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#Their capitalism destroyed streaming
punkkboyyluvrr · 2 months
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i wish there was a way to support independent films without subsequently watching them on a streaming service owned by the most cartoonishly evil billionaire known to man
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Studying sustainability has taught me that the answer to things like “is it better to use paper or plastic bags?” always ends up being something like “we would need to perform an extremely in depth study on the entire life cycle of both types of bags from virgin material collection to product recollection, compare things like amount of product each type of bag can carry, material usage per bag, how frequently double-bagging is occurring, and take into account a ridiculous number of factors down to the fuel efficiency of the trucks that transport them and even after all that we would have to try to find a way to compare whether the higher carbon emissions of producing and transporting paper bags is better than the fact that the plastic bags will be plastic bags for the next thousand years. And at the end of the day all this research would ultimately not be particularly useful because our waste collection streams in the US are so fucking bad it’s depressing.”
And then someone will ask about reusable bags and you’d have to do the study again only to reveal that you need to use the reusable bag like a couple thousand times to offset the carbon emissions it takes to make the reusable bag and make it worth it over disposable bags and that’s not taking into consideration bags breaking before then or being forgotten about completely.
The answer always leads to “it’s incredibly complicated but our current practices are so terrible we would need a full scale restructuring of our economy and practices to such a degree that can literally never happen because our government is lobbied by the people who make money off of said unsustainable practices.”
So the answer to “paper bags or plastic bags?” is that we need to destroy capitalism
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hi there! love your work! i recently had a prof say that all zoos (USA) are bad (so we shouldn't support them) and sanctuaries are better because using animals for entertainment is morally wrong, most zoo profits dont go to conservation, and conservation efforts are bandaid solutions to capitalism destroying animal habitats, so the real solution is to return the land to indigenous stewards to manage/rewild. i didn't disagree with the last bit, but the argument as a whole felt a little off to me for a reason i couldnt put my finger on. am i off base here? just feeling really unsure about the whole thing.
You're not wrong! There's a mix of reality and personal opinions in those statements, and it's definitely something worth critically examining. A quick fact-check of what they said for you:
All US zoos are bad
There's a massive range of quality of zoological facilities within the US (and around the world). Some are stellar and some are not, and it's really just not accurate to lump them all under the same umbrella for almost any purpose. Unless, of course, your issue isn't with animal welfare, and it's philosophical, which is what it sound like in #2...
2. Using animals for entertainment is morally wrong.
This is one of my favorite things to talk about w/r/t how we exhibit animals. Entertainment has become equated with exploitation and implicit low welfare in the last couple decades, and so you get a lot of people saying using animals for entertainment is wrong. But those same folk will say that they enjoy seeing animals in other contexts, and they think that's okay. Where's the line between enjoying something and being entertained by it? What makes something one and not the other? Also, we know that people learn better from from situations which are enjoyable/entertaining - even just a fun teacher who jokes around vs a dry lecture - so how can that only be a problem when it's used to make viewing animals more impactful? I wrote a whole piece on this a while back (linked here) if you want to dig into this more. Some zoos (and accrediting groups) are shying away from "entertainment" type branding - shows are demos now, for instance - and others are leaning into "edutainment" that's done with good welfare and communicates actual education messaging. In short, this is a personal philosophical belief, and you're right to question if you agree. (Even if you decide you do think that too! It's always good to question why someone is arguing what they believe about animal use, and how they came to believe it).
3. Sanctuaries are better than zoos.
There's two reasons I think he's misinformed here. First, almost all exotic animal sanctuaries in the US are licensed exhibitors - just like zoos! I only know of a couple that don't exhibit to the public at all. It's an important part of their revenue stream, because gate take helps support paying for animal care. Also anything you see from a sanctuary on Youtube, Facebook, or TikTok? Also exhibition! They just message about it differently, and often have a different ethos about how they exhibit (e.g. tours to reduce stress instead of letting people wander, doing conservation or rescue messaging instead of just display). Second... look, most people assume that the word "sanctuary" means a facility is intrinsically more ethical than a zoo, and therefore they must be a good place. In reality, many sanctuaries get much less public and regulatory scrutiny (at the state level) than most zoos. There are good sanctuaries out there, but there are also sanctuaries where stuff goes on that would absolutely be unacceptable at zoos, and it slides because of the assumption that sanctuaries are inherently more moral and ethical and care for their animals better.
4. Most zoo profits don't go to conservation
This is correct! Direct conservation funding is often a small part of the money a zoo makes. However, that's because money goes to things like facility maintenance, new construction, paying salaries, etc. If zoos put all the money they made back into conservation programs, practically, they wouldn't have the funding to continue to operate. The question that I'd suggest asking instead is "where are they putting money into conservation" and "are they doing conservation work or just throwing money at something to display the logo of the program." Also, it's worth keeping in mind that a lot of what zoos do to support conservation isn't necessarily financial. Many facilities contribute "in-kind", by doing things like sending staff to assist with programs or teach specific skills, or by donating things like vehicles and equipment. Research zoos do also seriously contributes to in-situ programs, and breeding programs for re-introduction like the scimitar-horned oryx and the black-footed ferret are also conservation. Could many of the big urban facilities with huge budgets do more? Yes. But looking just at dollars spent on conservation programs is disingenuous and inaccurate.
5. Conservation efforts are band-aid solutions to capitalism destroying habitats / Returning the land to indigenous peoples to manage/rewild is the real solution to conservation issues
This is a little outside my scope so I'm going to only address the part that I know. First off, like, there's no One True Answer to conservation issues. That's reductionist and inaccurate. Conservation really is a human issue, though, and it often has to involve solving human problems that lead to negative results for animals. There's definitely an issue with what some people call "parachute conservation" where Westerners swoop in and try to tell people living in range countries how to best manage their animals and natural resources without recognizing their perspectives, needs, or what drives their behavior towards those animals. That's not just a zoo issue - that's an issue with a ton of traditional Western conservation work. And there is progress towards fixing it! In the zoo world, I've been very impressed with the work out of The Living Desert, where their conservation people spend a lot of time overseas teaching people in range countries to evaluate and improve their own conservation programs, so they can assess efficacy and also have data to apply for grants, etc. They provide support when asked, rather than trying to tell people who live with these animals regularly what to do. One of my favorite programs that TLD collaborates with (they don't try to run it!) is a group called the Black Mambas that reduces poaching by supporting entire communities to reduce the desperation for food/income, educating kids about animals, and running all-female patrols staffed by community members.
Overall, it sounds like your professor's view of zoos is really informed by their personal moral perspective, and possibly reinforced by a lot of the misinformation / misleading messaging that exists about the industry and about conservation work. They do have some specifics right, but not necessarily the context to inform why things are like that. It was a good catch to question the mix of information and approach it critically.
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effectiveresistance · 5 months
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A Communique on Sabotaging Zionist Infrastructure: Shutting Down Friends of the IDF -Water Main Cemented
On November 5th, the Zionist fascist scum, “Friends of the IDF,” who represent the interests of wealthy American capitalists in their direct support of the settler colonial state of Israel and its continued campaign of genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people, attempted to hold a fundraiser gala at Hiller Aviation Museum in San Carlos, California.
Despite reports and appe arances otherwise, this fundraiser was effectively shut down within the first hour. Donor attendees began hurriedly leaving in a steady stream at the start of what was planned to be a full evening of blood money raising. This disruption, however, was not achieved by the tame, above-ground rally being safely contained by both the police and the rally organizers themselves, at a far distance from the unbothered attendees. These symbolic and futile attempts to shame and appeal to the moral conscience of individuals who have no shame or conscience, will always fail.
You cannot do damage to the Zionist project by merely engaging with its facade; you must strike at its soulless heart. You must strike at its veins (supply chains, logistics, cash flows, infrastructure).
While the liberals were congratulating themselves for having their nonthreatening photo op parade out in front of the gala, our people were out of sight at work on the veins of the building. Palestinians have suffered decades of Israeli soldiers and settlers restricting and destroying their access to water, often bricking up or concreting any water source not directly under strict control of the occupation forces, cutting off Palestinian access to the Jordan River while draining it to near extinction for settlement mono-crop agriculture, shooting holes in Palestinian water towers, bombing Gazan water treatment facilities, poisoning Palestinian springs and enforcing water apartheid in order to exert total control over Palestinian life. We decided to give these Zionist bootlickers a taste of their own medicine.
We cracked open the water main for the building housing the gala, switched it off, and filled the box with fresh concrete. This form of sabotage is quick and incredibly easy to replicate, and the tools are quite cheap. It also renders the building in question completely uninhabitable and unusable. We had a good laugh imagining these fascist motherfuckers driven out of the gala by the stench of overflowing toilets, unable to raise any more money for genocide. As we did we were reminded of how Israeli settlers flood Palestinian olive groves with sewage, poisoning food sources, destroying livelihoods.
At 6:40 PM, just 40 minutes into the gala, we put an end to things before they even began. No auction, no speeches, no propaganda screening, thus cutting off one stream of funding for genocide and apartheid. Donors began sneaking out of the backdoor of the space around 7PM, escorted by fascist police and private security. Around 7:10, a utility truck arrived to attempt a repair. They failed to do so, as our successful sabotage held. The building was evacuated. The Zionists ran home with their tails between their legs, their facade of security and impenetrability proven vulnerable.
We hope that this will inspire other autonomous actors to strike at the infrastructure of genocide everywhere it can be found.
While the Zionist occupation forces deliberately target Palestinian infrastructure to render human survival impossible, we must turn these same tactics on the oppressor, targeting the civil, economic, and political infrastructure that feed the Zionist project, starving it of the resources that sustain its existence and enable its genocidal violence. The targets are here and everywhere. We send a message that there will be no safe space for genocidal capitalism. There will be no safe space for fascist Zionist terror. Wherever you amass, we will find you and shut you down.
This was executed by a group of autonomous anti-Zionists and anarchist saboteurs. We have no name. We are not an organization. We are not an entity. Do not try to find us. We are everywhere and we will not stop.
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simplepotatofarmer · 2 years
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dream streaming for the first time in a month just to go to r/place and try to destroy all ads because 'ads aren't art' is absolutely my favorite thing. imagine having 85k viewers and you utilize them to fuck with capitalism. no one does it like him.
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totopopopo · 3 months
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I think that capitalism and streaming services have almost completely destroyed the art of the tragedy in mainstream media. Send tweet
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shifuaang · 1 month
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Just give it a chance! Don't be so harsh! Lower your expectations! You all are being toxic!
The gall, the audacity, the nerve, and the gumption to ask people to give the live action a free pass to be mediocre (and even downright atrocious at times) is laughable. The vast majority of you have ripped into the original show with the same stale arguments over and over and then expect the same fans you've patronized and ridiculed for almost two decades to extend grace to the remake because? it'll hurt your feelings if we don't?
It always, always comes down to the argument that the original is bad!actually because it was created by two white men, which completely disregards all of the show's consultants, animators, writers, producers, etc, many of whom were people of color and women. It has become the easy way out to pull a Bryke card when dealing with any aspect of ATLA that people don't personally enjoy, largely because of shipping reasons. It's so disingenuous and hypocritical, as I have seen the same 'fans' who lambast the original try to get actual POC and Buddhists fired from their jobs, doxxed, or run out of the fandom just for enjoying the canon or certain ships. You don't actually care about anything you're arguing for or against.
Meanwhile, you are willing to make an exception for and be open towards a show produced by Netflix - a streaming service that:
a) is destroying the film industry through homogenization and capitalism b) notoriously cancels its original shows created by marginalized peoples/featuring diverse characters to make room in the budget for mainstream garbage c) treated its writers so poorly that they had to go on strike for nearly half a year d) hired an actor from a fraudulent tribe to play Sokka (even if he has native ancestry, they still perpetuated colorism by giving the role of a dark-skinned character to a light-skinned actor)
So forgive me if I'm unwilling to 'lower my expectations' just because you decided you can't enjoy a show that is basically "what if every horrible fanon take was made canon?" unless the whole fandom is enjoying it with you. I am not going to stop criticizing something that very much deserves the scrutiny it is receiving.
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kittievampire · 11 months
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Kin of the Demon Prince (pt. 9)
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Warnings: Cursing, Childhood Trauma, Mentions of Child Abuse, Mention of Alcohol Usage, Night Terrors, Diavolo x Fem! MC, MC is a fuckin unit
Link to part 1
Link to part 2
Link to part 3
Link to part 4
Link to part 5
Link to part 6
Link to part 7
Link to part 8
Link to part 10
Enjoy.
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When did it get so dark?
You couldn't see anything. Couldn't feel anything. None of your senses were working properly.
Is this how it feels when nothing matters anymore? When you can't feel anything, not even pain?
None of the suffering you'd endured could reach you here.
Right?
_
There you were again, hidden away in the cabinet with the few pots and pans that were clean and unused. There was a loud crash and the sound of glass shattering that made you jump, heart dropping as you felt the sudden shifting of the pant beside you.
"Little bitch," You heard him growl out, a hiccup following soon after. "I won't hurt you badly if you come out now, yeah?" A loud thump was heard before he shouted your mother's name. You pushed your palms against your ears, tears streaming down your face and staining the wood of the cabinet.
Then, it was dark again.
The abyss that offered you a break from this nightmare. Your tired gaze shifted upward, and your facial features relaxed as you pulled your knees to your chest. If you could just stay here, that would be nice.
No worries. Not a care in the world.
You closed your eyes, letting out a sigh of bliss as you allowed all of your woes to drift away from you. You could even feel yourself drifting a little.
Something felt wrong.
"MC,"
"MC, wake up!"
"MC.... Selene, you have... wake up!"
Selene?
"Diavolo... Realm... Solomon and Selene..."
Diavolo?
Solomon?
Selene?
_
The demon prince felt a chill run down his spine, gold eyes widening as he recognized the familiar feeling. However, this time it was more intense. An overwhelming feeling of dread washed over him, something icky pooled in his gut, and he felt like he might vomit from the discomfort alone. His mind began to ring, body shifting to accommodate the sudden change in emotion and the urgency of it. Barbatos was at his side immediately. "My Lord, are you alright?" He asked, Mammon letting out a yelp from the other side of the room.
Diavolo clenched his teeth together, brows furrowed, and pupils dilated as his eyes darkened. "Where are you?" He growled out, gold eyes flicking all over the map that was sprawled out on the table. "Damn sorcerer, where are you?!" He slammed his fist against the table, the friction of its legs against the floor making a sound just short of a screech.
He hunched over once more, the ringing in his head growing louder as his vision started to go blurry, and his hands started to feel numb from overwhelming nausea. Barbatos placed both hands on the demon prince, helping him stand upright and trying to get him to sit down. However, Diavolo would not sit. He would not rest for even a moment until he knew exactly where Selene was.
"Temple," He muttered, pulling the map closer to him for further inspection. "Thought it was destroyed years ago, yet it still stands... But where?" The butler at his side glanced at the map, motioning to one of the areas in the Middle East. "The sorcerer's temple was built in Jerusalem, which is now the capital of Israel, Lord." Diavolo swallowed a lump in his throat as the feeling slowly began to drift away.
Mammon was having a difficult time trying to find where he fits in this equation. He knew his role in regards to once they access the human world, but right now he wasn't doing anything. This made him restless.
Suddenly, the room door slammed open. Five of the Seven brothers were visible in the doorway, Lucifer in the back, guiding them all into the room before entering himself. "We want to help MC's child too, Diavolo!" Asmodeus declared, marching forward. "And if you think you can stop us, think again! We're coming to the human realm whether you like it or not! That sorcerer is going to pay for what he's doing to my adorable little niece, making me wait to go baby clothes shopping with MC!"
Lucifer let out a sigh, looking over at Diavolo. "It'd be in your best interest if we came along with you, Lord. He is a powerful wizard, and Belphegor will stay with MC for the time being." Satan nodded his head in agreement. "I've placed a temporary spell on Asmodeus, which I can do the same for Barbatos, to counter Solomon's summoning and control over them. Though it will last only a short while and can be broken easily if he catches wind of it," The blond stated. Mammon shot up. "Alright then! Let's get goin' yeah, Prince-Guy?"
Diavolo couldn't help but smile a little despite the lingering presence of the discomforting feeling. It felt nice knowing that his daughter would grow up so protected. It made him happy for the future.
However, if he wasted any more time daydreaming about a possible future with you and Selene, there was a slight chance that he may not get to see it.
"Take us to the human realm, Barb."
_
Belphegor sat at the side of your bed, trying desperately to wake you up. He was finding it difficult to get into your dreams, which was unusual. Perhaps Solomon's magic was rooted deep in your mind.
"Come on, MC, you've gotta wake up! They're going to find Selene, you can't be asleep when she gets here!"
Nothing.
The Avatar of Sloth let out a frustrated sigh, running his fingers through his messy hair. He'd already tried three more times to invade your dreams but to no avail. Something wasn't letting him in.
He rested his head on his folded arms, looking up at your sleeping face. "MC, please. Please wake up." Belphie's eyes slowly sealed shut.
He'd try one more time.
For you and for Selene.
_
Your eyes shot open, dried tears staining your cheeks, and ragged breath falling from your raspy throat. The wooden floors and the fireplace that were there made you aware that this wasn't the abyss, nor was it the nightmare you'd endured.
"Belphie?" You called out immediately, recognizing this place as the main living area of the House of Lamentation.
No answer.
You scrambled to your feet, wiping your face of any remaining salty tears. "Belphie?" You called out once more, hearing something shift behind you.
You spun around to see the white-haired sorcerer that had you under his spell. He smiled. "Not entirely correct, though Belphegor and Solomon do sound similar," He chuckled. "I must say, MC I'm impressed. Somehow you managed to escape the dreams I gave you, but I wouldn't expect anything less." Solomon grabbed a teacup that sat on the small table in front of him, taking a sip of his tea. "So I placed a cognitive version of myself here in your dream realm to keep you entertained until I'm ready for you to wake up."
You grabbed him by the collar, causing the teacup to shatter onto the floor, and pulled him close to you. "What did you do with her? Where is she?" You were met with a mere smile. "You should be proud, MC. Your daughter is going to be a part of something far greater than you'd ever imagine." That was the first time you'd seen him like this. The look in his eyes, the crookedness of his smile; Had he gone mad?
"What are you talking about?" You asked, voice lowering a bit. Solomon grasped your hand. "Rest assured, MC. I'll make good use of the child's sacrifice. Her power will not go to waste."
You froze, eyes widening. "Sacrifice?" You repeated softly, earning another chuckle from the man before you. Though, this time, you could practically taste the twistedness of his voice. "You seem troubled. Perhaps you should rest a while longer," He said, lifting a hand up to your face.
"No!"
He was gone, and you were starting to feel drowsy.
You stumbled forward, hands resting on the couch before you as you struggled to stand. "You bastard! No!" Your legs gave out beneath you as your body became heavier.
Suddenly, you heard a loud crash. You glanced to the side, catching a glimpse of what appeared to be the Avatar of Sloth in the room. "MC!"
He disappeared.
"Wake up... Selene... Diavolo..."
You trembled, rubbing your eyes.
Selene.
Diavolo.
Yes, you had to think about them. Those two are the only people that matter right now, especially Selene.
You sure as hell were not going to give her up to that sorcerer willingly.
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Tag list; @lavynne , @jessiegerl , @romaissa , @krispsprite , @unlikelysublimekryptonite , @t-misaki , @zarakem , @darkflowerav , @lloydlovebot , @lovemidnighteclipse12 , @rose-ly , @quackimilktea , @traumamakesmefunnier , @buggaboorenegade , @simpinginthecorner , @thebixchyravenclaw , @pjsflowers , @basicgukk , @blue-rae18 , @mentallyunpresent
Likes, comments, and reblogs are welcome and appreciated!
Final part coming out next week!
Masterlist
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argyrocratie · 7 months
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"Degrowth, properly understood, is to be achieved not by reducing either the material standard of consumption or level of output as such, but by destroying the growth in monetized exchange value (which is a measure of the total cost of resource inputs consumed in producing a given level of output). The proper approach is not to impose austerity or limit consumption as such, but to limit the use of resource inputs — in other words, to cease subsidizing the consumption of resources and allowing capitalist corporations to treat them as artificially abundant. The problem of growth must be attacked at the resource end, not the consumption end.
Illich explicitly seeks “lower industrial efficiency.” But the problem is deliberate inefficiency, for the sake of maximizing the utilization of productive capacity. Mass-production tools are only “over-efficient” in the sense that they are too efficient for a production stream determined solely in relation to autonomous demand.
The ideal, from the standpoint of genuine efficiency, would be to site the production process as close as possible to the point of consumption, scale the production stream to autonomous demand, and scale the machinery to the production stream. Mass-production capitalism instead maximizes the output of the individual machine without regard to the demand, which in turn requires redesigning the entire society around a Rube Goldberg device of subsidized waste, long-distance distribution, and high-pressure mass marketing in order to guarantee the consumption of output undertaken without regard to autonomous demand and keep those machines running."
-Kevin Carson, ”The Thought of Ivan Illich: A Libertarian Analysis“
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valoisfulcanellideux · 11 months
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The 'diaspora from season one' discussion
I just watched Pix's stream from yesterday, wherein he discusses (starting at 01:11:45 into the stream) what the Ancient Capital actually is, while he builds part of the castle wall. There's a LOT of text, as I typed out the discussion - including some questions from chat (anonymised to just 'viewer', because I'm not going to intrude onto anyone's privacy).
WARNING FOR MAJOR SPOILERS
Behind the cut with you!
Viewer: Also i love your elden ring inspired castle Pix!
Pix: Thank you! Turns out this part is inspired by more than just Elden Ring, which we'll discuss in a second, but I still haven't seen anybody in the chat pinning down exactly what it is I'm doing here.
Viewer: Fwhips empire from season one
Pix: [Viewer] has it! Fwhip's empire from season 1. This is a Grimlands build. If you take a look at how I'm constructing this, it's basically copying the design of the outer walls of the Grimlands.
Viewer: That would imply that maybe members of grymlands moved to the ancient capital after the rapture
Viewer: Or that the ancient city was the remains of grymland?
Pix: The idea behind this place - and it's something that I will explain in more detail in future - but the idea is that this castle is going to be cobbled together from design ideas from a few different empires… like, across the history of this world, and that includes season one. So, in this case, I'm thinking Grimlands for some of the walls out here, obviously a bit of my own touches - but a bit of that is just the ruin detail. This [pointing to unfinished tower with diorite in it] is either Ocean Empire or Crystal Cliffs; I'm thinking probably the latter, so I want to do the roof out of amethyst and stuff like that. And then we're gonna to work in a few other details here and there. I'm not going to do absolutely everybody, because that would make the castle look like a huge mishmash of styles. But I do think that it's nice to bring some of that history to a build like this, right? That's kind of the idea.
Viewer: I like that the ancient capital seems to be seeing things that season 1 players did and copying those for their own area
Pix: My loose plan for this - like, the story behind it - is that, after the events of season one in which everyone's empires more or less get destroyed by this giant explosion, everybody started to migrate… the people who populated each of those empires travelled the world and went to different places, and some of them settled here, and started what eventually became this kind of ancient capital of commerce and technology and had this giant castle that they built, with architecture from the various empires. And then, over time, that area just fell into decline. And so there's gonna be bits and pieces of Mythland and Grimlands and Crystal Cliffs, and various other bits and pieces just kind of scattered around this. That's the idea.
Viewer: are you gonna have anything referencing the copper king?
Viewer: So this castle is like the ruin of season 1… I’m here for it
Pix: This castle is like the ruin of season one… kind of, yes. This area isn't meant to be any of the empires from season one; it's meant to have been… it's a very distant place that people from those civilisations ended up going to, basically. And then, over time, people… left. [laughs] And, like I said, this tower and that tower have clearly been attacked at some stage, so either war has broken out - some sort of conflict or some sort of disaster has happened. We've got the fallen masonry from this tower here; I'm gonna do something similar there once I know what I'm doing with the wall.
Viewer: So that explains how David exists, it's a remake of Pixandrian technology
Pix: Yes. So, people have come through vast journeys, ended up here, and a lot of the copper [points camera at museum roof etc] and the fact that there is a copper aging facility underneath here - and the fact that it's a slightly more advanced one than the one I had in Pixandria in season one - is all thanks to Pixandrian migrants settling here and bringing their technology with them.
Viewer: fitting in Pixanndria and Mesalea?
Pix: I don't know about Mezalea, because Mezalea's far too colourful for the build style that I have going on around here. I mean, look at this. A Mezalean build would just stick out like a sore thumb. Plus, Joel has already rebuilt some of Mezalea over there by Jimmy's base in the mesa, so like… that level of things is represented. Likewise, if you've seen some of Lizzie's series, she's hinted at some of her origins as a cat person coming from Joey's civilisation in season one. So I think there's a bit more stuff tying us to season one. I mean, Sausage's whole thing ties in anyway, but like… people have settled here, people have settled at Sanctuary, some of these civilisations are entirely new, there are people who were already here… I mean, I don't know how Joel fits into any of this. But yeah, that's the idea. The idea is that this is a wall, and the design, the architecture has come from the Grimlands.
Viewer: So the Pearl references are directly from that empire
Pix: Yes. So, obviously, with Pearl's death in season one having been like… her withering and that kind of stuff, she's taken on this sort of more… godlike, or sort of martyr figure in the world's religious history, and that's just kind of filtered down [he walks toward and gestures to the Ancient Capital statue] stuff like this. I mean, this is not explicitly meant to be specifically Pearl, but obviously her dress was green, there's like moss creeping up the side of that, there's the mural in the catacombs, there's all of the stuff that Sausage has going on. This [the statue] is meant to be more like how religious figures and iconography changes over time; the fact that it goes through various iterations, a lot of the traditions of the world are more oral traditions - they are storytelling - it's not written or pictographic kind of storytelling; it's more kind of just passed down from person to person. And so, the dress is absolutely modelled off Pearl's dress from season one, but then obviously the iconography of it - the fact that she's all grey and everything - that's a different kind of… that's an amalgamation of several different myths.
Viewer: A diaspora
Pix: A diaspora; exactly, yes. Great word.
[short discussion follows about how it shouldn't be assumed that any potential season three would contain parts of seasons one and two, how some people keep expecting Xornoth to return despite the empires people saying he won't, and how this season will not end the same as the last season with a big cataclysmic explosion or similar disaster because it's creatively stifling to expect that, etc]
Pix: Instead [of that] I wanna do stuff like this, and make it feel like this is already the product of a civilisation that has been enshrouded in the mists of time, and has disappeared into the past without it having to have come to ruin and been completely destroyed, y'know? Like, this is something that's really just been here over time, rather than something that's been destroyed all in one go by some kind of cataclysmic event, y'know?
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hlvrv · 1 year
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And so, every single member of the ask blog (Yes, including Polite Benrey) had a great time on the rest of their vacation, where Leading Light did not try to kill or scam or summon a G-Man on them.
They later went home, and did NOT go their separate ways like a lot of fantasy stories do.
And they stayed friends for many years to come.
Leading Light successfully became a celebrity washout. He got no consequences for stealing Lady Gaga's entire discography. Him and his band are recovering slowly, but surely. They're learning what true love is again. And are happy.
Dr. Hypnos stole many McDonald's toys. He was later banned. She is happy.
Overlord got the Big Mac he was waiting in line for. He is happy.
DOG went on to share a fruitful partnership with the Love Letters, and his McDonald's is now an empire. DOG is happy.
The Y2K gang still isn't allowed on airplanes aside from Spork and Gordon B, and Joshua is taking his first computer science class this fall. They are happy.
The Swap gang finally got to see Swap propose to Neo. Their wedding was on a cruise ship they stole from the Merch team. They are happy.
The Worldstop household experienced an incredible popularity boom in Malcom's streams, thanks to Darnold agreeing to help him with some more insane things. Malcom and Darnold are now the Jerma equivalent of their world. Player is going to university, and is excelling in all his theoretical physics degrees, and are happy.
The Mad Science Team succeeded in taking over the world, and they made healthcare free for everyone, and made the world a kinder place. Doc also gave every Spiders 2 a funny party hat. They are happy.
The Admins kept gallivanting through space and having fun. Freeman aims to collect every game on the Nintendo WiiU. He is still 100 away. All of them are happy.
Capital M went on to win a Nobel War Prize for destroying property. She has upgraded her ship to have a self-serve ice cream bar and a bowling alley. Vil still has a complicated relationship with friendship, but vil is working on it and being kind to themselves while still being a supervillain. Vil also got a life-sized Eggman statue installed. He is happy.
The Merch Science Team is embezzling millions from Disney cruises after trapping them in a fake lawsuit. They ride the open seas and laugh knowing crime isn't chargable on international waters. They are happy.
Phoenix Wright got his badge back after proving Kristoph Gavin was guilty. He is happy.
GVRV is still stuck in Brazil.
This has been HLVRV.
Signing off.
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evieaxx · 3 months
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Tbh I would also go crazy if the games I invented had ties to my ex and the friend I betrayed.
Suzanne Collins is a genius or I am going insane. I spent to much time researching these books. Anyways I digress
In MockingJay, Plutarch says this to Katniss to describe the capital and by association Snow himself.
"Thirteen was used to hardship, whereas in the Capitol, all they've known is Panem et Circenses."
"What's that?" | recognize Panem, of course, but the rest is nonsense.
"It's a saying from thousands of years ago, written in a language called Latin about a place called Rome," he explains. "Panem et Circenses translates into 'Bread and Circuses.' The writer was saying that in return for full bellies and entertainment, his people had given up their political responsibilities and therefore their power.""
Snow sacrifices two people in his rush for power. Those two people are Sejanus Plinth and Lucy gray Baird.
One of Lucy grey Baird's first descriptions in the books is clearly linked to the circus.
“She’s like a circus performer,” one of the girls remarked. The other mentors made sounds of agreement.
That was it. Coriolanus reached back into his memory to the circuses of his early childhood. Jugglers and acrobats, clowns and dancing girls in puffy dresses twirling around while his brain grew giddy with spun sugar."
One of the more interesting aspects of Sejanus character is the customs he brings back from living in district 2.
“He’s putting bread crumbs on the body,” said Ma. “So Marcus has food on his journey.”
“His journey where?” asked the Grandma’am. “He’s dead!”
“Back to wherever he came from,” said Ma. “It’s what we do, back home. When someone dies.”
Lucy Gray Baird and Sejanus fate's are not forgotten within the games themselves. Cornelius snow's empire is built on the death of Sejanus along with his customs and respect of the dead. Lucy grey Baird is a temporary sweetness that turns to poison in his grasp. They are the bread and circus respectively and are both consumed by the capitals ideals.
This symbolism goes even deeper when you read the original source material which is Juvenal's Satire X. The fact that it is satire is very prevalent in the hunger games series.
"What indeed do we wish for or fear that is Rational? How often is what we conceive so far from wrong-headed. That we don’t regret both the effort, and the fulfilment of our desire?"
Cornelius's fatal flaw is seen in the first part of the satire. His fear of love led to his desire for money, both destroying him in the end.
"Would you like to be greeted as Sejanus, possess all that he Possessed, be the one to grant highest office to some, appoint Others to military posts, be seen as the Emperor’s guardian,"
The second part is about Sejanus who at the very least inspired the book. It is about a death caused by a letter written because of the underlying envy of his wealth. Then the eventual climb to power is definitely comparable to snow using his death to climb up the social ladder.
"Yet both orators died for their eloquence, a rich overflowing Stream of talent was what sent both of them to their deaths."
This part can be viewed as Lucy Grey's fate. her words and spectacle are only viewed as good when snow controls them. her leaving him and the sound of her music haunting him is her revenge.
This phrase exemplifies Snow's downfall and eventual death
"Few kings go down to Ceres’ son-in-law, Dis, free from
Blood and carnage, few tyrants achieve a tranquil death.  "
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putting in the immense amount of effort required to cultivate an esoteric taste in music just a few years before streaming destroyed any social capital it would have given you feels like being the fastest monastic scribe in Strasbourg at the exact time the printing press was invented
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mymothershumility · 3 months
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Part 14 Preview
Fire flashes bright in the darkness, amplified by sharp bolts of lightning. The castle groans against the onslaught that bears down upon it, stone cracking and crumbling where struck. For a time, chaos erupts.
Helen and Sansa sprint to them, faces ashen. Tears are streaming down Helen’s face, breaths coming in ragged gasps when she reaches her uncle and her aunt. Sansa does not look far behind, her Tully blue eyes wide with terror.
“What is happening?” Sansa asks, reaching for Laira as Helen collides with Hal’s legs.
‘We have been betrayed,’ Laira thinks to say, the shock and the disbelief beginning to fade to white hot rage. Her husband’s voice echoes within the hall instead, muffled by the crack of stone and the deafening roar of thunder.
“The Tyrells have launched an attack on the island.”
His response is surprisingly calm, his voice even as he murmurs down to Helen and carefully guides her back to Sansa. She goes unwillingly, tugging desperately at the edge of his tunic. She latches onto Sansa’s skirts when Hal moves her himself, hands trembling where they grasp at the pale yellow fabric.
“Where can you take them to hide?” Hal questions, gaze turning to look at his wife. “You know the castle better than I do. Where can you take them?”
Laira can see something forming behind his eyes before she answers him. She does not care for what she sees, does not care for what his question implies. Her rage gives way to dread once more, the feel of it fluttering desperately inside her heart.
“There are passages among the walls,” she tells him. Such passages had been built for instances such as these, built so that the occupants of the castle might hide away or escape from invaders should the castle ever come under siege.
“Take them,” Hal instructs, attempting to turn her away.
“I will not leave you to face our enemy alone.” Her words are firm, hands quaking when he reaches to try and turn her away a second time. She shoves him away, ignoring the tension that is permeating the air about them. “We do not have enough soldiers upon the island to combat what is bearing down upon us.”
Few had remained behind once Daenerys departed to take the capital. Dragonstone had a garrison of its own, yet their numbers were limited. Such a thing is even more true now. Fifty infantrymen and two dozen mounted cavalry at most. There were perhaps two hundred Unsullied and a hundred Dothraki riders left on the island. One of Daenerys’ bloodriders, Aggo, was among the Dothraki screamers. Even under ideal conditions, though, the forces approaching the island would have been difficult for the Dothraki and the Unsullied to vanquish.
Laira had spied over twenty ships out among the waves. Such a number does not include any forces that may be too far out at sea for her to spy. It does not include others that may well be surrounding the island on the opposite side.
They are outnumbered.
“Viserion and I can destroy the fleet while it remains on the water…” Her husband’s voice soon overtakes her own.
“I need you to go with them, Laira!” Hal snaps, the first hints of frustration and panic edging into his voice. He reaches for her again, hands grasping at her shoulders. “Someone has to go with them and keep them safe!”
“I will do them no good if the Tyrells’ dogs overrun this castle!” she snaps in return. They have scarcely raised their voices in anger at one another and never in the presence of Sansa or Helen. The air about them is charged with fear, though. She can hear panicked cries and screams from elsewhere in the castle, the staff having been woken by the onslaught.
They are running desperately low on time. Laira must make him understand, must make him abandon the mindset of a husband protecting his wife and charges.
For now, Laira does not need her husband. She needs the Lord of Winterfell and the Warden of the North in his place. She will need her husband in the aftermath of the chaos. Helen and Sansa will need him as well.
“You know what will happen if those soldiers gain entry into the castle.” War was a terrible thing. It brought out the worst in men. Laira had seen enough on her campaign with Daenerys in Essos. She had seen enough when she had traveled into the North with her husband to regain control of Winterfell.
Hal had seen the very same horrors that she had, had seen more during his own campaign with Robb. She sees the weight of her words press down upon him as she speaks, sees the way his jaw clenches and his shoulders tense. She no more wishes to speak her next words than Hal wishes to hear them.
She speaks them all the same.
“They will kill everyone in this castle.” Stableboys. Maids. Cooks. Footmen. Highborn. Lowborn. Titles and status will matter little. “They will do worse to me.”
The thought is a sickening one, one that makes something dark and terrible settle in the pit of her stomach. But, it will be the outcome that occurs if they do not stop the fleet out on the water. There is only one way for them to do so.
[[ Author's Note: I'd hoped to have this finished before the new year, but it just didn't happen. Hopefully this will suffice until I'm able to finish it. It's moving quick and I am getting close. I think you all will like the chaos. 😇 ]]
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foodiewithdahoodie · 7 months
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Conformity Together (Cursed Byler Ficlet)
SoundCloud rapper Mike, onlyfans influencer Will, modern day Byler
Prev Ficlets (one, two, three)
"Hey, guys?" Mike starts and Lucas can already feel the headache coming on. Erica stops counting her money made off of shamelessly exploiting Mike (reparations) while Will pauses in teaching Holly how to tell when someone's crushing on you, so you can manipulate their feelings and get them to be your lackey (or sugar parent, life lessons ya know). "I think I wanna branch out beyond, like, rapping."
"Hallelujah!" Lucas deeply sighs, throwing his hands in the air and finally believing that God answered his prayers.
"What?!" Erica is far from pleased. They have a good thing going on. Mike makes a fool of himself and Erica capitalizes off of it. Why ruin the dynamic now? What is the reason?!
"But you love rapping!" Holly is shocked, unaware that her brother is the worst person she, or anyone else for that matter, will ever know and that this might be a good change of pace to better society.
"Whatever you do, I'll support you Mikey-kins." Will blows a loud kiss, and too the Sinclair siblings horror, Mike catches the invisible kiss to smack on his chest in caveman fashion.
"You have my heart Willy-boo." Mike flirtatiously winks, except he can't wink worth a damn, so in actuality he just blinks really hard at Will, but it's fine because Will knows what his man meant to do.
"Anyways," Mike continues, face serious despite the still healing newly added tattoos above his eyebrows, on the left it reads No Homo and on the right it reads Straight Hate in fancy cursive (Mike can't read cursive by the way). "I don't just wanna be a rapper. I'm more than that. Lots of artists these days got, like, a lotta big moves being made. I'm talking acting and shit. Modeling! Voice acting cartoons and all that. Feel me?"
Erica shakes her head, scrunching her face. "Some people have talent to do many things. Mike, you're a one trick pony, do not hurt yourself trying to be... Creative." She's being generous. She could destroy his delusional completely with the cold hard truth, but Erica shows grace.
"I think Mike has a right to explore." Will encourages which is never anything good. If there's one person Mike listens to without disobeying, it's Will, who tends to lead his boyfriend/fiancé into the Lion's Den often.
"What else do you wanna do?" Holly innocently asks.
Mike beams at them with unearned confidence. "I wanna sing! RnB to be precise, y'all. The legendary 90s baby making music kind."
"Absolutely the fuck not." Lucas takes it back, God got jokes, and he is punishing humanity by letting Mike dare to think he can taint yet another genre of music that doesn’t deserve this.
"Aye, Lukey Luke, c'mon! Gimme a chance!" Mike begs with puppy dog eyes that don't move Lucas's resolve.
"Stop with the nicknames before I actually hit you right now."
Erica quickly stands in front of Mike protectively. "Don't damage the fragile merchandise Lucas! Not until I go on live and start streaming. When Max beat his ass last time it was the most we've ever made."
As the Sinclair siblings argued about when and when not to hit Mike, Will sidles next to his man, holding his botched tattooed up hands into his never-worked-a-day-in-his-life artistic own decorated in gaudy rings paid with the money from his 100% female audience lusting for a gay man.
"You have a lovely voice Mikey-kins. The world should be honored to hear such a blessing. You're the heart after all. Lemme hear you croon my little songbird."
Mike laughs shyly at Will's unconditional acceptance, and it would be considered sweet if it wasn't them being on the cusp of lowering the bar and shattering standards. "Well, ya know, I already did write a lil sum for you, Tiger. Ahahahaha."
"You did?! My hero!" Will is excited and Mike begins to hum a tune, licking his lips and struggling to make his eyes appear seductive and bedroom-y to set the mood. Will dreamily stares, smitten as a kitten , and swaying his body already to Mike's horrendous beatboxing.
It's unsettling, and Holly has no idea why she feels like she'll be physically ill if she hears Mike sing. Like the world will crack open like a fallen egg. Like everything alive is going to start decaying. Where's Erica's sage to keep the summoning demons away when needed? The Sinclairs are sadly too busy arguing with each other and fail to stop Mike's awful crooning attempt at RnB.
Heeeey, it's 7Dragon$ in the hizzouse and I'm about to sing a lil bit for my baby boo, light of my life, fire of my loins, no Lolita ya heard? It go a little like this...
Dim the lights down low, lay your head on this pillow
You know how I do, cuz I'm 'bout to go
All in, setting the vibes tonight, gonna turn all your wrongs into rights
Water to wine, performing miracles, solving the problem, undoing debacles, yeaaaah
I aint no waiter but I live to serve all of your needy needs
Cuz I'm a generous lover, aim to please, so go 'head and be greed-y
Rapper singing RnB, cuz I'm multifaceted, I'm multitalented
Fuck what my therapist say, I'm not demented, but cemented in my sexy ways
Purple Palm Tree Delight put us in a haze, in a daze
Let your worries fade on my mattress, smell the scented candles?
It's green apple cinnamon, sweetie pie, can you handle
The ambience cuz you are hella hot, and you all I got
Hatin' fans tryna keep us apart, they need to stop
You my best friend, I'm your ally, I'm your heart
The only guy that can make a thug like me romantic, when in these streets I go hard
Did I mention you hot? You got cake too, and I smack it
Your lips? I attack it
You my drug and I'm an addict
My bad habit, gotta have it
Don't need no willpower, when I got me a Will
The real deal, you know the drill, we going up, y'all stay downhill
Y'all staying still, stagnant
Can't split us up, we some magnets cuz we attractive ahahaha
I ain't gay or shit, but for him, I'll be in my swag bag fag bag
Mix his yellow with my blue cuz together we're a green flag
Will the Wise, that's my mans, my boo, my rock
Will the Wise, and like the way he take my
"Nope! Nuh-uh! None of that!" Lucas immediately shuts it down once realizing what's happening, grabbing his trusty spray bottle of water he now carries on him daily to spray Mike like a feral cat.
"Argh!" Mike shields himself as he gets drenched. "I wasn't gonna say what you thought, Lucas! I was gonna say 'take this lock to my heart' so stop hosing me down! It was this lock! Not the other word I swear!"
"You. Are. Not. To. Sing. Ever." Lucas orders menacingly while continuously spraying a screaming Mike.
On the other hand, Will is blushing beet red in adoration. He feels so happy that Mike sung to him his own personal ballad, hazel eyes blown wide. Never-mind that when Mike was singing the windows fractured, the lights were flickering as if ghosts were haunting them, and they're pretty certain a portal to Hell almost got activated. Demon adjacent Mike Wheeler Sinclair almost causes the apocalypse once againe.
"I'm sorry, but did this boy just reference Lolita?" Erica slowly processes, cursing at herself for not recording so she can send the clip to Nancy's gossip magazine to stir up controversy and have hate memes be made of it.
Holly remains confused, never really knowing what's going on, but enjoying the time she spends with her big brother Mike regardless if it's not for the best considering Mike may as well be poisonous gas polluting the air. After Lucas runs out of water to spray, he pulls out his phone and starts texting.
"That's it. I'm gonna go on vacation. Someone else is gonna be on Mike babysitting duty. Mental health break." Lucas says, then goes to start packing his bags once confirming his booked flight out of town.
"Where are you going?!" Mike, strange person he is, always demands where Lucas is leaving for, subconsciously knowing that one day his best friend's patience is going to be at zero percent and then who else will be his Black brother from another mother to twin with him?
"Goodbye." Lucas huffs, getting into his Uber to protect his peace of mind less he go insane.
"Don't worry. He'll be back." Erica is nonplussed, shrugging and checking her stocks on Wallstreet.
Will pokes a distraught Mike's shoulder to get his attention. "Mikey-kins, I love your song. Is it possible you could perform it on my livestream today?"
"O-On your OnlyFans?" Mike is honored for such a request by the apple of his eye sweetie pie.
"I want to show the world how amazing you are!" Will brushes his hair behind his ear and coyishly bats his eyes. "Your angelic voice is healing, darling."
"Really? Oh Will you know how to hold a king down." Mike then proceeds to bark like a dog, tapping into his primal energy and Will wolf howls with him.
"What are they doing?" Holly squints, tilting her head and Erica just waves them off, apathetic.
"I was bored one day. Told them this is what going feral is about. It's fun to laugh at how they take everything I say as gold." Erica deviously smirks, blatantly recording Mike and Will so she can save this for the compilation video she's making for future promo.
The doorbell suddenly rings. Mike ceases his barking to hopefully look at Erica. "You said he'd be back! I didn't know you meant this quick!"
He runs to the door with Will trailing behind daintily because one thing Will's gonna do, is not break a sweat. Mike opens the door, fully prepared to greet Lucas.
"Lucaaaa - Huh? - Dustin?!" Mike's face drops upon seeing Dustin.
"Hello to you too, Mike. I'm subbing for Lucas. He's, like, tired of you or something." Dustin neutrally says, pulling out his data book and begins to jot down notes. "Of course, I had to agree because I find it both fascinating and concerning at how you and Will are kind of causing the end of the world slowly and nobody is talking about it. Like, Will's legit, uh, like the antichrist and we're just living life normal despite knowing that. Might I run some experiments?"
"You may?" Will easily agrees in a nonchalant manner.
"Hey! If you running tests on Will, you better run tests on me too! We do everything together cuz we're a team!" Mike declares.
Dustin, another best friend of Mike and Will, is also a fellow exploiter and partner in crime with Erica, except this is in the name of science than money.
"For sure, Mike. I was hoping to run most of my tests on you and how you're able to just simultaneously get away with the most appalling actions and be un-cancellable while anyone else wouldn't be so lucky."
"It's cuz I'm da realest to ever do it." Mike brags and Will claps in solidarity.
"He's realer than real. Am I using that correctly, Erica?" Will asks and Erica just gives a thumbs up without even looking their way, half-listening.
"You got it. Yeah. Realer than whatever you just said."
And so, while Lucas goes on vacation, Dustin sets up experiments to figure out how Mike and Will actually function. Erica doesn't care as long as she, manager of SoundCloud rapper Mike, can document everything to make it into a film to sell to Nancy. Another day in Mike's unnatural habitat.
___
Dustin is known as Neutral Dustin. He truly is indifferent to Cursed Byler dating which makes him perfect to be Lucas's sub. None of these are in order but one day we'll touch back to what happened when Mike went to the reverse conversion camp to become un-homophobic lol
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opinated-user · 3 months
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first of all, LO, you literally described yourself on the first parragraph. you don't have any respect for any culture, as demostrated for how you treat your "native heritage", but especially none for non western ones. neither the culture or the people for that matter. everytime you have a chance to consider cultural differences or appreciate them, you rolled them into the dirt and claim they don't matter because your own cultural interpretation should be enough. you were the one who in a stream sounded positively giddy at the idea of the USA destroying Japan so throughfully that now there's no real difference between the culture, which means celebrating the total colonization of Japan. that's one of the more openly hateful and disgusting things i have ever heard anyone say about another country, and i'm not even counting the times you refer to the entire country as being filled with pedophiles. second of all... LO, when have you ever looked into any of this? when? because what i have seen, Japanese have a crisis with overworking and people being taken to their absolute limits because of work... since the 90s at least. by saying that it's just capitalism then you ignore the very real history of how the economy of Japan was affected since the first bubble exploded. if it was just "late stage capitalism", then every creative person in the west too would be sleeping on the studios to keep working first hour in the morning and until they literally fell to sleep on the studios. it happens in the west, the reason why people protest for the bad treatment of animators and especial effects people, but it's not nearly as common as it happens in japan. read the accounts of managakas who burned out, were close to it or for some miracle withstand work hours that we can't even imagine here in the west and then tell me it's the same. it's not. in fact, by claiming that there's no cultural factors and it's all some big and vague "late stage capitalism", you're erasing how serious the issue is. you're erasing the culture entirely out of the question and making it about some universal form of capitalism, as if capitalism itself affected all countries and cultures exactly the same around the globe when it very much doesn't do that. how can you say that and pretend like you're not the racist one? third... no, actually, anime wasn't censoring anything. western companies who bought that anime for cheap and thus gave it the bare minimum in term of care censored stuff. Sailor Moon had accidental incest lesbian cousins very obviously in love because of the censorship... something i imagine you were actually pretty okay with. if only they were sisters, then you'd have loved it a lot more. the people who made those animes had nothing to do with that decision, they had no control over how those companies worked. Ghost Stories is an example of a dub company having so much liberty to do whatever they wanted that they completely reinvented the story and characters into something completely different. again, without anyone involved with the original anime having any power to do anything about it or even knowing it was happening. LO keeps having this idea that Japan is making any sort of effort to appeals to westeners and they do not. they make anime for themselves, first and foremost. rather colonialistic mindset to have. so, indeed, those animes were westernized... to avoid queer themes. and it was all done by westeners. once again, this is LO riding the corporate train to avoid blaming those poor defenseless companies and still making it about how the people in Japan are the ones always in the wrong, because she's a racist ignorant white person.
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