#an adequate offering (memes)

[captivegod]

tags !!

[verstarppen]

A THANK YOU LETTER

an apology and update! for all you beautiful people - 2 for the price of 1

hello! over the months i've written and deleted this letter because i was too much of a coward to show my face after i left. i contemplated if it would be adequate enough, if it even matters. At the end, i owe this fandom too much, so here it is:

THE APOLOGY

i am truly sorry. there's no better way of putting it.

the more i create the more i realise how this fandom held my hand and i simply wouldn't be the person i am now if this blog never existed. i've always struggled with sharing art and writing online, as i thought it was too lame and took the coward route of keeping it to myself and my closest friends.

ever since this blog, i've found that less of an issue. the more i think about how much i let you and myself down by disappearing the more i feel the shame weigh me down. i never wanted to leave, but life has this funny way of forcing your hand when you least expect it.

without getting too personal, this year hasn't been great for me or anyone close to me - friendships died, family members were hospitalised, university crushed me, expectations from everyone around me made me question if i'm failing in every aspect of my life, i lost passions like art - something i've always thought of as my dream career, and i fear the stress will only grow rather than die down.

in some of those harder moments i would always turn to a distraction, create something for a fandom i enjoy to get my mind off things. to see your comments and your messages always kept me going even when i physically couldn't take the stress of everything around me anymore. being busy made my flame for F1 dwindle, too. it's one of the main reasons i didn't return earlier. I've missed half the races this year, yes that includes both lando and oscar's wins, and although im looking forward to the summer break ending and the racecs coming back, i don't think the enthusiasm will ever return to the way it was when this blog was at its peak.

i feel like a coward for disappearing and it's a big regret of mine this year. i can't promise to write for F1 again, but what i've made will always be archieved here :)

THE UPDATE

not great. i can't even lie i'm not doing too hot right now. i promised i would return to writing when things finally calmed down and yet the more stress there was the more one off projects i made to combat it. throughout the months i've accumulated a lot of side projects for different fandoms like star wars, star trek, dc, merlin and lesser known fandoms such as heavy rain, mortal kombat, the sims (no seriously have you seen the lore) etc. that i have nowhere to post. in april i decided i can't afford (literally) to distract myself with any hobby projects for the sake of my situation and thus... i was an idiot and i deleted my ao3 account. there weren't that many stories on there anyway, but i regret it even if it was the right decision.

i owe @wtfisakilometer2 so much for telling me that the people who love the blog wouldn't mind what fandom it is as long as it's by me, even if i don't fully believe it. it did open my eyes to finally write this, though, so direct all your love to her.

so that leaves me here, sort of homeless on my own blog and with very conflicting feelings about it's direction. i intend to preserve it as an archive of my F1 writing without messing with it, but still let you know about my new ao3 and everything on it so i can keep both our interests in mind.

thank you for reading if you made it this far, i hope you have an awesome day and a lot of cat memes in your pinterest. thank you for all the lovely messages (i read everything) and thank you for everything this fandom has offered me. i will truly never get over you guys.

- star :)

[super-paper]

What was the point of Chapter 419 with AFO giving Tomura decay and being involved in his life since he was born, besides generating AFO is behind everything and Kotaro gay affair memes?

I still believe Hori could have pulled this off if he hadn't veered completely off course after 419 because a LOT of Tenko's (and AFO's) arc revolves around the concepts of "identity" and fantasy vs reality (Like, just scratching the surface: AFO attempting to escape from his reality through fantasy, Tenko angrily attempting to pull away the curtain of fantasy and expose the cruel reality of their world. AFO using "reality" as his source of power by claiming its victims for himself, Tenko using "fantasy" as his power by offering those same victims a dream and the promise of an "escape" from their painful reality. "Shigaraki Tomura" as the fictional construct that both AFO and Tenko are attempting to insert themselves into, for both different and similar reasons-- Tenko because he decides to embrace the fact that he killed his family and uses it as evidence that he was "born evil" and "wanted them to die" as a way of explaining his existence. AFO because he wants to escape from the reality that he murdered his brother, while also escaping from the reality of his origin as a helpless infant who no one would look at no matter how much he cried. Blah blah blah etc etc when I say u have to read AFO and Tenko's arcs as a set instead of getting angry at AFO for "inserting himself into Tenko's story," I really do mean it lmao).

Like, MVA aside, Chapter 115 in particular set the tone for Act 2 and HEAVILY foreshadowed what Tenko's arc would end up being about:

(lmao ya'll there is so much evidence in Act 2 that points to the idea that Hori really did want to write a deconstruction of your typical hero story. like, the framing of this panel with Jin angrily turning the TV off when they start talking about "focusing on the positives"????😭I get so sad when I think about the mha we coulda had)

(Side note: Jin was just so so so good as both a character and as a device meant to introduce the reader to MHA's concepts of identity + how a "hero/villain" identities are frequently used as crutches to stop a person from breaking apart under the weight of their trauma

..... which of course makes the fact that Hori rendered his death pointless in the end all the more upsetting :/)

(Pictured: AFO and Tenko fighting over the role of Shigaraki Tomura)

(this scene where Jin talks about the importance of knowing "who u really are" immediately transitions to a scene with AFO, btw. lmao)

((As an aside: 115 is another shining example of how Hori is definitely a competent writer, bc it manages to set up pretty much the entirety of Act 2 + its themes up in just 15-17 pages-- which is all the more reason why the extremely poor quality of MHA's conclusion is so hard to swallow. I definitely don't believe in blaming the editors/publishers alone for how things turned out, but all the same, I do think there was some executive meddling from behind the scenes bc of how rushed and disjointed the epilogue ended up being. It's not the quality we're used to, not by a long shot, and you can tell as much by reading pretty much any chapter before 423.)) /tangent over

ANYWAY. To me, it ways always pretty obvious that AFO was more or less grooming Tenko to be his perfect ~Demon Lord~ OC-- the idea of treating a real person like a fictional character is something I find pretty terrifying + it's something that further emphasizes MHA's metafiction elements, with Tenko being trapped in a role that was written for someone else. I feel that there was adequate build up to AFO being "the author" behind Shigaraki Tomura, specifically-- and it all seemed to be leading up to a point where Tenko would be encouraged to break free & finally take control of his own story ("I needed to hear those words" -> "Those guys (the villains) need a hero, too" -> "You CAN be a hero" "Uh, whoopsie??" 🥲🥲🥲)

Sadly it ends up amounting to nothing because..... Tenko isn't even allowed to fully process the implications of his birth/life and how this has influenced his actions/beliefs/"dream" before exploding, a core scene between him and Nana gets offscreened, and our MC never even bothers to react to the revelation that Tenko's life was scripted. It renders a HUGE part of Tenko's character arc almost completely pointless because we get no actual resolution/pay off for everything that was set up. Like, so much of the finale + epilogue just feels like Hori was going down a check list of plot points/parallels he wanted to include before putting MHA out of its misery, rather than building up to them naturally-- and it's just sad it had to end this way, bc, well. It didn't HAVE to end this way. Hori had all the ingredients necessary to make something truly wonderful, but he didn't use them.

[2c75ff]

Give us a 3! Give us an 8! And a big ol' 36!

🔵 'BE HONEST' meme . ACCEPTING

What current rp trend do you hate?

This isn't specific to RP by any stretch, although I do see it crop up in these spaces with at least enough regularity to find it offputting every time. To phrase this as succinctly as possible, I find the 'proship/antiship' framework bafflingly reductive, and have no interest in engaging with it or pretending that I think it's a dichotomy conducive to fostering mature, nuanced discussions or perspectives about...anything, really.

Name any three things about the rpc that bother you.

⚙️ I believe we all fall into this trap sometimes, but I think that RPers can sometimes be much quicker to ask/invite/expect others to do the work of reaching out, sending thoughtful asks/prompts/messages/feedback, plotting, etc. than they are to offer that service or take that initiative themselves. It's fine to ask for things or want others to do the work sometimes, but it's also important to look inward and assess exactly how much thoughtful, meaningful effort you're putting out there yourself.

⚙️ When 'drama' happens, it often balloons in a way that isn't remotely necessary simply because people feel the need to weigh in and talk about it on the dash even if they're uninvolved. You know how traffic will sometimes pile up for miles on the highway, and then when you get close enough to the source to realize what the issue is, it's just a minor fender-bender on the shoulder that everyone for some reason feels the need to slow down and gawk at--? Same principle. Mind your business and move the fuck along.

⚙️ In a nutshell: it often seems as if players want their characters to be seen as 'kinky' simply because they assume that 'vanilla' is a bad thing, rather than because they actually have any understanding of or appreciation for what kink means, how kink dynamics or spaces work, etc.

What’s one thing that other people seem to hate that doesn’t bother you?

I don't think the English language contains words that could adequately convey the sheer immensity of the fuck I do not give about people reblogging memes or whatever from me instead of from the source, or if they reblog it without sending me anything. I don't know if the optics are different on my devices or what, but I've always seen other people say that it messes up their notifications when people 'use their blog as a meme resource' or whatever, and I've always found that utterly baffling simply because I've never had that issue myself. So, people can do whatever as far as I'm concerned. It really doesn't make a difference to me where people reblog their memes from.

[gigglesandfreckles-hp]

I am INTRIGUED by this footballer AU. The idea of lily and sirius going on a horrible date is hysterical. Please share more if you feel so inclined 👀

of COURSE i feel inclined!!!

this is mostly just an extension of my personal belief that sirius black would be the worst date ever for anyone on the planet. you don't have to agree, but i just think he's so horribly unsuited for romance and i want to exploit that in every way. (sirius black is my favourite character in all of harry potter, so this is not at all hate-inspired.)

here is another snippet for you, featuring The Date™️ :

Lily takes another sip of her drink, glancing around the restaurant before her eyes settle back on Sirius, who is still engrossed in his phone. She clears her throat, determined to keep the conversation alive. "So, Sirius," she begins, "Gideon mentioned that you have a motorbike." He glances up briefly, disinterest evident. "Yeah." His eyes immediately return to his phone. Lily bites the inside of her cheek, trying to stay patient. "I've never been on one, but I can see the appeal. At least it keeps you off the Tube." She forces a small laugh, but the only response she gets is the incessant tap-tap-tap of his fingers on the screen, accompanied by a vague grunt. "Is everything alright?" she asks, an edge creeping into her voice. "If you need to be somewhere else—" "Huh?" He looks up, momentarily confused. "Oh. No, my mate just sent me this meme." He holds his phone out toward her, as if this is an adequate peace offering. "Funny, yeah?" Lily glances at the graphic on his screen, not understanding it at all. "Quite."

isn't he just the worst? i love him so much.

[ice-and-lightning]

@starlighttrain sent a caring meme:

[BANDAGE] //Either Dan Heng or Arlan patching the other up like we talked about? After they both know™ of course.

Arlan had noticed the injury. Before their trip to the Facility, before they both found out more about the other, he would have expected Dan Heng to get any care he needed from his Nameless friends.

Now, he knows better.

He doesn't want to overstep, but this injury is not in a place easy to reach on your own and although he has read that vidyadhara heals well, it doesn't mean their injuries shouldn't be taken care of.

When asking to bandage Dan Heng's injury, he hadn't expected him to say yes. The fact that he did so made Arlan's chest feel warm. An unfamiliar, but not unwanted, feeling.

To make sure they weren't disturbed, he brought Dan Heng to his own room. It wasn't among the other crew quarters and was actually a remade storage room. Arlan wanted to be close to both the Master Control Zone and the Supply Zone. Asta didn't like it, but had given in once he agreed to remake the storage room to a fully functional crew quarter.

It was a rectangular room. One of the long sides had a wall-attached single loft bed with a desk and chair underneath. The desk was also attached to the wall. The free space of the wall between the bottom of the bed and the desk was covered in a large touch screen, showing thirty small video screens. Yes, it is indeed security feeds. Not even his private room was free from work. Without those screens, he would most likely never be here besides when needing to sleep. The opposite wall had three doors: one leading into a small shower and toilet, the other was a double door leading to his closet. The closet is depressingly empty. Along the entire wall, above the doors, were two selves with boxes neatly stacked next to each other. Most of the interior is the same kind of metal as the rest of the space station. There's only four obviously personal things: a dog bed under the desk (but to the side), a clay bowl with water by the dog bed (it looks suspiciously handmade with Peppy painted onto it in Arlan's handwriting), a photo in a digital frame with him and Peppy playing holodisc on the desk and a manga volume (mecha, a piece of paper sticking out from it).

As they enter the room, Arlan notices his manga volume and quickly remove one of his gloves and place it on top of the book, feeling embarrassment churning in his stomach. "Sit," he orders gently, turning the chair towards Dan Heng before fetching his medical supplies in his closet and removing his other glove, his right one.

Once Dan Heng is adequately exposed, and Arlan having offered to help him remove the coat, he washes his hands before he starts working. First cleaning the wound and then examining it better. "It might need stitches," he declares, wondering if his friend wants to, or even can take, any painkillers before he puts a needle in him.

[leqclerc]

Hello, hello 😊 Just a quick PSA for all my fellow Sebchal enthusiasts out there ❤️

It was recently brought to my attention by an interested potential participant that we're entering Secret Santa season (where did the time go??)

Now, it's late November already, and with sign-ups, matching, sending out assignments, the exchange would probably open in early December, which would put the participants on a bit of a time crunch (plus any unforeseen troubleshooting delays, etc.) in what's already a busy season for a lot of people. And frankly I'm not sure I'd be an adequate host for such an event this year.

But I do love the gift-giving spirit that's so prevalent this time of year, and I know there's still a lot of active people in this community. As long as there's interest, I'm willing to go ahead with some kind of event that conveys the same spirit but also offers a little more freedom for the participants. So, in lieu of a Sebchal Secret Santa exchange this year, I tentatively propose a kind of collective prompt-filling event. I would still have to figure out the logistics of it (collecting prompts, sharing prompts, etc.) as I've never hosted any sort of prompt meme before, just kind of saw them pop up here and there (and I would like it to be open to gifmakers/visual artists as well as fic writers) but I think it could be a fair compromise? 🙈

I've got a tentative timeline in mind for how this could potentially work, but for now I just wanted to gauge interest and see who would potentially be up for something like this. Feel free to let me know what you think/ask questions!

[wellmetmat]

For the rest of the ask meme:

[Edit: I forgot the best part, tagging three people as the tradition dictates! @o-craven-canto, @maklodes and @togglesbloggle, if you feel like answering any of the following, I'd be keen to see; if you don't, completely reasonable.]

1. What virtue do you most often see in other people that you feel comparatively deficient in?

Bravery. Industry. Activity. Self-control. Basically, any tendency to do things rather than not doing them.

(The qualities I most often to see other people espousing that I lack are abilities to conjure approved or suppress disapproved beliefs, sentiments and perceptions on demand: positivity, spirituality, and the strain of moral thought that says that lingering self-mortification via denial and violation of every natural drive in the service of love towards whomever the moraliser happens to be paying attention to is both possible to offer and reasonable to demand. But I don't really feel deficient in those - faith, and its corollary, martyrdom. I am unable to want any.)

3. If you could choose, what level of fame would you want? How many people would you want to recognise you?

It might be too much to keep up with in real life, but in imagination it would be perfect to write a good serial story and have it attract the ~fifteen most discerning and creative readers to whose taste it was suited, and then live richly for years in the high-quality additions we would all generate around it in perfect harmony of ideas but variety of talents, with online pseudonymity intact.

4. Where do you feel language is least adequate to capture, communicate, or express your experience?

Whenever talking to or reading the words of someone with alien values, I think, rather than when trying to describe certain experiences. That may mean that I'm not very good at communication overall.

5. If you had to come up with a question with the following criteria:

a) it should disuade knee-jerk reaction answers (i.e. it shouldn't be something people are likely to have spent a lot of time considering before)

b) it shouldn't be too specialised (the audience should be general, don't ask about people's top 3 byzantine spice merchants opperating between 754AD-816AD)

c) it shouldn't be needlessly emotionally charged or divisive

d) it should be a question you expect people to have lots of varied opinions about

What would your question be?

It's tricky! Er... "Have you ever deliberately and successfully changed yourself?". That meets criteria (b) and (d) well, and doesn't seem too bad on (a), since people may not have considered their actions in quite those terms before and will have to think a little about how they measure success; but it might fail (c). It would still be pretty generally interesting to hear answers to.

[raxistaicho]

“She started it!”

What better way to celebrate Engage’s release than with another Three Houses post?

So Emblemxeno a while back did a post that I found to be a really really useful springboard to tear into a defense I’ve seen bandied about by anti-Edelgard types for years. Some of you who’ve been with me for longer will partially recognize it from my “it was an accidental imperialism!” post from like last summer or so. Emblemxeno’s post was in reaction to the whole shitstorm that brewed over the ridiculous,

Tweet. I could make a whole post on this but it’s been argued to death already so there’s not much point.

Anyways,

That’s slander, sir!

Edelgard’s coup was bloodless. In Houses, at least. She just told Aegir what was what and the slimeball capitulated.

Aside from that you have the usual rap sheet I’ve talked about a dozen times. That said, nobody’s gonna deny she’s “directly violent” because uhh yeah, this be Fire Emblem, even Eirika and Corrin will be directly violent when they must.

As an aside, where’d this notion that Marth is a near-pacifist come from, anyways? Play Mystery of the Emblem sometime, Marth actually gets pretty fierce when it comes to it. Maybe it’s a Flanderization thing, New Mystery did soften him up considerably.

So yeah, notice how he put “you decided to attack first,” in italics? That emphasis is the crucial point around which his whole argument revolves. It only matters who starts the violence. Escalation isn’t a thing that exists, widening conflict doesn’t matter! With that pretty little meme at your side, you can easily rebuke the fact that recruiting enemies in Fire Emblem, in practice, often comes down to, “join us or we’ll have to kill you,” couched in flowery language.

And if you base you analysis of the morality of actions done during war with, “who started it,” as your starting point, you’re dead wrong and you’re opening the door to justifying pretty horrendous shit.

This is just to emphasize the point. Other Fire Emblem lords always act defensively so any counter-violence is fine in Emblemxeno’s eyes. That’s what makes them different from Edelgard for him.

Now in the case of Fire Emblem, villains are basically always so bankrupt of justification for what they do and the heroes tend to have such a spotless track record that it’s pretty easy to say, “well they started it!” Even the otherwise fairly-mature Tellius games have Daein in 9 and the Begnion Senate in 10 blatantly lacking any sympathetic qualities so the player never has to question their actions while they’re mowing down enemies for EXP.

Simple fact, the series just didn’t adequately prepare its core player base for gray morality, and the discourse surrounding Three Houses - the eternal effort to paint Edelgard black as pitch and Rhea and Dimitri white as the driven snow - is the result. Edea was wrong to categorize people that way in Bravely Default, people.

This part wasn’t very important, I just wanted to toss that in to remind everyone how many L’s Edelgard’s detractors collected when Hopes came out.

It’s cute how Emblemxeno tries to paint Edelgard, the one who most often offers her enemies terms of surrender, as the one who’s a hard-liner about her enemies surrendering.

Need I post, again, the whole “no quarter” line from Seteth during the Garreg Mach defense?

Need I post, again, that Count Bergliez had to offer up his own neck for his entire army to be granted quarter?

Need I post, again, Rhea saying she’d like to put the entire Adrestian army to the sword (which means executing them) herself (meaning personally) in Three Hopes?

It ain’t Edelgard who has issues with accepting surrender, Emblemxeno.

Now in regards to the Judith point, Judith was retreating, not offering surrender. They’re very very different things. Attacking an  enemy in retreat is justified under rules of war even to this day.

I also love how backed into a corner Edelgard’s detractors got over Seteth and Flayn now that it’s starting to become known that other units can non-lethally dispatch them. That Edelgard raises zero fuss over their survival, and in fact can let them retreat herself, certainly punches holes in the whole “she wants to genocide the Nabateans! D:” argument.

Finally, wow, three and a half years out and we’re still getting misinterpretations of her battle dialogue with Dimitri at Tailltean.

(Source)

Edelgard wasn’t going, “no you, you’re the one dragging this war out!” she was calling Dimitri out on the fact that if she fell, he would invade the Empire. She spent a few years in Faerghus with nothing to do, she’d have learned how Faerghus... uhh... reacts to misdeeds done to them. See what they did to Sreng. Twice.

Luckily, Fire Emblem as a series has gotten better about calling into question when the heroes begin to take defensive violence too far. Alm tries his damndest to avoid an invasion of Rigel and yet you’re still treated coldly by the commoners there unless you jump hoops and take out Nuibaba. In Three Hopes, the actions of Faerghus are frequently condemned once they actually invade Adrestia, and the player even ignorantly sabotages an effort by the western Adrestian Lords to rescue Edelgard from Aegir and Thales, which would have ended the war with much less bloodshed.

It’s almost as though the game was trying to convey that escalating the situation by bringing war to the Empire isn’t completely justified just because the Empire struck first. And then when this happened, Edelgard’s detractors threw a gigantic fit about it.

Something something “Edelgard can’t be cute and be serious at the same time.” “Why does Edelgard have no character development? Stop being a waifu.”

A male Edelgard exists: his name is Lelouch vi Britannia and I agreed with him too, Emblemxeno.

That’s because Conquest actually is naked imperialism, and of an intensely brutal sort, no less. Thankfully there’s no indication the Imperial army does anything even remotely close to Hans’s sacking of Cheve.

That’s because Micaiah was being coerced into assisting an out and out unabashed genocide attempt against the Laguz.

Sure feels like 2019 in here, seeing as how we’re back to deadass “why’s Edelgard going after the church? They didn’t do anything to her! D:”

There’s a reason Emblemxeno tends to lose arguments he gets into on Reddit. And then he flounces off for a couple months to fume about it.

And now we’re back to “Edelgard doesn’t know the true history(tm) of Fodlan!”

Now he’s just rapid-firing shitty anti-Edelgard arguments from ‘19 and ‘20 that got long debunked at us.

If only Rhea was just “creepy”.

So while we leave Emblemxeno impotently spewing out garbage points, let me make one more of my own.

So in Tactics Ogre, the game opens with two of the clans on the islands of Valeria, the Galgastani and the Walister, at war because the Galgastani have launched an out and out war of extermination against the Walister, whom they outnumber 7 to 1. Like an actual honest to god extermination campaign, with a forced labor camp and everything.

The protagonist, Denam, is fighting for the Walister resistance. At the end of chapter 1, their leader orders him to launch a false-flag operation against the Walister captives in a work camp and frame the Galgastani for it to unite the Walister and divide the Galgastani. Nearly everyone who learns of this becomes rightly outraged against Duke Ronwey.

Under this law of “who started it,” the Walister Resistance is a lot more justified in carrying out this kind of atrocity, since they’re only defending themselves against Galgastani “direct violence”.

That’s the peril in analyzing morality this way.

[foibles-fables]

November and December have been harsh for me, to put it lightly. I was getting on meds for my blown-off—to-god-knows-where-by-a-tornado mental health, and the drugs were taking my dissociation further, to a state where, thankfully, I didn’t feel any emotions at all. But as I started reading Because the Light Is Close, I found myself feeling what you were portraying - so beautifully - as Beatrice went through those 24 hours. And in the middle of the night, each time I read “sorry folks, it’s gonna be longer by yet another chapter”, I was delighted like I couldn’t be about anything going on in my “real” life. That fic, unexpectedly, offered me a wholesome, absolute escapism from myself when I really needed it. So this isn’t an “ask” but a big Thank You for giving my mind refuge and a safe place to feel when I couldn’t do it myself.

Hello there, kind friend!!! Please let me say that I've read this probably about forty times since it popped into my inbox last night, trying to think of an adequate way to respond. I'm honestly still not sure if I can muster one up, but I'm sure going to try!

I couldn't be more humbled or moved or stunned to read this. I wrote Because the Light Is Close during what ended up being a very transformative time in my life, and looking back on it now, there are shreds of that lingering all throughout the story. One of my goals as a writer is to be able to take something close-held and personal and translate it into an idea that comforts or provokes or embodies Something universal, even if that universal Something is different for everyone who reads. The fact that our individual perceptions are so mutable and variable, yet we're able to form connections like this over storytelling in general, never fails to strike a sense of awe in me. Beatrice and Ava's entwined narration in that one--asleep, awake, missing and reaching for but still being tethered to each other in-between--is one iteration of that connection. And I am so, so very glad BTLIC was able to reach for you in that same way.

It warms my heart (and, honestly, makes me tear up a little) that it was a bulwark and a safe place for you to lean, and I'm thrilled it brought you as much feeling as it brought me. Thank you, thank you, thank you for the kind words, it's a complete honor. I certainly hope life has settled more into the peace you deserve since then. ❤️❤️❤️

also--I do usually answer complimentary asks with a dumb but exceedingly genuine meme/macro image, and despite my wordier response here, I certainly want to give you one too ❤️❤️

[beigeshiba]

I love this political compass meme so much. Of all of them, it speaks deeply to my soul. Pretty much the only thing it'd need to be perfect is a grey crying centrist soyjack captioned "If we keep going the way we are now long enough, the consequences will form the apocalypse myth of the new religion of the tiny remnant of humanity which survives" See that blue one? That was me getting a fucking clue during covid. Hanging out with Indians and Turks was pretty much the main thing that kept me from losing my mind entirely and attempting a necromantic ritual to bring Temujin and Pol Pot back from the dead and unleash them upon a Melbourne that I felt sorely deserved their tender ministrations.

Because all the brown people understood that what was going on was bullshit while it felt like 90%+ of white people were all like "FOLLOWING ORDERS IS THE ONLY THING THAT WILL KEEP US ALIVE WE MUST FOLLOW ALL OF THE ORDERS ALL OF THE TIME OR ELSE WE'LL DIE! THIS IS SOMEHOW PREFERABLE TO DYING"

That was another important realisation I had during the Covid lockdowns. I figured out where the hell the line was drawn in terms of "Circumstances of living I would regard as preferable to death". And you know, it's awfully liberating understanding consciously what you would prefer to die than endure on an indefinite basis. Because if you are the sort of person who will tolerate anything just in order to stay alive then eventually you will find yourself having to tolerate just about anything, because people who can tell you feel that way, will exploit that.

Being willing to die gives you power over people, never forget that.

What this ultimately has to do with me being politically "Catholic" is that to me, the Roman Church offers the ability for both the Blue and Red quadrants to get what they want.

Catholicism is a religion that simultaneously promotes both the focus on charity, compassion and equity that Red Quadrant (at their best) is trying to achieve, while also having the focus on Family, Hierarchy and Tradition that Blue Quadrant (at their best) is trying to achieve.

And if you've ever been to different Catholic parishes, you'll notice: The more trad it is, the younger and more ethnically diverse the parishoners. If you're wanting a more traditional lifestyle, you gotta learn to love multiculturalism. If you want a more charitable and equitable society which recognises the dignity of workers, you gotta learn to love religion.

As for bottom quadrants, sorry fellas as far as I can tell, y'all are shit outta luck. Karl Popper with his "Paradox of Tolerance" already made it abundantly clear that open societies will inevitably undermine the very social foundations required for them to perpetuate because they will just keep letting in people who aren't interested in living that way.

It's actually kinda hilarious seeing Popper Gang focus with laserlike intensity on the "Nazis and Chuds" and being too busy othering and fetishising migrants they let in to understand these are mostly people who find liberalism to be decadent and alienating. What we have now is incoherent screeching about (insert minority here) "White Supremacists" and that's too little, too late. You already brought in the people that Team Blue will bring into victory, to own Team Blue. Thanks Team Green, you really gave us the what for! As for Team Yellow, yeah that's a realisation I came to after I left university, started working in private enterprise and very quickly came to the unpleasant realisation that corporations are owned by sociopaths who simultaneously fancy themselves as the absolute rulers of their own private little fiefdom, while being utterly incapable of governing themselves in anything remotely approaching a sustainable fashion. Capitalism's mostly been able to function adequately due to government regulators being able to get out the bonk stick when companies do stuff which undermines the specific economic, social and legal environment required for market based economies to function. Lately there's been way too few companies getting bonked and way too many companies doing things which deserve a good thrashing so don't get too attached to capitalism, kids, it's going away! As Marylin Manson said: Capitalism has made it this way, old fashioned fascism will take it away! He was really only wrong about the old fashioned bit. Turns out fascism doesn't need to be socially conservative at all, it's actually just as happy murdering people for corporate profit when wrapped in a pride flag as it is when doing so with a Swastika.

[canon-fcdder]

'Mmph!' (Kyle @ Demon!Pip bc YES)

-  ✩   「   @monmuses​​​   」   ✩

✩   「   Meme   」   ✩  

「 ☆ 」   Pip tries to be someone dependable. Able to take care of others, to hold his own in a crisis, to take a bad situation and make it BETTER. Those are all necessary qualities in a leader and as the Antichrist, he’s one of the biggest leaders there are... Or he’s supposed to be. True, assembling his army of devoted followers is taking longer than expected. His methods aren’t as forceful as one might expect from the son of Satan. But he’s sure people will see the merit in surrendering their souls willingly rather than being subjected to the cruelties of Hell as it currently is. Change always takes time... but he is persistent! And hopeful.

And someday, his kingdom of fire and damnation will be a pleasant place.

But for now, he must practice his leadership skills amongst the mortals who still deny him. Hardly an unpleasant fate; they are far easier to deal with than the demons who refuse to see Pip as their rightful ruler. Not to mention, the mortal realm is far more fun to engage in. Lately, Pip has taken to a neat concept known as ‘ romantic comedies ’. A treasure trove of knowledge about the inner workings of human relationships. Having spent his life isolated in the depths of Hell, he feels far more demon than human despite being technically equal parts both. Not that anyone would be able to guess, Pip’s satanic heritage showing with blinding blatancy.

Floating beside his companion Kyle, the demon lands onto the snowy ground before abruptly YANKING Kyle down by the front of his shirt. The poor man has to meet the far shorter one, Pip only offering the assistance of standing on his tiptoes. Figuring it’d be more inconspicuous than floating beside Kyle, wings and tail are also promptly hidden when their lips meet. But Pip can still feel his spaded-tail wagging happily as he... assists his friend. 

As a true protector friend should.

Humming happily into the surprising kiss, Pip marvels at how nice it feels. He’s never kissed someone before... but he’s certain Kyle must have kissed plenty. Still, Pip hopes he’s doing an adequate job of it. His heart hammers in his chest, body buzzing with elation and fear and another emotion that he can’t put a name to— but Pip has been feeling it more and more, chalking up the growing draw towards Kyle as impatience for the other to be soul-bound loyal to him. That’s likely it. A simple desire to protect him, which will be far easier once Kyle has promised his soul to someone who cares far more for it than God ever could. 

Waiting until he feels the evil presence pass them by, Pip pulls away from Kyle. Beaming a fanged grin, wings and tail return in a disorienting blink, suddenly there after what feels like them having NEVER been. Hands politely behind his back, as if they hadn’t JUST yanked Kyle into a kiss, he excitedly chirps,  ❝  No need to thank me! Being able to assist you is more than enough!  ❞  

As if Kyle should not only know what is going on, but would be about to thank Pip for it... Like it was the obvious solution to Kyle’s offhanded comment about not wanting to deal with Cartman. Hiding in plain sight with a classic ‘ don’t worry about these two uninteresting people, keep moving along ’ kiss?

Thank you rom-coms, for your infinite wisdom.   「 ☆ 」 

[shathyar]

shut the fuck up | for caesar mayhap

i forgot the meme.

he would not forget her grievances for the rest of his life, were there the option to. his hand reaches out almost lightning-quick, stops when her reflexes match his own and is met with resistance. a grimace crawls onto caesar's features, before he pushes past the disdain sprawled onto her face, catches her chin in his hand regardless of if she wants it to or not. does she squirm? he almost doesn't notice, wrapped up in the altitude of his high horse that he deems appropriate to look down at wisteria from.

but he doesn't humour a response, not at first, and not one other than the smile that holds an underlying venom neither of them know the gravity of quite yet. ( something is brewing in his mind, the gears are turning. already, caesar imagines her with the legions brand. already, he is imagining them as one of his. ) caesar's head tilts left and right, sizing her up, examining their face the best he can up so close. ( the bullet wound, a trial not so easily overcome. )

❝ you ought to consider my offer some more, ❞ he says, finally, the look of triumph scrawled onto his facade. caesar's grip holds firm, keeping their face close. to make wisteria a slave was a waste of perfectly good potential. how could he put her to adequate use, then? ❝ my legion could accomplish much with you in its ranks. ❞

[themovieblogonline]

Dumb Money Review: A Rollercoaster Ride Through the GameStop Frenzy

Craig Gillespie's Dumb Money is a cinematic take on the astounding events surrounding the GameStop short squeeze of January 2021, as chronicled in Ben Mezrich's book, "The Antisocial Network." This film promises to be a wild, entertaining ride as it brings to life the true story of a group of unconventional investors from the Reddit page r/WallStreetBets. Ever since its initial announcement, Dumb Money has generated significant buzz and it's mostly for good reasons. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmr8YmwnZ3w The Good: The film revolves around the Gill brothers, Keith (Paul Dano) and Kevin (Pete Davidson), who emerge as the driving forces behind the r/WallStreetBets movement to squeeze hedge funds that had heavily shorted GameStop's stock. Paul Dano's portrayal of Keith Gill is compelling; he captures the character's eccentricities and unwavering determination to take on Wall Street. Pete Davidson brings his signature humor and charm to the role of Kevin, providing comic relief amidst the financial chaos. Vincent D'Onofrio's portrayal of hedge fund manager Steve Cohen is menacing, depicting the ruthless world of high finance. America Ferrera delivers a solid performance as Jennifer Campbell, a viewer of Keith's YouTube channel who becomes a crucial part of the movement. Nick Offerman as Kenneth C. Griffin, the billionaire hedge fund manager, embodies the embodiment of Wall Street power and greed. The supporting cast is a mixed bag. Anthony Ramos and Sebastian Stan stand out as fellow r/WallStreetBets members who join the crusade, bringing authenticity to their roles. Shailene Woodley and Seth Rogen, however, feel underutilized in their respective roles, with limited character development. Dane DeHaan and Talia Ryder offer adequate performances, but their characters lack depth. The film's strength lies in its portrayal of the internet-driven frenzy that engulfed GameStop's stock. Craig Gillespie effectively captures the chaotic, meme-fueled atmosphere of r/WallStreetBets, showcasing the power of social media in democratizing finance. The film's use of Reddit threads and YouTube videos as storytelling devices provides insight into the unique culture that fueled the GameStop saga. Dumb Money's cinematography and editing contribute to the film's energetic pace. The frenetic trading scenes and exhilarating stock price fluctuations are visually engaging, immersing the audience in the world of online investing. The soundtrack, featuring a mix of classic rock and modern hits, complements the film's tone and keeps viewers engaged. The screenplay, penned by an ensemble of writers, is witty and sharp, delivering clever dialogue and humorous one-liners. However, the film's pacing could have benefited from more in-depth character development, particularly for the central figures like Keith Gill and Jennifer Campbell. Their motivations and personal stories are briefly touched upon but remain largely unexplored. The Bad: However, where Dumb Money falters is in its attempt to balance humor and drama. While the film excels at delivering comedic moments, especially through Pete Davidson's character, it struggles to maintain a consistent tone. The serious implications of the GameStop saga, including the real-world financial consequences for many, occasionally clash with the film's lighthearted approach. This inconsistency may leave some viewers unsure whether they should laugh or reflect. Additionally, the film takes creative liberties with certain events and characters, deviating from the book's factual narrative. While creative license is expected in adaptations, these departures may leave audiences questioning the accuracy of certain pivotal moments in the story. The film also fails to delve into the broader socioeconomic issues raised by the GameStop saga. It hints at the wealth disparity and Wall Street's questionable practices but lacks the depth to provide a thought-provoking analysis. Instead, it opts for a more surface-level exploration of the events. Despite these shortcomings, Dumb Money is an entertaining and timely exploration of one of the most memorable financial events of the 21st century. It successfully captures the spirit of the r/WallStreetBets community and their audacious attempt to disrupt traditional finance. While it may not offer the comprehensive examination that some viewers crave, it does offer an accessible and engaging introduction to the GameStop saga. Overall: Dumb Money, directed by Craig Gillespie and based on Ben Mezrich's book, delivers an entertaining and visually captivating retelling of the GameStop short squeeze. It benefits from a strong lead performance by Paul Dano and the electrifying energy of the internet-driven investing movement. However, its inconsistent tone, underdeveloped characters, and lack of depth in exploring the broader issues make it fall short of being a truly exceptional film. It's a wild ride worth taking, but it leaves room for improvement. Read the full article

[doberbutts]

So, hey! I recently came across your posts about AAVE and I wanted to maybe offer a bit of a different perspective on the topic than the other asks you got.

For some context I'm a non-black non-native English speaker from a "second world" country, wherein knowing good English is considered almost a prerequisite to getting a well-paying job. Despite this, English education here is barely adequate at best. So, I personally learn(ed) English mostly from family and media (translated Ghibli movies in particular, both dubs and subs) at first, and then later the internet.

The number of times I've come across a new word, phrase, etc. and then been given a usually meme-y meaning for it that I took at face value (because why wouldn't I? They're a native speaker and I'm not and surely they know what they're talking about!), only to find out weeks, months, sometimes years later that it was 1) AAVE and 2) *butchered* AAVE... is genuinely ridiculous. Who knows, maybe I'm still ignorantly using incorrect language that I learned off the internet and haven't had the chance to educate myself on yet.

All of this to say, if I feel frustrated by the rampant, unabashed bastardisation of AAVE as an actual outsider I cannot imagine how speakers of it must feel. As hollow as the words might ring, I'm sorry the world is like this.

I realise my ask strays a bit from the original discussion, but I've wanted to share my thoughts on this subject with someone knowledgeable for awhile, and hopefully I've managed to convey them respectfully and comprehensively. Thank you for all previous posts you wrote also, they were very well-written and thought-provoking!

P.S. Congratulations on your new job, as well! Best of luck to you! <3

I have a couple friends like you- Syria, India, Sri Lanka, Slovenia as well as a few from Japan, and I really don't understand the difference between first/second/third-world and never really have so idk where those fall in that ranking system- and they've all said pretty similar. They learned English partially through their countries' schooling but largely through interacting with Brits/Americans online or through British/American media.

Almost all of them have reported the same- they had no idea certain phrases or words were AAVE and usually extremely butchered, out of context, or totally misrepresented AAVE until well after the meme has passed and now everyone thinks those words/phrases are stupid or "critically online". Nevermind that black people have been speaking like that for longer than white people have bothered acknowledging its existence.

It's especially bad right now on TikTok and was getting to that point on Vine. The difference with Vine was that a lot of black creatives were going viral and so it was seen as the natural course that AAVE usage would be more widespread as people emulated what they heard on these viral videos. However- and to my understanding this problem has only worsened with the death of Vine and the popularity of TikTok- what started happening was that white creatives were in some cases literally stealing content from black creatives and becoming more popular based on things black people invented. We have this discussion with black fashion and black dances, but I've been watching it play out with AAVE too. Now we have entire subcultures using a bastardization of a language that was never supposed to be coming from their mouths, getting praised for it online but chided for it offline, and in a few weeks or months or years when they move on to the next new fad they'll say "wow remember when we all said [butchered AAVE] hahahaha only stupid people talk like that".

I already have seen it happen with "bae", where any time I bring up that it's just AAVE and means "baby" and is a term of endearment some white person always has to go "but it means this in a different language" or "but it sounds stupid" or "um actually it stands for this acronym" or "yeah but only stupid tween girls say it". Now people are starting to do the same thing with "simp", "sheesh", "thicc", "on fleek", "bet"... these are all AAVE words. They are not Gen Z Slang and they're not TikTok slang and they're not just what Kids These Days like to say. They are words that have meaning in a dialect far older than current meme culture and yet like clockwork people who once had nothing but these words in their mouths are now saying the "trend" is stupid and that anyone who talks like that is stupid.

Big sigh.

[ms-demeanor]

While I love the theory of the depression post, the cause of my depression is my own ugliness and inadequacy. And alas no amount of small external things ever distract me from having to see myself be myself, feel myself, every moment. It just shows other things are better than me, once again.

Okay but what if your brain is lying to you about that.

Did someone sit with you and examine your life and all your actions at some point saying “yep, anon is totally inadequate, doesn’t measure up to standards 21-a through 47-m of being a person, that’s where the depression is coming from” or is that a thing that your brain has told you?

Because depression brain lies.

You exist. You’re a person with a presence in the world. That is adequate. You are reaching out and making contact with people. That is adequate.

Depression brain likes to tell us that we’re failures, that we haven’t ticked the right boxes or finished all the projects that we meant to, or that we’ve let down all our friends and family and are failures, irredeemable, intolerable, inadequate failures.

But. Like. Your brain is an asshole and its checklist of what you have to do to be “adequate” is completely impossible and you can never measure up to it so. Don’t? You really don’t have to? Just being here and existing as a person in the world is a good enough reason to want to exist without pain and misery.

It’s impossible to fail enough as a person that you DESERVE to feel this way, so it’s okay to take steps to feel better, even if they seem stupid and silly and like they won’t work because your depression is just a PART of you and you’ll NEVER FEEL BETTER and you SHOULD feel like this because you’re a BAD PERSON. (All of those all caps words are lies that depression brain tells a lot of us. They’re not true for me, I’m guessing they’re not true for you either because I honestly and legitimately believe that they’re not true for any human beings and unless you’re about to tell me some really cool facts about the universe then you’re a human being and you don’t deserve to feel like this, couldn’t do anything to deserve to feel like this)

Now, let’s talk about ugliness.

Physical appearances are totally immaterial and have no bearing on your worth or value as a person and if people treat you badly for being physically ugly those people fucking suck and you don’t have to pay attention to them. They and their shitty opinions are not your problem.

BUT if you’re talking about emotional/mental ugliness, well, that’s a thing that depressed people often deal with.

We’ve got a lot of ugly thoughts, sometimes we think cruel things about others as well as ourselves. Sometimes we end up being unpleasant to be around; sometimes we even end up manipulating other people and that’s certainly not a good thing.

But there’s a difference between having ugly thoughts and ugly emotions and being a bad, cruel, or unpleasant person.

It’s okay to think ugly things. You’re probably never going to stop doing that and without a lot of practice you’re going to reach for ugly reactions as the first response to anything that upsets you.

This is an excellent reason to learn to recognize and articulate your feelings and to take responsibility for how they impact other people.

Because here’s the thing, being a “bad person” internally doesn’t really matter (I mean, it matters in the long-term context of your ongoing mental health but that is a problem for someone who is not in deep crisis mode to grapple with) so long as it doesn’t impact other people.

But, okay, let’s say you’re right and your depression is caused by the fact that you’re an inadequate, ugly person.

Over time writing down good things that you enjoy will STILL prevent you from dropping into depressive spirals and will still provide evidence that you’re capable of experiencing positive emotions.

Even if there’s a “legitimate” reason for your depression there’s no reason to make it worse and it’s not cheating on the universe if you take steps to alleviate the symptoms.

Also, tip for people who have issues with feeling inadequate:

Don’t just write down things that make you feel good, write down when YOU do a good thing.

Were you there for a friend? Did you help your sibling with homework? Did you offer to pick up groceries for your neighbor? Did you volunteer for the Trevor Project? Did you finish writing a paper? Did you update a fanwiki?

WRITE IT DOWN WHEN YOU MAKE AN IMPACT ON THE WORLD. Write it down when you do something that makes someone else’s day easier, write it down when you finish a project, write it down when you do favors for people.

You don’t have to, like, go out and BRAG about these things, but when your depression brain is saying “hey you’re a shithead who has never finished anything and never helped anyone” then you can go “bullSHIT I helped that guy who needed a jump last week, and two weeks ago I finished my midterms.”

I have complicated feelings about this because I think the definition of “worth” our society imposes on people is harmful - “You are worth more than your productivity” is genuinely the most helpful thing that anyone has ever said to me and was actually life-changing - but there’s still value in being able to point to the world and go “I did that and it mattered” and, yeah. That song you wrote mattered. Picking up your mom’s medicine from the pharmacy mattered. Giving cash to someone who needed it mattered. You have value in the world and it’s okay to write down the valuable things to do to use them as evidence in the bullshit show trial your brain is setting you up to fail.

Also.

So what if things are better than you.

There are worse things than you too.

Write a list of the things that you are better than.

“I am better than every single employee of ICE.”

“I am better than that girl who built a career off of carrying a gun at Kent State.”

“I am better than literal dogshit and even literal dogshit is an important part of the local ecosystem so at least I’ve got that going for me.”

Like, yeah, I am *NOWHERE NEAR AS GOOD* as evidence that the moon is wet, but I’m better than cities that fund school resource officers.

ALSO ALSO

This specific type of negative thinking, the “your advice about depression is very good but it doesn’t apply to me because I’m a special category of unrecoverable awfulness” is a very, very common symptom of untreated, unmanaged depression. It is similar to the “your advice about depression is very good but doesn’t apply to me specifically because I have [x] barrier that prevents me from writing a journal of positive thoughts” negativity.

We’re all unique and special buds, but you ain’t special in that way.

Pick up a blank piece of paper and write about a meme you liked. Do the same thing tomorrow. Do the same thing the day after that. Do the same thing forever.

For some people it doesn’t get better, but you do get better at managing it.

Good luck, buds.