FPS and the extra 3DS content)

OK then Ill get started now :3 Thanks a TON (and I mean it I appreciate amy support i get or constructive criticism) for reading it!

Number 10: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess                                              Developer and Release year: Nintendo, 2006/2016 remaster                                What it can be played on: Gamecube/Wii/Wii U                                                                                                                                                                                              The Legend of Zelda is my favorite game series of all time, thats obvious if you know anything about me, and twilight princess is one I’ve played more recently, and from the start you notice Twilight Princess is definitely going for that early 2000′s edgy tone (is that a coincidence or an actual trend, i dunno i was really young in 06 so...) which works fine, and its a really long game, I mean I spent a week or two beating it, that being said i had work and other things going on at the time, but any way it has been said by many more before me, that it is basically an edgy, long,Ocarina of Time remake with motion controls....and they aren’t wrong, though i have called it edgy but i think its more...dark i guess? any way i actually like this better than Ocarina of Time, before you assault me i loved Ocarina of Time, i just tried to put as few Zelda games on the list as i could, and i just enjoyed the Twilight Princess story, characters, and length a bit more, but back to the remake opinion, i sort of agree yeah, but i thought the mystery around Midna and Zant and the Twilight realm, and the mirror, were all something that sets it apart, so in the end i enjoyed it a lot.                                                                                                                                                                    Favorite Part(s)? Arbiters Grounds. AW MAN, I love the Arbiters grounds, the sneaking, the spinner, the boss, the setting, all of it is on point, even the wolf part is unique with the poe chasing, and also the Final Ganon boss I liked all of it, though his appearance is a bit late i thought it was a fun, long, and intense fight

Number 9: Lego Universe                                                                                      Developer and Release Year: NetDevil and Lego, 2010-2012                                What it COULD ( :( ) be played on: PC                                                                                                                                                                                                              IM GONNA GO AHEAD AND SAY IT THIS IS A PICK COMPLETELY ON NOSTALGIA. Yes, this is one of my favorite games of my childhood and since i cant go back and re-evaluate the game because it’s closed unfortunately (except for some server projects that are happening) I’m talking about it completely based on my memories. One reason I love it is, the game’s story and lore at the time captivated me so much that i decided to write stories about stuff my character(s) did, which basically kick-started my interest in writing, as bad as those stories were, I loved the game, I had it’s official LEGO set (Still do it’s a nice little orange rocket ship that could be used in-game) and convinced my cousins to play it too, and we all enjoyed it, now of course i was an MLGPROBOI at the game so I had rare pets and the best weapons and a RED PARROT GUYS (I believe it was super rare and a big deal) so I loved being really cool n’ stuff, people would ask me to help them take out Butterscorch (that was the hardest boss in the game, a purple dragon, BUT SINCE I WAS AN MLGPROBOI I COULD DO IT MYSELF BUT I WAS NICE SO I HELPED) and even sell them secrets on how to do stuff, yeah i was a cool guy, cant relate now, I’ll never be as cool as my alter-alias Square Von Pancake :(                                                                                                                                                                Favorite Part(s): Me and my brother played i t together all the time and we loved the combat at crux prime the most, Crux Prime was the place with the hardest enemies and bosses and it was really fun to be challenged for a while. plus though it was out for only a year we still have countless memories of it, and they added Ninjago in it which I was SUPER into at the time and enjoyed having my character do Ninjago stuff...  

Number 8: Mount and Blade: Warband                                                                    Developer and Release Year: Taleworlds, 2010                                                      What it can be played on: PC, PS4, XB1                                                                                                                                                                                                      Mount and Blade Warband and its expansion Mount and Blade Napoleonic Wars, is one of my favorite multiplayer, and story games, the story mode is fun because you can do what you want, YOU choose the faction you fight with or not to at all, your class, your stats, and you can make some uh *beautiful* characters, the main story, i believe the objective is to become the emperor of Calradia, and rule the dang place and be rich and cool and have people like you, but I dont usually do that i just fight for factions, make money in the arena and at tournaments, and hire mercenaries and win against armies of 200 with like 30 people, its fun, now second talking point for me is the multiplayer, this is where Napoleonic Wars comes in, it is a fun shooter with muskets , or swords....or screw it you can play the bagpipes, that last one is totally not something me and my friends would do late at night. The Maps are super well designed as well and each look nice, and are usually not unbalanced. The third thing is the modding community, if you have this game, and don’t have the Anglo-Zulu war mod, that is just wrong, I mean it is so fun to get your friends and survive against large waves of zulu, or have some friends with the Zulu, it is just a unique experience for me, and other mods are cool to like the Civil War mod.                                                                                                                                                                    Favorite part(s): The Story mode is awesome in the way that it was a time in m life where i was without internet for a good month or two, but i had my laptop and the story mode kept me entertained for basically the whole time, also there are so many fun memories of the AZW mod and late night spent surviving waves.  

Number 7: Lego Battles                                                                                          Developer and Release Year: Warner Bros., Hellbent and Lego, 2009                  What it can be played on: DS                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Lego Battles is also a nostalgia pick, and also happens to be a Lego game, but the difference is it still holds up to me today, and i can still play it today...any way I love the gameplay, it’s a basic RTS but with fun themes like Wizards and Knights and Pirates and Aliens vs Humans, and each has a different play style, but not too different that it didn’t confuse me as a kid, I always liked the pirates and the aliens, I dont know why, but uh a drawback is that it can be too easy, at the time I wasnt fast or good enough to beat the AI with my first base, but i quickly learned if i just escaped after the destruction of the first one and just built a stronger second one, i would have more time because the AI couldnt find me and i would win pretty much every time, but despite that I enjoyed all the campaigns and loved the cutscenes and the extra characters like Santa and the Skeleton Guy (tm) and the Conquistador and the Alien Queen etc. and the way to unlock them was to find red bricks in the campaign levels, and/or collect studs which i thought was a fun challenge at the time, and today i sometimes like to go back to it for some casual RTS action                                                                                                                                                                                                     Favorite Part: The Gameplay, it’s simple, fun, and  doesn’t take too long, so if i just want to pick up a short game of the RTS genre I usually spring for this

Number 6: Star Wars Battlefront 2 Classic                                                              Developer and Release Year: Pandemic Studios, LucasArts , 2005                      What it can be played on: PC/PS2/XBOX                                                                                                                                                                                                      The fact that this comes in at number 6 on my list really doesn’t tell how much I love and appreciate this game, this is probably THE game I played the most in my childhood, and even still I play it online with the new servers (I disagree with you sometimes Disney, but thanks for those) This game is so replayable and I haven’t even played through the campaign yet, yeah, what I have done though is beaten all the Galactic Conquest stories, probably more than once. So for those of you that don’t know Galactic Conquest is a mode where each team starts with one ship and one type of troop and you fly around a map of the galaxy and take over enemy planets and defend yours and buy troops with the money you earn from the battles, and if the two ships run in to each others then they do a space battle, and Im gonna say it now i grew up playing the PS2 version with my cousins, but now I play the PC version and when we play with our cousins they play the XBOX version on Xbox One, any way the PC version is the best in terms of FPS and general gameplay smoothness, but the console versions have Galactic Conquest multiplayer which is something that we have spent countless hours playing, and in the end Battlefront 2 will be one of the best shooters of all time, and better than the new Battlefront 2 because that one is no where near good enough to share a name with the classic one, any way, i will always love Battlefront 2                                                                                                                                                                  Favorite part(s): Galactic Conquest and shout out to the maps Kashyyyk and Tantine IV, they’re the best

Hey thanks for reading through this whole thing, uh as you can tell this was super long, i planned to do all ten in this one but i figure it’s gettimg pretty long and I’ll just stop here and I’ll have 5 through 1 tomorrow, Thank you so much!                                                                                                                -Ben :3                                                                                                                       

[burntflorets]

things i want to say to you if we were still talking: day 4

7 april 2017 3:55am i can’t help but feel like you don’t give a shit about us anymore. idk. i texted u last night about the adex thing, even though u didn’t have mine u were just being helpful. by searching and all. idk i just can’t help but feel u don’t give a shit about us anymore. is your decision really no? is your decision really for us to go our separate ways? did u really give up on me?

4:17am i find myself alternating between moments of being needy or indifferent to you. i think i’m getting bipolar.

help

. idk what to feel anymore. what’s wrong with me. why am i feeling this way??

4:28am i thought i heard someone fall and my door opening wtf i got so scared. i looked out of the covers and didn’t see anything but i’m still fucking scared. ugh i hate it when i hear something in the middle of the night. holy shit it makes me paranoid. i wish u we’re here with me now.

7:43am i dreamt of u again. i couldn’t remember much, but we were happy

9:53am some days i feel nothing at all, some days i feel everything a little harder. and today’s one of those days.  let me slip into a coma and wake up when all these is over.

some vs guy called me over to assist bc he thought the tulips were all falling over and he said they looked like they were in bad condition. so i went over to see what he was on about. LOL there was nothing wrong with the plants and bc they were so tall, they were just flopping over. i guess he thought they were dying or broken and was hoping that i could cut some off and he could take some home. sorz dude. they just look like that. 

the tall flopping tulips reminded me of u being so tall that u started hunching over. and i teared up again.  yesterday i felt nothing at all, i felt fine. i thought i was slowy getting better. i was wrong. im feeling everything today. everything is rushing back to me so fast and hard i cant hold back my tears. idk. i need u even more today. but i don’t think u feel like you need me anymore.

12:31pm we went to marina sq to eat. we passed by the carls junior that we ate on the day u POP. idk why i felt even more depressed like i just felt super empty suddenly. now while waiting for the rest to draw money, we went into the korean shop, and the first thing i saw was your fav onion rings that i promised i would buy for u if i chanced upon it. i took it without thinking and then only realized that i won’t be seeing you anytime soon when i was going to pay at the counter. i was trying so hard to keep my tears in bc everyone was with me. idk i feel terrible.

2:59pm holy shit this visitor had a gopro hero 5 and WTF HE SAID GO PRO TAKE A PICTURE AND IT RLLY DID. IT HAS VOICE RECOGNITION WTF COOL BEANS. omg is that why u wanted a gopro hero 5???

5:30pm tho bought magkoli and it didn’t taste as nice as i thought it would. we drank a little in office and everyone didn’t rlly like it. and tho asked me to ta it and finish the whole bottle. honestly, if it tasted better i would have. bc i think i really need a drink rn. i’ve been feeling super shitty today. everyone asked about u. everything reminded me of u. i miss u so much.

8pm the urge to drink is real. i need a strong drink to knock me out so i wouldn’t have to deal with my late night thoughts. i bought rice beer from cheers. i would prefer vodka or breezes or sth but i would need more than 10 bottles of that to make me drunk. the rice beer was the only one which had the largest amount but q low alcohol level. oh wells i guess it works. as long as there is alcohol in my system i guess i can cope. i can’t wait for my parents cell group to leave before i can go down and drink. times like this, i wish i still had our soju and beer in my fridge, then i would be q drunk i think. idk. i wished i was drinking and smoking with you instead of alone. even though i love being alone, i would still prefer your company over being alone, even in silence.

8:45pm saw this on snapchat

How To Know If You Have Found Your Soul Mate

1. An Inner Knowing

Call it love at first sight or just a moment of intuition, a lot of people know when they have found “the one”.

If you feel comfortable, energized and intimate with someone even though you’ve only just met them, there’s a good chance the r/s will go the distance.

2. Mutual Respect

R/s often fall apart when the two people try to change each other.

Soul mates, however, accept one another (flaws and all) and when they step back see a partner they are very proud to be with.

They don’t want to change each other, so they tend to be less critical of each other, even when they disagree. they want to be the best partner possible to support the person that you are.

3. Being On The Same Page When It Matters

Soul mates don’t agree on everything. However, when it comes to the most important things in life like your values, goals, core beliefs and priorities, you are totally on the same page.

Soul mates tend to see the world through the same lens which makes their connection so much deeper because they understand one another.

4. Support And Nurture Each Other Soul mates celebrate each other’s success and help each other when the going gets tough. Soul mates are always rooting for each other and are proud to support their partner in everything they do.

Soul mates can help support you to great heights of personal and professional success.

5. Best Friends Forever

Soul mates just “get” each other. They can understand each other on a very deep level, even if they’ve only known each other for a short amount of time.

if you find someone who very quickly becomes your number one support, your partner in crime, and the first person you text when you have good or bad news, there’s a good chance that you’ve met your soul mate.

6. A Shared Version For The Future You share the same key values and what the same sort of things out of life, otherwise resentments grow and the r/s begins to sour.

To share a life that you both love, you first have to agree on what life will look like.

7. You Challenge Each Other

This can be challenging, because it will mean that the two of you are often encouraging one another to move out of your comfort zones.

The unique combination of challenges and support provided by a soul mate is a major catalyst for personal growth - and in the future, you’re sure to be grateful to each other for all the encouragement.

8. Sex Is Mind Blowing

Because they have such deep connection, sex between soul mates is destined to be unlike anything has either of them has ever experienced.

Soul mates profound love for each other combined with their ability to be honest and vulnerable creates a level of sexual chemistry that is off the charts.

9. You Both Fight To Make Your R/S Work

No matter how deep your connection, soul mates will inevitably run into bumps in the road - whether it be difficulties with family members, illnesses or financial troubles.

True soul mates find ways to fight together in order to make things better, because you’ll both want the r/s to survive more than you’ll want to defend your own egos.

10. You Feel Comfortable

You feel so comfortable around each other from the start. Even in the emotional whirlwind of falling in love. soul mates will find that they’ve never felt more secure in opening up to someone and showing their true self.

Soul mates delight in each other’s little quirks and feel great empathy for each other’s flaws and vulnerability.

11. You Can Spend Time Apart

Soul mates are able to strike the right balance between time together and time apart. they trust each other and still feel close when they are doing separate things, rather than being consumed with jealousy or anxiety.

They are able to let each other do what’s best for their individual lives yet at the same time also know that you’re happiest and more fulfilled when you’re enjoying quality time as a couple.

even though we do majority of wtv that has been said here, there are some things we still have to improve on. and i am willing to work on that with you. as long as you are willing to continue working on us with me

11:19 high but not enough to text you or call you. i miss u i wish u we’re here with me rn. i always associate the feeling of being high and drunk with you bc you’re the person i always drink with. and maybe bc of us always coming back to my place to have drunk sex after clubbing in the past. i just want to feel your skin against mine. i just want to feel your body heat against me. i just want to feel your arms around me. i just want to be taken care of by you like in the past when i'm high and drunk.

idk i'm tired. i miss u. i need u here in bed with me rn.

[just-another-young-adult-blog]

Jan 30, 2017

Had a talk today that she feels doubtful about the relationship. This is because when we are together (maybe 5% of the time) everything is almost always supreme. But when we’re not together everything tends to go to shit aka feeling distant, long silences on the phone etc.. We have constantly dealt with it by saying, ‘it’s okay we will see each other soon and everything will be better’. We have split up our relationship into 2 parts in our minds, when really it is all one. This part when we’re apart from each other matters just as much as when we’re together. We have said before that “we’re learning about each other” etc. but if that’s true why isn’t it getting better? She feels we are on different wavelengths, which I believe too. We are different people and when we’re together we kinda balance each other out. Which I think is good, she pushes me to work harder to be a better version of myself and I kinda calm her down and maybe make sure she enjoys the journey of life too “you keep me wild I keep you safe” kinda thing pops into my mind. But when were apart we are just living different lives. and they don’t seem to overlap.

For a long time I have been dealing with relationship anxiety. Dealing with a critical voice telling me I’m not good enough, this wont last, you’re not compatible. This voice has fought and fought with my heart. My heart is telling me she is the one. The feelings that I have for her are so fucking strong my its almost as if my heart is going to rip out of my chest just to be closer to hers. I now that sounds cheesy AF but it’s how I feel. She has been so understanding and patient with me its incredible. The way she smiles and looks me in the eyes make me feel like I’m the only one on this planet. She has such a soft kindness and genuinely wants the best for everyone. She is my goofy partner where we’re both trying to see if there’s a “too weird” line and seeing if we can cross it. This is why it is so hard. I care about her so much, I can see us spending the rest of our lives together. We’ve talked about it. Getting a little apartment and getting our very own puppy to take care of. But it seems we are both still worried about what the future holds. If these negative times will have a real negative effect on the relationship going forward.

These feelings of doubt my critical voice tells me, I have always attached to my anxiety. As kind of something to blame perhaps. I’ve always thought that my anxiety is the cause of these feelings and nothing more. She feels the doubts too, and is more affected by it, I think because she is more aware that it is from the relationship, or that’s how she feels at least. Whereas me, I’ve had the doubts for a long time, but always dished it to the side because of anxiety. But I suppose the anxiety has to stem from somewhere. I remember one of the most extreme ‘attacks’ I had was when we went to banff. The very beginning of the trip, I remembered she talked about how her friend J, wasn’t interesting to talk to anymore. Because J is very surface level. I internalized this and started to believe I wasn’t interesting enough for her aka not on the same wavelength. Now I’m questioning this - Is it my anxiety? Or maybe a realization that were not THAT great for each other? Or maybe a mix. I know for a fact anxiety is involved, but I just don’t know to what extent. It is a scary feeling after all that we’ve been through, all the good and the bad. I have so many questions. Is this normal? Do other couples experience this? I was reading an article that said one of the biggest mistakes someone in a relationship can make is believing their partner is everything - that no one should say “She is everything”. I agree with this writer, I find it hard to believe that is healthy because you need to take care of yourself as well. BUT - I find the thought in my mind too. I feel like she is the world to me. I feel so invested in her.

Kinda got off topic there - Is she more impacted by negative feelings than I am? going back to the fact that I attached feelings of doubt with anxiety. I kinda pushed it aside, and was maybe more optimistic about it aka having a less of an affect on me because my brain decided it was only anxiety. I think the reality is we just dealt with it in different ways. Maybe I coped with it by determining it was maybe anxiety. Maybe she determined it was from the relationship/our differences and internalized it.

The big question. How do we build compatibility and connection when we’re living apart and are different people? Very good question. One that I dont think I will be able to answer right now. 

NOTE: This is how I felt before writing this: Cant help but feel inadequate. Been said a few times she has to push her feelings aside because I get anxious, she is tired of taking care of me. I would like to point out that I thought I was getting better at listening, she has said a few times that I am a really good listener. Scared that there’s nothing we can do. Just imagining the day where she can’t do it any more and we break apart.

“There is no such thing as a compatible couple. All couples disagree about the same things: money, sex, kids, time. So, it's really about how you manage your differences. If there is chemistry, then the whole courtship is about convincing yourself and others that you are compatible. But, really, you create compatibility. And then, eventually, maybe in 25 years, you will become soul mates.” —Diane Sollee, founder and director, Coalition for Marriage, Family and Couples Education 

[patriotsnet]

How Do Republicans Feel About Climate Change

New Post has been published on https://www.patriotsnet.com/how-do-republicans-feel-about-climate-change/

How Do Republicans Feel About Climate Change

Senator Jim Inhofe Republican Of Oklahoma

Incoming chairman of the Senate committee on the environment and public works

Inhofe is the poster boy for Republican climate change denialism, not only for his stridency on the issue but because he is the once and future leader of the key Senate committee on environmental policy. Inhofe will be able to lead the committee for two years before running up against term limits . This time around, Inhofes committee is expected to focus on transportation and infrastructure bills.

But it seems likely that Inhofe will devote some energy to blocking the regulation of carbon emissions. We think this because on 12 November he told the Washington Post: As we enter a new Congress, I will do everything in my power to rein in and shed light on the EPAs unchecked regulations.

Inhofe has climate change the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people, has said God, not humans, controls the weather, and has denied climate change in many other ways.

Economic Consequences Of Mitigation Policies

According to some observers, implementing some policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions may increase the cost of American-made goods and services relative to those goods and services produced elsewhere, thus costing consumers and companies alike in the short term. In Climate Insights 2020: Policies and Politics, we saw that very few Americans believe that such undesirable economic side effects result from mitigation efforts. Here, we report how partisans perceive these economic consequences.

Interestingly, majorities of Democrats and of Republicans believe that mitigation policies do not exert ill economic effects, whether at the national level, state level, or their personal levels. Among Democrats, huge majorities believe that the United States doing things to reduce future global warming would not hurt the national economy, their state economy, the number of available jobs, or their own personal finances and job prospects. These sentiments were expressed by majorities of Republicans as well. The partisan gap, averaged over these six measures of economic impacts, was 21 percentage points.

Senator Lisa Murkowski Republican Of Alaska

Likely incoming chairwoman of the Senate committee on energy and natural resources

Murkowski has said that climate change is real, but she also plays the other side, boosting oil and gas interests in her home state and challenging the EPAs authority to curb emissions. It doesnt make sense to argue about how much global warming is caused by man whether its 5% or 50%, she said in April. The best approach is to have a no-regrets policy.

Even Republicans Are Aware That Climate Change Is Happening

As the U.S. Department of Agriculture quieted another series of dire warnings about climate change, its worth noting how Republicans and Democrats really feel about the subject, how businesses think about it and whats driving their assessment. Moreover, theres a solution that even conservatives will appreciate.

The recent controversy occurred when the USDA was accused of burying another series of concerns about how climate change will hurt farmers. Additionally, there were orders to trim all science advisory boards and moves to cut money for agricultural research which show policymakers are dismissing scientific evidence, to the countrys peril.

Dont Forget: Theres Hope

All of the scientists HuffPost spoke to said that the key to stopping dread and starting to take action on climate change is knowing there is hope. The worst can still be averted.

Leiserowitz noted that the U.S. is already well into the transition from fossil fuels to clean energy.

Good news wind and solar are cheaper than fossil fuels in most parts of the world today, he said. This is where the future is going. The question is, will we make that transition fast enough?

For Rivera-Collazo, hope comes from seeing front-line communities not just sitting back and crying, but taking it into their own hands to clean and replenish local coastlines. They are doing things. That for me is a source of hope, she said. People are not sitting back and waiting for somebody to come save them.

Bullard, who is 74, locates his hope in young people beginning to flex their political muscle, voting and getting into policy positions, and particularly youth who are demanding transformative change rather than incremental baby steps.

And Caldas, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, had a message for the not-so-young: The youth fighting so hard … At one moment or another, their parents generation is going to wake up to the fact that their kids are fighting for a mess they are making, and they should get engaged.

Figure 24 Proportion Of Each Group Who Thought The Us Government Should Do More About Global Warming

The US government should do more to deal with global warming. Since 1997, majorities of Democrats and Independents have consistently believed that the federal government should do more about global warming. In 2020, 92% of Democrats, 64% of Independents, and 38% of Republicans favor more federal action. The partisan gap is 54 percentage points in 2020.

Governments in other countries should do more to deal with global warming. Since 1997, majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents have believed that governments in other countries should do more about global warming. In 2020, 87% of Democrats, 54% of Republicans, and 67% of Independents believe this, with a partisan gap of 33 percentage points.

Actually Republicans Do Believe In Climate Change

Dr. Van Boven and Dr. Sherman are social psychologists.

July 28, 2018

It is widely believed that most Republicans are skeptical about human-caused climate change. But is this belief correct?

In 2014 and 2016, we conducted two national surveys of more than 2,000 respondents on the issue of climate change. We found that most Republicans agreed that climate change is happening, threatens humans and is caused by human activity and that reducing carbon emissions would mitigate the problem.

To be sure, Democrats agreed more strongly than Republicans did that climate change is a concerning reality. And among climate skeptics there were more Republicans than Democrats. Nevertheless, most Republicans were in basic agreement with most Democrats and independents on this issue.

This raises a question: If Democrats and Republicans agree about climate change, why do they disagree about climate policy?

As we and our colleague Phillip Ehret argue this month in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science, our research suggests the problem is not so much that Republicans are skeptical about climate change, but that Republicans are skeptical of Democrats and that Democrats are skeptical of Republicans. This tribalism leads to political fights over differences between the parties that either do not exist or are vastly exaggerated.

Figure 22 Proportion Of Each Group Who Thought Global Warming Will Be A Very Or Somewhat Serious Problem For The United States

Serious problem for the United States. Majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents have consistently believed that global warming will be a very or somewhat serious problem for the United States in the future. In 2020, nearly all Democrats surveyed believe that global warming will be a serious problem for the United States, while 54% of Republicans, and 79% of Independents believe the same. The partisan gap is now 44 percentage points.

Serious problem for the world. Majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents have consistently believed that global warming will be a very or somewhat serious problem for the world in the future. In 2020, 97% of Democrats, 60% of Republicans, and 81% of Independents hold this view, with a partisan gap of 37 percentage points .

Are Republicans Coming Out Of The Closet On Climate Change

Bruce Westerman, a Republican congressman from Arkansas, has a plan to help save the planet one he thinks may also help save his party.

His proposal, which calls for planting a trillion trees to suck carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, was warmly received last month when House Republicans gathered to discuss their policy agenda heading into the 2020 elections.

After years of denying that the planet was growing hotter because of human activity, an increasing number of Republicans say they need to acknowledge the problem and offer solutions if they have any hope of retaking the House.

In poll after poll, large numbers of young and suburban Republican voters are registering their desire for climate action and say the issue is a priority. And their concern about climate change is spreading to older GOP supporters, too.

Almost 7 in 10 Republican adults under 45 said that human activity is causing the climate to change, according to a poll last summer by The Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Republicans cant win the majority back without winning suburban districts, and you cant win suburban districts with a retro position on climate change, said former South Carolina congressman Bob Inglis, a Republican who is pushing his party to craft a climate plan.

The already well-worn buzzword innovation will be their rallying cry, and natural gas, despite its carbon emissions, will be embraced.

Climate Change Critics Lack A Consistent Message

Those who have criticized climate change are all over the place. You have those who say were going through global cooling, or that theres nothing going on different with the weather at all, or that any changes occurring are natural, not human-made, or its the fault of other countries.

With such an inconsistent message, its no wonder that the AP-NORC poll showed only nine percent of Americans are climate deniers. While 19 percent say they are unsure, the remaining 70+ percent not only recognize the climate is changing, but most of them also trust the science that says human activity is contributing greatly to this. If climate change becomes an election issue in 2020, it doesnt look so good for the GOP and Donald Trump.

Senator John Barrasso Republican Of Wyoming

Recently re-elected as chairman of GOP policy committee

Barrasso, a medical doctor who graduated from Georgetown and Yale, runs the committee in charge of summarizing and analyzing major GOP legislation. Last week he called the recently announced US-China deal irresponsible and expensive.

To me, this is an agreement thats terrible for the United States and terrific for the Chinese government and for the politicians there, because it allows China to continue to raise their emissions over the next 16 years, Barrasso said.

All of us want to make energy as clean as we can as fast as we can, he said. We want to do it in ways that dont raise the energy costs for American families and impact their jobs, income, ability to provide for their families. Those are the issues we need to be focusing on.

Republicans In Congress Are Out Of Step With The American Public On Climate

A majority of Americans understand that climate change is a problem. A recent poll found that about six in 10 adults in the United States say the effects of global warming are already happening and a slightly greater proportion believe human activities are to blame for the Earths rise in temperature. Another study found that 65% of Americans believe that climate change is an emergency.

Americans concern about climate translates into approval for action: 83% favor tax breaks for utilities that develop renewable power and 62% favor taxing companies for their greenhouse gas emissions. Such opinions are not just held among Democratic voters. A poll just before the 2020 election showed more than three-quarters of Republican voters favor government action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Its not just the American people that are concerned about the climate and favor action. The American Petroleum Institute , a trade association that represents Americas oil and gas industry, announced in March 2021 a slate of actions that it favors to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, including a price on carbon. SeverallargeEuropeanoil and gas companies have set goals of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. U.S.-based companies generally havent taken this step, but several have come out in favor of a price on carbon emissions.

Conservatives And Climate Change

Jim Manzi&Peter Wehner

Summer 2015

The political debate over climate change has long resembled a contest to see which party can discredit itself more. Liberals have seized upon outlandishly improbable climate scenarios to urge drastic and immediate action. Former vice president Al Gore, a leading liberal voice on the subject, has compared global warming to “an asteroid colliding with the Earth and wreaking havoc.” “Our food systems, our cities, our people and our very way of life developed within a stable range of climatic conditions on Earth,” Gore has written. “Without immediate and decisive action, these favorable conditions on Earth could become a memory if we continue to make the climate crisis worse day after day after day.”

Many more Republicans are uncomfortable making accusations of corruption and conspiracy against so much of the scientific community, but they too have struggled to sustain an untenable position. Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, House speaker John Boehner, presidential candidates Bobby Jindal and Marco Rubio, and rising star Senator Joni Ernst have all adopted the new talking point on the issue: “I’m not a scientist.” This is an attempt to invoke ignorance in order to avoid embarrassment.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM CLIMATE CHANGE

CONFRONTING WORST CASES

THE ENERGY INNOVATION EXAMPLE

TECHNOLOGY, NOT TAXES

Jim Manzi is a software entrepreneur and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute.

Many More Republicans Now Believe In Climate Change

President Barack Obama bids farewell to Pope Francis following a private audience at the Vatican, March 27, 2014.

The number of conservative voters who believe in climate change has almost doubled in the past two years, according to a new poll that attributes the rise in part to a lessening hostility toward the issue by Republican leaders.

Forty-seven percent of conservatives now say the climate is changing, a leap of 19 points since the midterm elections of 2014, according to the survey released yesterday by Yale and George Mason universities. The poll did not ask respondents whether climate change is caused by people.

The jump accounts for the single biggest change among all voting groups, and it could symbolize a softening among conservatives on an issue that has sharply divided the political parties, according to Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication.

A number of things might have affected peoples attitudes, including Pope Francis encyclical calling for climate action, a record-warm winter and media coverage around the international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the report.

Leiserowitz also attributes the rise in conservative belief to a reduction of attacks against climate science and policy in Congress and on the campaign trail.

Read the full article here:http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/many-more-republicans-now-believe-in-climate-change/

Amid Extreme Weather A Shift Among Republicans On Climate Change

WASHINGTON After a decade of disputing the existence of climate change, many leading Republicans are shifting their posture amid deadly heat waves, devastating drought and ferocious wildfires that have bludgeoned their districts and unnerved their constituents back home.

Members of Congress who long insisted that the climate is changing due to natural cycles have notably adjusted that view, with many now acknowledging the solid science that emissions from burning oil, gas and coal have raised Earths temperature.

But their growing acceptance of the reality of climate change has not translated into support for the one strategy that scientists said in a major United Nations report this week is imperative to avert an even more harrowing future: stop burning fossil fuels.

Instead, Republicans want to spend billions to prepare communities to cope with extreme weather, but are trying to block efforts by Democrats to cut the emissions that are fueling the disasters in the first place.

Dozens of Republicans in the House and Senate said in recent interviews that quickly switching to wind, solar and other clean energy will damage an economy that has been underpinned by fossil fuels for more than a century.

Im not doing anything to raise the cost of living for American families, said Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, where climate-fueled disasters have cost the state more than $100 billion over the past decade according to estimates from the federal government.

Climate Agreement Is Long

The survey results underscore almost two decades of often unappreciated accord among Americans on various aspects of climate change.

In more than 20 years of surveys by Stanford Universitys Political Psychology Research Group, large majorities of Americans have said global warming is a significant threat and merits government attention. The researchers found that the majority of Americans favor a range of government policies to reduce emissions and oppose policy approaches that seem unlikely to be effective. 

A majority of Republicans are actually on what I call the green side of the issue, a huge majority of Democrats are, and a large proportion of Independents, said Jon Krosnick, a professor of political science at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, who has long conducted survey research on attitudes toward climate change.

At the University of Washington in Seattle, Ann Bostrom, a professor of environmental policy, has polled Americans on climate change since the 1990s. Her results show substantial areas of harmony, similar to the Public Agenda/USA TODAY/Ipsos survey.

Theres strong agreement among people across political ideologies in investing in research into renewable energy, according to her research.

Congressman Luke Messer Republican Of Indiana

Elected as Republican policy committee chairman

In a 2013 editorial, Messer referred to climate change as a social issue. Unfortunately, the president seems to be focused on everything but creating jobs, Messer wrote. He hardly mentioned the economy in his inaugural address, instead choosing to lecture on a series of social issues including the threat of global climate change.

Across The Country Most Republicans Dont Think Humans Are Causing Climate Change

Percentage of Republicans in each congressional district who say that global warming is caused mostly by human activities

30%

70

National average:31%

Fewer than a third of registered Republicans nationwide say that climate change is caused mostly by human activities, while nearly half say its mostly due to natural changes in the environment, according to the study, which looked at eight years of opinion data and mapped the results by congressional district.

Being skeptical about global warming has become part of Republican or conservative identity, said Riley E. Dunlap, a professor of environmental sociology at Oklahoma State University who was not involved in the study.

Republicans in the New York City area are about twice as likely to agree that human activities are driving global warming as their counterparts in Montana. But even in New York, barely 50 percent attribute the cause to humans.

Since the election of Donald Trump as president, belief that climate change is human-caused has declined among registered Republican voters, according to another recent poll.

Last month, more than a dozen federal agencies published a major scientific report showing that global warming is largely due to human greenhouse gas emissions.

Congresswoman Cathy Mcmorris Rodgers Republican Of Washington

Recently re-elected conference chairwoman

McMorris Rodgers was a co-sponsor of the 2011 Energy Tax Prevention Act to stop the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions, a position in line with her staunchly anti-regulation record. As a member of the energy and power subcommittee, she was a key proponent of the 2011 law, saying, We support it. Were gonna get it passed. She also has said, of Nobel-winner Al Gores work to raise an alarm on the environment, We believe Al Gore deserves an F in science and an A in creative writing.

Heres McMorris Rodgers opposing emissions regulations: That is not the right process. It is also not the right policy.

Figure 4 Party Breakdown Of Beliefs About Effects And Observations Of Global Warming

Majorities of Democrats and Republicans also diverge in their observations of the world around them. Majorities of Democrats and Republicans believe they have seen effects of global warming. But although majorities of Democrats believe that, during the last three years, global weather patterns have been more unstable , that global temperatures have been higher , and that weather patterns in the county where they live have been more unstable , only minorities of Republicans hold those views: 41%, 41%, and 26%, respectively.

Majorities of Democrats and of Republicans endorse action to deal with global warming. Democrats are almost unanimously in favor of action by the US government, governments in other countries, US businesses, and average people. Sizable majorities of Republicans expressed these preferences as well. The partisan gap between Democrats and Republicans on these issues ranges from 27 to 50 percentage points and averages 36 percentage points.

Biden: ‘when I Think Climate Change I Think Jobs’

Make no mistake: Access to cheap, abundant red meat is a certain type of American value. I learned about that in 2018, after The Washington Post published a recipe for a vegetarian alternative to hot dogs, and the internet exploded into a murderous, meat-defending rage.

Working on a story at the time, I called up Bruce Kraig, a food historian who has written two books about hot dogs in America, to try to understand why. He tied the outrage directly to American culture. “Underlying the defense of hot dogs is the idea of American values,” he told me. “In this case, those values are xenophobia and American exceptionalism.”

Kraig explained to me that widespread access to cheap red meat was one of the first things to set Americans apart from Europeans in post-Civil War America. “If a working-class factory worker in Liverpool, you going to eat as much meat,” Kraig said. “But working-class Americans could get it, and they knew that.”

Access to cheap, abundant red meat is a certain type of American value.

This fueled a national sense of superiority over Europeans, who Kraig said were actually pretty grossed out by Americans’ level of meat consumption at the time.

Figure 20 Proportion Of Each Group Who Believed The Worlds Temperature Will Probably Go Up Over The Next 100 Years

Future warming. Since 1997, majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents have believed that the earth will probably be warmer in a century if nothing is done to prevent it. In 2020, 94% of Democrats, 72% of Independents, and 56% of Republicans believe that warming will probably continue in the future. No notable growth has occurred in the partisan gap since 2011.

5°F warmer would be bad. Majorities of Democrats and of Independents have consistently believed that 5°F of global warming would be bad, but the proportion of Republicans expressing that belief has hovered around the midline, peaking at 59% in 1997 and dipping to its lowest points of 47% in 2010 and 2015. The partisan gap in 2020 is the biggest observed since 1997 at 34 percentage points.

Congressman Fred Upton Republican Of Michigan

To continue to chair the House energy and commerce committee

Upton has used his post atop the energy committee, which he can hold for two more years, to attempt to stop the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases. He authored the 2011 Energy Tax Prevention Act, which passed the House but did not pass the Senate, which was then controlled by the Democrats. Heres what the bill set out to achieve:

To amend the Clean Air Act to prohibit the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency from promulgating any regulation concerning, taking action relating to, or taking into consideration the emission of a greenhouse gas to address climate change, and for other purposes.

Heres video of Upton in 2011 admitting the climate is changing, but declining to accept that humans have played a role in it. I have said many times, and there was a report a couple of weeks ago that in fact you look at this last year, it was the warmest year in the last decade, I think was the numbers that came out, Upton says. I dont I accept that. I do not say that it is man-made.

Senator John Cornyn Republican Of Texas

Recently re-elected as Senate Republican whip

Cornyns view on a possible human role in climate change is insinuated for a Republican and doubly so for a Republican from oil country. Which is adamantly not to say he favors emissions regulations.

I am not one that denies that human beings have an impact on the environment, Cornyn said in a phone call with Texas reporters in May. But I am sure not willing to put the federal government in charge of trying to micromanage the environment for the United States of America, nor for us to drive up the price of energy for people on fixed income, like seniors and people of modest means, by putting restrictions in place that other nations are not.