#has been predicted with every major war

[granonine]

The Hills Melted

Psalm 97:3-5 A fire goeth before Him, and burneth up His enemies round about. His lightnings enlightened the world: the earth saw, and trembled. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the LORD, at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth. As things heat up in the Near East, many are predicting that this is the end times. Maybe. That has been predicted often down through the centuries…

[fatliberation]

I saw a comment on your blog that says 'the way you eat does not cause diabetes'...are you able to expand on that or provide a source I could read? I've been told by doctors that my pre-diabetes was due to weight gain because I get more hungry on my anti psychotics and I'd like to fact check what they've told me! Thank you so much!

Pre-diabetes was rejected as a diagnosis by the World Health Organization (although it is used by the US and UK) - the correct term for the condition is impaired glucose tolerance. Approximately 2% of people with "pre-diabetes" go on to develop diabetes per year. You heard that right - TWO PERCENT. Most diabetics actually skip the pre-diabetic phase.

There are currently no treatments for pre-diabetes besides intentional weight loss. (Hmm, that's convenient, right?) There has yet to be evidence that losing weight prevents progression from pre-diabetes to T2DM beyond a year. Interestingly, drug companies are trying to persuade the medical world to start treating patients earlier and earlier. They are using the term “pre-diabetes” to sell their drugs (including Wegovy, a weight-loss drug). Surgeons are using it to sell weight loss surgery. Everyone’s a winner, right? Not patients. Especially fat patients.

Check out these articles:

Prediabetes: The epidemic that never was, and shouldn’t be

The war on ‘prediabetes' could be a boon for pharma—but is it good medicine?

Also - I love what Dr. Asher Larmie @fatdoctorUK has to say about T2DM and insulin resistance, so here's one of their threads I pulled from Twitter:

1️⃣ You can't prevent insulin resistance. It's coded in your DNA. It may be impacted by your environment. Studies have shown it has nothing to do with your BMI.

2️⃣ The term "pre-diabetes" is a PR stunt. The correct term is impaired glucose tolerance (or impaired fasting glucose) which is sometimes referred to as intermittent hyperglycemia. It does not predict T2DM. It is best ignored and tested for every 3-5yrs.

3️⃣ there is no evidence that losing weight prevents diabetes. That's because you can't reverse insulin resistance. You can possibly postpone it by 2yrs? Furthermore there is evidence that those who are fat at the time of diagnosis fair much better than those who are thin.

4️⃣ Weight loss does not reverse diabetes in the VAST majority of people. Those that do reverse it are usually thinner with recent onset T2DM and a low A1c. Only a tiny minority can sustain that over 2yrs. Weight loss does not improve A1c levels beyond 2 yrs either.

5️⃣ Weight loss in T2DM does not improve macrovascular or microvascular health outcomes beyond 2 years. In fact, weight loss in diabetics is associated with increased mortality and morbidity (although it is not clear why). Weight cycling is known to impacts A1c levels.

6️⃣ Weight GAIN does NOT increase the risk of cardiovascular OR all causes mortality in diabetics. In fact, one might even go so far as to say that it's better to be fat and diabetic than to be thin and diabetic.

Dr. Larmie cites 18 peer reviewed journal articles (most from the last decade) that are included in their webinar on the subject, linked below.

[opencommunion]

"After Israel attacked the Tal as-Sultan displacement camp, the Biden administration deliberated, then concluded that Israel’s gradual invasion of Rafah and ongoing bombardment of 'safe zones' – which it had told beleaguered civilians to go to – did not constitute a 'major offensive' that would trigger a response.

Omar Rahman, an Israel-Palestine expert with the Middle East Council on Foreign Affairs, believes the US will never take punitive action against Israel. He said Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, has successfully 'called Biden’s bluff' throughout the war. 'Netanyahu knew that a red line coming from the US is meaningless because Washington is incapable of holding Israel accountable for its actions,' he told Al Jazeera. Rahman added that every single condemnation coming from Biden has been 'walked back' by his own administration, signaling to Israel that they are not as frustrated as they claim to be. ... Rahman said no talk of 'red lines' will deter Israel from its objective until the country suffers punitive measures for violating international law. He added that Western states are enabling Israel to pursue what he believes is their real goal: the destruction of Rafah, which is the last refuge for civilians across the Gaza Strip. 'Israel went into Rafah despite the warnings and the highly predictable results in terms of human casualties because closing the final lifeline to the civilian population and destroying their last refuge is essential to [Israel’s] goal of liquidating Gaza,' he told Al Jazeera. 'When people like myself use the word ‘genocidal’ to describe Israel’s campaign in Gaza, we are not being hyperbolic.'"

[spaghettioverdose]

how did u went from anarchism to ml question mark

I was just going to write a couple paragraphs but I basically ended up writing a novel so I'm going to put a keep reading link here for my everyone's sanity.

Tl;dr: I became disillusioned with liberalism, became ancom, saw many silly takes and analysis that felt incomplete, became disillusioned with ancom, learned more about ml, went "this makes way more sense, has been applied in real life and has also helped many millions of people", became an ml.

I became an anarchist when I was in my late teens. I was already disillusioned with liberalism, and while I was sympathetic to socialism because I come from a formerly socialist country and grew up with stories about it from my grandmother, I was still of wary of it. Partially due to some of the genuinely bad things that happened during it and partially due to the immense amounts of anti-communist propaganda I was constantly bombarded with growing up. Then I found anarcho-communism which to me at the time seemed like "communism with none of the bad stuff".

I got into it, I watched ancom youtubers, I read Kropotkin, Graeber, Bakunin, I joined online ancom communities etc.

Slowly, over time I started becoming disillusioned with ancoms.I found myself having to defend marxist-leninist projects a lot (mostly from usamericans) against some very silly cold war anticommunist propaganda a lot. Such as the idea that everyone was just miserable and trying to escape the country or brainwashed by the leader's cult of personality.

Keep in mind that I myself ate up a lot of anticommunist propaganda growing up, but I also come from a formerly socialist country and had someone who was around during the socialist era of my country to ground my view of it in reality to some extent. Most of the ancoms in these communities only had the propaganda.

I also didn't like the way so many of these people talked more about an idealised, aestheticised, romanticised and abstract idea of revolution, and especially past failed anarchist revolutions, rather than talking about the material results of revolution.

Even when I still was mostly convinced by anarchist theory, I still found anarchist analysis to be incomplete and lacking predictive power and real world practice. Other anarchists tended to excuse the fact we didn't have a lot of revolutions and that the vast majority of them were crushed within their first couple years by saying things like "we were up against everyone" or "we were betrayed" which didn't really hold up. The bolsheviks had to fight everyone as well and yet they still won. Same with the Chinese communists who were also against massive internal and external threats. This is because in both cases they had popular support and were capable of analysing the material conditions and formulating policies based on that.

Another rebuttal was that every socialist revolution was state capitalism because it didn't adhere to a very simplified definition of socialism. I thought that lacked nuance and in the end it mattered to me less than the fact that it got results and helped millions of people, but it didn't prevent me from internalising this to some extent. I did (for at least some time) think that most ml states were incomplete revolutions that eventually fell to state capitalism.

When I did believe to these ideas I often fell into pits of despair, as did other ancoms, over the fact that in our world view, communism was essentially entirely defeated and at best we (as anarchists) had two current revolutions: the Zapatista (a group who follows marxist theory, refuses to call itself anarchis and controls a very small region and only due to an agreement with the government) and Rojava (who also controls a small region, is a military ally of the US and has a constitution which guarantees private property and definitely fits the anarchist definition of a state).

The holes in anarchist theory became even larger and more apparent to me once I started reading Marx and Lenin. The contrast in the explanatory and predictive power of dialectical materialism against the philosophical idealism of anarchist analysis eroded my remaining trust in anarchism very quickly.

Anarchist analysis severely lacked much class analysis beyond "people do evil things to each other because of the profit incentive of capitalism" and "power wants to hold onto power" which while in some ways is correct, it is vastly incomplete. Which is why the conclusion of this analysis, that after an anarchist revolution the profit incentive would simply be gone and so would reactionaries, also felt incomplete.

As it turns out it's also historically been proven wrong. Revolution doesn't stop when the civil war ends and that capitalists (even if disposessed) don't suddenly stop being reactionary and don't suddenly stop being a danger to the revolution.

However many anarchists also viewed historical events in a vacuum and lacked any sort of tools for materialist analysis and therefore came to silly conclusions about why things happened the way they did.

Many propositions on how an anarchist society would run resembled some variation of Old West homesteading, medieval peasant communes or some other strange individualist fantasies.

In the end I realised about anarchism that it entirely resembled the philosophically idealist utopian communism of old. A form of communism that lost the debate against the scientific communism of Marx, Engles and Lenin over a century ago and there is no reason to engage with it in the present day.

[slyandthefamilybook]

they're not dismissed because they live in "the bad country" they're dismissed because any solution they might pose, for the vast majority of them at least, will fundamentally involve preserving the state apparatus of israel, which is an inherently oppressive force. the two state solution is not justice. don't twist this into a call for the murder of the israeli population. that is explicitly not the goal. it is a demand to dismantle the fucking government system of a settler state that has spent 75 years committing genocide. if your leftism was worth anything you would believe that israel should be abolished. if you don't, your allyship is shallow and will only lead to electing people who will still do genocide, but with better pr so you can go back to ignoring it. if you really give a shit, genuinely ask yourself if the solution you have in mind would actually stop the genocide of Palestinian people, or if it would just slow it down a little, and answer the question honestly. if you can't do that, fuck off

HA

I predicted this. I saved this to my drafts 3 days ago

here's that response

there are a lot of people who seem to think that peace would be bad because it would involve Palestinians cooperating with the Israeli government. They believe the government should be spurned at every moment. Any action taken by the Israeli government is inherently one-sided and therefore it's categorically impossible to reach an agreement that's mutually beneficial and respects the dignity and autonomy of Palestinians

I hear this a lot in discussion of the UN Partition Plans. "Oh, so you want victims of violence to just roll over for their oppressors? You can't just steal someone's land and then offer it back to them!" To which my response is always "this is better?". Can you honestly look me in the eye and say that whatever lopsided colonial apartheid agreement you're imagining would've been made in 1948 would've been worse than the situation we have now?

It displays a really limited understanding of how geopolitics works. Countries aren't just a government and a set of borders. A country is also a people and a mechanism through which that people can interact with other peoples. You can't just point at a country and say "they're doing bad things, we should get rid of them". That's how America has functioned for the past 150 years and I thought we all decided that was bad. Dismantling a country doesn't solve your problems, it just creates new ones. "Burn it all down and start over" won't bring back the dead. It won't honor their deaths or make them any more worthwhile

Every time Hamas attacks Israel, Israel gets stronger. The right thrives off of conflict. It's why they don't want to give people free healthcare. When people suffer, it strengthens their positions. Every time Israel is attacked it generates more support for the military, in the people and in the Knesset. The IDF gets more soldiers, more rifles, more tanks. It drives the Overton Window further to the right. The Israeli government starts borrowing more money from the US, starts getting sent more foreign aid, further entrenching their economic dependency. The only reason Netanyahu has stayed in power for so long is because Israel keeps getting attacked. Israel gets hundreds of millions in military aid from the US, a country that has made killing people a science. You're not going to defeat them in open battle. People have been trying for 75 years with no success

I dislike the Israeli state as much as I dislike every state (which is a not-insignificant amount). But I also understand that states are massive webs of economy, policy, international trade, and agreements and treaties. If every member of the Israeli government stepped down tomorrow with no plan, the country would be thrown into chaos and millions would die. You can't say you want to destroy the apparatus of a country that is currently at war, while also claiming you want its citizens to be safe. That's not how that works. You claim that the majority of Israeli leftists want a two-state solution (something I don't believe I've ever said I support), but if that the case you don't have to throw your weight behind those people! There are also leftists who want anarchism, and a no-state solution. There's a vast diversity of thought and pretending that there isn't doesn't help anyone

I notice that in your decrial of people who are actually trying to help, you don't offer an alternative solution. You say you want to dismantle the Israeli state, but how do you plan to do that? I assume from your tone that you're not yourself Israeli, so how do you plan to affect change? You can pressure whoever is the leader of your country to stop sending aid to Israel, but Israel has a domestic economy as well. The worst you'll do is send them into a depression. And if you are somehow successful in cutting of Israel at the windpipe, what will you do when people begin to starve? When people are kicked to the curb because they lost their job? Will you be proud of yourself for sending 9.5 million people into a humanitarian crisis? Does your plan to end suffering involve making other people suffer instead?

We live in a statist world. As much as you or I dislike it, that's the reality we have. You can aspire to a better system, you can set your sights on a world in which there are no states, no governments, no militaries, and no borders. But you can't work within that framework before it's applicable. You can't eat raw cookie dough because you want it to eventually become a cookie. Liberalism won't save us, but it might stop the bleeding

[hexhomos]

oh god I'm freaking out now. I did not watch the leaks, but I had read some (similar) opinions and choose to ignore it because I don't trust the general media analysis capabilities of like 70% of tumblr. But I do trust you and I like reading your vikjayce and doomreed thoughts... is it really that bad? Isn't there anything salvageable?

Don't click readmore if you don't want vague spoilers.

I genuinely have no emotional investment in much, if not majority of what happens in s2. Maybe this is because I'm an industryperson and not exactly awed by the idea of 'inversion' for pointless inversion's sake, maybe because the past year of publicly televised USA-backed genocides have made arcane's fraught politics more detestable than ever. I abhor how married this show is to the message that every atrocity, no matter how vile or senseless, is 'committed for love' as an easy way to sidestep discussions of capitalism, exploitation, imperialism, and all the systematically-enforced evils that make up the reason Why this world is so brutally unfair. They literally took a guy whose entire deal is building human centipedes in his basement, making weapons of war, and inflicting as much pain as possible for the sake of a laugh and said 'oh... he does this for love,' and i felt like throwing rocks at the screen for how stupid that shit is.

The episodes I've seen feel shallow, limited and empty in their writing; the world has a raindrop's depth. There are maybe 10 people total in these cities and everyone else is a nameless, vapid NPC, functionally indistinct outside of how they rack up morale for a certain character. The animation is still kinetic, the music videos are still certainly a big part of the flashing lights, but i feel nothing for any of the characters onscreen except for contempt or mild disinterest.

It feels like a first draft put to animation. It's to the point where i believe season 1 should have closed without continuation and let You decide how the uncertainties pan out. (Have you ever seen Wicked? Do you know how everyone tells you that it completely falls apart in the second act so best pretend act1 is the whole thing?) The 'twists' it tries to pull aren't clever. If you're a game fan, you're left confused as to why some of this shit is included in this show and not some other region's show, if you know nothing of the game, you're going to be namedropped on lore buzzwords that get little explanation, give you no reason to care, but are placed as if they are a big deal anyway. Kind of feels like you're cheating both demographics. Parts of this season feel like backdoor pilots to greenlight a Noxus show -- the region who most thrives in the edgy aesthetics of cool awesomesauce grimdark fantasy imperialism -- and i just want all of these characters to die. But they end up getting all of the sob-story justification screentime while the poor people are either stupid kids or drug addicts. every single main undercity character is a drug addict of some kind, war-on-terror propaganda style, and the one who isn't has been surgically removed from the plot for majority of the runtime. I have to laugh.

The things some people were looking forward to - the gay romances, the gay divorces - will probably make more than a few fans go on to say threats of terrorism, but i still felt like i could see right through the script's flaccid bullshit. You're not getting a rise out of me like this. You barely fucking tried.

'Salvageable' is a dangerous word around me I'm notoriously obsessed with taking shit that sucks and recycling it to see if it can be improved like 'there is always hope' and all that gushy heart bullshit but like... that is between you and god. that is magic that happens inside your mind. it's work that you put into it, and that I predict people will be putting into it, out of their own volition. Or as a way to ignore what just happened.

[contemplatingoutlander]

Why are U.S. courts afraid of the 14th Amendment? Because it’s radical.

"The 14th Amendment has once again proven too bold for the judges empowered to interpret it. Political forces are at play again, this time fearful of a backlash if Trump is removed from the ballot. As this case makes its way through the appellate process and, most likely, to the Supreme Court, it should be understood in the context of how the timidity and unwillingness of judges to acquiesce to the judgment of the 14th Amendment’s framers effectively derailed our democracy’s promise after Reconstruction and until the mid-20th century. We must ensure that it does not do the same in the 21st."

--Sherrilyn Ifill, visiting professor, Harvard Law School

This is an important article about why the 14th Amendment was written and why judges are afraid to use it to ban Trump from running for office. Consequently, this is a gift🎁link so people can read the entire article even if they don't subscribe to The Washington Post.

Below are some excerpts.

Judge Sarah B. Wallace’s decision that Trump engaged in insurrection but is nevertheless qualified to run for office is emblematic of the often outright resistance courts have shown to the 14th Amendment’s guarantees and protections. This instance applies to Section 3, which bars any participant in a rebellion against the government of the United States from holding public office. But almost from its inception, all the amendment’s radical provisions have inspired fear and timidity in jurists of every stripe. I use the word “radical” deliberately. The 14th Amendment was conceived of and pushed by the “Radical Republicans” in Congress after the Civil War. They were so named because of their commitment to eradicating slavery and its vestiges from American political life. A number had been abolitionists, and all had seen the threat that white supremacist ideology and the spirit of insurrection posed to the survival of the United States as a republic. Although the South had been soundly defeated on the battlefield, the belief among most Southerners that insurrection was a worthy and noble cause, and that Black people — even if no longer enslaved — were meant to be subjugated to the demands of Whites, was still firmly held. The 14th Amendment was meant to protect Black people against that belief, and the nation against insurrection, which was understood to constitute an ongoing threat to the future of our country. Frederick Douglass, the formerly enslaved abolitionist who rose to become one of the most prominent voices of the Reconstruction period, had no illusions about the persistence of the “malignant spirit” of the “traitors.” He predicted that it would be passed “from sire to son.” It “will not die out in a year,” he foretold, “it will not die out in an age.” [color emphasis added]

I encourage you to read the full article, which goes into detail about how the US judicial system has been afraid to actually adhere to both the spirit and letter of the 14th Amendment, and in so doing has done a major disservice to Black Americans for well over a century, and to our nation as a whole.

[r-2-peepoo]

The Codywan side of the SW fandom is the only fandom I’ve ever been in that hasn’t driven me absolutely insane.

Maybe it’s because I just stay on tumblr and the people on here are the only Star Wars fans I actually interact with which is why it’s been so positive, but I have been in and out of fandom spaces for well over a decade now and every single one of them has in some way ruined my enjoyment of whatever the piece of media was.

In my experience, fandom spaces are fun in the beginning and eventually toxicity seeps in and spoils it, even if you don’t engage with it directly.

However Codywan has been completely different. It’s still quite small but small fandoms have been the very worst in my experience. It’s not that there are no problems at all, but the vast majority of the people who get it.

We have a general understanding of how to characterise Cody, to the point that when we do see him in canon we can essentially predict his behaviour and his choices even if we’ve made up a lot of his personality (we understand him from the little information we’ve been given), and we understand the delicate balance of his dynamic with Obi Wan and how it could easily become unhealthy if it were anyone else, but the fact that it’s Obi Wan and Cody is why it does work so well, especially when it come to its place in actual canon.

It’s quite a delicate ecosystem but most of us seem to understand what makes it work and so calling out any potential problematic dynamics or behaviour much simpler than in other fan spaces. And a lot of us are drawn in by actually seeing a healthy ship for once. I don’t know, it’s just a really special fandom space and I feel quite protective over not just the ship itself, but the people who have worked so hard to produce fanworks and fanart for it too.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that there is no toxicity. As long as there are people, there will be toxicity. The issue with Glimmer comes to mind, and maybe it really is just on Tumblr. I don’t look at Twitter or any other social media so I really don’t know, but at the very least on this app, I feel like we’re really lucky to have this little community that we do.

[peachydarlingz]

-Memories of you- Finnick Odair

headers @attxnt @plutism @llil-liaa

Warnings: Major angst, implied character deaths.

Pairing: Finnick odair x f! reader

-

We were growing old together, of course we were dying.

We found time to talk about it, the sensitive stuff; And it always brought us closer.

Back in our twenties, we might’ve avoided the topic, finding time to ignore and argue about it instead. But when you’re old, wise and your days are spent mindlessly rocking back and forth holding hands, things become simpler, easier. Those harder conversations seem to flow naturally.

“Finn, when I die, can you hold my hand until I get to the other side?”

“How do you know I won’t go first?” Theres a jest in my voice, but I know she’s serious. Her health has been declining more and more recently. I just smile and squeeze her hand. “Of course, my blossom.”

And what a privilege it was to grow old by her side. After everything we had been through together, it was everything I wanted and more.

In my old age, years after my love died, I was often asked the question, “Will you remarry?” and I would always laugh, and it would always catch them off guard. But that’s a funny question to me; I couldn’t help but laugh, because when you’ve had everything, why would you want anything else?

But I loved that question too, because every time they’d ask, I get to talk about you.

“I remember how she could notice an arthritis flare up from the shift in the air, she knew me so well. It’s so rare that you’re connected with someone. So connected, that you can breathe their air and know what they’re feeling, exactly what they’re saying...” there’s a long pause.

“Anyways, when she would notice a flare up, she was always right by my side with a heating pad and a massage. “And I catch myself remembering what once was. “Someone who once soothed the deep pain she knew she could not heal… but would do anything to calm it. Any remedy or potion, because that’s love.” and those sentiments in our old life, and that silly question reminds me of a new memory my mind threatens to forget. but I know deep down, she is the last thing I’ll ever forget. That is something I’ll make sure of.

And every time, I am met with the same response to the same stupid question, silence.

I talk to the vision of you in my head, and I’ll often make that poor nurse pull out the photo album again. But I can’t help it, you look so beautiful in our wedding photo; Or the picture of you planting sage in the garden, just for me.

“Every morning when I’d get back from my morning swim, she would always have a fresh cup of sage tea and a hazelnut muffin waiting for me. Even on the days the bakery wasn’t open, and especially the holidays, she made sure to get extra.”

“That’s very sweet Mr. Odair, now let’s take your medicine.” And I’m pulled back into limbo again.

I seem to be rotting more and more after being the last one left. After you died, it seemed that old age and disease got our friends. You’ll be happy to know that the ‘Star-crossed lovers’ from district 12 died together from old age, just like we predicted they would. Suddenly I’m laughing to myself, remembering our conversations of the pair. Both of us agreeing that if one died, the other would soon follow from heartbreak, if they didn’t grow old together.

It seems like every little memory brings me back to her, even when I don’t mean to.

But maybe that’s my feeble mind’s attempt to keep its grasp on you.

I think the only reason I lived so long after you passed is because you’d be mad at me if I didn’t. And I would never want to upset my wife, even if it’s in the afterlife.

But once Johanna faded, it was just me left. Life just seemed a lot duller after that.

You would think being in the games, the war, all the death I’ve been through would make it easier, but somehow, it’s not. Each death just seemed to take more of the life out of me, and now, I’m the last one left. So, I lay here in this cold hospital bed drifting in and out of the labyrinth that is my mind.

From what I can gather when I’m conscious, I’m not doing too great. The doctors say I’ve forgotten how to do everything except drink water and mumble a few words. They say I can’t last long like this. But to be honest, I really don’t care. I just want to see you again.

“Pictures!!”

“Yes, Mr. Odair I’m getting the photo album, I promise.” That poor nurse, I hope she knows it’s appreciated.

When the nurse sits down next to me and starts flipping through the book, I feel grounded again. I’m looking at my favorite picture of you, how could I ever forget that memory?

We were on our honeymoon, and I just remember thinking, ‘Wow, that’s my wife.’.  I couldn’t help but snap a quick picture when you weren’t looking. Which, of course you didn’t like, but that’s exactly why I did it, and I’m so glad I did. I really do miss you.

I think the thing I miss the most about you is your smell. There was nothing else like it, because it was just so you. I could never replicate it even if I tried, and I did try.

It was the way she layered the complimenting scents after putting on her lotion. I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like. I crave for the day I get to crossover and embrace that euphoric feeling again.

I’m not scared to die; I’ve been close to death more times than I can count. But in a way, maybe I am scared. I’m scared that I won’t see you again. And maybe I shouldn’t have based my idea of the afterlife on you, but to me everything is based off you. It’s how I keep myself sane. Well, as sane as I can be.

I may not know the date, or really what I even look like in my now bedridden state, but I feel an overwhelming sense of peace and I can’t help but close my eyes and reflect on my life. My body feels heavy, I can truly say I wouldn’t trade my life for the world. The wrinkles on my face remind me of every smile and laugh I experienced and for a moment I’m ethereal.

But I guess I’ve really lost it, because I swear, I can smell the essence of you…

[ageless-soul-au]

If someone was to start getting into asau, which order would you recommend? (Asking for a friend) (Definitely not for me) (Not at all) (Nope) (Nu uh)

I recently reordered the ao3 series, so it should be accurate now! Counterpart, Confidential, and Altars are the only ones you need to read for the main au (in that order) (and even then you could probably skip Counterpart but it's a short read so it's up to you. The series doesn't really start until Con). If you want to read the nsfw (P&C), some of it relies on plot things and some of it doesn't. It's different per chapter since Peaches & Cream is a catch-all.

If you wanna read the spinoff stuff, we have a separate au series for that! It's also linked in the pinned post. Faction is its own thing which receives semi regular updates, and the Lifeblood series is also separate (porn with plot, solely written by me). I need to go back and edit the fic Lifeblood since I wrote that first and then wrote the prequel. I'm kind of working on the third installment but it's slow going.

We're actively updating Altars and Faction, with an Altars chapter lined up for tomorrow (Sunday, Sept 1). Reading the main series is not required to read the spinoffs, though the characterization slightly differs between mainline, Faction, and Lifeblood.

A Condensed Guide to ASAU Fics:

Do you want to read slowburn romance that takes 30+ chapters to resolve? Confidential. Legend and Warriors spend that fic picking up (almost) every hero and having several miscommunications while learning about each other and falling in love. They deal with ✨traumaaaa✨ (and sexuality and gender) with kind of a B plot of the Quest Setup.

In The Stolen Altars, it picks up right where Con left off. With pretty much everyone assembled, it's time to get started on The Quest finally... After almost 300k words... They encounter dungeons and monsters and talk to deities, all while being toyed with by the main antagonist! A few more heroes join the cast! Be forewarned that this fic includes temporary death of major characters. It's tied in with the plot, you'll understand when you get there. This fic has surpassed Con's word count and we still have two more eras to go. It will be followed by a sequel. The main fics will maybe turn out to be a trilogy?????? But if it stretched to a 4th fic I wouldn't be surprised. The timeline on this is years lmao, I can't predict how wordy we'll get.

Faction is a political drama dealing with international relations and war, with a side of romance. It's got all the characters you know and love, but some slightly to the left! General fantasy setting with a bit of Zelda lore mixed in. It'll most likely be completed in one fic! WAOW!!!

The Lifeblood series is vampires and smut. What else do you need to hear? (Real talk tho, The Copper Kettle is higher quality/more cohesive in theme than Lifeblood the fic, gimme a little bit to fix the inconsistencies hxhdbsbsn)

Hope this helps! Happy reading! And don't forget to COMMENT!!!!! (probably with some context bc in some cases it's been years since we wrote this hxhxhsjs)

-Kio

[southparkartsystuff]

The problem with South Park specials

So, the trailer for the newest special released yesterday.

Starting with the pandemic special back in 2020, we now have a South Park special each year, with the most hyped ones being the post covid specials which released the same year as the vaccination special.

Well, regardless of the specials being good or not, we need to talk about the elephant in the room now:

Randy Marsh

Okay, I know that’s getting tiresome to constantly blame Randy due to the show going downhill but honestly, I think most of the criticisms regarding this character nowadays are extremely valid, he went from being a fun, memorable secondary character who had a major role in a few episodes per season to an annoying, one dimensional "main character" wannabe that often steal the spotlight from the actual main characters(yes, even Cartman) and had an entire season dedicated to him.

At first, many people(including myself) thought it was a tegridy farms issue mainly because Randy’s entire motivations became tied to his weed business, however, then I started to realize that it’s not a Tegridy farms issue, it’s a Randy issue!

Trey and Matt have said on a couple interviews that they started to relate more to Randy as they’re now older and have kids, I get that but Randy is a character that has became very predictable, even without the tegridy farms stuff, his entire purpose in the show nowadays is that he’s an idiotic manchild who ruins everything for others due to his own selfish desires yet he still ends up saving the day at the end, how could you "relate" to a character like this? And to make matters worse, Randy is now taking over roles from other characters, Cartman has been considerably tuned down while Randy is slowly replacing him as the resident Jerkass, in the not suitable for children special, Randy replaces Liane as the resident crack whore by creating an onlyfans account and in streaming wars, Randy goes Karen mode when this trait is supposed to be Sheila’s, I wouldn’t be surprised if he starts taking over fucking Stephen Stotch’s role as the abusive father too! Also, pretty much every special after post covid puts a heavy emphasis on Randy’s role as a main character and while this next special will have a main plot involving Cartman and the kids, Randy will probably have a subplot that will take up more than half the screen time…who knows at this point?

[alligatorpie1945]

Some Thoughts/Reasons why the “Final” Season doesn't worry me. 

Many animated shows lately have been canceled prematurely due to corporate interference, budget cuts, or higher up dealings. Which at least for me, has left me feeling frustrated and discouraged when it comes to consuming entertainment. And at first, hearing that The Bad Batch was already in its final season after just two seasons, immediately reignited a lot of those feelings. 

But I want to remind everyone that it is not being canceled. Its ending, but it's by the choice of the creative team. I feel like too often shows will either fall into two categories. Either they are canceled way too soon, or they are kept alive well after their expiration date. And both scenarios are not ideal. 

While its fun to have your favorite show go on indefinitely, it will one way or another get to a point where it feels directionless, unmotivated, or stale. Typically writing goes down the toilet, actors leave, and characters aren't interesting anymore. (*ahem* The Mandalorian) 

If the creators of this show feel like they can tell the rest of the Batch’s story in one season, then I trust them. I want a good ending for these characters, I want one that is not rushed or slapped together. Its okay for things to end. I just want it to be given the time and effort they deserve.

And lets be real, this is Star Wars we are talking about. Characters (especially beloved characters) are hardly ever gone permanently. Pretty much every “main” character has come back in another show. So even with the end of this series on the horizon, I highly doubt it will be the end of these characters. So keep that in mind if you find yourself spiraling. 

Side Note: 

I think most of us have seen the leaked teaser, but remember! Star Wars is pretty crafty with their trailers. For season 2 the majority of the trailer was made up from the first 6ish episodes! I’m predicting they save Cross and Omega within the first couple episodes, Tech will probably come back either early - mid season and then who knows what we will be getting at the very end. I remember hearing, I think Dee Bradly Cooper say that the show is about The Batch at its core. And given we didn't really get to see everyone in action together during season 2. I'm assuming we are building up to have ALL SIX of them together fighting a big ol battle at the end of the show. Whatever I'm sure they do, it will be great!

[skyloftian-nutcase]

I've figured out who most of your oc Links are, but not all of them, do you have a list with all of them somewhere? They all seem really fun :)

*squealing* AH YES THANK YOU FOR ASKING :D

I actually don't have a list of them all together, the closest I had was a post I made about their Hero titles, so I'll just do it here! :D

Orik/Link, Hero of Power - Half-Sheikah, Half-Hylian. Raised in Sheikah culture as a warrior, helps protect the royal family. Becomes friends with Princess Zelda as he's often assigned to protect the castle and she's essentially imprisoned there by her father. Falls in love with the Gerudo chief's daughter, Hemisi. Starts to get involved with Hemisi's family, including her father, Ganondorf, but things fall apart when Gan decides to ruin everything and try to steal the Triforce. It splits, predictably, and Link gets the Triforce of Courage. Fights in the ensuing war that breaks out and helps defeat Ganon, using the Triforce alongside Zelda (Wisdom) and Hemisi (Power) to split his soul and seal him away. Despite being engaged to Hemisi, the damage to Hyrule from the war forces him to marry Zelda instead to help stabilize the kingdom. Soft spoken, extremely duty oriented, kindhearted and sensitive with a playful nature that usually stays hidden unless he's with friends. Super light blonde hair that he usually keeps in a top knot, tan skin, red eyes. He has two names, Orik is his Sheikah name given by his father, Link is his Hylian name from his mother. Predecessor to Hyrule Warriors Link.

Link, Hero of Shadow - Whereas the Hero of Power is from the Calamity timeline, Shadow is from the TotK timeline! (spoiler talk ahead!) Same Link, slightly different life. Still half-Sheikah half-Hylian, started his journey as a warrior/assassin of the royal family much younger and met Hemisi much younger. Was officially engaged to Hemisi before the war ever started, and essentially adopted by Ganondorf and Nabooru as a result. Died during the war protecting Rauru from a killing blow from Ganondorf. He died in Gan's arms, begging him to stop the insanity, and then stabbed Gan with a light shard in his chest, which Rauru later used in the same fight to seal him away for 10k years. Is resurrected by Ganondorf's power 10k years later and is under his control, trying to fight against him through manipulation. Much more stoic than his Calamity counterpart, but also consequently more sensitive and childlike - he's been serving as a fighter since he was 12 and is a little emotionally stunted as a result. He is majorly attention starved, and Gan knows this. They both try to manipulate each other to see who wins out. Died when he was 15.

Mystery Link/Sir Edgy, Hero of Spirits - The eldest and most introverted of all the OC Links, he's 25 and 100% Done with Destiny. He went on his first adventure when he was 17, saving the world, and then went on to save other lands and lately help local areas out. He prefers smaller missions, enjoying seeing the impact it makes, but he's honestly just tired and too afraid to lose anything or anyone else. As a result, he self isolates a lot. It's just him and his trusty chocolate Labrador, who he technically named Friend because he sucks at names but he gives her every nickname under the sun, including the Chocolate Chonkster. He originally wielded the Triforce of Courage during his first adventure, and returned it with all the Triforce pieces when he was done. He lives in the woods, avoiding interacting with people as much as possible, until Princess Zelda starts searching for him because she senses danger and accidentally splits the Triforce. She knows she has to find the Hero of Hyrule, but no one knows of Link's location or if he's even still alive after disappearing for eight years. He lives simply and is always on the road. Major attachment issues. When the Triforce splits due to Zelda's mishap, he inherits the Triforce of Wisdom, a fact he keeps hidden, though he laments it's appropriate he lost the right to Courage. Is known as the Hero of Spirits because he can interact with magical spirits, including accidentally reviving Ghirahim (he tried to get rid of the sword by throwing it into a volcano but it bounced off a Goron's head and landed in a hot spring and Ghirahim liked the place so much he stayed there for a year) and meeting the Soul of the Hero. Is very sassy, because dark humor and deadpanning are what preserve his cold, isolated soul. That and playing with Friend. Blonde hair tied back in a little ponytail, lighter skin, blue eyes, with a whisp of hair floating over his forehead and off to the side, and a thin mustache. He's a heartbreaker wherever he goes and he is not a fan of the attention, so he tries to avoid that. Has a fan club in another country when his shirt half tore off during a battle. Doesn't want to talk about it.

Gerudo Link/Fancy Hands - An honorary member of the OC Link club, this boy was named Link to save him from the fate of all other male Gerudos up to this point. Yeah. He's Ganondorf. But he's nice! And he is a massuer by trade. Lives in the same Hyrule/world as Mystery Link. Is dragged into adventure when Princess Zelda goes hunting for the Hero of Hyrule and does so by visiting every single person named Link, which is like... half the kingdom. Link knows of his people's history and tries to keep it on the down low. 100% did not want to dragged into this, but here he is. Will sass Zelda into oblivion as vengeance. He is literally the sassiest Link on this list. He and Mystery Link eventually commiserate and bond over this. Doesn't think himself worthy of the name Link, but admires the Heroes of the past and tries to keep his head down so Destiny leaves him the heck alone. Has loving parents and he writes to them often. Owns a business! The most financially successful Link ever, is decked out in jewelry and half the kingdom adores his work. Might be guilty of tax evasion. 19 years old, dark skin and flaming red hair that he keeps in a braid. Golden eyes, glams himself up with jewelry but he doesn't wear rings so his hands are free for massages. Wears typical Hylian attire.

Lurelin Link, Hero of Champions - A native to Lurelin Village, this Link was born in the aftermath of the Great Calamity. He is the new Hero chosen by the goddesses after Link, Hero of the Wild, was killed by the Calamity. The Hylian Champion stays as a spirit, befriending Lurelin Link to protect him and try to give him emotional support when the time comes. Lurelin is very sweet and somewhat naive, starts his adventuring at 15. He's good at reading people, very empathetic. Adores fishing and is an expert and will talk your ear off about it. Can be timid, doesn't like being in an argument/confrontation with someone. Will fight beasts like a pro, though - he is an adrenaline junkie, he adores adventuring with his spirit friend. Tan skin, black spiky hair that he keeps in a ponytail, optimistic and loving and kind. His biggest challenge yet has been trying to convince his predecessor's father, a bitter and broken knight named Abel, to believe he's the new Hero and tell him where the Master Sword is.

[foxykatie425]

No one asked, but here are my hopes for a third and final Jedi game…

Things I want:

• A reason for the characters not to be involved in the OT. My prediction is that Cal will be forced to destroy the compass to keep the colony on Tanalorr safe from the Empire, leaving them stranded with no way out of the Abyss, but having a small but thriving settlement with everything they need to survive. And then some day, after the Empire falls, some other Jedi (whether it be Luke, Ahsoka, Ezra, whoever!) will have to go on a mission to reach them and reconnect them with the galaxy.

• Kata training with the Force. Most likely she’ll be trained by Cal as a Jedi, but there’s a chance Merrin could also be teaching her some Nightsister magick. I’m looking forward to Kata being a fully fleshed out character.

• Declarations of love. I guess technically we got a little of that in Survivor, but both of them have yet to actually use the L-word! And I think we’d all scream at an “I love you” “I know” moment!

Things I don’t want:

• A Merrical baby. As much as it would make my shipper heart happy, there are two reasons I don’t want this. Firstly, introducing another kid would take the attention (and by that I mean the audience’s attention) away from Kata, who has yet to really have her time to shine. And secondly, it would probably contribute to the next thing in this list I don’t want…

• Threats on his family pushing Cal to the dark side. At least in a super blatant way. I’m fine with Cal struggling with the dark side, and given the way Survivor ended I’d say it’s almost necessary. (Although, I can’t see him falling completely, that would not be a very satisfying ending to his arc.) What I don’t want is Cal dabbling in the darkness in the name of protecting his family. First of all, let’s not prove the Jedi Order right! Second of all, we’ve had that story in Star Wars before! More than once! Of course, that was one of the big reasons for Anakin’s fall, but we even had that in Survivor with Bode! And while comparisons between Cal and Bode might seem poetic, they would be a lot more poetic if Bode was still alive. Obviously everything that happened still affects Cal, but from a storytelling perspective, you can’t really expect the audience to draw parallels between two characters if one never appears on screen. Case in point: Cal and Trilla shared a lot of interesting parallels in Fallen Order, but Trilla is only mentioned in Survivor once, and it’s in passing. But if Cal started doing unscrupulous things to protect his family, he would very quickly be reminded of Bode and stop himself from making the same mistakes. (Besides, lest we forget, Merrin doesn’t need protecting!)

• Cal dying. (And not just because I want him and Merrin to have the first true happily ever after in Star Wars.) It’s always the looming threat in anything set before the OT, especially with Jedi. I mean, never mind Yoda’s declaration to Luke in ROTJ that “the last of the Jedi will you be” because that’s already been proven false in pretty much every way; I’m fine with assuming that, believe it or not, Yoda may not have known everything! However, Cal has made himself a pretty high-profile Jedi in the eyes of the Empire, and one would logically assume that if he was around during the OT, Luke would have sought him out. Thus we once again run into the question of “doomed prequelitis.” Rogue One played this trope completely straight. Rebels mostly did not, but notably the two major Jedi characters were both removed from the equation. One in the form of death, and the other in the form of semi-voluntary intergalactic exile! (Of course there’s the loose thread that is Ahsoka, but there are lots of plausible ways to keep her out of the OT, so we’ll save that discussion for another day.) My point is the status quo that is established at the end of Survivor would not keep Cal and company off of Luke’s radar. They are still involved with the Hidden Path, which presumably would have ties with the larger Rebellion, and they would surely keep doing that as long as they are able. However, killing off Cal would be the easy way out in terms of storytelling. Even if his death was some kind of heroic sacrifice, it would once again be a story we have already seen many times in Star Wars. It would be lazy, repetitive writing, and with the time capsule that is Tanalorr, it does not need to be that way. All we need is a reason that they can’t leave Tanalorr and a reason no one can go in after them. Hence why I think the last compass will be destroyed!

Obviously these are just some overarching ideas for what I think the third game should look like and have little to do with gameplay or any kind of specific plot. I’ll leave that to Respawn! 😉

[mariacallous]

I’ve been thinking about a famously orange-skinned former presenter of trashy TV programmes, who lives on a luxurious coastal estate. He has a history of racist and Islamophobic remarks, of blaming asylum seekers for bringing disease into the country and ranting about the “supercilious metropolitan elite”. He swept into a rightwing political party and refashioned it in his image, presenting himself as the antidote to politics-as-usual, whipping up culture wars and using the platform to boost his planet-sized ego.

I am, of course, describing the British former politician Robert Kilroy-Silk.

After he was sacked from his presenting job by the BBC for a crudely racist rant in the Sunday Express in 2004, he joined Ukip (the forerunner of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK), energising it and captivating the media with his culture war polemics against the EU, immigrants and “the political establishment”. His unnatural hue inspired the viral video Mr Tangerine Man. But when Ukip could no longer contain his ego, he broke away and started his own political party in 2005, Veritas (widely dubbed Vanitas), which quickly crashed and burned. Thank goodness there are no such characters on the world stage today!

I could just as well have been thinking of Silvio Berlusconi, the satsuma-tinged TV presenter and culture warrior, who, like a certain other politician, went to extreme lengths to hide his baldness. He became the demagogic, rightwing Italian prime minister, seeking (successfully) to return to power after being ejected from office, despite a long series of sexual and financial scandals and criminal charges. Like Donald Trump’s, his loyal supporters somehow managed to overlook his moral repulsiveness, childish attention-seeking and love-in with Vladimir Putin, and saw him as the saviour who would make Italy great again.

Of course, there are differences between these people, but every time one of these characters emerges, we are nonplussed by them. We react as if we’re dealing with something new, and appear to have little idea how to respond. But there are patterns to the emergence of extreme-right demagogues: patterns that repeat themselves with remarkable fidelity. By learning and understanding them, we can better defend ourselves.

I’ve spent part of my summer reading Arno Mayer, the great historian who died in 2023. His book Dynamics of Counterrevolution in Europe, 1870-1956, published in 1971, could have been written about any of the rightwing populists we face today: Trump, Farage, Viktor Orbán, Benjamin Netanyahu, Narendra Modi, the leaders of Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) in Germany, the National Rally in France, the Brothers of Italy and – lately – Jair Bolsonaro and Boris Johnson.

Mayer’s descriptions of the demagogues of his period are uncannily familiar. These leaders created the impression “that they seek fundamental changes in government, society, and community”. But in reality, because they relied on the patronage of “incumbent elites” to gain power (think, today, of media moguls like Rupert Murdoch, Elon Musk and Paul Marshall, and various billionaire funders), they sought no major changes “in class structure and property relations”. In fact, they ensured these were shored up. “They need to revile incumbent elites and institutions without foreclosing cooperation with them.” So their project “is far more militant in rhetoric, style and conduct than in political, social and economic substance”.

For this reason, Mayer explains how rightwing populists expose and overstate the cracks in a crisis-torn society, but fail to “account for them in any coherent and systematic way”. They direct popular anger away from genuine elites and towards fictional conspiracies and minorities. They variously blame these minorities (whether it be Jews, Muslims, asylum seekers, immigrants, Black and Brown people) for the sense of inadequacy and powerlessness felt by their supporters; helping “humiliated individuals to salvage their self-esteem by attributing their predicament to a plot” and giving them immediate targets on which to vent their frustrations and hatreds.

The fake firebrands often, Mayer remarks,also issued “rampant broadsides against science” (think of the climate science denial to which almost all today’s rightwing demagogues subscribe), and against innovation, modernism and cosmopolitanism. They combined “the glorification of traditional attitudes and behaviour patterns with the charge that these are being corrupted, subverted, and defiled by conspiratorial agents and influences”. Hello JD Vance and Ron DeSantis.

The demagogues of Mayer’s period adopted a purposely “ambiguous position”, when people who might have been inspired by their claims committed acts of violence – both inflaming the attacks and distancing themselves from them. This might trigger memories of Donald Trump during the January 6 assault on the Capitol, Modi during anti-Muslim pogroms and the video Farage made after the Southport murders, which is seen by many people as bearing some responsibility for last month’s racist riots.

But there is one major difference. In Mayer’s era, the development of what he called “crisis strata” of disillusioned, angry men to whom the demagogues appealed was a result of devastating war or state collapse.The rabble-rousers were able to appeal both to angry working-class men and to anxious elites by invoking the spectre of leftwing revolution. None of these conditions pertain today in countries like our own. So how does the current batch of populists succeed? I think they are responding to a crisis caused by a different force: 45 years of neoliberalism.

Neoliberalism simultaneously promises the world and snatches it away. It tells us that if you work hard enough, you too can be an alpha. But it also creates the conditions which ensure that, no matter how hard you work, you are likely to remain subordinate and exploited. It has enabled the formation of a new rentier class, that owns the essential assets and ruthlessly exploits younger and poorer people. Young men step into a world of promises – to find all the golden doors are locked, and someone else has the key.

It is in the vast gap between the promises of neoliberalism and their fulfilment that frustration, humiliation and a desire for vengeance grow: the same emotions that followed military defeat or state collapse in Mayer’s time. These impulses are then exploited by conflict entrepreneurs. Today, some of these entrepreneurs stand for office; others, using opportunities that weren’t available in previous eras, monetise the anger, making a fortune through their social media outlets.

Understanding the tradition these demagogues follow, which long predates the rise of fascism in the 20th century, should help us to develop a more effective response to them. We begin to see this in Kamala Harris’s intelligent campaign, which, in contrast to Joe Biden’s, is starting to land heavy blows on Trump and Vance,drawing attention to their creepy intrusions on people’s private lives and their attacks on fundamental freedoms. If we want to anticipate and stop rightwing authoritarian rule, we should seek to comprehend its eerie consistencies.

[matan4il]

Hi lovely @newnitz!

Regarding your ask, I'll be honest, I don't go around refuting anti-Israel posts, because I believe it is counterproductive to give them even more attention. Not only does it feed their egos, it can also help make their posts more visible, pushing them onto the dahsboards of more Tumblr users. But I've seen people take screenshots, and share them in their own posts while replying to the hateful false claims, I think that's a good way to go about it.

So here's a screenshot of the post you sent me, which was made 5 days ago, and yes, every line of this reeks of anti-Israel propaganda:

"Forced to withdraw... due to the losses" -> The IDF has said this war will last many months, and it is managing its fighting force accordingly. The article this post's screenshot is taken from (which isn't directly linked by OP, I wonder why) states the IDF has pulled out just 1 of 4 divisions deployed in Gaza, meaning most of the forces are still inside, and the IDF has been talking about rotating its forces. That's not what a military retreat due to losses looks like.

"Their government's plan to fight Lenanon" -> Hezbollah is not Lebanon, and Israel has been trying a diplomatic solution since Hezbollah started attacking it, shortly after Hamas massacre on Oct 7.

The two statements (from the IDF and the Israeli newspaper) do not actually contradict each other. If Hamas is believed to have at least 30,000 terrorist fighters (according to one Hamas senior back in Oct, they have over 35,000 terrorists), and the IDF estimates 9,000 were killed, that leaves 21,000 of them still alive, which is indeed the majority of Hamas militants in Gaza. And it also tells you why this war will be long, just as the IDF predicts, and does require management of the fighting forces. Something this post leaves out is that thousands of additional terrorists have been wounded or arrested, so the number of Hamas terrorist killed alone is not the only factor in figuring out whether the IDF is on its way to finishing Hamas off or not.

Then OP goes on to make another claim, which is both unsourced in the post itself, and (as far as I can tell) is based on accepting Hamas figures as is, when we know that Hamas lies regarding fatalities...

The way the post is presented (the two screenshots together make up the entire thing), it implies that somehow the contradiction (the one which I explained is not actually a contradiction) somehow shows that the IDF counts civilians as terrorists. There is NOTHING in that conclusion in the second part of the post, that is actually derived from the "contradiction" presented in the first part.

I can only assume OP uses the idea that the number of women and kids which Hamas reports amounts to roughly the number of total deaths Hamas reports minus the IDF's estimate of how many terrorists it killed, so OP is making the assumption that the IDF is simply counting all men killed in Gaza as Hamas terrorists. The issues with this is that, as I said, it requires believing Hamas' figures on how many women and kids, and total Gazans were killed, it ignores the fact that we already know Hamas does recruit women and teenagers, and it also ignores that the IDF is basing its estimate on reports from face to face battles and airstrikes, where the kills are more or less confirmed (as much as they can be in battle conditions), as evidenced by the fact that the IDF has said it has a hard time determining the number of killed terrorists in cases where that happens in underground terror tunnels (rather than in face to face battles). The latter is the reason why, if the IDF's number of terrorists killed is off, then it's likely to be an underestimate.

I hope this helped? Hope you're well! xoxox

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)