#Expectations Gap

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Rachel Bitecofer at The Cycle: Many times I’ve asked you to imagine what it would be like, what your thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about contemporary America would be like, if you were one of the 100 million plus Americans who can’t name their own state’s senators. Vox dropped a recent piece that is firewalled, but I want you to read this short excerpt from their reporting:

Now, don’t focus on the particular demographics of this particular disenchanted voter. She could be anyone: a man, a woman, old, young, Black or White. Believe it or not, there are even college educated Americans who have this kind of limited, simplistic frame for interpreting political events. Anyhoo, that is a long wind up to get to what I want to talk to you about today which is the sensitivity of the low information public to lies intended to radicalize them.

Team Trump has a shrewd strategy to use obviously illegal executive orders to prepare the MAGA base for rebellion when they are inevitably struck down. An important concept from Introduction to American Government courses is something called the Expectations Gap. The Expectations Gap refers to the gap between what a president must promise to win election (especially to win their party’s nomination) and what he or she can actually deliver through a system intentionally designed to make governing very hard. Unless a president is extraordinarily lucky, like FDR who governed through two crises and used both to reshape the size and scope of government, a president is doomed to over promise and under deliver. All of them.

And that is during the best of times. These are not the best of times. Back in late 2009, early 2010, Republicans developed a keen strategy to try to make Barack Obama a one term president. That strategy was designed to increase the expectations gap by purposefully obstructing major legislation to deny Obama legislative wins. Its a strategy that benefitted Republicans politically so much, it became their go-to strategy throughout the full 8 years of Obama and for 4 years of Joe Biden, with one recent exception: Biden’s Infrastructure bill. They architects of the GOP’s opposition strategy had no idea at the time, but their strategy to starve the public of good government went on to play a key role in creating both the MAGA movement (right wing populism) and the Bernie Sanders movement (left wing populism). When people see their government can’t deliver solutions to their problems (or are told hyperbolic lies like Death Panels) they go a little crazy. And as demonstrated above, few voters have the sophistication to understand that Barack Obama failed to deliver on immigration reform because the Republican House simply refused to allow a vote on it.

[...] There’s just one problem: most of the executive orders Trump has issued to “finally achieve results for the American people” are illegal. Some are so grotesquely illegal they have Supreme Court justices gasping at the lunacy of the arguments coming out of what were once well-respected government lawyers. MAGA doesn’t know it yet, but most of Trump’s executive orders will never have the force of law. They will die quick deaths by a judiciary that overall seems inclined to protect the Constitution’s separation of powers system and maintain the power of the courts to review and determine the legality of actions taken by the Congress, the President, and the states. Unfortunately, Team Trump has been radicalizing the MAGA base for weeks in terms of the legitimacy of the courts.

Donald Trump’s executive orders are all about setting the MAGA base for rebellion when and if they get struck down.

[uncanny-tranny]

Amatonormativity has destroyed so many people's understanding and acceptance of themselves, and it's heartbreaking.

Yes, it is normal to be in your 20s, 30s, or older and not have lost your virginity, had a first kiss, or a partner. It is normal to say that you aren't ready for those things, too! It is normal if your life doesn't follow the "college graduate -> engagement -> buying a home -> 2.5 kids and a dog" trajectory that so many people have idealized.

So many people associate maturity with losing your virginity, or having a first kiss, or a serious relationship, and I think that's a dangerous association. Maturity isn't gained through those things, and you don't have to have those experiences to be considered "mature" or "grown." It is not a bad thing to go at your pace. Nobody else can live your life but you. If you end up having those experiences, that's great! But it should be done because you want to experience them, not because you feel "broken" and "immature" without them.

[sunny1927]

⚙️They’re.. baaack! And better than ever! (With a few new… enhancements ;3) ⚙️

[crunchybeards]

Heya since you said you're taking requests, I'd love to see your take on Dan if that's okay...?

Creep alert.

Thanks for the humble Dan requests and YES IT IS ALWAYS OKAY TO ASK ME ANYTHING ABOUT THIS GAME😤 I genuinely find Dan to be such a fun character and yet I don't talk about him 😭 Like Dan fans I understand, I see you and I love him too.

Bonus stupid streamer thingy because I know his ass wants to be a Twitch affiliate SOOO bad.

[molinaskies]

An interesting “side effect” of the canonization of the “classic era” meaning “younger era” is that the classic era now reads as “cute fun times” before the core cast became teenagers/tweens and things got super, super complicated.

Because the characters are “younger,” there’s an air of “little rascal innocence” to everything they do now. The new releases like Mania and Superstars now feel like little throwbacks to the young heroes just learning how to work together and make a difference in the world.

I don’t think this is a bad thing at all.

[14dayswithyou]

rens favorite letter is e!

i know it says you don’t discuss or write about main character deaths so i hope this doesn’t cross that line,

but i was wondering if the player would ever get the opportunity to find out what happened to the deactivated accounts, or if what’s done is done and angel will never really find out what ren did?

⌞♥⌝ Aside from the scenes already in the game that describe what happened to the deactivated accounts (i.e. in Day 2 and 4), players will still have other opportunities to learn more about them!

Right now, the first few days are intended to be very lighthearted, stupidly optimistic, and almost facetious (to mimic those cliché romance games), so the scenes are very... brisk and underwhelming. Angel is also supposed to be blissfully unaware of everything Ren is doing behind the scenes, so they haven't fully felt the weight/impact of the character's deaths.

Also... Their deaths are left vague since Ren isn't the only killer in the game.

But as more days are released, the overall themes of 14DWY will get more serious and sombre — and Angel will be faced with the harsh reality of these deaths. If certain choices are made, Angel can also be given the option to witness a character die right in front of them (and possibly be the cause of their death as well 🤭)

So it's safe to say that yes, Angel will get to find out what happened to those deactivated accounts... One way or another lmao

[henerich]

—

WAR-TORN DOGS

Erik/Ištván Tóth, Ištván Tóth/Runt, Erik/Runt

Chapters 6/?

Summary:

Erik’s alive, and he can’t eat. The last thing he had today was his mother’s breakfast.

An exploration into the early days between Erik and Ištván.

Read Here

—

[in-tua-deep]

I’ve seen critique of the way show!murderbot said it felt good after killing leebeebee (thank goodness, I really disliked her - though at the same time I actually think that it’s interesting for the preservation team to have someone very blatantly objectify murderbot right in front of them and show them how other humans likely treated it)

but,, I didn’t really read it as it feeling good about killing someone so much as feeling good that it has made the team realize that it isn’t some little robot that wants to be human, and it doesn’t want to be assimilated into their group because it isn’t human. It’s a construct. They cannot and should not assume that it wants to be like them - it shouldn’t have to change or be human to be accepted

So I thought it was more of a “it feels good that this is making them rethink their little uwu poor little meow meow narrative when that’s kind of condescending and I am way more familiar with how fucked up my situation is than they are?”

Idk, any thoughts?

[grassbreads]

On a scale of Chang Geng to Luo Binghe, how well does your teenage protagonist cope with the realization that he has a massive thing for the guy that's basically raising him?

[thecandymaticart]

A silly little idea I had

[samijey]

"the whole way home" 🥹🥹

[melljam]

“𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞’𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬.”

[cvntroach5000]

most of the lads zodiac signs make a lot of sense

of course prince xavier is a libra

of course fishie rafayel is a pisces

of course mommy zayne is a virgo

of course two-faced caleb is a gemini

but sylus is a fucking aries??

sy-literally-has-scorpion-tail-lus an aries???

[seleneprince]

My brain is truly my biggest ally and enemy at the same time. It doesn't stfu, even when I want it to

For the Neglected Family! Darlings au, originally Daughter and Jason's relationship was that they never met in person until he came back to the manor after his debut as Red Hood. That Wife! Darling did the whole blackmailing thing after Jason's death, which made sense because it caught Bruce in a vulnerable phase of his life that allowed her to catch him by surprise. Originally, Jason had only seen the family from afar when he stalked them for information about the Batfamily, and seeing them being just a normal happy family, with a loving mother, made his chest squeeze. His relationship with N! Daughter was leaning to hostile after he came back because he was low-key jealous of her and the life she got to experience, obviously not knowing better, while also deep down wanting to bond with her.

I intentionally made this because not only it explained how Bruce would be so careless to take off his cowl in a rooftop without checking his surroundings first (the grief affected his perception), but also because in all Neglected! Readers works I've read Jason and her had a great sibling relationship where he was this reliable, beloved older brother of hers, until he died and then distanced from her. Also, he and the Wife darling usually get along too because she adopts him and all. I wanted to change it a bit

But know I've been thinking, because I love drama, how cute of a detail it would be that Jason was still alive as Robin where the family moved in, and despite knowing something was off with the marriage, he couldn't bring himself to dislike the kids. How ironic it would be that while Dick was always everyone's reliable older brother figure, Jason was Daughter's and the only one she considered her big bro? How sweet it would be that Jason, who already felt insecure about keeping up with Dick and proving his worth as Robin, suddenly has people who look up to him and trust him wholeheartedly?

I even imagine a scene between the two of them, shortly before he dies, where he goes "I'm not as good as Dick is" and she replies "You're right. You're better than him" and his heart is about to burst. He also promised her he would always be there for her, no matter that. That whenever she had a problem, let her big bro handle it for her. He would always help her.

And suddenly he's dead. Gone. Her big brother doesn't come back from the mission and no one tells her what happened. Either to spare her the pain or because they can't be bothered to. It's a huge event for her, scarring her emotionally forever and hardening her. But then, when she's finally moving on and accepting his death, turns out he's alive. He's back, but not really. Everyone says he's not the same person, but she's too ecstatic to care about his new appearance. She can only think that her big brother Jason is back, the only brother who cared about her, and sure it might take time to get used to this, but she's willing to go through it. To wait until he's ready. Surely he won't forget his promises, surely he still loves her, surely he won't break her heart like everyone else

But it doesn't happen. He doesn't look at her, outright ignores her and sometimes he almost feels hostile on purpose. He's distant and cold. No matter how hard she tries, she can't reach him. He won't let her reach him. He goes on missions with the family and then disappears, never contacting her, only showing up at the manor to talk with the others.

Now I don't know if keep the original plot, or add this one....again I hate my brain

[sonknuxadow]

see i do think there have been actual instances of fandom people just deciding two characters are siblings with no real basis and acting like its canon and forcing that interpretation on others and getting mad at people who disagree . but a lot of the characters i see people list as examples of this happening with are just actually stated to or heavily implied to see eachother as siblings by the source material and at that point i think you just dont see adopted siblings as real siblings idk what else to tell you

[enhanced-operatives-division]

Can you guys believe it's been over a year since I first drew her,,,,