#Like that's an opportunity I don't think they will waste it

[centrally-unplanned]

For some object-level discourse I haven't been following the events in depth like I sometimes do (dealing with health woes & other priorities rn), but the Israeli escalation in Lebanon seems like some classic sunk cost times. As is I think decently well-established, the pager plan went off half-cocked; they were gonna be found out, it was now-or-never, so they pulled the trigger. And then you "have" to follow-up, right? That was the plan after all. Can't waste all that Mossad budget. So despite the plan of "hit Hezbollah so hard their will breaks" is some Bomber Harris Bullshit that has not and will not work, they went ahead.

Though I will credit that capabilities degradation seems to have been severe. As mentioned before, if this was say Ukraine against Russia or the Taliban against the US, fighting a struggle for your political existence, I would still have Opinions but I would be much more understanding. Since Israel's plan is generally Forever War I don't value it here, but tactical wins are what they are and you can see how "this plan is operationally really good" compensates for its dubious strategic value in the mind of those calling the shots.

From a wider lens I view the escalation as a domestic political move. Israel is just out of cards when it comes to Gaza - neither side really wants a cease-fire, Israel is running out of targets to blow up, and the governing coalition is a fractured mess. Since every crisis is an opportunity, to keep momentum going "eliminate Hezbollah" is the kind of pivot one would envision, really rejuvenate things. And "returning Israelis' to their homes in the north" is the kind of thing that both appeases a rebellious faction and also compensates for their near-total failure to rescue hostages, the goal Israel decided to crucify itself by committing to. You can't get a win in the south, you pivot to the north; politics is weird that way!

No real read on how effective it will be - I actually wouldn't be shocked if it works a bit. Maybe fair to say the strategic goal is just cover, like you have to say you have one right? They might not believe it themselves.

[scuderia-hamilton]

listen i don't like Daniel, that's a fact, but what's been happening to him during the course of this weekend has been nothing but cruel, unfair and frankly, disrespectful (even if the rumours turn out to be false). i hate nothing more in this sport than teams just dropping drivers in the middle of the season, with little to no warning whatsoever, if they didn't perform to the expectations. these people made and are still making so many sacrifices to be able to be in this sport, they work so fucking hard and i just hate seeing it go to waste like that. it's simply not fair.

you can come up with the regular excuses of it being a cutthroat sport, them being rich, white, privileged men, Daniel performing poorly, i do not care. yes, he hasn't been performing the way the team expected him to do so, but at the end of the day, he's still human and no one deserves that kind of treatment. rbr has been fucking over their drivers left and right and i absolutely despise that more teams are starting to do the same.

sending him out there to give interviews and answer questions about his own future in the sport, when he doesn't even know what it will be, is honestly the lowest of the low. they know exactly how nasty and rude f1 media is and a team putting their own driver in that position is something that should not be normalized. seeing his post race interview made my heart ache for him, he was literally a second away from crying then and there.

just as i've been upset about Nyk De Vries and Logan Sargeant being dropped in the same way, i feel the same for Daniel. it's not about whether you like a driver or not, it's about the principle. this is their dream, the thing they've been working for since they were literal toddlers and seeing it ripped away from them, without even giving them a proper shot is just inhumanely cruel.

i know that Daniel has been around for a while and he got to live his dream, but i still think it's unfair. rbr has been promising him this and that since he replaced De Vries last summer, just to (allegedly) drop him the next season with six more races left. even if they really want to replace him, then let him finish this season. he deserves that much.

i'm excited about the possibility of Liam finally getting a real shot, don't get me wrong and if he really ends up replacing Daniel, i'm happy for him, but i would like him to come into the sport under different circumstances. i also think that hating the driver who replaces another one, is pointless and frankly, stupid. this is not their decision, they obviously take the opportunity, cause getting into f1 is nearly impossible.

this is basically just to say that maybe we should remember from time to time, that they're not just athletes, but real people with feelings and we should always stay kind and compassionate. i've already seen so many hate posts about him, which shouldn't surprise me, but it did. this fandom likes to just jump on a person who's an easy target at the moment or pick and choose who they don't like at that time and all hell breaks loose.

the same thing happened when there were rumours about Daniel replacing Checo and all of a sudden, everyone had an issue with Checo's performance, him as a person, his actions and everyone thought that he deserved to be replaced. you don't have to like all of them, but at least be consistent with your opinions and know where the line is. you can't be upset about one driver being replaced mid-season, then turn around and wish that to happen to a different driver. that's hypocritical.

[nadiajustbe]

Every single enemy of Ingary, trying to figure out the secret code which Royal Wizards have been using for months: What kind of combination is this? Is that a encryption?? A reverse spelling?! A secret alphabet..?

Ben, in Welsh: Do you think they'll ever find out?

Howl, responding (also in Welsh): I think it's gonna take them a while.

[itsallaboutbl]

Ohhhh?!!!! 😳😍

[bonefall]

Voted for Bumble bc of course but also if you think Alex would not pspsps Bumble you are wrong. If they could communicate they would go to therapy together /s

If then could communicate they would go to therapy together

/GEN

Kyle/Green Lantern resurrects her but then he becomes convinced that she's not the same person she was before the incident, OR SOMETHING SOMETHING Black Lanterns aren't ACTUALLY bad they're just misunderstood Grim Reaper types, in either case Alex ends up breaking it off with Kyle because they've become very different people.

And then Bumble's there

And then they go to therapy or Alex adopts Bumble, and then uhhh Bumble's like one of the superpets. Like Krypto the Superdog. Free premise go forth and play with it if ur a DC fan

[brother-emperors]

Your work on Flavus/Arminius has not left my mind and probably never will. I am in so deep…Have you seen the series Barbarians? If so, what do you think of its handling of the two, Marbod included?

I HAVEEEEEE I love it and I'll defend it from the Roman Military Enthusiasts on twitter with my life

that said, I have. hrhg. complicated feelings about how they chose to handle the narrative arc with the siblings, I think s1 was a lot more confident and cohesive in the story they were telling, and s2 was a bit. huh. there's a very specific tension going on with all three about the violence and trauma of forced assimilation and their own relationships to roman imperialism, which is so deeply fucking enthralling to me, but (spoilers under the cut!)

the decision to kill off Flavus when they did is. a little baffling to me, because he's an essential counterbalance to Arminius and I'm not sure what exactly they wanted out of that, narratively. I think it would have been better to keep Flavus around because I think it would be interesting to have him suffer outliving his brother and watching what Rome will do to everything and see how he feels about it, but I also don't really think that this angle is what the show is going for.

basically, I'm waiting until s3 to have any definitive opinions on the story, because I enjoy it enough to want to wait and see how they go forward! I'm curious about what arc they were setting up for in s2.

also wrt to Marbod, his and Flavus' relationship was a fucking lightning strike of genius, and in addition, that specific kind of intimacy that comes from an underlying shared experience (Rome), it was a really interesting portrayal of Marbod that made his friction with Arminius take on interesting dimensions!

[scintillatingshortgirl19]

I have to admit I'm still not very happy with the time jump/story shift as it pertains to Barry (the character). With one episode left I think I need to give up hope on ever getting a satisfying look into his childhood - learning about what happened to his family, the details of what Fuches meant when he referred to "raising [Barry] like a son," and specifically what must be incredibly complex and interesting stuff about his dad considering the somewhat contradictory facts that Barry a) has clear daddy issues and said he "never had a good male role model" and b) decided to name his son after his dad. You're telling me we set all that up and we're not actually going to expand on any of it? cool. cool

And I am just . . . not that interested in his motivations as a religious family man or whatever. There are so many aspects of this character I want to see explored, and I just don't care enough about this new stuff that was introduced for him. Like yeah, I understand the point of it - on the surface he's trying to protect his family but what he really wants is to protect the facade he's built for himself. I get it, I find it vaguely intriguing, and it makes sense for his character, but imo it's not AT ALL the most interesting thing they could be doing with him, and it's worse because it's most likely coming at the cost of not exploring the things I've wanted them to explore since season 1.

[typemoonconfessions]

[ikolit]

that strange new worlds had the episode premise of having Spock temporarily turned fully human and then managed to miss in every aspect of his characterization and how that would affect his relationship with the rest of the crew is truly amazing

[allofthebees]

Thinking about Samurai X and how I wish Nya and Pixal had more of an established close friendship before they decided to make Pix the next Samurai tbh. Like I think it would have had more of an impact/been more touching if Nya realized her bestie was carrying on the Samurai X legacy instead of this person she rarely speaks to.

[watchmakermori]

the table scene in attack on titan season 4 hits just as hard the second time. even though eren has already gone so far off into the deep end by that point, that’s still the moment where you’re like ‘WOW i really hate this motherfucker’

[tardis--dreams]

I should sell that bastille ticket shouldn't i. Just the thought makes me cry but it'd be the responsibile thing to do

[cesium-sheep]

also mom won't shut up about this particular type of embroidery called borgello and it looks appropriately dead easy, but the kits she keeps linking me to are fuckin $50, as opposed to the cross stitch kits that I'm actually realistically looking at that are like. $5.

[weareuniqueandimportant]

ALL CLOTHING IS SEXIST AND ANTI FEMINIST... WE CAN'T WEAR ANYTHING BECAUSE THAT IS HOW THEY ALL ARE... WE HAVE BEEN ABUSED THE SAME ASWELL... TRANSPHOBIC DOCTORS STRATEGY IS TO SHAME YOU THEY DID THIS SO MUCH... THEY WANT TO HURT YOU... BTW MAKE US TRANSITION WE LIVE IN FINLAND FREEZE OUR LITTLE ONES AND GIVE US DIY HRT...

[inkskinned]

one of the things that's the most fucking frustrating for me about arguing with climate change deniers is the sheer fucking scope of how much it matters. sweating in my father's car, thinking about how it's the "hottest summer so far," every summer. and there's this deep, roiling rage that comes over me, every time.

the stakes are wrong, is the thing. that's part of what makes it not an actual debate: the other side isn't coming to the table with anything to fucking lose.

like okay. i am obviously pro gun control. but there is a basic human part of me that can understand and empathize with someone who says, "i'm worried that would lead to the law-abiding citizens being punished while criminals now essentially have a superpower." i don't agree, but i can tell the stakes for them are also very high.

but let's say the science is wrong and i'm wrong and the visible reality is wrong and every climate disaster refugee is wrong. let's say you're right, humans aren't causing it or it's not happening or whatever else. let's just say that, for fun.

so we spend hundreds of millions of dollars making the earth cleaner, and then it turns out we didn't need to do that. oops! we cleaned the earth. our children grow up with skies full of more butterflies and bees. lawns are taken over with rich local biodiversity. we don't cry over our electric bills anymore. and, if you're staunchly capitalist and i need to speak ROI with you - we've created so many jobs in developing sectors and we have exciting new investment opportunities.

i am reminded of kodak, and how they did not make "the switch" to digital photography; how within 20 years kodak was no longer a household brand. do we, as a nation, feel comfortable watching as the world makes "the switch" while we ride the laurels of oil? this boggles me. i have heard so much propaganda about how america cannot "fall behind" other countries, but in this crucial sector - the one that could actually influence our own monopolies - suddenly we turn the other cheek. but maybe you're right! maybe it will collapse like just another silicone valley dream. but isn't that the crux of capitalism? that some economies will peter out eventually?

but let's say you're right, and i'm wrong, and we stopped fracking for no good reason. that they re-seed quarries. that we tear down unused corporate-owned buildings or at least repurpose them for communities. that we make an effort, and that effort doesn't really help. what happens then? what are the stakes. what have we lost, and what have we gained?

sometimes we take our cars through a car wash and then later, it rains. "oh," we laugh to ourselves. we gripe about it over coffee with our coworkers. what a shame! but we are also aware: the car is cleaner. is that what you are worried about? that you'll make the effort but things will resolve naturally? that it will just be "a waste"?

and what i'm right. what if we're already seeing people lose their houses and their lives. what if it is happening everywhere, not just in coastal towns or equatorial countries you don't care about. what if i'm right and you're wrong but you're yelling and rich and powerful. so we ignore all of the bellwethers and all of the indicators and all of the sirens. what if we say - well, if it happens, it's fate.

nevermind. you wouldn't even wear a mask, anyway. i know what happens when you see disaster. you think the disaster will flinch if you just shout louder. that you can toss enough lives into the storm for the storm to recognize your sacrifice and balk. you argue because it feels good to stand up against "the liberals" even when the situation should not be political. you are busy crying for jesus with a bullhorn while i am trying to usher people into a shelter. you've already locked the doors, even on the church.

the stakes are skewed. you think this is some intellectual "debate" to win, some funny banter. you fuel up your huge unmuddied truck and say suck it to every citizen of that shitbird state california. serves them right for voting blue!

and the rest of us are terrified of the entire fucking environment collapsing.

[maidragoste]

Hiiii!!!! I (18) was wondering if you could write a Jace x his mothers handmaiden reader, where they have a secret relationship 🤙🏼🤙🏼❤️❤️

anon, sorry for taking so long to write your request. I hope you enjoy it and thanks for reading 🥰💖💖

btw it wasn't clarified so I didn't write reader as a low-born handmaiden (that is, the ones who clean the urinals and that) but as a high-born one.

likes, comments and REBLOGS are always greatly appreciated 🥰💖

Disclaimer: English is not my first language so I apologize for any mistakes.

A frustrated sigh left your lips as you tried to break free from Jacaerys's grip only for the prince to press your body even closer to his so you couldn't get out of bed. You turned to demand that your lover let you go but you remained silent, watching Jace's face. Even though he had his eyes closed you were sure by the lazy smile on his face that he was awake. He looked beautiful. He always looked beautiful but these moments only belonged to you. You wanted to wake up every day next to him but you couldn't. Your duty was to Princess Rhaenyra, you cannot allow yourself to be distracted. Besides, if she found out that you were having a secret relationship with her beloved son, she would throw you out and your family would be very disappointed in you for having wasted the opportunity that the princess gave you to choose you as one of her handmaidens. Not only that but your reputation would be ruined, if rumors spread that you no longer possess your virtue then it would be impossible for you to get a husband. You are a fool to continue with this romance, someday Jace will marry a girl from an even more important house than yours and you will have to sit silently watching everything. There is no happy ending to this.

“My prince, I have to go,” you said, hoping he would stop playing dumb and let you go.

“No,” he complained, lengthening the “o.” Your place is at my side” he moved his face closer to kiss you but you moved, he tried again but you avoided him again “What's wrong” he asked, letting you go so he could sit properly on the bed.

"It's late, I should go. At any moment your mother will wake up, I have duties to do” you responded without looking at him as you got up. You didn't even have a chance to look for your shoes when he tugged on your arm making you return to the bed. He turns you around so that you both face each other.

“What is wrong?” asked again the prince. “Talk to me, please, my lady,” he asked, looking at you with concern while gently taking your face in his hands.

“I think we should stop seeing each other, my prince.” The uncertainty in your voice was clear but still, your words were a dagger for Jacaerys.

“Why?” Your heart ached as you heard the confusion and anguish in his voice. “. I don't understand, yesterday we were fine”

“Yes, we were. But we won't always be. Someday you will have to get married and you will leave me. “I think the easiest thing for my heart is for us to finish our thing now,” you said, closing your eyes without being able to see the sadness in his eyes anymore. If you continued seeing him you were afraid you would go back on your decision.

Your heart skipped a beat when you stopped feeling Jacaerys's hands. You froze as you listened to him get out of bed and get dressed. You should take the opportunity to leave, it's probably what he wanted but you couldn't move. You really had finished everything.

You opened your eyes as you felt the prince's hands in your hair. Your heart raced as he carefully untangled the knots. Once he finished, he kissed your shoulder. “Finish getting ready so we can go talk to my mother.”

“We?” you repeated.

"Yes. I have no intention of marrying anyone but you,” Jacaerys said calmly as if his words wouldn't change your entire world.

“Jacaerys, marrying me is an idiotic move, my house is not that important, and the lords” your chatter was interrupted by the prince's lips capturing yours. You should be firmer and move away, but you can't, so you surrender to enjoying the taste of your lover's lips, feeling more loved than ever.

"I love you and if my mother wants me to be her heir, she will have to accept it," Jace declared and there was no room for argument in his voice. “You are the only wife I intend to take,” he promised before kissing you again.

Taglist for all my House of the Dragon works

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