#type of people who want folks to 'just start a revolution' but do absolutely NOTHING in the way of societal progress istg

[windupaidoneus]

i'm gonna be real i don't think there's a single ffxiv antagonist i've encountered so far who was right, or there is i certainly cannot think of them. after careful pondering it's like. honestly i barely want to consider ysayle an antagonist because it was so very short-lived, she had good intentions from the start & iirc a lot of what went wrong wasn't her doing specifically & she clearly feels guilty for it. i would not afford any other antagonist this because they are, in fact, actual antagonists who do wish for destruction or whatever it is that they cause. your starting point can be as laudable as possible if you descend into unforgivable deeds it doesn't change anything of what you've done. these people are still dead. these horrors have still been committed. i adore fordola, she's just a kid & life is a nightmare, & i am glad she is given the second chance she's given, but she was an antagonist & she was wrong. many such cases & denying it will not do anyone's reading comprehension any good

[wartakes]

The Issue of “Negative American Exceptionalism” (OLD ESSAY)

This essay was originally posted on October 13th, 2021.

In this essay, I dig into the issue of how many other folks on the Left's foreign policy can best be summed up as "America bad" and absolutely nothing else and how that can be a problem in denying agency to other people and groups around the world who are trying to fight for better lives for themselves as well.

(Full essay below the cut).

I like to think I’ve been pretty consistent in drilling down my core beliefs in these essays since I started posting them almost a year ago. One of those central points I return to often is that war – while terrible – is sometimes unavoidable or even necessary. While I think I’ve had some modest success in convincing people of this, I am reminded daily that there is still a long way to go.

One of the common threads I encounter in the pushback to this principle is the sentiment that the United States is the root cause of essentially every military conflict, diplomatic crisis, or other negative event in international affairs – or can only make such conflicts and crises worse by its involvement. A common way you see this manifest is blaming every revolution or uprising against a government you like (or at least isn’t closely aligned to the United States) as being a CIA-backed coup, or writing off aggressive or violent acts by shitty regimes as long as they are anti-Western or anti-US and claiming that the only reason that problems are occurring is because of the United States. There are many other flavors of and spins on these types of opinions, but these two seem to be the two big ones that I run into a lot as I dredge through the morass of social media.

Now, I should say up front as always, that my goal here is not to absolve the United States of its many obvious failings and crimes throughout history. My country has indisputably done some awful, terrible shit in the past, is still doing it now, and will continue to do it into the future until we as Americans finally decide that “enough is enough” and do something to change that. My goal here is instead to show you that, while the United States obviously plays a central role in the world and its many issues – all of which are intertwined with one another – it is not the sole “protagonist of reality” when it comes to international affairs and war – rather, not the sole “antagonist of reality” in this case I suppose. Not everything begins and ends with the United States. Other countries, groups, leaders, and etc. have their own agency and exercise it upon one another and themselves, regardless of what the United States does or says. They have their own goals and interests, both for good and for ill, and will do their best to fulfill them.

I want to talk about this because the “everything is the United States’ fault” sentiments bother me for several reasons. For one, I just hate people putting out takes that are disingenuous at best and dishonest at worst. But the primary reason I want to talk about them is because I think they are outright dangerous. To the extent that we are able to try and change things now, and with the hope we may be able to change things further in the future, trying to further these ideas could cause immeasurable harm down the line in multiple ways by way of our own misguided actions – or inaction. If one day we actually are able to change the system for the better, but instead choose to go down a road where we support the worst kind of regimes or simply choose to do nothing in terms of how we deal with the world, it could be a tragedy on a horrific scale. Specifically, as American leftists, we need to stop assuming attitudes that are essentially Negative American Exceptionalism, reducing every conflict in the world to something that is directly America’s fault with the solution being one that involves us either acting in a directly harmful way or not acting at all. While grappling with our country’s global legacy is no small task, it’s something we need to do thoughtfully and critically and not simply act in a knee jerk manner. Otherwise, to put it bluntly, many people will suffer or die.

You do not, in fact, have to hand it to the People’s Republic of China

A good contemporary example to use here for some context would be the current tensions that exist between the United States and its allies and partners and the People’s Republic of China. Depending on who you ask, the USA and the PRC are either in danger of falling into a new Cold War or are already in a new Cold War (I tend to believe the latter is already the case). This heightened state of geopolitical competition among great powers has made itself known in multiple areas (be they diplomatic, military, economic, legal, or what have you), and have risen over various different flashpoints and interests in Asia and beyond.

I think it’s safe to say that most regular people are not happy or excited about the prospect of a new Cold War – though I certainly know some people in my field that are seemingly drooling at the thought of it. It should be no surprise to most people that I’m in the “not excited” category. While I am no fan of the PRC and its policies towards its citizens and other countries and I also think we and others should be prepared to counter it should it act in a hostile way against its neighbors, I don’t think that stance necessitates the confrontational Cold War posture that has been assumed by the United States towards China.

But, with all that in mind, while I don’t think the United States is handling this properly, this does not mean I’m letting China off the hook for its own aggressive, hegemonic aspirations. However, other folks on the Left seem to be willing to do so, either out of a weird tankie fetishization of China, or a simple anti-imperialist “anything that owns the United States and the West is good” attitude. Too often, I see the sentiment that the reason this new Cold War has begun is entirely the fault of the United States – with no responsibility falling on China for its outbreak – and that if the United States were simply to leave Asia and let the PRC do whatever it wanted, then the region would be a freer and more peaceful place (I apologize for not really having any good sources to link back to here, but I feel like if you spend even just a little time wading your way through certain corners of Left Twitter you know what I’m talking about).

There are a lot of ways I could point out how this assumption is reductive and just plain wrong, and I struggle on where to start. So, I guess I’ll start with a good old-fashioned hypothetical. Let’s assume that tomorrow the United States pulled every last one of its troops out of the Western Pacific, closing all of its bases and ending all of its security agreements throughout the region. Following the logic of some people I see discussing this on the Left, then that would solve most if not all of the security issues that are going on in that part of the world. That the PRC would no longer have a reason to act aggressive (though some would characterize that more as an attitude of “self-defense”) and would become a benevolent, peaceful actor.

That would be great if that was the case, but I find all of that very hard to believe. The United States withdrawing from the region and writing it off wouldn’t change any of the PRC’s fundamental interests and goals, whether it be forcefully incorporating Taiwan, expanding control over most of the South China Sea, economically pressuring countries in the region and beyond, and more. The PRC would almost certainly still want to do all these things if the United States left the region. If anything, China’s leadership would likely feel that they’d have a freer hand to double down and seek these objectives with more gusto. I don’t want to go as far as to say the United States is the only thing keeping them from carrying out a lot of their plans – that would just be defaulting back to classic American Exceptionalism rather than the Negative form.

Again, I have to stress that my point here isn’t to go “see, things are better off when the United States is in charge or swooping in to be the world’s policeman” or anything along those lines because that’s just flat out wrong as well. The United States’ history in Asia is “colorful” to say the very least and we have many acts we’ll need to atone for there going into the future. My point here is to illustrate that the United States alone is not the source of all the region’s problems in this particular case. Hell, China isn’t even the source of all the region’s problems in this case (though between it and the United States they do make up a healthy percentage of them). Just based on discussions with people from the region, I’m guessing they’d prefer it if there was no hegemon at all imposing its will on the region writ large – and it is these points of view we need to be more cognizant of – which I’ll foot stomp towards the end of this essay. The main point here is that even if the United States were not involved and took a hands-off attitude, conflicts and crises would still exist independent of it. All security issues do not begin and end with the United States and its foreign policy. The world chugged along with its various problems before us, and if our country ceases to exist, it will continue to chug on without it.

Getting over and moving on

I find myself reaching the “so what”/”what can we do” section of this essay faster than I have in the last few essays (the point was fairly simple this time around I guess). So, how do we deal with this?

I feel like the answer is both very simple and also very difficult – simple in that the overall action is very straightforward, difficult in that the exact, best way to carry it out is less clear and easy.

The solution is that we – we specifically being American Leftists- need to get over ourselves and our country.

As I alluded to earlier, it feels like there’s a not insignificant amount of people on the Left in this country and elsewhere who have traded one American Exceptionalism for another. Instead of holding the traditional (flawed) view that the United States the greatest country in the world, capable of doing no wrong and essential to all things that are good and pure in the world, they believe the exact opposite (also flawed) view: that the United States is the source of all things that are awful and terrible and that the only way there can be peace and justice in the world is for us to cut ourselves off from it and/or destroy our country. These are of course, rough paraphrases and there is more nuance involved in some cases, but these are the overall sentiments as I see them (when I don’t have my head in my hands in dismay that is). I also recognize that these people are not the majority on the left and definitely not the majority in general, but they do have the potential to hold outsized influence in informing people’s opinions when it comes to foreign policy and international relations – especially if no one else is pushing back on it (hence why I think it was important enough to write about here).

Again, it is undeniable that the United States plays a central role in how the world functions – and the problems it faces. But if we’re ever going to have a constructive attitude towards the rest of the world, we need to recognize that whatever role our country plays, it is still only one part of a highly interconnected global system of various different actors. We absolutely should be critical of ourselves and definitely be critical of our government and actions overseas, but we cannot become so single minded as to think that is the only factor at play. We cannot let the attitude of American Exceptionalism that has been drilled into us since we were young simply be morphed into a new and twisted form that is just as harmful as the old – if not potentially worse. We need to assume a true spirit of internationalism and global solidarity that isn’t ethnocentric and egotistical – even if those attitudes are unintentional on our part. And this is all coming from the guy who, despite everything, holds out hope that maybe one day the United States can be a force for some kind of positive change in the world. If that day does come (and I sure hope it does and am going to try and make it happen), I don’t think that kind of change is possible unless we can act not as the exceptional, indispensable hegemon, but as one of many entities that is party of an international collaboration to better the world for its people.

And therein lies another key takeaway: the fact that we need to listen to and center the voices of people outside the United States or members of an affected diaspora when it comes to crises and conflicts throughout the world before we attempt to make a comment, pass judgement, or otherwise act upon a given situation. When talking about an issue such as the new Cold War, its easy for some to write it off by blaming the United States – or for others to put the blame entirely on China – but I only occasionally see people paying any attention to the voices of those who are caught in-between in places like Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula, the nations of Southeast Asia, and more. When people look at protests and uprisings in places like Venezuela, Cuba, and elsewhere, I see a lot of ranting about how its all a CIA backed op, but little investigation of what actual people in or from these places (aside from talking heads with agendas) think or what systemic factors at play that may push people to protest, riot, and rise up.

Something I am thankful as I’ve discovered myself more politically is being put into closer contact with folks overseas who bring their own perspectives to the issues that I study every day. Even when I don’t agree with them 100%, I’m thankful for the experience to help bring me out of my bubble and remember that the world does not begin and end with the United States and whoever its beefing with at any given moment. There are real people in real places caught in between in the new landscape of “great power competition” who face far greater stakes should things go pear shaped. More than anything, we need to remember that we should be striving to enable people across the world to have control over their own lives and the path that their countries and communities should take. In addition to recognizing that other states have agency and may have malicious intent separate from US actions, we need to remember the agency of nations and people who don’t wish to be subject to the exploitation and harm from any state or group – whether it be the United States, China, or whatever else.

Really, at the core of these issues, we need to recognize that the world is complicated and needs to be dealt with as such. That may be something of a cliché’, but just because something is a cliché’ does not mean its untrue (yes, that in itself is a cliché; bite me). As a country and a people, America has never been that great dealing with nuance. This is something we also need to finally get over – in addition to getting over ourselves. When I speak of this, I absolutely don’t mean seeing the world as being “complicated” in terms of who is “good” and “bad” or looking the other way when shitty things happen in the name of national interest because “the world isn’t black and white its shades of gray hurr hurr.” That’s fucking stupid; we should know bad shit when we see it. What I do mean is that when something happens in the world, we should be able to formulate a response to it that isn’t knee jerk or a binary choice between complete inaction or mounting a full-scale war. Those two options may in fact be options in some (rare) cases, but our ability to understand and response to things occurring in the world around us should not be limited to those and those alone. The answers to global issues – whether they be security related or otherwise – are rarely simple and we need to be able to work through those challenges and not reduce issues to the point they have no real meaning.

As someone who was raised in the United States and live and work here, I still sometimes fall in the trap of thinking that my home country – and by extension, myself – is the sole protagonist (or antagonist) of reality. But however key a component the United States is of the global system we live under today, as Americans we have to be able to push back on that assumption that has been instilled in us as we view the rest of the world and the events occurring in it. We need to remember that other states and nations and peoples have plans and goals – both positive and negative. As we grapple with the flaws and crimes that our country has committed and respond to what’s going on in the world around us, we need to make sure we reckon with our past in a way that isn’t harmful to the rest of the world through simplistic, reductive actions as a result of rigid ideological dogma. With how much damage one form of American Exceptionalism has already done to the world, it cannot afford to experience another.

[totallyuseless-ugh]

Across the Campus

Chapter Six: Not very Stereotypical

The small dorm room was filled with endless sounds of keyboard clicks and the occasional flip of a page whenever Darnell worked on his class paper. Every spare minute, he would spend in some type of way working for it. He would even write through the night if Pico were not always dragging him away from the desk in the evening.

Even on Saturday, Darnell went right back to his desk after the usual morning coffee. Pico thought not much of it until he returned hours later from his basketball training. “Alright, that’s enough for today,” he said and pulled Darnell on his chair back from the laptop. 

“Hey, I’m working!” Darnell complained loudly.

“Yeah, you’ve been doing so the entire week. If I had spent all that time on your screen, I would be having a tan now!”

Darnell did not want to hear it. He did not want to listen to his aching back asking for a break either, unless absolutely necessary. He wanted to get the essay done and out of the way as soon as possible. “C’mon, just gimme another hour!”

“Not a chance,” Pico shook his head and closed the laptop. “You’re not enjoying yourself anymore. Get your ass out of that chair and get dressed for the party.”

“We had an agreement! I said I’d come if I got 75 percent of the work done.”

Pico raised an eyebrow as if he were questioning Darnell’s sanity for a moment. “My guy, you’ve written ten pages for an essay with a twelve page limit. Correct me if my math is wrong, but that’s more than 75 percent finished.”

*

By the time Pico and Darnell arrived at the house, the place was already rapidly filling with people. It certainly came to no surprise that parties supposedly were a regular thing around here. The sheer size of the house suggested two different stories. Either a really cool (and rich) party kid was given the family’s third residence to live in while attending uni, or a group of friends made a (most likely drunken) decision to finance this together for housing and, of course, a shit ton of parties. Either way, the place was already looking very promising.

The crowd of students was a mix of many familiar faces, some more vaguely than others, and a bunch which appeared to be complete strangers. Possibly alumni who had come back to see friends and have a good time. And although the party had just barely started, the mood all around was already great. Everyone was chill, talking and laughing with drinks in hand, and the occasional good song got people to dance around for a while.

“This will be fun,” Pico laughed optimistically as he scanned the area. Darnell nodded in agreement. The small hum he had made was almost fully drowned out by the surrounding noise.

As was standard routine at every new party, the two friends began scouting the entire house. A couple of rooms were locked, probably for good reason. But the majority were open for anyone to enter. That included a game room which had been set up for Dance Dance Revolution matches. The basement was the unmatched main attraction though, as it was home of a self-serve bar for drinks and a karaoke station not too far away.

Every room they entered had Darnell skip his eyes over the people around. Needless to say, he was hoping to see a certain blonde at the party. Though, admittedly, he did not know what he would do if they were to actually show up.

Pico and Darnell soon headed back for the basement, shuffling past people on the crowded set of stairs. That did not stop the redhead though as he grinned from ear to ear at his friend. “This is looking good! I’m excited to see where this goes.”

“You sure do,” Darnell laughed. “So, any plans on how we start this off?”

“Probably grab some drinks and chat up some folks. I saw a few of my teammates, so you could tag along if you got nothing else planned for now.”

Darnell nodded and accepted the offer. Though he had seen a couple of other students from his courses, he did not really want to seek out conversation with any of them. He hardly knew them, so he had no good conversation starters other than complaining about the essay. Maybe later, when everyone has gotten a bit more tipsy and did not care about an awkward approach for a chat. But not yet. Going with Pico was currently the best idea to avoid the moments of stiffly standing alone to the side and just watch others having fun.

Pico introduced his teammates one by one to Darnell. He could somewhat recognize a handful of the guys. He had seen them around the campus, carrying either their sports bag or even just a basketball from one lecture to the other. It always made him wonder whether they would go to practice right after, or if they just wanted to show off being on the basketball team whenever their jerseys were in the laundry. And although Darnell had not many shared interests with most of the group, he still managed to have a decent conversation with them all.

Time was passing quicker than expected. Before anyone knew it, the colorful lights were the only thing illuminating the entire house. So much for the days starting to get shorter. But the party was far from dying out. If anything, more people started coming in for a bit of fun and drinks.

The evening was coming along well. No fights had broken out so far, nothing gross got to kill the mood yet. Though, for a split moment, Darnell thought that something bad was about to go down, hearing sudden bellows coming from upstairs.

“EYO WHAT’S UP MY MAN!!”

His eyes were fixated on the staircase for a moment to watch if anything would happen. But nobody seemed to care except for him and Pico. It must have been a normal occurrence, Darnell told himself to turn back to his group. People kept on pushing themselves through the sea of other people to get to or away from the basement bar. Some stayed at the sight of the karaoke machine and served Pico and his friends a good laugh over their drunken performances. The surrounding noise of music playing and loud talking had become normal to Darnell’s ears over time. And yet, he noticed a familiar voice shouting into the main room, “I’ll grab us some drinks. Dontcha dare run off!” It was no louder than most of the other noise around him, but it still stood out to him like nothing else.

Darnell looked over to see Rika, laughing as she made her way over to the bar. She was dressed in a white crop top and blue tartan button up hanging down openly, letting her necklace glimmer in the lights around her. Darnell thought she would be back upstairs without even looking in his general direction. But he knew better when Rika’s head perked up before she made a sudden turn away from the bar. She walked straight up to him, her hand reaching out to squeeze his arm.

“Darnell! Didn’t know you came to parties here too,” she beamed at him despite the odd looks Pico and his mates gave them both.

“Ah, well, it’s my first one here,” Darnell explained with an almost flustered shrug.

“You’re not busy here right now, right?” Rika did not hesitate to ask, getting straight to the point as always. He answered her quickly by shaking his head. “Good, then you’re my designated drink carrier now!” Her other hand then moved to also hold onto Darnell before dragging him along to the bar. She quickly put his own drink aside to then shove two different red cups in his hands and picked up two more herself, then nodded her head towards the stairs. At this point, he was in too deep not to follow along. Darnell just gave a small shrug towards his redhead friend to answer the amused, questioning look.

After shuffling carefully upstairs was Darnell back in the main room. The house had filled up significantly more since he had first arrived. Though, the crowd still managed to somewhat evenly distribute itself around the area. And not too far from the basement door was a small group, a diverse mix of people chatting amongst each other and laughing without a care in the world. Pretty much all were dressed in a similar casual style, some wore a simple shirt and jeans combo similar to that of Rika, maybe some accessories to add a bit more detail into it all. But even in the bad lighting could Darnell recognize the deep blue of one of the shirts.

It was a sports jersey. And not just any, but that of the university's very own football team, Sherrington Bullet Sharks. He saw that shirt quite a lot, including the number and name printed on the back of it, ‘21 Ashton’.

Darnell felt his chest burning as CJ shot him a brief glance before recognizing and fully turning their head for a proper look. Their lips quickly curled into a wide grin and their hand came up to wave. He wanted to wave back, but just the slightest twitch of his muscles reminded Darnell that he was still holding drinks in his hands, leaving him to just nod his head at them.

“Hey Nells!” CJ greeted him. “Didn’t know you’d be here tonight. 'specially with how seriously you take that essay thing.”

Darnell laughed a little, hoping he did not make himself sound too awkward. “Yeah, my roomie dragged me here.” He handed out the drinks he helped carry as he spoke. “Like, I love a good party. But I was a bit.. too deep in work mode.”

“Ah yes, I know the feeling. Maybe I gotta take you to a few more of these parties then, get you to relax some more!” Their free hand came to rest on Darnell’s back and rub between his shoulder blades.

CJ was a very touchy person. At every visit, Darnell would get pulled into a hug. Any invitation or offer was accompanied by a loving squeeze of his shoulder. And a good joke earned Darnell a light jab to his upper arm. But even with all this established closeness, he still could feel the butterflies waking up to fly around in his stomach.

“Yeah. Sounds great, I really need a break every now and then,” he accepted the offer with a shy smile. Darnell’s gaze lingered on CJ for a little longer, until one of their apparent friends nudged their side for attention.

“Are we gonna get to know your new buddy now?” The other person gestured towards Darnell with the cup in her hand. CJ laughed bashfully.

“Right, sorry.” CJ apologized and finally introduced their friend group to Darnell. “You already know Rika. And these two are Sunghee and Egeith.”

Frankly, Darnell was not sure what exact type of friends he was expecting CJ to have. But certainly something closer to Rika, with her red dye ombré hair and often extra way of style. However, he was met with two very ordinary, if not nerdy looking people instead. Natural hair in a ponytail or short haircut, no flashy clothes or even just a shirt with some witty line printed on the front. These people were the definition of straight A student poster children. And yet, they were at this party.

Darnell greeted both with a polite wave. "Hey, 'm Darnell."

Egeith and Sunghee gave him the same gesture in response with a light smile. “Nice to meet ya.”

Darnell looked around the group briefly, hoping to find something to talk about. Rika had seemingly disappeared after giving out the drink to Sunghee, and CJ was standing somewhat in the middle as if they were acting as a mediator.

“So.. y’all got here just now or..?” Darnell was desperate to break the silence amongst the group.

All three nodded their heads. “Pretty much, yeah,” CJ answered. “Had to get ready first ‘n all. But it’s not that big a deal to come here when the party’s already been goin’ for a while. There’s not much to miss out on.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Darnell agreed in a small chuckle. He looked around again, this time more focused on the room than the small gathering of friends. “I s’pose you wanna go around and say hi to some folks here?”

CJ’s expression briefly changed to a wide eyed, somewhat clueless face as they hesitated to answer. “Uhm, yeah. Right! Didn’t get to that yet.”

“A’ight, not gonna keep ya from it then.”

“Sure, sure. I’ll see you around then!”

“Can’t miss me. ‘m downstairs near the drinks.” Darnell offered a quick smile. CJ acknowledged his words with a nod and waved as they began shuffling through the crowded room with Egeith and Sunghee. He watched the group leave for another moment before making a quick u-turn back downstairs to Pico.

Darnell pushed himself past increasingly drunk people to reach the redhead. “Damn, you look fucked,” Pico commented at the sight of his friend. “The fuck have you been doing?”

Darnell scrambled for words to say. “I was- I- Rika made me-” The laughter he heard after his first attempt made him remember that almost half the basketball team, near strangers were still close by and listening. He stood straight, clearing his throat as if that would help with his nervousness. “You-know-who is here.”

“Naww, someone got a crush?” One of the players asked. He swung the red solo cup in his hand in Darnell’s direction as he laughed.

“Who’s the lucky lady?” Another one asked straight away.

Pico did not need Darnell to say something. The just barely hidden annoyed face he made was enough for the redhead to understand. Now was really not the time he would want to explain to a bunch of drunks that bi people existed.

Darnell closed his eyes and took a slow breath. But instead of taking the hint, the team only continued to push on with their questions.

“C’mon! If you like ‘er, go out and talk ‘er up!”

“Yeah, don’ waste yer time with us here!”

Darnell pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers in frustration. “How the fuck do you imagine it to go down then? I just approach and fail to keep up a good convo for five minutes, if I’m lucky?”

“‘f course not! Y’gotta ask her ‘bout shit she likes, obviously!”

“And if ‘t goes nowhere, y’gonna see whether she likes you ‘r not. It’s ‘bout if she starts talkin’ herself or just leaves ya.”

Darnell glanced over to Pico again. His face was equally surprised. They had expected a lot, but not genuine and sort of useful advice. Perhaps, Darnell would thank the team for the help some day, when everyone was sober again. But surely not now. As much as he may have appreciated the help, Darnell was not going to find out whether they were the clingy type of drunks. “A’ight, imma keep this in mind.”

The guys grinned as if they were proud of themselves. Perhaps, this was their way of telling people they were ‘womanizers’, since they seemed to ‘understand the girls and what they want’.

Darnell did not spare them much more of his thoughts though. Even over the noisy mix of chatter and music, a voice stood out to him once more. He turned his head to see how CJ was trying to make their way into the basement, apologizing on their way for bumping into people. And once they had safely reached the lower floor, CJ briefly scanned the area before their eyes met with Darnell’s. The soft smile on their lips quickly turned into an excited grin, and his eyes grew wide before trying to hide his adoration with a flustered smile.

They both slipped past the other people in the room to stand in front of each other again. “Hi.” Darnell felt his heart skip a beat as the two spoke in unison. He laughed along with CJ over it.

“Glad to find you here,” CJ said.

“Oh- wait, really?”

CJ paused for a moment, only now seemingly realizing what they had said. “.. yeah! My friends are kinda inseparable from the dance thing upstairs right now. And I just.. didn’t feel like joining in.”

“Makes sense. So you were looking to spend time with me then?” Darnell hated himself for asking this question. But he was too curious as not to ask anyway.

“Exactly,” CJ answered, their grin lighting up briefly again. “I mean, I don’t wanna tear you away from your friends of course, if you’re-”

“Oh! No no, I’m not really..” Darnell took a quick look back at Pico and his teammates before turning back. “Yeah, nah. I’m very much free.”

“Great!” CJ’s chime had Darnell’s heart fluttering inside his chest. “Then I’ll just grab a drink before we go. ‘Cause.. this place is getting a bit too full for me.”

“Sure thing. Any ideas where to go instead?” Darnell asked while CJ quickly poured themself something from the bar into their cup.

“I was thinking outside. Get away from all the noise for a lil’ while.”

He nodded in agreement to the idea and received an amused grin in return. Before he knew it had CJ hooked into his arm, dragging him through the mass of people and out the front door.

The streetlamps were already illuminating the neighborhood and dozens of cars parked near the house. Only when the two finally stood outside noticed Darnell how much he actually needed this break. Hearing the laughter and loud, overlapping music become muffled made him feel much less on edge again. CJ seemed to share that feeling based on the change to their look. They were still smiling. But it was less strained, more genuine.

CJ let out a small hum and nodded their head to the side. That was the only warning Darnell got before being dragged further away from the noise and hectic. The two passed a bunch of smokers huddling together for a chat and other folks that were out for a break as well, until they found a good spot nearby to sit down in the grass.

Darnell looked over at CJ. He could feel his heartbeat all the way up in his throat, and he was unsure whether it was the nervousness or the alcohol that made his palms sweaty and his body heat up. All while the blonde sat there silently with their eyes still on the house they had just left.

“So, Egeith and Sunghee..” Darnell mumbled eventually. He did not know himself where he planned on going with that opener, let alone if he actually should start a conversation.

CJ seemed to catch on regardless, chortling and nodding in response. “Trust me, you’re not the first one to be surprised. But once you see them on stage, you’ll understand the type of person the two are.”

“Woah, wait- they’re in your band?”

“Yeah. Sunghee does second guitar, and Egeith the drums.”

Darnell took a moment to process the image this had prompted in his head. “These goody two-shoes? Nah, no chance. I can see it in Rika, and you kinda too. But them?” He shook his head and grinned.

“You kinda see it in me?” CJ could barely hold back their laughter throughout the sentence. “Please tell me, what does Rika have that I lack about looking like I’m in a band. Enlighten me!”

“I dunno! She just gives off that vibe, the ‘Don’t care, didn’t ask’. But you..” Darnell vaguely gestured up and down on CJ as he looked at them. “.. you are just giving too much frat boy. The hair helps a bit with breaking that, but the whole football thing really isn’t doing you a favour.”

The look he received scared Darnell for a moment. He genuinely thought that his words had sounded a bit too serious, that CJ was offended and now he had lost any bit of a chance of getting with them ever. Then that silly, toothy grin spread across their face as CJ began to laugh. "I’m sorry, Mister Teacher. I’ll make sure to look more ‘punk rock’ in the future.”

Darnell tutted, rolling his eyes. “It’s Mister Hodge. You should be able to remember it by now, with all the lectures we had together.”

CJ raised a brow at him. “As if I remember everyone’s name in our course. I rather use my brain power for more important business.”

“Right, you got other things to care about. Stuff like your music, or working out to tackle people for some pigskin.”

“Don’t be so high and mighty now.” CJ glanced over at the other, a subtle smile showing they knew not to take the banter seriously. “You got other business too, like… your family.”

Darnell figured that CJ had only brought it up for a lack of knowledge on his interests. And yet, he still was surprised by the accuracy of their guess. “I mean, yeah. Sorta. My mom just got a bit too much time on her hands, so she likes to check on me.. a lot. And to be honest, I don’t complain about all the good food she sends me.”

“Who could ever complain about free food?”

“I know. But it’s not just free, it’s homemade. You haven’t had a real feast unless you put yourself in a food coma during hanukkah.”

“Not sure if I should feel weird now or ask to be invited next time,” CJ said half jokingly, and Darnell chuckled along.

“As long as you’re free the whole day, I could definitely arrange an invite.”

“Alright. I’ll be looking forward to it then. But I’d like a small crash course first on what to do and to not do.”

Darnell just had to agree to that. How couldn’t he? It was perfect, not only inviting CJ to celebrate an important holiday together, but also having a new excuse to meet up more. He wanted to pinch himself for a moment, thinking this was too good to be true. But it did not take long for Darnell to be brought back to his senses. 

Just as their conversation had ended in a comfortable silence came another partygoer out of the house’s backdoor. She stumbled her way across the porch before catching her own fall on the railing. It was seemingly a miracle already how she had managed to get out of that full place on her feet and not crawling on all fours.

CJ briefly shot a concerned glance at Darnell. They opened their mouth as if to say something, but were quickly cut off by the woman herself. She was leaning forward and retched horribly until she puked down into the bushes below.

“Yikes..” Darnell muttered. He was already holding his hand before his mouth and nose, wanting to keep the smell away from himself.

CJ cleared their throat as they pulled their eyes off the sight in an almost reluctant manner. The situation felt just like witnessing a car crash. Horrible and disgusting, but still making it impossible to look away. “Guess this means the party peak has been reached,” they chuckled hesitantly to lighten the mood.

Darnell nodded with an equally awkward smile. “I guess there’s not much more for me left to see here then. Not exactly a fan of.. that, after all.”

After CJ had stood up themself was Darnell offered their hand for help. “Did you at least enjoy the party a bit?” they asked him on their way back to the front of the house.

“.. yeah, I’d say I did,” Darnell answered. “Had some drinks, a few chats.. I guess I’m not that insane type of party guy as I used to be in my hometown.”

CJ laughed softly. “I didn’t know you were once like that.”

Darnell grinned at the other as they both stopped at the front door. “I guess we both don’t really look our part.”

“Touché.”

Looking inside, Darnell caught a glimpse of what looked like Pico pushing through the crowd towards the exit. He chose to stay waiting outside, while CJ seemed to be heading back into the noise and chaos.

“You’re gonna stay a while longer?” he asked.

“Yeah, but not that much probably. Just gonna keep an eye on my friends and bring them back to campus before anyone overdoes it.”

“Good luck then,” Darnell saluted CJ. “I’ll see you on Monday, soldier.”

CJ grinned and saluted him in return. “‘Til Monday,” they replied and slid past Pico to go back inside.

The redhead looked after them for another moment before giving Darnell a confused stare. “Is- are they insane?”

“Don’t think so,” he answered and shrugged. “Where’s the rest of your gang?”

“They discovered the beer pong setup, so I thought it was about time we’d bounce.”

“Perfect. I am ready to hit the bed.”

Pico scoffed. “You’re getting old. Seriously.” He put his arm on Darnell’s shoulder as they walked off the property and on their way back to campus.

“Careful there, kettle. You’re walking back with me.”

“I don’t think the saying works when I’m a white piece of paper, Nells.”

Pico was silent for the rest of the walk. He sometimes forgot how harshly Darnell could hit his shoulder over his stupid attempts at making jokes.

[leonardcohenofficial]

Wait Maddie as a certified theater mutual™ what do you think the significance is of like WHY they chose to make emotional vs physical intimacy such a key part of the values of the show? Part of me is wondering how it might reflect the realities of the people involved with the show and the things they themselves are maybe consciously or subconsciously insecure or even defensive about. Or maybe as part of the larger message that the show was trying to get across about how war leaves people untouched. But i don't actually know! Do you have thots on that? The why of it all?

solid question jones; i do think that part of it is likely the context of sex being treated as less weighty/intense within the context of MASH first being produced in 1972 after the kickoff of the sexual revolution. there's not really any moralizing about sex the way that there might have been had the show been produced ten years earlier; the way the show treats henry's sex lectures and the ways trapper and hawkeye are constantly hitting on the nurses and even frank and margaret's whole deal are, to me, reflective of the fact that views about sex in popular culture were shifting and hemming and hawing about everyone at the 4077th fucking all the time wouldn't do much for the show's audience. to me this also relates to the fact that nobody really bats an eye at the idea that hawkeye and carlye were living together before they were married, which is definitely more a reflection of "the more i see you" airing in 1976 than any historical accuracy of how anybody would have reacted in 1951.

which is interesting in regard to why the show emphasizes emotional intimacy over physical/sexual!! i think that the episodes that do explore the dichotomy—henry in love, life with father, bombed, the more i see you, hanky panky, comrades in arms, major ego, war co-respondent, etc. etc.—end up placing more weight on emotional intimacy than physical because it's easier to find a moment of physical respite than it is emotional. it also seems to be less of a moral failing to sleep with somebody than it is to be emotionally unfaithful; not that people are considered "bad" if they get emotionally involved, but that there's a weird weight to "emotionally cheating." of the episodes i've named, i'll briefly talk about what i think they're doing with these themes:

"henry in love" finds henry sleeping with a twenty year old, which is the main point of conflict in the episode between henry and the rest of the 4077th, who don't want him to throw away his marriage. the episode resolves with henry fully realizing that lorraine is the real thing and that his thing with nancy really wasn’t worth it

similarly in "life with father," henry's freakout over lorraine telling him that it's okay if he sleeps with other people seems to be less about her sleeping with other people, and more about the fear of them losing their emotional intimacy if she goes to the dance with somebody else (an orthodontist—!)

trapper's first impulse while margaret is crying when they're stuck in the supply shed in "bombed" is to try and offer her physical comfort, which isn't what she wants or needs in the moment. it's very fitting given trapper isn't great with being emotionally vulnerable, and margaret doesn't want to fuck her problems away, which is pretty much just what she does with frank

everything about "the more i see you" has to do with hawkeye and carlye not only sleeping together, but trying to pick back up romatically, which they can't do because they're in different places emotionally, carlye's married, and their relationship isn't sustainable

BJ compares carrie to peg at multiple points throughout the episode and thinks that because carrie is "right here, and [she's] so attractive and so close and so vulnerable" that he's likely to get too emotionally involved and he'll be moved to try and sleep with her again; hawkeye, who views it as "one lousy goof," makes him swear an oath to "think about peg often," which would presumably take care of the emotional risk

both margaret and hawkeye clearly have their own weird hangups and are acting like cartoonish extreme versions of themselves in part II of "comrades in arms," but i think part of it is that margaret wants emotional intimacy that hawkeye can't give her (that she's also obviously not getting from donald because he's cheating on her, and her response is to sleep with hawkeye in a moment of shared fear); meanwhile hawkeye, who is established to have weird hangups about sleeping specifically with married people, is treating her like an asshole i think partially because, as he states later, "maybe [they] cared for each other a little bit more than either of [them] would like"

"major ego" is a big deal for margaret's personal life because she was able to sleep with tom without the emotional weight or expectation for more; as she says, "for the first time since my divorce, i was free of my husband. i finally let him go"

there is so much to say about "war co-respondent" but it really comes down to the fact that BJ, as he states four seasons earlier, he "can't divide [him]self emotionally [...] not because god'll send [him] to hell without an electric fan, or because it's not the right thing to do. [he] simply [doesn't] want to." until he desperately wants to with aggie. as he states, "'til aggie showed up, i was convinced peg was the only woman in the world for me. i never met a woman like her. she's so different, so exciting. hawk, she's all i can think about. and not just about being in bed with her. i'm thinking about being with her." this is the issue. it's not that BJ just wants to sleep with her, it's about the emotional intimacy and the fear of losing the lifeline to mill valley

i think hawkeye's follow up to BJ's speech in "war co-respondent" is actually the show's mission statement: "funny thing about a war: people with absolutely nothing in common get thrown together and they really start caring about each other." this to me is the theme that runs throughout the entire show; MASH is exploring what it means to build those connections, and seems to put more weight on that type of intimacy—both "good" and "bad"—in a way that's really interesting to see shift throughout the seasons

(i don't have a whole lot to say in regard to the realities of the folks on the show besides alan and arlene alda laughing at barbara walters for suggesting in that one interview that there was even a REMOTE chance alan would be interested in cheating on arlene, but i think generally speaking the people on MASH were intersted in exploring the complexities of intimacy within the context of war and how that shifts priorities and the way we make meaning together)

[yanderecandystore]

Rip Tumblr D-do you have any dragon ocs that might kidnap their s/o? Also I know that this is a stupid question but can I call myself Cold anon? ;-;

Hello 🍨 Cold ❄️!! I'm really glad you sent me this request!

 The current app that I use for writing is bugging out a lot, so I'm sorry if there are many grammar errors and mistakes here and there.

 And uh... Cold? I think I fucked up your ask? I think I got a little too excited and went in a different direction?? If you don't like it I understand, I could always do another one 😳😋

 TW/Tags: Guess who is being an emotional ball once again?? Me! Yey! Send help! // look, I'm sorry but, low-key? This is edginess overload lol (medieval bitch times, which by that I mean: dark times with terrible people in it) // deaths // abuse of power // Reader said: eat the rich // non-binary reader just because // cursing // slight plot twist? But, like, bad plot twist // soft dragon boi 

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

You curious little thing - [Yandere!Dragon x Reader - Short Fanfiction]:

" Deep in the forest, up in the mountains, legend says that a dragon sleeps deep within the caves. And as the old story goes, gold awaits inside his domain, but only those courageous enough to enter the deep cave and defeat the dragon, would be able to take the creature's treasure.

Many have persuaded the quest of defeating said dragon, yet no one ever came back to tell the story.

And while you sit at the comfort of your small cottage reading about the old tales of the dragon's cave, you can't help but consider the story to be just that, a story. A piece of fiction made to scare the local children away from the mountains, or to enchant those that were easily invested into these types of stories.

It seems like you're one of those that were fascinated by the old tales. Regardless of if you find it true or not. The old tales still hold a mysterious charm that manages to keep you intrigued no matter what age you re-read them.

Tales of the forest spirits protecting their land with mischievous wit, tales of monsters that crawled out of your bed to cause nightmares on the simple minded, tales of mighty dragons who could easily rule the world if they so pleased to.

Yet they didn't. Either because they didn't want to, or maybe they really didn't exist. Who knows, right [Y/N]? Not that you, a simple commoner, would know any better.

Although, from the tales you read, isn't always the common folk the ones to first encounter these things?

It always ends bad, but still.

A commoner would be the first one to be affected by the wrath of such supernatural creatures.

However, as stated before, there is no way of knowing if such a thing is real or not, right? It's been eons since the last time someone even mentioned a dragon's presence in your kingdom, and it's been centuries that the concepts of dragons had fallen into the mythological category.

There hasn't been a single person to mention the beast's names in years. There was no visible way of them being remotely real, right? That sounded absurd.

But of course, like all tales are written, your's seem to have reached the beginning of your own personal adventure when the king mentioned the need of soldiers willing to face the beast inside the cave, who was presumably hibernating throughout this whole time.

And of course, the public had only laughed at this sort of news. You see, your king's authority over the entire land has been dangling by a thin thread. The taxes, the frauds, the imminent wars threatening to occur at any second now, has helped a small portion of people to start questioning if not downright rebelling against him and his reign of terror.

The revolution was rising slowly, yet something needed to push it forward, the straw that broke the camel's back.

"What could it be?" You might be wondering.

How about kidnapping and force recruitment with the help of blackmailing? Specifically targeting the poorest people in the kingdom and taking their family members hostage if they don't comply?

Sounds so evil that you may think it's bullshit right? So inhumane, that the villain of this story might as well be your crazy king, right?

Oh, [Y/N]. You're absolutely right, yet a little bit wrong considering that even if such an evil act sounds absurd, it's absolutely real. It's part of your reality now.

And even if your king is a vile creature of pure hatred and deserves to be fed to the rats, by being a terrible ruler, husband, and father- You were soon about to learn that there are worse, more powerful forces that can easily overpower the insanity of that sad, pathetic evil man.

To your dismay, your family was one of the chosen ones to suffer from this. Because of poverty, you and your father lived in the outskirts of the kingdom. It was perfect for the king and his soldiers, as you and your father lived distant from the main town, if any of you two ever die on the process of going into the beast's cave, or disobey the king's orders, no one would notice if you two were suddenly wiped from the face of the Earth.

And of course, holding hostage just one person was easier than multiple family members. Although your king was absolutely insane if not completely psychotic, you could at least understand how he moved his pieces in this massive game of chess.

I mean, yes, you understand his reasoning. Still doesn't mean he is right.

Soldiers didn't wait too long to show up and try to force your father to go with them. But you didn't take none of that, you wouldn't let your dying father be taken by them.

You screamed, you shout, you let venom spill out of your mouth by each profanity you threw at the soldiers and the king they claimed to serve. It didn't take long before the general noticed that you were one of the rascals forming a rebellion. Well, you didn't really need to be officially part of the revolution, just disagreeing was enough to make the general decide to take you instead of your old father.

You can still remember how he was trying to scream his lungs out, to stop the soldiers somehow.

This was it, right? The day, for you and possibly all these other commoners to die in the name of an asshole. How honoring.

Among you and other miserably unlucky individuals, there were all kinds of different people. From innocent, to criminals. From young to old, from poor to… Well, mildly not as poor. Nobles would never be subjected to this, you know that. All of these individuals were carried away by a carriage. All crammed into one little vehicle, away from the public sight.

After being far enough from the town and now deep within the forest, the soldiers commanded all of you to get out of the carriage as now you'll begin to walk straight to the mountain while carrying… Gold?

"- It's a gift from the king. Survive long enough, and you'll be able to take it with you." The general said, his tone being condescending as ever.

You could…. Technically run away, right now. They haven't really put any restrains in any of you-

"- Over there!" A soldier alerted the general, who looked little surprised by seeing two of your group running away with the gold in hands.

Without hesitation, or even a slight hint of empathy, the general shot both with his crossbow. Their bodies fall flat in the forest ground, with all that gold and jewelry accompanying them. All that gold being wasted and left behind, just like the bodies of the people carrying them.

You felt sick, the need to vomit was surfacing through your stomach. This- This is terrible!? This is so cruel! How can they continue to walk like nothing happened??

God, how did a once prospering kingdom has now fallen in such a low pit?

As you can imagine, the walk was torturous and it felt like it was going forever. Of course, a lot of questions were emerging about the strange situation.

One: how did the king know and was certain that the myth of the dragon was real and that the dragon was awake?

Two: why didn't he call his own army to attend to such issues instead of the common folk being forced to go with his wishes?

Actually, now that you think about it, why are there so few skilled, trained soldiers taking a bunch of people to a cave unprepared?

Carrying a bunch of gold for fucks sake, this stuff is heavy!

If it was truly a gift from the king to your group, then why were you obligated to carry it all the way to the cave? Sounds unreasonable and if anything, absolutely ridiculous. It would only slow your group down, and for what?!

Sounds like a trap to be…. Honest. Wait a minute-

"- Shit!" You whisper to yourself at the sudden realization that you're fucked, which unfortunately, caused a soldier that was near you to hear it.

"- Nothing sir, I just stabbed my foot in a rock." You weren't lying though. This whole walk bullshit your doing has destroyed your low quality sandals, and now you could basically feel the ground stabbing you every time you stept.

The soldier just grunted at you, and as much as you wished to take his sword and shove it up his bum, you couldn't help but go back to your original train of thought before you got interrupted.

You were going straight to death right? You're not supposed to fight a dragon, but rather serve as an offering?? What?!

You can't even speak or alert your fellow companions in any way. The last three people that have spoken without being directed to, were shot in the head.

The realization has sadly come in too late for you to make any plans now, as you forward as your group walk upwards, following the mountain's trail, you find yourself facing not only the entrance to a presumably dangerous cave infested with predators, but also the gates to your inevitable death.

You would now have to think of how to escape the soldiers and their arrows, or how to possibly make your death less painful. Being eaten by a dragon doesn't sound really fun.

When entering the cave you're met with more-

"- Are you fucking kidding me?!" Someone screamed, while easily accepting their death.

You couldn't help but agree with the person. While entering the cave, you're met with a great ravine, going in a spiral fashion deeper into the cave.

In other words, you have not only walked all the way up to a fucking mountain, but you would now need to get down into a creepy cave.

You almost considered asking for some eternal peace before remembering that your father's life was still in line. You just… Don't want to go away like this, you don't want your father to go like this.

And once again your group, that was now a lot shorter due to the amount of deaths along the way, was now following the general once again. Only this time, the soldiers were behind all of you, probably to guarantee no one ran away. Too late for that now anyway, so why even bother?

You didn't realize how you were on the very front of everyone, side by side with the man that was leading you to your doom.

You felt his eyes fall into your form a couple of times, but he never really turned his face to look at you. After a long silence of just a bunch of miserable people stepping closer to a terrible plan that was not well thought-out, he said:

"- You know it already. Right?" His voice was rough and still held the nonchalant tone that was written all over his face. You doubt this man could have ever smiled once in his life.

You almost choked with your own breathing, the nerve of this man! You couldn't help but let out the only thing you have wanted to say this whole time:

"- I hate you." You say as your eyes start to become a little watery. The feeling of desperation was eating you up ever since you entered the carriage, but only now you felt how bad the teeth of despair hurt.

"- I know kid. Me too." He responded, his tone never changed, even while saying that.

You guess he didn't really appreciate his job as much as you thought he did. Yet, you couldn't find in your heart to pity the man, as he was complicit in all of this mess. But I guess, you do hope for this man to find some sort of redemption, either presently or in his after life.

You still think he did a lot of bad things of course, his crimes are probably never gonna be forgiven. But just because of that, it didn't mean he couldn't start to do some good actions now, not for the sake of finding inner forgiveness, but for the sake of others. For the sake of the innocent people being not only met with unfair treatment, but also being ruled by a psychotic tyrant who is a complete imbecile. No wonder the queen and his son were missing for so long, you would probably have run away if you were them too.

When finally coming down, with your feet now hurting like a bitch, you can find some time for yourself to appreciate the beauty of this place.

You know, before you lose your head? To a freaking dragon??

Honestly, you at least hope that the stories you read were true, because holy fuck- Imagine how exhausted your body is from walking for what it feels like an eternity, holding jewelry made with gold, only to find an empty cave?

Then you would be able to go feral kill one or two soldiers before getting your ass beaten. As you don't have enough reason to just do that right now, right?

You expected to be met with disappointment, but what you truly saw while finally getting into the dragon's territory, you were able to not only feel enchanted by the magnitude of these treasure places, but also forget the danger of the situation, as you look around and remember the tales you read.

This is so much better than what you have imagined it to be like. It's… Mesmerising! It 's beautiful! The underground pond, the glowing crystals, the pile of gold, the stolen statues of the great warriors of your kingdom, golden weapons all scattered across the floor, the white feathered looking dragon staring down at you from his nest, that little tea set that is really cute and fragile yet it probably cost way more than your house, your clothes, and all of your furniture all together.

Oh no wait-

"- We came with what you asked for, Artemio." Said the general fast walking his way to be in between you and the beast.

To say you were freaking out would be an understatement. You knew dragons were huge, but you didn't expect it to be so… Huge! You know??

Oh my God, you're dead-

You looked around to see only you, your group of commoners ready to be probably eaten, and the general. And while looking for the soldiers, you noticed them trying to close the opening with a man built gate, created to keep the beast.

But obviously, that gate looks absolutely ridiculous, there is no way this guy couldn't destroy it by simply slapping it. It's quite laughable, yet…

You feel this is not just a coincidence or a bad made joke. You have a feeling they know the gate is essentially useless. It was really old, so, clearly this has been going on from quite some time.

Has… Has your kingdom been doing this for centuries?? Bringing offerings to please the dragon and beg it to sleep for more centuries to come?

"- This is absolute bullshit!" You screamed, not noticing how your heart was racing and your breathing had started to become frantic. You were panicking while coming to terms with the fact that your whole world was collapsing in front of your eyes. Your scream clearly surprised your fellow companions, yet it didn't surprise the dragon or the general.

The dragon had, well, a dragon face, so you have no idea what it was thinking, and the general was still with the same non-expressive face since the beginning of this stupid trip!

"- What?! You have nothing to say?? You brought us here to die, at least say something, you coward!" You were fuming with rage. How can a person like this be so annoying even when he is not saying anything.

He looks at you with an understanding expression, yet you don't think about what it could mean as you reach to one of the many golden weapons spread around across the floor. They were heavy and quite frankly completely useless, yet you still hold into that golden sword like your life depended on it.

And it did, actually.

Have you gone insane or just completely blind with rage and the instinct of survival? You're not sure just yet, but you'll lose your last bit of sanity to stand your ground.

You aren't going down without a fight.

"- Come at me, you big bird!" You yelled, looking kinda epic and kinda goofy at the same time. You probably shouldn't insult a dragon who hasn't decided who he'll first, it may change his appetite.

Before the general could interfere with your foolish behavior, the one and only had spoken:

"- Where exactly is what we had agreed on?" Like in true entitled brat fashion, Artemio asked the general while putting his head in his pawn.

"- We had to eliminate a couple of the troublemakers. In the end some of the gold was left behind in the progress-"

"- No, I mean, where truly is what I asked for? The jewelry is quite frankly ugly, the gold coins don't matter as I already have plenty, and none of these humans look really edible. Or well… Appetising." You could swear a pouty face was appearing in Artemio's face, yet only one thing had taken your attention. That's the reason why they needed so many disposable people? Oh… Wait a minute, did the dragon just call everyone here too ugly to eat?

"- If you can't compromise with your promises, then I think we'll have to change the deal-" Artemio started getting up from his nest, stretching out like a cat.

"- Oh, please no, can't you just-" The general panicked, thinking that the dragon would destroy the village.

"- I want that one." Artemio said. Pointing at you.

"- What?" You looked behind you just in case you were in the way of someone else. No, you weren't.

"- Uhn… What?" Oh look, even the general was confused as you, and well, the entire cast of people that were thrown in this hell hole.

"- Yes, that one holding the spear."

"- Just… That one, or-"

"- Just that one. And I won't get out of the cave for at least a century, I promise!" He sounds and acts like both a child and a cat, preparing himself to pounce on its prey any moment now.

"- ….. Okay then, fair enough. It's your problem now kid." He said, making a motion for all the other captives to follow him. Which they gladly did, because, you know, they aren't the protagonist of the story.

"- What?! You can't leave me here, you bastard!!" You screamed, although subconsciously you already knew his answer.

"- I think I'm just doing that!" He screamed from the other side of the cave, fuckz they really didn't waste no time at all, did they?

Sigh, who are you kidding? If you were one of them, you would have ran away as fast as you could. At least some gave you sympathetic looks before going back to their "freedom".

You heard the heavy gate closing. Well, shit. It's you and him now.

You tried going back into your original threatening stance, but before you could, you saw a glimpse of Artemio coming in at full speed, taking no time to jump at you. This is it [Y/N], send your last prayers to your father and your old life before-

Before he starts licking you... like a dog? What?

He pauses and you tense up, looking up and seeing a dragon powerful enough to destroy villages, looking at you like a precious little gift.

Artemio picks you up and hugs you in an almost bone breaking hug. Confused and frustrated with how the situation was going, you asked:

"- A-Aren't you going to kill me?" Yes, it was a pathetic question, if a dragon isn't killing you, then why ask it to do it??

"- I have been so lonely since the last human that I chose! I usually prefer to have many friends around but all of the other options seemed so boring, you know?" His voice is oddly cheerful and sweet to someone that sees humans as pets, or "friends". So… What is really going on here?

"- I thought you ate people." You said, still frustrated that you were betrayed and lied to through this entire day.

"- Well, I guess I can eat humans-" Says the giant bird-lizard acting like a child trying to lie about doing something wrong- "- But I really don't like doing it, I promise!"

"- I just wanted someone to play with, you know? All the dragons that I know are just so boring and take everything seriously." He huffed in annoyance.

"- Well… Do you-" You started questioning if you really want to to know the answer, but curiosity sure is killing this cat!- "- What happened to the other humans that were here?"

"- Oh, they… Uhn, they died, because of your shirt lifespan and all ya know." He responded.

"- Oh… Then why did the soldiers bring us here saying you were going to eat us?" Why not go full balls in and ask everything, right?

"- It's- Sigh, it's really embarrassing, but I didn't know any other way of how to ask for company down here." He said shyly, which only confirmed your suspicion of this being complete bullshit.

"- And you threaten to burn a whole kingdom just because of that?" You asked.

"- Yes!" He answered with no shame whatsoever. This guy was a dog wearing a dragon costume, you couldn't believe what you were hearing.

"- Sigh, oh my God…"

"- Hey, uhn, what's your name?" Artemio spoke, he thought that he should also ask questions as he wants to be able to enjoy every second with his new pet.

"- It is [Y/N]. And you're Artemio, right?" You can't believe any of this, really. You went from an absolutely terrible life or death situation, to a… Well, you can't even tell what the hell is going on anymore!

"- [Y/N].... [Y/N]! [Y/N], that's such a good name!" The excited dragon repeated your name multiple times before interrupting your peace once again. You can't be mad at him, but-

Come on, you needed some time to accept everything that just went down. You didn't even notice you were on the floor until Artemio was in front of your view again.

"- [Y/N]!" He was so easy to please, that just saying your name was fun to him.

"- Sigh… Hey Artemio." You sighed as there was no way in hell this dragon would leave you to deal with this weird feeling of emptiness arising in your chest.

"- What do you want to do now?" He asked cheerfully, but not completely oblivious to your feelings of being abandoned underground with him by force.

You stayed silent for a second, again, trying to come with terms with this new lifestyle that you were subjected to. You technically could ask Artemio to open the gate, he doesn't seem to have any intention of hurting you. But who knows? He has a different point of view in this whole thing than you do.

Silence was taking over the cave, but not exactly an awkward silence, just… A comforting one.

The water dripped from the ceiling. You felt the ground underneath you shake a little as Artemio followed your "guidance". He decided to lay on his back near you.

He wasn't really doing any self reflection at all, he just wanted to join in with you, yet all he could think is how happy he is to have someone else to spend time with.

You may only see him slightly from the corner of your eyes, yet you still feel a little, strange, by seeing a dragon mimic your ways.

You don't feel nessecerally homesick, but you do miss your father. You absolutely hate the idea of coming back to the kingdom, but… If you could see your father one last time, and probably help him with the gold that is in this place….

Maybe you could even-!.....

"- Artemio."

"- Yes, [Y/N]!*

"- AAH!" He turned himself to meet your face so fast that you whimpered because of his sudden motion.

He was going to check if you were okay, but you stopped him showing that you were fine, just a little spooked.

"- Hey, Artemio-" You said again, as you were still reformulating your question in your head-

"- Do you know how to burn an entire castle?"

🍭꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍰꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖♡🍮꒰⑅ᵕ༚ᵕ꒱˖🍭

[thatsinterestingveryinteresting]

essay/analyzing/theory time folks

 probably taking this a bit seriously but i find theorizing and doing these types of things fun, so here we go.

also i know it really isn’t that deep but let a girl hope.

here’s the thing. i absolutely adore the idea of traitor tommy: the angst, plot, shock, excitement, everything. i know techno and wilbur were already deemed the traitors but i think tommy might have a chance? also techno didn’t really betray them, but that’s for another day. but, since i have nothing else to do right now, here are my theories on why/how traitor tommy could/might possibly happen

btw spoilers i guess as of nov. 22 streams

Few things that can completely overturn the traitor tommy thing

i know the traitor tommy thing might never happen, solely for the reason that tommy is considered as the protagonist, or main character, at least from the viewers’ perspective.

tubbo. tubbo is the only person tommy truly trusts. tommy won’t betray tubbo under any circumstance and can become very a little  worried when tubbo’s harmed/in danger/killed. tommy was willing to blow up l’manburg after tubbo was killed, despite his obvious distaste of the notion. tommy’s loyalty literally may never shift.

tubbo also has melohi, another disc of tommy’s. tommy gave it for trust in the fact that he will never betray tubbo, so that might be true.

also, i’m spewing out ideas as i go along, and then again, anything can happen here on out.

anyways, here are the theories/reasons.

Tommy still wants his discs back.

now, a few things to go over

as far as we know, skeppy/dream have the last (?) of tommy’s discs . Now the thing is, there are only a few things that can occur so tommy can get his discs back:

it’s just that easy and tommy can ask - that’s not happening

he never gets his disc back - this could drive the next story arc but kind of unlikely? the disc war initiated pretty much a lot of things i think

duel - that won’t go well

war - very possible

spy - information for dream? badlands (for some reason, though unlikely)?

traitor/betrayal for the next war

Now all those listed above, can or cannot happen based on how the next few weeks will go, however, we are focusing on traitor tommy.

tommy could make a deal with Dream for the discs, depending on how desperate tommy is. tommy’s discs are the last thing he needs before he can be at peace. it’s the most important thing to him and was what basically started everything. betraying l’manburg could be one of the most interesting and best things he can do so he can get his discs once and for all. 

apparently, the disc is planned to be burned soon on a stream, so in an act of desperation or impulse, deals could be made for the disc.

Chaos (by extension of the discs)

in return for saving the disc, war could be declared upon l’manburg because... well... chaos. dream strives for chaos and tommy’s betrayal will invoke that in the best way. if tommy ever is that desperate, he’s putting his reputation, trust, and allies on the line. He’ll be alone but have his discs, so will that truly put him at peace?

he’s losing the trust of tubbo, his best friend, unless tommy and tubbo decide to betray together

after all, whatever tubbo does, tommy is likely to follow.

Power

“Tommy, when I said you’re never gonna be president, you’ve got to understand, that wasn’t-, that wasn’t a challenge. That’s true. You’re never gonna be president, Tommy.”

Spiting Wilbur could be a possible reason for betrayal, but then again wilbur is dead and that will put him against tubbo, in which tommy’s loyalty is too strong for that. unless he had a change in ideals for some reason.

the thing is, tommy gave up the title of president just for his discs , so that brings up the question, what will he do after he gets the discs? 

if the discs were something so important, would tommy want to get back to the title he was offered before giving it away for those discs?

i honestly don’t know, but before the war, power was a very strong reason for why tommy could have been the traitor, as well as protecting l’manburg.

the concept of power seems to be fairly important to tommy. wilbur only gave tommy presidency just to take it away to a degree, to break his heart, which wilbur would know how to do since they’ve been through pretty much everything together (plus they’re canonically brothers).

even further, techno said it himself.

when tommy and wilbur were exiled, the first thing they realized was that they didn’t have any power over the country they built. wilbur realized this, hence why he spiraled into madness. tommy, however, he was nailed in on the fact that they could have won, that they had to take back l’manburg because schlatt was tyrannical.

techno was right, schlatt won fair and square, yet pogtopia still did a coup and became what they believed they were fighting against. tyranny. government.

schlatt

just a reminder, tommy’s idol used to be schlatt. as far as i know, quackity is planning on resurrecting schlatt to be able to rule l’manburg, meaning overthrowing tubbo.

so, that begs the question, did tommy’s previous adoration of schlatt ever change?

i mean, he did kinda hesitate to put an arrow between his eyes when wilbur told him to, and that was before wilbur said to wait. maybe a stretch

Corrupt Tubbo

 tubbo hasn’t done anything except rebuild l’manburg, but imagine this. he used to be a part of schlatt’s cabinet. he has no real experience as a president and like, he’s young. but anyways, tubbo wouldn’t know much about running a country, so the only place he can get some type of information of this would be from working with schlatt and implement it in his administration. lowkey down for that

under the circumstance in which tubbo becomes a corrupt president, tommy would be conflicted towards tubbo being his best friend and tubbo being the tyrannical leader that every. single. president. had become.

 wilbur was a good president but limited the members of l’manburg, built walls, etc. schlatt was, well, schlatt. he was a bit mean to his citizens and cabinet, was a literal dictator, exiled one of the parties, and was just... evil vibes. the only ”good” thing is that he was elected properly.

anyways, realizing how similar tubbo’s administration could be to schlatt, tommy could, again, betray l’manburg/tubbo in order to bring him back to his senses or on the more evil side, overthrow him?

Just out of spite

maybe he gets tired of being called a child. making a deal of some sort and betraying the nation could do that in some weird way. even though ghostbur doesn’t remember it that much, his presence can be enough to remind tommy that he is always seen as the immature child of the group despite his desperate retorts explaining that he’s not.

by betraying l’manburg, he might think that people will think of him differently? as someone who went to the “dark side” in a desperate attempt to be seen or listened to like technoblade. he won’t be called a child if the strongest person on the SMP is behind him.

i mean, tommy has matured, compared to him during the revolution. he seems to think more about what he should do, he tries to be a leader, taking weaknesses, strengths, circumstances, etc. into consideration for example, as he does in MCC.

i can understand how frustrating it is to be called a child and too much stress can just make someone snap. he makes the deal and he’s not going to be called a child anymore.

it’s unlikely but it’s a fun little mini-reason

tubbo

if tubbo becomes a traitor, tommy most likely will follow. that’s it.

chaotic good

tommyinnit is “chaotic good” according to wilbur.

however, wilbur’s reasoning for this seems to be a bit interesting. 

While Tommy may seem lawful on the surface (due to his keen understanding of the codes and conventions that he must follow) he still flips his values radically based on tiny non-emotional changes in his environment. 

again, tommy’s values can change the minute something changes in his environment. for example, tubbo being murdered by techno.

the second tubbo got killed, tommy was willing to blow l’manburg to smithereens

so you don’t know what could happen since tommy’s ideals can change within a second

despite everything, i’m only holding on to hope when it comes to some sort of tommy/tubbo corruption arc. it’s possible, but not 100%. honestly, any kind of betrayal i’m down for but it’ll take a bit to regroup and recollect.

im genuinely just a sucker for a main character turned bad guy kinda deal. reminds me of the end of “murders” by miracle musical. like, after the main character did everything they needed to, they’re alone. they defeated the bad guy, they thought they saved the city/town/community, but just pan out. look at the destruction around the main character. as a viewer, you were only encapsulated in the main character’s perspective because they’re the main character, but look around. see that everyone despises them. they don’t see them as the protagonist the viewer thought they were. 

[raguna-blade]

Revolutionary Girl Utena 4-7

Hm...Not quite as clean as last time, but hey. Less stewing, for better or worse. And God, shit just keeps happening.

Episode 4

Opening 10000@ chunked full of meaning. Similarly, lacking context for any of it right now, so that's s for later,  .

Still trying to get over the bit where the two are in armor and look like they're about to come to blows before going in the same direction though.

Express the eternal beauty huh.

Also, Nanami you trfling what are you....

Woman can put her logic on a man huh...? Odd, but ok.

It's kinda amazing how much folks be putting on Anthy and not people who are actually, you know, who are actually to blame. Gotta get that Rose Bride who does....uh...Something. Girlfriend(?), Muse, Key to reVOLUTION???? Little talk o anthy. For literally everyone so far.

Though Miki at least seems to acknowledge her a bit.

When's Nanami's turn to fight.

Shadow Girls gonna make us feel mad dumb later. Feelin it.

Nanami jesus christ chill the fuck out. The most trifling bullshit I swear. Petty bullshit. Mind, Middle schooler so.

Ok, hey, that's a FUCK ton of snails. Like goddamn. Named them...? Uh... Uhhhhhhhh.

THAT IS A WHOLE ASS SNAKE WHOA HEY WAIT A MINUTE. Garter Snake but.

Makin the maxuse of those repeat frames and text.

Also, all night for the snake...?

An...Octopus....?

AN OCTOPUS? WHAT THE FUCK. YES NANAMI

A ballooon?

Miki, you literally know nothing about her.

Nanami soul crushed. Chuchu just..Trollin.

Seriously though, Anthy and animals that a thing?

Nananmi actually asking a relevant question. Why DOES everyone like Anthy so much out of nowhere? She's cute, but she's kinda reclusive so...?

Where'd Anthy learn that song? Didn't Miki write it...? Also, homeboy's sister? Found your shining thing huh?

Ending Also Clearly has some meaning that I'm not quite getting. Rose Bride Utena is...Kinda weird. Feels wrong? Gotta sit down with the lyrics for op and ending though. But yeah, both them rose brides feels...Odd. And it seems to be mirroring? So that's strange.

Do it for Miki's sake? Right and not for hers...?

Episode 5

Huh. Shadow Girls share VA with the teaming masses of school girls. Also, the budget for these fight scenes.

Why is it always the same three girls btw?

Does the Entire senior Student council just talk in riddles? Saionji was pretty straightforward but he's a dumbass apparently.

Awkward Confusing smiles abound. And this damn monkey again. I don't even dislike him he's just there. And those eyes.....

Wrote a famous song...? Uhhhhh. Sibs huh.

Destroyed the garden own hands? Miki did you do something to your sister? Oh hey caged bird little girl? Sure it's nothing.

And he left her (of no choice of his own cause fucking measles) sis got traumatized, and now idolizing that memory and his sister?

Is she dead or something? Have you talked with her? Also, where the hell...

WHAT ARE YOU IN LOVE WITH MIKI?

Utena: Please be a person Anthy I fucking beg you. This duel bullshit is dumb.

Anthy: Ok, but I'm your bride. I am down with this system my girl.

SHELL BREAKING. Wait a second, does this elevator thing happen right before every duel or revelation?

Are there only- hold up, dissolve the student council. Hey good on you Miki.

Miki: Aint this gonna fuck something up for people.

Touga: Aight, but hey if you feel it fuck the system kid.

Miki, just ignoring his sis and...what's with the dishevelment. Was she...? Piano room's not for HOLY SHIT WAS SHE FUCKING TOUGA

Sis looks just like you, But you're cuter. Uhhhhhhhhhhh

Touga, Only the winner get's to do what they want. And I banged your sister who you seem to hate, y u mad.

Miki: My sis used to look cute as an angel. You look like an angel btw

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Anthy: *BLANK EMPTY LOOK” OF COURSE I'LL STOP IF SHE TELLS ME I AM THE ROSE BRIDE

Touga: INCREASINGLY NUDE: Hey, REMEMBER THE ROSE BRIDE SHIT I JUST TOLD YOU. YOU GOTTA BE BUFF TO HAVE THE BRIDE BRUH

Two Steps: Miki I will Trash the System Touga Interrupt Fuck, I guess I gotta fight Utena in this barbaric bullshit. Due Time.

SHADOW GALS APPROVE PIRACY. Also, What do you want.

Dat Absolute Destiny Yeahhhhhhhh Settin the Mood. Someone's about to get Some kind of REVELATION. From DIOS. Or some such. Actually, Dios is pretty close to god (I may be super wrong here) but the possibly flipping nature of it all is I guess, some kind of truth thing since if it were pure skill, as suggested with Juri losing to Miki somehow, utena deffo wouldn't have beaten Saionji. So, Whoever has the better understanding of things get's the power of Dios? Thus the power to change the world? Seems straightforward enough. Though why Anthy has that power.

NEW DUEL THEME. DOPE SONGS What's the meaning cause man, they're  apparently different per duel, as per (?????) which seems so so far.

Miki: I want the Bride!

Utena: YOU SURE THIS IS HOW YOU WANT IT?

Miki, SHE WANTS THE FREE

Anthy: SOULLESS EYES. For real, she needs to emote.more regular like. Seemingly likes Utena so....

Utena Wins, Defloration Complete. Beat, like that, one stroke.

Miki's Sis: I freaked out on stage and was never good. People thought I was though

Miki: I'M GONNA GO ALL OUT ON THIS DUEL SHIT YOU WATCH.

Utena: DO YOU NOT GET IT BRUH?

Episode 6

Ah, the good ole days when you could repeat frames like that.

Nanami almost dies, weird faceless stalker and car driver, mk

Nanami: SOMEONE IS TRYING TO KILL ME, LEMME JUST HOP ON THIS TABLE TO PROVE THE POINT.

Touga: I have Important s THOT s student council work.

Oh shit that hit her square in the face..

Utena: Trying to Kill Nanami Clearly.

That ball is lodged in her dome damn.

Utena: TOGAS A THOT, FACT

Touga: KILL THEM. KILL THE VERMIN

Anthy: Life is life. Leave it be.

Nanami: MY BROTHER WANTS ME DEAD. ANTHY IS BEHIND THIS. THAT WITCH SEDUCING HIM

Why does everyone think he'd kill his sister. Damn Nanami. What's your relationship that people buy it immediately.

A whole ass horse and...chickens?

Prince Appeared. Mitsuru Tsuwabuki....?????????? Watch for the name I guess.

Why...Why do they assume all these dudes are her type off hand? Like...

Oh hey he has a face and is a small boy ok. Uh...Hey, Are you prpositioning a child. Um.

UM

Shadow Gals what he fuck does curry have to do with it. Are y'all trollin.

Also, hey Nanami. Uh. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

ACTUALLY DATING A KID? TO JEALOUS YOUR BROTHER? WAT

A Brocon. And a drama queen. Everyone is baffled.

What the fuck is he doing in the locker. Just...snapped her fingers. Under her desk. Man slave boy. Uh

uhhhhhh.

WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU COME FROM SAIONJI. Hidden Love

Hard Ignore.

Nanami: Who are you three idiots. WHERE DID THE BOY COME FROM.

Y'all about to throw down with a kid. And he's...He won, damn. PUT HIS BODY IN THE LAKE JESUS.

Nanami: Mitsuru is my boyfriend. I can treat him how I like.

Mitsuru: ALWAYS WANTED TO BE A BOYFRIEND

Is this...Is this a rosebride thing? Like a kinda fucky mirror jam?

Also, did Touga 1v1 a Bull and win? What the fuck? I agree Mitsuru, he's pretty cool yeah.

Be a Big Bro, not a boyfriend. No choice but to put her in danger again in order to get her to be what I want.

Where did that equipment come from.

WHAT IS WITH THIS SCHOOL. A KANGAROO? WERE THEY GONNA BOX THIS ASSHOLE?

So, Mitsuru as rosebride, Gotta Protec, get’s wrecked. So...Uh..Anthy....?

Boy fucked up that kangaroo. 1V1 me YOU PUSSY DO IT COWARD.

Nanami: Don't be an idiot jesus fucking christ. I CAN'T JUST LET SOMEONE USEFUL DIE FOR ME GOD.

Was...Was Touga the one fighting the Kangaroo...For Real? Why...Why was he...One PUNCH.

Mitsuru: Lemme be your bro please.

Episode 7

Ohp, Serious time out the gate ok. Guess 6 was a palette cleanser.

Juri: Dominant. Sure I'm buff but what for? God.

Juri Arisugawa? Alice Refs...? Seen that name used that way before. I'll watch for it.

Huh, the immediate mirroring with Utena is...odd?

Juri: Fuck Off Vice Principal.

Wait, was he hitting on...her...? Oh that's not.

Chuchu always with Utena? Huh.

Also Juri, Dominant as fuck, offing students left and right.

Oh, she's explaining things. Rosebride gives power to revolution.

Utena: Oh cool, super powers. Dope. Seems MAD FUCKING STUPID.

Juri: Yeah. Seems dumb right.

Ok, juri uh...Has EVERYONE Slapped Anthy thus far? Like...Ok? Does Everyone Get a Turn? Is...Is this a thing? It's kinda.

SHELL TIME. DUEL? DUELL?

End of the World: DUEL TIME

Is touga trying to kill Miki. What's with knives man? Miki. HOW MANY KNIVES. BLINDFOLDS

Juri: I don't believe any of this shit. I'll prove it's bs.

Old love. It's 1000000% not this dude. Don't you. Play me.

ORANGE ROSE AT CROTCH LEVEL WHAT? And she got denied I guess...?

SHES IN LOVE WITH SOMOENE AND ITS NOT YOU.

There was some love triangle shit, and girl is perpetrating.

MUSIC GONE. SHITS REAL

Jesus this show is just full of bullshit.

Ok, we had a moment with why utena is the way is she is, Juri Does not approve. Miracles are Bullshit, I will dunk you in the the fucking OCEAN.

Rabbits Dance all around huh. OK.

SHADOW GALS. WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT.

ABSOLUTE DESTINY TIME. TIME FOR SOMEONES IDEALS TO GET BUSTED I GUESS.

Also, like how the various wings on the garden go from vaguely angelic to kinda ominous. I mean the whole deal is sketchy as fuck, you don't just start singing about the apocalypse and ignore it. DARKNESS OF LIGHT DAWG. DARKNESS DARKNESS EVERYWHERE. KINGDOM HEARTS WISHES!

Also is that castle CG? It feels it but...

Juri: MIRACLES ARE BS BUT IF THEY'RE REAL SHOW ME THE TRUFACTS

Utena: NOT SURE ABOUT MIRACLES BUT WHATEVER I DON'T NEED THAT SHIT.

FIGHT. Oh boy new song.

Lucifers light...? Uh...All of this is ominous as fuck. Then a bunch of night and darkness gods.

Certainty of Death, Namely Light.

Sword Falls Just so to cut the Rose. Uh. Miracle....?

Uh...Juri Was Robbed.

Consistently though, the stronger convictions won. Juri was legit robbed, but she hesitated, so she lost.

Juri: MIRACLES ARE BULLSHIT AND MY GAY LOVE WAS NOT RESPECTED GOD

Also, Juri=Lucifer? For...The Student Council...? She does seem to be the one who least believes in this shit. She didn’t even duel utena for the rose bride like literally everyone else. She just wanted to prove Utena’s ideals wrong.

[tormundjonthings]

GOT Politics Thoughts! (I know, I’m not original)

So I’ve been thinking a lot about the last couple seasons again after reading the finale script last week, specifically about how Game of Thrones handled politics in it’s last few seasons. A lot has been written about how the characters or relationships or fantasy elements were bungled, but I’m interested in how they  muddled the political end too. And not just the in universe politics, like conflicts between houses or the challenges of moving/feeding armies. Although...that also pretty much vanishes, outside of that stray line of Sansa’s from s8 about feeding Dany’s armies (which is mainly there so Dany can get in a sick line about how cool dragons are.)

No, I’m more interested in how the larger political questions / parallels to politics in the real world vanish or become so confused that any message is lost entirely.

Lets venture back a few seasons, say to like season 5, and look at  some of the big political topics being addressed. (This got SUPER long, so more under the cut) 

Political Question One: What are borders? 

The storyline at the Wall was always one of the most interesting parts of the show to me, mostly because of the nature of the conflict between the Nights Watch and the Free Folk. The the Wall was always a foil to the pettier political games happening elsewhere in the series. That whole Mormont quote “when the dead rise, do you think it matters who sits on the Iron Throne?” Like they’ve got a big, giant existential disaster to deal with, makes all the squabbling between houses look pretty damn silly!

Yet they also participate in some of this political squabbling, which is very interesting to me! They spend several SEVERAL seasons dealing primarily not with the existential threat at hand, but trying to fight off people who largely just want to escape to safety. 

The reason Jon Snow is one of my favorite characters in the series is that he’s one of the very few people who looks at an underlying bit of “common political wisdom” in Westeros, something that’s been unchanged for thousands of years regardless of who sits on the Iron Throne, and says, “Hey, this is both very wrong and very dumb.”

He meets the Wildlings, notes that they follow the same religion as the North, speak the same language, have a lot of the same customs, and most importantly notes that they’re just people trying to live their lives in safety. 

Some of them raid and kill, yes. But lets be honest...plenty plenty plenty of people born and bred in the Seven Kingdoms do that too.

The division between people of the Seven Kingdoms is entirely arbitrary. Other people in the series have noted this (Benjen, Tyrion) but Jon actually tries to do something about it. He says they’re all the same, that the Free Folk are part of the realms of men, and manages to get many of them south of the Wall. 

This is incredibly controversial; he’s broken a huge political taboo here. The northern Lords hate “Wildling invaders.” Many members of the Nights Watch don’t care much about the White Walkers and see the Free Folk as their primary enemy. This is so controversial that Jon is murdered for it. 

Now, if you live in almost any part of the world right now, you’ll note that this has many, many parallels to real life events. Especially if you see White Walkers as Climate Change. People trying to escape to safety from disasters and the complete immorality of holding up largely arbitrary borders in the face of existential threats to humanity is already an enormous political issue, and likely to be more so in the years to come. This is a good thing, maybe an essential thing, to explore and talk about through fiction right now. 

So how is it handled after Jon is resurrected? Well...it kind of isn’t really. Some of the northern Lords are pissed about it when Jon asks for support during the Battle of the Bastards, but Robb’s old mess-ups are generally more the issue there. Apparently all the Nights Watch members who were uncool with it get hung for treason and...no one else in the manned castles says anything. There are some pissed off northern Lords again who mention Wildling invaders once they’re back in Winterfell but its pretty much skated over and they still all crown Jon king like immediately. The focus on borders and arbitrary divisions, how harmful and damaging they can be, which was a big part of the Wall plotline for several seasons, is pretty much just dropped. 

Political Question Two: What is a Revolutionary?

So this is pretty much the whole question surrounding Dany’s plotline. I do  think, especially in her earlier seasons, that Dany genuinely felt sympathy for enslaved people in Slavers Bay and wanted to free them. Like, if Jon is one person who looks at the underlying nature of this world and sees injustice, the other person who does so is Dany (at least initially.) I do truly think she saw parallels to her own terrifying situation when Viserys sold her to Drogo, and she wanted to help.

The problem is, despite her dragons and her military power, she is absolutely the wrong type of person to lead a revolution. 

This is actually a quote from my sister, we were talking and she said “Dany is the kind of person who believes in a better world, but can’t see that she’s not the one who can bring that world into being.” 

Dany was raised by an insanely scary brother who constantly went off about his rightful claim to the throne and their noble family history. The only adults in her life were the kind of Targaryen loyalists who wanted to see the precious heirs safe, or else the kind of people who thought they could get something out of Viserys and repeated his own bullshit back to him. 

This has all clearly sunk into Dany; despite the fact that she started the incredibly huge political project of ending slavery, something that will require years YEARS of work, she still constantly wants to go off to Westeros and rule because she believes it’s her right. She’s also got a huge self myth about herself as a queen, and what that means, versus an interest in being a leader. 

I’m not a politician, I’m a queen. 

She likes to command, demand, pull the whole fire and blood thing. This all comes from her upbringing, from her understanding of who the Targaryens were and what they conquered/deserved.

Her status as someone from an old Westerosi house also means that she has a tendency to trust the rich and well named, especially rich people from Westeros, waaaaay more than she should. Trusting Tyrion, for example, is a huge huge error. Especially, again, given that she’s attempting the truly revolutionary project of ending fucking slavery. Tyrion is part of an old rich house, part of an old rich system. He is from a culture that does not have slavery, but he is still from a culture with a HIGHLY stratified class system. Fundamentally, he’s got more in common with the slavers than the slaves. Which is why he listens to the slavers, why he comes up with the oh so reasonable compromise of phasing slavery out over several years, and why he gives the slavers HUMAN BEINGS as presents to seal the deal.

One of the most interesting scenes in the entire series for me is the bit directly after Tyrion makes this deal, when we see Missandei and Grey Worm’s reaction to it. They are horrified. 

Because the ones with a real read on this situation, the ones Dany should let have more input, are absolutely Missandei and Grey Worm. They are the two people the former slaves look to most when they have questions. They are seen as leaders by Dany’s base in the city, the formerly enslaved peoples. They are the ones who have suffered under the hands of this system, who know that it is not wise to make “reasonable compromises” with the kind of people willing to own human beings. The kind of person willing to buy and sell people will always try to take advantage, there is nothing to which they won’t sink. You don’t use them, they use you.

Yet Missandei and Grey Worm’s power is largely often ceremonial. Dany makes a lot of her real big choices listening to people like Jorah, like Tyrion. People from old Westerosi houses. Because she’s been raised to value that kind of power.

Dany’s whole plotline; her freeing slaves quickly without a plan, then letting the slavers into her ear, letting them take back some control, and ultimately leaving the situation in a whole mess to gain more personal power, is a great example of why top-down revolutions, revolutions where a wealthy savior wants to free/help the less fortunate, do not generally work out. 

For a revolution to stick, for it’s ideas to stick, it needs to be led by those from below, people who are fully invested, people who understand the monstrosities of the system. People like Missandei and Grey Worm.

That whole scene where Dany talks to Tyrion about breaking the wheel is also super interesting to me. Because...they are both part of the wheel. And as long as Dany’s goal is still to rule, and Tyrion’s goal is to help her, they aren’t going to break that thing. That wheel won’t break until monastic power, until rule by a few families, ends, and that’s not really Dany’s goal. Because she wants to rule. And her family is part of the wheel. 

Again...all of these poltical questions are important. We live under a system where the few, the very rich, rule us. This power is often inherited (because money is often inherited.) Some of them say they want to help...but ultimately nothing really changes. 

And there’s a pretty recent example in world history of slavery ending, but politicians failing to root the perpetrators of that system out of power. Letting those people stay in power, letting them use influence and take advantage, led to slavery essentially returning in a different form (hello 13th amendment of the US Constitution!) So it’s an important thing to explore through fiction.

I kind of thought all this was going to come to a head, especially with Missandei and Grey Worm. Dany clearly trusts them with some power, but she lets Westerosi advisors like Tyrion make more and more of her decisions. The whole plotline with Missendei and Grey Worm is them moving past their trauma and becoming more self-actualized people. I thought they’d start to challenge Dany. I thought maybe they’d take issue with Dany’s desire for power at any cost, especially use of the Dothraki, who famously take and sell slaves. I thought they’d take issue with Dany wanting to leave  for Westeros at all, with leaving the slaves of Mereen in such a desperate, hopeless situation. I thought maybe the show would highlight how becoming more folded into the powers that be in Westeros and ignoring the downtrodden people she met in Essos led to her downfall. It certainly seemed to be heading that way.

But then...Missandei and Grey Worm were relegated fully to the background. They don’t differ with Dany on anything at all in the last half of the series. Issues were raised with how Dany was approaching power, but most of these were centered around her individually being a bad person, having the “Targaryen madness,” not with her being part of a system that sees rule by a few powerful families as just and right. It’s just all a problem of one person being insane and power hungry! Not a problem of systems!

And then a member of another house on the wheel takes control at the end, but he’s from the Good House...so it’s framed as a win!

Political Question Three: What happens when the rich ignore the poor / What happens when religious movements redirect class consciousness? 

This is one I really really wanted the series to get more into. The smallfolk are often talked about and seen in the background as the true victims in the wars that tear through Westeros. They suffer and starve and die because of things they had absolutely no say in, so a few people they’ll never meet can have a little power. And this tension between the poor and the rich was building throughout the series; the smallfolk were getting pissed the fuck off. That riot in King’s Landing where the poor literally tear the septon to pieces still gives me chills. 

And we finally, finally started to see this start to come to a head with the Sparrows. I think it’s really interesting that they chose to use a religious movement. Religious grifters often do swoop in during moments of desperation and steal the energy / direct people away from class consciousness to build their own power. And the poor are so desperate for something anything different that it becomes easy for these grifters to thrive. 

And the High Sparrow is this kind of religious grifter to his bones. It’s very interesting to me that when we finally learn his backstory, he wasn’t truly poor. He was a merchant, and one doing pretty okay. If Westeros had an emerging middle class, he was part of it. He wasn’t the lowest of the low in Flea Bottom; Gendry for example was likely worse off. But the Sparrow presents himself as of the poor, part of the poor, truly one of the people, and because of this he is able to build a shitton of power very quickly from smallfolk who are fed up with all the bullshit and want to see something anything done about it.

And I was very interested in this! Again, this is a good political problem to discuss; religious movements and charismatic grifters build power all the time by telling people that really they’re unhappy because of “these sinners or outsiders” and not because of the larger systemic issues. A LOT OF THAT has been happening lately. 

Like this was the moment that the political scheming of people like Cersei and her absolute lack of interest in helping the people she’d supposedly ruling should have come home to roost. I was interested to see what would happen; how that tension would be resolved, IF that tension could be resolved.

And then...Cersei just blows up the Sept of Baelor and apparently every single member of the reactionary religious movement was inside of it because it’s never really brought up again. 

There are no riots, no anger from the smallfolk at her destroying both the major religious figures AND the major religious site for a large chunk of Westeros. People still gladly flock to Cersei when Dany shows up with dragons, even though they KNOW Cersei is very willing to blow people up. It’s just..all dropped. Cersei spends the next several seasons drinking wine and wearing spiky dresses. 

Granted, there were a few big political issues that D&D still tried to discuss through the end but uhh...I don’t think they did very well. For example - 

They Tried! #1 - White Walkers = Climate Change and the Uselessness of the System as Usual in the Face of Existential Threats

So I do think D&D were kind of going for this a little bit, and it was certainly discussed a lot in all the blogs and meta posts leading up to season 8. And there was a lot of talk, especially in season 7, about how silly the petty political differences between Cersei and Dany were in the face of such a threat.

But the fact that the White Walkers were destroyed relatively easily all things considered, without fundamentally changing the existing power dynamic, without being forced to resolve the differences between Dany and Cersei...kind of ruins this whole parallel. Jon’s been saying throughout the whole series that they needed to fully unite to defeat the threat but uhh...they didn’t unite with Cersei and they still won so I guess it was all good! 

Don’t worry guys, we don’t need to fundamentally approach politics differently to deal with climate change, lets just go to Antartica and stab the carbon emissions monster in the heart!

And the fact that ultimately the main battle of the series, the finale of the series, was focused on the various ruling houses opposing each other...kind of ends up saying that the most important thing really is the petty politics after all. 

Well that’s a bad message!

They Tried! #2 - Dany the Imperialist

Now of all the political messages D&D were trying to get across in the series, I am absolutely 100% certain this one was intentional. They were trying to draw parallels between Dany and modern imperial regimes, specifically the US. 

It’s all over that last script, explicitly. The dragons have frequently been portrayed as weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons, and in the script here there is an explicit connection between the destruction of King’s Landing and Hiroshima, an atrocity committed by the US. In the finale script, they also use the phrase “they burned the village in order to save it” which is a famous quote from a US general regarding the destruction of a Vietnamese village by American troops during the Vietnam War. 

And Tyrion’s whole speech about Dany destroying evil men looking great from afar but horrible when you’re on the ground / closer to the reality of it has clear US parallels. The US often uses humanitarian justifications for war (taking out dictators, spreading democracy, etc) and does not much care about the atrocities the actual human beings who live in those countries face when their countries are torn apart by war (Afghanistan and Iraq are prime examples of this.)

They are very very clearly trying to make this parallel. To make a political point about how imperialism is bad. But Jesus Christ, it’s so muddled. 

For one, it’s uhhh not great that the perpetrators of these atrocities are largely non-white and the victims are members of a culture that closely parallels western Europe. Given that the way the last several hundred years have played out...it’s usually been the other way around. This shows a lack of care in D&D’s part in truly wrestling with this topic, a lack of interest in really dealing with real world politics and history. Just no interest exploring how imperialism and white supremacy, how the idea that “we come from a ‘superior culture’ so clearly we know what’s best and can go around the world doing as we please” are INCREDIBLY linked.

For two...it’s mostly just Dany that’s the problem. Jon doesn’t want to destroy King’s Landing, Varys doesn’t, Tyrion doesn’t. Grey Worm does, but he’s barely a character at this point in the story. They all give her like, a million outs. Especially the bells. And those bells ring, the battle is won, but Dany decides to go on her murder rampage anyway. 

The problem isn’t a system, it’s one person who has “the madness!” It’s one person being a psychotic dictator, and all the problems are solved when that person gets stabbed. 

Which is absolutely not how it works in real life. We didn’t just go to war in Afghanistan in Iraq because George Bush was a bad person. If we had, we would have been out when Obama got into office. The US went to war in those countries because of a giant system of war and profit, a system that benefits many many people, that has been built over the past several generations. The US went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, and stayed there, because weapons contractors wanted to be there so they could make money. Because oil companies and heavy mineral companies wanted the resources those countries had. Because the military itself has a huge amount influence over the government, and to justify their massive budget and continued influence they need to have things to do. The Afghanistan War continues loooong after the death of Osama Bin Laden because of a whole web of CEOs and lobbyists and generals and politicians, all of whom benefit from it. The problem is not one person. It’s a fundamental flaw in how the system is set up. How it rewards those who can buy influence. 

And it’s so so clear to me that D&D do not understand this. Like...even a little. They don’t think in terms of systems, just good people and bad people. That’s why the end of the series, which is still a fucking monarchy, is framed positively. Because it’s not the system of power that’s the problem, it’s just that bad people were in charge! But now the good people are in charge, so it’s all good!

They like talking about the tragedy of war, like referencing historical atrocities in scripts, like talking about how deep it all is. They love to talk about how they wanted to create a fantasy series grounded not in magic, but political reality. But they have no understanding of political reality beyond the most basic basic shit. Like war is bad dontcha know! Yeah, no shit!

So these two messed up the characters, they messed up the fantasy, but they also messed up the part they claimed to care about most, the politics. Because they’re dumbshits. 

Jesus this got long. If you read all this, thank you for listening to the ramblings I wrote while I should be working. 

[sawthefaeriequeen]

Various thoughts on “Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral“

1.I wasn’t expecting Goyo’s PTSD arc at all, but it makes so much sense for a 20-something who’s way too young to have led a fuckton of battles. “They were schoolboys/Never held a gun” and all that. Anyhow, it made for a great character study and emotional spine.

1.1 Goyo being haunted by the elder Bernal and other victims of war. Oof. I was holding my breath through every single attack. I only really know Paulo Avelino from heartthrob type roles (but of course, this was one of those rare times that casting a kilig-type actor as a historical figure was exactly right!) so I didn’t know what to expect, but he did a really  good job portraying someone in the constant grip of war flashbacks.

1.2 I’d read about the skinny dipping incident in…was it Joaquin or Kalaw’s book? I forget. There I was, thinking it’d be used as a comedic moment; boys just having fun before they head off to war, yay!…and then BOOM, a wild death foreshadowing appears! Oookay.

1.3 Really, it was all so very: I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory/When’s it gonna get me? I wouldn’t be surprised if Tarrog was inspired by Hamilton, which rose up (heh) in the time between Goyo and Luna’s releases.

2. Alejandrino was awesome in general. Alvin Anson makes some truly excellent I Am So Done With Everybody’s Shit But Especially  White Colonizers And A Certain Up-His-Own-Ass President faces.

3. Oh, Joven. The embodiment of “stale cinnamon roll, been in this world too long, too cynical.” He looked SO weary and jaded at the start of the film, so different from his bright-eyed and bushy-tailed self in Heneral Luna that I actually whipped out my phone midway to check if it was still Arron playing him. (It was.)

3.1 One of my favorite scenes was Goyo doing his peacock dance for Remedios contrasted with Joven going through all the love letters from all of Goyo’s exes. My friend and I were like “duuuude. That’s…that’s a lot of heartbroken girls.”

3.2 Other favorite scene was when they’re all exhausted and camped out in the mountain, and Joven looks on at the hopelessness but then catches Goyo’s journal-words about his love for his country and smiles. <3

4. Gwen Zamora was really good at being steely and firm and saying hell no to Goyo’s honeyed words, haha. I wish we’d gotten to know Remedios more. Also…am I missing something? Wasn’t her sister, Dolores, historically his actual sweetheart? Which they tried to account for by having her give him the sister’s handkerchief, but still*. Anyway, I sort of feel like she was speaking for the audience/Pinoys when she was saying that she wanted to love a Human Being and not someone who was a Hero and A Symbol.

4.1 *of course the likely historical explanation is that Goyo fooled around with both sisters. Snerk.

5. I also liked Felicidad and her classy shade-throwing a lot! I wanted way more of her. Clearly, Tarrog or someone else needs to shed the spotlight on women of the revolution. I’d kill for an introspective Gregoria de Jesus flick set in the early days of the Katipunan, let me tell you.

6. I thought I’d hate Julian, and then I really liked Julian? Idk. Loved the whole repeating exchange of “Sino ka?”/”Agila.” between the del Pilar brothers. Also, where the heck did he go there at the end? It just doesn’t make sense, storywise, to have a big brother mentor figure, only to have him just disappear. He should’ve been beside Vicente there, at the grave. Or heck, at least show a shot of him receiving the news that his beloved baby brother died holding down the line in a distant mountain.

6.1  I’m SO glad the actual “agila” symbol belonged to Goyo himself. For some reason, I thought it’d be (stupidass) Aguinaldo, lmfao.

7. Vicente was my favorite. Look, it’s not my fault Carlo Aquino is flipping great in everything he acts in, okay?! Anyway I love how he was the group’s conscience, and that he looks after Joven**, and that it takes only one look from him for Goyo to lower his fists…but that he is also a hardass who will absolutely cuss out and raise his gun at any comrade who tries to escape battle.

7.1 **which, um. Joven/Vicente is a ship, right? IT IS, RIGHT? I know a lot of folks came away from Heneral Luna with shippy feels for certain people, fictional or historical, and while I supported fandom having fun, I never really got similar ~feels…until now. The last straw was when Vicente told a dude that he was screwed if anything happened to Joven during battle, like. Ka Enteng. Dude. Calm down. Quell your heart eyes.  And “Brigada Joven,” seriously? Anyway, please tell me there’s fic!

7.2 (Shippy thoughts aside, I also kind of felt it was hinted that Joven wasn’t straight. Yeah, he could just be a flop at flirting with women, but then there’s that scene where he just sits back and dazedly watches all his guy friends skinny-dipping, and, uhhh. I dunno, is it just me?)

8. Speaking of ships, someone needs to make a We Are Never, Ever, Ever Getting Back Together crack fanvid starring Aguinaldo and Mabini.

9. The iconic Battle of Tirad Pass was both exactly what I thought it’d be and really not what I thought it’d be. I…hmmm. I’m gonna have to rewatch to form a more concrete opinion. I’m just gonna say that I’m totally satisfied with how the death scene was done, and the crushing defeat after.

10. When Garcia tells Goyo that leaders may come and go but this land is forever… well, pardon my French, but: fuck me. My heart.  My friend was crying through a lot of the film because, in her words “oh God, our country got so screwed and is still so screwed, and nothing has changed and is it ever going to change?” Yeah, big mood.

Much of this movie was about deconstruction and asking the question: what makes a hero? Was Gregorio del Pilar a hero? My answer to that is: well he certainly loved this country more than *I* do most of these days, and he died for it too.          

[modestmuses-a]

5, 6, 11, 18, 21, 23, 26, 30, 34, 35, 43, 50 - ekko

//CAS I ALREADY DON’T SHUT UP ABOUT THIS BOY AS IT IS.  WHY WOULD YOU ENCOURAGE ME AND SUBJECT MY FOLLOWERS TO THIS??  i’m gonna have to fuckin readmore this for length because Christ…

Unusual Headcanons | accepting

5. How many blankets / pillows do they like to have on their bed?

One of each.  When it’s exceptionally warm out, you can nix the blanket.  Although, “blanket” is kind of a strong word for it.  It’s really more of a threadbare rag at this point.  When it gets cold out, he does think, “Hm, I better replace this,” but then he immediately forgets about it upon waking up and getting on with his day.

6. What do they normally dream about?  Nightmares or nonsense?

Thanks to time travel fucking with his circadian rhythm, it’s very rare for Ekko to get any more than three or four hours of sleep at a time.  More on that here.

But his terrible non-existent sleeping patterns, coupled with a whole host of repressed negative emotions that he hasn’t properly worked through because he doesn’t want to burden anyone with his problems, mean his nightmares are frequent and severe.  Usually of the ridiculously gory variety.  His nightmares typically end with him dying in some over-the-top, Final-Destination-esque way.

(Speaking of, my favorite death from those movies is from the third one, where the girl stumbles backwards into a nail gun and takes several nails through the back of her skull right out the front of her face.)

If you were to watch them, like, as a horror movie, some of them might be laughable.  (If you’re into that sort of thing.)  And indeed, he does try to laugh some of them off, although whether it’s genuine laughter or him trying to put on a brave face and again refusing to acknowledge that he’s got Issues is up for debate.

11. Bar soap or liquid?  Do they like loofahs?

Bar soap.  No loofahs.

18. Do they prefer cats or dogs?  Or neither?

Ekko doesn’t really have a preference!  He’ll drop scraps down to stray animals when he has the scraps to spare, and he’s made a number of furry friends of both species this way.  Sometimes, you’ll just see random animals tailing him as he walks through the city, ‘cause they’re hoping to get more food out of him.  He feels guilty when he doesn’t have anything to give them.

21. Did they have any fears growing up that they’ve since conquered?

Ekko used to be afraid of trees when he was younger and would always hold his breath when he walked by the cultivair.  This is because he heard a story about a man who accidentally inhaled a tree seed and ended up growing a tree in his lung.  He now knows that it’s ridiculous to be afraid of trees for that reason since the odds of it happening to him are infinitesimally small, but he’ll still tell people the story of Ol’ Tree Lung whenever they pass the cultivair, regardless of how many times his present company has heard it before.  Most of his friends are sick to death of Ol’ Tree Lung by now.

23. How do they show fear?  Sweating, shaking, blankness, anger, etc?

Ekko shakes something fierce when he gets scared.  He also starts stammering and messing up sentences on account of his brain working much faster than his mouth.  He’ll start a sentence and not finish it.  Tries to restart the sentence slightly different this time and doesn’t finish that one either.  Starts a sentence, cuts it off, starts a different sentence about a completely different thought, loses track of that one, too.

desperately tries not to cry

26. What are they most passionate about?  What could they debate about for hours?

Ekko is passionate about… eating the rich.  When are we bringing back the guillotine again?? kfhdgkdf

No, but seriously, Ekko is pretty adamant about “Capitalism sucks” and believes that the best use of wealth is providing for those less fortunate than you.  He doesn’t have a lot, but he’s always using what he does have to help the Lost Children and his parents first and himself second.  He sees people living these lives of luxury, and it makes him sick ‘cause he’s just like… *gestures @ starving orphans* “Y’all wanna like… maybe do something about this sometime?”

He believes that no one should have that much money for any reason because they should be putting it towards making society a better place instead of just… sitting on it.  There is a reason I associate Billy Talent with him (and why “Man Alive!” is his main verse tag) and it’s because they have a lot of songs that just absolutely shit all over capitalism.  I made a playlist for Ekko, and the first four songs on it are Billy Talent criticizing capitalism for the flawed, soul-sucking system that it is.  (Three of the four are from the Dead Silence album.)

Anyway, Billy Talent tangent aside since I can’t control myself…

On April Fool’s, there were a couple IC posts of rich characters saying, “Rich people don’t have rights!” but then claiming to be exceptions to the rule.  Like, one of them said, “I have rights ‘cause I didn’t choose to be rich.  I was just born into a rich family.”

And let me tell you, I had to physically restrain Ekko ‘cause he was p i s s e d.  He was in time-out that day, haha!  “Oh, I’m so sorry, it must be so hard for you to have been born into a life of privilege,” he fumes to himself in the little corner I’ve trapped him in.  “NONE OF YOU ARE EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULE!  NONE OF YOU HAVE RIGHTS!  AND WHEN THE REVOLUTION COMES, YOU’RE GOING TO THE GUILLOTINE WITH THE REST OF ‘EM!”

Me, desperately trying to calm him down like, “No, no, shh, look at the date!  It’s probably just a joke!”

He’s like, “IT FUCKING BETTER BE.”

Tl;dr: Nothing gets Ekko riled quite like rich people being shitty and annoying.

I was also going to mention that Ekko’s passionate about maintaining hope and will argue the importance of not giving up and not letting bad situations turn you into a bad person, but this answer is already hella long, so here’s a brief passing mention of it lmao

30. Is there something about their personality they want to change?

Ekko is… angry deep down.  Or maybe not even so deep down.  Maybe right there, just under his skin.  And he wishes he wasn’t.

He often questions his own goodness, wondering if he’s not just Fake Nice to conceal the wretched thing he actually is.  If you skim the top layer of sweetness off of him, you’re left with this horrid, bitter, hateful little beast.  Or that’s what he thinks sometimes, anyway.

Whether it’s justified or it isn’t, anger is such an ugly emotion, and he’s worried it’s going to cause him to hurt someone he cares about someday.

I often worry about my portrayal of Ekko and how damn inconsistent it is sometimes ‘cause in one thread, he’s this sweet helpful angel who wants to do his best, and in another thread, he’s more bitter than the blackest coffee, but like.  This be why.  He’s a good person.  Just deep down, he’s angry about A Lot, but even deeper down, he’s an even better person.  He feels like his anger is the thing standing between him and being the best person he can be, and he wishes he could get rid of it, but alas, it seems to be stuck to him.

I mean, maybe it wouldn’t be if he ever bothered to resolve any of his Issues, but y’know.  Helping others comes first, so :’)  He’ll worry about helping himself when he’s dead.

34. Are they the jealous type?  What are they most likely to be jealous of?

Hmm, I wouldn’t say Ekko is much of the jealous type, no.  Like, his anger towards rich folks isn’t because he’s jealous of their lifestyle or wants what they have.  It’s because he wants them to be decent fucking people for once.  It doesn’t make sense to a lot of people, but he’s content stomping around in the gutters.  He does wish things were easier on his parents, but he can’t complain about the life of freedom he’s been allowed to lead up to this point.

He doesn’t really get jealous of other people’s relationships either.  Like, I mentioned in a reply to Draven that in the Academy verse, Ekko has a crush on Ahri.  (But only in the Academy verse.)  But like, he doesn’t really get jealous when she dates other guys.  In fact, he expects it.  He hasn’t said anything about his crush on Ahri (although it’s probably a bit obvious), and he’s never going to because he doesn’t expect anything to come of it.  He lowkey doesn’t want anything to come of it because he feels like it’ll just make the dynamics in their friend group weird.  So, really, he’s got no problem with her dating whoever she wants.

35. Are they possessive over their things?  Or over other people?  Both?

The only thing Ekko is especially possessive of is the Zero Drive, for obvious reasons.  It’d be just… the worst to have that fall into the wrong hands.  Time travel is a huge responsibility, Ekko says as he abuses the shit out of it to skip class and get infinite Halloween candy.  Can you imagine what would happen if any of the shadier characters in LoL had the ability to time travel??

He isn’t particularly possessive over the rest of his things, though, and he’ll frequently give stuff up to people he feels could use it more.

As for people… I wouldn’t call him possessive, so much as protective.  He might seem a bit possessive of his friends at times, but it’s only because he’s trying to keep them out of trouble.  Whenever he tells people, “I don’t want you hanging out with so-and-so,” it’s not because he’s being possessive, it’s because so-and-so has Bad Vibes written all over them.

In the modern/K/DA verse, he’s friends with Akali before she gets famous.  She ran away from the dojo and lived on the streets for a while, and it was there that she met Ekko, and honestly, he probably did a lot more than he realizes to keep her out of trouble.  Who knows what kind of bullshit her dumb ass would have gotten into if she hadn’t been trying to set as good of an example for Ekko as she could?

Anyway, modern verse Ekko despises modern verse Shen.  Akali gets back in touch with Shen, and Ekko is extremely vocal about how terrible he finds this whole idea.

And it’s not that he’s possessive of Akali.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite.  When she needed to leave him to join K/DA, he let her go ‘cause he understood that was her big dream and it wouldn’t have been fair to keep her there.  She was destined for better things, and he wanted to see her get off the streets.

But it’s just that… he’s heard stories about the way she was treated at the dojo, so when she tells him she got back in touch with Shen, he gets pissed and tells her that she can’t expect him to support her ripping open old wounds.  He’s just scared that Shen’s going to hurt her again, so when she tries to introduce the two of them to each other, Ekko’s cold towards Shen at best and openly hostile towards him at worst.  He might be inclined to strangle the guy if Akali didn’t have herself situated between them in a somewhat fruitless effort to ease the tension.

43. Do they like living alone or with another person / other people?

Ahaha, Ekko is a huge people-person, actually!  I think he’d just die if he had to live alone.  A big reason he spends so much time away from home and out on the streets is because his parents are never home, and the house feels too empty without them.  He’ll roll back home in the evening, when his parents are getting off work, to enjoy their company for a bit before they both pass out, but unless somebody else is there, he doesn’t want to be either.

If he had to live alone, there wouldn’t be any point in him having a house or anything ‘cause he’d literally never stay there.  He’d always be out chasing adventure and other people’s company.

50. Where do they see themselves in 2 / 5 / 10 years?

God, this is hard because the thing is that Ekko is terrible at making plans for the future, especially long-term plans.  Thinking about the future causes him major stress, especially when he thinks of possibilities that might involve him relinquishing some of his freedom, which is a lot.  Like, he has no desire to go to school or join the workforce - at least not in any sort of traditional way - or any of that, and the fact that he’s not going to be 16 forever is just something that he prefers not to think about!

Anyway, let’s take a crack at it, nonetheless…

In two years, Ekko hopes to have worked up the courage to tell his parents he doesn’t want to go to the academy in Piltover.  Listen… he’s working on it.  But like, he thinks at least part of the reason they work so hard is because they’re trying to put money back to send him to school, and… he’s really torn about it.  He’d feel guilty if they kept working to send him to school without knowing he doesn’t want to go, but he’d also feel guilty if he told them he doesn’t want to go and crushed all their hopes and dreams.  So, really, it is a lose-lose.

But hey, two years is plenty of time to work up the courage, right?

In five years, Ekko’s unsure of whether he’ll still be living with his parents or not.  He knows that he wants to get them into a nicer house, and as such, he’ll likely have to find some way to make money other than thievery.  So, he might consider commercializing an invention or two.

He knows his parents are fond of Piltover for whatever reason, and he would reluctantly let them go there, if they wanted.  That’s why he isn’t sure if he’ll still be living with them or not because if they do choose to go to Piltover, he’s absolutely staying behind in Zaun.  He wants them to be happy, but he’s not going to abandon Zaun like that.  Plus, he can still come visit sometimes, so it’s like… whatever.

He would also like to make a little more progress on the Z-Drive by this point, maybe getting it to the point where he can go back days instead of only minutes.  Just in case.  You never know when that thing you did three days ago is gonna come back around to bite you in the ass.

In ten years, he’ll be 26 and probably (sadly) a bit old to be running around doing dumb teenager things.  Still, he can’t see himself abandoning the Lost Children.  They’ll still need someone, you know?  A large part of his mission with the Lost Children has become keeping them out of trouble, more or less.  The bad kind of trouble, anyway.  Keeping them away from chem-punks and out of the factories and away from drugs and potentially dangerous augmentations, so on and so forth.

He’d like to keep doing that, keep helping kids stay out of bad situations.  Maybe start some sort of home for them, where they can come get a bed and a warm meal.  Or something like a school, but where they’re allowed to study what they want and hone the skills they think will be most useful to them, instead of some arbitrary curriculum they’re not even interested in.  Maybe a bit ambitious for only ten years, but… he hopes to at least be on his way to that sort of thing by then.

He wants to see Zaun be a better place, and children are the future, and he doesn’t want to see any of them fall through the cracks.  If there’s any hope for Zaun to get better - and he believes there is - it starts with its children being happy and safe.

So, his plans are currently:

Tell his parents he doesn’t want to go to the academy.

Get his parents somewhere nicer ‘cause they deserve it.

Improve time travel maybe.

Find a way to get as many children out of harm’s way as humanly possible.

And that’s basically it.

[amar3141-blog]

The shocking truth about sugar!

The shocking fact about Sugar Worried you’re consuming an excessive amount of sugar? Wondering how a lot is suitable for eating? Or whether or not it’s dangerous for you… it doesn't matter what? It’s time we took a clear-headed take a look at this subject. It’s time you heard the reality about sugar. ++++ Is sugar “good”? Is sugar “bad”? It’s onerous to know for positive lately. Which is attention-grabbing as a result of… Sugar is a basic molecule in biology. Human our bodies want sugar.

Sugar Sugar makes up the spine of our DNA. It helps energy our cells. It helps retailer vitality for later. Plants convert daylight into sugar. We convert sugar into gasoline. Molecules like glucose and fructose (simply two of the numerous kinds of sugar) are so primary to our organic wants, even microorganisms love them. Indeed, sugar’s the breakfast of champions, chemically talking. Yet, someplace alongside the way in which, sugar grew to become the dangerous man. Why did we begin hating on sugar? When did we begin eager to purge it from our bodies? Why do a few of us concern it a lot? At this level… will we simply want a little bit of relationship counseling? Or is it a poisonous relationship? Is it time to half methods? The fact is, that is a tough dialog to have as a result of… Almost all of us are emotionally invested in our place on sugar. How a lot of sugar is OK to eat? Yes, we’re biased too. At Precision Nutrition, we usually contemplate ‘nutritional agnostics’. (Case in level: our view on the very best eating regimen.) We assist individuals to turn out to be their healthiest, fittest, strongest selves—in an approach that works for his or her distinctive lives and our bodies. In our work with over 100,000 shoppers, we’ve realized a number of issues… … that one dimension doesn’t match all, … that an all-or-nothing method doesn’t work for most individuals, … that health and health habits must be doable on your worst day, not simply your finest. So right here’s our bias in this article. We observe the complexities of vitamin proof as finest we are able to, all the time decoding them by means of the lens of: But first, let’s get to know our sugars. What is sugar? Most of us consider “sugar” because of the white stuff we put in espresso, or possibly what makes up 90% of these colored marshmallow cereals. However, “sugar” is definitely a gaggle of molecules that share the same construction. So we would truly name them “sugars”, plural. This group consists of a number of members reminiscent of: glucose fructose sucrose, aka desk sugar (which is glucose + fructose) maltose (which is glucose + glucose) galactose lactose (galactose + glucose, present in dairy) And so on. Sugars naturally happen in biology and in most meals (even when simply in hint quantities). For instance, right here’s what the breakdown of sugars seems to be like in a banana: There is, after all, far more sugar in processed and refined meals than in less-processed and unrefined meals. (We’ll come again to this vital level in a second.) Sugars reside below the bigger umbrella of “carbohydrates”. Along with the candy stuff, this macronutrient group additionally consists of: starches (like in potatoes or rice), fiber (just like the husks of entire grains), and structural constructing blocks like chitin (which makes up the shells of crustaceans) or cellulose (which makes up issues just like the trunks of bushes). The extra advanced the molecule, the slower it digests. Sugars, that are less complicated, digest extra shortly. Starches and fiber, that are greater, extra sophisticated molecules, digest extra slowly, if in any respect. (This is why consuming extra fiber may also help us really feel fuller, longer.) Most carbohydrates are literally damaged down into less complicated sugars as soon as they’re digested. Other carbohydrates (reminiscent of insoluble fiber) don’t actually get damaged down nor absorbed absolutely, though our intestinal microorganisms usually love munching on them. So: Sugars are a sort of carbohydrate, however, not all carbohydrates are sugars. And some carbohydrates break down shortly/simply into sugars. Others don’t. This level is vital to know, as a result of it tells us that not all carbohydrates do precisely the identical issues in our bodies. Evolution has helpfully given us the flexibility to “taste” sugar. Sugar-type molecules react with receptors on our tongue, which then informs our mind “OM NOM NOM DELICIOUS!” Sugar tastes good to us, as a result of in nature, candy meals like fruits are sometimes full of excellent stuff like nutritional vitamins, minerals, and vitality. But we differ in our physiology and habits. In all issues, people are numerous and variable. Some of us like and hunt down sugar greater than others. This could also be genetic. Or we might have realized it as we grew up. Or each. For instance, a few of us like sugar in small doses; we are able to solely eat a little bit earlier than pushing the dessert plate away. While others prefer it lots; the extra we eat the extra we wish. The concept of “too much sugar” doesn’t compute. Likewise, a few of our bodies appear higher suited to sugar than others. For instance, a few of us can eat sugar all day lengthy and really feel high-quality. While others can solely tolerate a little bit earlier than our pancreas (which secretes insulin, a hormone that helps sugar get into the cells) tells us to knock it off. In common, most of us like no less than some sweetness. When we’re younger, we have a tendency to love sweetness extra and keep away from bitter meals extra. Yet every particular person’s response to sugar and candy style is exclusive. With that mentioned, let’s get again to the questions at hand. Starting with… Question #1: Does sugar trigger weight problems? The time period “obese” (or “overweight”) is, like sugar, a contentious factor. In this text we’ll use it only for the aim of debate, so bear with us. The World Health Organization defines “obese” as having a Body Mass Index larger than 30. Of course, some match athletes (like heavyweight boxers or rugby gamers) may need the next BMI however nonetheless have a low physique fats proportion. However, for most folk, having a BMI larger than 30 signifies that they have a higher-than-average degree of physique fats.  (Indeed, some research that correlate BMI with physique fats testing counsel that BMI might even underestimate how a lot physique fats an individual has.) When it involves weight problems, there have all the time been people who find themselves heavier, and/or who've extra physique fats, than most people like them. However, over the past, a number of a long time, “average people” in industrialized international locations have gotten heavier, greater, and gained extra physique fats pretty quickly. It’s now statistically “normal”. Although this shift is going on worldwide, and there are variations by ethnic group and socioeconomic class, it’s significantly noticeable as a common pattern within the United States.  Along with physique weights, we are able to take a look at modifications in physique fat proportion and total health ranges. Here, we additionally see that over time, physique fat proportion has gone up, and health ranges have gone down. Currently, within the United States, the common physique fats proportion for males is around 28%, and the common for ladies is around 40%. For comparability: In common, 11-22% for males, and between 22-33% physique fats for ladies, is taken into account a “healthy” vary. Lower than that's nonetheless “healthy” (to a degree), however usually thought of “athletic” or “lean”. Does elevated sugar consumption clarify physique weight traits? Could sugar be liable for altering physique weights and physique compositions in industrialized international locations? By reviewing information from the USDA Economic Research Service, National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), in addition to Food Frequency Questionnaires from the long-running Framingham Heart Study, we are able to observe meals consumption from a number of angles. These various streams of information all present pretty constant traits. They inform us that, since 1980, Americans: Continued to eat the identical whole quantity of fats. (Though they often ate much less naturally-occurring fat, like in entire fats dairy, and ate extra added fat, like oils.) Ate extra carbohydrates. (Especially refined ones that included added sugars.) So, as a p.c of whole energy consumed, fats dropped. But we didn’t find yourself consuming much less fats. We simply added extra sugar and different carbs on high of the fats we have been already consuming. This added as much as roughly 200-400 additional energy per day. In phrases of energy, that’s like consuming an additional McDonald’s hamburger or a double cheeseburger, on high of your current meals, daily. Whether this energy got here from sugar might be irrelevant. This elevated vitality consumption alone, mixed with reducing charges of each day bodily exercise, might be sufficient to clarify individuals getting heavier. Yes, however, how would possibly sugar play a job? We can’t say that sugar particularly was the wrongdoer behind the weight problems surge for everybody. (Remember, people, fluctuate.) But our elevated sugar consumption does appear to correlate with continued weight problems ranges… up till lately. For about 4 hundred years, human beings have been having fun with increasingly more sugar. Once Europeans found tropical buying and selling routes and arrange low-cost slave labor economies to lift sugar cane, sugar grew to become increasingly more obtainable to the common particular person. Indeed, sugar shortly grew to become the meals of the poor. (It was mentioned that the whole working class of the British Isles lived on jam and sugared tea through the Industrial Revolution.) As a primary colonial energy, the British as soon as claimed the title of greatest sugar shoppers. Per yr, the common Brit consumed: Four lbs (1.Eight kg) in 1704. 18 lbs (8.2 kg) in 1800. 90 lbs (40.Eight kg) in 1901. However, as soon as they obtained rolling as a rustic, Americans weren’t far behind. Per yr, the common American consumed: 6 lbs (2.7 kg) of sugar in 1822. 40 lbs (18.1 kg) in 1900. 90 lbs (40.Eight kg) by the 1920s. There was a subsequent drop as a result of the Great Depression & World War II. 90 lbs per particular person once more by the 1980s. Then they actually took off: By 1999, the US reached peak sugar consumption of almost 108 lbs (49 kg) of sugar per particular person per yr. Between 1980-1999 Americans ate extra sugar. And weight problems charges obtained larger. But then one thing modified: Our sugar consumption truly began to lower. Interestingly, since 1999 by means of 2013 (most up-to-date information obtainable) consumption of added sugar has truly declined by 18% (or as a lot as 22%, relying on the info). This drop has introduced Americans’ present added sugar consumption again all the way down to 1987 ranges. And throughout this time, whole carbohydrate consumption has dropped as effectively. (Makes sense, as this was the daybreak of the low-carb phenomenon.) Nevertheless, although sugar and carb consumption has declined over these 14 years, grownup weight problems have continued to climb—from 31% of the American inhabitants in 1999 to 38% as of 2013. (Diabetes diagnoses have continued to climb as effectively, which we’ll handle in a second.) So, regardless of decreasing sugar consumption by almost 20% over a 14 yr interval, weight problems (and diabetes) charges have continued to climb. Along with intercourse, ethnic, and socioeconomic variations in weight problems charges, this implies that altering physique sizes and compositions might be a posh, multi-factored phenomenon. The bottom line right here: No single factor—together with sugar—causes weight problems. Many elements work collectively to contribute to a constant vitality (calorie) surplus, which finally results in fats acquire. One of these issues is usually sugar, however not all the time, and never alone. Question #2: Does sugar trigger us to realize weight/fats? So, we are able to’t unequivocally blame sugar for elevated weight problem charges. But many people are nonetheless questioning whether or not sugar is a gateway to fats acquire. It appears logical. Carb and sugar consumption are the principal drivers of insulin launch. Insulin’s job is to assist retailer vitamins, together with fats. Therefore, it appears apparent. Carbs and sugar trigger fats acquire, proper? Once once more, our scientist pals reveal that it’s a bit extra sophisticated than that. Let’s check out a few research that discovers this query. Study 1: How do carbs, sugar, and/or insulin launch have an effect on physique fats? In 2015, a small pilot research was performed by Dr. Kevin Hall to analyze the carb/sugar/insulin mannequin of weight problems. What occurs if we preserve energy and protein the identical, however, play with dietary sugar and fats ranges? Here’s how the research labored. 19 contributors needed to reside in a metabolic ward, the place the researchers managed nearly every part about how they lived, what they ate, and so on. The contributors tried each decrease carbohydrate (LC) and decrease fats (LF) diets. They adopted every eating regimen for 2 weeks, separated by a 2-Four week interval throughout which they returned to regular consumption. All contributors spent the primary 5 days of both the low-carb or low-fat diets following a baseline plan of 50% carbs, 35% fats, and 15% protein. This was executed so that every one contributor began on a good taking part in the area with an consumption that nearly matches what the common American eats. Each participant needed to train on a treadmill for one hour daily for the complete two weeks, to ensure bodily exercise ranges have been constant and equal. After the primary 5 days, each team had their energy lowered by 30% from the baseline eating regimen (1918 energy vs 2740 energy). They then ate a decrease in calorie eating regimen for six days. With each diet, vitality consumption (i.e. energy) and protein have been saved identical. Only carbs and fats went up or down. Lower carbohydrate: 101 g protein (21% of calls). 108 g fats (50% of calls). 140 g carbohydrate (29% of calls). Lower fats: 105 g protein (21% of energy). 17 g of fats (8% of energy). 352 g carbohydrate (71% of energy). Let’s take a more in-depth take a look at how a lot the research contributors truly ate. On the decrease carbohydrate eating regimen: Of their carbohydrates, 37 g was sugar. This signifies that 8% of all energy has been coming from sugar. This is far lower than the common American eats. On the decrease fats eating regimen: Of their carbohydrates, 170 g was sugar. This signifies that 35% of all their energy has been coming from sugar. That is a lot of sugar. So what occurred? Insulin manufacturing: On the Lower Carbohydrate eating regimen, individuals produced 22% much less insulin all through the day. The Lower Fat eating regimen didn’t change insulin output in any respect, because it had the identical whole carbs and even barely extra sugar than the baseline eating regimen. Bodyweight: People on the Lower Carbohydrate eating regimen misplaced Four lbs (1.81 kg) of physique weight, and 1.16 lbs (0.53 kg) of physique fats. People on the Lower Fat eating regimen misplaced Three lbs (1.36 kg) of physique weight, which included 1.29 lbs (0.59 kg) of physique fats. Note that physique weight loss doesn’t essentially equal physique fats loss. We may also lose physique weight from dropping glycogen, water, and/or physique protein—and that’s precisely what occurred to the individuals on the Lower Carb eating regimen. They misplaced extra total physique weight, however, they truly misplaced much less fats. (Though a distinction of 0.13 lbs is irrelevant within the large image. Who would discover that?) Meanwhile, the parents on the Lower Fat eating regimen misplaced extra physique fats however much less whole weight as a result of their physique was busy burning fats (relatively than glycogen or lean physique mass) to satisfy its calorie wants. After these outcomes have been in, the researchers then ran validated mathematical fashions that confirmed over longer intervals of time (say, longer than 6 months), the fats loss between the 2 teams could be roughly equal. In different phrases, there was no explicit physiological benefit to both eating regimen when it comes to physique weight, nor physique fats loss, over the long term. Study 2: Fine, let’s go decrease. For this second research, the sport obtained hardcore: Drop the carbs and sugar a lot decrease for the Lower Carbohydrate group, simply to ensure the minimal variations discovered within the first research hadn’t been as a result of the carbs and sugar weren’t low sufficient. Here’s how this second research labored: 17 obese or overweight individuals participated. First, they adopted a high-carb however calorically-restricted baseline eating regimen for Four weeks (with 25% of energy from sugar). Then, they spent four weeks on a very-low-carb ketogenic eating regimen (with 2% of energy from sugar), with equal energy to the baseline eating regimen. So what occurred? The researchers discovered that everybody misplaced weight and fats all through the research. However, when topics switched from the high-carb, 25%-sugar baseline eating regimen to the ketogenic, 2%-sugar eating regimen, fats loss truly slowed down for the primary few weeks. Much just like the earlier research, this occurred as a result of as individuals our bodies tailored to the ketogenic eating regimen, they have been extra more likely to break down fat-free mass and protein shops (e.g. muscle). Thus: Weight loss went quicker through the ketogenic section, because of dropping glycogen and water. But physique fat loss was truly much less throughout this section (although not tremendously so, and it possibly wouldn’t make any vital distinction over time). Overall, the researchers acknowledged that primarily based on the present proof, in addition to their validated mathematical fashions, long-term physique fats loss would possibly be very related between the excessive sugar (high-carb) eating regimen and the low sugar (low-carb) eating regimen. In different phrases, the quantity of sugar didn’t appear to affect the outcomes. In the top, these, plus different research, appear to assist the concept that: Sugar, carbohydrate consumption, and/or insulin alone most likely aren’t the principal drivers of weight acquire. Other analysis evaluating low-carb diets to low-fat diets has discovered related outcomes. The similar outcomes have additionally been discovered with: Meta-analyses: Big opinions of different research. These kinds of information are thought of among the many most sturdy as they discover plenty of experiments from a wider perspective, pulling in proof from dozens and even a whole bunch of research to attempt to attract conclusions. Systematic opinions: Methodologically rigorous comparisons and important analyses of different research. These sorts of opinions are additionally thought of helpful, as a result of they take a skeptical perspective, on the lookout for errors. There have been no less than 20 managed in-patient feeding research the place protein and energy are saved equal, however, carbs are diversified from 20% to 75% of whole energy (and sugar intakes ranged considerably as effectively). Of all this research, none of them discovered any really vital variations in physique fats ranges when individuals have been consuming both excessive carb (and excessive sugar) or low carb (and low sugar) diets. In different phrases, so long as protein and energy have been equal, the quantity of sugar individuals ate didn’t make a distinction. There have been no less than 12 different systematic opinions and meta-analyses revealed over the previous 10+ years on long-term low-carb diets (that are invariably additionally low-sugar diets). Of these 12 opinions: Three have been in favor of low-carb Three have been in favor of non-low-carb comparisons (e.g. low fats, Mediterranean, vegan, low glycemic index, and so on.) 6 have been impartial, which means they concluded that numerous approaches may be equally legitimate and efficient. Yes, however, how would possibly sugar play a job? Sweet meals might enhance vitality consumption. In 2013, an evaluation commissioned by the World Health Organization investigated how sugar affected fats acquire. It discovered that growing sugar consumption can enhance physique weight, and decreasing sugar consumption can lower physique weight… however solely by altering vitality steadiness, not by any physiological or metabolic impact of sugar itself. In different phrases, if we eat extra sugary meals, we are likely to be consuming extra vitality (i.e. energy) in total. Sweet meals are sometimes processed and extremely palatable. This is particularly true as a result of most high-sugar meals are refined, tasty, and onerous to cease consuming. We digest and soak up the vitality they include shortly and simply, they overstimulate the reward/pleasure facilities in our mind, and we are inclined to overeat them. Plus, hidden sugars in processed meals (like yogurt, granola, juice) and even so-called “health foods” / “fitness foods” can add up quickly without us even realizing it. These meals and our mind’s response to them, not the sugar by itself, can usually result in overconsumption. So the sugar itself could also be much less of a wrongdoer than the truth that many people simply can’t give up at only one gummi bear or sip of soda. What else is occurring, in addition to sugar consumption? Most of our shoppers who wrestle with their weight, physique fats, consuming habits, and health inform us: It’s not simply in regards to the meals. There are many elements concerned: stress, sleep, metabolic health, way of life, social surroundings, and so forth. Sugar alone doesn't clarify the complexity of our bodies’ health, perform, fats proportion, nor weight. Metabolism is sophisticated. And, as all the time, do not forget that individuals fluctuate in response to explicit diets. Some individuals do higher with larger carbohydrates and decrease fat. Some do higher the opposite approach spherical. This is probably going because of genetic variations, particular person satiety variations from fat vs carbs, private preferences, and probably even variations within the bacterial populations in our GI tracts. The above research doesn’t present onerous and quick guidelines that can all the time apply to everybody. This is particularly true on condition that many research populations have been small and possibly related when it comes to age, intercourse, ethnicity, and different vital elements that may have an effect on our physiological response to a given eating regimen. But they do point out that sugar is not some form of unusually evil substance that causweightthe ht to acquire oppreventsat statistics Question #3: Does sugar trigger diabetes? Diabetes is an illness the place we are able to correctly regulate the sugar in our blood. It appears logical, then, that consuming extra sugar would possibly enhance our danger for diabetes, significantly Type 2 diabetes, also referred to as adult-onset diabetes. Unlike Type 1 diabetes, which usually begins in childhood and is taken into account an autoimmune illness (through which our personal our bodies assault wholesome cells of our pancreas, which usually produces insulin), Type 2 diabetes usually begins later in life and (amongst different elements) is linked to long-term meals and train behaviors. Type 2 diabetes usually begins with insulin resistance or impaired glucose management. This signifies that over time, insulin is much less and fewer in a position to do its job of transferring glucose into our cells for protected storage. Your physician would possibly check this with numerous blood assessments, reminiscent of an A1c check, which measures how a lot of sugar is being carried around on hemoglobin, a blood protein. Type 2 diabetes (in addition to different metabolic ailments) is additionally associated with how a lot of fats we now have in our livers and in or round different organs (reminiscent of our hearts and kidneys). There does appear to be a hyperlink between how a lot of refined sugar we eat and insulin resistance. Eating an excessive amount of sugar may also enhance fat accumulation within the liver. For instance, current research discovered that for each 150 calorie enhance in each day sugar consumption (primarily a 12 oz soda, or ~37 g) corresponded with a 1.1% elevated danger for diabetes. Other elements form our illness danger, too. That danger above would possibly sound scary, nevertheless, it’s vital to maintain it in perspective. Other analysis has proven that dropping 7% physique weight and doing about 20 minutes of each day bodily exercise decreased diabetes danger by 58%. And many different research has corroborated these findings, telling us that dropping a little bit weight/fats and doing a little bit extra train, constantly, will considerably decrease our diabetes danger. In reality, a current meta-analysis supplied some compelling info on diabetes danger: ~60-90% of Type 2 diabetes is expounded to weight problems or weight acquire, not sugar consumption. Having a major quantity of extra physique fats/weight can enhance diabetes danger by 90 occasions. If people who find themselves within the overweight class lose about 10% of their preliminary physique weight, they dramatically enhance their blood glucose management. Weight administration (not sugar discount) seems to be crucial therapeutic goal for most people with Type 2 diabetes. This is sensible if we perceive how adipose (fats) tissue works: It’s a biologically energetic tissue that secretes hormones and different cell indicators. If we now have an excessive amount of it, adipose tissue can disrupt metabolic health, together with how we regulate and retailer blood sugar. Does fructose contribute? Some researchers have steered that fructose, a selected sort of straightforward sugar (aka monosaccharide) present in fruit in addition to many processed meals, would possibly play a particular position in diabetes. We know that fructose is digested, absorbed, and utilized in particular methods in our bodies. Does that imply that fructose may need distinctive properties that might enhance our diabetes danger? Let’s have a look. One meta-analysis checked out 64 substitution trials (through which fructose changed one other carbohydrate with no change in whole energy), and 16 addition trials (the place fructose was added to regular consumption). In the trials the place fructose was substituted for one more carbohydrate, the common fructose consumption was 102 g per day. In the trials the place fructose was added on high of the contributors’ regular consumption, the common fructose consumption was 187 g per day. Compared to the common American fructose consumption of ~49 g per day, these are extraordinary intakes. To obtain these sorts of intakes would require as much as 13 cups of ice cream or consumption of 10 cans of soda. Possible? Yes. Daily norm? Sure hope not. A current evaluation paper summed up the state of the proof on fructose properly, primarily stating: The best-quality proof up to now doesn't assist the idea that fructose consumption instantly causes cardiometabolic ailments. The evaluation added that fructose-containing sugars can result in weight acquire, together with will increase in cardiometabolic danger elements and illness, however, provided that these fructose-laden meals present extra energy. Overall, analysis does counsel {that a} excessive consumption of all sugar (together with fructose) would possibly barely enhance the chance of diabetes improvement by itself. However, this analysis additionally signifies that the majority of this danger is as a result of excessive sugar consumption resulting in extra calorie consumption, and due to this fact elevated physique fats (which ends up in irritation, and finally insulin resistance). A completely immense quantity of analysis constantly and strongly signifies that the principal causes of diabetes are: extra physique fats, insufficient bodily exercise, and genetic predisposition. On that final level, we all know that diabetes danger, in addition to the danger of metabolic ailments and propensity to realize physique fats, differs considerably by ethnic group or genetic subgroup. For occasion, many teams of indigenous individuals are vastly extra more likely to wrestle with these points, as are individuals of African ancestry dwelling in North America, or individuals of South Asian ancestry. So your private danger of those ailments additionally depends upon the place your ancestors got here from, what genetic make-up they gave you, and/or how that genetic make-up interacts together with your surroundings. The backside line right here: Managing your sugar consumption is only one small device in your diabetes-fighting’ toolbox. However, far and away, probably the greatest tool is weight (and physique fats) administration, nonetheless, you handle to perform it. Question #4: Does sugar trigger heart problems? The time period “cardiometabolic disease” refers to a broad group of associated ailments, just like the Type 2 diabetes we point out above, together with different ailments associated with the advanced phenomenon of: metabolic disruption, modifications in hormonal and cell signaling, irritation, and an incapability to manage regular physiological processes (like DNA restore). These ailments can seem in lots of organs or organ techniques. When they hit the guts and/or circulatory system of blood vessels, we name them “cardiovascular disease”. They present up as issues like coronary heart assaults, strokes, clogged arteries, and so forth. A coronary heart assault, or coronary heart illness, was once a loss of life sentence. With higher therapy and new medicines, individuals are surviving longer and dwelling higher with heart problems. Over the previous 50 years or so, deaths from coronary heart illness have declined by over 60% regardless of sugar consumption growing by about 20 lbs per particular person per yr over that point (and by greater than 30 lbs per particular person per yr on the 1999 peak consumption). Researchers estimate that about half of that 60% lower is likely to be from higher medical care. The different half possible comes from lowering the chance elements, reminiscent of: decreasing blood strain smoking much less decreasing blood levels of cholesterol Of course, as we’ve seen, consuming extra vitality within the type of sugar can enhance physique fats. And, due to its chemically energetic nature, extra physique fats positively will increase heart problems danger. So consuming plenty of sugar can definitely play a job. But heart problems, as with different metabolic ailments, are advanced. It’s not only one factor. It’s all of the issues. It’s how we reside, how we work, how energetic we're, how harassed we're, what’s in the environment, and the varied different elements that affect our health. There are different elements in addition to sugar in metabolic illness. Indeed, if we take a look at elements that we all know for positive are associated to the chance of metabolic illness, solely about 3% of Americans uphold 4 important wholesome way of life behaviors constantly: Not smoking. Maintaining a wholesome physique weight. Eating 5 or extra servings of fruit and veggies per day. Being bodily energetic no less than 30 minutes a day 5 occasions every week at an average depth. On high of that, let’s contemplate two different recognized preventative strategies for metabolic illness… Keeping stress ranges average. Sleeping effectively, 7-9 hours per night time, constantly. …now we’re most likely at 1% of Americans. Once once more, sugar consumption might be one piece of the puzzle. But it’s only one piece—and possibly a really small one. Question #5: How a lot of sugar is OK to eat? Let’s get actual right here. Sugar will not be a healthy meal. It doesn’t nourish us. It doesn’t add plenty of nutrient worth: It doesn’t give us any nutritional vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants, fiber, or water. Eating plenty of sugar doesn’t make our bodies higher, stronger, more healthy, or extra practical. Sugar doesn’t add worth, definitely not when in comparison with different meals or macronutrients like protein or omega-Three fatty acids. But biology is advanced. Diseases are advanced too. We can’t blame one chemical for all of the health issues we now have. Good health is neither created nor destroyed by a single meals. Again, human beings are numerous. We fluctuate broadly in every kind of how together with: How a lot of carbohydrates we have to thrive or carry out effectively.   How effectively we digest, soak up, and use sugars, in addition to how successfully and safely we retailer or eliminate the surplus. How sugar impacts our urge for food, starvation, fullness, capacity to cease consuming it. How we really feel about and behave around sugar.   How sugar “spins our brain dials” and offers us a way of reward. So we are able to say that “X amount of sugar is always best for everyone, all the time” or that “People should never eat any sugar.” It simply doesn’t work that approach. Some individuals would possibly select to chop out sugar fully. Some individuals would possibly attempt to micromanage their consumption all the way down to the gram. Some individuals can simply roll with a common “eat less-processed foods” guideline, and be high-quality. Some individuals do discover {that a} low-sugar, low-carb or perhaps a ketogenic eating regimen works for them. While others thrive on high-carb diets. Read the full article

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Level 1: The surprising truth about sugar. Here’s everything you need to know about what it does to your body. https://ift.tt/2Al06ea

Worried you’re eating too much sugar? Wondering how much is safe to eat? Or whether it’s bad for you… no matter what? It’s time we took a clear-headed look at this topic. It’s time you heard the truth about sugar.

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Is sugar “good”?

Is sugar “bad”?

It’s hard to know for sure these days.

Which is interesting because…

Sugar is a fundamental molecule in biology.

Human bodies need sugar.

Sugar makes up the backbone of our DNA. Helps power our cells. Helps store energy for later. Plants convert sunlight into sugar. We convert sugar into fuel.

Molecules like glucose and fructose (just two of the many types of sugar) are so basic to our biological needs, even bacteria love them.

Indeed, sugar’s the breakfast of champions, chemically speaking.

Yet, somewhere along the way, sugar became the bad guy.

Why did we start hating on sugar?

When did we start wanting to purge it from our bodies?

Why do some of us fear it so much?

At this point… do we just need a little relationship counseling?

Or is it a toxic relationship?

Is it time to part ways?

The truth is, this is a difficult conversation to have because…

Almost all of us are emotionally invested in our position on sugar.

Talking about it brings up a lot of controversy and intense debate, even among scientists who are supposed to be “objective”.

So why not step back and take a fresh look?

In this article, we’ll explore five key questions about sugar:

Does sugar cause obesity?

Does sugar cause us to gain weight / fat?

Does sugar cause diabetes?

Does sugar cause cardiovascular disease?

How much sugar is OK to eat?

Yes, we’re biased too.

At Precision Nutrition, we generally consider ourselves ‘nutritional agnostics’. (Case in point: our view on the absolute best diet.)

We help people become their healthiest, fittest, strongest selves—in a way that works for their unique lives and bodies.

In our work with over 100,000 clients clients, we’ve learned a few things…

… that one size doesn’t fit all,

… that an all-or-nothing approach doesn’t work for most people,

… that fitness and health habits should be doable on your worst day, not just your best.

So here’s our bias in this article.

We follow the complexities of nutrition evidence as best we can, always interpreting them through the lens of:

How does practice X or Y work for us, for the clients we coach, and for the fitness professionals we certify?

Does said practice help us make our food choices wiser, saner, and simpler?

Does it address individual differences between people?

(And if not, how can we help adapt each person’s diet to match their unique needs?)

You can ask yourself these same questions as you go through the article. And, of course, feel free to come to your own conclusions.

But first, let’s get to know our sugars.

What is sugar?

Most of us think of “sugar” as the white stuff we put in coffee, or maybe what makes up 90% of those colored marshmallow cereals.

However, “sugar” is actually a group of molecules that share a similar structure. So we might actually call them “sugars”, plural.

This group includes lots of members such as:

glucose

fructose

sucrose, aka table sugar (which is glucose + fructose)

maltose (which is glucose + glucose)

galactose

lactose (galactose + glucose, found in dairy)

And so on.

Sugars naturally occur in biology and in most foods (even if just in trace amounts). For example, here’s what the breakdown of sugars looks like in a banana:

There is, of course, much more sugar in processed and refined foods than in less-processed and unrefined foods.

(We’ll come back to this important point in a moment.)

Sugars live under the larger umbrella of “carbohydrates”.

Along with the sweet stuff, this macronutrient group also includes:

starches (like in potatoes or rice),

fiber (like the husks of whole grains), and

structural building blocks like chitin (which makes up the shells of crustaceans) or cellulose (which makes up things like the trunks of trees).

The more complex the molecule, the slower it digests.

Sugars, which are simpler, digest more quickly.

Starches and fiber, which are bigger, more complicated molecules, digest more slowly, if at all. (This is why eating more fiber can help us feel fuller, longer.)

Most carbohydrates are actually broken down into simpler sugars once they’re digested.

Other carbohydrates (such as insoluble fiber) don’t really get broken down nor absorbed fully, although our intestinal bacteria often love munching on them.

So: Sugars are a type of carbohydrate, but not all carbohydrates are sugars. And some carbohydrates break down quickly/easily into sugars. Others don’t.

This point is important to understand, because it tells us that not all carbohydrates do exactly the same things in our bodies.

Evolution has helpfully given us the ability to “taste” sugar.

Sugar-type molecules react with receptors on our tongue, which then tell our brain “OM NOM NOM DELICIOUS!”

Sugar tastes good to us, because in nature, sweet foods like fruits are often full of good stuff like vitamins, minerals, and energy.

But we differ in our physiology and behavior.

In all things, humans are diverse and variable.

Some of us like and seek out sugar more than others. This may be genetic. Or we may have learned it as we grew up. Or both.

For example, some of us like sugar in small doses; we can only eat a little before pushing the dessert plate away. While others like it a lot; the more we eat the more we want. The idea of “too much sugar” doesn’t compute.

Likewise, some of our bodies seem better suited to sugar than others.

For example, some of us can eat sugar all day long and feel fine. While others can only tolerate a little bit before our pancreas (which secretes insulin, a hormone that helps sugar get into the cells) tells us to knock it off.

In general, most of us like at least some sweetness.

When we’re young, we tend to like sweetness more and avoid bitter foods more. Yet each person’s response to sugar and sweet taste is unique.

With that said, let’s get back to the questions at hand. Starting with…

Question #1: Does sugar cause obesity?

The term “obese” (or “overweight”) is, like sugar, a contentious thing. In this article we’ll use it just for the purpose of discussion, so bear with us.

The World Health Organization defines “obese” as having a Body Mass Index higher than 30. Of course, some fit athletes (like heavyweight boxers or rugby players) might have a higher BMI but still have a low body fat percentage.

However, for most folks, having a BMI higher than 30 signifies that they have a higher-than-average level of body fat. 

(Indeed, some studies that correlate BMI with body fat testing suggest that BMI may even under-estimate how much body fat a person has.)

When it comes to obesity, there have always been people who are heavier, and/or who have more body fat, than most other folks like them.

However, over the last several decades, “average people” in industrialized countries have gotten heavier, bigger, and gained more body fat fairly rapidly.

It’s now statistically “normal”.

Although this shift is happening worldwide, and there are differences by ethnic group and socioeconomic class, it’s particularly noticeable as a general trend in the United States.

Along with body weights, we can look at changes in body fat percentage and overall fitness levels. Here, we also see that over time, body fat percentage has gone up, and fitness levels have gone down.

Currently in the United States, the average body fat percentage for men is around 28%, and the average for women is around 40%.

For comparison:

In general, 11-22% for men, and between 22-33% body fat for women, is considered a “healthy” range.

Lower than that is still “healthy” (to a point), but generally considered “athletic” or “lean”.

Does increased sugar consumption explain body weight trends?

Could sugar be responsible for changing body weights and body compositions in industrialized countries?

By reviewing data from the USDA Economic Research Service, National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES), as well as Food Frequency Questionnaires from the long-running Framingham Heart Study, we can track food intake from multiple angles. These varying streams of data all show fairly consistent trends.

They tell us that, since 1980, Americans:

Continued to eat the same total amount of fat. (Though they generally ate less naturally-occurring fats, like in whole fat dairy, and ate more added fats, like oils.)

Ate more carbohydrates. (Especially refined ones that included added sugars.)

So, as a percent of total calories consumed, fat dropped. But we didn’t end up eating less fat. We just added more sugar and other carbs on top of the fat we were already eating.

This added up to approximately 200-400 extra calories per day.

In terms of calories, that’s like eating an extra McDonald’s hamburger or a double cheeseburger, on top of your existing meals, every day.

Whether those calories came from sugar is probably irrelevant.

This increased energy intake alone, combined with decreasing rates of daily physical activity, is probably enough to explain people getting heavier.

Yes, but how might sugar play a role?

We can’t say that sugar specifically was the culprit behind the obesity surge for everyone. (Remember, humans vary.)

But our increased sugar consumption does seem to correlate with continued obesity levels… up until recently.

For about four hundred years, human beings have been enjoying more and more sugar.

Once Europeans discovered tropical trading routes and set up cheap slave labor economies to raise sugar cane, sugar became more and more available to the average person.

Indeed, sugar quickly became the food of the poor.

(It was said that the entire working class of the British Isles lived on jam and sugared tea during the Industrial Revolution.)

As a prime colonial power, the British once claimed the title of biggest sugar consumers. Per year, the average Brit consumed:

4 lbs (1.8 kg) in 1704.

18 lbs (8.2 kg) in 1800.

90 lbs (40.8 kg) in 1901.

However, once they got rolling as a country, Americans weren’t far behind. Per year, the average American consumed:

6 lbs (2.7 kg) of sugar in 1822.

40 lbs (18.1 kg) in 1900.

90 lbs (40.8 kg) by the 1920s.

There was a subsequent drop due to the Great Depression & World War II.

90 lbs per person again by the 1980s.

Then they really took off: By 1999, the US reached peak sugar consumption of nearly 108 lbs (49 kg) of sugar per person per year.

Between 1980-1999 Americans ate more sugar. And obesity rates got higher.

But then something changed: Our sugar consumption actually started to decrease.

Interestingly, since 1999 through 2013 (most recent data available) intake of added sugar has actually declined by 18% (or as much as 22%, depending on the data).

This drop has brought Americans’ current added sugar intake back down to 1987 levels.

And during this time, total carbohydrate intake has dropped as well. (Makes sense, as this was the dawn of the low-carb phenomenon.)

Nevertheless, though sugar and carb intake have declined over those 14 years, adult obesity has continued to climb—from 31% of the American population in 1999 to 38% as of 2013.

(Diabetes diagnoses have continued to climb as well, which we’ll address in a moment.)

So, despite lowering sugar intake by nearly 20% over a 14 year period, obesity (and diabetes) rates have continued to climb.

Along with sex, ethnic, and socioeconomic differences in obesity rates, this suggests that changing body sizes and compositions is probably a complex, multi-factored phenomenon.

Bottom line here: No single thing—including sugar—causes obesity.

Many factors work together to contribute to a consistent energy (calorie) surplus, which ultimately leads to fat gain. One of those things is often sugar, but not always, and not alone.

Question #2: Does sugar cause us to gain weight / fat?

So, we can’t unequivocally blame sugar for increased obesity rates.

But many of us are still wondering whether sugar is a gateway to fat gain.

It seems logical. Carb and sugar consumption are the main drivers of insulin release. Insulin’s job is to help store nutrients, including fat.

Therefore, it seems obvious. Carbs and sugar cause fat gain, right?

Once again, our scientist friends reveal that it’s a bit more complicated than that. Let’s take a look at a couple of studies that explore this question.

Study 1: How do carbs, sugar, and/or insulin release affect body fat?

In 2015, a small pilot study was conducted by Dr. Kevin Hall to investigate the carb/sugar/insulin model of obesity.

What happens if we keep calories and protein the same, but play with dietary sugar and fat levels?

Here’s how the study worked.

19 participants had to live in a metabolic ward, where the researchers controlled virtually everything about how they lived, what they ate, etc.

The participants tried both lower carbohydrate (LC) and lower fat (LF) diets.

They followed each diet for two weeks, separated by a 2-4 week period during which they returned to normal eating.

All participants spent the first five days of either the low-carb or low-fat diets following a baseline plan of 50% carbs, 35% fat, and 15% protein. This was done so that all participants started on an even playing field with an intake that virtually matches what the average American eats.

Each participant had to exercise on a treadmill for one hour every day for the full two weeks, to make sure physical activity levels were consistent and equal.

After the first five days, both groups had their calories reduced by 30% from the baseline diet (1918 calories vs 2740 calories). They then ate the lower calorie diet for six days.

With both diets, energy intake (i.e. calories) and protein were kept the same. Only carbs and fat went up or down.

Lower carbohydrate:

101 g protein (21% of cals).

108 g fat (50% of cals).

140 g carbohydrate (29% of cals).

Lower fat:

105 g protein (21% of calories).

17 g of fat (8% of calories).

352 g carbohydrate (71% of calories).

Let’s take a closer look at how much the study participants actually ate.

On the lower carbohydrate diet:

Of their carbohydrates, 37 g was sugar. This means that 8% of all calories were coming from sugar.

This is much less than the average American eats.

On the lower fat diet:

Of their carbohydrates, 170 g was sugar. This means that 35% of all their calories were coming from sugar. That is a lot of sugar.

So what happened?

Insulin production:

On the Lower Carbohydrate diet, people produced 22% less insulin throughout the day.

The Lower Fat diet didn’t change insulin output at all, since it had the same total carbs, and even slightly more sugar than the baseline diet.

Body weight:

People on the Lower Carbohydrate diet lost 4 lbs (1.81 kg) of body weight, and 1.16 lbs (0.53 kg) of body fat.

People on the Lower Fat diet lost 3 lbs (1.36 kg) of body weight, which included 1.29 lbs (0.59 kg) of body fat.

Note that body weight loss doesn’t necessarily equal body fat loss.

We can also lose body weight from losing glycogen, water, and/or body protein—and that’s exactly what happened to the people on the Lower Carb diet.

They lost more overall body weight, but actually lost less fat. (Though a difference of 0.13 lbs is irrelevant in the big picture. Who would notice that?)

Meanwhile, the folks on the Lower Fat diet lost more body fat but less total weight because their body was busy burning fat (rather than glycogen or lean body mass) to meet its calorie needs.

After these results were in, the researchers then ran validated mathematical models that showed over longer periods of time (say, longer than 6 months), the fat loss between the two groups would be roughly equal.

In other words, there was no particular physiological advantage to either diet in terms of body weight, nor body fat loss, over the longer term.

Study 2: Fine, let’s go lower.

For this second study, the game got hardcore: Drop the carbs and sugar much lower for the Lower Carbohydrate group, just to make sure the minimal differences found in the first study hadn’t been because the carbs and sugar weren’t low enough.

Here’s how this second study worked:

17 overweight or obese people participated.

First, they followed a high-carb but calorically-restricted baseline diet for 4 weeks (with 25% of calories from sugar).

Then, they spent 4 weeks on a very-low-carb ketogenic diet (with 2% of calories from sugar), with equal calories to the baseline diet.

So what happened?

The researchers found that everyone lost weight and fat throughout the study.

However, when subjects switched from the high-carb, 25%-sugar baseline diet to the ketogenic, 2%-sugar diet, fat loss actually slowed down for the first few weeks.

Much like the previous study, this happened because as people’s bodies adapted to the ketogenic diet, they were more likely to break down fat-free mass and protein stores (e.g. muscle).

Thus:

Weight loss went faster during the ketogenic phase, thanks to losing glycogen and water.

But body fat loss was actually less during this phase (though not tremendously so, and it likely wouldn’t make any significant difference over time).

Overall, the researchers stated that based on the current evidence, as well as their validated mathematical models, long-term body fat loss would likely be very similar between the high sugar (high-carb) diet and the low sugar (low-carb) diet.

In other words, the amount of sugar didn’t seem to influence the results.

In the end, these, plus other studies, seem to support the idea that:

Sugar, carbohydrate intake, and/or insulin alone probably aren’t the main drivers of weight gain.

Other research comparing low-carb diets to low-fat diets has found similar results. The same results have also been found with:

Meta-analyses: Big reviews of other studies. These types of data are considered among the most robust as they explore a lot of experiments from a much broader perspective, pulling in evidence from dozens or even hundreds of studies to try to draw conclusions.

Systematic reviews: Methodologically rigorous comparisons and critical analyses of other studies. These type of reviews are also considered useful, because they take a skeptical perspective, looking for errors.

There have been at least 20 controlled in-patient feeding studies where protein and calories are kept equal, but carbs are varied from 20% to 75% of total calories (and sugar intakes ranged significantly as well).

Of all these studies, none of them found any truly significant differences in body fat levels when people were eating either high carb (and high sugar) or low carb (and low sugar) diets.

In other words, as long as protein and calories were equal, the amount of sugar people ate didn’t make a difference.

There have been at least 12 other systematic reviews and meta-analyses published over the past 10+ years on long-term low-carb diets (which are invariably also low-sugar diets).

Of these 12 reviews:

3 were in favor of low-carb

3 were in favor of non-low-carb comparisons (e.g. low fat, Mediterranean, vegan, low glycemic index, etc.)

6 were neutral, meaning they concluded that various approaches can be equally valid and effective.

Yes, but how might sugar play a role?

Sweet foods may increase energy intake.

In 2013, a review commissioned by the World Health Organization investigated how sugar affected fat gain.

It found that increasing sugar intake can increase body weight, and lowering sugar intake can decrease body weight… but only by changing energy balance, not by any physiological or metabolic effect of sugar itself.

In other words, if we eat more sugary foods, we might be eating more energy (i.e. calories) overall.

Sweet foods are often processed and highly palatable.

This is especially true because most high-sugar foods are refined, tasty, and hard to stop eating. We digest and absorb the energy they contain quickly and easily, they overstimulate the reward/pleasure centers in our brain, and we tend to overeat them.

Plus, hidden sugars in processed foods (like yogurt, granola, juice) or even so-called “health foods” / “fitness foods” can add up fast without us even realizing.

These foods and our brain’s response to them, not the sugar by itself, can often lead to overconsumption.

So the sugar itself may be less of a culprit than the fact that many of us just can’t quit at just one gummi bear or sip of soda.

What else is going on, besides sugar consumption?

Most of our clients who struggle with their weight, body fat, eating habits, and health tell us: It’s not just about the food. There are many factors involved: stress, sleep, metabolic health, lifestyle, social environment, and so forth.

Sugar alone does not explain the complexity of our bodies’ health, function, fat percentage, nor weight. Metabolism is complicated.

And, as always, remember that people vary in response to particular diets.

Some people do better with higher carbohydrates and lower fats. Some do better the other way round.

This is likely due to genetic differences, individual satiety differences from fats vs carbs, personal preferences, and possibly even differences in the bacterial populations in our GI tracts.

The above studies don’t provide hard and fast rules that will always apply to everyone.

This is especially true given that many study populations were small and probably similar in terms of age, sex, ethnicity, and other important factors that can affect our physiological response to a given diet.

But they do indicate that sugar is not some kind of unusually evil substance that causes weight gain or prevents fat loss.

Question #3: Does sugar cause diabetes?

Diabetes is a disease where we can’t properly regulate the sugar in our blood.

It seems logical, then, that eating more sugar might increase our risk for diabetes, particularly Type 2 diabetes, also known as adult-onset diabetes.

Unlike Type 1 diabetes, which typically starts in childhood and is considered an autoimmune disease (in which our own bodies attack healthy cells of our pancreas, which normally produces insulin), Type 2 diabetes typically starts later in life and (among other factors) is linked to long-term food and exercise behaviors.

Type 2 diabetes generally starts with insulin resistance, or impaired glucose control.

This means that over time, insulin is less and less able to do its job of moving glucose into our cells for safe storage. Your doctor might test this with various blood tests, such as an A1c test, which measures how much sugar is being carried around on hemoglobin, a blood protein.

Type 2 diabetes (as well as other metabolic diseases) are also related to how much fat we have in our livers and in or around other organs (such as our hearts and kidneys).

There does seem to be a link between how much refined sugar we eat and insulin resistance. Eating too much sugar can also increase fat accumulation in the liver.

For example, a recent study found that for every 150 calorie increase in daily sugar intake (essentially a 12 oz soda, or ~37 g) corresponded with a 1.1% increased risk for diabetes.

Other factors shape our disease risk, too.

That risk above might sound scary, but it’s important to keep it in perspective.

Other research has shown that losing 7% body weight and doing about 20 minutes of daily physical activity decreased diabetes risk by 58%.

And many other studies have corroborated those findings, telling us that losing a little weight / fat and doing a little more exercise, consistently, will significantly lower our diabetes risk.

In fact, a recent meta-analysis provided some compelling information on diabetes risk:

~60-90% of Type 2 diabetes is related to obesity or weight gain, not sugar intake.

Having a significant amount of excess body fat / weight can increase diabetes risk by 90 times.

If people who are in the obese category lose about 10% of their initial body weight, they dramatically improve their blood glucose control.

Weight management (not sugar reduction) appears to be the most important therapeutic target for most individuals with Type 2 diabetes.

This makes sense if we understand how adipose (fat) tissue works: It’s a biologically active tissue that secretes hormones and other cell signals.

If we have too much of it, adipose tissue can disrupt metabolic health, including how we regulate and store blood sugar.

Does fructose contribute?

Some researchers have suggested that fructose, a particular type of simple sugar (aka monosaccharide) found in fruit as well as many processed foods, might play a special role in diabetes.

We know that fructose is digested, absorbed, and used in specific ways in our bodies.

Does that mean that fructose might have unique properties that could increase our diabetes risk?

Let’s take a look.

One meta-analysis looked at 64 substitution trials (in which fructose replaced another carbohydrate with no change in total calories), and 16 addition trials (where fructose was added to normal intake).

In the trials where fructose was substituted for another carbohydrate, the average fructose intake was 102 g per day.

In the trials where fructose was added on top of the participants’ normal intake, the average fructose intake was 187 g per day.

Compared to the average American fructose consumption of ~49 g per day, these are extraordinary intakes. To achieve those kinds of intakes would require up to 13 cups of ice cream, or consumption of 10 cans of soda.

Possible? Yes.

Daily norm? Sure hope not.

A recent review paper summed up the state of the evidence on fructose nicely, essentially stating:

The best-quality evidence to date does not support the theory that fructose intake directly causes cardiometabolic diseases.

The review added that fructose-containing sugars can lead to weight gain, along with increases in cardiometabolic risk factors and disease, but only if those fructose-laden foods provide excess calories.

Overall, research does suggest that a high intake of all sugar (including fructose) might slightly increase the risk of diabetes development by itself.

However, this research also indicates that most of this risk is due to the high sugar intake leading to excess calorie intake, and therefore increased body fat (which leads to inflammation, and ultimately insulin resistance).

An absolutely immense amount of research consistently and strongly indicates that the main causes of diabetes are:

excess body fat,

inadequate physical activity, and

genetic predisposition.

On that last point, we know that diabetes risk, as well as risk of metabolic diseases and propensity to gain body fat, differs significantly by ethnic group or genetic subgroup. For instance, many groups of indigenous people are vastly more likely to struggle with these issues, as are people of African ancestry living in North America, or people of South Asian ancestry.

So your personal risk of these diseases also depends on where your ancestors came from, what genetic makeup they gave you, and/or how that genetic makeup interacts with your environment.

The bottom line here: Managing your sugar intake is just one small tool in your diabetes-fightin’ toolbox. However, far and away, the most useful tool is weight (and body fat) management, however you manage to accomplish it.

Question #4: Does sugar cause cardiovascular disease?

The term “cardiometabolic disease” refers to a broad group of related diseases, like the Type 2 diabetes we mention above, along with other diseases related to the complex phenomenon of:

metabolic disruption,

changes in hormonal and cell signaling,

inflammation, and

an inability to regulate normal physiological processes (like DNA repair).

These diseases can appear in many organs or organ systems. When they hit the heart and/or circulatory system of blood vessels, we call them “cardiovascular disease”. They show up as things like heart attacks, strokes, clogged arteries, and so forth.

A heart attack, or heart disease, used to be a death sentence. With better treatment and new medications, people are surviving longer and living better with cardiovascular disease.

Over the past 50 years or so, deaths from heart disease have declined by over 60% despite sugar intake increasing by about 20 lbs per person per year over that time (and by more than 30 lbs per person per year at the 1999 peak intake).

Researchers estimate that about half of that 60% decrease might be from better medical care. The other half likely comes from reducing the risk factors, such as:

lowering blood pressure

smoking less

lowering blood cholesterol levels

Of course, as we’ve seen, consuming more energy in the form of sugar can increase body fat. And, because of its chemically active nature, more body fat definitely increases cardiovascular disease risk.

So eating a lot of sugar can certainly play a role.

But cardiovascular disease, as with other metabolic diseases, is complex.

It’s not just one thing.

It’s all the things.

It’s how we live, how we work, how active we are, how stressed we are, what’s in our environment, and the various other factors that influence our health.

There are other factors besides sugar in metabolic disease.

Indeed, if we look at factors that we know for sure are related to the risk of metabolic disease, only about 3% of Americans uphold four essential healthy lifestyle behaviors consistently:

Not smoking.

Maintaining a healthy body weight.

Eating 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables per day.

Being physically active at least 30 minutes a day 5 times a week at a moderate intensity.

On top of that, let’s consider two other known preventative methods for metabolic disease…

Keeping stress levels moderate.

Sleeping well, 7-9 hours per night, consistently.

…now we’re probably at 1% of Americans.

Once again, sugar intake is probably one piece of the puzzle. But it’s just one piece—and probably a very small one.

Question #5: How much sugar is OK to eat?

Let’s get real here.

Sugar is not a health food.

It doesn’t nourish us.

It doesn’t add a lot of nutrient value: It doesn’t give us any vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, antioxidants, fiber, or water.

Eating a lot of sugar doesn’t make our bodies better, stronger, healthier, or more functional.

Sugar doesn’t add value, certainly not when compared to other foods or macronutrients like protein or omega-3 fatty acids.

But biology is complex.

Diseases are complex too.

We can’t blame one chemical for all the health problems we have.

Good health is neither created nor destroyed by a single food.

Again, human beings are diverse.

We vary widely in all kinds of ways, including:

How much carbohydrates we need to thrive or perform well.

How well we digest, absorb, and use sugars, as well as how effectively and safely we store or dispose of the excess.

How sugar affects our appetite, hunger, fullness, ability to stop eating it.

How we feel about and behave around sugar.

How sugar “spins our brain dials” and gives us a sense of reward.

So we can’t say that “X amount of sugar is always best for everyone, all the time” or that “People should never eat any sugar.” It just doesn’t work that way.

Some people might choose to cut out sugar completely.

Some people might try to micromanage their intake down to the gram.

Some people can just roll with a general “eat less-processed foods” guideline, and be fine.

Some people do find that a low-sugar, low-carb or even a ketogenic diet works for them. While others thrive on high-carb diets.

That said, being aware of your sugar intake is probably a good idea.

The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends limiting sugar to 10% of your intake. So, for example, if you’re consuming 2000 calories per day, that would be approximately 200 calories from sugar, or 50 grams.

What does this all mean?

Let’s sum up what the science suggests:

Sugars are basic biological molecules that our bodies use in many ways.

Each person’s response to sugar (whether physiological or behavioral) will be a little different. This goes for carbohydrates in general too.

Sugar is not a health food. But sugar alone doesn’t necessarily cause most chronic health problems like diabetes or cardiovascular diseases, which are multifactorial.

Sugar is energy dense. If eaten in excess (like most foods), sugar can contribute to weight / fat gain.

This weight / fat gain is probably mostly from the extra calories, not some special properties of sugars (or carbohydrates in general, or insulin).

Some people find it hard to stop eating sugar / sweet foods. This may also contribute to weight / fat gain—again, because of the extra energy intake.

We likely eat more sugar than we realize, since it’s hidden in so many food products.

Yet, after working with thousands of clients:

For most people, cutting out sugar completely, trying to abide by rigid rules, or basing dietary decisions on fear, probably isn’t sustainable or realistic.

That’s why, at Precision Nutrition, we prefer a more balanced approach.

What to do next: Some tips from Precision Nutrition.

1. Recognize that health concerns are more complex than a single smoking gun.

The fitness and nutrition industry loves to say that one factor is responsible for everything (or that one magical food / workout / mantra will cure everything). It also loves to over-simplify and moralize (e.g. this is “bad”, this is “good”).

You don’t have to understand physiology to grasp the idea that things are complex.

There are many factors that go into good health, athletic performance, physical function, and wellbeing.

This means you should…

2. Begin with fundamental behaviors.

Sugar is one part in a much bigger puzzle.

Review this checklist and see how many of these fundamental behaviors you do well and consistently. That means every day, or most days:

Don’t smoke.

Keep your alcohol intake moderate.

Eat slowly and mindfully.

Eat enough lean protein.

Eat 5+ servings of fruit and/or veggies per day, ideally colorful ones.

Eat some healthy fats.

Get some movement for at least 20-30 minutes a day.

Get 7-9 hours of good-quality sleep every night.

Reduce stress.

Spend time with people you love, and/or who support you.

Do things that are meaningful and purposeful to you.

These are all behaviors that we know for sure are health-promoting and disease-preventing.

3. Become aware of your overall energy balance.

Take a clear-headed look at how much food you’re eating for your body’s needs, and how much activity you’re doing.

Are you eating the right amount for your physiological requirements?

If you’re heavier or carrying more body fat than you’d prefer, you may need to adjust how much you are eating and/or exercising.

This may mean lowering your sugar intake, and/or it may mean eating a little less of other foods overall.

4. Become aware of what’s in your food.

Read labels. Sugar lives in processed foods, even foods you wouldn’t expect (like salad dressings or frozen dinners).

Better than reading labels, ask how you can eat more foods without labels. (Like fruits and veggies, beans and legumes, nuts and seeds, meats and seafood, etc.)

Transitioning to less-processed and less-sweetened versions of various foods is a simple way to lower your sugar intake and get the benefits of a better nutrient intake. Double win!

5. Maintain a healthy weight.

There is no single “healthy” weight. Your weight may be higher than average, or it may be within a “normal” range.

What is most important is that this weight is healthy for you (which you’ll know because all your indicators like blood work or athletic performance and recovery look good).

If you think you need to lose a little weight/fat to look, feel, and/or perform better, the good news is that you often don’t need to lose very much to see metabolic benefits.

You don’t have to be super-lean… and in fact, many people won’t benefit from trying to do that anyway.

6. Be mindful of your overall eating patterns, habits, and perspectives.

Consider…

Are you eating slowly and mindfully? Can you stop when you’re satisfied?

Are you using sugar-rich foods as a “treat”? How often?

Do you feel “deprived” if you don’t “get” to have sugar?

If you have a sugary food, can you stop eating it when you’ve had “enough”? Is there an “enough” with some foods?

How does sugar fit into your life and overall habits? Is that working for you?

7. Keep it in perspective. Add “treats” in moderation.

Around here, we keep it real.

We like “treats”, “junk food” and tasty stuff just as much as anyone else, whether that’s a glass of wine, a bowl of ice cream, or a hot dog at the ball game.

We just keep the portions moderate and don’t have “treats” for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day.

For most people, a little bit of sugar fits just fine into an overall healthy diet pattern.

If you’re looking for numbers, we suggest you shoot for including “treats” or other discretionary indulgences at 10-20% of your meals. If you eat 3 meals a day for a week, that means about 2-4 of those 21 meals might include something fun or “less nutritious”.

8. Ask yourself what works for you and what doesn’t.

If you struggle with sugar (for instance, if it makes you feel ill, or you feel like you can’t eat sweet foods in appropriate amounts), then it’s probably not a good food for YOU.

Try experimenting with lowering your sugar intake gradually (for instance, by making simple substitutions like drinking water or seltzer instead of soda), and see what happens.

Look for foods that you love, and that love you back—that make you feel good and perform well, that give you sustained and long-lasting energy, that keep your moods level, and that keep you feeling “normal” as an eater.

9. If you’re a coach, keep it real and positive.

Don’t scare your clients. Don’t lecture them. Don’t moralize.

Help them. Learn about them. Understand them.

Although research may say that on average low-carb is no more effective than other dietary strategies long-term, or that sugar by itself is not addictive, or any other innumerable statistics, your clients are real people. They are not averages.

Each individual’s preferred approach, unique circumstances, and personal experiences have to be carefully considered and taken into account when working together.

Go slowly, step by step. Make sure your client can actually do what needs to be done.

Fit the dietary strategy to the client, not the client to the dietary strategy.

10. Use data.

Track your health and physical performance indicators.

Schedule regular medical checkups.

Look at stuff like how you feel, how your mood is, how you sleep, how your bloodwork looks, how well you recover from workouts (and life in general), etc.

Follow the evidence. If everything looks stellar, keep doing whatever you’re doing.

If you’re a coach, or you want to be…

Learning how to coach clients, patients, friends, or family members through healthy eating and lifestyle changes—in a way that’s evidence-based, practical, and individualized for each person’s lifestyle, preferences, and goals—is both an art and a science.

If you’d like to learn more about both, consider the Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification. The next group kicks off shortly.

What’s it all about?

The Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification is the world’s most respected nutrition education program. It gives you the knowledge, systems, and tools you need to really understand how food influences a person’s health and fitness. Plus the ability to turn that knowledge into a thriving coaching practice.

Developed over 15 years, and proven with over 100,000 clients and patients, the Level 1 curriculum stands alone as the authority on the science of nutrition and the art of coaching.

Whether you’re already mid-career, or just starting out, the Level 1 Certification is your springboard to a deeper understanding of nutrition, the authority to coach it, and the ability to turn what you know into results.

[Of course, if you’re already a student or graduate of the Level 1 Certification, check out our Level 2 Certification Master Class. It’s an exclusive, year-long mentorship designed for elite professionals looking to master the art of coaching and be part of the top 1% of health and fitness coaches in the world.]

Interested? Add your name to the presale list. You’ll save up to 44% and secure your spot 24 hours before everyone else.

We’ll be opening up spots in our next Precision Nutrition Level 1 Certification on Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019.

If you want to find out more, we’ve set up the following presale list, which gives you two advantages.

Pay less than everyone else. We like to reward people who are eager to boost their credentials and are ready to commit to getting the education they need. So we’re offering a discount of up to 44% off the general price when you sign up for the presale list.

Sign up 24 hours before the general public and increase your chances of getting a spot. We only open the certification program twice per year. Due to high demand, spots in the program are limited and have historically sold out in a matter of hours. But when you sign up for the presale list, we’ll give you the opportunity to register a full 24 hours before anyone else.

If you’re ready for a deeper understanding of nutrition, the authority to coach it, and the ability to turn what you know into results… this is your chance to see what the world’s top professional nutrition coaching system can do for you.

//

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Surwit RS, et al. Differential effects of fat and sucrose on the development of obesity and diabetes in C57BL/6J and A/J mice. Metabolism. 1995 May;44(5):645–51.

Surwit RS, et al. Metabolic and behavioral effects of a high-sucrose diet during weight loss. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997 Apr;65(4):908–15.

Te Morenga L, Mallard S, Mann J. Dietary sugars and body weight: systematic review and meta-analyses of randomised controlled trials and cohort studies. BMJ. 2012 Jan 15;346:e7492.

Te Morenga LA, Howatson AJ, Jones RM, Mann J. Dietary sugars and cardiometabolic risk: systematic review and meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials of the effects on blood pressure and lipids. Am J Clin Nutr. 2014 Jul;100(1):65–79.

Tuomilehto J, et al. Prevention of type 2 diabetes mellitus by changes in lifestyle among subjects with impaired glucose tolerance. N Engl J Med. 2001 May 3;344(18):1343-50.

USDA Economic Research Service – Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System [Internet]. 2016 [cited 2017 Feb 18]. Available from: https://ift.tt/2gx0jOV.

Yang Q, et al. Added sugar intake and cardiovascular diseases mortality among US adults. JAMA Intern Med. 2014 Apr;174(4):516–24.

The post Level 1: The surprising truth about sugar. Here’s everything you need to know about what it does to your body. appeared first on Precision Nutrition.

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[alexsmitposts]

North American, European Public: Finally Wake Up, Damn It! Year after year, month after month, I see two sides of the world; two extremes which are getting more and more disconnected: I see great cities like Homs in Syria, reduced to horrifying ruins. I see Kabul and Jalalabad in Afghanistan, fragmented by enormous concrete walls intended to protect NATO occupation armies and their local puppets. I see monstrous environmental devastation in places such as Indonesian Borneo, Peruvian gold mining towns, or the by now almost uninhabitable atoll island-nations of Oceania: Tuvalu, Kiribati or Marshall Islands. I see slums, a lack of sanitation and clean drinking water, where the boots of Western empires have been smashing local cultures, enslaving people and looting natural resources. I work on all the continents. I never stop, even when exhaustion tries to smash me against the wall, even when there are hardly any reserves left. I cannot stop; I have no right to stop, because I can finally see the pattern; the way this world operates, the way the West has been managing to usurp it, indoctrinate, and enslave most of the countries of the world. I combine my knowledge, and publish it as a ‘warning to the world’. I write books about this ‘pattern’. My most complete, so far, being the 1,000 pages long “Exposing Lies of The Empire”. Then, I see the West itself. I come to ‘speak’, to Canada and the United States, as well as Europe. Once in a while I am invited to address Australian audiences, too. The West is so outrageously rich, compared to the ruined and plundered continents, that it often appears that it does not belong to the Planet Earth. A lazy Sunday afternoon stroll in Villa Borghese in Rome, and a horror walk through Mathare slum in Nairobi could easily exist in two distinct realities, or in two different galaxies. Even now, after I slightly misspelled “Villa Borghese”, my Mac immediately offered a correction. It is because Villa Borghese does exist. On the other hand, “Mathare”, which I spelled correctly, was underlined red. Mathare ‘is an error’. Because it does not exist. It does not exist, despite the fact that around one million men, women and children lives there. It is not recognized by my MacBook Pro, nor by the great majority of my relatively well-educated readers in the West. In fact, almost entire world appears to be one big error, non-entity, if observed from New York, Berlin or Paris. I come and speak in front of the Western public. Yes, I do it from time to time, although with decreasing frequency. Frankly, to face European or North American crowds feels depressing, even humiliating. It goes like this: you are invited to ‘tell the truth’; to present what you are witnessing all over the world. You stand there, facing men and women who have just arrived in their comfortable cars, after having good dinners in their well-heated or air-conditioned homes. You may be a famous writer and a filmmaker, but somehow, they make you feel like a beggar. Because you came to speak on behalf of “beggars”. Everything is well-polished, and choreographed. It is expected that you do not show any ‘gore’. That you do not call your public ‘names’. That you do not swear, do not get drunk on the stage, do not start insulting everyone in sight. What you usually face is quite a hard, or at least ‘hardened’, crowd. Recently, in Southern California, when I was asked, by a fellow philosopher and a friend of mine, to address a small gathering of his colleagues, some people were banging on their mobile phones, as I was describing the situation at the Syrian frontline, near Idlib. I felt that my account was nothing more than a ‘background, an elevator music’ to most of them. At least when I am addressing millions through my television interviews, I do not have to see the public. When you ‘speak’ in the West, you are actually addressing men and women who are responsible, at least partially, for the mass murders and genocides that are being committed by their countries. Men and women whose standards of living are outrageously high, because The Others are being robbed, humiliated, and often raped. But their eyes are not humble; they are drilling them into you, waiting for some mistake that you might make, so they can conclude: “He is fake news”. For them, you are not a bridge between those who ‘exist’ and those who don’t. For them, you are an entertainer, a showman, or more often than not: a nuisance. To learn about war, about the terror that the West is spreading, is, for many in my audience yet another type of luxury, high-level entertainment, not unlike an opera performance or a symphony concert. If necessary, they can even pay, although mostly they’d rather not. After a titillating experience, it is back to the routine, back to a sheltered, elegant life. While you, the next day, are often catching a plane back to the reality of the others; to the frontline, to dust and misery. They, your public (but face it, also most of your readers) came to show how ‘open-minded’ they are. They came ‘to learn’ from you, ‘to get educated’, while keeping their lifestyles intact. Most of them think that they know it all, even without your first-hand experience, they are benevolently doing you a favor by inviting you, and by dragging themselves all the way to some university or a theatre or wherever the hell you are standing in front of them. They did not come to offer any support to your struggle. They are not part of any struggle. They are good, peace-loving, hardworking people; that’s all. You know, like those Germans, in the late 1930’s; self-righteous, hard-working folks. Most of them love their pets, and recycle their garbage. And clean after themselves at Starbucks. A few days ago, we stopped the coup in Venezuela. I say we, because, although deep in devastated Borneo Island, I had been giving interviews to RT, Press TV, addressing millions. Even here, I never stopped writing, tweeting, always ready to drop everything just fly to Caracas, if I were to be needed there. To defend Venezuela, to defend the Revolution there, is essential. As it is essential to defend Syria, Cuba, Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, Bolivia, South Africa and other revolutionary and brave nations that are refusing to surrender to the Western diktat. While the ideological battle for Caracas was raging, I was thinking: is there anything that could still move the Western public into action? Have they – Europeans and North Americans – become totally indifferent to their own crimes? Have they developed some sort of emotional immunity? Is their condition ideological, or simply clinical? Here we were, in the middle of a totally open coup; an attempt by the West to overthrow one of the most democratic countries on our planet. And they did almost nothing to stop the terrorism performed by their regimes in Washington or Madrid! At least in Indonesia in 1965 or in Chile in 1973, the Western regime tried to hide behind thin fig leaves. At least, while destroying socialist Afghanistan and the Communist Soviet Union by creating the Mujahedin, the West used Pakistan as a proxy, trying to conceal, at least partially, its true role. At least, while killing more than 1 million people in Iraq, there was this charade and bunch of lies about the ‘weapons of mass destruction’. At least, at least… Now, it is all transparent. In Syria, Venezuela; and against North Korea, Cuba, Iran, China, Russia. As if propaganda was not even needed, anymore, it as if the Western public has become totally obedient, posing no threat to the plans of the Western regime. Or more precisely, the once elaborate Western propaganda has become extremely simple: it now repeats lies, and the great majority of Western citizens do not even bother to question what their governments are doing to the world. The only thing that matters are ‘domestic issues’; meaning – the wages and benefits for the Westerners. There are no riots like during the Vietnam War. Now riots are only for the better welfare of European workers. No one in the West is fighting in order to stop the plunder abroad, or the terrorist attacks unleashed by NATO against non-Western countries, or against those countless NATO military bases, against the invasions and orchestrated coups. How much more can the Western public really stomach? Or can it stomach absolutely everything? Would it accept the direct invasion of Venezuela or Cuba or both? It has already accepted the direct intervention and destruction of Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria, to name just a few terrorist actions committed by the West in recent history. So, how much more? Would an attack against Iran be acceptable? Let’s say, 2-3 million deaths? North Korea, perhaps? A few more millions, a new mountain of corpses? I am asking; it is not a rhetorical question. I really want to know. I believe that the world has to know. Has the Western public reached the level of the ISIS (or call them IS or Deash)? Is it so self-righteous, so fanatic, so convinced of its own exceptionalism, that it cannot think, clearly, analyze and judge, anymore? Would provoking Russia or China or both into WWIII be acceptable to people living in Bavaria or South Carolina, or Ontario? And if yes, are they all really out of their minds? And if they are, should the world try to stop the, and how? I want to know the boundaries of the Western madness. That there is madness is indisputable, but how massive is it? I understand, I have now accepted the monstrous fact that the French, Yanks, Canadians, Brits or Germans do not give a shit about how many millions of innocent people they kill in the Middle East, or Southeast Asia, Africa or in ‘places like that’. I accept that they know close to nothing about their colonial history, and want to know nothing, as long as they have football, plenty of meat and 6 weeks vacations on exotic beaches. I know that even many of those who can see monstrous crimes committed by the West, want to blame everything on Rothschilds and ‘Zionist conspiracy’, but never on themselves, never on their culture which expresses itself through the centuries of plunder. But what about the survival of our planet, and the survival of humankind? I imagine the eyes of those people who come to my ‘combat presentations’. I tell them the truth. I say it all. I am never holding back; never compromise. I show them images of the wars they have unleashed. Yes, they; because the citizens are responsible for their own governments, and because there is, clearly, something called collective guilt and collective responsibility! Those eyes, faces… I will tell you what I read in them: they will never act. They will never try to overthrow their regime. As long as they live their privileged lives. As long as they think that the system in which they are the elites, at least has some chance of surviving in its present form. They play it both ways, some of them do: verbally, they are outraged by NATO, by Western imperialism and savage capitalism. Practically, they do nothing tangible to fight the system. What is the conclusion then? If they do not act, then others have to. And I am convinced: they will. For more than 500 years the entire world has been in flames, plundered and murdered by a small group of extremely aggressive Western nations. This has been going on virtually uninterruptedly. Nobody finds it amusing, anymore. Where I work, in places that I care about, nobody wants this kind of world. Look at those countries that are now trying to destroy Venezuela. Look closely! They consist of the United States, Canada, majority of Europe, and mostly those South American states where the descendants of European colonialists are forming majority! Do we want another 500 years of this? North Americans and Europeans have to wake up, soon. Even in Nazi Germany, there were soldiers who were so disgusted with Hitler, that they wanted to send him to the dogs. Today, in the West, there is not one powerful political party which believes that 500 years of Western colonialist plunder is more than enough; that torturing the world should stop, and stop immediately. If Western imperialism, which is the greatest and perhaps the only major threat our planet is now facing, is not decisively and soon dismantled by its own citizens, it will have to be fought and deterred by external forces. That is: by its former and present victims. https://journal-neo.org/2019/06/06/north-american-european-public-finally-wake-up-damn-it/

[vokodon]

Rules: Answer all the questions and tag other folx.

Tagged by: @antifascistea

Last: 1. Drink: Cherry Coke 2. Phone Call: Someone had the wrong number. 3. Text Message: “I’ll deal with it tomorrow.” 4. Song You Listened to: As Hard As A Man by Troll 2 5. Time You Cried: I cry almost every day. I cried last night.

6. Dated Someone Twice: Almost a couple times, but ultimately not. 7. Kissed Someone and Regretted It: No. 8. Been Cheated On: I don’t think so. 9. Lost Someone Special: You betcha. 10. Been Depressed: All the time. 11. Gotten Drunk and Threw Up: Nope, I’ve been extremely drunk, but I don’t seem to throw up.

Favorite Colors: 12. Forest Green 13. Black/Red 14. Blue

In The Last Year Have You: 15. Made New Friends: One or two if I’m stretching. 16. Fallen Out of Love: Nope. 17. Laughed Until You Cried: Yessir. 18. Found Out Someone Was Talking About You: Yeah. 19: Met Someone Who Changed You: Absolutely. 20. Found Out Who Your Friends Are: More like confirmed 21. Kissed Someone on Your Facebook List: Not this year.

22. How Many of Your Facebook Friends Do You Know In Real Life: All but one or two. 23. Do You Have Any Pets: Two Beautiful Rats. I love them so. 24. Do You Want To Change Your Name: Sometimes. I’d love to be called Tober or something similarly unique. 25. What Did You Do For Your Last Birthday: Wandered around downtown Portland. 26. What Time Did You Wake Up: 4:30 am. Went back to sleep. 27. What Were You Doing At Midnight Last Night: Watching King of the Hill. 28. Name Something You Can’t Wait For: To see my best friend again. 29. When Was The Last Time You Saw Your Mom: She came to visit a couple of months ago, I wrangled her into going to get sushi. 30. What About Your Dad: Last time I went back to Utah. 31. What Are You Listening to Right Now: The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. 32. Have You Ever Talked to a Person Named Tom: Yeah, worked with someone with that name in high school. 33. Something That is Getting on Your Nerves: “Centrists.” 34. Most Visited Website: YouTube.

35: Hair Color: Brown. 36. Long or Short: Medium. 37. Do You Have a Crush on Someone: Hardcore. 38. What do You Like About Yourself: I’ll never let transphobes or racists say their shit around me without being challenged. I don’t let shit slide. 39. Piercings: I’ve got a septum. 40. Blood Type: No clue, actually. 41. Nickname: Kris, asshole, bitch, since students I used to teach called me punk. 42. Relationship Status: Single as fucc.

43. Zodiac: Libra, but also Virgo I guess? But also I don’t think it really matters. 44. Pronouns: They/them are preferred, but I don’t mind others being used. 45. Favorite TV Show: It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. 46. Tattoos: “This Machine Kills Fascists” on my bicep.

47. Right Hand or Left: Mostly Right. 48. Surgery: Got some extra teeth removed. 49. (This one got skipped at some point, lost to the sands of time.) 50. Sport: I used to fence and play soccer.

51. Vacation: Wherever I can afford, especially if my best friend is there. 52. Pair of Trainers: I’ve got a pair of hard leather boots, but that’s pretty much it.

53. Eating: Nothing right now, had some curry recently. 54. Drinking: Caffeine. 55. I’m About To: Take a bath. 56. Waiting For: The Revolution.

57. What do You Want: A van and a band. 58. Get Married: Nope. 59. Career: Van bound folk punk musician. Or growing veggies on a commune.

Which is Better: 60. Hugs or Kisses: Kisses are really nice. 61. Lips or Eyes: Eyes. 62. Shorter or Taller: They’re both good. 63. Older or Younger: Wherever you’re at can be a decent age. 64. Nice Arms or Nice Stomach: All stomachs are good. 65. Hook Up or Relationship: Hook Ups were fun for a while, but they start feeling sad, at least they did for me. Relationship. 66. Troublemaker or Hesitant: Troublemaker.

Have You Ever: 67. Kissed a Stranger: No. 68. Drank Hard Liquor: Yup. 69. Lost Glasses/Contracts: Don’t use em. 70. Turned Someone Down: Yeah. 71. Sex on First Date: No. 72. Broken Someone’s Heart: Maybe? No one’s ever told me so. 73. Had Your Heart Broken: Yeah. 74. Been Arrested: Nearly, but not quite. 75. Cried When Someone Died: Yeah, when Edward Albee past, I shed my share of tears. 76. Fallen For a Friend: Every relationship I’ve been in began as a friendship.

Do You Believe In: 77. Yourself: Ye. 78. Miracles: No. 79. Love at First Sight: Nope. 80. Santa Claus: No, and Christmas is way better when it’s about the people you care about and not some mysterious sprite breaking an entry. 81. Kiss on The First Date: Sure. 82. Angels: No.

83. Eye Color: Blue. 84. Favorite Movie: Green Room

Tagging: I just did one of these, and I’d probably just tag all the same people again. If you see this and want to do it, please do so and tag me so I can learn more about you folx out there.

[templified]

Fantastic, High Quality Multipurpose Business Themes with WooCommerce | Templified

New Post has been published on https://templified.com/fantastic-high-quality-multipurpose-business-themes-with-woocommerce/

Fantastic, High Quality Multipurpose Business Themes with WooCommerce

This collection is one that I think a lot of folks are going to love.

With a collection like this, we knew that we would have to find a wide variety of WordPress themes that fit a lot of different purposes. Multi-purpose themes need to do a lot of work. of course, everything in all of our collections is going to look great and it’s going to be easy to use and powerful, but with a multi-purpose WooCommerce business theme collection, that’s a lot to process. We have gathered up quite a number of outstanding WordPress themes that fit the bill. These templates are all going to have all the features that you need to create a very high-quality website that delivers amazing results. No matter what type of business you are running, one of the themes in this collection should work perfectly for your needs.

Famita Minimalist WordPress WooCommerce Theme

If you’re looking for a high quality eCommerce theme that has a beautiful, flat style, why not consider Famita?  This theme has a lot going for it.  It’s incredibly important to have a high quality theme, considering hoe much competition there is for traffic.  There are millions and millions of websites, many of them are trying to get sales in the same niche.  A quality WordPress theme can mean the difference between success and failure.

You don’t want to fail, do you?

I didn’t think so.

Here’s a few of the samples of what the Famita WordPress theme brings to the table.  It’s a feast for the eyes, a wonderful tour-de-force of design and features worth having a deeper look at.

So fresh and so clean!  Flat is beautiful!

If you want to impress potential customers with a joyous and radiant WordPress theme, this Famita theme could be the right choice for you. It’s a stroke of genius, the design of this theme and fortunately for everyone, it’s not too pricey. This purely responsive WooCommerce and e-commerce ready theme is adventurous and bold, painstakingly crafted and hypnotic to look at. If it’s your desire to create one of the best looking e-commerce themes you possibly can then it should be more than just an Impulse to purchase this tasty and aspiring WordPress template.

WooCommerce is the engine that drives your online shop. There’s absolutely nothing that you can’t accomplish with WooCommerce and it’s as if the developer of WooCommerce has as much respect for their plugin as they do for the people who use it. It’s very simple to establish a great-looking website, whether you’re selling trousers or mittens, crowns or sheep collars. I’m not sure who actually buy a sheep color, but if you’re into the distribution of stuff like that, this template could be a great choice. Uline there’s nothing fragile or unsightly about this template, it’s pristine and clean and it’s got all the features necessary to run a very successful web shop.

If this theme isn’t quite what you had in mind, we’ve built a massive amount of WordPress themes in to our collection of e-commerce and WooCommerce ready shopping website templates. Each of these themes is receptive to adjustments and I think we Powers is the correct plugin to use for establishing any great looking online shop. These themes are well-crafted, elegant and perfect for men, women, girls and boys alike. You can create a store selling just about anything you want and there’s nothing defective about any of that.

I just went back and looked at Famita to see how it’s done in it’s first year on the market.  Over 200 sales and a solid rating of 4.71, so I’m still going to recommend this theme to anybody that needs a clean, flat eCommerce theme in their life.

DemoMore Information Get Hosting

Flone, Fashion Shop WordPress Theme

Flone is a very nice looking fashion shop WordPress theme, it’s clean, simple and it was just released in late 2019, making this theme one that hasn’t been overused.  I think that can be a good thing, you don’t want your website looking like everybody else’s and that’s definitely going to help you craft a site that looks great and has a unique style to it.  Also, the fact that it’s brand new means it’s got all the features of the most modern of websites.  Clean, contemporary code that’s fast loading and responsive.  That’s the starting point.

There are ten premade home pages, several header variants and footer variants.  There’s mega menus with image support, several WooCommerce addons.  Product tab views, product grid views, the whole nine yards.

Flone, I really have no clue what that name is supposed to mean, but I guess that doesn’t matter in the end.  What’s in a name?

So, if you want to hear what the developer says about Flone, this is it.

Flone – Minimal WooCommerce WordPress Theme is a super-smooth and creative Website design. We create the top-notch demo websites because we analyze the market and anticipate the coming trend of this industry. We have successfully inserted all the best quality features and user-friendly attributes to Flone WordPress theme.

So, there you go.  Now, the front page.

Looking for a free theme that does pretty much everything that Flone can do?  Check out Oregon.  It’s a free theme that’s WooCommerce ready, easy to install and easy to customize.  Here’s the demo page.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

Siemon & Salazar, Clean, Minimalist WooCommerce Theme

Meet Siemon and Salazar.  A couple of nice fellows who want to help you build an amazing online shop.  One of the best things about WooCommerce is the number of different themes out there that can work hand-in-hand with WordPress to help you build an online store. This theme is a great example of that, it’s easy to use either for beginners and the packs tons of features in a very attractive package. With this thing, you get a user-friendly environment to build any type of store that you could imagine. It is quick to set up and quick to customize, this flexible and dynamic theme works wonders for building any type of online shop.

There are several different pre-built home styles to give your front page unattractive and stylish look, no matter what it is that you are selling. If you are new to WordPress, setting up WooCommerce is very easy. There are just a few steps to get your shop up and online, all of the pages are dynamically created especially for your site. Selling products with WooCommerce couldn’t possibly be easier.

If you’d like to hear from the developers themselves, rather than hear me blather on and on, here is what they say about this attractive, well-built and modern WooCommerce theme.

Siemon & Salazar is suitable for e-commerce websites. We have included multiple layouts for home page, product page to give you best selections in customization. Siemon & Salazar is not just a WooCommerce theme, we had a plan in order to develop Siemon & Salazar for any kinds of websites: Business, Creative, News, Corporate, …

Siemon & Salazar is a professional WordPress theme. It comes with a lot of features and variations: Responsive Layout, Mega Menu, Page Builder, Awesome Slider Revolution, Product Quick View, Easy One Click To Install, … and so much more.

Easy to use, awesome and powerful. These are the words that we talk about Siemon & Salazar. You will be able to build your website in a snap without coding knowledge. Are you ready to get it for now?

While this theme is really nice, it may not be the best for your needs.  We’ll introduce you to a whole lot more themes in our collection.  Get ready!  Check out the list of the top eCommerce themes and let us know what you think.

If you’re looking for a theme that will really resonate with your readers, a theme that is attractive and dynamic, modern and fascinating, you’re certainly going to want to take a look at that collection that I just linked to. Weave found that it is painstaking to select the right theme, it can be a bumpy road come up but it doesn’t have to be. That collection is fertile ground for business building, allowing you to select a flawless theme that won’t waste your time. Love people are bewildered by how many different choices there are, but finding an agreeable looking theme that has all the features you need, one that is thick with options and has a mighty user interface for customizations, that is easily achieved with one of the themes in our collection. Hopefully, you can find plenty of different themes that will work for your online shop.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

Wummo, Fashion Centered eCommerce WordPress Theme

With plenty of widgets, simple demo import and SEO optimization coming out the ears, Wummo may have a silly name, but it’s ready for just about anything when it comes to your content.  Wummo has multiple page styles, social sharing features as good as any theme around, it’s flexible in terms of design and colors and it’s got a live customizer that allows you to see the changes you make to your site before you commit to them.

Wummo is responsive, it’s WooCommerce ready and it has support for all the most popular page builders, which is another nice touch.

Here’s a peek at the front page.  Not a bad way to greet visitors.

For those of you who want a little bit cheaper theme, I recommend you take a look at Oregon.  It’s a free personal blog and eCommerce theme that I just released.  Hopefully it can be useful for some of you.  Anyway, it’s worth a look.  Here’s the demo page.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

Eris Shop, Modern eCommerce Theme for WordPress

If you’ve been looking for an incredibly simple WordPress theme to build a great looking online shop and portfolio around, why not consider Eris? This theme, built by themes kingdom, is a Blog and portfolio in one, and it allows you to create a crisp and elegant WordPress portfolio to make your projects look incredible. This theme has everything that it takes two make their first impression you’ve been wanting to.

When you download a theme, especially if you’re paying a premium price for it, you should feel a lot of confidence that the code, the design and the features are going to be everything that you are looking for. Building a great first impression is very important and this theme remembers that. You get a different layout styles, different menu styles and everything is incredibly clean, well organized and well-designed. Honestly, it is going to be quite difficult for your readers to find anything at fault with your website if you should choose this theme.

Here’s a good look at the front page of Eris, I think that it’s fantastic looking theme and it’s got every feature that you could possibly want.

Building a business from the ground up, that is quite an arduous task. Any little bit of help that you can get those a long way to make the process whole lot easier. One great tool that can help you establish an amazing website quickly, is a high quality WordPress theme. eCommerce WordPress themes like Eris Shop are a great solution for developing a website that looks just as good as it possibly can, giving a wonderful user experience and helping to promote your products. This theme is user-friendly and delightfully well built. This template has all the features you could possibly want in a modern shopping theme and I think it’s simply one of the best on the market. I highly recommend this theme.

DemoMore Information Get Hosting

Sentinal, WooCommerce Ready Fashion Modern Shop

Sentinal is the name of this theme.

Sentinal is a modern WordPress fashion shop theme. It’s got a dragon drop page builder, a header and footer designs that are completely custom come up multi menu style and a whole lot of other awesome features. This theme fully supports WooCommerce, meaning that you’ll be able to set up an online shop you should want to. I suppose that is a prerequisite for fashion shop templates. Considering that is what this theme is describing itself as, they better support WooCommerce. Anyway, let’s have a look at the front page of this template to see what you’re getting if you should happen to purchase it.

If I’m being honest, I’m not entirely sure that this seemed is worth $69. That’s quite a steep price and for a relatively simple and straightforward template, that might be a bit more than you want to spend. But, read on, I’ve got some good news.

Well, if you’ve made it this far, to this dark and forgotten corner of the internet, evidently you are looking for a WordPress theme. If this seems a little too expensive for you or doesn’t really fit into your plans, we’ve got another option. It’s our first free theme and it’s called Oregon. You can take a look at it right here.

Maybe this theme can come in handy for some folks, I really don’t know. Take a look at the demo page to see how Oregon looks in action or head straight over to the download page to grab yourself a free copy. It’s really easy to set up so it really doesn’t cost anything to give it a shot to see if it works for your website. Anyway, here are download and more information links for the theme that got you here.

Demo More Information Get Hosting

  Minimalist WordPress Themes

Personal Blog WordPress Themes

Typography WordPress Themes

[pattersondonaldblk5]

The Story of CSS Grid, from Its Creators

A note from the editors: We want to thank the Microsoft Edge team for sharing transcripts of the interviews they conducted with many of the brilliant people who have contributed to the development of CSS Grid. Those transcripts proved invaluable in compiling this history. You can watch the short video they produced from those interviews, Creating CSS Grid, on Channel 9.

On October 17th, Microsoft’s Edge browser shipped its implementation of CSS Grid. This is a milestone for a number of reasons. First, it means that all major browsers now support this incredible layout tool. Second, it means that all major browsers rolled out their implementations in a single year(!), a terrific example of standards success and cross-browser collaboration. But third, and perhaps most interestingly, it closes the loop on a process that has been more than 20 years in the making.

Not a new idea

While the modern concept of a “grid layout” has been with us since the Industrial Revolution, grids have been a design tool for centuries. As such, it shouldn’t come as a shock that grid-based layouts have been a goal of CSS since the beginning.

According to Dr. Bert Bos, who co-created CSS with Håkon Wium Lie, grid-based layouts have actually been on his mind for quite some time.

“CSS started as something very simple,” Bos recalled. “It was just a way to create a view of a document on a very simple small screen at the time. Twenty years ago, screens were very small. So, when we saw that we could make a style sheet for documents, we thought, Well, what else can we do now that we have a system for making style sheets?”

Looking at what books and magazines were doing with layout was a great inspiration for them.

“Independent of the content on every page, it has a certain layout,” Bos said. “Page numbers are in certain places. And images are always aligned to the certain sides—left or right or in the middle. We wanted to capture that.”

Early on, browser makers wrote off the idea as “too complex” to implement, but grid layout concepts kept cropping up. In 1996, Bos, Lie, and Dave Raggett came up with a “frame-based” layout model. Then, in 2005, Bos released the Advanced Layout Module, which later turned into the Template Layout Module. Despite enthusiasm for these concepts from the web design community, none of them ever shipped in a browser.

Once more, with feeling

With grid concepts being thrown at the wall of the CSS Working Group with some regularity, folks were hopeful one of them would stick eventually. And the idea that did was a proposal from a couple of folks at Microsoft who had been looking for a more robust layout tool for one of their web-based products.

Phil Cupp had been put in charge of the UI team tasked with reimagining Microsoft Intune, a computer management utility. Cupp was a big fan of Silverlight, a browser plug-in that sported robust layout tools from Windows Presentation Foundation, and initially had planned to go that route for building the new Intune. As it happened, however, Microsoft was in the planning stages of Windows 8 and were going to enable building apps with web technologies. Upon learning this, Cupp wanted to follow suit with Intune, but he quickly realized that the web was in desperate need of better layout options.

He joined a new team so he could focus on bringing some of the rich layout options that existed in Silverlight—like grid layout—to the web. Interestingly, folks on this new team were already noticing the need. At the time, many app developers were focusing on iPhones and iPads, which only required designers to consider two different fixed canvas sizes (four, if you consider portrait and landscape). Windows had to support a ton of different screen sizes, screen resolutions, and form factors. Oh, and resizable windows. In short, Microsoft needed a robust and flexible layout tool for the web desperately if the web was going to be an option for native app development on Windows.

After working extensively with various teams within Microsoft to assemble a draft specification, Cupp and his team shipped a grid layout implementation behind the -ms- vendor prefix in Internet Explorer 10 in 2011. They followed that up with a draft Grid Layout spec, which they presented to the W3C in 2012.

Of course, this was not the first—or even the third—time the W3C had received a grid layout spec to consider. What was different this time, however, was that they also had an actual implementation to evaluate and critique. Also, we, as developers, finally had something we could noodle around with. Grid layout was no longer just a theoretical possibility.

A handful of forward-thinking web designers and developers—Rachel Andrew, an Invited Expert to the W3C, chiefly among them—began to tinker.

“I came across CSS Grid initially at a workshop that Burt Bos was leading in French. And I don’t really speak French, but I was watching the slides and trying to follow along,” Andrew recalled. “I saw him demonstrate … the Template Layout spec. I think he was really talking about it in terms of print and using this stuff to create print layouts, but as soon as I saw that, I was like, No, we want this for the web. This is something that we really need and its feasibility to properly lay things out. And so I started digging into it, and finding out what he was doing, and building some examples.”

“Then I saw the Microsoft implementation [of the draft Grid Layout spec], which gave me a real implementation that I could build examples to show other people. And I wanted to do that—not just because it was interesting, and I like interesting things to play with—it was because I wanted to get it out there and get other people to have a look at it. Because I’ve been doing this for a long time and I know that specs often show up, and then no one really talks about them, and they kinda disappear again. And I was absolutely determined that Grid Layout wasn’t gonna disappear, it was gonna be something that other people found out about and got excited about it. And hopefully we’d actually get it into browsers and be able to use it.”

The spec evolves

The draft spec that Cupp presented to the W3C, and that his team shipped in IE10, is not the Grid Layout spec we have today. It was a step in the right direction, but it was far from perfect.

“The one [Phil Cupp submitted] was a very track-based system,” recalled Elika Etemad, an Invited Expert to the W3C and an Editor of the CSS Grid Layout Module. “There was only a numeric addressing system, there were no line names, there [were] no templates, none of that stuff. But it had a layout algorithm that they … were confident would work because they had been doing experimental implementations of it.”

“The original grid that Bert [Bos] came up with … was really the reason I joined the CSS Working Group,” recalled Google’s Tab Atkins, another Editor of the CSS Grid Layout Module. “At the time, I was learning all the terrible layout hacks and seeing the possibility to just write my page layout in CSS and just have it all, kinda, work was astonishing. And then seeing the draft from Phil Cupp … and seeing it all laid out properly and with a good algorithm behind it, I knew that it was something that could actually exist now.”

It was also a compelling option because, unlike previous proposals, which specified rigid layouts, this proposal was for a responsive grid system.

“You can [be] explicit about the size of a grid item,” Etemad explained. “But you can also say, Be the size that your content takes up. And that was what we needed to move forward.”

However, the draft spec wasn’t as approachable as many on the CSS Working Group wanted it to be. So the group looked to bring in ideas from some of its earlier explorations.

“What we really liked about Burt [Bos]’s proposal was that it had this very elegant interface to it that made it easy to express layouts in a way that you can intuitively see,” Etemad said. “It’s like an ASCII art format to create a template, and you could put [it] in your code, like the width of the columns and the heights of the rows. You could embed those into the same kind of like ASCII diagram, which made it a lot easier to see what you were doing.”

Peter Linss, then Co-Chair of the CSS Working Group, also suggested that they incorporate the concept of grid lines in the spec (instead of only talking about tracks). He believed including this familiar graphic design concept would make the spec more accessible to designers.

“When we were thinking initially about CSS Grid, we were thinking about it in a very app-centric model,” recalled Microsoft’s Rossen Atanassov, who is also an Editor on the spec. “But grid is nothing new. I mean, grid’s been here for a very long time. And that traditional type of grid has always been based on lines. And we’d been kind of ignoring the lines. When we realized that we could marry the two implementations—the app side and the typography side of the Grid—this for me, personally, was one of those aha moments that really inspired me to continue working on Grid.”

So the CSS Working Group began tweaking Microsoft’s proposal to incorporate these ideas. The final result allows you to think about Grid systems in terms of tracks or lines or templates or even all three at once.

Of course, getting there wasn’t easy.

Refine, repeat

As you can probably imagine, reconciling three different ideas—Microsoft’s proposal, Bos’ Advanced Layout, and Linss’ addition of grid lines—wasn’t a simple cut and paste; there were a lot of tricky aspects and edge cases that needed to be worked out.

“I think some of the tricky things at the beginning [were] taking all the different aspects of … the three proposals that we were trying to combine and coming up with a system that was coherent enough to gracefully accept all of that input,” Etemad said.

Some ideas just weren’t feasible for phase one of a CSS grid. Bos’ concept, for instance, allowed for any arbitrary descendent of the grid to lay out as though it were a child element of the grid. That is a feature often referred to as “subgrid” and it didn’t make the cut for CSS Grid Layout 1.0.

“Subgrid has been one of those things that was pointed out immediately,” Atanassov said. “And that has been a blessing and kind of a hurdle along the way. It was … one that held back the spec work for quite a bit. And it was also one that was scaring away some of the implementers. … But it’s also one of the features that I’m … most excited about going forward. And I know that we’re gonna solve it and it’s gonna be great. It’s just gonna take a little while longer.”

Similarly, there were two options for handling content mapped to grid lines. On the one hand, you could let the grid itself have fixed-dimension tracks and adjust which ending grid line the overflowing content mapped to, based on how much it overflowed. Alternately, you could let the track grow to contain the content so it ended at the predefined grid line. Having both was not an option as it could create a circular dependency, so the group decided to put the grid-snapping idea on hold.

Ultimately, many of these edits and punts were made in light of the CSS Working Group’s three primary goals for this spec. It needed to be:

Powerful: They wanted CSS Grid to enable designers to express their desires in a way that “made simple things easy and complex things possible,” as Etemad put it;

Robust: They wanted to ensure there would not be gaps that could cause your layout to fall apart, inhibit scrolling, or cause content to disappear accidentally;

and Performant: If the algorithm wasn’t fast enough to elegantly handle real-world situations like browser resize events and dynamic content loading, they knew it would create a frustrating experience for end users.

“[T]his is why designing a new layout system for CSS takes a lot of time,” Etemad said. “It takes a lot of time, a lot of effort, and a lot of love from the people who are working on it.”

Where the rubber meets the road

Before a Candidate Recommendation (aka, a final draft) can become a Proposed Recommendation (what we colloquially refer to as a “standard”), the W3C needs to see at least two independent, interoperable implementations. Microsoft had implemented their draft proposal, but the spec had changed a lot since then. On top of that, they wanted to see other browsers take up the torch before they committed more engineering effort to update it. Why? Well, they were a little gun-shy after what happened with another promising layout proposal: CSS Regions.

CSS Regions offered a way to flow content through a series of predefined “regions” on a page, enabling really complex layouts. Microsoft released an implementation of CSS Regions early on, behind a prefix in IE 10. A patch landed support for Regions in WebKit as well. Safari shipped it, as did Chrome (which was still running WebKit under the hood at the time). But then Google backed it out of Chrome. Firefox opposed the spec and never implemented it. So the idea is currently in limbo. Even Safari will drop its experimental support for CSS Regions in its next release. Suffice it to say, Microsoft wanted to be sure Grid wouldn’t suffer the same fate as Regions before committing more engineering resources to it.

“We had implementers that immediately said, ‘Wow, this is great, we should definitely do it,’” recalled Atanassov of Grid. “But [it’s] one thing … saying, ‘Yeah this is great, we should do it,’ and then there’s the next step where it’s adding resources and paying developers to go and actually implement it.”

“There was desire from other implementers—one of the spec editors is from Google—but there was still hesitancy to actually push code,” recalled Microsoft’s Greg Whitworth, a member of the CSS Working Group. “And … shipping code is what matters.”

In an interesting turn of events, the media company Bloomberg hired Igalia, an open source consultancy, to implement CSS Grid for both Blink and WebKit.

“Back in 2013 … [we] were contacted by [Bloomberg] … because they had very specific needs regarding defining and using grid-like structures,” recalled Sergio Villar Senin, both a software engineer at and partner in Igalia. “[T]hey basically asked us to help in the development of the CSS Grid layout specification, and also [to] implement it for [Blink and WebKit].”

“[Igalia’s work] helped tremendously because then developers [could] see it as possibly something that they can actually use when developing their sites,” Whitworth added. But even with two ready-made implementations, some folks were still concerned the feature wouldn’t find its footing. After all, just because a rendering engine is open source doesn’t mean its stewards accept every patch. And even if they do, as happened with CSS Regions, there’s no guarantee the feature will stick around. Thankfully, a good number of designers and developers were starting to get excited about Grid and began to put pressure on browser vendors to implement it.

“There was a pivotal shift with CSS Grid,” Whitworth said. “Starting with Rachel Andrew coming in and creating a ton of demos and excitement around CSS Grid with Grid by Example and starting to really champion it and show it to web developers and what it was capable of and the problems that it solves.”

“Then, a little bit later, Jen Simmons [a Designer Advocate at Mozilla] created something called Labs where she put a lot of demos that she created for CSS Grid up on the web and, again, continued that momentum and that wave of enthusiasm for CSS Grid with web developers in the community.”

Grid facilitates both traditional and (as shown here) non-traditional layouts. This is a Grid Layout example from Jen Simmons’ Labs, as seen in Edge 16. If you’d like to see it working in Edge but don’t run Windows, you can also view it in BrowserStack (account required).

With thought leaders like Andrews and Simmons actively demonstrating the power and versatility of CSS Grid, the web design community grew more excited. They began to experiment on sites like CodePen, sharing their ideas and developing their Grid layout skills. We don’t often think about it, but developer enthusiasm has the power to bolster or bury a spec.

“We can write a spec, we can go implement things, but if there isn’t developer demand or usage of the features, it doesn’t really matter how much we do with that,” Whitworth said.

Unfortunately, with ambitious specs like Grid, the implementation cost can often deter a browser vendor from making the commitment. Without a browser implementation enabling developers to tinker and experiment, it’s hard to build enthusiasm. Without developer enthusiasm, browser vendors are reluctant to spend the money to see if the idea gains traction. I’m sure you can see the problem here. In fact, this is partly what has doomed Regions—performance on mobile chipsets was another cited reason—at least for now.

Thankfully, Bloomberg willingly played the role of benefactor and got the ball rolling for this new incarnation of CSS Grid. So, with its help, Google landed an implementation of CSS Grid in Chromium 56 for Android in January of 2017. It landed its Chrome implementation in early March, just two days after Mozilla shipped its own implementation in Firefox. Before the month was over, Opera and Safari had also shipped support for CSS Grid.

Ironically, the last company to ship CSS Grid was Microsoft. But it released its implementation in Edge earlier this week.

“With features on the web platform … you’re waiting for a sweet spot,” Whitworth said, just prior to Grid’s release in Edge. “You want a solid spec, you want implementer interest, and you want tons of demand from web developers. Late 2016/early 2017 was that sweet spot. All of that happened. We upgraded our implementation and are stoked to ship it.”

“I don’t recall a feature ever shipping like CSS Grid has shipped. Every major browser will have shipped it within a matter of a single year, and it will be interoperable because we’ve been… implementing [it] behind flags, testing it, making future changes behind flags, and then when it was deemed stable, all the browsers are now shipping it natively.”

“With everybody shipping at approximately the same time,” Atkins said, “[Grid] goes from an interesting idea you can play with to something that you just use as your only layout method without having to worry about fallbacks incredibly quickly. … [It’s been] faster than I expected any of this to work out.”

What Grid means for CSS

With Grid support no longer in question, we can (and should) begin to make use of this amazing tool. One of the challenges for many of us old timers who have been working with CSS for the better part of two decades, is that CSS Grid requires a whole new way of thinking about layout.

“It’s not just attaching your margins and properties to each individual element and placing them,” Bos said. “[Y]ou can now have a different model, a model where you start with your layout first and then pull in the different elements into that layout.”

“It is the most powerful layout tool that we have invented yet for CSS,” Atkins said. “It makes page layouts so ridiculously easy. … [P]eople have always been asking for better layouts. Just for author-ability reasons and because the hacks that we were employing weren’t as powerful as the old methods of just put[ting] it all in a big old table element—that was popular for a reason; it let you do powerful complex layouts. It was just the worst thing to maintain and the worst thing for semantics. And Grid gives you back that power and a lot more, which is kind of amazing.”

“CSS Grid takes all of that complicated stuff that we had to do to [achieve] basic layouts and makes it completely unnecessary,” Etemad said. “You can talk to the CSS engine directly[—]you, yourself, without an intermediary translator.”

CSS Grid offers a lot of power that many of us are only just starting to come to grips with. It will be interesting to see where we go from here.

“I think it’s going to be transformative,” Etemad said. “It’s going to take CSS back to what it was meant to be, which is styling and layout language that lifts all of that logic away from the markup and allows that clean separation of content and style that we’ve been trying to get from the beginning.”

“I’m excited about the future of CSS layout,” Whitworth said. “CSS Grid is not the end; it’s actually just the beginning. In IE 10 … [we shipped] CSS Regions as well as CSS Exclusions. I think as web designers begin to utilize CSS Grid more and more, they’ll realize why we shipped all three together. And maybe we can continue what we did with CSS Grid and continue to improve upon those specifications. Get vendor desire to implement those as well. Get the community excited about them and push layout on the web even further.”

“I think that now we have Grid, Exclusions makes absolute sense to have,” Andrew said. “It gives us a way to place something in [a grid] and wrap text around it, and we don’t have any other way to do that. … And then things like Regions … I would love to see that progress because … once we can build a nice grid structure, we might want to flow content through it. We don’t have a way of doing that.”

“[A]s far as I’m concerned, this doesn’t stop here; this is just the start.”

Getting into Grid

CSS Grid Layout Module Level 1 http://ift.tt/1Q7jj5O

CSS Grid Layout – Mozilla Developer Network http://ift.tt/2doIu3G

Grid by Example – Rachel Andrew http://ift.tt/2rTQb9s

Grab & Go Grid Layout Patterns by Rachel Andrew http://ift.tt/2rxkXrX

Layout Demos by Jen Simmons http://ift.tt/2mBcwcR

Learn CSS Grid by Jen Simmons http://ift.tt/2lusul2

CSS Grid and Grid Inspector in Firefox http://ift.tt/2nXs33I

Practical CSS Grid: Adding Grid..

http://ift.tt/2yV3Zb1