#skyes soapbox

[t4tsurge]

This is absolutely me nitpicking but whatever this is my blog. It bothers me when people call Blaze's outfit a dress/princess dress because that is very much Not a dress. That is a jacket. Like, hold on.

That's the same thing, right? I'm not crazy?

[saturn-no-sega]

You can always live with your family to relieve yourself of the financial burden of rent and utility bills. But watch out

[ryder616]

Rewatching Watchdogs

Gather ‘round, folks, hear the Legend of the Shotgun-Axe.😁

A truly fearsome weapon that will fight aliens and robots, travel through time, stand for peace (ahem) and justice, defend the weak and punish the wicked.

Portents of Its coming were already present in the Season 2 finale, when Alphonso The Righteous carried a bright red emergency axe as his trusty companion.

Its advent was foretold in 3x01 when our Virtous Hero, undoubtly struck by divine inspiration, wished for “a shotgun-axe combination of some kind” to face the Inhuman Menace yet to be known as Lash.

“Really got to commit to that shotgun-axe idea”, the Stalwart Champion then vowed to the Gods in 3x07.

And now comes a makeshift avatar, only a shadow of Its Holy Form that will be unleashed upon the unsightly Primitives in 3x22, yet already mighty.

Seriously, this thing has had more episodes than many regular guest stars and a longer arc and more development than some (humanoid) characters get. I bet the writers were joking about what weapons the AoS characters would use in a Zombie Apocalypse, couldn’t decide whether Mack was the shotgun or axe guy, then someone went “Both. Both is good”.

And a legend was born.

The Big Sister?

*climbs on the Daisy-shaped soapbox that’s been collecting dust in a corner since 1x05*

So, this episode suddenly introduces a concern about sidestepping civil liberties because Daisy has been tracking the Watchdogs online, matching the louder keyboard warriors’ IPs to their meeker offline selves, not caring at all for their freedom of speech to hate.

I could point out that Daisy’s been doing this kind of stuff since her name was Skye, with Coulson’s blessing.

Or that the sidestepping of civil liberties has been occurring since the Pilot, when a certain wayward hacker was abducted out of her van, with a hood over her head, and interrogated with no access to legal counsel.

Instead, I’ll just list a few highlights from this season so far:

Mack put a tracker on Lincoln without his knowledge or consent.

S.H.I.E.L.D. conducted illegal surveillance of a government agency and government personnel (the ATCU, Rosalind, Banks).

Coulson, Bobbi and Hunter kidnapped Thomas Ward, threatening his personal safety.

Coulson ordered FitzSimmons to subject Von Strucker Jr., a gravely injured patient, to a torturous experimental procedure to extract intel and then Lincoln to perform an unorthodox, non-consensual medical treatment to facilitate it.

S.H.I.E.L.D. infiltrated a diplomatic conference and conducted illegal surveillance of several international delegates.

Yet, tracking a hate group that advocates ethnic cleansing is what prompts a lecture on the abuse of power, and breaking a car window to obtain intel is what warrants the Face of Dismayed Disapproval.

🤨😒🙄

I would love a storyline exploring how much Daisy needs to hold herself back with the kind of power she has (all of it: the hacking, the quaking and the belonging to a secret agency with no accountability) and what happens when she doesn’t.

But this isn’t it.

*steps off the soapbox, tucks it in for future use*

Stuff that crossed my mind:

PSA: the Watchdogs are scumbags.

I thought you were gonna finally ride it when we drove to Baja. -- [...] Look, I told you, I got buried in work. Big Mack was thinking to go with Mack Mini on this Baja trip back in the S2 finale. So it’s really Jiaying’s fault he didn’t get the chance.

Yeah, honestly job hasn't been great lately. Management's out of control, new people keep coming in every day, no experience. And the two friends I was closest to, they just got, uh, transferred for good. So, Mack’s not a fan of Coulson’s command decisions this season anymore than he was last season, is wary of Joey and Lincoln (I suspect he has no objections to Elena’s involvement 😉). And he’s not as close to his partner Tremors or his friend Turbo as he was to Bobbi and Hunter.

[The Watchdogs on TV imploding the ATCU building] This is awesome. Right? Wrong. Although that imploding trick is cool.

Nitramene is another nod to Agent Carter’s season 1.

Thank you, Nerd Herd. Daisy watched Chuck.

Do we take this debris back with us, study it? -- Uh, yeah, sure. If if you've been working out.  'Cause it weighs like 100,000 tons. It's a building. 🤣🤣

I’m quite comfortable blaming myself, actually, for the lot of it. You guys should have t-shirts made.

What happened to those Inhumans, not your fault. It isn’t your fault either, May.

We should go pick one [of the Watchdogs sympathizers she’s been tracking] up and see what he knows. --  And what? Shake him down? Without even knowing if the guy we picked was actually involved?  [...]  it's kind of Gestapo, don't you think? Indeed, nazis were notorious for recruiting mixed-heritage young women who wanted to stop violent, racist bigots set to exterminate her and her people. 😒😁

It's not about how they act. It's about how we respond. I agree with this sentiment (no snark) but are you familiar with the Paradox of Tolerance, Mack?

Ok, Fitz, you’re with me. -- Uh, am I? The chain of command in these field missions remains very confusing. Neither Mack nor Fitz want to go along with Daisy’s plan but Mack refuses, Fitz grumbles and Daisy just does what she wants.🤔

I get that Lincoln’s powers make him a potentially invaluable field asset but maybe, given his reluctance, a position in the science department should have been considered instead, as he’s also probably the best expert on all things Inhuman still alive.

I can’t afford the house. I can’t afford to leave. This is how they get you. System’s rigged. They want to keep you down and in the dark, man. -- You sound like those Watchdogs nuts. -- Well, they got the right idea. Someone’s got to fight back. Target a vulnerable (Inhumans are individually powerful but are very few and scattered) minority and channel against it the anger people are legitimately feeling about the state of things, so that anger isn’t used to foster real change. That’s what the Watchdogs (rather, the puppet masters behind them, Malick at this point in time) are really doing, isn’t it? Depressingly mirroring real life.😩

I just feel guilty all the time. How do you make it stop? -- You don't. You use it, channel it. The Hate Fu Master has another Padawan. 😎

Don’t interrupt me! You got it? You haven’t earned that right yet. I don’t know you. I vetted every member of this team except you. Well, I believe Daisy vetted him quite extensively and, frankly, I am offended on her behalf that you apparently don’t trust her totally professional judgement on the matter. 😂

Don't give me hope, Jemma. I don't want hope. And I was fine without angst for once. 😔 

We’re done. Go to black. [...] -- Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait! What are you doing? She’s going after the violent mob that wants her dead and currently outnumbers her several tens to 1 with no plan, no backup and no thought to the possible consequences. Why? Is that a problem?😁

Maybe we slowed it down, but..must be the modifications that Blake made. -- What does that mean? -- That sooner or later, this bomb is gonna go off. And then I'll implode. Which is gonna be messy. Fitz’s weary, matter-of-fact delivery both amuses me and saddens me. He’s already seen so much that imploding is just another day at the office. Daisy’s reaction is much more frantic, with good reason: nitramene is weird and her friend is now in deadly danger because she was too caught up with going after the Watchdogs.

I searched for you. I wanted to make you part of the new S.H.I.E.L.D. Add Blake to the list of people Coulson wanted to involve but couldn’t find and, all things considered, nuS.H.I.E.L.D. is probably better off without.

I’ll quake it off. -- No, no, no! It’s too unstable. One single line of dialogue and the question “why can’t Daisy quake it” is dealt with and out of the way, without undermining her (and other characters’) intelligence nor well established abilities. See, S6? How is this difficult?

What you're doing's not about truth. It's about hate. -- And you're above that? You've never just killed someone because you hate them, Phil? Hate's a good motivator. This is the line that made me permanently dislike Blake. Because, yeah, Phil just killed someone for revenge. It’s bad but he had plenty of good reasons to hate Ward and Ward was a terrible human being. Blake is targeting an entire group of people, none of which have done anything to him personally (and the majority of them have done nothing to anybody at all), just to rile his idiots up. 😠

Is liquid nitrogen safe with all that exposed skin? 🥶 I mean, yeah, safer than imploding but... 🥶🥶

You did it right. Offered a dissenting opinion, but when the time came, you did what I asked. Well, a slightly less lethal version. Which is good, yes? Not shooting to kill? Sometimes I can’t tell with you this season.

He wanted one, an Inhuman, someone for his men to go after. We brought him Daisy. Well, Daisy kinda brought herself.

So, this is what you do at S.H.I.E.L.D.?  This kind of stuff? -- Ruben, I'm a mechanic. I hate this stuff. Mack is really missing that espresso machine... 😁

What the hell are you doing? -- Shotgun-axe. A moment of reverent silence, please. 

If everything goes as planned, we'll all get what we want, Mr. Blake. Our common enemies will be dead, and you'll have troops, armed to the teeth, at your command. -- Yeah. Sounds right. Sounds wrong. Because Blake will disappear from the face of the Earth and the following season the Watchdogs will be run by Senator Evil and the Superior Scumbag.

[asphaltvalkyrie]

Hey so I wanna get some opinions from the petblr and vetblr communities. Recently saw a video by Nicole Skyes VLOGS called Harassed at the vets for having a mixed dog! Am I the only one that was pissed at this designer dog loving bimbo or should the vet tech she spoke to have given better costumer service?

I feel entitled to be say lolno I won’t watch this because lolanon and as far as I know, this is just a come-on to a site full of malware (plus, you forgot the link.)  So I’m gonna use it as a personal soapbox because I’m bored and overcaffeinated, and the breeding of designer dogs is a personal hot button issue for me.

No one should be shamed for having a mixed dog, and it is NEVER a veterinary professional’s job to judge a person’s choice of pet (non-judgmentally offering care tips and advice is another thing.) Yet the ongoing designer dog craze is as stupid as it is harmful.

The importance of “breed purity” is greatly overblown, and dog show culture is steeped in racism and classism, but I still understand that there are practical reasons to have purebreds.  In some situations you just need to be as sure as possible that you’re getting a certain size, temperament, intelligence, coat type, ability to do a specific job, or what have you.

But there is no reason to seek out a specific “breed” of designer dog other than vanity. (Okay, some mixes like aussie/border collie or lab/golden are desirable working dogs, but 99% of people aren’t looking for a working dog.) Its sort of a way of pretending you’re too cool for the pretentious trappings of a purebred dog, while still trying to cherry pick the traits you want and mediate the effects of genetic disorders. But this doesn’t always work out.

For example: Labradoodles. People think they’re going to get the loyalty and sweetness of the lab and the intelligence and non-shedding coat of the poodle. But what they usually end up with is the shit-eating, screen-door-walking-into, small-child-bowling-over hyperactivity of the lab and the poodle’s tendency to bite first and ask questions later.  Oh, and some of them do shed, and even those that don’t will mat SO horribly that spending several hundred dollars a month on grooming can become a grim reality.

Also, cross-breeding does not eliminate genetic disorders, especially in the first generation, which most designer breeds are. Most designer dogs’ purebred parents aren’t tested for hereditary health problems either, and some disorders only need one parent with the gene to manifest in the offspring.

Worse yet, people pay upwards of 2000$ for designer pups, and there is little to no accountability in their breeding. Most of them come from puppy mills (they aren’t just for purebreds anymore!) and those that don’t are sold by shady backyard breeders, who can lie about a dog’s real breed makeup and never be called on it because “lol its a mix!”

Personally, I’d be content if all the dogs in the world were mutts, but deliberately breeding and selling them is selfish and pointless, since there are plenty of designer dogs (both deliberately and accidentally bred) in shelters who need homes.  

I highly recommend reading the book A Matter of Breeding by Michael Brandow.

[t4tsurge]

Sega please make more Team Dark merch I promise you Do Not have to keep shoving Shadow and/or Rouge into Team Sonic stuff. And if it is Team Dark, put Omega there. That's his team too

[t4tsurge]

The Surgaze tag is so dry PLEASE let Surge and Blaze have an actual conversation in issue 78 : ( I'm starving out here

[t4tsurge]

Wait did I ever mention my Sonic themed bathroom in Animal Crossing? Hold on I'll get pictures

[t4tsurge]

I low key want to make a Pokemon x Sonic au but I'm awful at making up teams. I have like, most of a team for Amy and that's about it

[t4tsurge]

Shadria and Kiturge in the Surge tag :(

[t4tsurge]

I told myself I'd work on new character sheets for the fan kids and ended up picking out voice claims instead. So expect a new voice claim video soon ig

[t4tsurge]

Every time I accidentally reblog a non-sonic post to this blog I lose hp

[t4tsurge]

I miss Whispurge. When will they come back from the war? : (

[t4tsurge]

Thought too hard about something I reblogged the other day and made a whole tier list of which characters I think are black 👍 Most of this isn't set in stone and will probably change but also it's not that serious 👍

[t4tsurge]

^ Guy who is so scared of posting any kind of character analysis bc they don't want to accidentally get something wrong and be killed with hammers (literally all they do is think about and consume media about The Character, they will Be Okay)

[t4tsurge]

Knuckles could be a beautiful butch girl but he's got a job so he doesn't really care about that rn

[saturn-no-sega]

They did this for me btw. They picked Johto and Unova starters for me specifically.