#an absolute regime has power when it can make you do things you know are stupid and bad and you can do nothing about it

[sirenofthegreenbanks]

im always reminded of that one tweet that explained, the power of dictatorships is less about enforcing laws and being successful in censoring the shit out of you, but about enforcing the most ridiculous shit on earth, mud-stuck-on-wall degree of shit, the kind everyone with two braincells is aware is shit and ridiculous and hysterical, and enforcing it succesfully. its not about whether a state truly believes in their policies or their mission, its not even about whether they believe (and care about) that the public, the citizens, believe it. its about enforcing, and enforcing it successfully. its about the fact that they know you know and can still do it. thats the power.

[yuurei20]

Short translation from the second Twisted Wonderland novel: Yuuya and the rumors

“'What's the matter? You look a bit down,’ says the ghost.

‘No…mm. It's nothing, but...' Yuuya’s reluctant response trails off in a sigh. ‘I just remembered that tomorrow is the start of another week.’ 

‘Ah, I get it.’ Ace nods in understanding. ‘You're all gloomy cause you don’t want to go to school.’

‘…yeah.’

‘I get that,’ Grim says with a knowing nod. ‘I hate all those boring classes.’

‘Nah, it’s cause he doesn’t want a bunch of guys he doesn’t even know giving him trouble again.’

Yuuya gives a weak nod.

Yuuya and Grim have been students at Night Raven College for a month. He’d assumed that everything would settle down in time, but after a certain incident things are more shaken up than ever.

It is as though there is no one at the school who has not heard the rumors surrounding Yuuya. Everyone is talking about the incident.

Riddle Rosehearts, the housewarden who reigned over Heartslabyul Dorm, and his excessively strict rules. His authoritarian regime may have continued until his graduation but then, disoriented, he had unleashed a torrent of magical power that resulted in his overblot. 

Blot is a byproduct of using magic. While a phenomenon that can pose a deadly threat to mages who allow it to accumulate, it is very rare for it to ever reach that point. For an overblot to occur within such a prestigious, traditional school for mages was unprecedented.

It was a major incident that involved both the students of Heartslabyul, and those of another dorm entirely.

A dorm that was most recently dubbed ‘Ramshackle.’ Its two members are Kuroki Yuuya, a human from another world incapable of using magic, and Grim, a magical beast.

They are special first-years, having received permission from the headmage to enroll due to unusual circumstances.

‘Well, it’s not like the rumors are wrong, but they leave out a lot of important parts.’

Listening to Ace explain, Yuuya starts to feel dizzy.

‘I wasn’t really that caught up in everything with Riddle-senpai, I just happened to be there with you two…I don’t really think ‘special first year’ is the right way to put it.’

‘I guess the main point is that they’re not just rumors.’ Deuce seems to be thinking hard, and Ace laughs aloud.

‘I get asked about you all the time, too, but it’s not like I can say they're wrong or refute them, right?’

‘It’s okay to refute them! People are even coming to our classroom, now, to look in. I thought I was just imagining it at first, but…it’s probably the rumors.’

‘Well, you hear something like that and of course you’re gonna think, ‘I wonder how amazing that first-year really is,’ right?’

‘Speaking of which, on Friday, when I saw you talking to someone from another class,’ Deuce blinks as if having just remembered something. ‘I thought it was someone you knew―they were just hassling you?’

‘Yeah...I might have fainted if you hadn't walked up.’

‘That's a bit dramatic...but then again, not for Yuu, I guess.’

While he is an ordinary human, there is one thing that sets Yuuya apart from others: he detests fighting. 

Even witnessing a conflict sets him on edge, and hearing the slightest argument makes him anxious. There is nothing that Yuuya would not do to avoid a fight.

And yet, it seems that a considerable number of students now view him as a rival. Night Raven College students have a lot of pride. Rumors about a special first-year student must have sparked their competitive spirit.

There is no end to the openly hostile students. Whenever he hears, ‘Hey, are you Yuu?,’ he gives an evasive answer and runs away.

‘What? Someone pickin’ a fight? We can’t just let ‘em mock Ramshackle Dorm.’ Grim growls, wrinkling his small, black nose. ‘Tell me who it is an’ where they are. I’ll knock ‘em right out!’

‘Absolutely not.’

‘Well, don’t let it get to you.’ Ace pats Yuuya on the back. He hasn’t stopped chuckling. ‘People will forget about the rumors sooner or later. Hang in there!’

‘That’s easy for you to say…’

If any of them were significantly involved in the situation with Riddle, it was Ace. But with the gossip about Yuuya spreading like wildfire Ace has been able to avoid any negative attention, skillfully keeping himself out of the trouble.

Perhaps he feels guilty about it. ‘You actually seem to be fitting in with the class more,’ he offers in assurance.

‘You think so? Nothing feels different.’

‘Yeah, I think you’re starting to fit in, too.’ 

Yuuya remains glum, even despite Deuce's encouragement. Ace and Deuce exchange glances and shrug."

[monimccoythings]

Arlong x reader headcanons

Gosh I'd never thought I'd be doing this. After watching the One Piece Live Action I couldn't help but focus on how amazingly portrayed Arlong was, It was not perfect of course, but it was greatly done just like the rest of the series. I never paid much attention to Arlong in the anime, but gosh he was hot in the Live Action. It has to be the voice... Well, given my surprise at the lack of Arlong fics in the monsterfucking website, I decided to put a remedy to it.

Let's make things clear, you are not his equal, in any single way. To him you are just a pet. A pet he's fiercely possessive and protective of, but a pet after all.

To remind you who you belong to he has you on a collar and leash. If he thinks you are moving to far away he just pulls on the leash to bring you back to his side. Sometimes he will do this for no reason just to annoy you. Because he is an asshole.

He won't brand you with a tattoo, that's for official members, not pets. But still, he will make your living arrangments comfortable enough for you to live somewhat decently. "I don't want my lovely pet upset, do I?" He tells you mockingly.

You don't seem to be prejudiced against fishmen in any way, in fact, you didn't even know that there were prejudices. The way you casually talk to them, as if they were not monsters is one of the things that drew Arlong to you.

Even if you don't have any prejudices, that doesn't mean you are automatically okay with your current situation. Arlong is a bully, a racist jerk that would rather destroy everything than having peace between humans and fishmen. He is a coward at heart and will compromise his vision of Fishmen ruling over the seas over more money and power. The way he treats you is degrading, dehumanizing, the only things that keep you in Arlong Park instead of running away are: your inability to outrun the Fishmen and the soft look in Arlong's eyes when he observes you when he thinks you are not looking.

His crew doesn't seem to mind you at all, they keep their distance because they know you are off-limits. However they like to hear your funny anecdotes before you were abducted and they absolutely adore smashing you at cards becuase you can't seem to remember the rules that were explained to you minutes ago. If they had to pick a single human to save in their new regime, it would be you, honestly.

If Arlong is not there, be sure there'll be always someone watching over you, in case you decide to start getting ideas. You feel conflicted about it, on the one hand you feel insulted Arlong feels the need to have someone babysitting you, after all, you gave your word; on the other hand, you kinda feel bad for the fishman that has to begrudginly stay to take care of the annoying human. The best thing you can do is try to keep the dude entertained with stories of the books you have read and the games you used to play back in your island.

Arlong does not mess around. He is a possessive and very jealous fishman. If he sees anyone, literally anyone, start to make advances on you he'll go for the kill. His crewmembers are smart enough to not pull off a stunt like that. So things can go in two different ways: if your would-be-suitor is a fellow fishman he will sent them a death glare their way until they get the memo; however if they are human, it will be the last time you see them. You wisely choose to ignore the small bloodstains on Arlong's lips.

Sometimes, if you are given enough agency and the leash isn't hooked to the collar, you like to sit on the roof and watch the sea, wondering if your family is okay, if they miss you and if they are proud of you. If it meant keeping them and your village safe, you would do it again. After a couple of hours have passed, Arlong comes to collect you. Sometimes he carries you right away to your chambers, but there are times when he just stands there, watching with you in complete silence. You don't dare to wonder what is crossing his mind, still, you appreciate those moments. They show that he could be more than a misanthropist bully, even if it is just for a couple of hours.

[coeluvr]

I got curious about what happens to the royal families of defeated/conquered lands, and the answers are interesting because they varied from place to place, from time to time.

In Quora, I found this to be the best explanation:

What happens to the royal family of a defeated kingdom after being conquered by a foreign power?

It truly depends on circumstances, but there are four options:

Execution - used to be a common solution in the old days, but it is only effective when the royal family does not have large support of their own people and they would hail the execution as justice, or when the conqueror actually intends to preform a genocide. Otherwise it would be dangerous, because creating a martyr would spark resistance. So it is not common in more recent history.

Imprisonment - The royal family could be kept in relatively good conditions and treated well, this would show that the conquorer is both powerful and merciful. If things go south, the members of the family could still act as hostages (at least in old days). But dangerous if the resistance element is very strong, an imprisoned king is aslo a possible martyr or gives hope to the resistance that things could be restored.

Exile - Very common, sometimes for practical reason. The members of the royal family often managed to escape and the conqueror was unable to get to them. Exile was the only option then - the conqueror would then simply forbid them to ever come back. If the exiled royalty had no support or intention to fight on, this is a very good option, since the conquered people could be told their leaders abandoned them, otherwise could be a problem, as leading resistance from abroad is much easier then leading it from captivity.

Staying in power as leader of a puppet government - far best option if you want to truly control a foreign country. If any member of the family is inclined to do so, this can give legitimacy to the new regime and in fact most conquerors tried to do that. In many cases young heirs were first imprisoned, then befriended by their captors and eventually became their puppets.

[Source: https://www.quora.com/What-happens-to-the-royal-family-of-a-defeated-kingdom-after-being-conquered-by-a-foreign-power]

So MC, by this logic, should have been executed, since their family wasn't popular. Luceris wanted to use them as a possible weapon against Catalina, who is still missing in action, so he spared them.

However, the way he has gone about it is very risky. Once personal grievences are put aside, the image you look at is not great: the much older king of a country, for some reason, decided to take the only known-surviving child of a royal family he had slaughtered as his Consort.

Regular folks don't know what's going on behind the palace doors, so it just makes Luceris not just look like the pervert he isn't, but also unstable. I mean, what sane person would take a poor child as their spouse? Who knows what's happening to them? We the readers know the truth, but the people in-universe doesn't. You can't "Hah, brat is in the lap of luxury, I'm sure they are fine!" your way out of it, that's just not logical.

Luceris doesn't look merciful, he looks absolutely deranged. He is giving reason for rebellion within his own kingdom, against him in other kingdoms, and he gives power to Catalina and whoever is hiding her. No king's rule is flawless, Luceris cannot rule without stiffling something or someone, without hurting someone and giving them reason to want his head on a platter.

Related to that, there is also the concept of "Victor's justice":

Victor's justice is a term which is used in reference to a distorted application of justice to the defeated party by the victorious party after an armed conflict. Victor's justice generally involves the excessive or unjustified punishment of defeated parties and the light punishment of or clemency for offenses which have been committed by victors. Victors' justice can be used in reference to manifestations of a difference in rules which can amount to hypocrisy and revenge or retributive justice leading to injustice. Victors' justice may also refer to a misrepresentation of historical recording of the events and actions of the losing party throughout or preceding the conflict.

[Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victor's_justice]

So the whole war started because of Catalina's assassination of Farah. Allegations without concrete evidence, but I digress. This situation should have ended when the royal family is killed, as the suspected source of Catalina's power: once Vesphire is conquered, with its noble class and extended family full of traitors, whoever has been hiding her would have given her up because she is essentially useless— betrayed by extended family, unpopular due to Farah, without power because her lands are gone. Luceris didn't need to do anything else.

However, Luceris failed when he succumbed to his feelings: he spared MC to use them, and by that, had given Catalina and her supporters reason not to come out and surrender. He is doing all this bad publicity by himself, why not bide their time? Having so much military power isn't the only way to win a war, after all.

Frankly, I don't think Luceris is that good of a king. You can treat your people "better" (a very subjective term) and still harm them and make them feel resentment toward you.

And technically speaking, his war didn't even have the desired result: he conquered Vesphire, sure, and killed almost the whole royal family, but his wife's murderer is still at large. There is still at least two survivors left (MC is not neutralized, no matter what Luceris deludes himself into believing. Whether you seek revenge or not, he is literally sitting next to a venomous snake that will either bite him on its own, or someone will come and poke them and make them bite him).

Not just that, but he spent so much money and led so many soldiers to early graves for no discernible reason. Normal people don't even benefit from his conquered lands— there isn't any economical benefit to it, except for nobles. He created so much bad blood between himself and other kingdoms he has bullied or taken advantage of into falling in a line.

Fascinating stuff, really. I firmly think Luceris fumbled really badly with Farah and Catalina and MC and Vesphire, and I can't wait to see him face the consequences (MC too, but Luceris more).

This is so cool of you like I can really tell you did your research! 🤭

I like how crazy Luceris is because he makes the worst choice in terms of consequences but I think his choices make sense in a twisted way when it comes from a place of rage and hurt. He's not rational like that, he lets his emotions get the best of him and we all suffer because of it. 💀💀

[archtroop]

No, Israeli kids are innocent of any crimes. The same as Palestinian kids. The problem is the crazy people like you. It's funny to think that your people suffered from a Genocide once and you're now the Nazis committing Genocide. You can say to yourself whatever you want to sleep at night but the truth is what it is: it's not a war, it's not suicide (what a fucking ridiculous notion). It's genocide. Shame you're so brainwashed you can't see what's in front of you.

And yet again, no.

The only Nazis in this equation are HAMAS and their infrastructure.

Anon, you have no leg to stand on this.

Attacking a well armed state, massacring 1200+ people in one day and, what? What do you call this? What you expect to happen next?

Here is the thing. You want the big picture, I'll give you the big picture.

The Islamic Republic of Iran wants to control the Middle East. They fund proxies to ankle-bite those who threaten their supremacy in the region. Like SaudiArabia, Israel and so on by employing: HAMAS, Hezbollah, Houthies etc. They settle roots in places of discord and disarray (Lebanon, Syria...Yemen. West Bank and Gaza. Places with no functional government).

They use Israel as a scapegoat to unite under (Fascism 1.01). They call upon "The Zionist Regime" rhetoric whenever shit hits the fan and they need to blame someone with something. Oldest trick in the book.

The Abraham Accorda are designed so that USA could finally leave the Middle East. UAE and others, had already signed the accords with Isrsel to manifest a solid treaty that would hold the Jihad at bay and will eventually stabilize the region (against threats like IRI and ISIS) by means of finance, strategy and military. Two weeks or so prior to Saudi Arabia signing the accords, Iran gives a nod of approval to HAMAS. The attack on the 7th was premeditated. It was planned for years. The idea is simple: make Israel look bad so that Saudi Arabia won't be happy to sign an agreement with a "weak" country (Israel is the security part in the agreement. SA enjoyed up till recently the security US provided. With deglobalization, this deal is off), and then drag Isrsel into a bloody war in urban terrain in Gaza to make Israel look very bad so Saudi Arabia won't sign with Israel in defense of the Palestinian Cause.

Yes, it was a premeditated suicide. And all of this is a geopolitical known knowledge. Nothing in what I wrote above is new or groundbreaking.

It was never about Palestinians. Or Palestine. It was all just an excuse. All of this, we all are just pawns.

On the world scale, Gaza doesn't matter. That's the sad truth. They were used and thrown away by their leaders. Israel is holding talks with both Egypt and Saudis over how to extract the civilians from this death trap, believe it or not. Both HATE HAMAS and watch all of this unfold and waiting for Israel to declare HAMAS IS NO MORE. Egypt hates HAMAS, a tie in to the Muslim Brotherhood, that has the power to topple the Egyptian secular government (funny how the most affected by Houthies attacks are Egypt, but no one gives a crap).

Gaza is a funnel for aid money. It produces nothing, it exports nothing. They are meaningless on the world map. That's the sad truth. By making Gaza absolutely dependent on UN aid (that never actually used for aid, but to cushion up HAMAS leaders), you have a society that cannot support itself in any way. They don't even have political allies. They are pawns.

Hate HAMAS. Hate IRI.

Or you can hate Israel, the only place where Palestinians from West Bank and Gaza could actually work and get paid. Now they don't have even that.

You know what's the cruelest joke? The accords are on talks and are progressing. There is a route of merchandise that goes right through Saudi Arabia and to Israel and Egypt, by trucks.

All of this. Was for nothing.

It's called Terrorism for a reason.

So, I guess whatever makes you sleep better. Jews did not survive the Holocaust to lie down and take it when another one is knocking on the door.

After the 7th, my emphaty dulled by a huge margin. That you cannot take back. Even symphaty has an expiration date.

There is no Genocide in Gaza. There is a Suicide on a national scale, and that's the harsh truth. And it didn't even make a lick of difference.

The only hope people in Gaza have, is to wake up without HAMAS. And it WILL happen.

Whether you like it or not.

[paulic]

Something that always bothers me is how people talk about Paul taking the role of the manager after Brian's death.

Yes, Paul took the initiative and managed a lot of the projects like MMT etc. and especially John and George were pissed off by this, but when you think about it for literally two seconds, you realize why Paul did it. He's always said how important the Beatles were to him, has called them his second family. He never expressed any interest in managing the band while Brian was still alive and after the Beatles broke up, his focus was always on making music, not the managing part of his job. Everyone makes him seem like this power hungry demon who was just waiting for his turn at the steering wheel, but there are so many things that point to him just trying to literally save what was most important to him: this band.

He's been known to throw himself into projects when grieving, mourning by not mourning. John was devastated by Brian's death and (I assume) in no fit state to think about what project would make the most money or whatever. While everyone was sitting on their asses (I know this is a mean way to put it, but I'm pissed off), Paul actually took matters into his own hands.

"He was too bossy". Was he bossy? Probably, yes. But someone fucking had to be, or the Beatles would have crashed and burned. I do understand why everyone wasn't happy with how things were going, George who already felt like the little brother who was sort of tagging along but not being taken seriously enough was obviously pissed that this "power dynamic" for lack of a better word was only increasing, and John, who had always been equal to Paul in literally anything didn't like the idea of Paul having power like that and being "above" him. But really, what would have been the better scenario? John managing the band? The same person who pissed off entire countries in like every second interview and had to make public statements and apologies about half the things he said? I think John was very smart and I find his wit and candor very endearing, but if he had been the one in charge, chances are the Beatles would have blown up. He's a fantastic artist, but not very smart about money etc etc, so not exactly the perfect fit for the role of a temporary manager. George? Perhaps he’s smarter about money (although he apparently didn’t understand the importance of paying taxes?) and publicity, but at that time he was completely infatuated with India, Hinduism and meditation and so on. I don't mean to say that was inherently bad, but I think Paul was the one with the most common sense. He knew how to charm the press to keep from getting into scandals (I mean, even when he was arrested for weed, he managed to sort of wiggle out of it. Nobody gave a shit). If Paul hadn’t been born a musical genius, I think being a manager would be a good fit for him. As for Ringo, I love the guy more than I can say but half the time in Get Back while decisions were being made he was completely zoned out, staring at walls. I honestly don't think he was very much interested in managing. So, perhaps a democratic regime where everyone gets a vote? Sure, if you want to get absolutely nothing done at all you let many people decide. I don't mean to sound like a monarchist, but I very much doubt an anarchistic management would have worked.

Now when you look at the years that came after, everyone was half in love with Allen Klein, but Paul was weary and didn't want to back down. And who turned out to be the Judas in this Bible? Allen fucking Klein. I don't mean to say Paul should have become the official manager, but I just find it baffling when people make it seem like he was trying to gain power over his best friends or whatever. There was no ideal outcome of this situation, because Brian was fucking dead. Of course it wasn't all peaches and cream. But there weren't (m)any scandals and they got a few albums done. That's, in my opinion, more than what would have happened if Paul had sat back and watched.

[alwaysspeakshermind]

Who was the worst in The Hunger Games, snow or coin?

Why?

Thank you. @curiousnonny

Oh, man.

I have a *lot* of feelings on this particular subject (one of my favorite things about THG trilogy is that it places in the antagonist role two good examples of my most loathed types of villains: politicians kidding but not really), so thanks for the ask!

Coin:

While I personally despise her subtle, lay-low/don't-strike-until-you-see-the-whites-of-their-eyes approach, I respect her commitment to winning, and I love that she was the one who got to unseat Snow.

That being said...I can't forgive her for the win-at-all-costs mindset that led her to use some of the most morally-reprehensible tactics I can think of when it comes to fighting (torturing citizens, trying to send a possible political rival to their death, sending the family member of said possible rival to an all but certain doom simply to eliminate the rival's will to live, treating The Other Side's children as expendable, etc.). I think she represents one of the most dangerous types of villains you see (both in fiction and in real life) because she presents herself as the sane, moderate, People's Champion type of leader who stands in opposition to oppression and brutality, but the regime she presents is simply severe and restrictive in different ways she's not advertising, and she is every bit as willing to sit back and watch people die as long as they are not her people...also, she truly doesn't care who she steps on, kicks aside, or ruins in her (quiet) quest for power.

[I also have this theory that she's named Coin because she and Snow have this two-sides-to-the-same-coin duality and we're meant to understand that while she's coming at things from a different angle than Snow, she has the same hunger for power and ruthless desire to maintain stability no matter the human cost.]

Snow:

[Another quick side note: I am a huge proponent of TBOSAS. It's my favorite villain origin story (Marissa Meyer's Fairest is probably the only other book that comes close for me), and I personally think it's Suzanne's Collins' best work and everyone should read it because it shows the fine line/slippery slope between a mindset of understandable self-preservation and the sort of arrogance-driven inhumanity that leads people into committing atrocities against each other or standing back and allowing the atrocities to happen. I will literally never NOT recommend this book but, that being said, I'm not going to reference Snow's actions in this book as they occur outside the realm of THG trilogy.]

While I allow a grudging respect for his logic, strategic efficiency, and commitment to being straightforward/open with Katniss about his dislike for her, I hate Snow's cruelty with a burning passion, and his utter contempt for people he deems "lesser" makes my blood absolutely boil. Yes, pragmatism is a thing. Yes, it is difficult being a leader. Yes, leaders do sometimes face a choice between saving the lives of many at the cost of a few.

But the thing about Snow is that he is simply intent on maintaining power whatever the (human) cost and to me, that crosses a line. No, he isn't the creator of the Games, but he does hold the power to end them. Does he end them? No. Instead, he not only chooses to keep them going, but deliberately finds ways to change the rules in his own favor, thus making an already-unfair, practically hopeless situation that much more unfair and hopeless. To intimidate the districts/instill fear in all citizens outside the Capitol, he makes sure they remember that they are only allowed to exist because of the Capitol's mercy, and that if they want to be allowed to keep that existence, they will have to abide by the Capitol's terms. Sending children into the Games as a form of punishment would be barbaric enough if it were just after the districts' uprising but, as we know from the books, that's not even the case...the children who are being killed in the games are the descendants of the original rebel districts, so forcing them to pay for the supposed sins of their grandparents/possible great-grandparents is beyond evil.

Also, there's this other thing his actions ultimately engineer/shape, and that's the twisted Capitol reality. Like all smart-but-evil dictators, he doesn't just rely on the weeding out of his enemies/the intimidation of the group he has declared "lesser." He also uses the Capitol citizens and their (very natural, very human) desire for peace and prosperity to create allies for himself by reinforcing this idea of Us vs Them, by drawing a distinction between Capitol children (precious, must be protected at all costs) and District children (expendable, animalistic, Other™ ). It's not a new tactic; it's one all kinds of groups/armies/organizations/governments use to engender hate and distrust, but it's a highly effective one in a world like the Capitol, where everyday life is so shiny and fun and distracting that it's easy for people to detach themselves from the reality that they're watching 24 children murder each other every year. And the thing about that, even if the Capitol citizens don't know it (or pretend not to know it), is that Snow encouraging them to celebrate the Games and view the districts as less than human is also costing the Capitol citizens their humanity in return (aka, panem et circenses, where you shelve or hand over your morality in exchange for food/comfort/entertainment etc.). So, altogether, while Snow is not actively getting his hands dirty by killing people himself (excluding those poison deaths, possibly), he is routinely arranging the murders of innocents, recruiting and corrupting (or destroying) everyone he possibly can, and he's doing it all in the name of peace.

All of those things combined pretty much enrages me, so ultimately, my opinion boils down to this:

Both Coin and Snow are effective leaders and terrible people whose desire for power and control push them into crossing lines that should not be crossed. But out of the two, Snow is the worst.

[joannerowling]

Man PinkNews really can't stay away from Jo for too long lol, they're back at it again with more slander, this time with a supposed like of a pretty offensive tweet. And as always people are eating it all up.

Now I went to check and that supposed like wasn't there which makes me think it's fake(either that or much like few years ago when she liked and then unliked that one tweet-I forget what was it about, and if her like was real then it could be the same case again, an acidental like).

But like, I really don't get these people...I get it, they hate her, but why make up stuff? Is it cause perhaps normies are waking up and seeing that Jo isn't this evil person the likes of PinkNews and TRAs are trying to paint her as...it's so weird.

Well they can't exactly go and talk about anything wrong she would have actually done, can they, since when you look up what Jo really does with her money it's all charity and paying her taxes. We're still waiting on that list of anti-trans organisations she would have supposedly funded or donated to - you'd think they would line up to claim her patronage, and yet! Crickets! Strange, isn't it?

So they are reduced to this: dishonesty, defamation, and just making shit up when they run out of ideas. Take this week's example of what has the gendiboos shitting themselves: Jo liking a darkly humourous tweet saying "at least the Talibans know what a woman is". Someone tried to paint that as a) original tweeter was supporting the Talibans (yes, in this era where people can just say "kill yourself" to a celebrity over them claiming to like raisins); b) JKR herself implicitly supports the Talibans by proxy because she liked the tweet. Now, the person who said that claims to have received a cease and desist order. Gee, why would that ever happen??

… Yeah, i guess Jo's a little sensitive about that particular brand of defamation of her character. It's almost like, unlike these bozos, she actually cares about hate crimes against women.

Honestly i wish she'd actually take them to court, just once. She would absolutely wipe the floor with them and that would set the record straight for any more who wants to try her. And i'm not even saying that with her sake in mind tbh.

But for the sake of the ACTUAL WOMEN IN THE MIDDLE EAST SUFFERING THROUGH ISLAMIC REGIMES RIGHT THE FUCK NOW.

Like hey!! guys, gals and nonbinary pals! Maybe… just maybe?? we shouldn't use victims of horrible religious tyranny as pawns in some stupid gender wars?? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I know we're all convinced in our heart of hearts that JK Rowling is a big bad meanie, but maybe we could act like the better people we pretend to be for once and treat this topic with the seriousness it warrants?? ufuckingwu!

And since i had the unpleasant surprise to see that in the tag this morning: same thing with Ukraine. No, JK Rowling is not friend with Putin, she has actually helped Ukrainian refugees since the start of the war, and the fucking Harry Potter store being maybe still up in Moscow on Google Maps is the last of Ukraine's problems even if she had the actual power to shut it down (assuming GM's infos are even actualised).

Like, i can sort of laugh it out when these idiots make up bullshit about the Goblins being antisemitic caricatures. (Except, it's not actually funny, not when you take two seconds to think about the implications that a whole generation of people apparently think that this is what antisemitism is, OR, care so little about antisemitism that they are happy to pretend that this is it.) It's a whole 'nother business to pick victims of current wars and religious extremism and make up a story about how it's all some writer you don't like's fault. Those are real people ffs. Whom JKR is tangibly helping. What the fuck is Pink News doing for them, hmm? Not even showing them an OUNCE of decency and respect, that's what.

Anyways, apologies for this outburst. To answer your question : why do they do it? Hatred. Hatred is the point. It goes nowhere deeper than this i'm afraid.

[persnicketypomelo]

Yandere Light Yagami x Reader

!!!!Spoilers for Death Note ahead!!!!

Light is bright, perceptive, and intelligent—and perhaps to his own detriment, for his overestimation of his abilities leads him to his own downfall. 

He is not at all humble in regarding himself. After all, his teachers, peers, and family sing him his own praises regularly. 

I think that, to attract his attention in a way that doesn’t end in cardiac arrest, you must be either be useful to his goals, or pose a sufficient threat to him. The latter would only work for you if you are perceptive enough to hide your real name from him, or in a situation in which eliminating you would paint a bullseye on his back to L and the authorities. 

In this scenario, you are just another threat that he itches to dispose of at first, but perhaps, with time, he finds your perceptiveness and quirks to be amusing…well, that is, when you’re not actively attempting to impede his plans. 

Maybe he can think of some other uses for you in his new world…

As the series progresses, Light becomes noticeably more sadistic, cruel, and has fewer and fewer qualms about morality. He turns from a bright-eyed student with grand ideas of justice, to an iron-fisted tyrant bent on keeping absolute order, even at the expense of the ideals that once inspired him. 

With his growing sadism, Light’s fascination with you also warps and twists into something darker. Taking control of the police upon graduating and killing L, he has so much more power. If you are deliberately keeping your name secret from him, then the first thing he does on his power trip is look for your real name in government registries. 

He gets a thrill out of taunting you with your inability to do anything against his regime, your inability to stop L’s death, and makes a show out of how much he has everyone wrapped around his finger. He is cruel and enjoys mocking how subordinate you are to his will now that your life lies in his palm—free to crush should he wish to.

Sooner or later, he comes to the conclusion that maybe he wants to keep you around. His fascination morphs into an obsessive fixation and desire for you. You, who he has grown accustomed to as a thorn in his side, but now, cannot escape. 

Your pretty face doesn’t hurt in his decision to keep you around—not that he is one to have his judgement clouded by such things.

Light tracks your every move, and has the resources to drag you back to him if need be.

Do not expect help from anyone—as those who know the true identity of “Kira” are either hopelessly devoted to him, or dead. 

No one would believe you anyway, even if you did tell what you know. Light is the golden child of the Yagami family, admired and respected by everyone. 

Perhaps it is best for your own good to appease him, at least until you can become acquainted with Near.

Maybe then, you will have some chance of escape. 

[lipstickchainsaw]

Goddess.

Definitely a bigger name! Let's see what we've got:

The poor Woman in Blue, forever drowning in paranoia because despite her power literally aligning capes to her side, making her best interest their highest priority, she still saw people doing things she wouldn't do. This was because, frankly, she was not very smart, and other people were better at achieving her goals than she was, leaving all of them on their toes, because being too smart saw her turn against them.

In that sense, she is a commentary on tyranny, on the idea of an absolute monarchy, where the person at the top has all the power. However much you gesture at divine providence or whatever, no person can rule on their own, at least not at scale. They will have people below them who also make decisions, and whose competence about receiving and filtering information is vital to the success of the regime. Even the absolute monarch only knows as much as they know, and can only make decisions based on that.

It's very funny that Goddess literally does have a fairly nuanced danger sense to help with that, it's just that she is, once more, too stupid to properly appreciate it, and too paranoid to really lean on the people around her to help her understand.

In Ward, where every faction and even individual is trying to figure out how to run a society after the apocalypse, Goddess makes for a very obvious 'this doesn't work' scenario. This is, of course, true, Goddess is incapable of wielding all the power she has, in part because she was kind of a vain, entitled idiot before she got her powers, but also because the powers she had (those of an absolute monarch) fostered that behaviour. When everyone around you is telling you only what you want to hear, it doesn't matter how smart you are, because you're still not getting the right information.

But, of course, the core part of why she's even an antagonist, is that she thought she could do nothing else than try to reestablish her rule, because she was convinced that someone would try to assassinate her regardless. She couldn't let go of power, only grasping for new ways to get back to what she used to have.

Which is when she finds Amy, naturally, who, to be frank, treats her like a Replacement Goldfish for Victoria, even trying to establish the kind of relationship she had with Victoria in Arc 2 of Worm.

Except, of course, she's not Victoria (although she exists in contrast to her and Fragile One's 'Tyrant' plan for her), and she doesn't just let Amy be the voice of reason restraining her worst excesses without having to look more deeply at her own desires. Instead, Goddess, Bianca, forces a confrontation with what Amy really wants, and it goes badly enough Amy can't bring herself to keep playing the part she did, and instead help kill her.

Thereby finally justifying the paranoia, but too late.

[babe-in-red]

Hi again, can I ask something from Trigun? What do you think are Vash and Wolfwood’s greatest personality strengths and weaknesses? Why? What do you love about their dynamic? Sorry if you've answered these questions before.....

P.s

If you want to answer the questions above with Gojo and Geto's dynamics, I also don't mind....

I can answer both!

About vashwood:

Well, at first, Wolfwood, who must have been insanely confused after all the experiments, is one of the most stable characters in the Trigun universe. Though his morals are limping, you can clearly see why. As a child, Wolfwood was kind, understanding, and helpful. The big brother for the orphans. As an adult, he still fought against the regime he was in, and though they tried to break him and brainwash him, his strong personality, in the end, soaked through. I believe a good person in their heart cannot be completely corrupted.

Also, when Wolfwood loses his shit because of Vash being Vash, that's one of my favorite things about him. He shows how deeply he cares while denying it. The denial originates in Wolfwood. He's loving by nature, so when he pretends to be the big bad Wolf, he simply can't... someone save him. He really is *uses Vash's soft voice* Wolfwood.

Wolfwood's kindness and confusion are what make him the most human. His experience is something else.

About Vash--Ah Vashie Vash, Spikey Head, Tongari, Blondie, dumbass. Who wouldn't love Vash? I mean, that dude can be irritating by his inability to read danger, but then he's a plant (angel), and his beliefs are strongly installed in his bones. Vash is everything we wish to be, but Vash also has power we don't, so we simply sit in the corner. My love for Vash started when I understood that's exactly why he helps everyone. Because he has the power.

He possesses the strongest soul among the fictional characters. Incredible person, I'll tell you. Stubborn, maybe, and can't explain exactly why, but he knows in his heart. It's an instinct we lack. So, when Wolfwood doesn't understand why anyone would throw themselves into the pit like Vash, then the answer is instinct. I wish I knew what to do the second the problem appeared before me. That's what I love about Vash---quick in decision, unstoppable.

So, summing it up. I love their unstoppable, strong spirits.

Tired, but will always put together enough energy to keep going.

Admirable.

They are a part of one cake. You know, as a two-tier cake. The first tier is chocolate, and the second is vanilla. They taste different, but together they are delicious. It's their flavor.

Ah, I simply love vashwood.

Satosugu:

I wish we knew more about Suguru's background. About his childhood and his family. It's hard to go into depth when you don't know someone on that level. Suguru, however, is a typical traditional man; you can say he was raised in a strict family and led to follow traditions.

I like Suguru for the fact he treats everyone the same. And now, see the trait he shares with Satoru? They treat everyone the same until they don't, yet they do. It's really simple. Suguru met Satoru and was absolutely not phased by the Gojo prodigy boy. He treated him the same as he treated others. He normalized Satoru having friends despite his BIG status. I think that's also where Shoko sunk with them. She saw an opening and slid in.

Even after Suguru got lost for ten years, got his hair done, and then came out with villain plans, he still treated everyone the same--we all were monkeys, whatever, dude. There was no one less monkey than the other one. We were a zoo for him, lmao. I gotta let him have this one.

Also, he's funny, like, don't even let me start. And devoted to his thing. Loves children and is caring, even for those monkeys he keeps cleaning for money. Suguru is another example of a good man who cannot be completely corrupted. And you could see that during the fight in the movie. When even Satoru said that he trusted Suguru, he wouldn't seriously harm his students (mind, one of them was Maki with no cursed energy--monkey.)

When it comes to the Gojo brat, I gotta say we are too similar. I mean, the weirdness we possess is something so strongly judged. Being called a weirdo or idiot, but then you have people trailing you and following like shadows. When You have absolutely everything (which I absolutely don't), then it's hard to keep living. People usually live for their dreams, but when your dreams are all fulfilled, then what? You want to have goals, but you are on top of everything you touch. It's all fun while you can compete. You keep fighting.

I think Satoru was isolated most of his life, yet he always stayed true to himself. Rather be himself and hated than loved for who he wasn't. You can have friends and pretend every day, or you can be alone but be at peace with yourself.

I don't really care if he's a self-centered dumbass; his self-respect and self-love are what so many of us lack.

Summarized, once again two strong characters with different flavors come up together, fitting each other gaps.

[shivroyscunt]

^^^ just saw this post and i needed to like. put in words why this can be true but still does not accurately capture the historical and geopolitical context surrounding the entire situation.

nobody is saying that hamas themselves are enacting #progressive revolution. theres no such thing as “progressive” when it comes to revolution, there is only desperation and anger and the need to overthrow an oppressive regime. they are retaliating against years of occupation, oppression, and boiling tensions, and they are retaliating with just as much violence and horrific atrocities as the israeli state has enacted upon the people and land they occupy. it is easy for whataboutisms when we dont feel that violence and terror directed towards us — i personally will never know what it feels like to have my food/water supply cut off, my home raided, my life disrupted by daily violence and surveillance. you cannot expect occupied people (colonized) to not feel hatred for their oppressors (colonizers), and you cannot expect them (especially not the most radical groups) to react reasonably and peacefully after enduring decades of occupation and dehumanization (and when they do attempt peaceful resistance it is met with violence).

i dont want to get into zionist talking points about the holy land / ancestry / divine rights — this isnt about that. the modern day israeli-palestinian conflict is a direct result of colonial interference, and an issue of settler-colonialism, not a religious conflict. this is about the fact that since 1948, the western world (ie. britain and the US, colonial/imperial powers) has played a direct role in supporting and establishing the (secular) israeli military state both financially and politically. global powers have every reason to be in cahoots, america has every reason to push imperial/colonial propoganda rooted in racism, and their support has allowed israel to continue subjugating palestinians.

and to respond to this persons point about how hamas has given netanyahu the excuse he’s been waiting for to commit genocide — that is not the salient point you think you’re making. if the israeli government (on top of the ethnic cleansing and terror inflicted on palestinians over the past 50 years, the illegal and inhumane blockade on gaza for the past 15) decides to lean even more into genocide, that absolutely cannot be solely attributed to hamas’ recent act of (what western media has deemed) terrorism. sure, this might be a catalyst in the sense that archduke franz ferdinand’s assassination was a catalyst for ww1, but its obvious that, like with ww1, theres a lot more at play here.

also i just want to point out how baffling it is that the israeli government, which has one of the most well-funded and cohesive military operations in the world, was unable to predict or prepare for an attack like this (it feels fishy to me but i dont wanna get into conspiracy theories, so). i get that it was a “surprise” attack, but the israeli gov took it as an opportunity to declare war (as they have done throughout the last 75 years to occupy more land and displace more people from their homes). the fact that the israeli state is so ready to — as this person put it — commit genocide should be a deeply deeply troubling notion. we should not be defending/advocating for a police state, we should be condemning it.

i want to add that i am aware israel was a safe haven for jewish refugees during and after the world wars and the holocaust, and that there are now multiple generations of people/survivors who have experienced repeated historical trauma and oppression. these ppl deserve a place where they can feel safe — but the israeli state, the way it was built and the way it has evolved, is not a place of safety. antisemites have always and will continue to use this conflict as an excuse to hate jews, which is disgusting and reprehensible. those who use palestinian liberation as an excuse to call for the extinction of jewish ppl are not for true liberation.

i dont know what a solution to the conflict looks like, but i do know that the israeli state has driven the ppl of palestine to retaliate, and that liberation is not a pure simple or easy endeavor. people cannot afford moral purity when their lives and futures are in constant flux, when their basic human rights are on the line. this is a tragedy, no one is disputing that. it is devastating that innocent civilians suffer most in times of war, violence, and conflict. but that is the price of nationalism, the price of power and humanity at its worst, and what we are seeing today is the culmination of decades of oppression, decades of tragedies, small and large.

[fantasyinvader]

I went back to the parley scene, and I feel it’s a lot stronger than people give it credit for. Dimitri actually engages with Edelgard’s actions and ideals, and Hopes only gives more evidence to support him on this.

Dimitri: There had to be a way to change things in your territory without the need for so many senseless casualties.

Yeah, Hopes did show that Edelgard could oversee reforms to the Empire, only when she created her own Church preaching her ideals as those of the goddess that Rhea stepped in. But then, Hopes makes it very clear that Edelgard’s real goal is conquest of the entire continent so it was never about just reforming the Empire but to make the Empire span all of Fodlan and then change it to suit Edelgard’s will.

Edelgard’s whole spiel about how her path actually leads to the fewest casualties is counted with Dimitri saying that she’s deaf to her victims’ cries. Hopes made it very clear that Edelgard is someone who turns her head to things she doesn’t want to see. That she was so focused on seeing her endgame come to fruition that she was willing to turn a blind eye to what TWSITD were doing in the Empire, even if it meant sacrificing a close ally to them. Edelgard is obsessively devoted to the war, just like Dimtiri says, which makes any talk of her path being the one of fewest victims laugable. Of course you can claim it’s the best path when you deliberately ignore all the bad stuff.

Even those claims that Edelgard is doing this for the “weak and silent,” those who would continue to suffer under the current conditions, is called into question. Edelgard wants to impose her will upon all of Fodlan, Hopes making it clear that she’s wants to wipe out anyone who doesn’t bend the knee to her. The game titles her as HEGEMON after all, someone who has dominant influence or authority over others with the Japanese version of the game saying in her ending she imposed a “strong, centralized authority.”

Edelgard strengthens the position of the Imperial throne through her war, giving herself absolute authority to which she can give authority to those she feels have earned it. Those she views as having merit, those she views as STRONG. As for the weak, she says the following:  “ If after all of this you believe the weak will still be weak, that is only because they are too used to relying on others instead of on themselves.” If her system fails, it’s the fault of the people.

She says she’s doing this on their behalf, but she’s willing to sacrifice as many of them as needed in order to shape the world as she sees fit. The idea that change has to come from the people themselves is dismissed with Edelgard saying Dimitri knows nothing about the plight of the common man despite his years living as a fugitive (or just saying he had people to support him unlike her in the JPN text). Yet Edelgard uses her power to push down everyone who doesn’t agree with her, either stripping them of their own power or putting them into the dirt. She is not empowering the people, she’s empowering herself and Dimitri calls that out.

“Will you steal the power to take action from the broken-hearted masses you claim to defend? “

Which fits with the ENG text saying Edelgard’s regime puts down rebellions in the shadows. Again, Edelgard is titled as a hegemon across various routes. She is not power for the people, as CF outright says that the people of the Empire did not agree to this war (until Edelgard began spreading propaganda) and are being conscripted to fight. All this to make the world EDELGARD wants, peak self-righteousness (something she actually concedes).

“ And do you intend to become a goddess yourself? “ becomes relevent when you take into considering CF endings that says the Church comes back under Imperial supervision, though seemingly no longer the Church of Seiros, while in Hopes Edelgard openly starts her own Church and it’s influence is talked about in AG, where by accepting it as the faith of Fodlan you’re giving the Empire control of your country. At the same time, Edelgard is saying she has to do this because the Goddess doesn’t answer people’s prayers. Combine this with the meaning of the world “El,” something she wants Byleth/The player to call her, how her ending picture appropriates Napoleon’s coronation picture which in turn was based on an ancient statue of Zeus, or how Edelgard takes possession of the Sword of Serios... There’s a lot here to make Edelgard appear to have a god complex of sorts.

Not helping is the fact that she’s already captured Rhea, but still deems the war “necessary” for things to get better.

Dimitri is the one who actually sees Edelgard’s reforms for what they actually are. No wonder he gets vilified by the people who buy into her words despite the game outright portraying her as a liar. It also fits into the whole Oudou v. Hadou dynamic the devs said AM and CF have with each other, the one time the games actually address that Edelgard’s words are empty.

[whoiwanttoday]

I don't know how many people have seen the costume in the middle picture here, I last saw it at some point last week I think when it was first revealed. This is Viktoria Apanasenko, the current Miss Ukraine, and that is her costume for part of the Miss Universe contest which she has called the Angel of Light to symbolize her countries fight against the darkness. And just goddamn if that isn't the most bad ass thing I have ever seen. Besides the fact that it is utterly amazing, it also is courageous and uplifting and it felt to me to be the perfect way to finish out this year because she seems to just embody the courage of the Ukrainian people that is flat out astonishing at times. A lot bad has happened in the world and the invasion of Ukraine is awful. I am not one for silver linings but this war has provided me one anyway. The way that the people of Ukraine have absolutely refused to back down in the face of swelling tide of authoritarianism is inspirational and fills me with so much hope. It has forced Western Democracies to step up and finally draw a line. Perhaps it's not ok to get in bed with dictatorships just because it makes us a little bit more comfortable. I know not everyone agrees with me but I buy plenty of useless crap and I am ok buying slightly less because it's slightly more expensive if it means not fueling oppression both abroad but also at home because let's remember, these very same regimes are doing all in their power to subvert democracy where you live as well. I know you think I might not know here you live but I don't have to because if you live in a democracy it is currently happening. And Ukraine was supposed to roll over. They were not supposed to have the will to fight for their fragile and flawed democracy. Not that long ago they had to toss out someone who was likely not fairly elected. This is a country where democracy was supposed to fade away and a strong man puppet would be installed and that would be it because that's just the way of things. Those people over there can never handle democracy and so this was inevitable. Except it wasn't and they fought and they fight and they have shown that actually things like giving people a voice isn't the weakness some try to paint it as. It's inspirational and it gives me hope than maybe the rest of us, those further from the front lines, those who live more comfortably, can actually get our shit together as well. So I love that picture. It's badass and it's beautiful and it is hopeful. And she is beautiful either way but just remarkably beautiful with a sword and wings. I will just share her words here because it's all I need to do in the end to justify why she is here today, "It is the personification of inner strength, courage, determination and will flowing in our veins. War cannot break our strength and will not discolor our hearts. Ukraine will bloom like a phoenix even in a fire. It shines with bright rays of kindness and faith. We are all true warriors of light - unbreakable, made of steel, who will definitely defeat the darkness and evil that has come to our land". Today I want to fuck Viktoria Apanasenko.

[zevranunderstander]

the current genocide happening in palestine so brutally opened my eyes about german politics in terms of antisemitism awareness it kind of makes me sick

the german school curriculum does a lot for antisemitism awareness and for analysis and discussion of WWII and holocaust. i am not jewish so i can't say how much a jewish person would judge the methodology to be effective, but in school we extensively talked about how the fascist regime came to power in germany, why the movement was rooted in antisemitism, and while i think you could have gone into more detail about some aspects of it, i felt like my school at least laid a very solid basis for having an anti-fascist understanding. germany is very much funding a lot of jewish art and projects that are dealing with the holocaust, there are some quite well-known holocaust memorials and visiting a concentration camp is something most school classes do at some point.

and i genuinely think this is a good thing, there is a platform given to jewish people who want to express their indescribable trauma and anger and grief at the holocaust through art and museums and exhibitions and talks and monuments and in my personal opinion it did a lot in terms of creating awareness for antisemitism and the dangers of fascism, and please do not think that i view these things to be bad in any way

but one thing that has always bothered me that this applies to the holocaust ONLY, it is of course one of the worst against humanity commited, but germany never took responsibility in ANY way for the Herero and Namaqua genocide or any other atrocities commited. the most Namibia ever got was a weak apology that amounted to 'we aknowledge it :( sorry :('.

and at the same time germany hails itself as modern and progressive and past all barbarism and is publically atoning for the holocaust in every form they can. so the funding of these projects to me always had that sense of creating an image of atonement, more than actually atoning for a past. funding something good for the wrong reason still creates something good, but if you analyse it a bit, you can clearly see that this atonement is not for actual atonement's sake, but is instead done so that germany can be internationally respected again and is allowed to be in the Important Councils™ again, that france, the uk and the us are in, and so that they can officially be internationally "forgiven" by the other countries

i don't think this is an 'agenda' so to say, i think it's a lot more complex than that, and that politicians often probably actually want to combat antisemitism, but i don't want this post to go on forever, so just right now understand that in germany antisemitism awareness as a talking point has kind of become something that is universally aknowledged as "good", even the really fascist parties aren't stupid enough to have openly antisemitic talking points (they still are mad about every other minority, so idk if you're really supposed to believe that). and i again want to state that that is genuinely very good, that open antisemitism is seen as such a huge political no-go. openly denying the holocaust is a pretty severe crime in germany and you can get in REAL trouble for it and that is also a very very good thing!

however, all of this public atonement is fine and good, but what has germany done for the actual families of the victims of the holocaust? well. they paid 3 billion marks in reparations to a state that didn't exist 4 years prior to the agreement, which is, of course, israel. since its founding, germany has at every turn helped legitimize israel's existence and it's representation as the jewish homeland, while barely otherwise aknowledging victims of the holocaust when it comes to reparations

and in the modern day they have absolute gall to use this framing - that germany themselves created that israel is the state that we need to pay our atonements to - against everyone daring to speak up against the genocide in gaza. i know that a lot of western states try to frame support of palestine as antisemitic, but nowhere is it as insidious as in germany. the state that seemingly atones for genocide is calling speaking up against a genocide a hatecrime.

like i said, germany does a lot of things correctly but for the wrong reasons and now those wrong reasons stand in the way of the image they have previously set up as a peace-loving modern nation, and so they just hold up jewish people as a shield against any criticism of their defense politics, claiming that people opposing them are antisemitic, (which, like said before, is pretty much an universally aknowledged "bad thing") running news stories and quotes of zionist jews on the political situation and framing this occupation as "the jewish people of all the world vs. the evil terrorist palestinians", not caring how much actual antisemitism they create in the population, and how much they harm actual jewish communities, when they directly frame them as the enemy of the besieged palestinian population

[semi-imaginary-place]

more ffxvi liveblogging spoilers!

oh no clive is getting inspired by cid's ideals and believing in them. cid is so dead! one he has no more narrative worth and nothing more to teach clive its game over for him.

xvi is pulling a fe gaiden learn to live without the gods. learn to use agriculture to grow your own food. clive you fool you should absolutely be asking for more concrete proof and then look to get it independently verified that the mothercrystals are destroying the world before just taking someone's word.

ffxvi is really good at making sidequests that i don't want to do.

if moore and sabreque hate masterless branded so much than that arrangement with jill would have worked better than clive running around on his own.

i does bear saying that bearers in sabreque and rosaria at least, are slaves. to the bought, sold, and commanded as their masters see fit. like in rosaria any masterless bearer's ownership defaulted to the state.

there's something to be said about how... clique-y? or maybe just xenophobic everyone is. clive is soooo lucky that he's got friends of friends of friends who all want to help him and let him into the network. he's out here collecting pokemon badges and those badges really do make the difference between night and day. clive would have gotten no where without cid and his network or network of favors. part of it in probably everyone hates bearers but im starting to think most people hate outsiders in general. local politics (the tokens) are more powerful than bigotry against bearers,

wandering around sabreque, keeping the imperial armor could have come in handy.

"The way I understood it is that magic requires the user to draw upon ambient aether, either through a crystal or innately (Bearers/Dominants). Since the Deadlands are bereft of aether, there’s nothing to draw upon = no magic." (StickyBarb). Hmm that would mean all Dominants are Bearers, they simply aren't branded as such because Bearer is a political/class term and Dominants are too useful. Still doesn't quite explain Clive since no one knew he was Ifrit's Dominant.

why do i get the feeling this whole destroy the mothercrystal terrorist act is going to go poorly. wait that white on cid's arm is he turning to stone.

aetherflood/poisoning might not harm you dominants but what about torgal? more fuel to the magic dog fire i guess.

just like the ancient technology the only thing that can destroy the mother crystal is eikon power. the fallen, the mural at the phoenix gate sanctum apoca....thy??, the eikons, the wraiths, the mothercrystals, the game is telling us that it is all connected.

i was just thinking its rare that videogames have something beautiful be bad and that could be an interesting take. but also what if cid got it all wrong. what if the mothercrystals were channeling aether to seal something much worse and we just broke that seal. maybe whoever is trapped is trying to use clive. speculation on my part but theory crafting is half the fun

ok evil ancient civilization got sealed away by the mothercrystals and is trying to posses clive to get out. typhon fight was pretty cool best typhon yet.

how convenient that clive in unconscious when joshua shows up. joshua seriously on some main character quest to save the world. goes and seals the big bad evil inside himself. goddam. i'd say a normal person would get crushed by rubble but none of the other stuff killed him so who knows.

hmm i think you guys might have caused the collapse of a nation. with sabreque weakened dhalmek or woelod are just going to invade and i'll be more of the same. that plan of your only work if you destroy all of the mothercrystals in tandem thus maintaining the balance of power and political stability. when a regime collapse, even a corrupt bad one things usually get worse as local warlords and gangs move in. well actually dhalmek is a republic not a theocracy so at least there's that.

timeskip???

yup clive takes up cid's mantle

doing timeskips is fine but you have to make them count and so far im not convinced of either of the timeskips. it doesn't feel 13 years and it doesn't feel 5 years. i could have easily been 8 years and 2 years and would have been just as believable.

oh right sabreque took the crystal dominion. dhalmek's not going to be happy about that.

deus ex fortune 500 uncle. clive its rather rude to not visit your uncle for 18 years or at least let him know that you are alive and only show up when you need a favor. very rude.

mark of the guardians. sounds like a great way for the cops to identify you. wade is right though, old soldiers, its been 18 years. any of the original shields are at least in their 40s.

what annoys me is that even before the timeskip all the villagers were talking about how the imperials were coming after the bearers, all while hideout was talking about needing people. and well titan crushed the place but now its the exact same thing. there's a place for them to go so why doesn't clive talk with wade about getting these people out of rosaria.

CLIVE! YOU DIDN'T EVEN WRITE TO YOUR UNCLE.

hmm 20 years since rosaria fell. i stand by what i said earlier it doesn't feel that long. clive still feels more like 30 than 35

jill's killing the pope. hell yeah.

you'd think with the ifrit powers and the volcano aesthetic, clive would be resistant to heat and fire and lava

yeah its real fucking weird that jill didn't try and rescue these women she'd spent 13 years protecting. writer! why would you do this to her character. when introduced as shiva she reminded me of those bulls bounds in irons so strong that they no longer needed the physical ones. shiva could have killed the leadership at any time, she couldn't have killed all of them but she could have taken out a lot and she didn't because other's would have paid for her actions. that's her establishing character moment. but then the writers didn't do anything with that for 6 years.

what did joshua do? he raised his hand the lava went crazy and then a fire thing showed up to fight. wait no joshua took off the brown cloak, who was that.

oh he's still alive. go girl! go! kill him! kill him dead! woooooo!

mhmm the mothercrystals are definitely seals on ultima and for every one clive and jill break, a greater burden in placed on joshua who is using his body as a seal.

20 years and Anabella looks exactly the same. I'm surprised that son isn't older, like he looks 10. you're telling me Anabella didn't immediately jump the emperor but waited 9 years. I heard speculation at the beginning that Anabella isn't actually Clive's biological mother (well she's not an actual mother either) or that there's some sort of hereditary drama with the Rosfields given how much Clive doesn't look like Anabella and how much Joshua doesn't look like Elwin, and also how young Anabella looked when Clive was 15 but that could also just be the jrpg thing you can never tell. … did old man Elwin Rosfield have Clive out of wedlock? would help explain why Anabella hated him so much, why she says his bloodline in filthy, and why she said something along the lines of that he's the son of a whore.

oh right jill is from the north lands essentially taken as a political hostage so that her family and the other northerners don't attack rosaria. weird how this isn't addressed either. like you'd expect her to idk have opinions or something on the people that ripped her away from her family even if the archduke treated her well.

vivian where were at the beginning of the game

kupo? hugo! invasion of rosalith, is this the first time clive has been back to his hometown?

and of course jill has to play damsel. she coudl have fought harder than that. blow them up.

thats a point for the magic dog hypothesis

i might be slow on this but maybe clive can't summon ifrit because joshua sealed ultima and ifrit is tied to ultima. but clive also still has ifrit's combat abilities which is why i forgot he couldn't summon ifrit because he only couldn't use that power in cutscenes.

mythos. clive's head voice/ultima/hooded man also called him that. and i think that was the man from the opening round table. one of ... waloed's. a normal man would die of bloodloss from having his hands cut off but hugo is a dominant, but i dont think he's getting those back.

in and out eh i guess we wont be having any revolutionary or nationalist sentiments today.