#valorant polar

[helenas-crashed-car]

welcome. the new deep cut.

[flooficandii]

first impressions

[evilhorse]

Legionnaires—follow me!

[dark-eraser-publishing]

Planet Valor

Joy to the World: chapter 2

Part 1

Part 3

At the same time on an old airship passing over Planet Valor’s skies were the three members of famous rock band The Sirens; Echo Bear (the band’s drummer), Melody the Colugo (the keyboardist), and Harmony Heart (the lead vocals and guitarist) were heading to Ginger Island due to them having a gig on that islands annual holiday festival and to see their friends. Harmony is especially excited because she gets to see Aurora, her friend, hero, and someone she’s in love with; that last one is an open secret she has with her bandmates because the caracal doesn’t want to make things awkward between the two of them. This became something that Harmony was thinking about while strumming her guitar whiles onboard the very ship, which caused her to accidently cause one of the strings to break off.

As Harmony got up to replace the broken guitar string a loud noise like a plane engine began to echo through the sky and even be loud enough to be heard in her cabin. This might be because of how old the ship was and them not wanting to fly in anything fancy to avoid getting any unwanted attention by the press until they performed on stage on the night before Christmas but the sound was still noticeable. Follow by several explosions joining in on the echoing as well.

“Harmony, Melody needs you and Echo to come and see this,” Melody in her usual habit of breaking talking in the third person. The wildcat, trusting her young friend immediately went with the colugo to the deck with the duo waking up their drummer to come along. As they were running to the deck they noticed that the humans on the ship that being the remaining passengers and crew were trying to find cover, especially due to the fact that as they were running the bandmates they found out the explosions were coming from cannon fire.

“Listen here ladies we need to prepare fight because we could be dealing with pirates, monsters or even-”

As Harmony was talking they made to the upper deck when noticed a clearly more militaristic airship and it was one they remember all too well for it was the Zephyr; the personal air ship of Vesper Metallic the right hand of the villainous Dr. Neuron.

“Great just what we needed for the holidays,” the guitarist sarcastically uttered remembering with her history The Sirens have had with the metallic menace. Right on que Vesper gave a mighty leap from the serpent and landed the passenger ship with a force that made the liner shake, Harmony looked with distain at this monstrosity and everything she did to her both physically and mentally. This causing her to pull out her guitar, Echo Banshee (which would sound strange it not for the fact that it was designed to before used for performances and combat) with the attempt to smash the robot to pieces as at the same time she ran right towards Vesper at fantastical speeds.

Harmony swung vertically to strike Vesper in the head; however the automatic assassin step back immediately almost making the wildcat hit the ground. “Why are you here Vesper? Unless you’ve been submitting yourself as my stalker ever since Aurora saved me when we first met, because I can’t for the light me why a right felon like Neuron would want me and me mates for.” As Harmony was talking her opponent rushed at her like a lightning bolt almost hitting her in the heart if not for the guitarist using her guitar to block the attack and utilizing her history of Jeet Kune Do to use Echo Banshee to throw Vesper onto the ground with enough force to break push back her right arm joints removing the arm in the process.

I kind of forgot that Neuron didn’t program this calculator with text-to-speech. Harmony thought as she had Vesper pin to the ground and began to raise her voice.

“Melody, Echo, I was wondering if it would be to kind to get on this daft drone’s ship and not faff around watching me fight just so we’d know why he’s attacking!” Harmony said with frustration as her two friends were watching the wildcat swing at Vesper’s like a croquet ball only for the indigo killbot to sweep her legs, landing on her butt. Then to be slammed backwards due to Vesper grabbing her by the throat with the attempt to choke Harmony to death, due to the fact that Vesper was enraged which is one thing that separates her from any of Neuron’s robot, that she was programmed with emotions.

Vesper decided to finish this by setting up a kinetic needle to be fired into Harmony’s neck. That is until Echo charged at them knocking the droid off her friend saving Harmony.

“Thanks Echo,” Harmony said gasping for air.

“No problem we’d both know you’d be in trouble without me anyway,” Echo said with her usual slow simple tone. The polar bear looked down at the robotic foe towering over the machine which makes sense since Echo is a giant in comparison to Vesper who is the same size Aurora.

 “Melody is already on Vesper’s ship so whatever Neuron’s plan is she’ll figure it out.” Echo proceeds to run at the robotic villain swinging her fist like a fight just broke out in the middle of the streets landing each blow. But Vesper was definitely made of tougher stuff, because while the punches from the incredibly strong polar bear did knock back and even the damage the bot to some degree it wasn’t enough. Because Dr. Neuron’s most powerful robot grabbed the Echo by the arm using both of its legs and slammed the drummer right into the deck causing inward bending on the floor. Harmony proceeded to stand up, guitar in hand with a serious scowl upon her face and told Echo,

“Get away love and make sure you’ve covered your ears.” As on command the drummer rolled away immediately both hands over her ears when she noticed her friend lift the volume dial upwards and adjust a few of the tuning pegs. This cased Echo Banshee’s headstock to open at the very top revealing a small USW and proceeded to point it at Vesper with Harmony getting ready to strum her guitar.

Echo Banshee isn’t at full power because one of the strings broke off. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be nice personal number one fan. Harmony though to herself with her releasing a concentrated blast of concentrated sound from the headstock with enough force to blast Vesper point blank in the chest leaving a one way hole just right over the power core.

But before the rockstar could finish the job Vesper proceed to make a beeping noise in as it happens releases a flash of blinding white light right into Echo and Harmony’s eyes temporally blind the two. When they got their eyesight back they noticed that their opponent had disappeared,

“Did Vesper just teleport?” The bear asked with a headache.

“No chap,” Harmony answered while still frustrated at the flash, “It was just a flash bang grenade I think Vesper ran right back to her…Oh no, Mel!!!” The wildcat came to the realization that her young colugo friend was about to be on board a warship with a foul-tempered weapon of destruction. This caused her to run directly towards the Zephyr in the hopes of at the very least she could save Melody, only for the keyboardist fly right into her older friend like a cannonball just before Harmony jumped ship.

 The Zephyr retreated just as soon as Melody ran right into Harmony knocking back down onto the deck once again and said,

“Well Melody was on board the Zephyr the only thing she saw that implied any bad guy actions was a bunch of money inside the cellar. So Melody thinks Vesper was only here to steal money from the ship and we just happened to be here.” As Melody was talking the human’s began make their way back up noticing the wreckage from the attack but were thankful that the damage was very minuscule at a glance.

One of the humans, clearly the ship’s captain, walked up to the trio with a look of gratitude and proceeded to tell his crew,

“Don’t worry if she’s still flying we’re safe and we can take her to get repaired. If it doesn’t look to bad we can make it to Ginger Island on schedule.” The captain said, “Thanks you three how can we ever repay you?”

The Banshees looked at each other with confusion as they weren’t really expecting a reward for doing this but because it was the right thing to do. Of course they are surprised that a reward was given anyway they did stop a supervillain from raiding the ship and possibly harming everyone on board they would be some semblance of gratitude for this as a result. Until a discussion was made between the three friends over who should pick.

“Melody wasn’t involved with the fight so she shouldn’t really have a say in the reward,” the colugo first responded.

Followed by the bear saying, “To be honest we could make the travel expenses free for stopping the ship from being raided.” However the wildcat throwing her hat into the ring, “Echo the ship could use the money as part of the repairs.”

“Oh so you got a better idea?”

“Honestly, why are we asking for something in return anyway?”

“Well he is offering.”

It was then as Echo and Harmony were arguing that Melody proceeded to scream out in surprise.

“Harmony’s right, considering that where we are going and for what reason, and that’s the reason for the season.” This lead to two other members to stop and think about it for a second but the reward wasn’t important. And so Harmony turned and walk towards the captain with her answer,

 “Terribly sorry captain but consider what we did a Christmas gift for this entire crew. So we aren’t asking for any rewards just know The Banshees are always ready to perform on and off stage for a show worth watching.” Harmony proclaimed to the captain a mantra that she believes The Banshees should follow as they decided to join the path of heroes.

The captain then acknowledged them by saying this, “So there is such a thing as celebrities with a real heart. So what happened to make you follow that path?”

“One time I as was captured by Dr. Neuron for one of his evil schemes and it was probably going to happen if Aurora didn’t show up and saved me after that day I wanted to help her out and become a hero myself.” The guitarist said with conviction this being something that impressed him leading him to ask,

“Okay how ‘bout you three tell me about me your adventures and maybe even play us a song at dinner tonight.”

“Melody would love for you to hear these stories,” The colugo said. “And hey we were going to get paid for performing at Ginger Island’s Christmas Festival so the practice show wouldn’t be too bad,” Echo said out loud.

“Then it’s settled captain that’s going to be our deal. Just let me restring my guitar and meet you later tonight.” Harmony said as The Banshees when back to their cabin to prepare for the rest of their voyage as part of their Christmas journey.

[keurimi]

[ 23:58pm ] — i love you. remember that.

you and haechan were polar opposites. he was sociable, outgoing, popular, and charmed every person he crosses paths with. he was very ambitious and hardworking and was probably voted most likely to succeed in high school. you, on the other hand, preferred to keep to yourself most of the time, essentially satisfied with mediocrity, and an overall one’s usual plain jane.

you never understood why he liked you in the first place.

the insecurities in your relationship with haechan rarely clog your mind, but when they do, they hit you like a truck. you tended to distance yourself from your boyfriend, wallowing in your own self-pity until he maybe notices and coaxes you out of it.

you wonder how long until his patience with your negativity runs out and leaves you for someone else. someone better.

“you ok?” haechan’s voice snaps you out of your downward spiral. you blinked a few times out of shock, then responded curtly. “yeah, i’m alright.”

haechan narrowed his eyes at you, obviously not believing a word you’re saying. “penny for your thoughts?”

“it’s nothing, hyuck. go back to playing.”

you used his real name. haechan let out a quiet sigh, took off his headphones and squeezed himself next to you on the bed. you swore you could hear jaemin and jeno yelling at him through his headphones for being afk, but before you could point it out, haechan already has you locked in, his arms snaking around your waist and his legs tangled above yours.

“have i ever told you that you’re pretty?” he whispered.

“sometimes.” you hummed.

“maybe i should be saying it more.” he quietly chuckled.

“you don’t have to.”

haechan scooted almost impossibly closer to you, his breath fanning your neck, the distance between your bodies disappearing.

“have i ever told you that i love you?”

you pause for a moment, guilt creeping into your system. “always.” your boyfriend was one who never shyed away from expressing his feelings. he made sure you felt loved, you hear that you’re loved. his one question was a message to you – ‘i love you, yet why do you feel that way?’ why do you feel so insecure in your relationship when he has never failed to appreciate you? to love you?

“i love the way your forehead scrunches up when you focus.” he started, his fingers softly touching and gliding over your bare arms.

“i love the way you get excited when i come home with cheesecake.” he lightly laughed at the thought as his hands travelled up to your face, cupping your cheeks and making you face him. “i love the way you’re so goddamn bad at valorant, yet you play with me when i ask you to.”

“i think about you all the time. your smile, your hands, your face, your laugh. i think about you before i sleep, the moment i wake up, everytime i eat. it’s you that i see. you’re running through my mind all day it’s . . “ he let out a somewhat exasperated sigh. “you’re the only person who makes me this insane, y/n. really.”

“i love you, y/n. you and only you, just the way you are. forever and always.” his voice was much quieter now and his grip around your waist tightened.

“i’m sorry.” was all you could croak out

“it’s okay. i love you. remember that.”

the two of you were silent for a moment. the guilt in your system slowly subsided into feelings of gratefulness – you were thankful he noticed something’s wrong with you quickly, and you were also thankful he knew how to snap yourself out of it.

“wanna watch a movie?” you suggested.

“i’d like that.” he giggled. he slowly snaked himself away from you to get the tv remote, but his movement halted when you called out his name.

“donghyuck?”

his real name. again. he turned back to face you once more.

“i love you, too. forever and always.”

he grinned, moved closer to you and gave you a light peck on the lips.

“i know.”

a/n: i have returned. haechan making me feel things lately god im so in love w him it’s insanejfksmd.

[qiu-yan]

Serious Bitch Opinion: lan wangji...would be a terrible chief cultivator. yes, he is righteous and honorable and has a stalwart moral backbone. however, when you are given the responsibility of leading others, the impeccability of your own moral character must come second to what tangible results you can actually achieve for your people. and if you want to actually achieve any tangible results, instead of getting deadlocked forever or getting done in by your political enemies, you have to learn to compromise on some of your ideals. instead of freezing out the people you find morally despicable, you must learn to cooperate with them; otherwise, you will not achieve anything. and in order to achieve your goals, you must learn that not all of your goals are achievable--that, in order to get the more important of your desired measures passed, you must give up on some others.

now, this is almost the polar opposite of what MDZS as a text champions. arguably one of the central thematic thrusts of MDZS is the importance of not compromising on your ideals, even when it would be far more pragmatic to do so. thus, if lan wangji wanted to become a leader who could actually achieve things, he would have to directly contradict one of the most important messages of the very text that valorizes him.

the moral framework employed by MDZS to evaluate its characters and convey its themes is much more focused on ideals than on results. what matters to MDZS as a narrative is ultimately not the results of one's actions, whether one's righteousness led to joy or to ruin, but rather that one attempted to be righteous even in the face of almost inevitable failure. attempt the impossible, after all. the text of MDZS does not follow utilitarian ideas; it does not condemn wei wuxian for ultimately failing to save almost anyone. rather, wei wuxian's stalwart moral character is celebrated in spite of his failures because he, unlike everyone else, tried.

unfortunately--while someone who is only responsible for their own life can attempt the impossible, someone who is responsible for the lives of millions must instead achieve the achievable.

[centrally-unplanned]

I saw this slightly-old post making the rounds recently by former alt-right memelord Walt Bismark, on how the alt-right "won" in the late 2010's - positing that as the cause of why it generally vanished. I agree overall with the vanishing part, its not gone-gone ofc but it waned as a cohesive movement. But I saw a lot of people (and generally not alt-right figures) agreeing with its conclusion and I am a bit more skeptical of those.

Its largely a personal essay so I wont address most of it, but it has a summary of five main points that outline essentially "the agenda of the Alt Right at the beginning" to evaluate success upon. Bismark thinks they won on all five, but overall I think this is playing a trick of inventing an enemy to claim you defeated. Anyway, the points:

1: Shift the “Overton Window” of acceptable public discourse to make it politically viable to openly discuss the interests of white people in mainstream politics, in the same way black people or Jewish people discuss their collective interests. 

This one I will grant a partial victory - there was a legitimate intensification of "white as identity" in politics, a making explicit what was implicit in the 2010's. Now ofc I consider this to be a classic horseshoe moment; the hard left at the time was also extremely interested in abandoning race neutrality and valorizing racial identity as an organizing principle, and did it in a very ham-fisted way that the right capitalized on, so it was an easy battle to win - but that is what it is, ofc the wider environment defined the goals & strategy. I mention it however because I do think this is only partial, and the gap between implicit and explicit isn't that relevant. He mentions as an example of this success:

Affirmative action was of course squashed by SCOTUS and the necessary legal infrastructure is being deployed to burn it down. Mainstream conservatives are mobilizing a lot of resources and energy to this end.

But conservatives have been fighting affirmative action for 20+ years, easily. Here is a 1999 article on precisely such a campaign, I literally just googled "conservatives affirmative action [year]" and I get results each time, 2003 had big cases (the Bollinger cases) on AA, etc. I remember "affirmative action bake sale" memes from like 2006 at my uni! What changed between Bollinger and 2023's Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard is that conservatives had just had enough time to stack courts, and wait for Supreme Court justices to die. That just...takes time to do! The strategy hadn't changed between 2003 and 2023. And meanwhile, did they win? They won that court case, sure. What do you...think the ethic makeup of the next Harvard class is gonna be? Wanna take some bets?

His other listed victories are things like:

"Vivek defended the Great Replacement Theory on national television and remained a major Trump surrogate. The SPLC would have marginalized him for that 10 years ago. Today because of polarization and MAGA closing ranks they can’t do shit."

And like, the Southern Poverty Law Center would have successfully marginalized a Republican politician in idk 2003 are you completely high right now? Strom Fucking Thurmond was an active Senator in 2003! This is the repeated tactic here, the imagined enemies - there was never a time where liberal institutions could consistently force conservative politicians to kowtow, so you can't claim it as a change.

This is why I mention the social justice horseshoe, because he has this point here:

These days you can complain about quotas etc. being unfair to you as a white man and it’s not inflammatory or low status among centrists and conservatives. Even non-woke liberals won’t really hate you for it, just quietly think you’re a bit of a chud. This was not the case in 2015. 

And this is partially correct, I agree there was some norm shift. But that is because in ~2010 there really weren't any quotas against white men, it wasn't a thing almost anywhere outside of university applications, so the complaint would make no sense. What happened was that starting in ~2012 a huge left cultural movement started that just openly supported active discrimination against whites, Asians and men. They were a small minority of course, and never had much power, but they got enough power in certain institutions like non-profits and universities that there was a string of just very obvious cases of clear racial discrimination against in particular whites & asians (both men and women, white women often got it very bad in this wave). And the large majority of people just saw that and went "uh yeah racism is still bad?" and so now you can say that because its actually relevant to say. From that lens, is this a successful cultural victory on the part of the alt-right? In some sense sure, but really its more a cultural failure of the hard left. The status quo just kept on chugging along.

Ugh that point went long, the others repeat so we will go through them quicker.

2: Elevate identity issues like anti-immigration and the promotion of traditional gender norms to the center of Republican politics. 

A fake enemy here - anti-immigration was already a huge issue for Republicans in the 2000's. It had a huge wave under Obama actually, it goes in cycles like that. And it responds to material conditions; it's a big issue again right now because the immigration numbers spiked massively under Biden, its just way worse of a problem now (primarily due to the booming economy of course). Again a partial victory for the first part, I agree its more salient due to Trump platforming it, but I'm skeptical that it is a big shift - people are memory-holing the Tea Party movement really badly here for example.

And the second point is just obviously false, Republicans always cared about that, and they care about it less now, giving up the ghost on gay marriage for example. The Alt-Right coincided with a decline of the influence of the Religious Right, and it shows on this issue, 0 points.

3: Make it socially acceptable to discuss HBD and the resulting moral implications for leveling mechanisms like affirmative action. 

Peak "log off" moment, it was always acceptable to discuss this outside of liberal/professional circles and there it still isn't acceptable to discuss it. Charles Murray wrote the Bell Curve in 1994 and his been an American Enterprise Institute Scholar for this entire span of time. This is confusing churn for change - the mid-2010's had a bunch of big, mainly online fights about HBD, and then everyone just sort of moved on with the status quo pretty much unchanged. Nothing like education policy, even in Republican circles, has shifted over this.

4: Convince conservatives to stop ceding moral authority to liberals and allowing them to determine who on the Right is verboten or beyond the pale. Make it unacceptable among conservatives to “punch Right” or purge people for wrongthink. 

Sigh, again when have Republicans ever ceded moral authority to liberals? Harvard University could not condemn Newt Gingrich in ~2009 and make him change his mind about anything. And "Republicans don't self-criticize while Liberals eat themselves alive" has been a complaint for literally decades, you would hear that as far back as say Clinton and things like the 1999 WTO protests. Its both true and exaggerated - the Tea Party primaried Republican candidates for wrongthink in 2010, and Trump did the same thing! With disastrous results for the Republicans in 2022. I really, really don't think you can look at Trump's Republican party and say they solved the Wrongthink problem.

5: Expose and dismantle the hypocritical attitude that allows neocons to militantly support Israeli ethnonationalism while brutally repressing any white identity politics domestically.

This one is just a lolwut moment, "brutally repressing any white identity politics domestically", like what does that even mean? Name the concrete policy proposals George Bush implemented in 2007 than Donald Trump didn't in 2018 around this topic. Again a fake enemy, they were never repressed by the right, and ofc are still hated by liberal institutions like universities.

Moving on from any specific point, I think its very telling that very little about free trade vs protectionism or isolationism/support of autocracy abroad enters this list. Because beyond immigration those are the big shifts the Trump movement (which is the mechanism the alt-right has to claim for making its impact) has ushered into the party. They didn't change its stance on sexual politics or "race & IQ" or anything, those haven't changed, but meanwhile the party has completely flipped on things like tariffs or opposition to Russian military expansion. But of course those don't align neatly at all with the issues the Alt-Right fought about in 2015.

The reality the Alt-Right can't escape is that they used Trump as their mechanism for change, and Trump never really cared about any of their goals beyond immigration. He used them and then pursued either bog-standard Republican policy or his own mercurial, autocratic whims, eventually channeling all of this energy into election denialism. I really don't think if you pulled aside frikkin Ryan Faulk in 2014, asked him to put down his graphs about Raven's Progressive Matrices of black Caribbean students, and said "Hey 10 years from now all of this energy is being channeled into pretending that a failed real estate mogul didn't lose the 2020 presidential election", that he would look at that outcome and think Mission Accomplished.

I don't want to fully oversell, there are for example wins Bismark doesn't mention (School choice comes to mind, the biggest conservative win of the past decade besides the protectionist swing). The Alt Right was an influential movement, it earned its place in history. But I do not think it is an example of being a "victim of its own success". I think instead it should be understood as part of the "radical froth" of the 2010's, that bubbled over and then evaporated like its more intense leftwing peers did. It made some mark and then got left in the dust.

Net ranking of the 5 points: 0.5 for Point 1, 0.25 for Point 2, 0 for the rest, 1.25/5.

[akihabara-division03]

The OC's At A Summer Festival

Eats everything in sight: Shian Meizono (Pixel Syndicate), Karada Kessaku (Jet Set Trio), Asahi Tomoharu (Miraitabi), Kanra Akemi (Wicked Requiem), Kanon Hojo (Silent Tragedy), Max Soukoku (Lovesick), Asato Rikiya (ECO BooN), Ryuunosuke Sekiguchi (Wild Shīnu), Sen (地獄Riderz)

Buys every souvenir: Queen Card (R.I.P Märchen), Miku Shirazuki (R.I.P Märchen), Tomi Chōten (Jet Set Trio), Alexis Ward (Sounds of Silence), Yuuya Kanata (Miraitabi), Aika Yumi (Oculus), Criss Hiromi (Otaku Corps), Reika Aichi (Silent Tragedy), Sayaka Miyuki (Femme Fatale), Lola Takahashi (Femme Fatale), Maki Umemoto (山茶花 Zombeez), Yuki Kuraokami (Polar Knights), Naoki Hamasaki (Wild Shīnu)

Only there to watch fireworks: Anika Kiyozaki (Pixel Syndicate), Kisouna Yuzairu (Sakura Clan), Luis Kōkyū (Jet Set Trio), Ivelisse Martinez (Sounds of Silence), Kai Quinlan (Private Party), Mireya Quinlan (Private Party), Saigo Fuyugami (Miraitabi), Nadya Kuromiya (Oculus), Mina Nakayama (ENIGMA), Yuriko Kuromiya (Wicked Requiem), Akihisa Mashiro (Death Row Block), Seiji Tsukimoto (Valor Guard), Miho Kobayashi (CodeX), Kureha Koizumi (Femme Fatale), Wataru Sasaki (Justice Shield), Kyler Aaron (Justice Shield), Yano Ietsuna (ECO BooN), Ishihara Daisuke (地獄Riderz)

Tries to confess to their crush: Shisuta Heisha (Sakura Clan), Ayumu Hayami (Valor Guard), Keiko Yumi (Otaku Corps), Elliot Shimizu (ENIGMA), Yorii Sakuma (ENIGMA), Lyall Shiba (Valor Guard), Ren Nakashima (Lovesick), Kensaku Morimoto (ECO BooN)

Wasted so much money on festival games that they don't have anymore money to go home: Makina Setsukura (Pixel Syndicate), Zakari Hiiroya (Private Party), Nikki Yoshie (Otaku Corps), Sakura Kito (Silent Tragedy), Joey Kurusu (Justice Shield), Ryuko Umemoto (山茶花 Zombeez), Shuu Edogawa (山茶花 Zombeez), Daiki Kamiyama (Veiled Vanguard), Kyō Sakuma (Wild Shīnu), Yoichi Shujo (Polar Knights)

Tries to meet their "true love": Touya Kisaragi (Death Row Block), Kaiji Sano (Lovesick)

"I could cause chaos tonight": Reiaki Suzubayashi (R.I.P Märchen), Aranai Norikoru (Sakura Clan), Hoàng Diệu (Sounds of Silence), Meari Miracle (Oculus), Kaoru Shinozaki (Wicked Requiem), Rintaro Himura (Death Row Block), Sumire Shinomiya (CodeX), Jack Verrill (Veiled Vanguard), Iwao Masuda (Polar Knights)

Arrived hours after the festival was over: Ritsuko Okada (CodeX), Hisoka Tetsuma (Veiled Vanguard), Teijo Masakazu (地獄Riderz)

@akihabara-division03 @minato-division03 @uenodivision @aoyama-division @arakawa-division @roppongi-division @naradivision @edogawa-division @shizuokadivision @katsushika-division @niigata-division @saitama-division @shinagawa-division @kobedivision @kanazawa-division @toyama-division @suginami-division @obihiro-division @naha-division @sapporo-division @oita-division

[cheatsru]

Valorant Hacks

Valorant hacks have become a polarizing topic within the gaming community, stirring debates about fairness and competitive integrity. As players strive to climb ranks and showcase their skills, the allure of shortcuts beckons those seeking an edge over opponents. However, diving into the realm of cheats can lead to a paradox; while they may offer fleeting victories, these hacks often diminish the thrill of genuine achievement. The rush of outsmarting rivals through skillful plays is unforgettable—something that no hack can replicate.

Moreover, considering resources like cheatru.com can provide insights into how some gamers approach Valorant differently. It’s crucial to recognize that each match is not just about winning but also about honing one's abilities and learning from experiences. Engaging with Valorant as it was intended fosters a strong sense of community among players, where shared struggles and triumphs create memorable moments. Rather than seeking hacks for immediate gratification, think about the long-term satisfaction derived from mastering every character's quirks and counters in this ever-evolving battlefield. This journey transforms you from a mere player into a respected strategist within the vibrant ecosystem of Valorant.

[jasminewalkerauthor]

Trope chats: Femme fatales and damsels in distress

The tropes of femme fatales and damsels in distress have been enduring elements in literature, reflecting and shaping societal attitudes towards gender roles and expectations. These archetypes, while seemingly polar opposites, share a complex relationship that transcends the surface narrative. In this essay, we will delve into the origins, appeals, evolutions, comparisons, and societal impact of these archetypal characters, exploring how they mirror and influence the societies that create and consume them.

The femme fatale archetype emerged in early 20th-century literature, embodying a seductive and dangerous woman who uses her charm to manipulate men. This archetype taps into societal fears of female empowerment, challenging traditional gender norms. The allure of the femme fatale lies in her ability to wield her sexuality as a weapon, destabilizing the male protagonist's control and agency.

On the other hand, the damsel in distress archetype dates back centuries, portraying women as helpless and in need of rescue. This trope capitalizes on the societal ideal of women as delicate and dependent, reinforcing traditional gender roles. The appeal of the damsel in distress lies in the hero's journey, where the male protagonist's valor is showcased through his ability to save and protect the vulnerable female character.

Over time, both archetypes have evolved, reflecting changing societal attitudes towards gender. The femme fatale has morphed from a one-dimensional seductress to a multidimensional character with agency, complexity, and sometimes sympathetic motives. Writers began subverting the trope, providing femme fatales with backstories and motivations that challenge simplistic notions of good and evil.

Similarly, the damsel in distress has undergone transformation, with modern literature introducing empowered and resilient female characters who actively participate in their own rescue. This evolution reflects a shift in societal expectations, acknowledging that women can be both strong and vulnerable, active participants in their destinies.

The femme fatale and damsel in distress serve as contrasting symbols, representing opposing views of female agency and vulnerability. While the femme fatale challenges patriarchal norms by using her power, the damsel in distress reinforces traditional gender roles by embodying vulnerability. These archetypes exist on a spectrum, with characters often incorporating elements of both, highlighting the complexity of female representation in literature.

Literature has the power to shape and reflect societal attitudes. The portrayal of femme fatales and damsels in distress can perpetuate or challenge gender stereotypes, influencing how readers perceive and internalize these roles. The evolution of these archetypes mirrors societal progress, showcasing a dynamic interplay between literature and cultural shifts.

Moreover, these archetypes have real-world consequences, contributing to and perpetuating gender inequalities. The repeated exposure to stereotypical portrayals of women in literature can reinforce harmful societal norms and expectations, impacting how women are perceived and treated in everyday life.

The tropes of femme fatales and damsels in distress offer a rich tapestry for exploring the intricate dynamics of gender in literature. As these archetypes continue to evolve, writers have the opportunity to challenge and reshape societal attitudes towards gender roles. By critically examining the appeals, evolutions, comparisons, and societal impact of these characters, we gain insight into the complex interplay between literature and the cultural narratives that shape our understanding of gender.

[braveasnouns]

the lore behind valorant is actually way more vast than people give credit for tbh.

basically, there's a mirror earth that spawned somehow, and the "og earth" as it were is called alpha while the other is called omega earth. the exact same people exist on the other side, but the main difference between earths is that alpha has a shitton of radianite while omega is dying due to lack of it. radianite being this brand new substance that was brought to the greater public after the "first light", which also spawned radiants - people who had powers due to radianite, but it turns out radianite has existed for a long time and people never knew. while some explicitly gain their radiance (neon and astra), others are implied to be a radiant through heritage (yoru)!

the whole double earth thing is how they explain the whole "characters-killing-themselves" that comes with FPS games, it's pretty cool! one team plants the spike—the spike being a bomb that siphons radianite out of the enviroment—while the other has to stop them from planting and defusing it. it's cool :)

most of the agents have... frosty connections with their doubles. chamber, a rich frenchman, actually has a deal with his double, while jett is on the polar opposite spectrum - she was accused of being a war criminal due to omega jett detonating a spike in venice on alpha earth, and because of course they look the same, alpha jett is an international criminal after this

hehehe sorry for infodumping i just love this dumb little game's lore sm (ive never played tho!)

woah okay this is a lot more deep than i thought but i really like it :D this whole thing sounds so cool!! and you don’t have to apologize for infodumping i love it really!! so ty!

[helenas-crashed-car]

polar/ivan and calibre are @thesilliestoflads ‘s ocs

okay so I just realized I finished tury’s backstory but never posted it. damn. i will work on a long version soon but for now:

the semi-short version is akira grew up in a town with like, less than 1,000 people, in Texas. He accidentally got embroiled in a radical religious sect that was vehemently against radiants yet the priest in charge was a healing radiant (who framed his ability as a gift from god), but he couldn’t do anything since his family depended on the food drive donations from the church. So he stayed quiet, stuck in his role as an altar server.

Then a man named ivan aleksandrov showed up in the town. A Russian man who came to the US to inquire the families of Everett-Linde scientists, he met akira after mass. They quickly became buddies :] after some weeks of peace, the church discovered Ivan was a radiant and the townspeople drove Ivan and Akira out of town. Akira couldn’t bring his sister with him :( so she’s wondering where he is. if he’s alive or dead.

akira and ivan decided to flee in the direction of New Mexico, where Everett-Linde was. At this point, kingdom had caught wind that Ivan was poking around Everett-Linde, and sent an agent named Calibre to track and keep tabs on them. This forced the basically father-son duo to move around a lot. Sad.

Anyways blah blah blah they find everett-linde snoop around get caught by vp. so to keep Ivan and Akira’s knowledge from falling into the wrong hands, chamber of all agents recruited them. now they’re just hanging out like slay

so yeah I changed it overture has spent his entire life in Texas. interesting

[polarized-here]

POLAR I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR ABOUT YOUR OCS AND SEE THEIR CONCEPT ART‼️ please I need food, I need to eat your art sjdhhsjdhsj /lh

GRAHH FINE SINCE YOU ASKED… my lore. Sorry this is so late gngahgahshsjsh… you literally caught me as dinner came home. Like. Oops… crazy… right after I knocked out shekhrkdbddmbd anyway! :)

Under the cut because it may or may not be a long thing, with most plot points just being little ideas—no fully fleshed story, just, erm. Ideas I like.

Update. It’s long. Also tumblr is so glitchy rn it kept making this saved post disappear and then reappear in my asks after I exited the app and opened it again what the fuck 😭😭

So, in this world, a majority of the population do. Not. Have powers, having them is seen as a blessing, But… It's a dystopian themed world—where these powers are incredibly monitored and regulated by the government—with some being minor, and some being full on changes to the physical body and how they manifest. (ie. My excuse for drawing anthros… or kemonomimi… shushhhh/also allows me to just dump all of my ocs which you may have seen before, in one little world and play with them like they’re my puppets :( I love them sm!! One of them sora is from DND they hold a special place in my heart...)

But again, having these powers is seen as a blessing from a God of some sort—and a curse, as while they’re regulated by the national government heavily, some individuals still manage to slip by, or cause harm to the general public, so from this, they (the gov) took advantage of this to instill a system of ‘heroes’ and ‘villains’ there’s a few ‘vigilantes’ but most either become heroes (through turning themselves in and doing plenty of community service work, and discussing a contract with some government representatives—most who become heroes are never the same. They always have a look in their eyes, as if valor to help their nation has blinded them), but some may become villains.

Heroes are those who just have a license and have signed a contract with the government—most get these contracts renewed or take a small few month break in between contract renewals. They’re unable to use their powers in these circumstances, unless it’s out of self defense. Civilians can too (those not heroes, are regulated by the government heavily, and choose not to pursue it. But it’s like US NAVAL contracts too. you can join programs in the gov that give you supplemental access and benefits to college/pay it off, etc etc etc. like the national guard but more celebritized), but they (civilians) need to find a GOOD lawyer. There’s so many laws that heroes are naturally given a smalllllll pass over, that it’s just best to run away, or be a hero in that small instance.

(This has sm mha influence. As sad as it is, that show influenced me sm. Got me into trying art. Fr fr/on digital. PLA is just where it improved a weeee bit).

OKAYYY ENOUGH AGOUT THE SET UP!! THE CHARACTERS… I’m so sorry idk why I’m rambling this much, I’m not even hyperfixated on my own OCs. Like what the fuck.

Anyways! A key note is that having bright colored hair is a key identification that you probably have powers that haven’t manifested yet, and the hair is always a bright color, unless, you’re Astor!

He’s got so much trauma *slaps roof of car.* You can fit so much trauma in this one bad boy. And despite it all he remains a good person. Dawg. You have more strength then I’d ever have. But igggg the want and need to help people because you were hurt and want to make a change does seem motivation enough… anyways. They’re so marysue coreee

The main character & a small-time vigilante going to the new school that’s just been set up. His hair only really turns those bright colors when she’s using their powers—but in the ref it’s just for convenience sake. She has so many skeletons in her closet, that they can’t risk being caught. But they love helping people too much. They’re a bit altruistic.

Here’s their vigilante suit ref :)

For ease of mind, they always have a small bit of static on their hands—both to stun new people meeting them. To make the air feel charged with thunder and electricity—a warning to her presence, and because it means their hair stays that color. No matter the charge. His eyes stay the same color though. Again. These are some old doodles from last year of some characters. Notably, that I also revamped. Heroes, villains, and vigilantes stories always hold a special place in my heart,,,

Next up is Anzu! Silly goober!!! Please give him head pats!!!! He loves it!!! This is Astor’s only… real friend. Since Astor likes his solitude. But tolerates Anzu’s silly behavior. Utter dichotomy between them!!! <333 I haven’t decided if they’d get together or nah, but! <3333

Yeah, this guy (and Astor) both have autism (I didn’t even realize that him liking trains was an autistic stereotype… oops. Mb gang. But like. Seriously. Ywah didn’t mean anything by it. I’m autistic myself and I’m possibly pursuing physics or engineering 💪💪 I think it’s alr if I project onto a character I made 🔥🔥🙏)

Yes, he’s based on the irl dinosaur. Yes, he’s autistic, hear me out. I just put lots of things together. And he just ended up with major tism 🔥🙏

And finally, a hero I designed :) I changed her a weeee bit. But she’s mostly the same sand manipulation :) villains dislike her since she puts sand in their shoes. Her big container is full of sand and stuff. She doesn’t have a weakness other then she needs to be a bit concentrated on making her sand creations—but they’re like second nature to her because of how long she’s been a hero. She’s an antagonist only because she’s trying to take Nexus in. She sees how sweet she can be to the native cats (from a distance. Never touching them, and she never knows why, they look at the native cats, longing to pet them but always stops) so she wants to take him in and make a case for him to join the government’s hero program.

Arizona! But her hero name is Sahara yk… Yeagh…. Anyways :) I love her lots. She does mean well. But she’s also blindly faithful in the government, or will see its problems and will deflect or try to be better to make things right. But she always holds rules above anything else. Even if she cares about someone who’s breaking them, a lot, so yeah… totally not talking about the mentor and mentee relationship between her and Nexus… where she pushes her morals aside just to listen to him seldom talk about his intrepid interests.

If Nexus didn’t have those powers—in her opinion—she would’ve made an excellent leader in whatever field he’d want to pursue. And she knows he’s got something up with them—some history. And that breaks her heart a little seeing how much pure joy Nexus gets at being able to try new things, like new foods, or try out purely common things that should be normal to a kid like herself.

Very much love found families and going to the extreme for them :33

ANYWAYS!!! Those are the main 3. I have some others I’ll show. But yk. They look a wee bit different + have names labeling them and the key parts of them. I don’t think tumblr would like me dropping all their refs :,)

Actually :O hold on, their refs are here. Trust

I’m so smart for pasting them all here. Trust anyways. Those are my pookies, so sorry this took so long.. erm I like them a lot. Oh yeah, I made a comic with them for art class. Yeagh. They were mostly changed for ease of drawing but yeah. I did not want to do it but I had not wanted to do this 🚬🚬

But yeah, pookies…. Sorry you probably didn’t want this comprehensive lore about them grrr

[ilynpilled]

as a direct follow up on this meta: link

It is also interesting how Jaime and Brienne’s relationship ends up foiling this. A lot of it is about understanding the other holistically. Jaime is meant to become humanized in Brienne’s eyes. He becomes a whole person again, not just the label of kingslayer, his best and worst aspects coming to light as a concoction. He loses the character defining feature of his persona when with her: his right hand and everything it represents. He loses his ability to cut through his problems, to dissociate himself from contradictory moral systems that are impossible to navigate and enable his nihilism through violence and being essentially invincible. He loses the part that symbolically defines so many of his actions, both heroic and horrid (the hand that slayed Aerys, the hand that pushed Bran, the hand that held Cersei’s foot). He cannot run from it all any longer. He has to confront it. By losing what was previously his identity, ironically, he becomes whole again. Brienne is meant to be no longer confined to a binary. Brienne yearns to sing songs, to find true love like in the tales, and to be vulnerable. But she also wants to be a knight. She also wants to be strong, to protect. She is an incredible fighter, and she fits the ideal of true knighthood more than anyone else in the story. She can be both. The cage of the constructs of traditional feminity & masculinity should not hold her back. These attributes should not even be associated with a single gender to begin with. This idea is woven into so many facets of Brienne’s character, even the details like her house’s sigil featuring the symbols of sun and moon (masculine & feminine, polarity). She should be allowed to be whole. This is why this fact crawls its way into Jaime’s prophetic dream, it is something that is apparent in his subconscious.

“She was as tall and strong as he remembered, yet it seemed to Jaime that she had more of a woman's shape now”

“In this light she could almost be a beauty. In this light she could almost a be knight.”

“...but the faint light revealed only Brienne of Tarth, her hands bound in heavy chains. "I swore to keep you safe," the wench said stubbornly. "I swore an oath." Naked, she raised her hands to Jaime. "Ser. Please. If you would be so good." The steel links parted like silk.

Jaime cuts her chains. He gifts her a sword.

He even plays the role of Maiden in her story:

"Ser Galladon was a champion of such valor that the Maiden herself lost her heart to him. She gave him an enchanted sword as a token of her love. The Just Maid, it was called. No common sword could check her, nor any shield withstand her kiss.” - Brienne IV

[autogyne-redacted]

It's really hard to own your desires, discomforts and preferences as what they are.

Like shit tends to polarize towards a restrictive moralism ("there is one right way to be, things I don't like are self evidently Fucked Up") or a extremely hands off everyone should just be chill and not take issue with anything.

How to handle ppl doing shit you dislike once you've abandoned moralism is weird and I don't think we've flushed out good approaches, at the micro (social group) or macro (political/discursive) level.

Like sometimes it just requires being vulnerable and owning that the way other ppl are acting is leading to you having a bad time, but not inherently fucked up. And a process of negotiating to what extent you just deal with it vs they change their behavior.

And sometimes you decide to use a little more social force.

And there's a version of this that clearly leans into controlling behavior I'm opposed to, but plenty of room for shit that I don't oppos on pronciple.

.

It's really important to not valorize either the tendency towards extreme levels of self restraint and filtering encouraged by purity culture or the opposing tendency ("just be chill, you have no grounds to object to other ppls behaviors").

There's a ton of tension these days around sexuality and questions of fetishization and imo a general failure to reach a workable set of shared norms / move past treating these as obvious, self evident questions (usually by rushing to one pole or the other of this divide).

.

And frequently I think ppl do better at navigating this in dyads and small groups and these problems are magnified at the discursive level, but they still have real repercussions

[gacha-incels]

thoughts on stellar blade and the model?

imo right now it’s occupying a similar space as something like that game with the “sexy” faceless robots, atomic heart. hailed by misogynists and racists as an “antidote” to any sort of diversity in videogames, gameplay very rarely discussed if at all, eventually after release it ends up back in obscurity. it was never going to be “just a game” regardless (and I do find a certain naïveté in discussing it as such) since the developer Shift-Up (most known for gacha NIKKE) has engaged in feminist ideological verification. There’s a reason so many posts about it say shit like “5 minutes in already GOTY”. I do have some overarching thoughts on the entire scenario.. because stellar blade is created by an east asian company there is an added layer of fetishization regarding the female character designs among western men who view japanese and korean women as the remaining women who are “truly feminine”. In their eyes this is a petite, young, thin, subservient dollfaced woman who, by these “feminine” traits, reaffirms the man’s “masculinity” and therefore his place at the top of the patriarchal hierarchy enforced by societal gender roles. When women push back against these dehumanizing and racist stereotypes the men will condescendingly say they have been “ruined” by western feminists - showing again they believe east asian women cannot think for themselves. I don’t think it’s just a coincidence you can find similar misogynistic arguments made by western “sex tourist” or “mail order bride” (their terms) purchasing men throughout the years. This is of course only lightly touching on the dynamics and intersection of misogyny/racism/colonialism/class, not to mention women’s movements themselves in east asian countries etc. for the sake of brevity at this moment we’ll just look at some aspects of the western man, I believe a lot of us have seen reactions from this group regarding stellar blade and the previous “gamer gate”.

What I find illuminating here is twofold- the fact that as the (in this case, typically white, esp. for the earlier dates) western woman gained and fought for more rights, the (same note) western man felt emasculated as women became even slightly closer to them in society (“he criticizes the desire of women for autonomy, independence, and equality”) and secondly, his strong “masculinity” needs constant personal and societal affirmation which can only be sated by having the lesser “feminine” gender roles subjected upon women. in many cases he enacts this “domination” via the “purchase” of poor, trafficked foreign women which we can also see as a colonial and racist action made upon her body.

This type of attitude can be seen reflected in the type of language reactionary men use when discussing “east asian” games as opposition to “western” games. the (in this example, stellar blade) korean game is said to show “beautiful, feminine, unpolitical” female character designs while the western games are characterized as having “ugly” female characters, designed to be that way on purpose, who have “masculine” bodies and attitudes, who exist solely because of “politics”. the pushback and valorization is done by these male gamers because they want, and need, to reinforce starkly polarized gender roles that put them in control. they think there’s a “war” on their enjoyment of “beautiful women”. when they read criticism of the hypersexualized female character designs in games they (in self-absorption) understand it as women telling them men are evil for being straight and/or male. the belief is men must be obviously “masculine” and women must be hyper “feminine”, only this way can the first group be recognized and dominate the second. they believe it’s “nature” as you can see in the above tweet. this is why I touched upon male vs female character design in the post about gacha designs- the sexes are typically starkly different from one another. the strong, sturdy and clothed males stand in polar opposition to the lithe female characters whose designs put heavy emphasis on tits and ass. when a male character is designed in a way to unequivocally be male and yet have clothing that follows the typical sexualized female attire, there are these types of men that erupt in anger as we saw with Genshin’s Lyney and Limbus Company’s summer Sinclair. when a female character doesn’t have a sexy enough outfit (LC Ishmael summer, GI Shenhe CNY costume that incels believed to have “removed” tit jiggle, Samsung Hu Tao outfit that doesn’t “show bellybutton”) the artist gets accused of being a feminist.

A female character like in Stellar Blade wears a body suit essentially showing her naked figure - she has no imperfections, she’s thin with no muscle mass, she’s petite, her tits jiggle with every movement, her ass is front and center to the game’s player. this objectification flatters the male player- this is a woman who you control, an object created solely for your desire, who will never challenge your sense of superiority, who will always be “for you” first in a game made by men for an audience of men. the fact that this type of game is created , marketed and sold is, in and of itself, a testament to male domination of entertainment. There can never be comparison, hypothetical or not, to sexualization of men in entertainment for women- entire societies would have to be changed in order to even begin considering this. gendered socialization literally starts in the womb. we live in a patriarchal society completely saturated with representation of women and girls’ bodies plastered everywhere- hypersexualized, objectified, brutalized, used for advertising, sold as products, raped for entertainment, dominated by men. there’s no way you can entertain even the hypothetical of “what if the roles were reversed?” while living in a society like this, let alone compare some baldur’s gate 3 guy taking his shirt off to the stellar blade woman running around in a hypersexualized skintight bodysuit. this “shirtless guy” argument is DOA.

I see people ask “do these men even enjoy games or art?” I think at least psychologically what a lot of them they enjoy the most is the feeling of domination and power that presents itself within an entertainment industry that is so catered to their fantasies. This is why they see it as such an “attack” when games are made without as much pandering to them. they need to dominate all parts of culture which is why they create such violent backlash to anything they perceive as challenging this, it’s why Anita Sarkeesian had such unbelievable abuse directed at her for making video essays of pretty basic feminist critiques of videogames. what this type of male wants is incompatible with the growth of any artistic medium, whether you find videogames to be art or simply entertainment, it’s stagnation to keep making the same thing constantly. we can see a lot of these guys who gas up stellar blade saying things like they want the “old” games back “where men were men and women were women” type of statements. nostalgia is exceptionally potent during times of confusing, hightened social and financial strain. imo this is also why it’s easy for some women (so far I’ve seen tradcath posting the most with white women demographic) to get caught up in the “tradwife” propaganda. in regards to this type of woman (in North America) I found Dworkin’s book “right wing women” to be informative. But there’s definitely a reason these “RETVRN”/ “this is what they took from you” guys usually praise ancient Roman sculptures and deride contemporary conceptual art. I don’t think they are particularly attached to this art but rather the power it represents. but this is another wish for artistic stagnation. sorry for the highlighting makes anything difficult to read in the passages I posted, it’s from my own pdf copies.