"Disaster Taxon," poem assembled using text from Wikipedia articles

no im still so unwell over this??? vince scribbled out the criticism of rody in the review of the bistro. help

Nooooo but literally. How he immediately discredits any bad word against Rody! It defo made me more convinced that the reason the party ended was because Rody's ex classmate made fun of Rody (and it is mentioned by one of the guests that Vincent can hear Rody very clearly from over there, there's no way he didn't notice that whole scene). I do wonder exactly what was said, since he's not afraid to be brutal to anyone that's not Rody.

If a customer ever treated Rody like shit in the typical way customers act towards service workers I don't think Vince would be too happy lmao. POV: you treated your waiter like shit and now some white french man who smells like an ash tray starts glaring daggers at you.

Come look at my smiling deranged blorbo!

the best thing about Shadowbringers world is that slow dawning realization as you explore it

that ultimately, the entirety of Norvrandt, As You See It Now, is the end result of a long series of dominoes falling

that started with the right person getting on the right Chocobo cart at the right time.

my favorite thing about shadowbringers is and will forever always be that it's pretty much just the aftermath of a jrpg plot in of itself. like every single member of ardbert's crew had their own personal journeys and backstory and calls to adventure and he slowly collected them along the way like a classical rpg story and everything. there was something there, once. you could have (and were) that exact same person in that exact same situation, once. ardbert did literally everything right and still it came to this etc etc

truthfully i do think the narrative (embraced both by fandom & by spike) that the scoobies 'kicked buffy out of her own house' is flawed to say the least. what actually happens is that buffy refuses to stay and watch the potentials be led by faith. so the potentials & the scoobies, all of whom have every right to not want to be led by someone who just led them into a trap and who seems utterly unwilling to listen to their opinions and quite frankly who has not been very nice to them at all for the past few months, say: okay, then leave. so she leaves. i would hardly call that 'kicking her out'. she couldn't handle their decision, so she threatened to leave, and dawn called her bluff. and honestly she comes back a much better, more well-adjusted, and emotionally balanced person so. you know. it kinda seems like it was for the best! i know btvs fandom is very protective of buffy but the truth is that everyone needs to get bonked on the head with a rolled-up newspaper sometimes. even buffy. especially season 7 buffy

At the bus stop one time there was a gaggle of preschoolers waiting to catch the bus for a field trip day, and someone walked past with a couple of friendly little dogs, to great general delight.

But after a little bit, the dogs were getting overwhelmed, and the preschoolers were gently coaxed to back off so the person with the dogs could continue on. Specifically, one of the preschool teachers said, "Sometimes, when you're small, being surrounded by big people can be a bit scary and overwhelming. Even if they are friendly."

This was recieved as great wisdom: after all, the preschoolers were also small, and understood how scary and overwhelming big people could be! And the dogs were indeed even smaller than the preschoolers, so it made sense.

What was funny and charming was that, upon absorbing and reflecting on this wisdom, they all felt the need to tell it to one another. In tones of great insight, they turned to one another and said, "Did you know? Sometimes when you are small, being surrounded by big people can be scary and overwhelming! Even if they are friendly!" Back and forth, without any particular concern that they were all saying the same thing. Have reached comprehension of an insight, it must be shared!

I must say that this behavior is less charming in tumblr users than in preschoolers. Not least because tumblr users, having gained a little analytical skill to misuse, insist on Summarizing and Generalizing and Unifying the insights they repeat, quickly turning any interesting new information into formulaic dogmatic mush.

.

Something I like to believe (and in a twisted way of wholesomeness) is that when the NDA found Icardi and Servan, there was some righteous fury approaching them. Like these two (mainly Icardi) dragged their youngest teammate into his plan, framing him as a terrorist, and indirectly sending a psychopathic Peacekeeper onto him. I like to imagine when they find Icardi, they charge right onto their boat (to the point of almost crashing into them), with Desuhiko and Halara jumping on them and tying them up (Icardi may have gotten a few bruises during the scuffle) and Yakou keeps a very close eye on the two (again mainly Icardi).

Reminder to please be kind to the characters you are not voting for. If you're confused as to why a character is doomed by the narrative, check the notes on the poll! Most of them have a ton of explanations from people about their blorbos

god, I really have to play Dishonored + Knife of Dunwall + Brigmore Witches again

I do find it fascinating that most people who have suggested they would be interested in a narrative of the Hells having to process grief for Laudna have done so with the caveat that this is not the only option, and also that whatever happens depends entirely on what Marisha chooses to do.

And on the other hand, the number of times I've seen variations on, "Marisha has so much more story that she wanted to play, of course she'd pick that and you're fucked up for suggesting anything else, how dare you want Marisha's character to be dead, you just hate her in particular," to support the idea that there is no valid reason for Laudna to stay dead, is very high.

I don't know what Marisha will choose! I don't know her! But per Matt's thread last week, whether or not a character is revived or remains dead falls specifically to what the player wants to do, which means that a player choosing to move on with a new character is very possible and welcomed within the story (clearly, considering Molly).

The valid reason for Laudna to stay dead doesn't have to be anything more than, "That's what Marisha decided to do," and at this point, we have no information to rule out either scenario, so it is entirely fair to discuss what about either of those scenarios might be personally interesting on a narrative level. And frankly, I do worry about the potential of even further vitriol that could ensue if she did choose to bring in a new character. Like, if you're suggesting it's fucked up to choose to keep a character dead in a setting with resurrection... then are you also going to direct that opinion toward a player who does just that?

Ultimately, the outcome will be guided specifically by what Marisha chooses to do, and acting as if you can say with certainty the sole thing that a person you don't know would want or choose is, uh, really shitty, actually, especially given the history of this fandom claiming they know better about Marisha's characters than she does.

Looking back on Batman (2022)

Enough time has passed now that my initial adrenaline rush )and then later afterglow) over Batman 2022 has resolved itself at least enough that I can look back on the film a bit more critically.

I enjoyed this movie, I enjoyed this Batman, but and this is a big but, this movie did not like Batman.

The thing about Batman is that he's a grim dark fantasy where a hero who's in pain can use that pain as a motivation to help people, to change things, to strive for a better Gotham because he just can't fucking accept the Gotham that allowed his parents to get killed while coming home from the movies, that kills so many other parents and children and sucks the people that remain into a mire of corruption and austerity. This is not that Batman, this is a Batman that's utterly oblivious to the problems with wealth inequality until the movie rubs in his face and even then has his inaction in his role of Bruce Wayne while letting his Batman role monopolise his every waking thought presented as his main problem. This is not a Batman that announces to a dinner party, “Ladies. Gentlemen. You have eaten well. You've eaten Gotham's wealth. Its spirit. Your feast is nearly over. From this moment on...none of you are safe.”. That attacks violent crime on two fronts by giving legitimate jobs to ex cons by day and solving kidnapping or murder cases by night.

And most crucially this isn't a Batman that ... succeeds. By that I mean yes he solves the grand mystery, yes he saves people in the flood, but the classic Batman would have saved that man he interrupts the bomb disposal squad to answer Riddler's phone call for. The classic Batman would have saved Falcone, evil doer that he is, not because he deserved to live but because Batman is a hyper competent hero who's comic gimmick was that he was quick witted enough to stay ahead of the crooks and always save the person in front of him as a result, perhaps it's only natural for that to be subverted with the Riddler as his enemy (a character invented with the intent of putting the detective hero to the test when it came to his cerebral limits) but because this is a stand alone film, which as the name says has this Batman stand alone with the contents as the only basis to judge him with it has the effect of making his presence as a hero less warranted. After all, does Batman's presence in this film really save anyone besides the flood victims and Selina?

Yes the only victims who really get killed are all bad people but... that's not the point of Batman, the point is that he saves everyone he can.

The film also does the whole 'batman creates his own villains and actively makes the city worse because he espouses vengeance and violence' thing which egh, slightly more palatable with the transition from vengeance to hope, but I really don't fucking like it all the same. And besides that I dislike the idea that vengeance can't be hopeful, that a man who lost everything in one terrifying night, who got no justice, whose loved ones and personal loss and whose innocence remain unavenged saying to himself "I am justice, I am vengeance, I am the night!" as a way of reclaiming everything that's happened to him and everything he wants to be for the people of Gotham whose cries go unanswered by corrupt law enforcement and an even more corrupt bureaucracy, is presented as invalid, as somehow immature. When Batman was always crafted as a mature hero in the mold of the Scarlet Pimpernel and Zorro and James Bond, of Sherlock Holmes! That was part of his central appeal! He's the cool mature down to earth, detective hero.

Here he is reduced to a naive rich boy who's so ignorant his main approach to crime is to inefficiently beat the shit out of whatever hoodlums he encounters and who literally doesn't have the idea of using his money to fix the poverty or corruption fuelling the crime until Riddler highlights what his parents wanted to do for the city by denigrating it + the politician lady who repeatedly points it out. It's a movie that loves Batman but also passionately declares the stupidity of Batman. Perhaps that's also inevitable because solving crime by beating it up while dressed as a Bat is well, silly, when you approach it with real world cynicism instead of the wish fulfillment, the fantasy of being rich and powerful and smart enough to actually do something about an entire city that's drowning in crime, that has been drowning, suffocating, for decades, and have a hope of succeeding. There is no fun of acting like an airhead so the other rich people and crooks will underestimate and look down on you like they look down on everyone in the city as you use your access to learn things people outside that circle of rich opportunists can't and then use it to reveal their crimes as a vigilante whose identity no one suspects. Instead we have a traumatised Bruce Wayne openly beg Don Falcone for information who indulges him because he owes his father that favour and Bruce Wayne isn't a threat, is it interesting pathos? Definitely! Is it dramatic and fun! Also yes! Is it traditional Batman/Bruce Wayne secret identity shenanigans? Well kind of in that it gets him the extra information but genuinely not so much because it's not really an act. Does it have to be traditional Batman? I really don't know. We can't ever create something refreshing like this movie was if we don't try to deviate from the norm and in that regard I think it deserves respect. And yet. There's a but.

This movie doesn't let Batman succeed at anything but the bare minimum as a vigilante but it does let him try his best, always and it lets him care, deeply. Which is enough that it pulls through as a good batman film. However for all the budget and clever characterisation I don't think it's a great Batman film. After all Batman is a superhero fantasy and in those, the good guys are allowed to save the day.

okay can someone with zelda wisdom explain this fandom thing to me

I always see a lot of fan content making hylia  a villain of sorts and wanted to know where it comes from.  I know lot people mention a curse of reincarnation for the triforce trio. But from what I remember stuff like that only get said via ganondorf/demise. Ganondorf/demise  swear to come back (reincarnate?) on spite and hate alone. So if there is never ending cycle wouldn’t it be on them and not hylia? 

Maybe I shouldn’t worry about it too much. It’s mainly in Fanon I’ve been in the dark on for ages. It could be people just wanting the formula flipped on its head and wanna play as ganondorf, which seems fun! 

Plus the official timeline for zelda has always been something I’ve been split on. the devs have admitted to not worrying about it much with new games so they aren’t constricted. I kinda liked have trios of games loosely connected by just whispers though. Ocarina has two lines of really good games that have echoes of the effects of the OG (adult and child timelines). They aren’t direct sequels and they stand on their own. I think I made even better by playing the others.

I kinda hoped for something similar with skyward sword, botw, and totk... but those thoughts are for another day

aini as a game makes me SOOOO mad because it was SO CLOSE to being perfect

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

March 6, 2023

Heather Cox Richardson

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) met in Washington, D.C., over the weekend, sparking speculation over the 2024 Republican presidential field. Hard-right figures like Donald Trump and his loyalists Mike Lindell, the MyPillow entrepreneur, and Kari Lake, who lost the 2022 race for Arizona governor, attended, along with House Judiciary Committee chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) and right-wing media figure Steve Bannon, but many of those testing the 2024 presidential waters gave it a miss. CPAC started in 1974, and since then it has been a telltale for the direction the Republican Party is going. This year was no exception. CPAC was smaller this year than in the past, and it showcased the Republican extremism that is far outside the mainstream of normal American politics. “Feels like MAGA country!” Donald Trump, Jr., told the crowd. The headliner was former president Trump, twice impeached, deeply involved in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and embroiled in a range of criminal investigations. In his speech, Trump embraced his leadership of those hardening around a violent mentality based in grievance that echoes that of fascist movements. “In 2016, I declared: I am your voice,” he said. “Today, I add: I am your warrior. I am your justice. And for those who have been wronged and betrayed: I am your retribution.” He claimed that he and his followers are “engaged in an epic struggle to rescue our country from the people who hate it and want to absolutely destroy it…. We are going to finish what we started. We started something that was a miracle. We’re going to complete the mission, we’re going to see this battle through to ultimate victory. We’re going to make America great again.” After listing all the “villains and scoundrels” he and his followers would “demolish,” “drive out,” “cast out,” “throw off,” “beat,” “rout,” and “evict,” he continued: “We have no choice. This is the final battle.” Other Republican hopefuls are waiting in the wings. Trump has, in fact, never won the popular vote, and his leadership has brought historic losses for the party, but his control over his voting base makes him the front-runner for the Republican nomination. Other candidates seem to be hoping that criminal indictments will knock Trump out of the race and open space for them without making them take a stand against Trump and thus alienate his followers. It seems likely that if such an indictment were forthcoming, they would blame Democrats for Trump’s downfall and hope to ride to office with his voting bloc behind them, without having to embrace that voting blocs’ ideology. That hope seems delusional, considering the increasing emphasis of the Trump Republicans and their imitators on violence. The Republicans are hitting on a constant refrain that crime is on the upswing in the U.S. Since crime does not, in fact, seem to be rising, it seems worth noting that an emphasis on crime justifies the use of state power to combat that crime and normalizes the idea of violence against “criminals,” a category the Republican Party is defining more and more broadly. This will be an extremely difficult genie to stuff back into a bottle, especially as leading Republican figures are increasingly talking in martial terms and referring to the U.S. Civil War. That emphasis on violence corresponds with something else on display at this year’s CPAC: how completely the Republican Party now depends on a false narrative constructed out of lies. CPAC fact checkers had their work cut out for them. Linda Qiu of the New York Times found Trump repeated a number of things previously identified as incorrect as well as adding some new ones. Politifact fact checked other speakers and found they, too, continued to develop the idea of a country run by those who hate it and are eager to undermine it. Various speakers said the Department of Justice is calling parents worried about their kids’ educations “terrorists” (false), fentanyl will kill you if any of it touches your skin, thus putting us all at deadly risk (false), cartels have “operational control” of the U.S.-Mexico border (false), and Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky has said he wants America’s “sons and daughters to go die in Ukraine” (again, false). Right-wing media amplifies this narrative. Depositions in the Dominion Voting Systems defamation lawsuit against the Fox News Corporation made it very clear that both Fox News executives and hosts work closely with Republican operatives to spread a Republican narrative, even when it is based on lies—in that case, in the lie that Trump won the election, which they privately agreed was ridiculous. So, when House speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) gave to FNC personality Tucker Carlson exclusive access to 44,000 hours of video from the footage from the Capitol on January 6, 2021, he indicated the Republicans will continue to try to garner support with a false narrative. Carlson’s coverage of the videos started tonight, with him depicting the rioters as “sightseers” and claiming that other media outlets have lied about the violence on January 6. In reality, Carlson simply didn’t show the many hours of violent footage: more than 1,000 people have been arrested on charges relating to their actions surrounding January 6, more than half have pleaded guilty, and around one third of those charged were charged with assaulting, resisting, or impeding police officers. McCarthy’s desperation to maintain the party’s narrative shows in his unilateral decision to give Carlson exclusive access to that video. A wide range of media outlets are clamoring for equal access to the footage while congressional Democrats are demanding to know on what authority McCarthy gave Carlson that access. The House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol had arranged to transfer the films to the National Archives, but when the Republicans rewrote the rules in January, they instead transferred the video to the House Administration Committee. McCarthy did not consult the committee when he gave access to the films to Carlson. Nor did he consult House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), who has noted that releasing the films without consultation with the Capitol Police is a security risk. Instead, McCarthy apparently coordinated with Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA), chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight. Loudermilk led a tour of the Capitol complex on January 5, 2021. Representative Norma J. Torres (D-CA), ranking member of the Oversight Subcommittee, told Justin Papp of Roll Call that McCarthy “totally went around, not just the subcommittee, but the entire committee…. I hope Ethics will have something to say about this. I think it needs to be investigated on all different levels.” In contrast, House Administration Committee chair Bryan Steil (R-WI) appeared unconcerned with the end run around the responsible committee, saying that “the key is that we’re balancing the transparency that’s needed for the American people with the security interests of the House.” Republicans are planning to take this disinformation campaign across the nation. Despite their insistence that they want to slash government spending, Republican leaders are in fact urging their colleagues to engage in “field hearings” that will take their “message” straight to voters at a time when they are not managing to accomplish much of anything at all in Washington. Jordan’s Judiciary Committee has requested a travel budget of $262,000, more than 30 times what it spent on travel last year and 3 times what it spent before the pandemic, and it is not just the Judiciary Committee that is hitting the road. As Annie Karni and Catie Edmondson of the New York Times noted today, this also means that they speak at the plants of Republican donors, thus giving them free advertising. Congressional Democrats say they received almost no notice of these trips.

[MORE] 

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

okay i gotta be careful in the show and character tags for a bit until people cool off i think...

A Breaking of Crows and Dogs - The Storyteller’s Guide to the “Dog Days” of Summer: The Folklore & Mythologies of the Autumnal Equinox

Twitter Patreon GitHub LinkedIn YouTube This is one of my favorite moments in life. Every year, there is this moment when the tides and energies of some corporeal atmosphere beyond my understanding begins shifting. This usually occurs a week or two before the autumnal equinox.  This is when the crows return. It’s 5am and I’m lying in bed thinking of you, or one of you, out there, reading…

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