#ranking event discourse

[saturnville]

on the frontline, major john egan

pairing: major john "bucky" egan x black fem oc (major lanessa "nessa" dixon) content: in an unlikely event, john meets another major during the war, but she isn't what he expects. warnings: medical inaccuracies. an: Nessa is inspired by major della raney jackson, first black major of the army nurse corps. tag list: @neeville @turn-thy-paige @ihe4rtisa @ineedafictionalman @lovebyceleste

The mess hall bustled with deep voices and the screeching of rubber soles against the dirty floor. The sun shone through the dusty windows and onto the leather-covered backs of the soldiers. An aroma of breakfast filled the atmosphere and wrapped its arms around them like a warm hug. The chefs made a large meal before missions. It was the last meal some men had to cherish. 

At a long table sat 13 men; two majors, two captains, a lieutenant, and eight sergeants. The conversations were minimal, until a sergeant spoke, “Have you met the new nurse?” He whistled he guzzled down a hefty bowl of oatmeal. He grunted after swallowing the hot oats and slurped down the black coffee beside his arm. “She’s a beauty!”

There was a discourse among the men who tried to figure out when they’d see the newly hired nurses. The wages of war came at a high price. Death and injury seemed to be a suitable payment to the creditor. To combat that, the service brought on extra hands to give medical assistance to the troops, especially with more men being enlisted to serve. Hundreds of thousands of men prepared to put their lives on the line; the least they could have was efficient medical care. 

“They all are,” another commented. “50 more nurses and half of ‘em are Black. Came in with them Tuskegee Airmen. Never seen anything like it.” 

As the pilots bantered about the new nurses, Major John Egan kept his gaze fixed on his coffee, his mind elsewhere. The arrival of more nurses was a reminder of the harsh realities of war, the constant influx of fresh faces tasked with patching up the broken bodies that returned from the front lines. Dread settled deep in his stomach at the thought of encountering them under such circumstances. With a curt nod, he urged his comrades to focus on the day ahead. Meanwhile, the chatter of the mess hall continued, blending with the clinking of utensils and the low hum of conversations.

“Haven’t seen them,” he spoke from behind the rim of his coffee. “Hoping I never have to. Let’s get going, boys.”  “Yes, sir.” 

-

“Major Egan’s hit!” For a moment, there was silence. Then, it wound up again when the wounded leader crossed the threshold into the infirmary.

The infirmary was chaotic. Loud cries and deep groans filled the air. Trays and metal utensils kissed one another as they were tossed on carts filled with supplies. White coats here and there sifted throughout the room as green bodies wheeled more patients into the large room. 

His breathing was ragged and heavy. With blurred vision caused by tears surfacing in the ducts on his eyes, it was difficult to navigate the infirmary without bumping into objects and solid bodies. His feet were heavy as he stumbled further into the infirmary. 

"I got you, Bucky," Gale's voice was frantic as he hoisted the pilot on his body. "You're gonna be alright, y'hear me?" If he had the strength, he would have replied. His heartbeat was in his ears and his stomach was in his throat. He'd never been shot before. Would this be the end of his career as a pilot? He groaned in agony. 

"I need a nurse!" Gale hollered, his husk voice reverberating off the walls. "He's been shot. Bullet is still in his shoulder."

In front of him appeared a nurse. A highly ranked nurse, at that. She was dressed differently than the others. There was no matching white skirt set with a pretty hat, no, she was dressed just like him. Dark leather jacket, heavy pants, and dark boots. On her chest was a multitude of badges and pins, including one that was similar to the one on Gale's chest. Major. Well, he'd be damned.

She didn't stay in his sight long, as she began giving orders to two other nurses, who were preparing a bed. She ushered her patient to another nurse and wrapped her black stethoscope around her neck. Around her wrist was a small hair-tie which she used to pull her curls into a makeshift bun. With a thunderous voice, she ordered, “Bessie, get him on a stretcher and bring him to me.”

A fellow nurse, Bessie assisted Gale in getting John on a stretcher. Gale stood behind the ladies, the tip of his thumb against his teeth. As the stretcher was rolled toward her station, she made a quick work of the gloves and ordered him to stay calm. “I’m gonna cut your shirt, okay? I need you to remove your hand so I can take a look. Take deep breaths for me.”

Beads of sweat trailed down John's forehead as he gritted his teeth. His nostrils flared and his jaw shook as he tried to keep his sounds to a minimum. The nurse above him chuckled, which caught his attention. "What's funny?" He managed to ask. 

She pushed his stubborn hand to the side and used her scissors to split his shirt in half. She was unfazed as blood trickled out of the open wound. It was ugly, but she knew how to make ugly beautiful. The wound was a wicked one, but it was a clean shot that managed to miss the muscle. It would be an easy retrieval. 

"No reason to play big man and conceal your pain here, Major. You got shot. The shit hurts. You can let it hurt here." She pressed her stethoscope against his chest. Heartbeat still strong, she noted. Wavering just slightly, but strong. She called for extra hands. "Administer the shot into the upper right shoulder."

John's eyes were on her as she worked. Her brown eyes were gentle and they remained on him as she poked, but her tone was stern as she said, "Major Cleven, if you'd like to stay, you must stay behind that line. Major Egan, you just received a numbing agent to reduce the sensation. The bullet is retrievable. If you feel anything unbearable,  you let me know. I'll stitch you up good as new afterword, am I clear?" 

John’s stomach twisted at her authority. His tongue scraped across the roof of his mouth as he nodded, "Yes ma'am."

"Wonderful. Scalpel, please." 

-

"How is he?" Gale's voice was unclear. He felt groggy. His head was a boulder on his shoulders and he felt confined to the small, yet comfortable bed he laid in. 

"He'll be just fine, Major. He took it like a champ. He'll be out of commission for six to twelve weeks and will be ordered to physical therapy upon return to base. Don't give me that look, now; he is not fit for battle right now, but he will be okay, I can reassure you that. My nurses and I will take good care of him just like we will everyone else."

John heard Gale's sigh of worry. "Okay, you're right. Thank you, Major..." 

She chuckled lightly. "Nessa Dixon." 

"Major Dixon. Thank you for all you've done." 

"No problem at all. You come to me tomorrow if that wrist is still giving you problems and I’ll wrap it again for you, okay? Get some rest, you'll need it." They exchanged goodbyes and the sound of Gale's footsteps retreating became clear. Finally, John's heavy eyelids peeled open. 

"Nice to see you again," she spoke after some time. She was leaning against the wall, hands stuffed into her pockets. and her stethoscope dangling from her neck. "How are you feeling?" She made her way toward him, sitting on the stool she set at the bedside. 

John groaned as he tried to readjust. His shoulder was wrapped tightly. He couldn't move even if he tried. Amelia jumped up and propped a pillow up. "Easy now..."

"Thank you," he replied gruffly. "I'm sore. Tired. And I need a damn drink." 

His response pulled a laugh from her. Not the small chuckle she'd release here and there, no, a hearty laugh. It made him smile. "You and me both. Let's get you up and moving first. Your procedure went well. You are to stay out of combat for--"

"Six to twelve weeks with physical therapy upon return to base," he repeated her words, clearly unamused. Nessa smiled, clearly amused. 

"Good to know you listen," she replied.

John hummed. "I do, Major. Didn't know that was a thing for nurses." He hated to seem painfully ignorant, but it’s what he was at that moment. Nurses in his unit rarely received titles, unless they’d done something extraordinary or had been in service for an extended period. But she, she looked young. Like she couldn’t be much older than he was.

Nessa nodded. She was one of the first Black nurses accepted into the Army Nurse Corps after they began accepting Black women. She worked her way up the chain, she explained, earning the same prestigious he carried. On the same level as a white man whose life was in her hands. Who would've guessed? 

"Nessa is just fine right now," she suggested. "I should let you rest. I'll do one more check before I head out. Major Cleven will be here in the morning, I'm sure. Do you need anything, Major?"

"John," he said gently, tired blue eyes gazing into hers. "And I'm okay. Thank you for everything." 

She gave one nod before leaving him alone and releasing the breath she wasn't aware she held.

-

“Nessa.” The woman sighed heavily and dropped her clipboard against the makeshift desk. Silence wasn’t a thing during war. Constant movement, moaning and groaning, the calling of her name. All she wanted was a moment of silence. It was nonexistent.

“Yes?” She didn’t turn around. But, she recognized the voice. Deep. Full of rasp. The way he said her name. It was familiar. Her eyes dropped to her clipboard, scattered with notes and reports that needed to be sent to the leader physicians. 

“Why are you awake? I thought you were leaving.” 

Her eyes dropped to the watch on her wrist. 1:43am. She’d been up for almost 24 hours. She shrugged and picked up her pen to scribble on the paper more. “I can ask you the same thing, Major. You’re supposed to be sleeping. Why aren’t you sleeping?” 

Finally, Nessa turned around. She regretted it. John Egan was a handsome man. She knew that, but she was too focused on ensuring he didn’t lose his arm to focus on his features. But in this moment, in the dimly lit infirmary with no one else present, she had every opportunity to do so. And, she regretted it. 

He was tall. Much taller than she was. She assumed her head would be at his shoulder, still leaving inches of distance between them. Though his face was littered with scrapes and healing scars, it seemed to illuminate his beauty. His eyes were blue, a strong contrast against his dark, curly hair. A strong nose and straight lips that she was sure felt amazing. His upper lip was cut in the corner and dried blood remained. He must’ve begun anxiously picking at it.

He managed to change his clothes. Major Cleven must have had something to do with that. He was dressed in dark sweatpants and a sweatshirt. She was curious as to how he got his arm through the sleeve, but she’d heckle him about it later in the day. His curls were damp and tousled messily. God, he was beautiful. Bruised and all. 

He chuckled and slowly sat in the chair opposite of her. He groaned softly and readjusted himself to come into a comfortable position. “I can ask you the same question.”

She shrugged, “I’ve got paperwork to do. Go to bed, John. You can’t heal if you don’t rest.” 

“You gonna tuck me in?” John’s tone was teasing. Nessa’s eyebrows raised and the pilot threw his head back as he laughed heartily. It was the first time he laughed with passion in a while, and she couldn’t help but crack a smile as well. 

“You’re in a good mood. Let’s go. You’re going to bed and I’m going to sleep in the infirmary just in case..” She pushed up from her chair and tucked her documents into a folder. She nodded toward the door and the pilot followed suit. 

They walked side by side in silence back to the infirmary, which was near the resting area for the injured who didn’t make it back to their chambers. Luckily, everyone had. Nessa’s eyebrows raised as John lay on the same bed he was on earlier. “What’re you doing?”

“I’m your just in case,” he said simply. He laid his head against the pillow and watched as she stood still. Nessa swallowed thickly. It took her brain extra effort to tell her feet to move. She sat on the edge of the bed to pull her heavy boots off her feet. She sighed in relief. 

Nessa swung her feet on the bed and allowed her body to mold into the comfortable mattress. Her eyelids felt heavy, but still, she found his gaze. “Goodnight, John.” 

“Goodnight, Nessa.” 

Though they did not say anything to one another after that, she found comfort in the silence. They found solace in the quiet of the infirmary that kept them through the rest of the night. Together.

[low-cole-timothy]

Hamas Guidlines to Social Media

Here are excerpts from the guidlines Hamas has given as to how to post on social media:

"Anyone killed or martyred is to be called a civilian from Gaza or Palestine, before we talk about his status in jihad or his military rank. Don't forget to always add 'innocent civilian' or 'innocent citizen' in your description of those killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza.

"Begin [your reports of] news of resistance actions with the phrase 'In response to the cruel Israeli attack,' and conclude with the phrase 'This many people have been martyred since Israel launched its aggression against Gaza.' Be sure to always perpetuate the principle of 'the role of the occupation is attack, and we in Palestine are fulfilling [the role of] the reaction.'

"Beware of spreading rumors from Israeli spokesmen, particularly those that harm the home front. Be wary regarding accepting the occupation's version [of events]. You must always cast doubts on this [version], disprove it, and treat it as false.

"Avoid publishing pictures of rockets fired into Israel from [Gaza] city centers. This [would] provide a pretext for attacking residential areas in the Gaza Strip. Do not publish or share photos or video clips showing rocket launching sites or the movement of resistance [forces] in Gaza.

"To the administrators of news pages on Facebook: Do not publish close-ups of masked men with heavy weapons, so that your page will not be shut down [by Facebook] on the claim that you are inciting violence. In your coverage, be sure that you say: 'The locally manufactured shells fired by the resistance are a natural response to the Israeli occupation that deliberately fires rockets against civilians in the West Bank and Gaza'..."

Additionally, the interior ministry prepared a series of suggestions specifically for Palestinian activists who speak to Westerners via social media. The ministry emphasizes that conversations with them should be conducted differently from conversations with other Arabs. It stated:

"When speaking to the West, you must use political, rational, and persuasive discourse, and avoid emotional discourse aimed at begging for sympathy. There are elements with a conscience in the world; you must maintain contact with them and activate them for the benefit of Palestine. Their role is to shame the occupation and expose its violations.

"Avoid entering into a political argument with a Westerner aimed at convincing him that the Holocaust is a lie and deceit; instead, equate it with Israel's crimes against Palestinian civilians.

"The narrative of life vs. the narrative of blood: [When speaking] to an Arab friend, start with the number of martyrs. [But when speaking] to a Western friend, start with the number of wounded and dead. Be sure to humanize the Palestinian suffering. Try to paint a picture of the suffering of the civilians in Gaza and the West Bank during the occupation's operations and its bombings of cities and villages.

"Do not publish photos of military commanders. Do not mention their names in public, and do not praise their achievements in conversations with foreign friends!"

This is literally from their own website! They instruct people to lie and and the useful idiots just share the lies as if they are fact.

Anyone who supports Hamas is an idiot at best and a terrorist at worst....

[glossysoap]

since you mentioned "you know who" on a recent post... ever since that whole thing happened, and those two accounts were deleted, i've been thinking... this person (because it's always been one person, obviously) has got to be out there on this site again rn, with a new alter ego, persona or wtv, and we don't know who it is :/ and have no way to tell, at least for now we do know that at least, they're a bad liar (and also it isn't lost on me how recently after that whole thing went down the blogs who were coincidentally the most vocal about the whole deception started getting a bunch of anti/accusatory/malicious asks... it just seems a bit odd to me) ngl i'm kinda worried about the havoc this person might still have left to wreak

anyway i hope you have a good one xx one good thing i got from the whole event was discovering your blog!

preach preach PREACH.

i apologize to everyone for posting about discourse especially this type of discourse, but with them coming back with what appears to be an agenda to terrorize the cod community, it feels necessary.

literally that’s exactly what i’m (and others) thinking. the fact that all of those accounts (talking abt barracks bunny fics) were made around july 12, and their first posts were all about said fics that they don’t like, it reminds me of how myka/“hannah” only made their acc like 2 weeks before all the drama. and the blank acc that’s involved reeks of sheheal.

all of those accs are centered around being in the military and giving advice to fic writers based on their military experience, which is exactly what all of mykas accs were doing. claiming that they reached a certain rank at a young age, which myka did + claiming to be one of three female machine gunners. when that’s. not true at all. there’s not just three. this isn’t a fanfic.

they’re claiming to be a USMC just like myka did. literally everything is just like myka/“hannah”. every fucking thing.

i have a screenshot that displays damnkid using the same attitude towards gaz and gaz erasure that was displayed during the myka situation.

myself and fulltacs have already been blocked by one of those accounts that we suspect (pretty much know) are myka.

in general, if i remember anything/if anything else happens ill reblog this post with additional commentary.

check out fulltacs blog for any incoming info <3 thanks to her for these screenshots

[blood-mocha-latte]

~ HBO WAR ASK GAME ~

created and chosen by poll vote. for band of brothers, generation kill, the pacific, and masters of the air. if you haven't seen one of the shows, do not include them in your answers :)

a. make a moodboard/edit/headcanon for who you think is underrated for any of the shows.

b. between all four shows, which one do you think did the best job of creating a storyline?

c. which show did you enjoy, but don't engage with the fandom of?

d. what was a character arc in any of the shows that left you unsatisfied?

e. what was a character arc in any of the shows that you loved?

f. rank all four shows in order of favorite to least and explain why.

g. masters of the air and generation kill both seem to have more discourse surrounding them than the other two. which did you enjoy more, and why?

h. if there was going to be another hbo war show, what would you like for it to focus on in history and why?

i. tag some of your closest mutuals and choose a show portrayal from any of the miniseries' that reminds you of them.

j. do you read fic for any of the shows? if so, rec a few of your favorites.

k. which books, if any, have you read for any of the shows?

l. would you say the hbo war fandom is more or less hectic than your previous/other ones?

m. what do you think is the best quote of each show?

n. if you create content, which show do you have the most wips for? choose one to talk about in depth.

o. say something nice about a ship that you don't understand.

p. what's a headcanon you have for any one of the shows?

q. acknowledge something nice about your least favorite of the hbo war shows.

r. do you engage in overall fandom events? (gift exchanges, appreciation weeks, etc.) why or why not?

s. tag a blog you don't often interact with, but love the content they make.

t. if you had to name a pet after any one character from any one shows, what would it be and why?

u. acknowledge a flaw in your favorite of the hbo war shows.

v. post a snippet/wip/headcanon involving any one of the shows.

w. what's an hbo war url that you like/would change to? if you have an hbo war url, why did you choose it?

x. choose one screencap of any of the shows that you would frame and put on the wall.

y. what's a wip (edits, art, fic, etc.) you have for any of the shows that will never see the light of day?

z. tag some of your favorite artists/writers/editors in the fandom and give them a compliment.

[palestinegenocide]

Zionism will never be viewed the same after the Gaza genocide

How do you wrap your head around genocide? As one numb week follows another, our leaders blind themselves to massacre and famine.

Joe Biden can see no “compelling alternative to how Israel [wages] a war in these circumstances without doing grievous harm to civilians,” Aaron David Miller writes in the New York Times, excusing the president’s support for genocide. So, Israel isn’t being deliberately cruel and sadistic. The Times coverage would just have you believe they just have no choice– as Donald Johnson wrote in a letter to the paper. “There is no middle ground between what Israel is doing and Gandhian pacifism: They just had to use 2000 lb bombs in urban settings. They have to torture captives and cut off food.”

Miller and other liberal Zionists have adopted that stance, but they are having little influence on Democrats. Polls show that the American people favor giving humanitarian aid to Gaza in far greater numbers than they do giving military aid to Israel, and the progressive base of the Democratic Party has started a political “firestorm” over U.S. support for genocide. The Zionist group J Street postponed its 2024 conference, surely because its own rank and file are enraged by Israel.

James Carville said on MSNBC this week that if Biden loses, it’s Israel’s fault, because the catastrophe in Gaza is an issue “all across the country.”

“This Gaza stuff, this is not just a problem with some snot-nosed Ivy League people…This is a problem all across the country. And I hope the president and Blinken can get this thing calmed down because if it doesn’t get calmed down before the Democratic convention, it’s going to be a very ugly time in Chicago. I promise you that. No matter what happens, I know it’s a huge problem.”

Last week, Brad Sherman, the Israel-loving Congress member from Los Angeles, fought back, accusing “anti-Israel forces” of an “attempt to penetrate and muddy our national discourse.”

Protesters affiliated with the antiwar group Code Pink seek to ask Rep. Brad Sherman about his support for the massacres of Palestinians in Gaza, in a video posted March 20, 2024. The congressman from Los Angeles/Malibu ran away from the protesters and accused them of seeking the genocide of Jews. Screenshot.

Sherman accused them of antisemitism. “There’s blood on your hands for the genocide—you’re trying to kill every Jew.”

That is the chief refuge for Democrats who excuse Israel’s actions. To say that critics of genocide are motivated by antisemitism.

But even liberal media are giving a platform to progressive critics. “The United States is complicit in genocide,” Mehdi Hasan said this week on New York public radio, and when the host pushed back and said Hasan was not blaming Hamas, Hasan said of course he denounces Hamas, but his tax dollars are not going to support Hamas. He also pointed out the inevitable consequences of military occupation. “The oppressed will always rise against the oppressor.”

And in wonderful media news this week, Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg withdrew from a speaking engagement in Kentucky after students questioned his record in the Israeli military nearly 40 years ago.

Jeffrey Goldberg, Editor-in-Chief of The Atlantic, withdrew from a scheduled speaking event at the University of Kentucky (UK) Wednesday, citing a last-minute schedule change, amidst concerns from students about his past as a former Israel Defense Forces (IDF) prison guard and his views on Zionism…. “We were informed that students expressed concern as to why a former IDF prison guard would be speaking on democracy and journalism at an event celebrating the integration of UK. Students were told he withdrew to not cause harm on campus,” the representative [of a Palestinian solidarity group] stated.

The event was billed as “The Future of Journalism and the Health of Our Democracy.” That’s a little bit of accountability. The editor of the Atlantic is finally being called out for his service for Israel. The writer Yakov Hirsch repeatedly explained on our site that Netanyahu could not have maintained his faultless reputation in the U.S. mainstream without Goldberg fostering “hasbara culture.”

And bear in mind, that Goldberg used to brag about his military service. He wrote a whole memoir about it. Now, times are changing. And other editors who carried water for Israel will surely be called on to defend that work.

This process is just beginning. Zionists still have esteem in the U.S. discourse. The view that Israel supporters promote bigotry against Palestinians is still off-limits. Even as mainstream Jewish organizations assert that those who support Palestinian rights are bigoted against Jews.

“Israel supporters should be seen as on the same moral level as supporters of Bull Connor, but in the U.S. and Western mainstream you can only point to antisemitism— you can never point to anti-Palestinian racism on the Israel side,” Donald Johnson has written on our site.

“We cannot make progress on this issue if the extreme racism of the pro-genocide side is never discussed. People have to be able to say that any group, whether white southerners or South Africans or Nation of Islam members or Christian evangelical Zionists or Germans or, yes, Jewish supporters of Israel, can be racists. They can make racism central to their ideology. But Zionist racism is still a taboo subject, automatically branded as antisemitic, because fundamentally Palestinians are seen as lesser.”

[absolutelyinlove]

just really fascinating how hannah is never allowed to team with the people she asks for and she gets asked to sit out events more often than men who avg top 10 to make it “easier to balance the teams” but she’s only played in 4 events (3 canon) and has an avg placement of 15th. really fascinating how whenever scott has a player he needs to “nerf” he uses low-ranking women and afab participants as fodder instead of putting them on teams where they’ll actually get a chance to improve and feel like they stand a chance. Really fascinating how when there’s a woman or afab participant who is too consistently good at the game to be used as a “nerf” teammate suddenly she’s just way too hard to balance so she’s left on the waitlist for 2 years and then even after getting into the event she can’t be expected to play every event she signs up for. surely it’s all just a coincidence! really really fascinating how hannah has spoken multiple times about how horrifically she’s treated by the mcc community just for. being a woman who is competitive and dares to care about her individual performance and tina openly talked about how demotivating it felt to be put on 10th-place-expected teams every time she signed up instead of ever having a chance to improve. and how the community REFUSED to hold jojo to the same standards as equally-well-performing men and demanded she prove herself a million times over before being allowed to be put in the same category as her male peers. but the people in charge who have the power to fix all of this see no issue with the way teams are constructed whatsoever. surely there’s no pattern!

a “for fun event” but one single participant has full control over who is and isn’t allowed to play and who is and isn’t allowed to be with the people they request to team with and instead of focusing on creating evenly matched teams the priority is ensuring no one wins TOO much. because god forbid the event be predictable. if only that was already possible because (most of) the games are already designed to prioritize a variety of different skills and therefore theoretically any given team could always win/lose. if only that was the entire point of a competitive tournament. if only someone involved would point out what an unnecessary waste of energy and cause for needless discourse and toxicity it is to make “team balancing” your end-all-be-all priority so that any and all criticism would stop being brushed off as “people complaining on twitter”. but i guess we’re just supposed to pretend all of this is necessary to keep the event “fun”. right

[salted-caramel-tea]

women in online streaming spaces will always be a victim in whatever they do . they’re oversexualised, they’re targeted higher than men for harassment and stalking, they’re yelled at playing ranked comp games because ‘having a woman on the team sucks’, they’re treated like they’re incompetent, they’re infantilised but their community as being helpless little ladies who are only ever cute and pretty and delicate, their fanbase links the streamer to whatever male is in her vicinity at all times, they’re told they’re only getting followers bc ppl want to fuck them, they’re told they’re not gonna be successful bc nobody wants to watch an ugly nerdy woman play games, they’re treated as though they only involve themselves in online spaces for male attention, they’re used as devices for diversity whilst the people ranting and raving about their inclusion don’t even support their streaming career. there’s no winning.

with online puritan culture it’s so difficult for women to escape these boxes bc everyone keeps forcing them back into them . she doesn’t want to be called cute bc she’s a grown ass woman but you can’t call her a sexy badass either bc that’s objectifying her she’s allowed to be hot and wear what she wants but you’re making her feel like she has to be hot to be popular so no she shouldn’t wear revealing stuff on steam she’s not good at this game she’s playing but you’re not allowed to comment on the fact bc it means you think all women are bad at every game women should be able to compete alongside men bc they’re just as capable but no they shouldn’t bc they’re fragile and men are mean . like it’s impossible to escape the existence of a schrodingers woman

and now this insistence of uplifting and protecting women has lead to their exploitation in discoursing situations . where women’s experiences with misogyny and harassment are used as a plot device to further someone’s argument. there should never be a situation where someone HOPES a woman has terrible stories to tell or that they’ve experienced harm at the hands of a male friend just to validate your dislike of a person or group . there should never be a moment where women are viewed and treated like potential victims by simply existing around men. you should never find yourself betting on the fact that a woman has been harmed and intend to use that experience as a gotcha and you should never find yourself running with rumours involving a female victim before hearing from the woman directly that the event is true and that she consents to havibg her traumatic story shared by you .

as long as online streaming spaces exist women will continue to be used as pawns to mould and manipulate by their fanbase and other creators

[incorporeal-entity]

This is Starcutter a colab character I made with @quotidianish. He started off as a joke character but it ended up becoming a funny character with lore. Basically Starcutter is Foeslayer's elusive father who was born into a high ranking rich family who has had his life planned out for him. Since he has known this from a young age he developed a relaxed almost aloof go with the flow type of personality so he can enjoy what little freedom he does get. He then meets Prudence (Foeslayer's mom) who only married him because he was high ranking, rich, and because she missed his aloof personality for being stupid and easy to control.

That was not the case and Prudence found herself very easily annoyed by Starcutter's personality and habit to talk about weird philosophy and freedom. This culminated to Prudence trying to kill Starcutter but failing to do so. They get a divorce after this with Prudence getting some of Starcutter's family money. This causes the reputation of Starcutter's family to be damaged and amidst all this chaos and discourse Starcutter realizes that this could be his only chance to escape and be free so he takes the rest of the money and leaves the Night kingdom.

He spends most of his time traveling Pyrrhia basically being on vacation. Since this happens before Foeslayer hatched and because Prudence doesn't want to bring him up ever so Foeslayer never gets to know anything about her father and Starcutter never gets to meet Foeslayer. Despite his aloof and go with the flow personality during the day when he is about to rest he hopes that the dragonet he had is okay not knowing what unfolded. Also one unintentional consequence of him cutting ties with the Nigh kingdom and exploring Pyrrhia is that he wasn't there when all the Nighwings flew away so he actually still in Pyrrhia even after the events of Darkstalker Legends but since he was never really attached to the Night Kingdom he just really doesn't care so it doesn't bother him that much, the only thing that does being not knowing what happened to his dragonet

[thefivekins]

DISCORD WCRP INTEREST CHECK

This is an 18+ (SFW) server. There is the possibility to be put on a waitlist if you are 17, but no one under 18 will be allowed to join.

Putting out feelers for members of an upcoming WCRP on Discord! This will be a partial reboot of a server that only lasted a couple months, now with a mod team and members to help with writing plot/arcs/events/etc and general new ideas to (hopefully) keep the ball rolling. It will be semi-literate with options to use script style under certain circumstances. You are welcome no matter your experience with source material or RP— as long as you are dedicated and can write characters in a shared environment, you can apply! Spectators will also be allowed.

What we offer:

an accepting environment that is happy to include those with demonized, “cringe”, or otherwise unconventional disorders/identities. The creator is a plural system and objectum! PluralKit is available and there are rules against fakeclaiming/discourse.

a thorough application process that discourages problematic behavior or ideals.

monthly activity checks that are straightforward and designed to be as stress-free/non-intrusive as possible; you don’t need to be roleplaying every day to be counted!

no strict response length expectations.

a system using Discord bots that lets you submit server suggestions and anonymous concerns to staff.

activities outside of RP that encourage thinking about your characters + OOC activities in development.

events relating to the RP both IC and OOC; you will have the option to contribute beyond RP threads.

a story team that is ready to work with the ideas of others and help your character contribute to the plot + fulfill their respective arcs.

original AND rewritten lore based off source material and the original clans/setting! includes religion, magic, mythos, ranks, additional animals, and more.

interactive NPCs!

(possible) TTRPG-inspired elements and GM-guided sessions in the future!

With all that being said…

This is the official tumblr blog for the RP. As of right now lore is being uploaded daily under the tag #tfk ; lore and not everything is there yet, but do look over what’s ready to read!

We are planning to open by July 1st.

Please reply, message us, or reblog and tag if interested! Thank you so much for reading and feel free to ask questions <3

[une-sanz-pluis]

I saw a saying that Isabella from France may not have cheated on her?

Hi, yes! The idea that Isabella had an adulterous relationship with Roger Mortimer has been widely accepted by historians, novelists and commentators for some time but contemporary and near-contemporary records do not unambiguously support it. In recent years some historians, such as Seymour Phillips, Michael Evans and Kathryn Warner, have been more cautious about the idea that Isabella and Mortimer did have an affair.

In some contemporary records, we have the report of rumour - The Chronicle of Lanercost claims "there was a liaison suspected between him and the lady queen-mother, as according to public report" while the unreliable Geoffrey le Baker claimed that Isabella was "in the illicit embraces" of Mortimer. Some sources seemed to describe their relationship in the discourse of royal favouritism (similar language is used to describe the relationship between Edward II and Piers Gaveston and Richard II and Robert de Vere). Adam Murimuth claimed Isabella and Mortimer had an "excessive familiarity (nimiam familiaritatem)" and another chronicler described Mortimer as her "amasius" (or lover), which is a term used also to describe Gaveston in relation to Edward. Jean Froissart, writing long after the event, even claimed Isabella fell pregnant with Mortimer's child but there is no other evidence for this claim and it's difficult to see how it could have been kept secret.

There is little support in other contemporary chronicles, which often only mention Mortimer in his less scandalous role of councillor of the queen and as a participant in the rebellion. In some cases, euphemistic language might be employed (the Brut describes Mortimer making himself "wonder priuee" with Isabella and Edward II himself wrote Isabella kept Mortimer's "company within and without house" while the report of a story Edward told of an unnamed queen who was disobedient to her husband and deposed, very likely alluding to Isabella, may also be a veiled reference to Isabella's adultery) but we don't know whether a euphemism was intended and we undoubtedly read it in the context where the idea of an affair has not only been raised but has been so widely accepted.

Basically, the evidence does not universally support the idea that they definitely had an affair, much less that they were brazen about it. It does seem like there were rumours about it and that chroniclers perhaps explained Mortimer's rise to power in the same way they explained Gaveston and the Despensers' rise (on that note: we don't know whether Gaveston and Hugh Despenser the Younger were Edward's lovers - it's certainly possible, perhaps even likely, but there's no way to know).

Warner has also argued that Isabella had too much sense of royal dignity to have an affair with a man of Mortimer's rank and that she was too pious to lie to the Archbishop of Canterbury about her desire to return to Edward - but I don't find these arguments particularly convincing. They're too subjective and are reliant on Warner's idea of what Isabella was "really like" while I believe that we don't and can't know what Isabella was really like to make these type of arguments.

Did Isabella have an affair with Mortimer? We don't know. It's possible she did - there is some supporting evidence for it. But the evidence may only be recording of rumours or slander. Where each person feels about the question probably relies on what they think of the narratives about Isabella's affair with Mortimer and what they think Isabella was "really like".

I don't have a strong opinion either way. I can see the argument for and I can see the argument against, and I think we should be cautious about taking the position that one is absolutely more likely to be true than the other. At a distance of 700 years, we have no way to know who Isabella really was and no way to prove or disprove whether she had sex with Mortimer or not.

[thebroadcast]

"One of the main six is going to die" - an opinion piece

Again, a show-relating rant of sorts! I do apologize for that, but the static that I call my mind just will not stop producing. Hence I will subject you, dear reader, to my very own take on a very sensitive matter. Hence, blanket TW for discussion of d*ath. In the cusps of the season one finale of HH, I have seen plenty of discussion on the topic of "who is going to die" - following an age-old (/h-jk) statement of the creator that "one of the main six is going to die". There seems to be a common conception that this will be happening now - which we do not know for sure, even if this is going to happen at all is not certain! - and the discourse mainly revolves around Vagatha and Angel Dust, with some speculating about Charlotte or possibly Alastor dying. If we stick with the common idea that the death is going to happen in the finale of the first season (which I am not completely sold on!), all of these could be compelling story-defining events, lending new and deeper motivations for those around them to oppose Heaven - but they would also be terribly boring because they are so overt!

Thus, I want to revisit two ideas with you, dear reader.. who are the "main six" in question and what does "dying" mean for each of them?

For the first one, I do not believe that the addressed "main six" are the main cast of the show or even the main characters living in the hotel! Eight characters are living there currently (Charlotte, Vagatha, Alastor, Nifty, Husker, Angel Dust, Keekee, and Pentious) and while, yes, dear Nifty and Keekee have been more of a supportive staff for now, again, this would be too overt. I will offer you a different reading.. how about the main six characters developing the plot and conflict of season one - the possibility of rehabilitation, redemption, and the opposition of this idea? Would not a death in this rank have a much bigger impact on the narrative..? I present to you, dear reader!

- Charlotte - the leader of the rebellion forming, the spokesperson for the worth and rehabilitation of Sinners. Her death could be a tragic rebirth, thrusting her into her Becoming and the Blooming of her powers. - Adam - the leader of the Exorcists, her direct foil and antagonist. His death could be an escalation of the conflict and/or the gateway to the introduction of an even Greater Evil.. we don't know what Exorcists really do all year long, and what if they keep the Greater Evil at bay? (Hints for Roo, possibly, and/or the things not written in ink). - Vagatha - the fallen Angel, protector of Charlotte, her partner and confidant. Her death could be a rebirth as a true Demon or Angel again (redemption through sacrifice, perhaps?) or a permanent fixture to support Charlotte's drive for justice. Also, why is no one talking about the possibility of HER having killed the Exorcist? - Lute - the second in command to the Exorcists and Adam's companion, as Vagatha's foil. Her death could be just as much a trigger to violence for Adam and the Exorcists, pushing the conflict to a new level. (Also, as a little side note.. we have seen her face. That cannot be a good sign! Also, what are the LED screen helmet designs all about? I cannot stop thinking about it!) - Emily - the Seraph who comes to the same conclusion as Charlotte, that Heaven has to be a lie. Her death could be a reprise of the Fall of Lucifer, her joining the main cast in the fight against the double standards of judgment to make right of what is wrong. - Carmilla - the Sinner (and possibly fallen Angel, seeing all the thematic ties she shares with Vagatha) who seems to know that Heaven cannot be trusted, but speaks for the status quo to remain unchanged - her call to conservation is a foil to Emily's drive to change. Her death would shake up the Overlords, possibly opening up the scene for the Vs to spark the fight on their front.

In my humble opinion, Lute and Carmilla would make the most compelling candidates for the character to die, if this is to happen in the finale of the season. The potential impacts of their deaths could be magnificent while also omitting the sacrifice of characters that bear the possibility of age-old, deep conflicts and developments yet to be seen. What do you think?

[bandofchimeras]

gender theory

this is not an invitation for any more bad faith discourse but after some reflection (and please know I am speaking in generalizations there are always exceptions)

the main reason i wanted language for "transandrophobia" is because of the oddly hostile, shitty, assumptive behavior people project out since post transition.

i've felt misogyny and this is not misogyny.

i got a nice reminder of what being percieved as woman was like the other day because i chose to go out in drag.

people asking where the organizer of the event was, then literally talking over me or acting like i didn't exist, ignoring requests. makeup & a feminine outfit, magical juice that makes your voice inaudible unless you yell. bullshit. Also, misogyny is serious, misogyny can lead to death and violence, transmisogyny multiplies that risk. I don't want that downplayed. trans men can experience misogyny in a way that de-genders us, or misdirected transmisogyny. but there's this other thing.

and it does impact you: being randomly treated like a threat, having bad intent assumed, putting up with hostility for no apparent reason, being expected to put up with put-downs and mean spirited jokes, having trauma projected onto you, being perceived as and told your body is gross, undesirable, being perceived as a creep, or weird and perverted for being or wanting to be pregnant, being assumed unsafe for kids or "sus" because of perceived masculinity.

this is not MISOGYNY. AND GET THIS! these are things trans women experience too /for being perceived or misgendered as masculine or male/ so hear me out:

what if there were a word that could encompass the transphobic demonization of masculinity that is experienced across the artificial trans binary divide? (because intersex people who do not identify as trans exist and can experience this) because both trans men and women also do experience particular flavors of misogyny if outed/clocked. but I really, really really really really need to dig into this:

n, that part of the reason white trans men don't get targeted for as much violence as white trans women is that often we get de-gendered into the category of "woman" which equals "harmless" while trans women are denied that category, and assigned into "male" which equals "dangerous" in TERF ideology but once passable as male, also occupy this territory and experience disgust, vitriol, and abuse. What i am trying badly to articulate is actually that trans people serves AS SCAPEGOATS FOR CIS MEN. PERIOD. like if you see masculinity in a trans person you can punish them for it on a level which people don't feel impunity to do to cis men. trans men can try to retain protection by identifying as women, which trans women are not afforded. so the privilege is not aligned with whom is seen as most woman-like and targeted by misogyny, but with whom can escape being the sacrificial lamb for the violence cis men are not being held accountable for. so this is all because cis men are an (invisibly) protected class - but also the first victims of other cis men, as boys. bell hooks dives into this in The Will to Change. TERF ideology is extremely slippery. it is actually patriarchal to play this "women are the ultimate victims" card even if you're doing so as an attempt to validate trans women. Being perceived as a woman and experiencing misogyny for that is different than the experience of being punished for perceived gender divergence, for violating the holy category of manhood. BUT YOU AREN'T SUPPOSED TO CALL IT THAT. Patriarchal men refuse first and foremost, to acknowledge they are /protected/ as a class, but this refusal, to equal the playing field, is invisible and creates a culture of intense abuse in the ranks of that class. Its not directly analogous but its like white people refusing to acknowledge they have white supremacist notions and live in a system that protects them, meanwhile tolerating and covering up extreme abuse within that system to ourselves because of this completely baseless assumption that the protection is meaningful.

Men are only protected so long as they play the game, and they get more chances to fuck up. But its more comfortable within patriarchy to treat women as the sacred protected class. To paint women as victims, plagued by eternal suffering. To do so obfuscates both the perpetrator of the violence - we don't have a problem with battered women, we actually have a problem with abusive men, who are equal human beings who can and should be held to task for acts of abuse. So women can appear to fight patriarchy all while continuing it by not perceiving the cisheteronormative, colonial gender binary as a tool of control. Flipping the script logically, that if women are inherently victims, men are inherently abusers. And then this gets weaponized against men of color, used to aggress trans women, and attempt to pass on the patriarchy-perpetuating victim complex to white trans men by getting us to see ourselves as wronged women. Not gonna lie, that got me for awhile. I am someone who was wronged by men (and women) due to misogynist perceptions. I am also someone who has experienced far more alienation, social pain, aggression, and psychological abuse since I began being perceived as a man. And not just from men. No, men actually, have started being much nicer to me comparatively, when I pass until I violate some presuppostion of how men are supposed to act (until becoming fag in their eyes or trannyboy hole or whatever, some are respectful but I do my best not to out myself to men for safety reasons). maybe nicer is not the word, they are kinda mean to eachother, but they treat me for awhile like I'm in on the joke. Of course, I'm not, don't know the material, and am usually hypervigiliant the entire time. no, what sucks is the loss of women's community, exclusion from it, if you really buy into manhood and try to integrate into Dudes World (or gay cis men's world even tbh), its like being alone and sent out to these people you've been taught your whole life are dangerous, and losing your support because now you are dangerous (even if you haven't yet assimilated into toxic masculinity). and then on top of that, people with beef against men, suddenly have a perfect practice target for accountability, punishment, etc. You start enjoying your masculinity and women come out of the woodwork to shit on men and maleness and masculinity and its not the worst thing ever to happen, but its difficult emotion terrain. Especially when they then revoke your right to speak about actual misogyny you did or do experience... Trans men get abused to fuck, y'all, especially Black trans men in America, and trans men have the highest suicide rate among identity divides in trans people. I genuinely hate the co-optation of transsexuality with cissexual gender non-conformity (like being cissexual and using they/them pronouns) because then trans men start getting thrown in with "theyfabs" WHO I MAY ADD, are the "acceptable targets" for people's gripes with women. Non-binary people perceived as male it seems experienced the same kind of things trans men who develop "male" traits like beer bellies, chin clefts, yada yada you know the body parts used to caricature trans women as well, do. I.e. get treated shitty within the community as a proxy for people's issues with men. Do you see? Because of cis men's protected status, masculinity in the trans community can make you the scapegoat. Like when people on here were on one accusing gender non-conforming cis butches of male privilege. Because its easier to hold Frankie accountable and process your daddy trauma on her psyche, than it is to go fight your actual fucking dad or get your rapist a guilty verdict. Its easier to mock the fuck out of trans men than it is to confront how abusive cis society is to trans people and how impossible it is to hold cis men or women accountable. Trans women can certainly recount how they get held responsible for everyone's mommy issues and problems with women, in the community.

One more caveat: I also don't know if I have been conflating my experiences being autistic, with being perceived as a trans man, as a lot of hostility I face confuses me and even my friends and may be due to flat affect, or missing social cues, or something. But it gets compounded with masculinity, instead of being an awkward girl, I am now a "creep" for awkward behavior. I actively intervene at bars sometimes when clearly autistic or DD men are missing social cues, making people uncomfortable, and everyone is being cruel about it, and go talk to them. Because they deserve to know how to interact safely & pro-socially if they want to, not just made into a scapegoat for conventionally attractive allistic cis men whom, we know, have a fucking vice grip on our psyches. I want some avenue of respect that isn't participating in toxic patriarchal culture (losing game), or becoming a lapdog who will beat itself up on command. What I've settled on is taking Mr. Rogers and LeVar Burton as models of masculinity internally while also toughening and hardening up externally to deal with shit, and keeping my emotions to myself in real life (which is why they come out all over the place online), but honestly....I'm a needy, hyper, silly fagboy inside. I hate feeling like the only avenue to become expressive is through femininity that gives me dysphoria sometimes, because people react so weirdly to seeing a tough lookin dude with gay wrists, prancing around. But I'm really fighting it now, tapping back into that spiritual philosophical gender fluidity that is the inherent being of my nature - being queer shouldn't be about sexuality or even gender so much as the right to be who the fuck you are, full stop, whole human being in all complex dimensions, and asserting the right to that for everyone. So idk maybe transandrophobia isn't it, but we need to have better discussions about power dynamics that aren't "woman good man bad" for the love of christ. That's something I wanted to articulated, and now I've stayed up all night doing so. Gnight!

[whetstonefires]

What is your Hogwarts house?

I don't think that's considered a question in good taste anymore lmao.

And, actually, I never liked it much even as a kid, because sorting discourse did not adhere to the framework shown in the text. It consistently drifted to rigorous application of the ruleset laid out by the hat in its little song, which was blatantly called out as a convenient simplification about one page after the formula was originally presented.

Like. The fact that each cohort is broken down into four roughly equal pods and lineage is clearly a major determining factor, as is personal preference, is made clear very early. This is a cultural institution, that shapes the characters who grow within it quite as much as it's assigned based on their innate traits, and within the framework of which people actively look for identity elements to define themselves by.

People in my high school would be sorting adult fictional characters and doing elaborate balancing of their True Natures as revealed by their various plot events and defining life choices and patterns of behavior in their own generally dramatic canons and I'd be like. Okay, what do you think they were like when they were eleven though.

What were their values at eleven? What parts of their potential to be Like That were developed enough to show up on a psychic scan by a sapient hat, at eleven? What backstories are we assuming they're coming into this from; this man is a duke from fantasy medieval europe are we going to analogize him to a posh normie family, or the magic snobs, or are we dimensional-teleporting his baby self into wizard school?

Look, assigning Hogwarts houses to grown-ass adults on the basis of their adult developed identities doesn't make sense, that is very clearly not how anything works, this is a child-sorting algorithm. You have to apply it to children or it's invalid.

...also I was a Ravenclaw. I knew this. Everyone who had ever met me knew this. Any and every online quiz I was convinced to take knew this. I was so boring. I could not even make a serious case for my being one of the people who'd argue my way into another category I was minorly qualified for, or get there on family values or something, because I didn't want to not be a dumb nerd and my family is also dumb nerds. I was such an easy sort it was no fun at all, I was a walking stereotype.

It was embarrassing, is what it was. I was a flat character with no depth, rip child me. It was like if you could fail astrology by adhering precisely to your horoscope.

(My younger sisters wanted to be Gryffindor but consistently tested Hufflepuff and vice versa respectively, and I do not at this time remember which was which. The tests that gave you percentile rankings did give them minors in the ones they wanted tho.)

Anyway looking back on this in reaction to your ask, I find myself reflecting that House affiliation actually worked very much like gender, in that the way it was assigned was treated in-story as being based on absolute inherent qualities that defined a whole person, but quite clearly per the text actually worked by finding a schema you had an acceptable percent overlap with at a young age, and then setting you up to be perceived and instructed through that filter for the rest of your life.

The affiliation had meaning! But it was mostly meaning derived from the affiliation, and its social weight.

The ability of characters to find the sometimes deeply hidden Potential to live up to the person they aspired to be, thereby retroactively justifying the Sorting they had cajoled their way into, is like a major story element, you know?

I feel like this is yet another one of those places where rowling is a fairly gifted drawer of engaging caricatures; where when she was drawing on her actual lived experience (as opposed to hearsay and stereotype) to create something imitating that thing (in this case Belonging To Category) by intuition, the result would have nicely proportioned parts and some solid symbolic details, and work on an internal level more-or-less consistently, if not necessarily according to any strict logic.

Rather than being realistic it had a feeling of reality, which is in itself a perfectly reasonable way to approach light fiction. I often find myself wishing I could work in this more gestural manner sometimes, instead of drilling relentlessly down to detail.

The trouble is that things like those verisimilitudinous gaps between what people do and how they interpret their own doing, which lend the setting a great deal of dynamism, are only sometimes intentional, and the longer she extends any one bit and the more seriously she attempts to take it, the more likely she is to fall into the gaps and loudly deny that she has done any such thing, while digging herself into a pit of stupid.

[devildom-classics]

The truth about Asmo

Looking at all the current news surrounding Asmo’s events as well as his ranking in popularity contests and even in fandom spaces, it would not be untrue to say that Asmo gets the short end of the stick in a lot of scenarios, and there is a more hushed reason about why this occurs.

Out of all the brothers, Asmo is the most openly queer (both in gender and in sexuality) of the group, and I would argue that this more than anything is why there is such discourse around his character in the fan base and by the devs.

Yes, MC’s lack of gender makes all the brothers canonly queer (something still debated within this fandom for some reason), but it exists in a way that is lightly seen in canon, resulting in many fans ignoring this fact within the fandom countless times. On the other hand, Asmo’s more androgynous leanings and overt attraction to Solomon, MC, and a few women have been openly stated or heavily alluded to in game to the point that fans are not able to hide his queerness or act as if it doesn’t exist. And tragically, there are still a good amount of people in this fanbase that cannot stand a character who exists outside of cishet norms nor the idea of them romancing said character.

While I do agree that there are criticisms and concerns that can be raised about Asmo’s personality in regard to some of his comments about his brothers and his more self-centered nature, we cannot sit here and act like those are the only reasons why Asmo is dragged through the mud so often.

To end this, I am in no way saying everyone has to like Asmo. You don’t and that’s alright. However, we cannot act like there aren’t people who dislike Asmo solely due to some homophobic or transphobic bullshit. Nor can we ignore that  his poor treatment by the devs likely spawns from his more queer leaning nature as well.

[constellaris]

hoyo is predatory?? how? I didn’t know this. I’m sad.

so there's a LOT to break down in this if i'm being completely honest. at first, i thought hyv were great!! i loved the work they were doing and was happy to support them as much as possible!!

but then i started looking into more of the information about how kurogames does their pity systems for their games (punishing grey raven and wuthering waves) and have found that, at the end of the day, kuro have actually given us gacha games that can be played completely F2P with much better accessibility than hyv.

i was being taught about punishing grey raven in particular by a veteran player of the game, solis, from @stalwartembers. the fandom wiki actually has it broken down by percentages with better information on how their banners work. in fact, pgr itself gives us a guaranteed s rank unit banner, without the need to lose a 50/50 or anything like that! and the weapon banner pity is literally only 30 pulls! with the fact on each banner, you have at least 80% to get the feature! events are rather frequent, so it's super easy to get currency. i'm only in like chapter 3 or 4 admittedly, so i'm very new, but i've found that i like the system much more as it doesn't need you to fork out shitloads of money to get the pretty new unit.

compare it to hyv's banner systems, where you could be spending hundreds of dollars just to hopefully get who you want/ the 50/50 system as a whole is extremely predatory because it's all in the hopes of winning. i can't tell you the amount of times i lost mine... and that's exactly what they want. so you will spend more money. and let's not talk about how weapon banner progress isn't carried over. i hate that one. a lot of the characters as well, especially in genshin now, have issues going on - be it with designs ( just look at the discourse surrounding natlan right now, which i absolutely understand and i'm pretty disappointed myself ), similar kits ( best example? alhaitham is a better keqing. their kits are painfully similar. ), some characters being straight up useless now or never having a real place to begin with...

then there's been a lot coming out with contracts they've given people in regards to working with streamers. hexjuice covers it here if you want someone who can break it down.

plus just have a look at everything kuro have given us as apologies for the issues that have been happening with wuthering waves compared to the lackluster shit we get from hyv.

again, i used to be a big fan of hoyoverse. i still love some of the music that comes out from hsr for example and character designs, but i've made the decision to no longer monetarily support them or stream the games myself.

[eretzyisrael]

by Josh Hammer

George Soros is an evil man. In fact, he is one of the most evil men currently shaping American and Western politics, and global events more generally.

To straightforwardly opine in this manner is not to traffick in antisemitism or noxious Jew-baiting. It is simply to share one's perspective about one of the most influential political donors, "philanthropists," and social activists in the world—someone who doles out countless sums to undermine and reshape in his dystopian image entire countries, spreading across at least five separate continents.

It is frankly astounding that this even needs to be said. I am a Jewish columnist, podcaster, and public speaker. As such, I routinely share my opinions as a basic feature of my job. I imagine some of those opinions are provocative—perhaps highly so—for a subset of the population, especially those of a left-of-center bent. Some (very) small percentage of my critics may hate me and hate my opinions because I am Jewish, but it is surely the case that the overwhelming majority of my critics disagree with me on the merits of my ideas and contributions to the public discourse. Unless I have a compelling reason to believe a specific critic is acting out of rank bigotry, I operate from a baseline presumption that the critic is not a Jew-hater, but simply disagrees with my position.

Again, this should be obvious. But for far too many, it is apparently not obvious—at least when it comes to criticism of George Soros.

For years, whenever conservatives, nationalists, and traditionalists have criticized the absolutely sprawling influence of George Soros and his left-wing Open Society Foundations umbrella network, Soros' praetorian guard in the elected official class and corporate press invariably shriek, "That's antisemitism! You can't say that!"

What utter tripe.

Soros directly spent $128.5 million during last fall's U.S. midterm elections, making him that election cycle's single largest individual donor. He has spent $40 million trying to elect radically left-wing "reform prosecutors"—something he has been fully transparent about, defending it under his own byline in a Wall Street Journal op-ed last summer—across the country. He has been dishearteningly successful in that endeavor, successfully electing 75 district attorneys—such as Alvin Bragg in New York City, Chesa Boudin in San Francisco (since mercifully recalled), and Kim Foxx in Chicago—who oversee a decivilizational (and oxymoronic) prosecutorial agenda of not prosecuting violent and property crimes. Simply put, Soros is more responsible than any man in the world for the descent of some of America's most iconic cities into anarchic urban hellholes.