#if they're given clear directions then they Never think for themselves

[emptyjunior]

Something that gets me about the rat Grinders™️ is their lives are so,,. Boring!

Everytime we don't see them, they're out in the woods spam killing monsters again and again, they're sitting in silence painstakingly writing glyph after glyph to prepare for a party that they're only going to, to do work. Ruben is making music only to fill with the same repetitive key words, Kipperlilly is campaigning day and night to zero response from the student body.

Compared to the BK's there's no joy in their life! There's no real connections being formed! Two adults intervened before they ever got to figure out what 'adventure' is and now they think adventure is repetive, boring Work.

#aguefort is a foolish insane man #...but god he's not wrong #if you follow his (admittingly terrible) rules you Will find adventure #adventure lives in chaos #and in letting kids do what they want and discover what they want as a team #if they're given clear directions then they Never think for themselves #they never develop what they Need to develop #fantasy high #fantasy high senior year #fhjy #d20 #dimension 20 #rat grinders

[paperclipninja]

I can't believe I forgot one of the most significant moments (imo) when I was mulling over duality etc here, and that is when Crowley goes up to Heaven to try and figure out what's going on. Actually, it's more than just multiple layers of truth. Yes there are a couple of truths at play, but as an audience we are given SO much information in this scene that it's almost hard to take it all in so I'm going to try and lay it out.

Here is what we learn in the whole scene:

Crowley knows that Muriel is a scrivener, including that they're 37th class. How?? Up until Crowley tricking Muriel into taking him to Heaven, there'd been no conversation about their angelic status

Crowley has a solid understanding of the way Heaven works and how to get around it (bees/once you're in, that they never change passwords etc)

Crowley has access to high level files

Saraqael seems to have a fondness? towards Crowley and allows him to view the trial, let's him know what happened and tells Muriel off but also not really

We get all the info about Gabriel and what happened

That Heaven wipes memories when demoting angels

When the alarm goes off because Aziraphale uses his halo, Crowley declares 'let's get back there' and directs Saraqael, 'you too' and they follow without question (though Crowley's original plan may have been to go and get Heavenly reinforcement but still, interesting the way he takes control and they just listen)

So the overarching duality in this scene - yes it is hilarious, the way Crowley gets Muriel to take him to Heaven in the first place and of course this whole situation:

but it's also an incredible act of love.

The entire season establishes unmistakably that Crowley has some very real trauma from his experience of being in Heaven as Aziraphale and cast into the hellfire, highlighted through his reactions to JimGabriel. Not to mention his history with Heaven and all that.

So in trying to come up with a solution to the demons attacking the bookshop, knowing that Heaven no longer have any real interest in helping Aziraphale, he willingly goes up there, the place he has made his feelings about very clear, to try and find some answers.

Yes this is a demonstration of Crowley's love for Aziraphale but it's also a demonstration of his love of humans and humanity. He puts aside his own feelings, takes a real risk (because he couldn't have known how any of the senior angels might respond to him being there...could he? Or what if the Metatron had seen him there? That's another pondering for another day...) and goes to the one place he has outright said he doesn't want to go back to, just to try and find a way to protect the humans and help Aziraphale.

THIS, to me, is the entire crux of where this is all heading. It's exactly the same reason Aziraphale gets in that lift. At the end of the day, Crowley and Aziraphale love humanity and want to protect it, even if it means risking themselves.

The multiple truths of this scene actually create a distraction I think. The humour of Crowley's outfit and little prancy toes make us think this is a light and funny moment, while we're also delighted by his subversion of Heavens 'rules' and processes and the revelations about Gabriel. It is both funny and informative. It does give us hints about Crowley's past while moving the current story forward.

But I think it's easy to miss the actions here, and that is that Crowley, who was cast out of Heaven, witnessed the ease with which they continue to cast angels into hellfire, saw the callousness of the Supreme Archangel as he condemned his best friend to no longer exist, put aside all he's witnessed and experienced because of love.

This is a love story. The love story of an angel and a demon, yes, but the love story of two entities, hereditary enemies, who fall in love with humanity and whose love for one another will give them the strength to protect it. At least, that's my take on it anyway :)

#good omens #good omens meta #crowley #aziraphale #I just have a lot of feelings right now #aziracrow #this is a love story

[r0w0fie]

Update on the CK situation:

I'm shocked I'm saying this but, instead of Carnivorekitty giving it some time to settle down & to use that time to grow . . He just deleted/deactivated his art accounts???

His Tumblr has been deactivated & his Ck twitter account has been seemingly deleted. The Lurking for Love twitter account is still up.

Edit 2: his art twitter is still up but the tag have been changed & the account privated. Any use of the direct link to the old tag doesn't work, hence why I thought it was possibly deleted.

He has changed his now deactivated Tumblr name to "don't make your fanbase on here" which says alot . . .

His Carrd has also been cleared out, including the Toyhouse account. Although his Ko-fi & Itchio are still up. You can see a preview to the old links in the second screenshot below.

Edit 1: his carrd has also been deleted now

He has renamed his previous Carnivorekitty twitter account to yeehawcrow and has privated it.

The background image was changed after the situation. This is just another jab at his fanbase, same as all his other account name changes.

His Niwi account, the one with the transphøbia & -ism interactions, is still up but has been privated.

The name change is still up which shows that he still stands by his views. Do with that info as you will, just no harassment towards said account please & thanks.

I hope this is the last time I have to say anything or update people on the issue.

Some personal thoughts & feelings under the cut ⬇️

I am now further disappointed with Tom. I do not know if he said anything before deactivating, like a farewell or a "will be back eventually".

If he had of simply given it some time, let the dust settle, realign his mental state and then try to figure out why this was so hurtful to his fanbase. He could of had a chance to return & continue on; if he wanted too.

Of course, not everyone would be happy to see him return. Not everyone would even interact with his accounts or be willing to be in the fandom again. But it was still an option, especially if he uses this as a learning opportunity, not just for past fans or present fans, but for himself.

I personally won't be supporting Tom unless some serious growth & acknowledgment is shown. Unfortunately, I don't think thats going to happen any time soon due to the examples & links above. It might never happen or it might take months/years.

I hope Tom is safe & I hope everyone else is safe aswell. Make sure to look after yourselves & reach out to those you trust if you're not doing too hot xx

For now I will change my hyperfocus from Jacob & co onto other games & characters. It hurts to do so but there are so many good peeps out there & we shouldn't be afraid to trust them. I hug anyone who now is because of this situation 🫂

I will forever be into Milo (@/solarchaotica's oc) & will be getting back into LoveLock so I can bully my fave character Walter even tho Seb is the fan fave lol

My personal feelings on all of this? It's shitty.

People defending all of the horrible evidence, without saying they don't agree with aspects of these "questionable" simply because they want to defend CK; is shitty.

People putting things in other people's mouths, is shitty.

People burying their heads in the sand because they want to ignore it all; is shitty.

People giving excuses, even excuses as to why they are ignoring this issue or ignoring certain parts of this issue, is shitty.

People who genuinely support these types of beliefs, only joined in because they're genuinely phobic & aren't even in the L4L/murdersim community; is shitty. (& Yes I've seen it happen)

People who harrass anyone involved, Tom himself, is shitty.

People who use this as evidence to defend other past users actions, is shitty.

People who lash out their hurt through nasty words & ill wishes upon others, is shitty.

People who say anything about Tom or others ky$-ing themselves, are super mega shitty like wtf??? Don't do that???? I only saw one person but still????

It's all just super mega shitty and I hate it so much and it hurts so much to see other people be so so hurt and just aaahshsgskxbdjfb. I cried the first day, not because of my personal feelings, but because of others talking openly about how hurt this made them. Seeing my friends be hurt. Strangers be hurt. Mutuals be hurt. I could still cry if I let myself dwell on it for too long.

I wish things could of ended up better. When I posted on the situation I tried to tell peeps to keep an open mind & to look after themselves. I just hope this is a learning experience for alot of people.

#murdersim #jacob alden #carnivorekitty #lurking for love #jacob lfl #l4l #niwinoodle #tw: discrimination #tw// lgbt+phobia #tw// transphobia

[tillwehavefaces]

I have literally never posted about Buddie before, but I want to add my two cents to the whole Buck/Tommy debate. I know there are mixed feelings and both sides have valid points, but to those who were expecting a Buddie kiss this soon - I don't get it?

Ever since I found out abc had picked up 911, I was and remain cautiously hopeful for Buddie endgame - in fact, the kiss makes me far more hopeful than I was a week ago. Because the truth is that if they'd gone straight for Buddie, it would have been bad storytelling. Offensively bad storytelling.

Hear me out. I agree with y'all that the storytelling that's happened up until now makes it clear that Buddie are in love with each other. I also happen to think that the storytelling that's happened up until now makes it clear that neither of these himbos have any clue that they're in love with each other, or that they even could fall in love with a man.

And it's not for lack of opportunity, if the writers had wanted to go that way, obviously! There's was Buck's reaction to Eddie being stuck in the well and Eddie making Buck Christopher's guardian in his will and both of them almost dying and Eddie having a literal breakdown over all the trauma he's repressed and they've both been to therapy and they've both broken up with women who were all wrong for them ... I could go on and on.

But not only did the writers not take any of these opportunities to make at least one of them realize their feelings for the other might not be platonic (certainly, no explicit indication on screen), but because fox was so afraid of losing viewers if they made both their supposedly straight male firefighters queer, they doubled down on Eddie and Buck seeing their relationship as platonic. Every time one of them went through some kind of life-changing experience and questioned deeply held beliefs about themselves yet never questioned their sexuality, it made it seem less and less likely that *anything* would make them realize they might be queer and in love with their best friend.

Honestly, I think if abc had gotten the show at a different point, they might have been able to go straight into Buddie. For example, a season earlier? Eddie's just gotten through a ton of trauma with the help of a therapist and is returning to the 118, and it would've been easy to write a storyline where he's realized his feelings for Buck and tries to do something about it. Or maybe right after Buck's near-death experience. But they both got through those traumas and started dating new women, as oblivious to the love right in front of them as ever. And that's how S6 ended.

So I don't think there's anything abc could have done to convince me that either one of them suddenly realizes how they feel without something happening. If that Buck/Tommy kiss had instead been a Buddie kiss, I would have loved it, but I wouldn't have really believed it. It wouldn't have felt genuine.

Excuse my nerdy science brain, but it's like inertia - Buck and Eddie have both been going in one direction for so long (the 'we're straight best friends!' direction) that it's going to take some kind of force to knock them off that path. It can't be near death experiences, cause they've both been there and it hasn't worked. It can't be finding new girlfriends or breaking up with said girlfriends. No, it's gotta be something really obvious.

That force is Tommy. A canon gay character who recognizes Buck as queer even when Buck doesn't recognize himself as queer. Who (unknowingly) forces Buck to confront that part of himself by kissing him, which will in turn force Eddie to confront his feelings and reaction to seeing his best friend and co-parent now dating a man. I can't say for sure that Buddie is coming, but I honestly think this (not Tommy specifically, but a queer man who is outside the whole Buddie situation) is the only way to tell this story in a way that makes it feel true to life, given the mess that fox created.

#buddie #9 1 1 abc #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buck x eddie #9 1 1

[coldgoldlazarus]

I just realized something potentially hilarious in Metroid Prime. Probably not intentional, but it would make a certain amount of sense...

So we know a few things:

1. We know the Space Pirates were the ones to install a lot of the doors between rooms on Tallon IV, given some of the logs about their difficulties with native wildlife getting around them. Presumably not all of them, given that would raise questions about how they never found some of the Artifacts, but any differences between theirs and the Chozo originals are negligable. It's even entirely possible they just copied those door designs from the ruins and spread them around everywhere else on the planet? Idk.

2. The pirates have doors with energy shielding corresponding to all four of the beams Samus uses in the game, despite some of those beams themselves also being stuff the Chozo stored away for Samus to find, and the Pirates never had direct contact with those.

3. Either in response to the fall of Zebes, or during the actual events of the game in response to Samus showing up, they developed the four Beam troopers for her to fight, who make their debut when she gets to the Mines. As people have poked fun at plenty before, the beam troopers boil down to color-coded enemies who still all fire the same yellow bolts. They can only be attacked with the specific beam they correspond to, but there's a distinct gameplay/narrative split where their actual firepower is concerned.

But here's my crack theory - what if it isn't a contradiction at all?

Okay, so here's the scenario. Samus makes landfall on Tallon IV, right around the same time as the Frigate Orpheon crashes from orbit. (Which is itself amusing as a non-event one would think should be more noticeable, but whatever lol) The pirates are shitting their pants, because this is the same woman who took out their Zebes base and associated leaders, and now she's come for them as well.

So the local command goes to Science Team, and tasks them with reverse-engineering Samus's recorded aresenal ASAP, before she reaches the mines and wipes out their operation. They don't have anything to reverse-engineer from, but Command makes it clear saying no isn't an option. Cue the decidedly unsuccessful Morph Ball experiments.

Samus kicks Flaghraa's ass and takes the geothermal station in Magmoor. Command is sweating a little bit now, pushes Science Team to move on to something else. Why not her beams? Best defense is a good offense, after all. Thankfully for a bit Samus seems preoccupied with ping-ponging back and forth between Phendrana Drifts and the Overworld, so they're trying to recreate her beams from grainy security footage from Zebes, but without any actual physical devices to work with, it's just not going anywhere. Best they can come up with is a loose appoximation of her basic Power Beam.

Then Samus sweeps through their labs in Phendrana and takes down the Project Titan they hadn't been able to tame, and it's only a matter of time before she hits the mines, now. Command is breathing down Science Team's necks, demanding those Beam recreations now. They can't deliver, and the recent execution of the Power Dynamo Maintenance guys is hanging over their heads.

So, one bright soul gets the idea, what if they at least make it harder for Samus to kill their soldiers? They can take the technology for the door shielding, which they do know how it works, and integrate it into armor? Everyone wears that, Samus has only one of four ways to do anything to them, and if it's randomized from Pirate to Pirate, they have a shot at fighting back successfully while she's adjusting. So that's what they do.

Unfortunately, Command asked for troopers with her beams, not troopers with selective immunity to her beams, so they still have to pitch this concept as the expected Beam Troopers. They at least use the Power Beam lookalike they'd whipped up, and basically gaslight Command, like "sure they look and fire the same, but they're totally distinct in their effects, see? This target has scorch marks, while this one has electrical burns, it's totally legit!"

And thankfully it works, and the Beam Trooper armor and weaponry gets hastily mass-produced. (For a given value of 'mass' anyway.) The grunts assembling them don't have the context to question why the guns are all the same. Also, since part of the concept's selling point is psychological warfare of Samus seeing them using her weapons, the armor sets all get color-coded appropriately, thus undermining any real chance at confusing her. The problem is exacerbated when Command has the beam troopers group up by type to patrol, instead of one of each per team.

And that's how we end up with the so-called "beam troopers" as the Space Pirate bureucracy and overinflated expectations once again shoots themselves in the foot. And then Samus arrives at the mines and wrecks shop.

#not a reblog #metroid #metroid prime #metroid prime remastered #metroid space pirates #space pirates #headcanon

[strqyr]

i've been debating for a while now whether to write this or not. it's a bit... a lot more personal than i'm used to, but with V9: Beyond being nearer and nearer, i'm finding myself to be lacking the spark and excitement for new RWBY content that i'm used to have. for that reason, i've been doing some thinking, trying to nail down where the difference lies, and i think i finally figured it out:

the ending of V9, specifically how they handled ruby's arc.

[tw: suicide, if you decide to continue reading]

before i get any further, i want to lay down some "backstory": about two weeks before V9 started airing, i lost my beloved dog to an illness after fighting for her life for two weeks. those two weeks were a roller coaster straight out of hell, thinking the medicine given were working, only for things to get worse; and through it all, all i could think of was that if she didn't make it through the year, neither would i.

but then, afterwards, in some weird twist of fate, when every part of me wanted to stay in bed and never get up, it was her, my dog, that kept me going, simply because through the last couple of years of her life, she had slept the mornings in my bed, with me, with 1pm being the time she'd force me out of bed if i ever stayed in that late... and that following morning—or more like day lol—after her death, i happened to look at my phone, see the clock be around 1pm, knowing i had a choice to make.

and i got up. have every single day, way before 1pm, to keep part of her alive and with me.

so, perhaps needless to say, but ruby's arc in V9 hit close. i had enough time in-between to not be in middle of the worst of it, but i suppose not as enough as i thought, as not only did i lose some of the spark i had for this show, but i'm also still crying now while writing this.

for the duration of the show, the burden on ruby had been growing stronger and stronger. from being called special due to her silver eyes, to all her friends placing their trust in her leadership, believing that somehow, she always knew what the right thing to do was, to never quite feeling she could be open about her own doubts as a leader, having no one to talk to... V9 started out great. i was excited, for the first time in a long while, for the direction they were taking ruby in.

and everything seemed to be going great. all the issues, trauma, et al that ruby was holding in were slowly seeping over, until it all burst open, explosively, and she ran away; and with all of this and more thrown against her by neo, ruby drank the tea, not wanting to be herself anymore.

...then came the aftermath of her ascension, and it's here, where the writers lost me.

"you're broken! you break everything you touch! i call humans... weak! confused! incomplete!" the cat says, and it's hard to say they're entirely wrong; ruby has been broken, she has had her weak moments, she has been confused, and that's okay.

but her teammates, her friends, her sister, don't seem to think so.

the cat is wrong. ruby has never been any of those things, and that's exactly why they follow her.

like it was more important to prove the antagonist of the volume wrong, rather than offer genuine support to ruby by saying that it is okay to be broken and confused, and for her to have her weak moments because that's why they're there; to support her in good and bad. to make it clear to ruby that she can come to them and air her doubts and concerns without a fear of being shutdown, that they, too, will work on themselves to be better friends in that regard.

but that's not what happened, and even without properly registering it at the time, it felt like a punch to the gut.

during the roundtable discussion of this episode, the writers talked about ruby's arc being about impostor syndrome and i just... can't see it. not with the way they build it up. it's like a switch was flicked, and when before the problem was the burden that was solely placed on ruby's shoulder and how it was too much for her to handle on her own, now ruby ever doubting herself in the first place was the problem, and all she needed to hear was that she was perfect just the way she was; "retrospective" is not a known word here.

and for the first time, even if i do have some critiques over handling of certain storylines, i felt like what was delivered was not what was ordered. at all. and with the vague content warnings in front of episodes, it started to feel like suicide was used for the "shock value" it could provide, to get people talking on social media, rather than because the writers wanted to treat it with the seriousness it deserves.

maybe that's unfair to say; i certainly don't know their intentions. frankly i don't know the people who work on this show at all, and i've stayed far from forming any parasocial relationships to pretend otherwise. all i have is my own feelings about this, ones that i've gone over multiple times, going through episodes, seeing if there's something that i've missed that would make it make sense... i've done my due diligence, and this is the result.

this is not the end: i still love RWBY, the characters, the world and its lore... but some of the trust i had for the writers has definitely gone, as has of the spark that ensured the excitement i had for new episodes and content to the point that i'd be right here, on my seat, ready the moment a new episode dropped.

now if the birbs show up—

#tw suicide #also: if you can't handle even the smallest of critiques of the show #uhhhh #probably don't read lol #kthxbye #it's a longish post but. eh.

[crithaus]

I wanna make some things like very clear to the new Vox Machina fans coming from the animated show to our humble home. Really I wanna settle some of the score about my best girl Vex'ahlia.

Now I know, I know that with so incredibly much source material to try and condense into just 36 22 minute episodes naturally some stuff is gonna be cut out or missed or edited, and TLOVM is it's own canon true, but what with it being Vox Machina but abridged it makes sense to me that it can be directly compared and perhaps found a bit lacking in regards to its source material, and so here I go.

They're not treating Vex with total fairness to be honest. A lot of her best early moments in VM are taken out or given to other people in TLOVM, like her first brush with death with Delilah in the Briarwood arc (it was her that got attacked by Delilah and almost died, not Keyleth, but like this one I get ig. The Twins and Percy held like the campaign record for being down and hurt the most like Sam had to deliberately change that so this wasn't hours of the twins just being near death like I'm not happy but I get it), or season two changing how she found Trinket (Vax was nowhere near her when she ran into those poachers) and mainly the portrayal of Vex as this snippy, mean, jealous, callous, unfeeling bitch without any of the uncertainty inherent in her or the tender moments to flesh her out.

Like in VM proper she's rude and a little snippy sure but that's borne of an established backstory of emotional neglect and the crushing trauma of poverty and Vax literally being the only other person who genuinely loved and cared for her after the mother who's arms she was ripped from was burned alive, (y'know after Syldor the worst dad god ever created literally abandoned them with their mother for 10 years while they were dirt poor (but happy, Elaina is the best mom to live ever), dragged them away from her for 5 in which time he destroyed her and Vax's self esteem, let the whole racist ass town he was ambassador of harass them along with harassing them himself and forced them to be the perfect quiet little doll heirs he only decided he wanted after 10 years of no 'true blooded' kids of his own) and then when they ran away, saw their mother had been murdered in her home by a fucking dragon had to spend the next several years at only like 15ish stealing (in Vex's case haggling and hunting) to survive! Like Vex's hangups around money are from the period in her life where she as controller of her and Vax's meager finances was in charge of making sure they didn't starve to death in the woods somewhere, at 15 she and Vax had to keep themselves alive with no help from anyone but each other, her haggling any and everyone down is a direct response to that.

And oh boy Syldor? Syldor? And his bullshit expectations and neglect are the reason she's so chronically unsure of herself and so desperate to keep being Vax's favorite. You think Keyleth is unsure of herself? Buddy you have seen nothing. Vex's confidence in herself is a facade and literally the longer you know her the more obvious that becomes. She's so slow to let other people in and equally slow to trust cuz she's been hurt so brutally and the few times she relaxes enough to do something for herself (side eyeing the broom incident), she gets narratively punished for it! Bro, the night before meeting with Syldor Percy finds her in tears obsessively polishing her armor cuz she's so desperate even after all this time to prove to Syldor that she is someone, that she isn't the diluted little half-breed Syldor always looked down his nose at (and then Percy, who never again was fooled by her false airs and stepped up to do The Sweetest thing god ever created), like...she's fucked up! And lonely! And wants nothing more than a stable home and people who genuinely like her.

Them leaving their home in when the conclave first attacked Emon drove her to tears because it was the first home she'd had in so long and now they had to leave it. She's got so much depth and she is so endlessly kind too. Every time she sees someone whose circumstances mirror her own she doesn't hesitate to open her purse for it. (her freeing those kids??? Anyone???) She's no Keyleth or even Pike to be sure but she's so sweet. Keyleth goes tearing off up the Sun Tree, Vex follows. Grog gets swindled by some punkass merchant? Vex goes tearing off after him, all her interactions with Vax to be honest she might have Little Sister disease but still, she is so endlessly kind and good and it's not as overt as Pike's genuine goodness or Keyleth's earnestness, it's slightly more subtle but always present. She's the beating heart of Vox Machina, she encourages them all, (just look at what they tell Pelor I mean.... And and I could go on and on about how the fact that she's the champion of the god of Life, Light and the Sun means so much narratively but I mean I doubt I need to I mean it's Pelor), They all look to her and Vax for guidance, look at what they do to fucking Saundor for him merely taunting her, (yes it's more deep than that I know), they literally get stuck in hell and wait there, in the middle of HELL for her cuz they can't/won't move on without her.

She's brilliant, and clever, and broken and 'greedy' and a bitch yes true, but she's so much more than that, and I'm not even gonna tell you to watch the podcast cuz fuck Orion tbh and y'know I am a hater and a gatekeeper both and am totally fine being in the little niche of of vox machina likers, but if you want substance, if you want all of her because god is she compelling, then take your cues from the podcast and not the show.

The show is new, and still ongoing, and I hope they start letting her shine as she was always meant too in later episodes, but she is the heart and soul of Vox Machina and y'all better put some respect on the name of Lady Vex'ahlia De Rolo, Champion of Pelor, Baroness of the First House of Whitestone and Grandmistress of the Grey Hunt, Coinmistress and Treasurer of the Tal'dorei Council.

#vex'ahlia #critical role #vox machina #vex'ahlia de rolo #the legend of vox machina #the legend of vox machina spoilers #vox machina spoilers #i guess #I'll not sppil the show it was only out like 3 days ago but VM ended like 5 years ago and i dont think i need to tag it but whatever 😒

[batsplat]

sometimes casey throws a like on posts about valentino's wins on four wheels, got me wondering how he really feels about vale's retirement life. back in the twilight of vale's career, casey was kinda sad seeing vale content with just hitting top five. but end of last year, he said he's happy for vale's new life vibe. (https://www.tumblr.com/kwisatzworld/735598710184165376/casey-stoner-talks-about-valentino-rossi-in-an)

but man, they're like poles... casey's rebuilding his storm-hit home on the gold coast, swinging golf clubs. meanwhile, valentino's still going full throttle—aside from a vacay in ibiza, dude's been all over the map this year with car races, bike races, tests, and coaching at his academy.

I'm gonna be honest, I have zero awareness of what any of these men do on social media... don't really keep up with them post-retirement in general unless they're literally at the races, giving interviews about their careers and whatnot. so whenever someone on here mentions something like this it's very... I didn't know that but it sure is interesting!! very sweet of casey lol (also link to the gifs)

though, quick note, I wouldn't say valentino was content back in the day with just being in the top five (or lower) - it's just the idea of stopping for a long time felt worse than carrying on. from that same giornale interview, -

And what is it like to live with the idea of ​​leaving? "It's difficult to accept. I didn't give up until the end. But you understand that at forty you no longer have those homicidal instincts that you had when you were twenty-five. But it was hard. At a certain point in my career, about ten years ago, I asked myself: do I stop when I'm on the crest of a wave and retire as a world champion, or do I race until I can't stand it anymore?" Answer? "I race until I can't stand it anymore. And so I did."

it's something he had to decide for himself... of course, both marc and casey have said something along the lines of how they could never have done that themselves, how for them it's only worth it if they're winning. and, y'know, there is something about that for valentino... for all that obviously he is obsessed with winning and desperately wants to do so... he really doesn't just thrive in a fight - he needs it. and it's so interesting, in a way, when you think about just how early in his career he was flirting with the idea of walking away... and then think about how long he ended up sticking around. sure, he was always pretty clear that he would have just done something else racing-related like f1 rather than retire, but still! and in a way, it's probably the fact that he started losing that made him so determined to stick around... the malaise was at its strongest whenever he was winning, or rather, winning too easily... a motogp without valentino might have made it likelier that casey would stick around for longer, whereas a motogp with casey made it less likely that valentino would leave

but yes, casey did say motogp would be better with valentino close to the top:

casey's opinions on what counts as 'good racing' are a whole other thing I'm not going to get into right now, but, I don't know! it's fun! it's fun that casey looked at the 2013-18 period and then what came after that and went 'yeah it'd be better if valentino were involved in this'! "battling it out with these guys" - not even casey stoner is immune to the good old fashioned joys of watching valentino getting himself involved in a dogfight! very compelling of him. I don't think it's just lip service either, not least since it's not like casey is massively inclined to shoot random compliments in valentino's direction (yes, even during valentino's swansong casey did have some rather less friendly hot takes he needed to get off his chest). and... y'know, before the feud really got going casey did talk about how much he'd enjoyed watching valentino, went out with his mates to observe valentino in all his sessions and all that... given you're generally not watching valentino oohing and aahing about him hooking together a quali lap, he must have also enjoyed watching valentino race! happens to the best of us I fear

a persistent problem for a lot of valentino's rivals is how closely associated valentino has become with the very idea of motogp, which, y'know, is the thing they've dedicated their entire lives to. now, for casey this is particularly gnarly and complicated and painful because he has a severely strained relationship with the whole sport, in some ways that come back to valentino and in some ways that go beyond him. and post-retirement, it's not like casey has completely eschewed that active connection to the sport - he was a test rider, he wanted to race again in 2015 as a replacement for dani, he's worked as a rider coach. so again *wiggles hand* complicated. fundamentally though, yes, two very different outlooks. valentino was desperate to race in motogp until he couldn't any more. whereas casey? he's not even missed the racing itself:

can you imagine something more foreign to valentino than this... who loves nothing more than the thrill of the hunt, of the chase, of the kill... that is not a man who was showing up every weekend for the qualifying sessions. it's a way in which they could not be more different - and of course that's further reflected in what they've chosen to do with their time since retirement. valentino is so eternally restless, casey needed to ground himself again. valentino will not stop racing for as long as is physically possible, whereas casey is spending his days fishing... or swinging golf clubs apparently. wait a minute, you say his house was destroyed? by a tornado? ah

anyhow, that's the bit I love about them (not the tornado bit)... how they're both extremely similar and extremely different at the same time - that's the kind of tension through which the narrative juices flow... they're similar in ways you kind of have to be if you want to be very good at a sport, and very good in that sport specifically. in their commitment, their will, their passion for what they do. their competitive instincts, their need to win. how interested they are in preserving the 'soul' of their sport, how they were both firmly on the anti-electronics train for years and years... valentino being told about casey's comments in 2013 pressers and being like 'yeah I'm with him on this'... casey saying in 2018 that valentino is, and I quote, "like me: if it weren't for all these electronics that manage the bike, if the power was controlled only by the rider's right wrist, rossi would still be number one on the track". by the way, and this has absolutely zero relevance to this post, I do need to bring up this comment from the same interview because it makes me laugh:

so real, casey. I wanted drama too. anyway, that comment casey made about the 'stunning blood red' ducati being contaminated by luminous yellow or whatever - obviously in context it was anti-valentino, but it was also revealing that this is even something he cares about because he loves this sport... he wants it to remain true to itself... he regrets not having had the chance to ride the 500cc bikes that valentino was the last guy to be able to win a title on, which obviously valentino is also insanely proud of. there's little things that stand out when you cross-read their autobiographies - like for instance the deep preoccupation with the 'bike or rider' question, partly because they'd both been accused of owing their achievements to something else other than their actual ability (and of course, because they're funny like that, they do both absolutely do this to each other) (also to some extent literally every champion gets put through this, they sure do have a lot of opinions about it though). their thoughts on the importance of being honest to yourself and being honest about what you owe your success to... about not deluding yourself, of not blaming the bike when you are the one to make an error... there's plenty of interesting overlap in what they write y'know

they are both incredibly capable of holding grudges, they are both petty to a fault and will remember any offence you committed even if it was about seven years ago (genuinely casey might be even worse on this metric). and they use this to motivate themselves... they are both so so determined to prove people wrong. if they think you've wronged them, they openly admit that they use that as fuel to spur themselves on. it's the power of spite - yamaha rejected casey so he wanted to show them, nobody thought valentino could make the yamaha switch work so he wanted to rub it in honda's faces. they love to get even. they can be quite suspicious of others to the point of paranoia; there's a world in which they combine their powers to be extremely accomplished conspiracy theorists. they both have a temper - it's easier to get casey angry, but valentino is downright vicious when effectively provoked. plus, and this bit cannot be stressed enough, they are both insane. different flavours of insane, but, still, insane. if you spend enough time thinking about laguna 2008, this kind of becomes one of the key takeaways - because, okay, valentino's riding was. eh. but casey's riding? also very! eh! valentino started it but casey joined in! casey always talked about how much that race changed for him, how it taught him to be more selfish, to just race for himself... and even if it made him feel bad, the thing about casey is that he was willing to do that

but at the same time, of course they're both very different, in all the deeply obvious ways. their respective relationships to publicity, to media, to fame - valentino does struggle with it, does hate it a lot of the time, but at the end of the day he still shines in the spotlight and is an incredibly effective communicator. he's willing to play the game a lot more than casey is... although casey can play it too, if in a different way, when valentino forces him into it. casey's still willing to play it now, which is why you hear him constantly offering his commentary on that rivalry - he's selling a story, a narrative that he may genuinely believe in but that also is of course supposed to flatter him. at the end of the day, however, casey doesn't quite get why all of this has to be such a big part of the sport, why it's necessary to even have anything apart from the racing... whereas valentino has always understood why all the other stuff exists and why it's worth engaging with the public-facing side of the sport, even when he hasn't liked it

valentino loves the sport in its entirety, immediately embraced the entire circus of the paddock and found it endlessly exciting and exhilarating from the very first moment, whereas casey has often wished he could escape all parts of the sport that aren't the racing itself. valentino is someone who has spoken at length about the bonds of friendship with his team and how important they are to him, whereas casey is a man who has said his only friend in the paddock is his wife. the very strong but different connections they both have to their place of origin, and how meaningful those are to both of them, how important it is to their sense of identity... somewhere they'll always come back to. and of course there's a ruthlessness to valentino that is mostly alien to casey, if not entirely. valentino relishes the battle, whereas casey would prefer to avoid it. there are things valentino is ready to do, lines he's ready to cross, where casey doesn't even understand why you would do any of that. valentino loves having... if not an enemy, then certainly a target - and while casey is hardly a stranger to the motivating power of spite, he is more or less happy to complete his track times on an empty bit of asphalt. relatedly, he also wishes to believe that he is completely immune to any kind of psychological tactics... and sometimes he's more right than he's given credit for and sometimes he's wrong. casey is a lot more preoccupied with this rivalry than valentino is - and of course it has a far more defining role within his career than vice versa. casey walked away so much sooner than valentino did because he had grown estranged from the sport he had so loved. whereas valentino never stopped loving it, even when it hurt him, even when it could have killed him... and he never will stop loving it

this post is going to take a bit of a left field turn, sorry. but there's just something about. idk. athletes trapped in a rivalry that's so intense and so meaningful for at least one half, but that's also so about the kind of... gulf between them, the mutual lack of comprehension, where it feels like the divide is so big it might be unbridgeable... anyway, it always makes me think of a specific bit of andre agassi's autobiography where he talks about his rivalry with pete sampras. so here:

Walking up to the gate, who should I see but Pete. As always, Pete. He looks as if he's done nothing for the last month but practise, and when he wasn't practising, he was lying on a cot in a bare cell, thinking about beating me. He's rested, focused, wholly undistracted. I've always thought the differences between Pete and me were overblown by sportswriters. It seemed too convenient, too important for fans, and Nike, and the game, that Pete and I be polar opposites, the Yankees and Red Sox of tennis. The game's best server versus its best returner. The diffident Californian versus the brash Las Vegan. It all seemed like horseshit. Or, to use Pete's favorite word, nonsense. But at this moment, making small talk at the gate, the gap between us appears genuinely, frighteningly wide, like the gap between good and bad. I've often told Brad that tennis plays too big a part in Pete's life, and not a big enough part in mine, but Pete seems to have the proportions about right. Tennis is his job, and he does it with brio and dedication, while all my talk of maintaining a life outside tennis seems like just that - talk. Just a pretty way of rationalizing all my distractions. For the first time since I've known him - including the times he's beaten my brains out - I envy Pete's dullness. I wish I could emulate his spectacular lack of inspiration, and his peculiar lack of need for inspiration.

obviously the specific details of the rivalry are very different, and the two rivalries don't map neatly onto each other at all. but I don't know, it's always felt a good way of summing up that! disconnect!! the whole world might want you to be distinct from your rival for narrative purposes and you're aware of how artificial the whole thing is... but sometimes it can still be true... casey's always talking about how he never got obsessed with his rivals, how he always treated them all the same, how it was all just externally imposed onto him... which, okay, we could perhaps question the supposed lack of obsession, but it still comes back to how you don't want it to just be about you and that other guy. always you and them, them and you - and maybe you can't actually escape it because it's the truth... it's your legacy, it's fundamentally interwoven into the fabric of your career, it's why you will never truly free yourself from that narrative. "the gap between us appears genuinely, frighteningly wide, like the gap between good and bad"... you're bound together in your shared passion for this sport, but your biggest rival is also somebody who you feel like you'll never truly understand

casey may feel alienated from valentino and in doing so feel alienated from the very sport itself. whereas for valentino, casey was just what he needed. having casey was something motivating, something exciting for valentino - however annoying he found that man, he always needs something to inspire him and for a while there that something was casey. it's a rivalry that wore away at casey while at the same time it lit a fire within valentino... the 'cordial' mutual hatred they exhibited towards each other, wrapped up in this sense of mutual estrangement, it weighed more heavily on one of them than it did on the other... all these similarities between the two characters that exist alongside the violence of the contrast between them. that underlying and inescapable sense of alienation. on some level, they were always perfectly clear on who the other man was when they were fighting each other - and tailored their approach to the rivalry accordingly. but knowing doesn't quite equal empathy, it's not the same as understanding, and the distance between the pair of them inevitably remained. hey, maybe a dinner will fix it, maybe casey can explain where he was coming from to valentino and get the chance to interrogate valentino on the same. because that's what casey's expressing there, right, when he's talking about telling valentino his 'challenges' from his 'point of view'... it's not even as much about understanding as much as it is about being understood. it's about getting valentino to comprehend casey's side of things. maybe even getting valentino to care. of course, more likely than not, the dinner hasn't happened and will never happen. more likely than not, that gap will remain unbridgeable. perhaps it's too much to ask for, to ever truly know your foil. perhaps it's even more impossible to expect to be known

#valentino rossi #casey stoner #// #vr46 #cs27 #i'm sorry i think this wasn't actually really a response to the ask i got. the ask button is more like press here and get a rant #i just don't have time to really write a proper well-sourced casey essay because again i'd need to do laguna first #but i do always have thoughts about them. anyway. it's nice casey likes the old man's dumb car racing #i do think casey might have complicated feelings about the post retirement activities because he has complicated feelings about vale.... #but also kinda. again not necessarily HATING valentino As A Guy... at a certain point he's sort of separated that out in his head I reckon #the agassi stoner comparison is so incredibly niche territory because instinctively you'd think it's the other way round but i'm telling u #“the only respite is fantasizing about retirement” “I hate tennis more than ever - but I hate myself more” #“apparently he doesn't find tennis as lonely as I do” #“I look up at the sky and fantasize about flying away. since I can't fly away at least this tennis ball can fly away. be free little ball” #obviously “I envy pete's dullness” very much goes the other way lmaoooooo still one of my all time fave sports autobiography lines #'agassi stoner comparison is so incredibly niche territory' I say as if the lads are constantly delving into the sampras stoner parallels #really reinventing the parallels to nineties tennis rivalries market here adding my own spin to this well established genre

[hello-nichya-here]

Do you think Lula might try to patch things up with Israel considering the rally that just happened in Brazil?

Let's make one thing clear here: the rally was not pro-Israel. Not really. The flags had a pentagram instead of the star of David, and people in said rally were saying shit like "We support Israel because they're CHRISTIANS like us."

The rally was really about a bunch of useful idiots that sympathize with fascism and straight up neo-nazis (some of which were friends with or direct descendents of the actual nazis that fled to Brazil after WWII, including the monster JOSEF MENGELE himself) who support the wanna-be dictator, and sadly Brazil's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, PRETENDING to give a shit about the Israel situation solely because Lula finally grew a pair of balls and called out the genocide against palestinians - and thus the supporters of Bozo the clown are now trying to use that as an excuse to impeach him, as yet ANOTHER attempt to ignore the results of the elections in which Lula defeated the fucker in 2022.

There's video recording of Bolsonaro (who has never been shy about wanting to turn Brazil into a dictatorship again and actually said the words "I'm pro torture, and this country won't be fixed until at least 40.000 people are dead") full on saying "We can't allow the elections to happen, otherwise I'm gonna lose."

The police tried to prevent people in the northeast region of Brazil (where nearly everyone is pro-Lula) from voting, to try and tip the escala in Bolsonaro's favor. They STILL claim Lula's victory was a fraud.

Finally, on January 8, 2023, his supporters tried staging a coup, fully inspired by the shitshow the USA had when Trump lost (and something that Bozo the clown had ALREADY said he wanted his supporters to do were he to ever lose an election) by invading government buildings. They stole and destroyed lots of valluable art-pieces - lots of which were from jewish people that either fled from nazi Germany before they were sent to concentration camps, and some that actually BEEN in said concentration camps.

And this was not a case of "Maybe they just didn't know what it was", not fully at least, because like I said, Bolsonaro's supporters have VERY strong ties to the nazis. They have done the sieg heil in his homage, say Brazil should have a nazi party, and have tried to make schools say the holocaust never happened. Some of Bolsonaro's ministers have also said shit like "Brazil's economy won't get better until we get rid of all the jews" and a fucker actually copied one of Hitler's speeches, on camera, wearing a nazi-inspired uniform, with one of Hitler's favorite classical pieces being played in the background.

As for Bolsonaro, the slogan he chose for himself "God above everything, Brazil above everyone" is clearly inspired by "Deutschland über alles" (Germany over everything). After his victory in 2018, SBT, one of the TV channels that supported him the most, used the slogan "Brazil - love it or leave it" which the dictatorship Brazil was under used for 21 years as a not so subtle threat to exile people who opposed them (and exile was the KIND fate they could be given, considering the people tortured daily in prison, or full on murdered).

So no, I don't see Lula trying to patch things up with Israel to try and win the support of these people, because they don't actually care about Israel. This was an anti-democracy rally, filled with nazis, and if they were to rise to power again, and not destroy themselves from the inside like they did during the pandemic, it would be the worst case scenario as it'd mean one less government calling Israel's genocide against palestinians AND a bunch of antisemites in power trying to make their own reich, putting all the jewish communities of Brazil in danger.

Remember folks: Israel does not represent all the jews in the world, no matter how much it desperately tries to pretend that it does. Calling it out for commiting genocide is not antisemitic, and supporting it does NOT mean making sure jewish communities will be safe - as you could see, in my country's case, it could mean nothing but a stepping-stone in making said communities the targets of actual nazis, pushing them to exile or something way, way, way worse.

#asks #anti semitism #anti zionism #free palestine #fuck nazis #lula #brazil #brasil #bolsonaro #bozo the clown

[pelorsdyke]

ronancetober - day two: monstrous [featuring a piece of my fic in the cold clear light of day down here, everyone’s a monster]

Robin's been aimlessly running in Max's direction for a while when she realizes they've all begun to naturally split off. She hopes in vain that no one is doing anything stupid (ahem, Max), but her animal instincts overpower her anxiety, and Robin finds herself running deeper into the forest, enjoying the peace. The night is quiet, dark and unmoving, which is why when the stick cracks beneath someone's foot behind her, Robin instantly hears.

She freezes where she's standing-- even if she is a huge wolf, if there's some idiot with a gun out here, Robin still might take a beating. The scent on the air is familiar, but it's not one of her pack, Robin doesn't think, and she's confused when her wolf pushes back against that thought.

Oh, fuck, she thinks, the anxiety swirling back to the front of her consciousness, it is someone from her pack, just not a wolf. Nancy. (So it is, Robin thinks for a moment, the passing thought making her smile internally, some idiot with a gun. Her idiot with a gun.) When she turns toward Nancy, she moves slowly, hoping to convey that she isn't a threat, and is tied between joy at seeing Nancy (which is partially her wolf and partially just her natural state) and terror at the circumstances in which they've found themselves. Nancy is clutching one of her guns, aimed dead at Robin's chest, and staring her down steadily.

Robin sits back on her haunches rather than come any closer to Nancy, tries to look as much like a big lost dog and as little like a horrible monster as she can. Nancy narrows her eyes, shrewd.

"Don't come any closer," she tells Robin, and Robin is, frankly, a little offended. It's an unnecessary remark, given the fact that she's currently in sit and stay mode. And then Nancy steps forward, disobeying her own orders. "What are you?" She asks, and Robin tilts her big wolf head in a way she hopes conveys very cute, right? and not I'm going to eat you.

And then, the strangest thing happens. Nancy Wheeler puts down her gun. Robin eyes her, somehow more nervous now that the girl has let go of her weapon, and tries to sit perfectly still. If she was still human, such a task would be impossible-- Robin is never not moving-- but shifted, she has more physical control, a better understanding of her mass in space. She stares at Nancy as the girl examines her.

"You look so familiar," Nancy murmurs, and Robin thinks yes, that's it, that's my girl, using her evidence. "But I've never seen something like you, have I?" She asks it thoughtfully, like she's running through all the reasons a big wolf might be here at Skull Rock, a big wolf who seems patient and polite and oddly recognizable. Robin just waits. Nancy's looking at her so carefully, so purposefully, that she's sure the girl is just a moment away from realization.

"A werewolf," Nancy says, sounding remarkably calm, "that's what you are, huh, girl?" Robin thinks if she was still human, she might blush, but instead, she just averts her eyes, blinking slowly as she stares at the leaves piling on the ground around them. She doesn't see Nancy stepping forward, but she hears the crush of dirt and rocks beneath her feet, smells the familiar warmth of the girl getting closer. It still startles her when a small, soft palm comes up to the side of her face, almost gentle. Robin, unable to help the instinct whether human or wolf, leans into Nancy's touch. They're so close now, Robin thinks, Nancy's extending a great deal of trust to her without even knowing for sure who she is. But of course, Nancy knows. Nancy knows the same way Robin knew before she turned around in the woods that she was safe-- because they mean so much to one another, rely on one another so intimately, that it just makes sense.

"Robin," Nancy says softly, running her hand through Robin's fur, "it's you, isn't it?"

#stranger things #robin buckley #nancy wheeler #ronance #mine #ronancetober #I promise I Will at some point write some new stuff this month #fic tag

[golbrocklovely]

Have you seen the argument that SnC can't be pulling away from the fans on social media because their 'social media stars' and that their entire job is social media so they are required to give fans tweets and instagram posts etcetc?

My opinion is no they're not social media stars anymore, they are YOUTUBERS, Instagram, twitter, tiktok and snapchat are just extras that these days they could stop if they so wanted. Their job is to create youtube videos, everything else they give us is given to us by their choice, they don't have to do any of that. They could if they wanted just use their social media accounts to promote only their videos and merch and nothing else like a lot of other youtubers do. They CHOOSE not to because in the past they have enjoyed the social side of things, but with their fans being assholes they are allowed to pull away from socials as they are not social media stars, it is not required of their job anymore. They are YOUTUBERS.

What are your thoughts?

it is very funny to hear ppl say this, especially when for years i thought the general consensus was that snc need to take a break and they deserve one. but now… no one wants them to have one. how weird.

first off, the main problem with this argument is that fans expect something for staying so long when we've never been guaranteed anything. i've been here for years, i don't expect snc to do dick all except give me content occasionally that i enjoy and continue to post on xplrclub where i pay to be/get exclusive content. that's all i'm owed. anything else is an added bonus.

fans that think they are owed something just bc they bought the most amount of merch or have been here for years or whatever other reason need a reality check. you are mistaking a past time of yours as a job. you aren't getting paid to be here. you can leave whenever. if you are no longer entertained, go.

snc haven't been consistent posters in years. like, yeah, there was a period of time from like 2015-2017 when snc were constantly posting on insta or twitter or snapchat or youtube. but it has not been like that in a very long time. snc don't have to put in that kind of work bc they have blown up already and now it's quality over quantity.

the problem i have with all of this is that snc have made it abundantly clear why they have started pulling back. EVERYONE IN THIS FANDOM IS AN ASSHOLE. what's not to get??

colby can't read comments anymore and has admitted so, he gets emails and loses followers over him growing facial hair, has been picked apart for years over his choice in gfs, got a terrible death threat a couple years ago that made him basically leave twitter, has gotten constant and dumb hate on there for years, got made fun of for being "fat" when it really him being sick with undiagnosed cancer, literally questioned even telling the fandom he had cancer in the first place bc he knew how they would react if he went bald, plus a mirade of other shit i can't get into. and even sam, the miracle child who rarely has ever had to face consequence for anything he's done or said, is now saying that fans are mean and words can hurt. so you KNOW it has to be bad for him to say something.

and they both said that they put too much of their personal life out there for everyone to see and it wasn't good for them, that they regret doing that.

this fandom thinks it "can say whatever it wants" without snc seeing it. or at the very least, they don't care if snc see. and in what universe would the idol want to stick around when it's fans are shitting on it?? you tell me. they're pulling back bc you all fucking suck. and when they eventually remove themselves entirely bc you want to bitch about their gfs or their face puffing up or whatever random other nonsense you deem worthy of a tweet, i don't want to fucking hear a peep. shut up, for once.

(none of this directed at you anon)

#ask #personal #sam golbach #colby brock #sam and colby

[apatheticlexicographer]

okay but real talk

if m!leven was really, genuinely, unquestionably endgame then there would not be this much doubt and disbelief about it. there would be some, sure, but it would just be a tiny vocal minority like the byler community was before s4. somebody always wants to be contradictory. hundreds of thousands of people don't invest themselves heavily in that contradiction. millions don't feel casually favourable toward it.

it's an undeniable fact that the way season 4 was structured, on many levels, caused a large (large!!!) amount of people to doubt the stability of m!leven. for SO many people to switch over the course of just a month from either favourable to or actively shipping mike and el, to at the very least disliking their relationship and in many cases actively supporting the idea of mike and will instead??? that doesn't happen. it just. doesn't.

it's also an undeniable fact that, having been given an unfavourable perspective on m!leven's relationship by s4, many people have looked back on the previous seasons and noticed in retrospect how both the flaws of their relationship and the strengths of mike and will's have been present since the beginning. s4 didn't change the core of either relationship. all it did was finally strip back the layers that had always been a little transparent and put those cores on full display.

if m!leven was truly engame that wouldn't just mean that s4 was bad and it did such an inadequate job of making people root for its ship that it turned them away; it would mean that the entire show has been terribly written from the beginning concerning only these specific relationships.

it truly baffles me that so many diehard m!leven supporters (or at least, diehard byler antis, and we all know what that's code for😒😒) will happily take that as an explanation. they WANT their show to be badly written, because if it's well written then it's all too clear that the narrative is no longer in their favour. more than that: it never really was.

think about all the other relationships in the show, that fandom and GA alike concur are well written and compelling. think about jonathan and nancy, how the tension between them was evident from the beginning, but nancy was stuck in an increasingly unhappy relationship with steve. think about joyce and hopper, who have had painfully obvious chemistry for the whole show but took until well into the penultimate season to kiss. think about lucas and max, about the growing pains their relationship has gone through and how they only served to strengthen their connection. lumax in particular is the ultimate anti-m!leven, going through the same motions but with a natural chemistry and genuine connection that mike and el have never quite made believable. both the contrast between all three of these relationships and m!leven and the similarities they share with byler have been painfully clear for at least two seasons, and the elements that clash have been built since s1.

all of these relationships have had broad arcs that span across the seasons, and the dynamics have shifted accordingly every time. but mike and el??? their dynamic is the same as it was in s1, on the surface at least. and that's not cute or romantic, as much as the shippers would like to think it is. that's bad for them on an in-universe level and on a writing level as well. a static relationship is never compelling. the writers know this. they have demonstrated their ability to develop relationship arcs in new directions, that are predictable not because they're badly written and trite, but because they're well written and have been foreshadowed and eased into by the narrative whole seasons ahead of time.

if mike and el were truly meant to be, there wouldn't be this clash between them and every other pairing in the show. if mike and el were truly meant to be, their predictability would be like that of jancy, or jopper, or lumax. we know they'll work it out, we know they'll get together in the end, we know they'll grow closer as they grow up.

but, they don't. they don't work out the issues in their relationship. they argue about them, and then they ignore each other, and then they ignore the problems, and then they argue again. and again. and again. they don't get together in the end. if you count their first kiss as the unofficial beginning of their relationship, then they've been together in some capacity since s1. that's a whole season longer than any other endgame couple in the show. they don't grow up together. they grow up separated while el is hidden away, and then separated by tension from their breakup, and then separated by states' worth of distance and all the lies they build up between each other to lengthen it.

if they were "true love" then not only would these issues be either addressed and resolved in a satisfying manner or clearly primed for resolution in the next season, as is the case with the other ships, they wouldn't have been included in the first place. they wouldn't have been strewn throughout the early seasons for later consideration. they wouldn't have been overwhelmingly present in s3, but brushed off as comedy. they wouldn't have been put on full blast in s4 and shown for just what they truly are.

but coming up to s5, the show truly is reaching its climax. none of the relationships have been fully resolved yet. jonathan still needs to come clean to nancy, and nancy needs to let steve down. joyce and hopper still need to have their date at enzo's, and properly establish their relationship. max still needs to wake up, and i'm sure lucas will be responsible in some way for finding her. all of these relationships, however, have mirrored the main plot in their progression toward a climax. they're on the tipping point. if mike's monologue is to be taken at face value and the tension that follows it for the remaining runtime is ignored, el and mike have already reached the climax of their arc. never mind that their problems only continue to fester, unaddressed. never mind that mike and will sit on the same tipping point as the rest: half-addressed, with will's confession hidden in plain sight in the same way his feelings have been all along.

the last points to resolve in both relationships are obvious to us, not because we are "geniuses" for noticing them, but because they should be obvious, just like they are with every other relationship. not now in s4, when they aren't the focus and frankly shouldn't be, when the writers want to preserve one last layer of transparent mystery for the sake of an unbeatable talking point. it will be obvious in s5, when your dad and screenrant and the myriad reaction youtubers will all see as much as they always do: the surface level. and then they'll think back, remember the scenes that flashed by in the season recap. they won't feel decieved then, or even particularly subverted. they'll just see the story that has been told since the beginning. they'll feel satisfied, and if they don't then it has nothing to do with the quality of the writing and everything to do with their own prejudice.

#byler #okay sorry this is so rambly but the brain decided to go back into september mode or whatever #it's just. they are written into the show. into its DNA. #i'm not talking abt subtle coding either i'm talking about very clear narrative beats that confused people at the time #but become obvious to them looking back #this isn't me talking from a 'let me stare real hard at every frame of the show til i can remember every blue or yellow prop' POV #this is me talking from a 'basic narrative structure. like literally just the beginning middle end shit u learn when ur a kid' POV #byler meta #byler analysis #stranger things meta #stranger things analysis #stranger things #byler proof

[guestaccount8499]

Is Caine abusing abstraction for the game?

Gotta love the early stages of theorycrafting, where we're going off so little it's very unlikely any of it will be true. Also, thanks for @digestive for the link below.

So TADC is built around a divide between the internal threats of the simulation (Caine and not being able to leave) and the things a little more in the background that don't seem to be directly a part of it (abstraction, whatever went wrong outside). The thing is though, whenever I think about the events of the pilot it seems like in retrospect Caine is more aware of it all than he lets on.

So from the top: The point of Caine's games seems to be to prevent abstraction, which judging from what it does to them and the name is probably their minds dissociating from their relative reality or the ability to interact with it proparly. It's geared to keep them engaged and give them a direction, but it's not very good at it. Some things also indicate it's designed to generate stories for an unknown observer given it has things like a theme song and Jax talks to the camera.

But the scenarios not directly related to the adventures kind of seem like their own, differet kind of adventure. That's not to say he's causing abstraction and everything, but I feel he knows how to use it to his advantage and make adventures. First I wanna talk about the exit door. It seems like its own thing going on outside the context of Caine's games and control, but according to him at the end it was (albeit unfinished).

He makes it out like he just didn't understand what the humans meant by wanting to "escape" and put a fake escape in the game which broke, but that doesn't completely make sese. While the other side is out of his control there's no reason to think its location would be, yet it still repeatedly appears to Pomni which he doesn't comment on. Why would he do that if he didn't mean to make it seem like something beyond the simulation?

It also doesn't really fit the nature of the fun, carefree world that the circus usually puts on. It's relatively realistic looking, taunts people, doesn't really behave like a tangible object, etc. Everything about it seems specially engineered to feel like it's "outside" in a sense. Who's to say he doesn't do this with other plot-points?

Also note the ending of the Gloink adventure where they end up under the circus. The artsyle of the cave and the escalators is relatively relastic and not the usual bright happy design of everything else. Most notably, naturally, is the Gloink Queen who I wouldn't really call scary but definately looks and sounds notably more unsettling than anything above ground.

Which brings us to the abstracted monsters themselves. They look like this alien, disturbing thing that Caine would never let be part of his design...except I really don't think they're much worse than the queen. Their design is scarier but still not really like, something you wouldn't want kids to see. I don't think he'd really be concerned with them visually or just on the virture of them being monsters.

While the full effects of them running around and damaging characters isn't entirely clear, they also don't really seem to pose much of a threat to the whole thing. They're painful but Caine seems able to handle them and insantly undoes their damage. There's still somewhat of an "outside" vibe to them but I don't feel Caine sees them as a threat or something too wary of to not use.

Much like the exit door, abstracted characters provide an adventure for people that aren't interested in adventures Caine is openly causing. Hell, it worked on you didn't it? It was entertaining to watch Pomni and Raggatha fight the creature, when just watching them all gather the Gloinks wouldn't be. What we're seeing might very well be the viewpoint for the unknown audience it seems to cater too.

The biggest thing making me suspect abstraction just plays into his plan to keep characters engaged and people watching, though, is that Caine doesn't seem remotely concered with it after it happens. Unless he's much less aware of what's going on in the circus than he suggests (which isn't entirely unfounded) he only takes note of anything being wrong when Pomni gets into the void.

He acts like Kaufmo getting abstracted is a big deal in a gag but in the scene he seems to treat it like a gag rather than something that actually concerns him. He makes a face and sticks his tongue out, almost more sacastic than actually surprised. Is it a joke to him as much as it is to us? Like I mentioned earlier, he doesn't seem to really have any reason to be concerned with it besides the pain they cause.

And he isn't concerned with pain, by the way. He probably can't empathize with it since there doesn't seem to be a way for him to get hurt, presumebly not even being designed with it. Goose I believe even said something to the effect of him "treating the humans like voodoo dolls", and he clearly doesn't care about things like Zooble strangling Jax.

TL;DR: Caine is probably using abstracted characters as adventures, the only thing that really seems to worry him so far is characters getting into the void.

#the amazing digital circus #caine #tadc caine #theory #tadc theory #tadc abstraction

[spokspsps]

okay so heres like all the things im going insane about in atsv its so disorganized im so sorry

spoilers for atsv

okay first off the mass amounts of color symbolism is insane

the fight with gwen and her dad where the color backgrounds kept switching to more and more contrasting colors to show that they were getting further and further apart emotionally the one part where gwen talks about her identity and how she has to hide it while acting fine WITH THE TRANS COLOR??? shes trans theyre all trans during the fight when the color backgrounds get closer and closer in shade to each other and then as everything falls apart again the background starts melting like watercolors its insane im going insane

and the clear color difference between earth42 and earth1610 is so amazing

earth42 is clearly more focused on purple and greens and theyre also even shaded differently too, earth1610 is shaded with halftone dots and colorful tones while earth42 focuses primarily on single colors with single directional hatching and comic book style shading (shading with straight up black rather than darker hues)

the fact that 42miles probably knows more spanish than 1610miles because he got closer with his mom after his dad died is heartbreaking

seeing the growth that miles has made in his 1 year, outsmarting literally the entire spidersociety with his plans and even beating some of them in combat its INSANE he's grown so much and while he's still a child he's also clearly grown and he knows his potential and worth

everyone has realistic motives that i can understand the reasoning behind and i also dont get the hate behind gwen she's just 15-16 and her only parental figure has just rejected her–of course she's going to follow miguel and jessica at first and then struggle with rejecting their ideals to support miles OF COURSE she is SHE'S A CHILD

i understand miguel's goals of the greater good but at the same time his need for control after losing all of it with the second universe clouds his judgement so intensely that he blames miles for all of it (also i noticed peter b parker was in miguel's second universe while it was collapsing???)

they both (miguel and miles) want to save people but they're going about it with different philosophies and i think it's because miguel has lost his way with what being spiderman really means

being spiderman means knowing ur not gonna be able to save everyone but still trying to save everyone anyways, and that's what miles embodies he knows he might not be able to save his dad but he wants to try anyways because if he just stood back and let it happen then there was everything he could've done and nothing he did do

miguel has forgotten in his grief that being spiderman means breaking conventional rules, never giving up nobody who tells you to and it's incredibly sad (and also kind of funny to see this like 50yo man send a manhunt for a 15yo teenager for not wanting his dad to die)

i think spiderman personally as the most human superhero purely because he's meant to a person anybody can imagine themselves as and people really can with the amount of different people, genders, ethnicities, etc you see in atsv!! the point of spiderman is to never give up and to always save people and although miguel intends to do those, he has given up on saving people in favor of what he would call "the greater good"

also the spot? i may be interpreting this wrong but i feel he's almost a parallel to miles

get your powers accidentally and not according to "canon events"

lose everything (miles, uncle aaron and the spot, like legitimately everything)

get new powers that you have no idea how to control and need to try and adapt to your life style

become incredibly powerful by learning to recognize your own potential and strength (as seen with miles' plan during the spidersociety chase and spot with the whole,, jesus fucking christ)

the difference between them is that miles recognized his potential and gained confidence through the support that he got from his dad saying that he will support him no matter what because he knows that miles can do it

meanwhile the spot got it specifically because the spiderpeople underestimated him, all making fun of him at first and even calling him "villain of the week" (or weak? i thought it was weak at first) and so he gets more powerful through spite, through the need to prove that he can be something despite having lost everything

and it's interesting to see how that also relates to miguel in a way

both losing quite literally everything and developing an intense and visceral need to control and dominate (men.) its amazing to see it

i might have more later but this is it rn

#atsv spoilers #spiderverse #atsv #spider man: across the spider verse #miguel o'hara #miles morales #gwen stacy #the spot

[denimbex1986]

'Doctor Who just delivered what equates to a series finale with "The Giggle," taking fans on one last incredible journey with the Doctor before ushering in a new era of the franchise. As the third and final 60th anniversary special, "The Giggle" carries the weight of bringing David Tennant's story as the Fourteenth Doctor to an end and kicking off the long-awaited introduction of Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor. With Gatwa's first full episode as the Doctor coming in a few weeks on Christmas Day, "The Church on Ruby Road" will serve as a soft reboot for Doctor Who.

With that in mind, "The Giggle" really does feel like the end of an era for the franchise that came before it, calling back to both the very first episode and multiple key moments in the Doctor's life since. More than once during these anniversary specials, Donna (Catherine Tate) has asked the Doctor (Tennant) why this face came back. As she mused in "The Star Beast," with both of them believing she was dying, it's clear now that it came back to say goodbye, not to Donna but to the rebooted series itself, with showrunner Russell T. Davies bringing Tennant and Tate — one of the most beloved Doctor/Companion pairs in the franchise — to give the show a proper send off before stepping into what comes next.

Simultaneously a breathtaking ending and a beautiful beginning, "The Giggle," is Davies at his best. This episode is both terrifying and hilarious. It's heart-pounding and emotional to watch the Doctor face his oldest adversary while he fights to protect the people of Earth that he can't help but love despite never being able to say the words. "The Giggle" has something for everyone, with reunions and references that will delight fans of classic Who and just as many for those who've only seen the newer iteration. And for those who haven't seen either, the audience is still given enough information to know exactly why these moments are so emotional.

Russell T. Davies Takes 'Doctor Who' Back to Its Roots in "The Giggle"

The episode opens with a flashback to the advent of television, a variation on the real story, with a genuinely ominous performance from Neil Patrick Harris as the Toymaker. With a creepy puppet, feeding off of John Logie Baird's desire to entertain the world, the Toymaker sets in motion a very long game for the human race, and a direct challenge for the Doctor back in the present time. Shortly after the events seen at the end of "Wild Blue Yonder," the Doctor and Donna find themselves in the middle of pure chaos, with every living person thinking that they're right at the expense of both themselves and everyone around them. Following a lovely reunion with UNIT leader Kate Lethbridge Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), the Doctor and Donna get brought up to speed on what's happened to humanity in their absence — in short, everyone's gone mad.

At UNIT HQ, the Doctor is treated to yet another reunion with the return of classic Who companion Melanie "Mel" Bush (Bonnie Langford). For those who don't know, Mel was one of the sixth and seventh Doctor's companions, appearing in 20 episodes in the 1980s. She ended her time with the Doctor of her own volition, heading off to have her own adventures among the stars. It's such a sweet moment, and as a brilliant computer programmer, Mel plays a crucial role in the episode and the goings on at UNIT, setting her up for a recurring role in the new season with the fifteenth Doctor. The team at UNIT has developed a device to keep their brain activity under control, but without it, regular humans are sent into a frenzy that they can't control. Luckily for Donna and Mel though, their time in the TARDIS naturally protects them.

In addition to weaving a compelling high-stakes narrative for his characters, Davies also takes the opportunity to make some truly remarkable social commentary in this episode. Since its inception, Doctor Who has always been a clever allegory, with stories that bring awareness to issues of race, gender, capitalism, and climate in a way that, for some is hard to swallow, but is always necessary to hear. Davies has woven such commentary into each of these specials so far, laying out clear support for the LGBTQ community (of which he's also a part). Now, in "The Giggle," he addresses politics, anti-vaxxers, our dependence on technology, and the simple folly of the human ego. And while the Doctor doesn't shy away from any of the darkness dwelling in humanity, he also notes that this doesn't negate our goodness, the desire to be better, and the worthiness of our continued existence.

David Tennant and Catherine Tate Deliver Knockout Performances in "The Giggle"

"The Giggle" puts the Doctor off balance, striking fear into the near-all-powerful being in a way that he rarely experiences on screen. Tennant delivers another incredible performance, taking the Doctor through the full gamut of emotions. Terrified by turns and filled with unbridled rage fueled by that fear, Tennant imbues the Doctor with unprecedented vulnerability, as he confesses to Donna that he's truly out of his element this time. Ever the empath, Donna recognizes that the Doctor has pushed down years and years of feelings that he needs to address, urging him once again to take a break. As he fights to keep it together, taking on the burden of the hero once again, Donna helps him realize that he's not only not alone, but he's never alone when she's around.

There's a reason that Donna and the Doctor are a fan-favorite duo in the franchise, and for the third episode in a row, Tate and Tennant prove that it largely comes down to the way they play off each other. Donna is one of the best companions, because of her incredible integrity and her ability to see straight through the walls the Doctor surrounds himself with. Differentiating Fourteen from Ten, Tennant allows the Doctor to accept that Donna sees him, while in the past he's always tempted to push other companions away for their own good, now, he lets Donna in. Both Tennant and Tate — and Donna and the Doctor — bring out the best in each other, making each other better.

They don't do it all alone this time though, and each of the supporting actors in this episode brings the caliber of their performance up to the level it needs to be to hold their own against these two. Harris is, of course, a stand-out as the Toymaker, bouncing seamlessly between accents as he gleefully delights in his twisted games. Well-established as a comedy actor, Harris gives The Toymaker a very natural sense of humor, as the role requires an air of playfulness at its core. However, he gives the Toymaker a level of menacing gravitas underneath, indicating how serious a threat he truly is to everything the Doctor loves and all the rules he holds dear. Harris and Tennant's chemistry is pure animosity in such a way that brings the audience to the edge of their seats with every interaction.

The Toymaker pushes the Doctor to the brink as he taunts Donna with the fate of the companions who came after her and the Flux, answering the questions left lingering at the end of "Wild Blue Yonder." Davies immediately chases that emotional climax with one of the most outrageous scenes in the franchise. Backed by the iconic Spice Girls track, "Spice Up Your Life," the Toymaker turns UNIT HQ into his playground, chaotically dancing around and flaunting his power right in the Doctor's face. It's equal parts camp and chaos, with an emotional undertone that grounds a scene that would be completely ridiculous out of context. It's in all of these moments that it's clear that "The Giggle" was crafted with such love for Doctor Who and all the wild impossible tales within it. This series is as silly as it is serious, and Davies' commitment to that is beautifully executed in this episode.

"The Giggle" Welcomes Ncuti Gatwa With Open Arms and Gives David Tennant a Worthy Send-Off

As the Toymaker's game reaches a fever pitch, the Doctor gives him one final chance to leave humanity alone and take his games back to the stars. He offers the same thing he always offers the Master, a chance to run away together and leave everyone else in peace. But, in true villain fashion, he refuses. Before the Doctor can challenge him to the final game in their best-of-three match, the Toymaker demands to play the next game with the next doctor, shooting Tennant's Doctor square in the chest with a space laser. As the Doctor begins to regenerate, golden light streams from his hands and face as he prepares to say goodbye. The moment is as tense and emotional as Doctor Who has ever been as Donna and Mel rush to his side, refusing to let him die alone. The funny thing is, he doesn't actually die at all. For the very first time in Doctor Who, the Doctor experiences bi-regeneration. Instead, of changing his face, the Doctor splits in two, with Gatwa appearing with pure gusto and delight. Together they defeat the Toymaker, but before Fifteen sets off on his next grand adventure, he insists that Fourteen finally rest after thousands of years of running, and that's exactly what he does.

The Fifteenth Doctor is incredibly charming right from the jump, grinning and relishing his new body. It's impossible to watch the end of this episode and not be wildly excited about Gatwa's turn as the Doctor. His Doctor is filled with a sense of joy, and he has a tenderness about him that will win the hearts of fans in an instant as he reaffirms the Doctor's love for past companions like River Song and Sarah Jane. Imbuing both the past and the future with so much love, Fifteen ushers in a new era of Doctor Who that should have everyone excited about what comes next. The Doctor, who has spent so many years filled with regret and self-loathing, finally gets to take time to heal and learn how to be loved, giving his future self the sense of self-love and vulnerability he'll need to keep going.

Meanwhile, Donna and the Doctor finally get their own happily ever afters as Fourteen settles in with her family, presumably for the rest of his life. Rather than the tragic heartbreak of their last goodbye — as beautiful as it was — the Doctor finally comes home and gets to be part of her family, while Donna gets an exciting new job at UNIT to spend the rest of her days with everyone she loves. It's a little bit saccharine, but it plays out with grounded performances from Tennant and Tate who, with tears in their eyes, make it feel entirely earned. This Doctor finally gets to rest as the next boldly goes on saving the rest of the universe.

Rating: 9/10'

#Doctor Who #60th Anniversary #The Giggle #David Tennant #Catherine Tate #Donna Noble #Bi-generation #Ncuti Gatwa #Neil Patrick Harris #The Toymaker #The Star Beast #Russell T. Davies #John Logie Baird #Kate Stewart #UNIT #Jemma Redgrave #Wild Blue Yonder #TARDIS #Melanie Bush #Bonnie Langford #Spice Up Your Life #Spice Girls

[researchgate]

Although I don't live in Israel, as a Persian Jew born and living in France I really appreciate your reblogs recently, it seems most of radblr is choosing to gaslight many Jewish users that NOBODY is attacking Jewish people and ONLY criticising Israeli government, while I and many other Jewish people I know are facing extreme antisemitism on the daily that only gets worse. I've had coworkers «joke» in various different ways basically that I should have my will written up for when Palestine reclaims their land because all «colonisers» [Israeli = Jewish as usual] deserve to be killed -- which is the mildest example. Seeing claims that no antisemitism is happening as a result of the pro-Hamas state of the internet and media is so ignorant and shows that most of these people are not Jewish nor do they know any Jewish people. Being Jewish is stressful on person and online and yet most responses are like «You people have only yourselves to blame» or calling us Zionists if we dare call out antisemitism, it's disgusting and as usual feels incredibly isolating. It makes me very relieved to have another Jewish woman on here like you who is so well-spoken! <3

Hi! Thank you so much for this, I'm so glad I could give you some relief.

I follow less than 40 blogs so I don't see most of the hate, but I surely believe this is the sentiment in general given how it is outside radblr, and what friends of mine told me happens on radblr itself. It's terrible and seeing some notes on posts is just... Despairing. It's clear none of them ever gave an actual damn about the conflict until they could celebrate the rape of Jewish women, and the slaughter of innocent Jewish civilians.

Antisemitism has always been a problem for diaspora Jews, regardless of the country, and it is undeniable it's gotten worse ever since Hamas has invaded Israel with the sole purpose of killing jews. People online are maliciously happy and proud of that, and as much as we like to call them "keyboard warriors" these are real people who not only espouse their opinions online, but live these opinions in real life too, thus posing a direct, active danger to Jews as possible offenders at worst, and at best, they'd be bystanders who film/encourage/watch silently attacks against Jews in real life.

These people never liked the idea of Jews existing, that much is clear. And when it comes to radblr, it seems they forget some important feminists were Jewish themselves. Instead they go full Judith Butler and call Hamas a liberation/resistance movement just because the latter is in their name (Harakat al muqawamah al Islamiyah — Islamic Resistance Movement), whereas they know to call out things like liberal feminism nit being feminism. It's honestly irritating at the very least.

The media and reaction to it is another interesting (and by interesting I mean very much predictable) case: when it's pto Hamas, no one bats an eye, people share al Jazeera, Middle East Eye, etc. articles without viewing them with even a little bit of critical thinking. But when a news source is clearly anti Hamas (not even pro Israel!), it's suddenly pro Israel and Zionist and the sentiment is terribly close to "Jews control the media." I'm not saying there weren't reports that were meant for just shock value (that's literally how news media work), but it was still very interesting to see people go back to antisemitic tropes. Predictable, too.

In the UK, security on Jewish schools has been strengthened in fear of violence against kids, but people would blame "Israel's treatment of the Palestinians" for that, which is full on victim blaming and antisemitism: they're jewish; Jewish = Israel; Israel = bad → jewish = bad like Israel → Israel deserves punishment → Jews deserve punishment.

The fact that the solution for Jews is to walk outside without anything that can mark them as Jewish is not too different to the idea that "she shouldn't have dressed in provocative outfit," which again, puts the blame and responsibility on the victim.

The fact that calling out any form of antisemitism is seen as Zionism is, however, not just the fault of antisemites in my opinion, because Token Jews allow themselves to ignore antisemitic notions within the movements which tokenize them, and allow people to think only Zionist (non-token) Jews care about antisemitism. It's vile, and just wrong. It's especially wring since Zionism isn't even what they think it is, they just think all Jews who protest or call out antisemitism is like that absolute scum Ben-Gvir (who is actually partially responsible for the situation right now, but I digress). It's so disheartening to see and even moreso to experience, of that I'm certain. The ""joke"" about the will for instance, is just absolutely vile and disgusting, although it accidentally acknowledges the fact Hamas wants total annihilation of Jews and not just the "Zionist Entity" as the 2017 revision of their charter suggests.

I'm sorry if I didn't address all of your points, your ask is very loaded, as is expected given the circumstances, and me being unfortunately not very well-dpoken means I probably couldn't treat it with all the due eloquence it deserves. For what it's worth, though, I did try my best.

Being Jewish, especially in the diaspora, is always stressful, but the current situation sure has made it worse ten-fold. Again, I'm glad I could offer some relief for at least the online experience. Myaskbox and DMs are always open if you want to share anything, or just need an ear for your frustrations. Given my situation, I cannot imagine yours but I can sympathize and offer my utmost patience and efforts to understand.

Thank you again for this meaningful ask, here's hoping for somewhat better, somewhat safer days to come as soon as possible. My thoughts are also with the diaspora Jews, at these truly trying times. 💙

Am Yisrael Chai, and we will outlive them.

#it's the first time i used am yisrael chai lol #because honestly yes. we are alive and we will live. theykeep trying to eradicate us but we live. and we will continue to do so #until and including the last jew. #ipc #swords of iron #anonymous #asks #love you anon 💙 #nf #but also #radblr #kinda