#i should be mad at those who capitalize and manipulate the ignorance and not the ignorant | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

phoeebsbuffay · 2 years

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Imagine Vader falls in love with you. He’s been in angst after his recent encounter with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka. But hope rises when he’s with you. You are neither too good nor too bad. You, in fact, are the balance he needs. Part I.

Warnings: angst, drama; unburnt Vader.

Warnings 2: based on “Give Me Love” by Ed Sheeran.

Warnings 3: I got carried away as usual so there’ll be a part II coming soon.

No minors.

***

Vader’s POV.

There are those who say the worst enemy to be faced does not reside in the faces of those who once provide us adversities, who inspire dislike or the worst sentiment. But instead resides inside ourselves.

Vader lives this truth. What moves his hatred is not his longtime frustration for not earning the well deserving title of Master Jedi; what moves his anger is not the observation of facts that he was always obeying others.

When he told Obi-Wan that his former master wasn’t the one to have killed Anakin, that he did himself embodies this truth. When he saw the tears of hurt running down in Ahsoka’s cheek, when he felt her guilt for abandoning him… He wanted to tell her that no one led him to this path that was not himself.

Vader is Anakin’s own enemy. Anakin is the enemy of Vader. Guilt for failing to provide Padmé’s safety drowns his goodness everyday. He suffocates in the depths of darkness. There are days he stares at himself in front of the mirror.

“Give me love.”

He tells himself, angst piercing his chest as he contemplates physical scars of battles that are now dust into wind. A wayward child is what has become the once powerful Jedi.

A conflict that torments him. But everyday is downed under the hood that omites his features as if the dark cape is the only thing possible to offer him comfort in the midst of discomfort.

One day, though, he needs to distract his mind of this self hatred. Vader comes to see this life isn’t complying to his desires, isn’t giving the comfort he sought, it has become an unbearable hell. It’s when he decides to forge his death.

To the fuck with all this.

Once he does so, Vader manipulates the Force to hid his signature. Once he assures his death reaches every ear and every eye in Death Star, he takes a random ship and pilots to a planet that is unknown to him. He does not know what to expect there, what he is yet to find, but Vader trusts the Force.

And when he does, it happens precisely when his path crosses yours.

***

Your POV.

Though chains tie your wrist and a poor, old silver gown falls down your body, you find reason to dance in the abandoned street of capital of the planet Y/C.

Your hair is dirty, down to your back. You know you are seen as crazy, mad woman by the common folk. Some might even suggest you are a witch. Not even your former owner wants you anymore.

But you’ve never been more sane. You just have… a sensibility to the Force somehow. Though you’ve never been one familiar with Jedis or Siths, you are sensitive to the cosmic fluid that flows in you. There are moments where it is disturbed because you use it poorly—years ago you used to vindictive and applied every trick possible against the stormtroopers because your family suffered under their attack and that was how you were enslaved.

But now you see no reason in being a vengeful, you end up finding the balance. And suddenly the chains of your wrist drops lose.

How did I do that?

You look at it admired. But there’s little time to contemplate it because a husky voice addresses you word:

“You have the Force with you.”

When you turn around to see who would be the one to address you word when you were ignored by everyone, you are surprised to see a man involved in dark robes whose cape prevents you to see who he is. You sense he is deeply troubled, but you don’t fear him.

“How’d you know?” You look at him, distrustful. “And who are you? Do you know who I am?”

A laughter is heard. The man under the cape steps closer to you.

“I just do. And no, I don’t. Why should I care?”

You tremble.

“A-Are you going to kill me?”

“If I wanted to see this happening, you’d not be speaking to me right now.” It’s the answer you get.

You barely breathe. Your instinct tells you to run away, but somehow you don’t. The man in the cape watches your conflict with interest.

“Who are you?” You ask, detesting that your voice betrays your weakness.

“You may call me…” He pauses, and you sense his conflict with himself. “Skyguy.”

“Skyguy.”

You chew the word, thoughtful.

“For a moment I feared you were a Sith.” You admit, breathing in relief.

You don’t see him, but underneath the cape amusement twinkles in the eyes of that man. He did manage to disguise his true identity, but even so you saw through it—which says a lot more of you than he thought. But for some strange reason, he opts to let you think you have been mistaken.

“How should I name you?”

“Y/N.” You present yourself. “You’re not from here, are you?”

The man ignores your question.

“Do you have a home, Y/N? We could stay there.”

You raise an eyebrow at how blunt he is. Does he really think I’d let him stay in my home when we barely met?

Your thought entertains him, but your response would sadden the stranger.

“I don’t. Looks like I’ve just freed myself from the chains.”

You see the man folding his arms.

“What? Why the hell not?”

Though you don’t like how he asks these questions, you are also content there’s somebody to speak to.

“Because I lost everything when the troopers invaded my planet. Short story: I ended up a slave.”

A moment of awkwardness instaures between the two of you. You sigh and say:

“Look, I don’t want your pity, all right? I’m following my way.”

“You have no where to go.” He observes.

“And? I-I’ll survive.”

It’s when you are surprised by the sudden demonstration of kindness coming from such a man.

“No. You are coming with me”

***

Vader’s POV.

“You can’t choke people like that!” He hears your protests. “I’m not going to follow this path.”

Words he once heard, words that never ceased to torment his bad dreams. Vader turns at you abruptly, but something about you prevents his demonstration of tantrums. Instead of sulking, he realizes he’s just tired of how the tentacles of his trauma continues to monopolize the grip of his conscience, often manipulating him against himself.

“The creature was suffering from a long disease. He was about to die anyway.” Vader does not know why he bothers to find an excuse to have you willingly complying to his wishes, whatever these might be.

“Oh.” Your innocence makes you believe in him. Vader refuses to feel guilty. No. Absolutely not. “Well we should give him a proper burial then.”

“Do what you must. I don’t care. I’m tired.” Vader walks in and goes straight to the second floor. It’s a nice home, though part of him compares it to the home he once had with Padmé. His heart breaks again when thinking about the future he could have had with her and their unborn children.

All of them are dead because of me.

Tears come uninvited as he moves to the bathroom, to have a shower. As he is nude under the shower, he pays no mind to the warmth of the water that burns his skin. Somewhere in the complexity of his mind, he enjoys the pain. Because I deserve it.

However, he does not stay that so long. Seeing red spots in his skin, Anakin contemplates the self punishment he’s been inflicting in himself. The self hatred pumps in his vein, boiling his blood; makes every beat of his heart a long ache.

He leaves the shower, exhausted of this cruel game his conscience plays with him. It’s when he remembers of the strange lass he found at the empty street. A slave who lost it all. Vader refuses to see the parallels, the path to redemption.

So he falls asleep unwillingly. He doesn’t care how you fare. Yet.

The next day, Vader takes the clothes of this man whose life he put an end and whose household he stole. After that, he comes for you. But where are you?

Against the selfishness that instigates him to ignore you, Vader looks for you. To his surprise, you are cooking. And singing. Like nothing happened.

He folds his arm, baffled. Vader watches you, clean and dressed in feminine clothes—apparently there used to be a female living in this house. Your hair is not dirty, there is no dust in your y/c locks and your shine curls falls clean behind your back. You are wearing an exquisite dress, old and mayhaps too large for you. But somehow you made to your size.

The Force in Y/N is really impressive.

Mindful to keep his identity unseen, he lifts the hood and takes his seat.

“What are you cooking?“

Vader does struggle not to laugh out loud when seeing you jump, startled. Or how deeply you blush when turning your head at him.

“I-I…”

“You should stop fearing me. It’s annoying.”

“Considering you’ve murdered an innocent man last night, forgive me if I think you might do that to me as well.”

Vader sighs.

“How many times must I tell you that he was about to die anyway? Besides I’m giving you a home and…” He interrupts himself when he realizes what he’s been doing. “Why am I excusing myself to you?”

When you smile, Vader realizes he’s not doing it right. Oh fuck.

“Because you have a good conscience after all. Forgive me for misjudging you.” Without waiting for his grumpy response, you say: “I’ve made some eggs with sausage. There’s plenty of food in the fridge.”

Vader knows you’ve struggled with your new position in living in the home of someone whom he choked out of his place. But he also sees that every other option would be badder. So you came to terms with your conscience. He smirks when perceiving it.

“Yes. I’d like that if you may.”

Finally you two have a conversation when you sit right before the other on a table on the kitchen. You are amazed by it because it is that kind of table that there exists only in the fancy households. Vader watches with interest how you are admiring the mobile, but says nothing of the matter.

“Eat.” You tell him. “Is it good?”

Vader does take a bite. He realizes he’s been starving and you giggle at that.

“Well?”

“It is good. Your food is really…divine.” He smiles when seeing you blush again. “Thank you, Y/N.”

His eyes linger at how the simplicity of things makes you happy. In turn, it helps to dissipate the darkness that he’s been used to. Vader instantly stops smiling. He cannot let you affect him this way.

“No problem.” After you take another bite of the egg you made, you turn at him, sensing he’s conflicted. “Why are you hiding underneath this hood? Aren’t you uncomfortable?”

“No.” Vader is definitely not giving away who he is.

“Come on, Skyguy.” Something about how you use his former nickname threatens the stability of his dark pillars. “Why making things so difficult? I wish I know more about you.”

“Why would you do that? There’s nothing to know.”

“Because there is.” You insist. “I know. I… I want to be friends with you. I… I have no one anymore.”

Another parallel. Vader closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, but he forced himself to be rude to you.

“I don’t care.”

He sees your shoulder lowers and disappointment in your face. When you stand and remove the plates for wash, Vader sees sadness in your face as you turn to the dishes.

He hates it. He hates to be the reason of it. As he tries to reach out for you, another conflict comes. It’s when Vader gives up and decides to explore the house, leaving you there.

***

Your POV.

You delight yourself in the library there is at home. As you pick a random book, which is a novel, much to your surprise, you are distracted from the strange circumstances you’ve been put into by destiny.

As much as you are thankful for this Skyguy to provide you with a new home and other means to live—however dubious this turned out—-you sense he’s been plagued by the dark forces. You know very little about the Sith and the Jedis, at least your knowledge about the agents of darkness is a little wider than the latter. But sometimes you wonder whether he’s not some Sith. It’s an impression in your heart that does not leave.

Even so, you sense the good in him. Why, however, is Skyguy so conflicted? Why do I detect such suffering in him?

Your guts tell you to ask him, but you don’t. After what happened in the day before during the breakfast, you’d not risk. You decide it’s for the best to ignore him when, to your surprise, the door opens and he finds you.

“Y-Yes?” You still distrust him. “Are you here to end my life?”

You know you should not be sarcastic, but you cannot help yourself. A scar underneath your chin is there to remind you that not even your former master appreciated that trait.

Perhaps you expect this treatment, but you are surprised when he softens to you, without suspecting that he read that traumatic scene via your thoughts.

“I said if I wanted you dead you would be. But I don’t want this to happen.” He hesitates. Again, the conflict.

You decide to break the barriers between you two.

“I know you are suffering. I am not asking you the cause. But, Skyguy, we must work our differences. It looks like we are living here together for a while, so…”

When you are about to give up on his answer, you shrug and begin to go back to reading, he says:

“What are you reading?”

You offer him a smile.

“A romantic novel about a knight and a queen.”

There’s hesitation somehow and you, for some reason, suspect this is a top sensible to him. Your smile fades when coming to think about it.

“Why’d you be entertained by this sort of…love story?”

Again, he surprises you. Perhaps all you should is give him time.

“Because it’s not about love, but hope. It’s a story where the queen does not wish to change her very flawed lover, but instead shows him the light to become a better person.”

You see his shoulders tense. But again you don’t ask him the motive.

“What are your thoughts in regard of this story? Don’t you think the queen is arrogant for presuming herself to be the light to the man she should be love?”

You are amused by how passionately he is when speaking about a fictional story. It’s when it occurs to you this might hint to him more than you know.

“Uh… no? Wouldn’t you wish the one you love to become a better person? And I’m not saying changing this individual.”

You watch Skyguy lean agains the wall, he too opting to seat on the floor as you. You wish you could capture something of his face, but you know it’s a wishful thinking.

“I think love is the death of duty.” He says in a different tone you’ve gotten yourself used to.

“Do you? Why?“

A question you regret because he instantly stands and leaves you. You sigh, but return your attention to the book. Later that day, you decide to exercise yourself in the backyard.

There’s a tree, so you decide to climb and take a seat at the stem. You smile at the liberty it makes you feel when the wind blows against your hair, against your face. Though it makes you feel like a child, the sensation is powerful. You feel the Force flow in you. You close your eyes and meditate. But the sensation doesn’t last long because…

“What do you think you are doing?”

You open your eyes, startled. Next thing you know… you fall. Skyguy comes in a rush to succor you. But by doing so, his hood eventually drops behind and the only reason why the pain in your back, in your neck and in your leg is not felt intently at first is the shock stamped in your face when you see his identity.

You’d never seen such a handsome man in your life before. How gracious his curls fall over his neck! There’s not a single feature your eyes wouldn’t admire and you don’t even mind the yellow that colors his. Somehow, you feel you have the reason because the yellow eyes are usually the trait attributed to the Sith. However, in these past days since he rescued you, he’d been so kind and tender to you—though in his own way. Could a Sith possess such good qualities?

“Why are you smiling, silly girl?” He asks you as he carries you inside the house. “You just fell off a tree.”

“Because…” you hesitate, but by his frown, you know it’s pointless to hide away your thoughts. “…you are not as bad as you want to show.”

***

Vader’s POV.

“For your own sake, I would not say further a word now if I were you.”

You’d have laughed at it, and Vader knows there was much ado about nothing where his identity is concerned, though you don’t seem to link him to the great and evil Darth Vader. But you begin to feel a great deal of pain and he forgets his self infliction for his dark past he carries with him.

“Are you okay? All you all right?” Vader inquires urgently before he concentrates the Force to heal the points in your body that are hurting.

You breathe out in relief. A smile in your lips equals the optimism in your eyes.

“Yes, despite the startle you give me. Is it a tendency of you, Skyguy?”

Vader detests your innocence, your kindness, your good heart. He also has plenty other reasons to list the hate he feels for you. But when you smile at him, it is as if you tell him that a second chance is waiting ahead.

I don’t deserve it. I don’t deserve your cheerfulness.

“You were floating.” He grumbles. Vader cannot leave you, he is forced to acknowledge it. “How can I leave you to yourself?”

There is another reason too that you’d not know. You have been plagued by nightmares every night, though Vader struggled not to comfort you, he helped to sooth your fears from the bedroom he uses. But the first time he was awaked by your nightmares, he saw your old memories and they were terrifying to see: the abuses you endured, the losses, the flirt with vengeance, the pain, the grief.

I’ve been through that myself, but I was never strong enough to overcome these scars.

In every inch, you were like him. Except you were kinder, softer, funnier and gentler. Traits he no longer possessed. Or so Vader judged.

Beyond his narcissism, though, he is moved by a better sentiment that prevails his darkness when it comes to you.

“Does this mean a Sith Lord is concerned about me?” You tease him. “Thank you, Skyguy. I know there’s good in you.”

Vader sighs and rolls his eyes. He shakes his head and stands, leaving you there. But I don’t sense disappointment in you…

“You are deluded.” Vader tells you before bringing you a glass of water.

Your eyes linger at his face, but Vader refuses to meet your gaze. He takes a seat on the floor and refuses to watch you. There is silent for a moment before you say:

“The path for good is not lost for those who seek it.”

It’s when he stands again, but turning at you, he does what it’s best: hurt the people he cares about.

“What makes you think I am good? Look at your state! You got injured because I’m here. Everyone I care about died. Or the Force took them away!”

Before he knows, his eyes are blurred by tears. And without his awareness, Vader let Anakin burst in a puddle of mess. Under your comprehensive eyes, his pain bleeds, old scars are ripped out of his self.

He’s desolated, plagued by a vicious path of death, blood and misery. The disturbance grows and would have scratched his signature, thus exposing him to dark forces of Sith had you not interfered.

“What are you doing?” He asks when seeing you left the couch to give him an embrace.

“Giving you the love you need. The kindness, the gentleness, the comprehension you deserve.” You say, making him look at you. “There is nothing wrong with you, Skyguy. You are hurting. You just never learnt how to cure because you repressed your wounds. But if you don’t tend them, they will ruin you. You are not entirely bad. There is good in you.”

“Your good faith is disgusting.” Vader reproves your speech.

But you smile at him.

“You don’t believe that. Come here… Sit with me.” He reluctantly takes a seat by your side. “Say with me: I am one with the Force and the Force with me.”

“I will not…”

One glare is enough to compel him to you. As he says it, Vader begins to breathe in tranquility. There is peace, there is balance.

“How…” He asks you, confused.

You shrug.

“It is what it is. Are you feeling better?”

Vader hesitates. It’s when he notices his hand is tangled to yours. He is quick to remove it, despite the cold that comes with this abrupt separation.

“Yes.” A pause before he glances at you. “Are you?”

You give a small smirk.

“A lot better. Do you want me to read for you? I think it would do you well.”

He frowns in response.

“For the Maker, Y/N. No!”

And he leaves you there, to spend the rest of the afternoon alone.

***

Your POV.

You are dancing again at the backyard. You are a free spirit and intensity flows from you in such a manner that SkyGuy cannot deny the attraction ignited by the Force.

“You are mental.” He accuses you, arms folded as he watches you.

You open your eyes to see him standing there. Something about him watching you makes you flush.

“Yet, here we are. Bounded by circumstances.” You answer him. “It’s been some time since our paths crossed. Will you stop offending me?”

He smirks at you, his yellow eyes following your moves as you walk inside.

“No.”

“Of course not. Because you are a heartless being.” You sigh. “I’m honestly tired of playing games with you, SkyGuy.”

Naturally, he’s cynical before this accusation. You don’t even pay your mind to the disdain in his demeanor. But as you take some wine, you turn at him and say:

“In fact, I have decided that I need to start my life. I am planning to leave this planet. I’m going to planet Y/C.”

Now his cynicism is wiped out of his face.

“What? Why? You cannot do that.”

You surprise him by not being the docile companion you’ve been to him in the last months.

“I can and I will.” Seeing the hurt in his eyes, you soften. “I’m sorry, Skyguy. I am just tired of doing nothing here. You are welcome to come with me.”

You see there’s hesitation in his features. You dare to hold his hand, pleasantly surprised when he doesn’t push you away.

“I… I think you need to know the truth about who I am.” He closes his eyes.

And now you are finally going to learn the true identity of the man who rescued you from obscurity.

It is already by twilight when he finishes telling you the whole truth. In your heart there is no other sentiment than compassion. You tangle your fingers with his. He looks at you, confused and fearful at the same time.

“I maintain what I told you months ago.” You smile at him. “You are not in need to be fixed. You are in pain. These are two different states. I’m sorry you were not sheltered by those who should have advised you properly. Repressing does little good, in fact.”

“How can you say such a thing? After all I’ve done?” He stares at you, perplexed.

“You said you killed Anakin Skywalker. I think you suffocated him. But he is who you are, you can’t change that. A powerful meaning of the weight you were forced to carry on your shoulders, but before that a name of your individuality, carrying the good and the bad side within.” A smiles spreads on your lips. “And I know a good way to bring him back.”

You are looked with suspicious by him, but seeing there is little resistance, you say:

“You will train me in the force.”

Skyguy looks at you baffled.

“What?”

(To be continue)

#star wars #Star Wars imagine #imagine Star Wars #anakin skywalker #Darth Vader #anakin skywalker x y/n #anakin skywalker x reader #anakin skywalker x you #darth vader x y/n #darth vader x you #darth vader x reader

133 notes · View notes

kismetintheuniverse · 4 years

Text

Bucciarati’s Gang + La Squadra Texting HCs

╔══════════════╗

𝕭𝖚𝖈𝖈𝖎𝖆𝖗𝖆𝖙𝖎'𝖘 𝕿𝖊𝖆𝖒

╚══════════════╝

ʙʀᴜɴᴏ ʙᴜᴄᴄɪᴀʀᴀᴛɪ

- Types like your boss.

- ‘Will someone please pick Narancia up from the store? He broke the car.’

- He will say the most outlandish thing in a completely serious tone.

- ‘I’m in the hospital, got shanked by a tweaker.’

- The gang thought he was joking. He was not.

- Uses emojis and slang sparingly. Phrases like ‘omw’ and ‘ty’ are most common.

- The only emojis he uses often is ‘👍’ and ‘👋’.

- Overall professional and understandable.

- Doesn’t use images, gifs, or videos.

ʟᴇᴏɴᴇ ᴀʙʙᴀᴄᴄʜɪᴏ

- Very sarcastic.

- ‘Oh no im sorry should i come over and kiss your boo-boo?’

- Doesn’t use much punctuation aside from ending punctuation and hyphens. Can’t use commas to save his life.

- No one can tell if he is actually mad or being sarcastic.

- Uses ‘😶’ and ‘🧐’ most often.

- Doesn’t use images/gifs/videos

- Refuses to use dms, and often get made fun of it for it.

- ‘Giorno please im on my knees im begging you please stop being cringe im actually going to cry please ill do literally anything just shut the fuck up.’

ɢᴜɪᴅᴏ ᴍɪꜱᴛᴀ

- Types very modern.

- ‘can one of yall pick me up slommy from the store’

- Doesn’t use punctuation and capitalization.

- Constantly quoting memes and being the Funny Man™.

- ‘you smell like ten cans of bounce dat ass’

- All bark, no bite.

- Uses ‘😘’ and ‘😏’ emoji the most.

- Sends this image at least twice a day.

ɴᴀʀᴀɴᴄɪᴀ ɢʜɪʀɢᴀ

- Types with a lot of slang

- ‘Bro Just Me Or Does Mista Not Know How To Wipe His Mfing Ass’

- Capitalizes every word and often misspells things.

- Quotes memes, but not as much as Mista.

- ‘Foogie Pookie I’m Scared There’s A Wasp In The Citchin’

- Purposely tries to give Fugo a stroke.

- Uses the ‘🧡’ and ‘🍊’ emojis the most.

- Doesn’t send images, but sends gifs.

ᴘᴀɴɴᴀᴄᴏᴛᴛᴀ ꜰᴜɢᴏ

- Types rather properly, like he’s writing an email.

- ‘Narancia, I found this video to help with your math lesson. I’m proud you’ve gotten to 7th grade level! https://youtu.be/Xb951Vqs4Vc Please use it if you need help. - 🍓’

- Uses a passive-aggressive tone when he gets angry.

- Talks in the group chat the least, prefers to use dms.

- Signs his messages like an old lady.

- Takes a long time to type.

- ‘The meeting is at 4 pm today, correct?’

- Uses the ‘🍓’ emoji exclusively.

- Doesn’t send images/gifs, usually just sends math videos for Narancia.

ɢɪᴏʀɴᴏ ɢɪᴏᴠᴀɴɴᴀ

- Types properly, but not as much as Fugo.

- ‘Abbacchio, I’m sorry but I have some important things to discuss with Capo. :c’

- Always speaks in a polite or serious tone.

- Doesn’t use emojis, uses ‘:D’, ‘:c’ etc.

- Doesn’t send a lot of images, but might send cute group selfies.

- ‘Uh, I need back up, Narancia is bleeding out on the ground. Please hurry-’

- Will do anything to avoid calling.

╔══════════════╗

𝕷𝖆 𝕾𝖖𝖚𝖆𝖉𝖗𝖆

╚══════════════╝

ʀɪꜱᴏᴛᴛᴏ ɴᴇʀᴏ

- Doesn’t know how to spell, but still tries his best to be professional.

- ‘PLEASe attend the MEATING at 12, thank youo’

- Auto correct either helps him or hurts him.

- Sends cute images of animals occasionally.

- ‘How do you WORK a phone i need TO know PLEASe’

- Wants to use emojis, doesn’t know how. (Despite Melone showing him multiple times.)

- Bless his poor soul.

ᴘʀᴏꜱᴄɪᴜᴛᴛᴏ

- Types properly, but isn’t by any means professional.

- ‘Will you all please shut the fuck up? It’s three am and you are FLOODING the group chat.’

- Doesn’t take any bull from anyone.

- Has admin in all of the group chats.

- Uses the ‘🙃’ and ‘🖕’ emojis the most.

- ‘You’re all going to hell. 😊👐’

- Gets away with the most bs.

- Doesn’t use images/gifs/videos

ɢʜɪᴀᴄᴄɪᴏ

- Types angrily.

- ‘YOU’RE ALL STUPID FUCKS. PLEASE JUST SHUT UP. NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR IT.’

- Gets annoyed over literally any grammar mistake, so he isn’t very active.

- When he’s around, he tends to gaslight most situations.

- Uses the ‘❄️’ and ‘💙’ emojis exclusively.

- Only ever sends photos to start arguments. (Ex. A picture of Formaggio eating shredding cheese from the fridge at 3 am.)

- Probably shouldn’t be allowed to have a phone.

ᴍᴇʟᴏɴᴇ

- Types.. well...

- ‘Ciaooo~ What’s up lgbt community? (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧’

- He gets on everyone’s nerves, or helps them out tremendously. It’s a 50/50.

- Will spam any cute gif he sees until he finds a better one.

- Doesn’t use emojis, but instead uses those emoticons.

- He’s the one who makes all the group chats.

- Usually starts fights, but never finishes them.

- (Aka. he ghosts halfway through once someone else joins the argument.)

- Spams LOONA fancams in chat.

ꜰᴏʀᴍᴀɢɢɪᴏ

- Types like a Mista 2.0

- ‘just admit you like feet and move on 🙄‘

- CEO of gaslighting, will 100% make every situation worse then it already is.

- ‘wow so i’m here shitting my guts out and not a single one of yall will come get me tp? woooow. see yall in hell ✌️’

- Loves to make everyone mad, but his target is usually Prosciutto.

- He uses so many emojis that it’s impossible to keep track of them.

- Spams nasty f*tish art when he’s mad at someone in chat.

- The king of memes. Uses gifs, images, videos, you name it. They tell him to stop but he doesn’t.

ɪʟʟᴜꜱᴏ

- Types pretty casually.

- ‘Okay so im just curious as to which one of yall clogged the toilet with a FAT log, cause this shit nasty asf’

- Extremely passive aggressive and manipulative, never outright says when he’s mad.

- Only uses the ‘💅’ emoji.

- Gossips 24/7 with Gelato in dms, and has a gc called ‘We love Formaggio.’

- (Hint: All they do is talk shit about him in that gc.)

- Sends so many reaction images it’s not even funny.

ᴘᴇꜱᴄɪ

- Types like every teenage girl.

- ‘Hi guys!!! uwu’

- Everyone actually seems to ignore him for no reason.

- He has great ideas, but no one listens. Like, he could make communicating with each other x10 easier, but they just disregard him.

- Hates going into chat for the most part.

- ‘Guys- formaggio’s cat threw up on the carpet, what do I do?’

- Once was traumatized by a video Formaggio sent of a guy twerking butt-naked.

- Uses the ‘😊’ and ‘🙏’ emojis the most.

- Wants to use images/gifs/videos but yelled at the last time he sent one.

ꜱᴏʀʙᴇᴛ & ɢᴇʟᴀᴛᴏ

- Both type in a similar tone.

- ‘Who the fuck stole my casserole.’ - Sorbet

- ‘who stole my baby’s casserole 😶’ - Gelato

- Gelato doesn’t capitalize his sentences, ever. His nickname in chat is even lowercase.

- Sorbet only uses ‘.’ as punctuation.

- Gelato starts the most petty bull, Sorbet actually causes issues.

- Both are often kicked from the group chat for being overly affectionate.

- ‘so i just wanted to mention that im p sure i saw illuso spill cereal on the couch and not clean it up 😁 ’

- vs.

- ‘Illuso split cereal on the fucking couch and didn’t clean up after himself. Nasty fucker.’

- I’m sure you can tell who’s who.

- Sorbet doesn’t use emojis, but like Ghiaccio, he sends images that starts fights.

- Meanwhile Gelato finds it hard to go 30 seconds without using emojis/images.

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raendown · 4 years

Link

Pairing: MadaraTobirama Word count: 4879 Soulmate au: The one where every pair of soulmates finds each other in different ways or through different soulmate tropes

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Chapter 221

Watching the client who had come begging them for assistance with a typically ridiculous problem, Tobirama wondered what it would be like to have such an obvious connection to his soulmate as this man did. His already short sleeves were tied back even further as though to purposefully display as much as possible of the golden words flowing down the back of one arm, a greeting that must have been the first words his other half spoke to him. To have such easy proof of one’s connection, to know from the earliest ages that there was someone out there and how to find them, Tobirama could only wonder at the security this man must have felt in his bond from the moment he understood that it was waiting for him. It must have been nice.

It was also quite the pity for whoever had been the one to speak those words.

Privately Tobirama could admit that a small bit of the attitude he could feel bubbling to the surface was motivated by jealousy, petty retribution against someone who had something he wanted for himself. Out loud, of course, he wouldn’t be caught dead even hinting at such an admission.

“This is all very fascinating, Kirimoto-san, but I can’t help noting you have yet to explain what any of it has to do with Konohagakure. Were you perchance hoping to commission someone to record your story? Contracting a scribe would only be a D-rank mission, not the A-rank you proposed.” Lifting one eyebrow in judgement was probably going a little too far. If only he could bring himself to care.

“I was only just getting to that, Senju-sama,” their client spluttered. Anger flashed across his face but luckily for his continued health he was smart enough not to say anything. “The mission I came to contract your shinobi for is of vital importance! My son is a diamond among chaff; he deserves only the best! If the woman pressing suit upon him is truly so weak-hearted as to look at other men then she must be chased away!”

Tobirama blinked slowly. “And you wish us to…?”

“Why, to bring proof of her infidelity of course! I will pay the full price of an A-rank mission for two of your finest shinobi to approach her in disguise and seduce her away from my son! If her heart is as impure as I think it is then she will no doubt fall for such base tricks.”

He puffed himself up with the same false importance bred in to every idiot that had ever been born in the capital city, entirely ignorant of how little effect that would have on the one he was speaking to. When Tobirama got ahold of his brother he was going to throttle the man for taking today of all days off and leaving his duties to the next in command. Technically Madara would have been the next in command if he weren’t currently at home recovering from pushing himself too hard during training. No doubt that was exactly why Hashirama had taken the day off. Tobirama hoped the two idiots drowned in a teapot for making him deal with this particular client.

Despite his petty irritation he didn’t actually want to offend the man. Or at least not badly enough for the idiot to file a complaint that would bring another lecture down on his head about playing nice with their patrons. Several slow deep breaths helped bolster his patience until he could be certain none of the contempt he felt for this utter waste of time might show on his face; only then did he speak again.

“If you wish to pay for an A-rank mission then we will gladly accept your commission. Do you have any other information that might help us choose the two best people to accept this task?”

“You! I want one of them to be you!” For some reason Kirimoto-san felt the need to rise from his chair and point like there could be any mistaking who he was speaking to. They were, after all, the only people in the room. “I’ve heard all the rumors! Women from here to the capitol cry themselves to sleep every night over the hearts you break!”

Tobirama could feel one of his eyes twitching. He’d heard a lot of rumors about himself before but this one was new. Him? A country-wide heartbreaker? That went beyond laughable in to the territory of utterly absurd. If anything most rumors called him uptight and cold. Which, in all honesty, was certainly more true than the opposite. The last heart he broke was probably well back in his adolescence when one of his clanmates had taken some unnatural interest in him and refused to be turned aside with any gentler tactics than a flat out shredding of her ego.

Clinging hard to his temper, Tobirama bit down savagely on his own tongue before asking, “I don’t suppose I could change your mind on that? My duties here are many and rumors are easily blown out of proportion. Seduction is… not one of my strengths, shall we say.”

“Do...I want to know?” Hashirama’s voice asked in the same moment the door swung open. Their illustrious Hokage recoiled almost as soon as he stepped in to the room, eyes wide and confused upon being met with Tobirama’s acidic glare. Behind him trundled Madraa who looked a hell of a lot more put together than he had when Tobirama bullied him in to going home the night before with instructions to recuperate before he passed out over his own paperwork.

“Ah Hokage-sama!” their client bowed hastily.

“Hello! Um, honeypot mission?” The cringe in Hashirama’s voice was as obvious as the pain it caused him to think of his sibling in any sort of intimate context.

Unfortunately Kirimoto-san managed to speak first. “Senju-sama here has agreed to assist me in the matter I wrote to you about! All we need is one mo- ah! Perfect! You’re perfect! Pray tell, what is your name, miss?”

If nothing else. Tobirama decided while he was busily choking on his own tongue, that right there was worth the shame of having to take part in this ridiculous farce. Madara, to no one’s surprise, didn’t seem inclined to agree. His expression was particularly thunderous when he crossed his arms and leveled their client with a deadly stare.

“Uchiha Madara,” he growled. To Kirimoto-san’s credit he didn’t so much as flinch before breaking in to a massive grin.

“Even more perfect! A man! And here I thought I would have to pay extra for you to dress as one. Most excellent. It absolutely must be the two of you!”

Madara sneered. “I don’t think s-”

“Well now!” Hashirama spoke over him. “I’m sure you understand, my dear sir, that these two are my most valuable shinobi both administratively and in battle prowess. To allow both of them to be deployed on the same mission would be a serious detriment to our productivity - not to mention our security in the event of an attack.”

“But I must have them! Only them!”

“It simply doesn’t seem feasible. To fill the large spaces they would leave empty would mean keeping several extra people on active duty and I’m afraid the cost…” With a face of carefully constructed regret Hashirama sighed and Tobirama took a moment to reluctantly admire his brother’s ingenuity. People could say what they wanted about his overly active emotions. Very few ever realized how easily he manipulated them entirely because of that same buffoonery veiling their eyes to the wily genius underneath.

Kami forbid the idiot ever realize Tobirama admired that quality in him, though.

“Can I not convince you?” Kirimoto-san begged. “If it is a matter of cost I can of course make it worth your while to send them with me! Name your price, Hokage-sama, and I will pay it! Anything to ensure that my precious son lives his life only with a woman who will never betray him!”

The poor sod didn’t even seem to realize the mistake he’d just made as Hashirama turned to him with a beatific smile on his face and dollar signs in his eyes.

When he finally managed to leave the office Kirimoto-san’s face was as pained as his poor wallet was empty. Tobirama couldn’t find it in himself to even pity the man. Not when his own fate had been sealed with more than twenty thousand ryō above the typical asking price of an A-ranked mission. Regrettably, he hadn’t actually been lying when he said that seduction was not one of his strengths but apparently he would have to at least make an effort. It was hard to choose whether he regretted more that it would be a woman several years after he had finally accepted his preferences in the opposite direction or that, of all people, Madara would be there to watch him make such an utter fool out of himself.

“How exactly”-he demanded the moment their client was far enough down the hall not to overhear them-”do you propose I disguise myself? At the risk of showing my own ego, I’ll remind you that I do have rather distinctive looks.”

“You’re not the only one,” Madara growled with both hands going almost protectively to his extraordinary mane of hair.

Hashirama boomed a laugh that lacked even a shred of sympathy. “Oh I’m sure you two will figure something out! You could always wear a henge!”

“And if she’s chakra-sensitive? I notice you failed to even ask about that!” Madara reached out to smack his best friend across the back of the head for such an oversight. Familial bonds dictated that Tobirama should defend his sibling but, as he rather wished he was close enough to do that himself, he opted to pretend he’d seen nothing.

“Sorry! Sorry! I’m sure we can work out something that will hide your hair. Like a big scarf or a hood or something you could tuck it in to!” Hashirama drooped and clasped both hands under his chin. “Please don’t be mad at me!”

“That still leaves me,” Tobirama pointed out.

Both of the squabbling friends turned to him in consideration for several long heartbeats. Hashirama spoke up first with a bright smile. “I know! We can cover your tattoos with makeup! Geisha use white makeup all the time, I’m sure we can procure you some in a discreet manner!”

“Covering my face won’t do much good if my hair is just going to stick out like a fox in a henhouse. The only bloodlines left that produce hair this color are all shinobi clans and as much as I would consider it a complement to be mistaken for a Hatake, that wouldn’t exactly help me fly under the radar now would it?” he didn’t bother to list all of the other shinobi clans he would likely take insult at being mistaken for but his brother, thankfully, had enough tact to skirt that entirely.

Instead he went even deeper in to stupid territory because of course he did.

“You could dye your hair!” he crowed as if with the triumph of a great idea.

“I hate you,” Tobirama told him.

Without another word he swept out of the office, calling over his brother’s whining protests that since he was here anyway he might as well finish his own duties for the day. More than anything he was angered that Hashirama’s suggestion had actually been a logical solution and in the depths of his private heart he admitted that his irritation stemmed entirely from self-image. He didn’t want to dye his hair. He liked his hair. Call him an egomaniac but he rather enjoyed standing out from the masses.

Sending a clone to go pick out some dye from the infiltration core’s private storage room felt somehow less painful than doing it himself. At least when he received the memories of it the deed would already be done. Tobirama completed the handful of duties left unfinished at the tower and then left to wait at home for his clone to return. The first thing he did upon dispelling his copy was sit in his living room to study the instructions on the back of the dreaded box in excruciating detail. The only thing worse than going through with this idiocy would be somehow doing it wrong; this was already going to end in mockery one way or another, he didn’t need to give anyone more ammo than necessary. After making sure he understood exactly how to use the stuff Tobirama spun the box around again to study the color.

Maybe he wouldn’t look entirely terrible with red hair. If the stars aligned in just the right way he might be able to convince himself he looked a bit like his sister in law. The Uzumaki, now there was a clan he would feel no shame for having a connection to and it would certainly be a logical assumption. They did have a rather sizable civilian population.

Turning the box side to side in an effort to determine whether he thought the color looked like a natural one, he couldn’t help but let his eyes be drawn to the golden letters embossed near the very top, an elegant curling script that greatly resembled the letters Kirimoto-san bore along one arm. What would he do, Tobirama wondered, if at last he managed to discover his own soulmate and he wasn’t able to reach out because of this? He’d never been all that fond of undercover missions for just this reason. To meet his soulmate while he didn’t even look like himself, to risk that they might fall in love with a falsity. A deep sigh escaped him and Tobirama spun the box around so he wouldn’t have to look at the letters anymore. Everything about this mission was stupid - including the emotions he was letting it drag out of him. Best to just get this over with before he got too maudlin about things so far out of his control.

All told, including the time he took to pause and investigate the chemical compounds, the dying process took just over an hour and Tobirama refused to look at himself in the mirror until he had thoroughly rinsed the mixture out of his hair and let the whole thing dry completely. Only then did he finally approach the bathroom vanity with trepidation and lift his eyes to take in the horror of what he’d done. He had just enough time to cringe in distaste before the front door of his home slammed open with a bang that ricocheted down the hall.

“Tobi?” Hashirama’s voice called out to him in an oddly strangled tone. “You here?”

“Unfortunately.” At his reply footsteps hurried closer.

“We may have to apply a slight change of plaaaa-....ns...oh my.”

“Anija I swear if you finish that sentence after I only just finished this nonsense”-Tobirama jerked an angry thumb at his own mangled hair-“I will make you regret ever being born.”

His brother stared at him. Stared some more. Blinked several times and then continued to stare, all while Tobirama’s ire grew closer and closer to the boiling point. Finally he drew in a breath that rattled ominously.

“Come with me,” he murmured shortly before spinning on one heel and marching back towards the front door.

“Now hold on! Anija, what the hell?”

Annoyingly, Hashirama did not stop. His only concession was to pause long enough for Tobirama to tear an old jacket out of his front closet and pull the hood up tightly. Just because lots of other strangers were going to see him in this state didn’t mean he had to let all of Konoha in on his shame. Vanity, apparently, would need to be added on to the list of character flaws he hadn’t even known afflicted him until this thrice blasted village was built.

Where the hell they were going he couldn’t tell since the hood of his jacket was pulled so tight around his head that it obscured most of the world around him. On sense alone he guessed they were bound in a general southern direction but for the life of him he couldn’t imagine what existed to the south that had to do with his disguise or suddenly needed to be attended to the moment his brother saw him. Tobirama did try to ask, of course, but for once in his life Hashirama seemed to have lost his capacity for words. If only he could be like that more often. Well, if only he could be like that any other time but for now when Tobirama needed answers that none of his increasingly irritated questions were getting him. He did recognize right away when they entered the Uchiha district. Walking past the uchiwa-embossed gates always felt much like stepping in from the cold to a place with a thousand warm fires all around him. It was, he hated to admit, a very comforting place to be for a sensor like him.

It was also a great relief at the moment; Hashirama might profess to love the whole world but there were very few people he was actually close with and only one of them lived within the Uchiha compound. Tobirama frowned at the inside of his hood. It would make sense for them to go see Madara right now, he was the other half of this utterly ridiculous undercover mission, but it made no sense at all for Hashirama to be in this much of a tither over his best friend unless something had gone terribly wrong in the past hour since they had all been together.

How much trouble could one man get in to within the confines of their own village?

Despite how close the two of them were it was still a mild surprise when Hashirama let them both in to Madara’s house without so much as knocking. Tobirama wracked his brain trying to remember whether Izuna still lived with his brother while the two of them made their way down the hall. Since they were inside now, safe from the judging eyes of the general public, Tobirama allowed his fingers to loosen their hold on the material of his hood until he had enough vision to take in the home of the Uchiha clan head. Much more spartan than he had expected. If he were taking this first look a handful of years ago he would have expected bloodied weapons to line the walls and plaques bearing the heads of notable kills. He’d long grown past such childish assumptions but if he were honest he still would have expected this place to be a little more plush, a little more befitting the head of such a large and lucrative clan.

“Mads? Mads I’m back. Are you...okay if we come in?” Hashirama paused at the beginning of the hallway to gently wrap his knuckles against a plain shoji screen.

“End me now,” Madara’s miserable voice drifted out. “If a single person in my clan sees this I will never hear the end of it.”

“We’re coming in, okay?”

Hashirama waited just a moment longer to give his friend time for yelling if he was truly so opposed to them entering. When no protests came he nodded once and then opened the door, pulling Tobirama behind him as he walked forward in to the room.

Strange as it was to find himself in Uchiha Madara’s bedroom of all places Tobirama didn’t have time to even look around to see if the decor here was as barren as the rest of the house. He didn’t even have the time to ruminate on the odd places life had taken him just today. The moment he stepped inside the room all of his attention was riveted to the figure huddled on the bed with face in hands. Logic told him that was Madara. It sounded like him. Felt like him. His eyes, however, must have been playing tricks on him.

“The...hell...is going on?” Tobirama pulled his free arm away from Hashirama’s grasp to poke at him with confusion. “I thought you said he was going with the scarf idea? How the hell did you get a dye that color to saturate this much hair in such a short time? And for that matter, why on earth did you give him the same color as me?”

“Oh I didn’t do this,” Hashirama said.

“So he did it to himself?”

“No, I think you did it.”

Tobirama blinked slowly, one eyebrow rising. “I most certainly did not. You saw me when you came to get me, you know exactly what I’ve been doing since I left the tower.”

In his indignation at being accused he missed the sharp movement of Madara’s head snapping up to look at him for the first time since he entered the home. Busy as he was jamming a finger in to his brother’s side, he didn’t see those eyes zero in on him like a kunai finding its target but he sure did feel the weight of them. At first he ignored it - this was hardly the first time he’d been stared at - but when Hashirama managed to bat his finger away and pointedly indicated the man whose house they had just invaded he finally looked over.

“Can I help you?” he muttered, instinctively defensive under that much scrutiny.

“What do you mean the same color as you?”

His first reflex was to pull the hood tighter around his head. Then he realized how stupid that was. If the two of them were going on the same mission then obviously Madara would have to see him in this state at some point - and if anyone was going to understand the pain of having to dye his hair such a wildly unsuitable shade it would be the man whose head currently matched his own. A heavy sigh of defeat escaped him before, with great effort, he finally allowed his fingers to unclench so the hood of his jacket could fall back to reveal that his hair indeed was a perfect match for the ridiculous color of Madara’s. He expected the man to stare, of course. What he didn’t expect was for his jaw to drop and one hand to reach out blindly for Hashirama.

“You,” Madara croaked. “Go away. Now. I...I need to talk to...just go away!”

“Okay.” In a move possibly more surprising than anything else that had happened so far, Hashirama turned to leave the room as easily as that, not a word of protest. Tobirama watched him go with both eyes wide and blinking.

“I...how did you do that? I’ve never seen him leave so easily in my life. How did you make him do that!?”

Bed springs creaked and groaned like a symphony to announce Madara’s rise from the bed, eyes still locked on to Tobirama with all the intensity of the hawks he so enjoyed flying. He looked just as silly with the wrong hair color as Tobirama felt he himself did but something told him that mockery would not go over very well just now no matter that Madara was one of the few who could give as good as he got. The arguments they got in to were usually some of the highest points of Tobirama’s week.

“You dyed your hair.” Unfortunately his intelligence didn’t always shine through quite as obviously, such as moments like now when he felt compelled to state the very obvious.

“So did you,” Tobirama said with one eyebrow raised in judgment.

“No I didn’t.”

After a pause Tobirama canted his head to one side and lifted the other brow. “Well then I suppose I’ll need to get my eyes checked very soon.”

“No! Shut up, you don’t get it! I didn’t do this!”

“You’re claiming...what? Some kind of hair dye bandit snuck in and colored your hair when you weren’t looking?”

“I think it means we’re soulmates, you absolute fuck!”

“Oh.”

There were dozens of responses he could pretend he’d been expecting and that one would not have been even close to getting on the list. Tobirama opened his mouth only to close it, thoughts racing over each other in a jumbled heap because he knew exactly what Madara was getting at. Of course he did.

And of course the universe would be so petty as to give them a way to find each other only through humiliating themselves. Sometimes he really did hate other people for how easily they discovered their bonds. Not him, though, oh no. He couldn’t have a red string tied to his pinkie, he couldn’t have been born with the first words his soulmate would say to him imprinted on his skin, he couldn’t even have the moment of unquestionable knowing when he heard his partner’s voice for the first time. Because it was him and because it was Madara they just had to do things the hard way, waiting until one of them dyed their hair so the change of color could be reflected on their other half.

“That color looks awful on you,” was all he could think to say; perhaps a little too honest but from the very start of peace the two of them had silently agreed to never pull their punches with each other. Madara stared at him in disbelief for a half dozen heartbeats until without warning he burst in to raucous laughter.

“Seriously?” he demanded. “That’s all you have to say?”

Tobirama threw both of his hands in the air. “Well what do you want me to say? It’s not like I have some big speech prepared just in case I find out the other half of my soul has been riding around in you this whole time!”

“No? That’s almost surprising. You’re usually prepared for pretty much anything.” The smile on Madara’s face gentled his words from insults to fond teasing and Tobirama wondered how long the possibilities of this had been hiding right under his nose.

“I didn’t really want to go on this mission in the first place,” he mused. “Now I really don’t want to.”

“Because we match and it’s incredibly obvious that we shouldn’t?”

“No, dumb ass, because I just discovered my soulmate and I’d rather like some time to process that.” Tobirama rolled his eyes but there was a very telling hint of a smile on his own face as well. How could there not be?

Madara hummed and shifted his weight, coincidentally ending up just a little bit closer when he settled, though Tobirama chose not to point that out. “How much do you think it would take to convince your brother not to send us out?”

“Oh probably about a thousand yen more than whatever Kirimoto-san paid him.”

“Hn. I’d have to dip in to the clan coffers. And then I’d have to listen to the elders bitch about squandering clan funds. Ugh.” Madara’s nose wrinkled. Tobirama mirrored him if for no other reason than annoyance that he’d never really noticed how adorable that was. If he looked back on all the past interactions they’d had he would probably be able to drum up a thousand different clues that they were meant to be together.

Good thing he wasn’t the type to look back. Self reflection was so boring.

The problem of his brother forcing them to go through with this mission still was just something they would have to figure out later. Probably a very quick later since they were still expected to leave some time later that same day but still, certainly a problem Tobirama was willing to put off solving until he absolutely had to. If Hashirama was really so dead set on making them do this when he very clearly understood what situation was happening then he could come get them himself.

“Spot of tea?” Tobirama looked around as though he might spot a kitchen through the bedroom walls.

“Ah, yeah, I guess it would be polite of me to get you some, huh?”

Madara rocked back on to his heels and looked towards the door as well, the perfect opportunity for Tobirama to really look at him and take in all the little details he normally wouldn’t in another person, the shape of his jawline and the tiny amounts of baby fat that had never fully left his cheeks.

“It isn’t like you to be concerned about being polite,” he pointed out.

When his soulmate turned back to reveal an openly amused grin he thought maybe the universe did know what it was doing - but he was still a little annoyed that it had made things so difficult for him. Also quite annoyed that they were likely going to have to see this ridiculous mission through. What an absolute shame that he finally discovered his soulmate only for the poor man to bear witness to his complete lack of seduction skills all in the same day. He hoped Hashirama had already started running because he was going to murder his own brother for this.

#rae writes #soulmate collection #madatobi #tobirama #madara #hashirama #fanfiction

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cobieeliseforsh · 4 years

Text

I'm getting pretty annoyed with the amount of bullshit in the media right now. I just read an article about the "antisemitic" conspiracy theory Qanon. Calling Qanon antisemitic is like calling the KKK a group opposed to the career of Will Smith - technically true, but clearly a small subsection of a greater whole.

So, to remedy this...

COBIE'S FRUSTRATED GUIDE TO QANON FROM SOMEONE WHO LOVES CONSPIRACY THEORIES AND WISHES THIS ONE WOULD FUCK OFF BECAUSE IT IS BORING AS SHIT BUT NOT FIZZING WITH ENERGY, EVEN ON A MOLECULAR LEVEL, BECAUSE IT IS A DUMB AND LAZY REHASH FROM THE 80S OR EARLIER!

PART 1: DA FUCQ IS QANON?

Qanon is a grooming organisation for the Christian Far Right Death Cult that has held the Republican party in its sweaty hands since the ascent of Reagan in the 1980s. They believe in some bullshit I won't reprint here because I have no intention of spreading their ideology, but if you've heard of the Satanic panic, this is Satanic Panic 2: Now With Pizza!

Qanon is, by definition of their own supporters attacks on Muslim terrorism, a terrorist organisation. And, though it seems impossible, they're stupidier than ISIS ever were, because at least there was some twisted logic behind ISIS: poor young men fighting revolutionary wars against what they see as corrupt and immoral authorities and ideologies is nothing new. Qanon is literally the powerful declaring war on those without power out of fear that those without power (Satanists) live only to physically abuse their ugly, fat, prejudiced, stupid children. Despite the statistically most likely people to abuse them being them themselves, and there being plenty of evidence that many of these hypocrites have done that in the past (numerically many - one thing I believe Qanon followers on is that the majority are gullible Maud Flanders types, so statistically it won't be that many).

Donald Trump supports them over the "violent" Antifa (Antifa haven't killed anyone since 1993 (and that was a suicide), aren't actually an organisation, and are against facism, which Trump also claims to be against), despite Qanon followers carrying and firing weapons regularly, having shot up a pizza place in a terrorist act, refusing to wear masks, and other acts of violence designed to terrorise people.

PART 2 WHO DO THEY HATE?

Um... like, 98% of people.

Qanon is primarily an Apocalyptic Christian Far Right Death Cult. They believe in what they call SRA (Satanic Ritual Abuse) which happens at such a low frequency as to make it as serious a problem as being invaded by pookas. You might find anecdotal evidence here and there, but the majority of cases are hearsay spread by people who weren't there who were a part of or raised by people who were a part of the Satanic Panic. If you hear about it, it's likely bullshit. Just look at the West Memphis 3: accused of Satanic Ritual Abuse, they were sent to prison for wearing black clothes and being teenagers without any evidence. Now, whoever killed those boys is still loose, because Qanon, like all right-wing groups, is about being obeyed, not about justice.

So, with Satanic Ritual Abuse being fucking vapour, they can accuse ANYONE. And if there is no evidence, they cry COVER UP. There is no way, at all, to prove this mindset is wrong as it always self corrects, because being religious in origin, it is driven by BELIEF, not evidence.

So, whoever they believe is evil, is, as far as their reality tunnel goes.

Muslims? Evil child abusers. "But there is no evidence of that. In fact, the Muslim community is actually very protective of their children and other children. They're amongst the kindest people you can meet, even if their political leaders in their own countries are jerks." Well, says Qanon, that's because their community covers up the abuse. There wouldn't be any evidence. But my cousin went to school with a girl who was groomed by a Muslim. It's clear it is something all Muslims do. "But that's stupid. That's like saying that because Ted Bundy, a heterosexual white Republican, murdered loads of women, all heterosexual white Republicans want to murder women!" Now, says Qanon, you are just being silly. Besides, I believe Muslims are bad and Republicans aren't. You can't question my beliefs.

But we can, and we should.

Qanon followers use this vague structure to create complex webs that link up various conspiracy theories, but they aren't a complex web. They're just a list of petty grievances they have from living in their own personal echo chamber.

They hate women, they hate girls, they hate boys who don't conform to their expectations, they hate men who vote left-wing, they hate gay people, bi people, really anyone who isn't heterosexual, they definitely hate trans people (see: trans people want to use bathrooms to abuse children as merely an extension of the Satanic Ritual Abuse claims), they hate people with coloured hair, bright clothes, they hate Jewish people, they hate Muslims, they hate anyone from a fringe religion that doesn't look right, they hate foreigners, black and brown people... anyone they define as different. And to back this up, they claim to be "the majority" being dictated to be a "minority" - they aren't. They're a minority of gobby cunts, a Karen of Nazis (Karen being the best collective noun to describe these childish crybabies who were so desperate to remain in a state of childlike innocence they embraced both religion and then keep insisting their imaginary friend, Jesus, is following them everywhere, like a psychotic stalker ghost).

PART 3 WHERE DOES THEIR BULLSHIT COME FROM?

This is probably the most important part. Not what they believe, but where these ideas come from, and why they aren't new.

Qanon is a mixture of young-and-edgy YouTube/8chan influencer, white supremacist religious manipulation, pro-Capitalist Protestant religious "life is shit, embrace misery" ideology, pedophile hysteria, and "we hate the idea people have rights because we're power mad, but we're going to frame this as a backlash, normal people making their voices heard, a culture war, or whatever else we can rebrand PREJUDICE because even we don't want to admit we are bigots".

So, first of all, the angry white online teenagers: have always existed, will always exist. Their parents don't give a shit about them unless they cause trouble. So, they learn quickly that the best way to get attention is to cause trouble, which leads to kinship with other troubkemakers, forming an echo chamber of escalating troublemaking. But they're also angry, and often poor (in their eyes, or in actuality), so they're drawn to outrage, and like causing it. They're attracted to movements like this because they believe it's a chance to get some attention, someone to notice them.

And who notices them? White supremacists are always on the lookout for recruits. They feed their need for outrage and attention by misrepresenting everything. They take puff-piece news articles and shoddy journalism and further twist them into movements around positions that have no basis in reality. Vaccines? Designed to hurt you. "Uhhh, no," you say. "That's literally the opposite of what a vaccine does." I don't believe that, they say, and you can't question my beliefs. BLM? Terrorism. "No, they just want to not be shot." No they don't, they want to take over and put the Jews in power, and you can't question my beliefs! "You have no evidence!" COVER UP! they scream.

So it goes, so it goes.

Meanwhile, the Protestan work ethic of, "If you didn't suffer, you don't deserve it," goes on and on. They believe that shit things just happen, you can't stop them. Capitalism is founded on this very, very relugious principle: work should be pain for it to have value. This justifies promoting assholes, and making things difficult. But it also promotes the idea that you can't do anything to combat inequality, as that is natural, and you can't do anything to stop bad things happening, they always will, so why try? This lends Qanon a specific pattern: complain, do nothing, complain nothing is being done, still do nothing, repeat. It's wrong to intervene, you see. This allows them to say racism is bad, but God wants us to suffer so we deserve phony-heaven, a paradise they think is built on bricks of human misery... does that sound glorious to you? And if you have something, clearly you did suffer to get it, and so you are worthy, which is why Trump is a hero to them and they believe his every utterance of verbal diarrhea about him being persecuted (to be fair, he is, but he deserves it because he's lazy and incompetent).

Pedophile hysteria is also generally religiously motivated. Children should be protected, but they are not innocent angels. I've worked with children. Some are nice, some are sneaky, some are violent bullies, and so on. The one thing that unites all children is that they are ignorant. That's why we send them to school. And there are people who want to prey on children. The world we usually use to describe those who most often hurt, abuse and damage children is, "family". Promoting the idea of gangs of rampaging pedophiles snatching children into vans and harming them in shadowy rooms, or murdering them in some Satanic ritual, is laughable compared to the epidemic of children being harmed by those parents terrified the pedophiles are out there. Such fear motivates them to do untold harm to children, restricting their freedoms and their growth, teaching them that all sex is bad so they never enjoy it, forcing them to be things they aren't, and turning a blind eye to obvious abuse because those doing it are not the model of abuse being put out by the press and Internet communities. In that last way, Qanon is a driver of child abuse: it actively encourages Apocalyptic Christian Far Right Death Cult members to nit even ask the obvious question: if Epstein was abusing kids, and Epstein was hanging out with Trump, was Trump maybe involved in some way?

And then there is just the prejudiced crowd, most notably the American-exceptionalism delusional whack jobs. Let me be clear, all forms of exceptionalism are prejudiced, as they suggest that those who are exceptional are better and mire deserving than others, and the real world does not contain such hierarchies, just stuff that happens until it stops happening. A monkey may be the alpha, but one day they won't be. It's not a hierarchy, it's just a thing that happens that we project a power structure onto. Who knows what monkey culture is like? Maybe to them deference is more honourable and respected than being in charge. No-one has asked monkeys for their views of ideology or power structures.

This often manifests itself in ideas of, "We shouldn't be ashamed!" and that movements they don't like are, "Against us!" Well, if you're setting out to hurt people because you believe you are better than them, you should be ashamed. That queer Pakistani girl you keep out of college could have been the one to cure cancer! She might have had the unique perspective to make that breakthrough. And, yes, some of us are against Qanon, because Qanon is hurting people. That is the point of the movement: to harm its enemies, by denial if freedom all the way up to outright murder. It isn't a Pride parade or BLM demanding equality and an end to deaths, its a hate movement driven by a desire to punch down, and ultimately perpetuate the very system that isn't even working for those who follow its own ideology.

It's based on fear of the new, even if that new place is better than the old one, change can be scary. They think equality will hurt them, the way collective bargaining would hurt them. But we don't live in a system where resources are so finite you have to do without, we live in a system where resources are finite but we throw away an excess because capitalism couldn't make rich people richer by giving it to those who need it, so they dispose of it and introduce scarcity to drive up the cost. Working together would force them to stop doing that, which is why movements like this exist: to perpetuate a form of exceptionalism more like a cult, where only the leaders reap the rewards.

PART 4 WHAT IS THE END GOAL OF QANON?

It doesn't have one.

Qanon is a right-wing movement. Right-wing movements are about winning arguments now, and then feeling smug, even when the damage is undone later. It's about a sense of self-satisfaction, and not anything else.

Plus, Qanon has so many stake-holders who hate each other that the movement will eventually descend into cannibalism as all these things do.

Finally, being primarily religious in its design, it won't take long for many religious types to realise Q is kind if a God-like figure, a false idol, and when that happens, plenty if their leaders will become worried that their followers are so focused on Q they might "stray from the path" of donating all their money to their church.

Unless it turns out that Q is Q from Star Trek, in which case their end goal is to test Jean-Luc Picard.

PART 5 SHOULD WE FEAR QANON?

Nah. It's a group of fringe lunatics whose time in the spotlight will be fleeting. As I've already said, even their ideas aren't original - this is the Apocalyptic Christian Far Right Death Cult version of Fortnite stealing dances: everyone goes crazy about it for a bit, but it's so insubstantial in its original form, nevermind the cover band version, that almost all people with a lick of common sense will dismiss it. Plus, it doesn't serve any agenda: Trump could easily find himself on the receiving end of it, that one Qanon politician just elected will likely be marginalised the moment Trump vanishes, and having a single person won't sway any votes in such divisive times, which means they'll be proclaimed ineffectual soon enough, and with Epstein it is already showing that it isn't something which helps the powerful, meaning a lot of people who do have secrets will want it gone sooner rather than later lest it bite their own hands. Plus, they are actually harming people - and say what you like about the Republicans, they don't tend to respond well to the PR disaster of groups they side with directly attacking or killing people unless they are their own ACAB stormtroopers.

Plus, it's a bunch of saddos on the Internet. Chances are if you see someone screaming about Qanon and waving around a gun, they'd have done the same and screamed about lizards had it never got started.

PART 6 WHAT SHOULD I DO?

Stop giving them attention. This is one of the most BORING conspiracy theories ever created. Seriously, since 9/11, conspiracy theories have really gone downhill. They used to be about aliens and subterranean kingdoms, and now they're just attempts to misdirect pedophile hunters from the right-wing types who have covered up child abuse, and tie it to phony "think of the children" and "Satan is out to get us" religious hysteria.

With covid-19, the press is having a very slow news cycle, so they're desperately grabbing at anything that can drive search engine algorithm clicks to their sites, so they're covering Qanon because they've seen it trending. I doubt most people involved with it really believe in it, but it is so directionless that it wouldn't matter if they did. Qanon Con would descend into bloodshed fairly quickly because everyone would be angry and arguing that the tater tots are secret SRA code for cannibalising children or that it reveals that Hilary Clinton buries children beneath fields of potatoes. It's stupid, the people involved with it are stupid, and the bigger question is what they believe that led them to this:

Disenfranchisement. Having to respect the beliefs of others. Prejudice. Anger.

Well, boo-fucking-hoo. If these shitbags actually want to stop harm to children, maybe stop supporting gun rights so kids aren't being gunned down in schools, and black kids don't keep getting gunned down everywhere. Until you do that, Qanon, you're the child abusers.

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toooldforfandom-liveblogs · 5 years

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Gravity Falls S02E18 - Weirdmageddon Part I

I really like that name for the end of the world. I'm not sure what to expect from this one since this is literally new territory for everyone. My one hope is that Mabel gets forgiven easily but there has to be some drama, either for the twins or the Stans (since that relationship really needs some mending, and the end of the world seems to be a good place for that kind of thing.) I think that's all so let's do this!

If this is the first shot of the episode, things are going to get _weird_.

Wait. Wait. What.

Okay, had to go back and check Bill's summoning circle.

I completely forgot about this but I guess he needs all the symbols for something beyond summoning everything weird into this dimension? But why? Uhm.

Anyway, back in Dreamscaperers I wrote:

Glasses = The ones Stan found in the room with the magic carpet? Question Mark = Soos Ice - Fish with food? > Pine = Dipper Star with an eye Hand = Whoever wrote the journals considering the symbol on their covers? Llama/Alpaca? Shooting star = Mabel Heart with stitches

Fish with food ended up being Stan's fez. I _think_ Heart with Stitches could be Robbie. Hand is obviously Ford. I'm still not sure about Glasses (they really look like Stan's glasses but... how would that work?) and Star (maaaaybe Gideon? The star appears in the ending cypher in S02E14.) The alpaca/llama and the ice are a complete mystery. Considering everyone of importance is in there already, maybe Wendy is one of those two?

Symbols aside, does this mean that Mabel is going to be missing until who knows when? That's a bit disappointing.

Imagine being able to choose any physical form at all and choosing to keep being a dorito.

Before I paused I was convinced this guy was some weird Nigel Thornberry cameo.

So, Bill has 10 friends, which is exactly the number of symbols in the summoning circle. Huh. Interesting.

Maybe it means nothing but their appearance feels so sudden that I feel they have to be important somehow.

Immersion ruined, the Northwests would never lower themselves and go "downtown"

What a trianglist, she had no problems with Mabel.

I imagine Wendy can't wait to go to college a thousand miles away from her family.

Death, Famine, War, Conquest and Capitalism.

That's horrifying. But he's a dick. What a moral dilemma. Nah, he really deserves it.

Why steal Durland? Huh. Maybe he's also one of the symbols? Or Bill is just being Bill.

Oh, oh, I know what they do!

What an intro, I'm 100% sold.

What can our protagonists do? I guess Ford has a plan, maybe the symbols are for unsummoning Bill and that's why he's collecting them so they can't do whatever ritual they need to do. Maybe Ford and Stan will be in a similar situation that made them fight 30 years ago, but this time they actually communicate and win? Mabel is out so I hope they rescue her (or she rescues herself) before too much plot happens.

I _love_ how much of an effect the changed OP had on me.

After watching 37 episodes with the same opening song any changes are immediately noticeable and it feels _wrong_. What a great way to show how everything is changing for the worse thanks to Bill.

It does make me wonder how Gravity Falls is going to recover though. It looks _bad_, bad enough that in any other show I wouldn't be surprised by a time-machine or a literal genie undoing everything bad that happened. I doubt that'll happen here, since the town itself is so used to the "weird" but if someone dies all bets are off.

YESSSS, Dipper doesn't blame her! I'm sure there'll be some self-blame later on but I'm so glad his first reaction was to be worried.

Why is Soos unaffected? Is it related to his presence in the summoning circle? Looking for unaltered people may be a good way to find who are the missing symbols.

Soos deserved more episodes, what a hero

Has there been any positive romantic relationship in Gravity Falls?

Wendy and Dipper was an unrequited mess, Mabel and all her crushes were all disasters of some kind or another, the less said about Wendy and Robbie the better, and Tambry and Robbie is the result of the twins messing with their minds without their consent. Oh, and Gideon and his murderous crush on Mabel.

I love that tiny shiny dodrio.

I didn't need to know that Bill's hat was meat and bones.

What? No! Warnings later, explanations how to defeat a demon now!

This is the first time he calls Dipper by his symbol, right? He also called Ford "six fingers." The writers really wanted everyone on the same page here about making the relation between the symbols and the characters.

...I refuse to believe that the eye piece meant nothing with how much it has been shown!

Weirdmageddon sounds much better.

Wow. He has been wandering around for three days, probably having to scavenge for food and water. These kids are really going to need a therapist after summer break is over.

For some reason I find that guy more disturbing that most of the weirdness in this episode so far. He just sounds very predator-y.

...oh Dipper, those nachos are three days old at best. So young, so ignorant of the consequences of gastroenteritis.

...of course. I'm glad she's okay. She's been shown as a very badass so it would have been a shame if she was down without a fight.

But, but, rabies.

Can't wait for the weirdmaggeddon to be over and then immediately after everyone dying of infectious diseases.

So, how many post-weirdmageddon dipper/wendy fics did this scene inspire?

Robbie is conspicuously missing from that list

nevermind. Would have been an amazing selfie though, can't fault him for that

Aw. This got me a bit teary-eyed. They really can do anything if they are together.

Shame about Mabel being inside Bill's floating lair completely out of their reach.

What a raw deal, last game I played with twins on it they l– actually, never mind, spoilers. But it was really cool, believe me.

It looks like the mission briefing for a stealth game so, in my case, I'd try to avoid the lights, fail miserably a thousand times and then rage quit. Hopefully Dipper is better at stealth.

Making the world weird?

Wouldn't they know what's going to happen? Since there seems to be only one timeline? Actually, nevermind, I'm too sober to analyze the time travel mechanics of gravity falls.

Time Baby was the most powerful entity in the show so far! Stakes have been raised.

RIP Bodacious T, we never go to know you.

Mad Max: Fury Road, 2015

Two months being a villain and he still hasn't learned to avoid monologuing.

Don't worry, Gideon. It took Steven Universe 6 years to grow a neck, you'll get one someday.

Huh. So Bill manipulated him by using his obsession for Mabel. That's a nice way to explain why it came back after so many episodes without mentioning it too much.

Ugh.

She's a genuine action movie heroine trapped in a cartoon

I have no idea how Wendy manages to get more and more badass this season.

Right!? Right!? Wow.

Holy shit, this really is Fury Road.

that's deep, man

Ah, that explains it. Nothing more dangerous than a philosophy major.

Hatoful Boyfriend, 2014

My mind is exploding right now. I wasn't ready for anime Dipper and Wendy. What are the monkey and kid in the backseat referencing?

Lady Gag– nah, I refuse to use the same joke three times in the same liveblog.

* screams in terror too *

What a shame that we couldn't see the birth of the legend of Soos.

I can't believe Dipper is using the "Power of Understanding" to talk Gideon down.

This is really good. I almost want to joke and say "but it wasn't worth the Wendy/Dipper episodes" but it actually does make them work in retrospect. It's probably the largest source of character growth for Dipper during the show and here's the payoff.

I mean, yes.

WHAT

HOW DARE YOU

GAME IS OVER, AND I WON

NOW IT'S TIME TO START THE FUN

I ALWAYS LOVE CORRUPTING LIVES

NOW LET'S SEE WHICH PINES SURVIVES

well, that's nice.

---

I wasn't sure what to expect from this "Part 1", I thought it was going to be mostly setup. And it had a bit of that, just to show how screwed Gravity Falls (the town) is, but after that it was all action and it was all good.

I think getting Ford out of the way early was a good idea, it removes the possibility of a quick solution. Now Dipper has to figure things on his own. He still needed Wendy to remind him of what he and Mabel are capable of but that's a friend offering help, not "the mentor" giving him the answer to the problem. On the other hand, while Stan hasn't appeared after the goat, he hasn't been captured yet (he's important enough to deserve an on-screen capture, unless it's going to be revealed as a demoralizing surprise?) so I think he'll appear soon since he's just a guy, without any special knowledge about Bill.

Soos really deserves his own show. "The Legend of Soos" Or give Wendy her own show with Soos as the mysterious stranger that appears from time to time to help. Because wow, Wendy is lost in this show, she should be the protagonist of something.

But the star of the show was Dipper talking Gideon down. I _really_ didn't expect that. This is not a show where the protagonists defeat their villains by talking to them (with some exceptions) so I thought they'd defeat him in some other, more violent, way. And the way he uses the "Power of Understanding" to do it (go read Scott Pilgrim)! While Dipper never got to that extreme, he "gets" it and that's just * chef kiss *

I can't wait for the next episode, especially because this one ended in a cliffhanger, so until next time!

#gravity falls #gravity falls liveblog #gf s02e18

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ncfan-1 · 5 years

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“I think I may be falling in love with you.” Can we talk about what a conspicuously weird thing that was to say?

I mean, it’s obviously an attempt at manipulation, but to what end, exactly? Narek’s stated goal is to try and coax information about other androids out of Soji, and she presented him with a golden opportunity to present himself as a confidant, and he just didn’t capitalize on it. Like, dude. She asks you if you believe her, and you say yes. Obviously, you say yes, even if you don’t mean it, because you’re playing the part of the caring boyfriend who, of course, has no idea what’s going on here, but if Soji ever wants to talk about anything that is going on, ever wants to talk about anything else that happens to her that she doesn’t understand, of course you will listen. I feel like the game plan here should be for Narek to try to position himself as Soji’s trusted confidant, but again, he had a golden opportunity, and he used it to say something conspicuously weird and inappropriate for the conversation instead.

But then, Narek hasn’t really been behaving in ways that would encourage Soji to regard him as confidant, in general. And once she’s had more time to think about it, maybe she’s gonna be wondering if there isn’t something a bit off about her new boyfriend.

[More of my highly disorganized thoughts under the cut]

I predicted earlier my hope that Narek would join the good guys, and then immediately experienced the regret that comes when you make such a prediction when you’re not even halfway through the first season yet. Nowadays, I’m still hopeful, but more uncertain. I think that, for now, what keeps him at least somewhat sympathetic is his interactions with his sister.

(As a note, I had to look up her name, and got the name of her cover identity on earth—Narissa Rizzo. I’d be shocked if ‘Narissa’ is her actual name, but then again, who knows if Narek is his real name, so these are the names I’m going to use when talking about them, since I’ve got nothing better to go with.)

First, let me just say: it took Romulan makeup and dim lighting for me to recognize Peyton List, aka Poison Ivy Mark 3 from Gotham, and I’m not sure what that says about me. I hope she gives as engaging a performance as she did when playing Ivy.

Okay, when Narek tells Narissa that he’s not sure if Soji knows exactly what she is, and, if ignorant, should probably stay that way as long as possible, I was just like “….why?” Isn’t your stated goal to get information out of her about other androids, and won’t your very scary boss get mad at the both of you if you can’t get that information? How are you supposed to do that if she doesn’t even know she’s an android? Is it because the moment she finds out you’ve been playing her the whole time is the same moment she finds out she’s got enough raw strength to oh, say, snap your neck like a twig? Is it because of the implications from this episode that Soji might be some kind of apocalypse maiden and you’d like to avoid doing anything that could trigger the apocalypse? Or is there another reason you’d like to share with the class?

On another note, I wonder if either Soji or Narek have thought to use any kind of birth control. Because literally the only way this situation could get even more fucked up would be if it turns out Soji can get pregnant and then does. Just imagine the first brother-sister back alley rendezvous after the pregnancy test. God, what a conversation that would be.

Anyways, from a writing standpoint, I can’t help but think that it means something, the way Narek and Narissa play off of each other. Because he opens with making nasty digs regarding her ears which, considering that probably involved cosmetic surgery which could have been quite painful to recover from, is, yeah, pretty nasty. But then she escalates it so much. First, in Episode 2, she makes it very clear that while she is interested in preserving his safety, if it comes down to saving his life or her own, she’ll throw him under the bus in a heartbeat. And then, in Episode 3, when discussing the state of affairs between Narek and Soji, she behaves a lot less like an impatient sibling than she does a jealous lover, and proceeds to get really creepy. (Someone please tell me I’m not the only one who got incestuous vibes from their back alley conversation. Please tell me I’m not the only one who got those vibes; I don’t rightly know how else I’m supposed to interpret the sniffing.) Seriously, I don’t think you’re winning any contests if you guess who comes off more sympathetically after their conversations, but at present, I’m not sure what it means that Narek has been portrayed more sympathetically than Narissa in both of their talks. We’re definitely meant to think that Narissa is the bigger fish in the pond, but beyond that, I’m really not certain.

(Another thing that interests me about them is how they’ve both thus far been rather ineffectual. The goal was to get information, and neither of them have succeeded yet. I thought about the contrast at first as being light touch vs. sledgehammer, and I think that still holds, but there’s another one I can think of: the fairly soft-spoken manipulator who doesn’t seem to know how to parlay manipulation into actual results vs. the violent loose cannon whose impatience got her target killed before she could get any useful information out of her. It’s too early to tell what it means that they’ve been ineffectual thus far, whether it means that they’re going to step up their game later on, or if they’re just not very good at their jobs, and are going to go on being not very good at their jobs. Both are equally possible.)

Similarly, from a writing standpoint, I can’t help but think that it means something that Narek was present and watching as Soji comforted the newly ex-Borg drone in Episode 2. But at present, it’s too early to say just what it means, if it means anything at all. What I think is that it would be very difficult for Narek not to develop some sort of empathy for Soji, whether he means to or not, but I’m not sure how much that would mean, either. When the time comes, I’m not certain whether or not it will be enough to change anything.

And with all of this is the elephant in the room, that the last live-action fiction show I watched while it was airing was Gotham. As anyone who has followed my blog for a while knows, I was largely… quite disappointed with Gotham as a show. Good cast, but everything else was a flaming train wreck. Gotham was a show where the most fucked up thing that could happen had a decent chance of actually happening. Gotham was also a show where many other things I thought had to mean something later turned out to be sound and fury, signifying nothing. That casts a shadow over my perceptions of Picard, and given how many other disappointments I’ve had with TV shows and movies and manga and comics, my operating method these days is to just not get my hopes up too much. If I prepare myself for disappointment, I can be pleasantly surprised if I’m not disappointed, but if I am disappointed, at least I won’t be gutted again.

Now to talk about something I am more optimistic about, even if I know no more about it than I do what I just talked about: what role Soji has to play in this story.

I’m actually most interested in Soji of anyone in this show, though I will likely talk less about her since I’ve found less to be anxious about. I’m very curious to see how she’ll cope with the revelation that she’s an android, since she’s all but certain to discover it in circumstances just as unhappy as Dahj’s discovery. I’d also like to see how she reacts to news of Dahj’s death, and get information on what their relationship was like.

I’m also eager to learn what the hell is up with the Zhat Vash’s fear and loathing of androids in general, and Soji and Dahj in particular. The agent interrogated in Picard’s house calls one of the two sisters ‘destroyer’, Rhonda (the ex-Borg drone and expert on Romulan mythology Soji interviewed; at least, I think that’s her name) associates Soji and/or Dahj with some sort of malevolent figure from mythology—I mean, if Soji’s presence is enough to trigger a suicide attempt, it’s likely Rhonda doesn’t regard her as a particularly benevolent figure. (Though this comes with the caveat that seeing as the mythological figures came in a sister pair, one who lived and one who died, it’s possible that there’s some sort of benevolent/malevolent dichotomy going on.) Are they just projecting their own fears onto Soji and Dahj, or is there something else to this?

Furthermore, I’d love to know what has drawn Soji to the Borg in the first place, because biologically, she’s only roughly three years old and wouldn’t have had a lot of time to develop this interest naturally, and, well, I don’t think it’s a coincidence, story-wise, that she is where she is, doing what she’s doing for work.

And then there’s Bruce Maddox. Considering there was an episode later down the line in TNG where Data exchanges letters with him, I had assumed he’d experienced character development since his appearance in ‘The Measure of a Man,’ and it would seem I was right. (Oh, and fun fact? In ‘Data’s Day’, the episode I referenced in the beginning of the preceding sentence, there was featured a Romulan who had been posing as a Federation ambassador for years.) But I do wonder for what purpose he created Soji and Dahj. It’s possible that he simply created them to be his children, that he created them for the sake of creating them. But I wonder about that, honestly.

Episode 3 raises the serious possibility that Soji and Dahj’s ‘mother’ is a hologram, or some other kind of artificial intelligence. While it’s possible for their ‘mother’ to be a hologram without there being anything more to their creation than just being created for their own sake, the fact that the purported ‘mother’ responds to Soji’s questions about whether she’s heard from Dahj with blatant lies doesn’t really gel with that. If there is anything at all to the Zhat Vash’s fears regarding Soji and Dahj besides projection and paranoia, then how does Maddox play into that?

Anyways, it’s only been three episodes and I probably shouldn’t try to form any concrete opinions on how things are going to go yet, but I’m very interested in seeing how things go.

#Star Trek: Picard #Meta #(Basically me talking about how I have no idea what's happening)#Soji Asha #Narek #Narissa #(or whatever her actual name is)#Bruce Maddox

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tashyrasvoice · 5 years

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Re: Black Friday Blues, Small Business Sadness, Cyber Monday Madness

I know, I know. You see everyone else promoting their Black Friday blowouts, Small Business Saturday sales and Cyber Monday discounts, and you’re wondering why your business, product or service wasn’t “ready” to go. I’ve been there; one reason or another I’ve been there. You are not alone. I want to talk to those who are hiding in the shadows of everyone else’s booming business, and social media success. You may even be purchasing from these hard-working entrepreneurs all the while regretting that you weren’t prepared enough to sell-out of your top product. You may be wondering why the investors didn’t commit, why the product didn’t do the numbers you projected, why your family doesn’t support, why you second-guessed yourself, why you didn’t believe in your own dream…sooner. I know I’m not alone in thinking the aforementioned at one point or another. Perhaps it was because your goals weren’t clear, or if they were you didn’t develop AND follow your plan. Whatever the reason; face it. Deal with it. Embrace it. Learn from it. Then, let it go. That’s the only way to grow. Between the weeds, behind the smile, the manipulated media are women everywhere suffering through the swamp of success that leads to personal fulfillment. It’s not an easy task and I’ve come to learn that networks, teams and a tribe is not only necessary for the physical labor (shopping, packaging, etc), but its necessary for the mental taunting that entrepreneurship brings as you ride an emotional roller coaster of trial & error on your way to mastery. Year after year I found myself not trusting in my own skill or my gut decision and unique abilities to stick with something to the point of mastery. Year after year I invested time, money and energy into people and things that would not and could not deposit anything valuable back into me, my business or growth goals. What I didn’t realize at the time is that they were getting more out of my natural abilities, pruned by experience and some success, but my second-guessing blinded my priceless contributions. My contributions exceeded their title, age, and bank accounts. For varying reasons, I wasn’t ready. It could have “just not been the right time”, but ultimately I wasn’t ready. In some aspects, I’m grateful that I didn’t step out completely ill-prepared, and other times I wondered often what life would have been like had I believed. I’m multi-talented, so my attention was on multiple things, simultaneously without much room to focus on mastering one. But, these are my reasons, what are yours? That is not a rhetorical question. What we must realize is that our reality is not the reality of those we loathe on social media. I had to face the fact that having my son at 14, loosing my Mother 5 years later, and finding myself responsible for raising my son and younger brother while attempting to get a degree and work a sufficient job were the facts of my life that I didn’t necessarily plan or prepare for. But I carried on. I preserved beyond what some would call obstacles and started businesses, hosted radio shows, produced celebrity events, covered televised awards shows, covered the NFL Draft, worked with the Super Bowl, worked in corporate America, pursued higher degrees, traveled the country, relocated, travel to other countries, spoke in London and Amsterdam, produced audio books, and yet I did not have a product, skill or service that I sold or promoted on Black Friday, or did I??? My plan was to have available the extended version of my eBook “3 Ways to Make Money Using Your Voice”, release Volume II of this book dedicated to podcasters and to pre-sell a book of short-stories that talked about me being a teen Mom. I have the context because it’s the life that I lived. I wrote the content and it’s currently (as I type) in draft mode on my laptop. But I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t force a release because it was Black Friday, Small Business Saturday or Cyber Monday. I wouldn’t rush to print, and promote just because it’s the thing to do. This time. I’ve done that in the past…rushed. Not realizing I hadn’t stuck with a plan, saw it all the way through to get to a point in my progression that I would see measurable results without rushing. It blew my mind. With my experience, exposure, travel and an extended resume, why did seeing it through seem impossible??? It wasn’t impossible. And that wasn’t the right question. The question was: “Why did seeing it through when it came to MY goals, seem impossible??” That’s the million-dollar question. I ask you the same. As many factors contribute to why you weren’t / aren’t ready, I’m here to challenge you with the one important part of this question that can only be answer introspectively. Why when it comes to “YOUR GOALS” do you not see them through; procrastinate; delay?? Again, not a rhetorical question but one that needs answering. You see, the products have been ready and the audience in wait, but my collective capacity had to match the energy of what I produced. My preparation needed to have an end goal, a direction, a target. Forbes.com published that a 2015 study on fear and entrepreneurship, fear is actually a major psychological barrier to most business leaders, as it can prevent them from taking necessary risks for their success.

Fear is a major factor in these entrepreneur streets - a bigger factor that what we may want to admit. Fear of failing, fear of being rejected, fear of not having the capital we need, fear, fear, fear…all self-sabotage. Here are some of my tips to overcoming entrepreneurs’ entrapment: 1. Keep your mind on things above. Shift your thinking upward and keep your God-given purpose in the forefront. This will help with maintaining a positive mindset even when noone is clapping for you. 2. Trust yourself. Trust the God that is within and listen to that part of you. Keep it fed. 3. Surround yourself with people with similar and elevated mindsets. Having people on your level is one thing, but having people who are where you strive to be that challenge your thought-pattern makes you level-up. 4. Create a plan, and make adjustments often. A lot of times people create a plan and are so dedicated they do not see the need to make adjustments based on industry needs, trends, market shifts or just being flexible enough to bend as needed. 5. Press past how you feel. Don’t think that you’re going to “feel like it” everyday, because you won’t. Press pass how you feel, but embrace the fact that these days or moments will come. It’s natural. 6. Be realistic. Everyday may not seem like a good day, but everyday that you have a chance to get it right, is a good day. 7. REST. I’m not a believer or a fan of “team no sleep”. Yes, you may have long nights and early mornings, it comes with the territory. However to deny yourself, you mind, body and spirit the adequate rest it needs to function at its peak is not wisdom, nor does it make you a better business person. It mays you a tired one. Clear minds, creative concepts and innovative ideas come from a rested entrepreneur. 8. Challenge your challenges. Don’t ignore them…those things that seem like roadblocks when in all actuality they are moments putting you on pause. Embrace that time and let it work in your favor. We need to be challenged to test our fortitude, increase our grit, and to really see if we’re about this entrepreneur life. Smartly determine if this challenge is meant to tell you to stop, pause, or shift 9. Don’t give up. Even if you stop to recollect yourself; don’t give up. 10. PRAY!!!!!!!! Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Mondays are dates on the calendar. Should you not be ready on either of these days, but find that the second week in December, first week in January, or the third Monday in June is the best date for your business or new product release, you do what’s best for you. If you’re like me, you like to tie-in releases, launches and announcements with special dates, anniversaries and connect it to a profound purpose. But, let’s face it, that day can be very day. So, stop the comparisons outside of market research, and tap into what is best for your business. This includes the personal and professional factors that are impacted by the moves you make. In light of the biggest retail weekend of the year, I want you to remember that you’re not alone in thinking “I should have…!” or “Why didn’t I…?” Understand this: if you didn’t stick with a plan throughout the year, but attempted to cram and rush release of product this weekend, you’re not going to reap the rewards of proper planning and execution. You will reap rewards of rushing to fit in a weekend you were prepared for. You will loose valuable time, and not gain valuable profits. Instead, focus the end of this year on introspective insights and revisit your business by revisiting why you started. Don’t get caught-up in a day of the week. Stay focused on removing things that make you weak. “Remember you’re an heir. Be royal.”

Tashyra Ayers

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screaminggirafes · 6 years

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The ship has sailed

Why is “suicide” so bad? Is it religion or ego that makes it taboo? Is it because of the animalistic or virus based drive that humans have to make sure they multiply, consume and keep the pathogen that is their destruction alive? Can you blame a virus if it has no cognitive thought and just wants to keep spreading and destroy its hosts? Sure humans have the capacity to think so why do they keep making the same mistakes and not exuding love for each other, the unborn, and world they live in? So what is so wrong if one of them wants to leave and commit suicide?

I don’t believe in suicide because it doesn’t make much since in such a religious based world. One talks about ascension and passing on to a better world than they are on with gold and marble floors but what do you have to do to get there? Great meditation? Raise your vibration level? Oh, yes, you often die. Either by your hand, others, or by your environment you die so what is the difference besides what I previously stated which would cause such disdain. Why do people want you to “enjoy life” for others when this world is all about you and what you do with it? If you explain things don’t get better why do you then have to worry about others if you are truly a thinking being who is capable of making complex decisions? It is ignorant to say that whether you die this way or that that the people left behind won’t be sad to some degree so what does it matter how that happens to them? I guess it might come back to death itself being a fear to humans a conditioned fear. You’ll go here or there if you do this and that when you die but suicide is special because you’ll go to a special place but if you are raped, murdered, or die slowly due to you committing a crime you also go here and there so suicide is such a slight on humanity you are in the same league as child predators when you die. That seems strange it also seems lower level thinking but has no lack of imagination and creativity to scare the populous so that as a virus like species they can continue to devour as you please.

Well I don’t agree, obviously, I say suicide is just choosing to go on a journey early. No one makes the rules to living so why follow people who aren’t going to help you but talk you down from your conviction to leave? You can talk about so much to do and live for till you are blue in the face but if you aren’t going to help the person who had a bad lot in life get for example an affordable home, food, clothing, help them with their basic rights of which all humans should have why bother talking them down? The lack of love is my guess, you love to talk but you don’t love to help and I’m afraid the societal norms have no room for basic rights and accessibility to creativity and imagination as long as capitalism is in play. The sick get sicker because it’s profit to feed them drugs, the hungry stay that way because its profit down the drain to feed them, the homeless stay that way because living on the street is more affordable than the constantly rising prices of housing. Things get more expensive while the population grows, they have less jobs to go around as automation is more cost effective and we can split hairs but the love of paper currency to keep controlling the masses is key to a happy ego for the few. Control is a a delight for humans generally and mind control is so effective that nothing is safe from it’s grasp I’m afraid even going “off the grid” has its problems because of human waste and pollution that has driven the wildlife off course but I don’t doubt when a will is established anything is possible. Mind control is easy because of the “reptilian” brain all humans still have as an evolutionary blight to the species. Any good business or entrepreneur person teaches how to control that part of the brain and how to manipulate it in others for success for them no matter how unethical it is to exploit such a security leak in an otherwise evolved life form.

Everything is a choice. My personal choice is ascension and death. Maybe some people know what is out there and how to get there or have communications with the outside world of this very limited reality and dimensional space. Maybe they think long term at the road humanity is going and wish to join other like minded life outside of this space. It is very egotistical to think no one else is in the universe because humans poor eyesight can’t see or rather no one wants them to see. If you are fortunate enough to think deeply of yourself and others while coming from a place of love just like moving cross the world from your family is hard or putting down a loved member because they just can’t move on its no different from those who commit suicide. You have to think about it long and hard but ultimately you have to do what is best in the end. Love for yourself is suicide as it takes you away from the work of the whole and cuts numbers down making less profit and less of a chance to spread. If you care enough for yourself to move on and have that willpower, conviction, and courage to forgo society false rules of reality then you have every right to make that complex decision on your own.

If you survive it and you believe in religion and divine intervention then that is also a choice but, and this is just my belief, if you are serious about leaving you would be wise to research and find the best harm reduction (in terms of finance, and mental state) way to accomplish this. I know this way but it’s easy to think about and find on ones own to be allowed to back out, change your mind, inform your family if you so choose, have time to settle affairs, and be quietly in your thoughts so you can truly be sure of this choice. It may be cruel to not share but I encourage thought since that’s a great capability of humans to do and it shows that you are ready like everyone else who has quietly slipped away from the same method and did not bother to share the knowledge. Sometimes giving people who aren’t ready to think knowledge stunts them and hurts them even more so for the sake of harm reduction it is better for you to find it. If you truly like it on earth then stay, no one is stopping you and no one is stopping you from leaving. Nothing is wrong with not liking the planet you are on and nothing is wrong not liking the people that you have to deal with that are on it. Nothing is wrong with hating your circumstances because you didn’t hit a genetic or family lottery to have a better chance at a capitalistic society. Nothing is wrong with being mad about not being lucky to have access to the right of food, water, and shelter that all intelligent beings should be able to share. Nothing is wrong with leaving when you want to because the rest of your kin will leave too whether they like it or not and sometimes if not often times not by their own want. Nothing is wrong with not wanting to suffer mentally and physically from something you can’t control no matter what you do. Nothing is wrong with suicide. Though if you find the method I eluded to you have the choice to seek any “help” you want while actively doing so and if things turn around you are always welcome to stop and see if you can be satisfied in this lifetime.

If you don’t want to be a human anymore, if you don’t want to follow rules that don’t make sense, if you don’t want to witness injustice and live in it, if you don’t want to see the world dying or animals going extinct, if you don’t want to face the atrocities of mind control, if you don’t want to see barbaric behavior in your fellows, if you think about this very hard and gave it your best shot then set sail. It’s not wrong to feel how you feel and it’s not wrong to dislike others that are the same species as you because you aren’t alone in this and the universe is vast and dimensions are various you never know where you’ll end up you just hit the lottery on this place. If human religion thinks about going elsewhere in death you don’t have to limit it to two places. Let the rest of the species sort it out they will move on without you and they too will set sail eventually. Just know that a soul that is just energy cannot be created nor destroyed it just is and the you that is thinking inside of yourself right now is not the vessel you speak out loud in who you are is inside of you and that has the right to go wherever it pleases. They can’t control your soul so go with what your soul says and if it says it’s time to go then decide if you want to follow that or not.

I’m well on my way to set sailing and I have a pretty good idea of where I am going and I don’t fear the unknown and I don’t adhere to the limited reality of earth and humans as I know more is out there. I think therefore I AM allowed to go wherever I wish and do what I please and at this moment I want to go on an adventure more beautiful than the earth can provide and more fair than humanity can accomplish in my lifetime. I hope you decide for yourself too and enjoy the journey. This is my letter to the thinking you, the I AM who is ready.

#philosopy #suicide #suicidal #humanity

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sarastudiesstuff-blog · 5 years

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Network: On How to be Subversive and Sexist

"I'm as mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore" (Chayefsky 1976.) is the angry cry, turned meaningless mantra, yelled by both an angry disparaged man, Howard Beale, and his masses of young fans fed up with the way the world works. This film is a sharp satire on television culture, infotainment, and reality tv. However, in spite of it’s subversion of other media texts it still manages to espouse the dominant ideologies of gender and age. Faye Dunaway's Diana Christensen is the leader of a television channel, but she's also a cold, stereotypical "Frigid Bitch", the sort of woman often demonized in media as an emotionless homewrecker (which she is). She also encapsulates the fear of the detached younger generation, so brainwashed by TV that they do not have feelings the same way the older generation still does. Howard Beale’s masses of fans also contribute to this narrative, as they are easily manipulated by the shows they consume. Media had a heavy influence on this films creation, as it is about media itself, as through the medium of film it is found easier to represent television in such a similar medium. As subversive as the film is to television, it is still a film, created to make money, which means many people control the production. The ratings board, the studio, and the director can all make executive decisions that can make or break a film. Though this film attempts to make audiences think critically about what they're watching and seeing, and think about how media giants manipulate us to their own ends, the film itself often fails to question the status quo in favor of a slightly less controversial piece.

Network is a satirical film about the television industry. The characters, all television personalities, directors, or organizers must deal with a changing media landscape and attempt to up their ratings. When news anchor Howard Beale learns from longtime friend Max Sc that he will be fired, he goes on air and claims he will kill himself during the next broadcast, and goes on a tirade about what is wrong with the world, uttering the famous line “I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore” (Chayefsky, 1976.). After his tirade gets some of the highest ratings in television history Diana Christensen, up and coming television programming director, decides to capitalize on it and create the Howard Beale show, featuring Beale as a “mad profit of the airwaves” to espouse his violent, but ultimate meaningless, complaints about the world (Chayefsky 1976). The Howard Beale Show is the most direct satire we have, as the show gets many other vague segments, and turns what was once a news anchor into a cultural icon, a symbol with no meaning behind it; “his ‘news’ show evolves into what we now call ‘infotainment’ ” (Trier 2006.) . Not only does the show satirize the infotainment style of news broadcasting that has now become so prominent online, but also the lengths to which one will go for ratings. Indeed, Diana’s other show project is a satire of the reality tv market getting more and more sensational and violent as she strikes up a deal with a terrorist group to make a reality show about their lives as terrorists, stating :“I want counter-culture, I want anti-establishment” (Chayefsky 1976). The two collide when The Howard Beale Show’s ratings dwindle, and Diana decides to let it go off with a bang by organizing for the terrorists to kill Howard on screen, ending the now less profitable Beale Show, and setting up a truly enticing second season of the now more popular terrorist reality tv. Hemmed amongst the satire is a portrait of characters Diana and Max, as they begin and end a relationship that ruins Max’s marriage, and heavily criticizes a so-called ‘television generation’ brought up on tv to have no real emotions, they play out the phases of their lives like television shows without any real connections. In these sections the film seems to uphold an older predominantly male generation as the last ‘good one’, and a younger generation, represented primarily by Dunaway, as emotionless or naive, with only the tv to guide them. That brings us to the dominant ideologies upheld in the film.

While intending to criticize the media and it's often unethical, callous way of working, Network seem ignorant to the marginalized groups the media ignores, undermining the media, but not the status quo. It seeks to be a harsh criticism of tv culture, and of the 'infotainement' we still see today, sensationalizing news stories while offering no solutions for the problems they espouse. Yet the female characters are polarizing. Diana Christensen is a hard, cold woman, Max is “not sure she's capable of any real feelings” because “she's television generation” (Chayefsky 1976). There is a tension in her character that serves to uphold the existing power structure because in spite of her role as a sharp satire on the sort of people who make and write the films and media texts that exploit the world, as written her character plays as a stereotypical cold woman. In addition, the actress playing her was not well treated after the film came out, Krishner’s 2014 review of the book about the making of the film he describes how “Mad as Hell pauses on three separate occasions to elaborate fights over just how much (and which bits) of Dunaway’s breasts might appear on screen”. A definite detriment to the treatment of her character both on and off screen. Also damningly, she seems to serve the purpose of showing that audience that the older male generation is better than the younger, more diverse generation, though not in so many words. The only characters who question Diana’s morality are the older male characters, Max and Nelson Chaney, claiming “this violates every canon of respectable broadcasting”, upon keeping the now obviously mentally ill Beale on air, and later describing ‘The Howard Beale Show’ as “gutter depravity” (Chayefsky 1976). Diana and the mindless hordes of youth who are angry at something they don’t understand are the only other young people we see. The other woman is Max’s wife, a put upon woman from an older generation who has lived through max’s infidenlity, suffering many a “convention weekend with [his] secretary” for reasons we are never privy to, because Louise Schumacher does not get to be a fully rounded character (Cheyefsky 1976). An audience member can read into her character and see her as a woman trapped by the society she grew up in, and stuck in her ways, even when they harm her, but with her whopping two minutes of screen time we only hear her lament about her husband. These women serve to paint a very madonna/whore picture within the film. The cold calculating bitch, and the kindly put upon wife are the two options shown to women. The cast of male characters is more nuanced and diverse, as usual, and serves to uphold the power structures they put in place as their portrayal is more sympathetic.

The film posits “television is not just dehumanizing;it establishes a divide between those who were brought up on it and those from an earlier era”, but in the view of this divide the perpetrate a negative bias towards a younger generation (Krishner 2014). The youth of the film are most shown as reactions to Beale’s famous ‘mad as hell’ speech, and are so easily influenced by the messages on their screens that they are convinced to angry, without any idea of what they’re really angry at. The manipulable youth flocking to Howard Beale, and watching his show en mass are certainly not upheld as the sort of people one should want to be. They, like Diana, are “television generation”, criticized for being “an entire generation that never knew anything that didn’t come out of this tube” in one of Howard’s rousing speeches. While Max and Howard are flawed, they are beat down by the world around them, the picture of them as men with no generation left, seeking meaning and emotion in a world that seems to have shifted away from both is the most sympathetic in the film. Yet it blames the world, not the characters who made it. The ‘things were better the way they used to be’ narrative is never really challenged in the film, unless the audience to read into Max’s wife’s performance as a true vindication of him, and not simply another displaced person calling on the sins of a broken man. Max is in fact the most sympathetic character in the film, as his wife gives her one and only monogue, the camera often trains on his reaction instead of her, painting a clear picture of who we are really supposed to care about.

This media text is a film about technology, something that would not have been created without the existence of film or television in the first place. The film explores the dangers of a medium that, according to Itzkoff (2011), the screen writer “described in another note as ‘an indestructible and terrifying giant that is stronger than the government’ ” , so the film would not exist without this supposed superpower. A film about the dangers of the television generation seems almost ironic as the two are so closely tied together it seems farcical for one to truly criticize the other. The media was instrumental to the creation and distribution of this work. Writer Paddy Chayefsky “made his early reputation in 1950s live television drama” (Kirshner 2014), giving him a direct pipeline to the world he intended to criticize. This film is about the influence that technology can have over the masses, and how that is used to pacify and distract them. Beale’s speeches are only about needing to “get angry”, because “The American people want somebody to articulate their rage for them”, but at first never asks them to do anything (Cheyefsky 1976) . The influence of technology is the choice of medium, the fact that this is a film presumes a separation between the world of film and tv that in the current technical climate grows smaller every day. However, in the film television looms over the characters as a specter to be criticized. The characters understand the world through tv, and interesting thought as film is much more global medium. Though Network isn’t concerned with appealing to a non-american audience, it seems only interested in an america-centric narrative. Globalization was, however, on the mind of this film. When Howard Beale does finally demand his audience “send a telegram to the White House”, ironically after exclaiming minutes of screen time earlier “I don't want you to write to your congressman”, he is lampooned for it by the network higher ups. In a meeting with the new head of the network he is told “There are no nations, there are no peoples”, and that instead “the world is a college of corporations” (Chayefsky 1976). An apt description of a future controlled by TNC’s instead of governments that has already begun to take up. In this way the film criticizes that while tv shows themselves are often not global television corporations certainly are, and that these transnational corporations have the capacity to run everything.

Structural powers that be are always limiting to any art that must turn a profit and Network is no exception. Any film is at the mercy of the studio distributing it, lest it never see the light of day, and so the film couldn’t be too offensive. In his book Mad As Hell: The Making of ‘Network’ and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in the Movies David Itzkoff (2014) “notes an important curiosity-at the urging of the studio, Chayefsky dropped a scene in which Diana(Faye Dunaway) picks up a bisexual hustler in a gay bar and has an emotionally complex sexual encounter with him” (Krishner 2014). This moment, that could have humanized the cold Diana, and provided some lgbt representation is taken away not by the artist, but by the powers that be that deem it too salacious for a film that needs to be sold to the masses. Instead we get a glossed over line about how Diana’s “husband ran off with his boyfriend”, which certainly does not count as representation. An interesting change, as one of director Sydney Lumet’s previous films, Dog Day Afternoon, features a man needing money to help his transgender girlfriend fully transition. As much as the characters on screen are trying to sell their tv shows to the fictional masses, so too are the makers of the film trying to sell you their product. In that way it still had to be accessible and enjoyable to a large audience, so the masses of young people arise, and the older generation can be secure in their superiority. So it appeals to that market, and makes the studio feel secure in it’s distribution. Men fill most of the lead roles, so it will appeal to men, so it will secure in its final gross. Any art made under the sort of studio system film operates in is at the mercy of capitalism, no matter how artistic it may attempt to be, or even succeed in being. As much as the film criticizes the television industry, it is still a part of the film industry. In seeking capital any film is prevented from being too risky or critical, though this one manages to still get it’s message across.

Though Network criticizes the excess and culture of television, it lacks the foresight to also subvert the existing status quo of gender, and age, and the all too common narrative that in the past things were better. It’s creation was heavily influenced by the tv industry, as that is what it is about, and of course the powers that be in the film industry put certain restrictions on the finished product. In the end it is a creative endeavor made under capitalism, and therefore still in search of profit. The tension between the existing status quo and the technology that Network works so hard to subvert create a very interesting work in which some facets of modern life are heavily satirized, and others stay in line with the dominating ideologies.

#essays #posts #movies #film #feminist #feminism #critique #feminist critique #writing #my writing

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thekingofsadness · 7 years

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Examining DW9′s Liu Shan

This is for dear ol’ @punishedkrauss for being just plain awesome and for @daolunofshiji for being Zhong Hui + beard but with Liu Shan cutscenes. I’m grateful for both of you guys.

OK now into the meat of this. A big obvious SPOILER ALERT is in place because this is Dynasty Warriors 9′s Liu Shan and let me tell you, he’s NOT the same as DW7/8 Liu Shan. I’ll be covering Liu Shan’s story (chapters 10-13 in DW9) INCLUDING his ending cutscene as well as what’s up with his personality. This will all be in great detail so yeah, if you don’t want to get spoiled, don’t read this.

TLDR it’s EVERYTHING I ever wanted from Liu Shan, and more. I love it, and I’m sure you will too.

A lot of characters in DW9 have gotten more character and personality when before they did not. Zhu Ran’s not all about fire attacks anymore, Jiang Wei is just plain bats**t insane (in a good way), and Dong Zhuo now is a genuine, menacing threat. It’s all good and brings out new, interesting facets to characters that were before just one-note and downright boring.

That’s not what happened to Liu Shan. What they did to Liu Shan in DW9 was change the focus of his personality. But to explain what happened to his personality, I gotta explain his story.

Now, Liu Shan’s story is much more based on his historical counterparts actions. He’s a young emperor eager to fill in the shoes of his father and because of a lack of experience, he initially leaves everything to Zhuge Liang—not before, of course, listening to what must be done. He’s ultimately a very passive ruler but that does not mean he is not trying. He makes sure to listen to everybody’s plan because giving his permission and he makes sure to help in the pre-battle preparations whenever he can. Of course, things go great, the Nanman are pacified, and soon the Northern Campaigns against Wei start.

A thing I never even considered but shows up brilliantly is Liu Shan’s concern about rest for people. If you play Liu Bei’s final chapter (chapter 9), it is the death of his sworn brothers that sends Liu Bei to a rage, and he is merciless and tireless until his brothers are avenged but it comes at the cost of rapidly declining health, resulting in Liu Bei’s death. Liu Shan knows this, he is worried about this happening again, and every single time before a major battle, WITHOUT FAIL, he beseeches Zhuge Liang (and later Jiang Wei) to make sure to rest.

He’s basically the group mom, always worrying about everybody’s health because of his unresolved fears about his own father’s death. Unfortunately, his worries are very much valid because Zhuge Liang dies in the Wuzhang plains precisely BECAUSE he worked himself to the bone. Just like Liu Bei before him.

With Jiang Wei now at the helm instead of Zhuge Liang, he plans to carry on his predecessor’s legacies and makes more campaigns against Wei, all of them ending in failure. Jiang Wei motivates the new generation into a frenzy, getting them all riled up for war but slowly Liu Shan understands just how detrimental it all is. Jiang Wei is bringing up everybody’s hope for a battle that cannot be won, bringing more chaos and destruction. Liu Shan tries to reason with Jiang Wei and everybody else but they’re all too caught up in the madness and their own personal agenda with Wei. So they don’t listen to him, and admonish him despite being the only voice of reason. The only person who listens in the end is Xingcai. (Video link here)

With Jiang Wei’s failures, he starts butting heads with everybody’s LOVE-TO-HATE GUY, Huang Hao. Whatever Huang Hao’s intentions are (bad, very very bad), he is trying to be the voice of reason in Liu Shan’s stead, trying to dissuade Jiang Wei from more pointless battles. There are now two factions within Shu and unfortunately, most of the playable cast happen to be in Jiang Wei’s camp. This builds up to Jiang Wei’s final campaign where he’s called back to the capital, Chengdu, because Huang Hao used Liu Shan’s name to bring them back.

Then the conquest of Shu occurs. Everybody is scattered and Liu Shan is trying to minimise casualties but he feels he is lost. Unlike everybody else, he doesn’t have a role model to guide him, and he feels he is lost, without a purpose. He needs to make a decision once and for all and he needs to make it fast. He defeats the first assault but Jin’s main army is fast approaching. He decides to end the madness by surrendering Shu, basically making sure everybody is spared. Jiang Wei approaches Liu Shan after the surrender, finally understanding his lord’s intentions but ultimately rejecting them.

In Liu Shan’s ending, he is to enter a carriage to go to Jin’s capital of Luoyang, leaving Chengdu behind forever with Xingcai. He tries to give a comforting speech about enjoying life but the peasants, Jiang Wei’s propaganda still fresh in their mind, call him a coward and throw rocks at the carriage as it drives away but Liu Shan only smiles. It’s only in the carriage that he laments his mistakes, feeling guilty for surrendering Shu. Xingcai tries to comfort him but he pushes her away because he is going against everybody’s wishes to keep them safe. Xingcai also feels upset but he comforts her, insisting that it is his fault alone that Shu is gone, a final “please” to tell her that he is responsible and that she should not feel guilty too. (Video link 2 here)

AND THEN THEY KISSSSSSS!!! AW, COME ON, KOEI, WHY DIDN’T THEY KISS?! IT’S MUCH MORE BLATANT THAT THEY’RE TOGETHER SO WHY CAN’T THEY GET THEIR MOVE ON?! I bet they were gonna kiss, I BET YOU CUT IT AAAA—

A-ahem, sorry. Anyway, it’s time to get into the differences in personality between DW9 Liu Shan versus DW7/8 Liu Shan.

The first and most important difference is that Liu Shan is NOT a fool. No one calls him a fool (except the ending, but for different reasons) and he makes no pretense of hiding his intellect. He’s the voice of reason for Shu, he sees the big picture, but everyone except Xingcai are too ignorant to see it. He is passive initially out of lack of experience and remains passive only because he knows he can’t get through to people.

Which brings me to the second difference. DW9 Liu Shan is not as silver tongued as his previous counterparts. In fact, DW9 Liu Shan clearly has a lot of things going on in his head, so many ideas and opinions that he wants to tell the world but the problem is that he doesn’t know how to convince people to his side. He doesn’t know how to express his true feelings in a way that people will understand. It’s the complete opposite of DW7/8 Liu Shan who used people’s perception of him to manipulate their understanding. While DW7/8 Liu Shan is deceptive and manipulative with the best intentions living in the cover of the fool, DW9 Liu Shan is honest but incapable of expressing his feelings, leading others to assume he’s idiotic. He doesn’t know what to say so he’s quiet, and it is this inaction that leads to the spiraling chaos in Shu.

The third difference, is that Liu Shan is not at all lazy in this incarnation. Sure, he gets tired easily, and he definitely does prefer keeping his strength rather than exerting himself, but when hard work is needed Liu Shan will help and with little to no complaints. In fact, he’d be very much happy to help others but thinks his ability to help is limited or that he will get in the way of the more capable, which is why he’s usually sitting around all the time.

I guess the best way to sum it up is that while DW7/8 Liu Shan works with people’s expectations and plays the fool because he thinks it’s easier that way, DW9 Liu Shan actively tries and fails to defy people’s expectations and his efforts to try and help others go nowhere because no one listens to him.

Well, actually there’s only one person who listens to him. And that’s Xingcai. And I gotta talk about this because I am way too obvious about how much I ship those two together. LIU SHAN X XINGCAI IS CANON, BABY! WHOO!

In DW9, Liu Shan’s and Xingcai’s relationship is even less ambiguous than before. She’s his loyal bodyguard and retainer and most importantly, Liu Shan’s only confidant. She’s the only one who listens to her lord and he tells her effortlessly what’s on his mind and it’s hinted at not-so-subtly that there’s definitely something more between the two. She’s not swept away in the chaos of war and listens to Liu Shan, who is probably the only voice of reason left in late Shu. If you’ve seen the first video, she crouches down and puts her hands over his, a pose that is almost identical to the one Zhenji makes in her ending to her husband (video here)

Then there’s Liu Shan’s ending, where she tries to comfort him once again but he gently refuses her help, saying he must carry the guilt. And she’s shaking, equally tormented as he is because she also feels guilty. She may be able to support her lord but she is a soldier first and foremost. She follows orders, not makes them, and she knows she can’t be Liu Shan’s voice when he is silent because she too is bad at expressing her feelings. In fact in the two cutscenes, she doesn’t express her emotions in words but in action. Crouched down and hands over her lord’s hand in comfort, the shake of her body as she takes a shuddery breath to stop herself from crying, the slow loll of her head when she realises she can’t help Liu Shan. That’s how Xingcai expresses herself. And that’s why she too feels guilty in his ending.

A thing that was mentioned briefly towards the end of Liu Shan’s campaign is his remorse for not having someone like Zhuge Liang by his side. In the end, Liu Shan does not have a rolemodel to guide his actions. He only really has himself to motivate him. Xingcai supports him, there is no question about it, but she doesn’t stimulate him or give him ideas about how to go on because she too is equally clueless. And if you think about it carefully, he’s the only ruler without a clearly defined rolemodel and supporter. Liu Bei had Zhuge Liang, Fa Zheng and his sworn brothers; Cao Cao had Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, and almost all of the strategists; Cao Pi looked up to his father but also has Sima Yi for support and in turn when Sima Yi takes over he also looks to Cao Pi’s rule as inspiration with his wife and sons to help him. All of the Sun rulers have family, by blood or by bond, and that guides them. Even Zhang Jiao has his brothers, Dong Zhuo and his granddaughter Dong Bai, Lu Bu and Zhang Liao, every ruler, EVERY RULER, had someone to look up to. Not Liu Shan.

Liu Shan does not idolise his father. In the game they have few interactions. Liu Bei’s story ends before Liu Shan’s begins and in the end, Liu Bei’s only legacy in Liu Shan is heightening Liu Shan’s fear of people wasting away by overexerting themselves. Zhuge Liang is not a role model. He controls Liu Shan and there’s no real relationship outside of strategist and ruler, and Zhuge Liang dies in the same way Liu Bei did. Jiang Wei is not a rolemodel, in fact if Liu Shan doesn’t dislike Jiang Wei he certainly holds the strategist in some contempt because he’s clearly not at all fine with his bull by the end of the story. And like I said, Xingcai is emotional support only. A steady rock. But rocks can’t give him advice or tell him what’s right and what’s wrong.

That’s why Liu Shan’s final command to surrender is so powerful. Because HE made the decision. Not Jiang Wei, not Xingcai, nobody forced him into this decision, he alone made it. In sparing many lives he ended an era, a kingdom, and he has to take responsibility for that decision. He chose to make that decision even if he knew it would earn him the ire of his people, even if he knew people would brand him a coward and a fool and curse his name until his death. It’s probably the most difficult decision anyone in the game has to make—whether to fight a futile war or surrender and be villified—and he had to make it himself and that is probably Liu Shan’s shining, greatest moment. He’ll carry the guilt and he’ll carry the blame because that, he believes, is what an emperor does and he will carry it until the end of his days.

All in all, Liu Shan is a tragic figure in DW9. He has a fine ability to see reason in a world of madness but no one can see the world through his eyes. He’s not as talented as everybody else but he is still smart and he is still strong and capable but with everybody taking responsibility, he’s forced to keep to the sidelines and watch Shu crumble beneath his feet. It’s not the obfuscating stupidity he had before. He never truly lies, he just keeps to himself because when he tries to open his mouth he’s almost immediately shut down. Even if he did take control, stood up for his beliefs and forced people to listen, there was no way Shu would have survived for long. Perhaps it’s a sin of inaction but ultimately the fate of Shu was out of his grasp from the get go.

I really do love this interpretation of Liu Shan. I liked the sneakiness of DW7/8, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not easy to see the truth behind the mask he wore. In DW9 he is far more sympathetic and far easier to understand his motivations. He’s flawed in that he did not act when he should have, a far more understandable flaw than pretending to be an idiot to manipulate others from the background, regardless of intentions. And I love Liu Shan’s ending. It’s everything I hoped for: Liu Shan x Xingcai moments, bittersweet ending, NO ‘le bu si shu’ scene, it’s perfect! I feel like they tailored that ending to me, like KT was for some reason looking at my opinions and then altered the ending to suit my criteria.

Liu Shan is great in DW9. I love him as a flawed character and I really do think you guys will enjoy it too. It’s a slightly different but refreshing take on his character, more defined by his historical actions than his villainous romanticised version, and his story is heart wrenching. I’m sure that if you didn’t like his character before, you will feel for his struggle and maybe, just maybe, feel a little bit more sympathetic for his plight.

#Dynasty Warriors 9 #Dynasty Warriors #Liu Shan #lordliushan #thekingofsadness #OK this was VERY very long #But I had to write about literally everything I could #I was this close to explaining even Liu Shan's specific battles in DW9 but I felt that might take things a little too far #Also. I can't remember which battles he participated in and which he didn't. So yeah that happened #I hope you like this. I realise I might have blabbed a lot but I really do love Liu Shan ad there is so much to say about him and his story #I'm also kinda excited that this game might mean Liu Shan x Xingcai gets just a bit more publicity.#And maybe I WON'T be the only one who's writing fanfiction of them #OK that might be a stretch but that's the dream

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carolinemillerbooks · 4 years

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New Post has been published on Books by Caroline Miller

New Post has been published on https://www.booksbycarolinemiller.com/musings/a-tale-of-two-insurrections/

A Tale Of Two Insurrections

“I love America. I love the people. I didn’t hurt anyone and I didn’t cause any damage in the Chamber. I got caught up in the moment and when I saw the door to the Chamber open, I walked in…” These words probably capture the sentiment of many of those who took part in the January 6, 2021 invasion of the Capital, including Jacob Chansley, a failed actor who lives with his mother and who, since being arrested, refuses to eat jail food because it isn’t organic. A majority of the crowd came for the rally. They dressed as if they were attending a Halloween party. Those who wore helmets, bulletproof vests, carried weapons, and zip cuffs had different intentions. All of them were Donald Trump’s acolytes. and though the president is a chronic liar, they believed him when he said the 2020 election was rigged. His accusation made them mad as hell. That’s why 15,000 of them gathered at The Ellipse in the President’s Park, at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, determined to strike a blow for democracy. Trump had promised them a wild day, and so they settled at his feet and drank in his words while he incited them to more anger. You don’t concede when there’s theft involved. At last, when he was satisfied by the sea of fists in front of him, he promised to lead them in a march to the Capital where they could air their grievances. But Trump had no intention of being true to his word. Instead, he melted away, leaving his sheep to be herded by strangers who had no interest in a peaceful demonstration. They harbored a more sinister agenda. Was the President complicit in what followed, the storming of the Capital? His promise of a “wild day,” seemed to foreshadow the chaos to come. What did he know and, if he did, when did he know it? That question is one that those in authority will have to answer. What the public knows at this moment is that salted among the crowd were armed individuals with a plan that would turn a crowd into a mob and hence into an insurrection. Are we right to suspect the violence was planned and not the result of spontaneous combustion? Other law enforcement agencies suspected it was the former. They had picked up chatter on white supremacist sites and took the initiative to dissuade some of the ring leaders from attending the protest. One of them was Enrique Tarrio, a Proud Boys leader. He was picked up and arrested for burning a Black Lives Matter banner. Other intelligence turned up more alarming information, enough to prod Maryland’s governor to propose that he send his National Guard to reinforce the Capital police. Yet despite the mounting evidence that trouble was brewing, the authorities refused offers of assistance. Was the leadership of that organization guilty of a failure of imagination? Or, was the leadership complicit in the events that unfolded that day? It’s a question, Massachusetts Representative Ayanna Pressley might like answered because on June 6, while barricaded in her office, she discovered the panic buttons had been removed. Discoveries like that one, together with security breaches deep in the building’s interior, have led Congressman James Clyburn to wonder if the outside insurrectionists had inside help. Given America’s leadership as an international peacekeeper, some of our allies also suspect the January 6 fiasco was an orchestrated attempt to overthrow our government. At the time, the behavior of a few Capital guards gave credence to that suspicion. One wore a Mega hat. Another took selfies with the rioters. The conduct of both policemen cast doubt on their dedication to duty and has led others to point to a disparity in law enforcement behavior when they confront Black Lives Matter demonstrators, behavior which is sometimes violent. That charge rings true, but the actions of a few shouldn’t tarnish the courage of the line officers on January 6, some of whom were killed or beaten in the course of performing their duty. Nor should the question of race detract us from another and equally important one. How was it possible that rank and file foot soldiers should be so badly betrayed by the incompetence of their commanders? At the moment, all we know is that on Wednesday, January 6, 2021, thousands of people gathered at the Capital and, believing they were patriots, nearly brought our country to its knees. That they were manipulated, I have no doubt. Yet their ignorance is no excuse because it was willful. They were given the facts about the election, but they refused to accept them. Worse, they ignored what’s at the core of our system: for democracy to exist there must be a willingness to concede defeat. Has this consortium of doubters and haters learned its lesson? I hope so, though some writers are giving them cover. John Davidson of the Federalists says the outrage over January 6 is “phony’ and all about punishing Trump supporters. Diverting attention from a wrong by impugning the accuser’s motive is nothing new. But it never moves the needle toward reconciliation. For healing to begin let us recognize there is common ground. Our government served us well on January 6. Brave public servants risked their lives to thwart an insurrection. Officer Eugene Goodman who led a mob away from the Senate chambers should be lauded for his bravery. Officer Brian D. Sicknick did more. He gave his life. Others showed different courage. They kept cool heads and secured the election ballots so that, in a saner moment, the will of the people would be done. As for the much-maligned Congress, they, too, did their duty, staying at their post until the last objection was heard and the last ballot accepted. Time will reveal the names of all who should be thanked or blamed. But at this hour, we would do well to recognize that democracy and freedom of expression pose separate dangers. Together […]

#a mob at the Ellipse #Bruce D. Sicknick #Donald Trump #Eugene Goodman #January 6 2021 #Jnuary 6 #Storming at the U. S. Capital

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fictionfromgames · 4 years

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Routine Concerns (ATLA/LOK fluff)

“Gran, you’re not gonna get arrested!”

Hiyara balled her fists as her grandmother continued packing a bag. The elder didn’t stop.

“Soon enough,” she stated matter-of-factly, “Remember a few years ago when I ‘went to the North’ for a week? When the Avatar was visiting?”

“Yeah,” Hiyara looked skeptical, “Your first vacation in two years at that point. Are you saying you went to jail?”

“Yep,” gran smiled, “Well, sort of a house arrest, wherein they lent me a lush mansion on the other side of the world while Avatar Weiyong was in Harbor City.”

“What could they possibly have against you, gran? You’re a healer.”

Gran turned and looked at Hiyara with a professional smile. She was always good at dealing with belligerent people, patients or otherwise, so she was practiced well enough by the time she had a family. Still, it annoyed Hiyara.

“You know my illustrious career, of course, but do you know much about history?” gran asked. At least she’d stopped packing.

“History is a broad term, gran, what kind of history?”

Gran shrugged, “Oh, like Avatar Korra, Amon. Bloodbending?”

“Some, iittle, and none, in descending according to the legality of each subject,” Hiyara started to frown, “You’re not a bloodbender, are you?”

“Not really?” gran shrugged, though she sounded unsure, “But my thesis on Amon’s ability to take away people’s bending is the theoretical foundation of my practice today.”

“You’re a bloodbender,” Hiyara was stunned.

“No, not really, I promise!” Gran moved closer, “I just... I was fascinated with Avatar Korra since I was little, all the things she achieved and survived even by your age now. But one of the things we’d always hear about in the healing huts was Amon. born Noatak in the Northern Tribe. Bloodbender, bending stealer, everyone knows that part, But no doctor, and no waterbender had figured out exactly how he’d stolen people’s powers. The standing, unimpeachable answer was always “vascular and/or neurological damage caused by bloodbending,” and was not subject to question due to the ethics and, yeah, legality involved. It was generally supported by head wounds that rendered much more than bending unusable, and wasn’t to be investigated otherwise.”

“Can you take bending away??” Hiyara was starting to feel a little horrified.

“Only theoretically!” Gran pointed enthusiastically, “There are a lot of things I wanted to avoid-- being stuck in the healing huts with all the old women back home, being called a ‘guru’, or a ‘mad scientist,’ and most definitely charges of bloodblending. I wanted nothing except to be Doctor Kayada. But... for as much as I wanted to get away from home, I remembered two things. The way Amon would access bending through the forehead, and the old healing dummies I was started on. He was using the meridians we used for water healing, just as conduits to the appropriate chakras through the Light chakra itself!”

“Gran you still haven’t said how this isn’t bloodbending!”

“Oh, that’s easy, I used a saline solution and sort of push that around,” Gran continued, almost ignoring the conflict in the conversation, “It somehow satisfies their strictures. But chakras, Hiyara, they’re opened and closed through emotion, and what emotions govern the Light chakra?”

Gran pointed again, waiting for the answer, but Hiyara just shook her head. She wasn’t in school for religious studies or medicine.

“Insight and illusion!” Gran cried, “Amon created illusory wounds to those areas through the chakra most susceptible to them, which is why no one but the Avatar figured out how to fix them! Lies they and their bodies believed! And he used water healing principles to accomplish it!”

At this point gran’s arms were in the air, as if reliving the revelatory moment. Hiyara just looked at her normally reserved grandmother with confusion and a little fear.

“But why would they arrest you?” she asked quietly.

“Oh, the White Lotus just thinks your genius gran could be a threat to the current Avatar because of the one time I stopped him.”

Kayada returned to packing. It was maybe a bit too hopeful to assume she could have gone to see the rocket launch if Weiyong was going to be there.

“Stopped him from what, gran?!”

******************

Kayada M.D.

Kayada’s theory is not mine, I stole it in whatever form I internalized it from Hello Future Me’s video in this link, but I wanted to have someone in the setting to realize that, as a potential conflict from either Kayada herself or an a new external threat. I imagine Kayada as generally genial, well-meaning, and not as invested in mysticism UNTIL it intersects with medical science. She has a practice in Shaomen, a newer United Republic City in the Hu Xin provinces. Shaomen is not canon except to this setting, and because I am running out of United Republic place names. Kayada’s clinic is like, 1/3 general practice (water healing is generally very useful), 1/3 sports medicine (pro-benders seek her out in particular because what if their loss was bending related rather than injury or skill related????? Big money there), and 1/3 “psychiatry” (because manipulating positive emotions through waterbending is at least palliative therapy, and at best, an actual ATLA-unique version of psychiatric medicine).

Kayada vs. Weiyong

Why would someone who’s only ever trying to help cross the Avatar and be subsequently banned from any and all contact within a number of miles?

Political Differences

In one scenario, I think of Kayada as having been a witness to some massive infrastructural damage to Shaomen, and going out personally to close off some bending to make it stop, getting mixed up about who’s who and accidentally closing off some of Weiyong’s bending until things are cleared up. This one incident meshes with her standard do-gooding persona, and explains why her family doesn’t always know why she keeps avoiding the Avatar (willingly or by state order). The realization of her abilities by the White Lotus with regards to Weiyong have placed her on a watchlist.

Trade Secrets

A colleague or academic rival has learned Kayada’s methods and has used it to profitable and definitely unethical ends. I am leaving a lot of details ambiguous in this scenario, just because a new bending-stealer could easily be used in “present day.” You could still have Kayada and Weiyong’s now-genial relationship as a background distance between them, and calling off the minimum distance order she has to keep in order to help hunt down your new antagonist. However. I envision this as being Kayada’s “real” backstory. Tesroq, a water bender and Kayada’s number one at her practice, was taught how to heal her way and fill in for her while she was on Team Avatar during the Deep Spirit crises. And rather than open abuse, he’d covertly mess with pro-benders in order to help fix matches, which drew the considerable attention of Boss Shai and the Agni Kai Triad. The technical prowess of Kayada being passed on to someone less incorruptible also drew notice from the Dai Li, who had hoped to recruit Tesroq for some super shady shit regarding the situation of the Earth States, but Tesroq himself was enamored with the metropolitan lifestyle in the United Republic, and refused. Of course, the Deep Spirits crises weren’t constant or all at once, and Team Avatar started heading home, first visiting Shaomen, since Kayada was less combat oriented than the rest. The timing for Tesroq couldn’t have gone better-- with the Dai Li sending alternating offers and threats, the Agni Kais thoroughly pissed regarding an undefeated pro bending team, and Kayada starting to wonder what was amiss, his escape was provided by the threeway battle over his capture. Even with help from the White Lotus, Tesroq was never caught. Weiyong did get some of his bending blocked, but the White Lotus arranged a cover story and confiscated all scholastic papers regarding Kayada’s methods. She was still allowed to practice on the condition that she would be portrayed as the danger to the Avatar, avoiding all mention of Tesroq. She and Weiyong still correspond though, since they were close as comrades and confidants, and Weiyong always sends photos of an event related to his latest obligations. She’s Definitely a Mad Scientist

In this scenario, I kind of see her as morally ambivalent and always chasing the goal of learning more, kinda like Entrapta in She Ra, where the sides don’t matter as long as she keeps Doing the Thing, that maybe she’ll finally unlock something amazing. Her practice is more or less a front for capital, and while she may only take willing subjects, it’s still fucking sketchy, and requires a stronger synthesis between bloodbending and water healing. Perhaps here she’s looking for a way to actually produce bending in subjects that never had it, or add new elements to existing benders, since they already possess energy bending of any kind and it’s just easier or something. I like Kayada as a friend and ally but there are seeds for so much mischief.

Mechanically Speaking

No player character should have the ability to block bending beyond Ty Lee levels, which exists in the game already. But, should your characters have their bending blocked, it should be a several Chi-cost adventure to regain it. It’s also hard to manage since you don’t need bending to access every move in a playbook, so it’s more of a GM fiat move than systematic usage.

You can check out Legend of the Elements on DriveThru RPG and their page full of extra resources, Actual Play links, and essays at the Logbook Project!

#atla #lok #Avatar The Last Airbender #legend of korra #legend of the elements #Legend of Korra rpg #atla rpg #avatar rpg #korra rpg #rpg fluff

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saleggdbshoes-blog · 5 years

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americanliberation · 6 years

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Murray Rothbard Quotes Rebuttal

I’m not a political scientist or philosopher, but here my thoughts on some of these 33 choice quotes from Murray Rothbard. As a teenager, I too considered myself a Libertarian or Anarchist, but that was before I was really had a grasp of the role that government plays in the maintenance of the Suburban lifestyle that my life grew out of. Now these attitudes seem embarrassingly selfish and ignorant...lost in blue-sky philosophical absolutes and lacking in realism or nuance.

“If a man has the right to self-ownership, to the control of his life, then in the real world he must also have the right to sustain his life.”

What does ‘having a right’ consist of? A justification in one’s own mind? A guarantee from a legal system? How are individuals to be protected from violations of their rights except by some enforcement agency that governs those cases? Yes, sure in theory everyone should ‘have the right’ to sustain their life, but to what degree and by what means? Does my “life” include my preference for having several large estates with servants, or does it only allow me to avoid starvation and hypothermia? What happens when my rights to sustain my life conflict with your rights to do the same?

“On the free market, it is a happy fact that the maximization of the wealth of one person or group redounds to the benefit of all; but in the political realm, the realm of the State, a maximization of income and wealth can only accrue parasitically to the State and its rulers at the expense of the rest of society.”

This seems laughably in contradiction to reality. First of all what ‘free market’ has ever existed? Secondly, what benefit to all is redounded by the maximization of wealth by hoarding unoccupied housing to control the price of rent, or by investing in off shore bank accounts that force others to bear the burden of funding the commons? How does making money by manipulation of financial market fluctuations not count as ‘accruing parasitically to the investor at the expense of the rest of society’? When a state government spends money, it does things like employs citizens to improve physical infrastructure or subsidizes citizens directly who might otherwise suffer or die simply because they lack a constant cash flow at some vulnerable point in their life.

“The essential activities of the State necessarily constitute criminal aggression and depredation of the just rights of private property of its subjects (including self-ownership).”

Criminal according to whom? Doesn’t the State define what is and what isn’t a crime? Sure, aggression and some degree of control over citizens and their property is a feature of government, but any large organization could exercise such control and aggression over individuals in the absence of a State also. Ideally, nobody should ever resort to violence for any reason, but in reality, violence is a very easy way for people to get what they think they want or need from other people. Is it better to have individuals and gangs fight each other directly a la Mad Max, or is it better to pay for an organization to manage such threats using a system of laws, courts, police, and military?

“The State, by its very nature, must violate the generally accepted moral laws to which most people adhere.”

Is it realistic to expect that a State (or City, Company, or Mercenary Army), being a supra-individual organization maintained by many individuals, would not behave in ways that individuals don’t. It is also a (typically Libertarian) presumption that moral ‘laws’ would be ‘generally accepted’ or adhered to in the absence of a larger organization’s power to enforce its policies.

“The State says that citizens may not take from another by force and against his will that which belongs to another. And yet the State…does just that.”

It seems sophistic and naive to see this as surprising. Why limit this to a State though? Don’t churches preach against materialism while using donations to build lavish empires? Don’t companies steal ideas and human resources from each other while making their employees sign Non-Disclosure and Non-Compete agreements? Yes, part of the injustice of power is hypocrisy. That in no way says anything about the superiority of pre-State power to State power.

“To go beyond one’s right of self-defense would be to aggress on the rights of others, a violation of one’s legal duty. And yet the State by its claimed monopoly forcibly imposes its jurisdiction on persons who may have done nothing wrong. By doing so it aggresses against the rights of its citizens, something which its rules say citizens may not do.”

This is pretty much the same as the previous. OMGz, powerful organizations are hypocritical and aggressive! Who would have thought? It seems painfully obvious to me that removing the State necessarily removes citizen-hood as well, so any expectation of civility would be based purely on the idea that people (including the violent sadists that Rothbard must imagine are running all States and executing their policies) will suddenly stop being aggressive and hypocritical once there is no State to punish them.

“The State is an inherently illegitimate institution of organized aggression, of organized and regularized crime against the persons and properties of its subjects… a profoundly antisocial institution which lives parasitically off of the productive activities of private citizens.”

This seems ridiculously arbitrary in its selective bias. Large modern States contain many institutions, most of which are quite benign and beneficial. Who plows the interstate highways when there is a snow storm or fights forest fires when they impinge on cities? How would paying fees for such services to thousands of private contractors be any different than what a State does? Rothbard’s assertion is no truer than it’s opposite. States such as the Nordic countries would seem to be legitimate and profoundly social institutions which nurture and protect the citizens that make them up, their properties, and their productive activities. A State is nothing but an Anthropological phase of human civilization. The State (agriculture) improves upon the chiefdom (pastoralism), the tribe (horticulture), and the band (foraging) by employing individuals as temporarily appointed or elected office-holders rather than individuals inheriting power automatically for life from a ruling family.

“Since the State necessarily lives by the compulsory confiscation of private capital, and since its expansion necessarily involves ever-greater incursions on private individuals and private enterprise, we must assert that the state is profoundly and inherently anti-capitalist.”

Again, there are counter factual examples to this unsupported assertion right now. Not every State expands by ever greater incursions on private individuals or enterprises, nor are states inherently anti-capitalist. Look at Norway or China.

“We must, therefore, emphasize that ‘we’ are not the government; the government is not ‘us.’ The government does not in any accurate sense ‘represent’ the majority of the people.”

Eh. Governments are just groups of individuals, just like businesses or churches or gangs. They can represent the majority of ‘the people’ or they can represent powerful minorities, or they can represent the will of some particular individual. At least Democratic governments have statutes in writing that explicitly demand a formal and potentially enforceable commitment to represent the majority of the people. What else has that but a Democratic State?

“The great non sequitur committed by defenders of the State…is to leap from the necessity of society to the necessity of the State.”

I certainly don’t leap to the necessity of the State, but I do understand that with all of its imperfections, it is an improvement over chiefdoms, tribes, and bands which would inevitably tend to fill any vacuum left in the absence of a State. There could also be a future sociopolitical form for humans that would transcend Statism, Capitalism, and Socialism. I have had some ideas for doing this.

“All of the services commonly thought to require the State…can be and have been supplied far more efficiently and certainly more morally by private persons. The State is in no sense required by the nature of man; quite the contrary.”

Wow, this is quite near sighted and in complete ignorance of Anthropology (my undergraduate degree). It is like saying that we are perfectly capable of breathing without an atmosphere because SCUBA gear exists. The bigger the business, the more it relies on the large scale stability that governments attempt to provide. Sure Amazon does a fantastic job of using taxpayer’s roads to efficiently deliver packages, but Amazon also has a reputation for treating many of its employees poorly. There is no indication that a world run by Amazon and Walmart would be any more moral or efficient than a Democratic government. To the contrary, we have only to look to the history of the Congo Free State to see what happens when ‘private persons’ are left to rule by their own unobstructed whims. I’m not really seeing anything worth commenting further on in this list. They all seem to just be ad hoc complaints about government based on the naive assumption that their absence would only result in positive effects and not threaten the basic civility that is taken for granted. Even the most superficial consideration of the empirical consequences of a Stateless power vacuum would suggest that such civility is more fragile and State-dependent than Rothbard imagines.

#Libertarianism

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ehentha · 6 years

Text

Maldives Twitter wakes up to a fever dream where everyone is Ali Rameez

At 12AM on Friday the 23rd of November 2018, a whole bunch of Maldivian twitter users changed their profile pictures to the one above. It shows a young Ali Rameez leaning back, relaxing his head against his arm. The incident is referred to by some as #NationalAyyaDay.

This is a bipartisan effort, okay? Whether you’re a snowflake or a YAG supporter or a feminist or a humanist, please come together for this one day so we can all celebrate the greatest Maldivian singer of all time: Ali Rameez. Happy #NationalAyyaDay! ♥️

— KeehveFA (@ShafaRameez) November 22, 2018

Mass confusion spread as everyone’s notifications looked the same.

Yup, giving up on trying to figure out who is who.

— Azzam Pompi Mohamed (@Pompeee) November 23, 2018

To make things worse, many users changed their names to song lyrics by the one time Maldivian king of pop. There was once a time when you could not walk two feet in the Maldives without hearing one of his songs on the TV or radio. I’d post more screenshots of the incident, but most people have already changed their pictures and names back. Guess the world can only take so much Ayya.

Of course I say one time because Ali Rameez is currently a violent extremist “sheikh” who constantly spreads hate and fear speech against Maldivian minorities such as non-Muslims and LGBTI+ people. While being a massive sexist of course. On top of this, he also regularly promotes such lovely things as child marriage.

In the above screenshot, the Dhivehi text reads “Islam dheenun beyru vejje meehaa; gathul kuraasheve’”, which roughly translates to “Slaughter those who leave Islam”. The first comment below it reads “It is best if such children move to a country where they can get the freedoms that they want. No space for atheist in this country”. It doesn’t take a genius to see how this encourages vigilante violence against non-Muslims. I suppose it is also worth pointing out again for the thousandth time that the Maldives is one of the few countries in the world whose constitution bans freedom of conscience. Ali Rameez promotes these views on his official twitter account and his facebook page, where he also pimps out his extremist buddies from religious NGOs like Jammaiyathul Salaf.

With all this in mind, it shouldn’t be surprising to anyone that Ali Rameez hates his pop star past. He did famously dump all of his CD’s into the ocean after all.

Is singer/songwriter Ali Rameez and haabee Ali Rameez the same person? 🤔

— Refty (@Refty) November 23, 2018

So while people took the opportunity to mock / celebrate him by sharing his music and reminiscing about the days when he wasn't a psychopath, others took the opportunity to gaslight Maldivian minorities by claiming that the good sheikh was being bullied.

we advocate for tolerance and acceptance yet we are intolerant to those that have an understanding different to us. I really don't believe @aliramyz should be bullied and bashed like this. This has gone beyond a simple friendly joke. This needs to stop.

— Ghaanim (@Qhaany) November 23, 2018

This kind of gaslighting is typical from “liberal” Maldivians who fall head over heels to defend extremists yet never utter a single word in support of Maldivian minorities whose very existence is criminalized. As such I am sure these people are not ignorant of Ali Rameez’s extremism. Instead I think they are sympathetic. I think extremists like that say what these people are afraid of saying. What they really think.

You will never get any of these people to admit whether they support something as basic as freedom of conscience. However they will rarely admit they don’t support it either. Instead, they will prop up the extremists who have the courage to actually express such darkness. This is why I respect honest extremists who will say to my face that they want to kill me. I have no respect at all to closet conservatives like this who pretend to sit on a fence while they crap on minorities below. It is not an equal conversation when one side has their existence criminalized.

“liberal extremism” is a thing

— Shani 🍂 (@shani1i) November 23, 2018

Can you believe the audacity of such a statement from people who do not think their fellow Maldivians deserve constitutional recognition?

Wait till you are bashed and joked about for saying this.

— Mushfiga Waheed (@MushfigaWaheed) November 23, 2018

Comments like this one are referring to an incident in the past when a woman on twitter made extremely homophobic remarks. For once a lot of people on Maldivian twitter called out this woman for her blatantly bigoted remarks. Not this crowd of closet conservatives though. Much like this incident, back then they sided with the bigot being roasted. How could you bully such an innocent person they all decried.

This past event, and the common occurrence of conservatives and extremists to claim to be victims of “bullying”, is what has led to the creation of the local meme of “bleeing”.

stop bleeing ayya 😭😭 stop bleeing his extremist opinions 😭😭😭 stop admiring his flawless voice 😭😭😭 SAY NO TO BLEEING 😩 https://t.co/Bg2lymNMtV

— imran (@imlatheef) November 23, 2018

This type of gaslighting would be funny if it wasn’t the norm. Gaslighting, for those unfamiliar, is when an oppressor makes a person doubt their own memories and self. It is a common tactic used by abusive people against their partners. Wikipedia defines it as “a form of psychological manipulation that seeks to sow seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or in members of a targeted group, making them question their own memory, perception, and sanity. “

They states that the signs of gaslighting are:

Withholding information from victim;

Countering information to fit the abuser's perspective;

Discounting information;

Verbal abuse, usually in the form of jokes;

Blocking and diverting the victim's attention from outside sources;

Trivializing the victim's worth; and,

Undermining victim by gradually weakening them and their thought process.

When have he ever advocated killing anyone he deems as infidels? Any reference?

— Mohamed Allam Naeem (@8laam) November 23, 2018

Observe this clear example from a tweet calling the original one out.

When he is okay with underage marriage. When he blames the rape victim always. These are the different views you talk about? Yes. I do have a problem with that.

— 𝕲𝖎𝖗𝖑 𝕴𝖓𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖗𝖚𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖉 (@Thathu182) November 24, 2018

Look at the response above. Ali Rameez is well known for blaming rape victims and his support for child marriage. Yet the original tweet dismisses this as having a “different understanding”.

It’s nice that everyone’s having a bit of fun. But do try to keep in mind that @aliramyz thinks it’s okay to marry 13 year olds, promotes violent jihad, is a core member of Jamiyyathul Salaf, and advocates the death penalty for those he considers laadheenee.

— Mohamed Shuraih (@MohamedShuraih) November 23, 2018

The day led to some clashes within the more progressive parts (relative to the Taliban) of Maldivian twitter as well, with some people thinking that the incident downplayed Ali Rameez’s extremism.

Just for fun, would you put a pedo on your Twitter DP? I don't think so. kthnksbye

— @waddey (@waddey) November 23, 2018

Isn't Ali Rameez known for his extremist religious views? 🤔 Love his songs but finding it strange to be so obsessed with him given who he is now.

— 🍞🌹 (@kopitaaaa) November 23, 2018

Some responses from the twitter cult leader responsible for this madness:

Haha hello my cult, what else should I do today after renouncing feminism and supporting Ali Rameez’s extremism, might fuck around and drop all my morals and principles and become someone N E W

— KeehveFA (@ShafaRameez) November 23, 2018

I would also like to tell you it’s not only Ali Rameez’s beautiful voice that mesmerizes me, it’s also his promotion of extremism (obviously), and presence in Jamiyyathul Salad (OBVIOUSLY) also in other news @imlatheef hates Ariana Grande 😭😭

— KeehveFA (@ShafaRameez) November 23, 2018

Kindly fuck off and let people fucking enjoy today, good lord! 😂 People woke up to an abundance of Ali Rameezs on their TL today, that is fucking AMAZING that it was pulled off. An, miothy than thanah thadhuvaa kudhinnah khaassa lavayeh ♥️https://t.co/hw61dHt1Jf

— KeehveFA (@ShafaRameez) November 23, 2018

Now that we’ve dealt with the drama and my existential bitterness, here are some of the funnier tweets from the day:

Kaia asking me the name of a random internet cat that popped up on my timeline. Told her the first name that popped into my mind. Ali Rameez. Thanks, twitter.

— EhJu (@EhJu) November 23, 2018

If you people don’t get sarcasm that’s really on you at this point. Brb listening to Nudhaashe Mage Loabiva for the 50th time today. :) https://t.co/TOb4K9xIaO

— KeehveFA (@ShafaRameez) November 23, 2018

Brain reading the entire timeline in Ali Rameez voice. Ali: I'm no one's crush. Ali: this cabinet is bullshit. Ali: here's a cat. Ali: I'd rather use tampons but they're too expensive W E I R D

— EhJu (@EhJu) November 23, 2018

me, before and after listening to ali rameez’s emotional masterpiece maruvedhaaney maadhamaa gaimey pic.twitter.com/AzhMts5nDO

— imran (@imlatheef) November 23, 2018

#NationalAyyaDay Ayya: Capitalising on his Freeze Band to make a Freeze Brand!

— Yuna Waheed 🎈❓ (@YuAeKito) November 23, 2018

Ali Rameez towards the end of his music career was in a band called “Freeze Band”. Once he gave up music, he capitalized on this by creating “Freeze Brand” - a company that sells dried fish and other products. Gotta admit that some of their stuff is pretty delicious though.

Ali Rameez and me in the same frame #happiestmoment 😂 pic.twitter.com/kfdXFccxCx

— ⚫️⚪️TEDRY🎈❓ (@tedry) November 23, 2018

With all these Ali Rameez songs floating around, I’m sad I haven’t seen a single “Bunebala ladhu ganefaa erey”. Definitely one of my favourites. #NationalAyyaDay

— Shubbi (@shubaadam) November 23, 2018

On this auspicious day I was just blessed to see Ali Rameez on the road. 😱😱😱😱

— S-laughter (@heyshaha) November 23, 2018

I give up on checking who’s who, I’m liking everything in bulk now

— KeehveFA (@ShafaRameez) November 22, 2018

I can't pic.twitter.com/BmK40l9i3f

— Saaif Shiyad 🇲🇻 (@SaaifShiyad) November 22, 2018

Ayya had moves. #NationalAyyaDay pic.twitter.com/TT8s4o8mjQ

— immi 🐑 (@immimmii) November 22, 2018

The other day at uni i saw ali rameez and randomly started singing “dhanee dhanee” bc obviously i was leaving the uni

— salty (@thelulifaiyy) November 22, 2018

the first time ali rameez looked at me. i was walking on sosun magu with a friend when we saw ali rameez and involuntarily shouted “EY ALI RAMEEEZ”. he looked, but looked away even faster. 😥#NationalAyyaDay

— Naura 🇲🇻 (@ayshathnaura) November 23, 2018

Since @ShafaRameez wanted me to do this so badly, like this tweet and I'll be brutally honest about your Twitter profile picture.

— Mi dhehiy vaathee, loabin gulhifaa (@haesham) November 23, 2018

Tb to the time i made eye contact with Ayya for a split second while eating pani puri @ the place infront of Iskandhar. He was having tea and looked away at the speed of light. Ma iny anga haluvan ves neyngifa

— KirimJehiBanas (@meynakambulo) November 23, 2018

The best part about this is how much I hate Ali Rameez and he still hasn't blocked me.

— San (@dontcallmesatan) November 23, 2018

Did you call him a finifenmaa ?

— Althaf🎈؟ (@AlthafAli_) November 23, 2018

pic.twitter.com/hbrqaLvwh0

— Musal (@FoniLunbo) November 23, 2018

The cat is screaming out lyrics to one of Ali Rameez’s hit songs “Finifenmalakey” (like a rose).

At the end I listened to all the heart broken Ali Rameez songs and now I feel like I have fallen out of love, hard. 😭💔 https://t.co/eVnWk4tmgQ

— Azzam Pompi Mohamed (@Pompeee) November 23, 2018

legends say people are still trying to get over the double vision of ayya from their twitter feeds 🤣🤣

— Awhosun (@awhosun) November 23, 2018

Marinating a chicken with bae. It's so hot man

— Shady 🎈❓ (@shadyfish) November 23, 2018

Ali Rameez had a particularly saucy hit video where he sensuously marinates a chicken with a beautiful woman. Probably one of the sources of his paranoia about his past sins.

#NationalAyyaDay, a day to honor the legendary Maldivian singer @aliramyz 🙏 pic.twitter.com/dTtVKU1WTw

— 🙏 آدم محمد (@Adamiington) November 23, 2018

I’d like to point out the fact that @semiicold has had his photo way before this started and I didn’t see it till after @FoniLunbo suggested this photo so a round of applause for him because we’re living in 2018 and he’s living in 3018. We stan! 👏🏾

— KeehveFA (@ShafaRameez) November 22, 2018

#Islam #Ali Rameez

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