just had a phone hearing to explain to the food stamps people that $23 a month in government subsidy is a fucking joke

spent 10 minutes laying out ALL of my medical expenses (which I estimate to come to around $1,700 in 2023) only to be told that NONE of my medical expenses count towards my benefit if I am not officially elderly or disabled

I was actually told "we need to decide if you are disabled" word for word

they said "this hearing does not decide anything, we're going to do an investigatory period," but they ALSO said "if you don't provide documentation from the SSA that you actually are disabled then no medical expenses will be counted"

I'm absolutely livid

$23 a MONTH for groceries

it's a fucking joke

You know as a former member of Vivziepop's cult and yes its a cult not a fandom anymore I am disgusted by a majority of the people in it.

Like someone on the subreddit brought up it being kinda tasteless or fucked that they sold sexy Stella merch in bdsm gear when she's abused Stolas physically. The post was deleted quickly and judging by my experiences in the fandom people were stanning Viv or harassing OP and that has got me thinking.

Why is Stella in bdsm gear? Like Stolas and Blitzo are canonically into it yet you give the abuser that...

Like isn't a bit fucked that instead of choosing the canonical practicioners in your show you choose to put someone who uses pain not to pleasure but to slowly break and hurt someone.

We know Vivziepop has a merch rep so how did that get into production?

I also find it fucked that Vivziepop and crew are attempting to tackle an issue as serious as domestic abuse and do it so poorly by writing Stolas and Stella as bickering children next we see them. Then the staff has the utter gawl to sell merch in general of Stella and the fans buying it up.

Like I understand autograph signings slightly but that's the only merch Stella should have.

Vivziepop's cult loves to claim that they utterly depise Stella and deserves to suffer because she's an abuser so how dare people want nuance or not just a generically evil cartoon villain but the moment she is drawn in a sexy way they start throwing money at that.

Like I just want to know how these people if their friends ask about the character on the pin will explain "Oh this is Stella who's a sexy domestic abuser"

Then again am I surprised when Vivziepop makes merch of a rapist and most of the crew have some weird fascination with Valentino and not in the way that he's their best written villain way more like they are simping over him.

I think a lot of fandoms, especially nowadays, have a lot of genuinely bad people who really need help/therapy but see nothing wrong in what they do or just keep doing that, though they know it ain't okay. That's so frustrating when you can't feel comfortable even in an Internet community. But Viv's "fandom"(I mean exactly these two shows, although Zoophobia also had...... not very pleasant people) is surely something... Where'd you find so many blatantly oblivious and blind brown nosers which keep pretending everything's good when there's already tons of red flags from Vivienne? Yeah, that's a rare case. I don't wanna interact with this fandom or even talk about it, tbh. I still watch the show cuz it's fun to see how it manages to be worse with every episode, though sometimes I don't make reviews as many other people do it faster and better and I just have nothing to say(I need to take my jaw from the floor). Regarding Stella – well, I don't know on what principles Viv or her team makes merch with the characters, but aren't all characters being sexualized anyway? They even have merch with Chaz, a guy who, like, died in the same episode. And they keep doing new merch with this jerk. And that's obviously because there are people who simp for him. I don't know if Stella's merch may be an insult to those who practice BDSM, I'm not into it, tbh, and I don't take these things seriously, but I find this just a bland sexualisation. Well, it's "sexy merch", but yeah, Stella's all character is based on being a mean aggressive yelling bitch, and this thing....... it must be a character trait, I guess? Or just a sweet treat for rule34 artists, like most of the stuff Viv does. Again, I don't take all of this seriously, this sexy merch was made to tease and please the simping fans, but there's certainly a part of irony in it. Like, people in this fandom hate Stella so much that they shit on people who simply want her to be a more complex character, and they're........ still buying all this stuff. They........ enjoy Stella being "hot dommy mommy" and still keep hating her? Ngl, only Viv's fanbase can do that, lol. I've seen this fandom from the start and I can say that many people here always had some weird obsession with Valentino. I even remember some person passive aggressively telling me that "he's just very charismatic and it's your problems if you can't see it". When there were, like........ A musical clip and a comic where he just was being an abusive jerk. Yeah, that's a really weird fascination. Also, doesn't one of HH's crew, who is an animator or a director(don't remember correctly), has a rape fetish and has drawn an animatic on their beloved ship Angel/Val? Hella ironic that a show about serious portrayal of trauma and abuse has a crew member(or members) which legit....... find it hot or cute. That's sick af but I guess Viv doesn't care who she hires. Oh, that's definitely not a pit I would like to fall in. I'm not sure there's any hope on Hazbin portraying trauma or mental illnesses properly, but I'll still watch it anyway. Whenever it comes out....

The Tory National Service plan is such batshit bollocks.

For one, it isn't going to happen because they're going to lose, making the whole thing a pointless gesture. But in politics there are rarely pointless gestures, just pathetic ones - so what is the point?

Well, it's plainly a desperate attempt to sway a handful of voters (like ninety-nine percent of everything the Tories have done for the last, ooh, two years?) and more specifically, I think, sway voters who might have been drifting towards Reform.

But I can't imagine that handful of voters (fucking cracked as they are) will, uh, give a shit? About this plan? I'm sure maybe one or two people will think it's a great idea but just about everyone else the length and breadth of the country either hates your guts already, thinks the idea is buttfuck crazy, or both.

Leaving aside that the plan is, you know, just unworkable and dumb to start with. Not enough spots? What if you're a teenager who works on the weekends? Why are we paying for this?

I find the thing galling on principle. For one, the idea of the government flexing to this degree and saying "No, that's not your time anymore, you're doing something for us now" is unpleasant, and for another that they're framing the whole thing as some attempt to instill a sense of national pride is frankly disgusting.

You don't make people proud by forcing them to do something. You particularly don't make people proud by forcing them to do stuff after you've broken the fucking country. Half the valuable shit you say will stem from this plan - useful experience, getting to do things you might not otherwise, community, keeping out of trouble, blah blah fucking blah - is shit that could be done in other ways but YOU TOOK ALL THE FUCKING MONEY AWAY AND BROKE THE FUCKING COUNTRY.

Personally, anytime anyone in politics starts talking about 'pride' or 'unity' or anything that suggests everyone should be happily marching in lockstep I start to see red. No! Fuck you! The reason people are unhappy IS BECAUSE OF YOU, CUNTS! NOT BECAUSE WE'RE 'DIVIDED' AND PURPOSELESS!

YOU TOOK AWAY ANY CHANCE AT HAVING MEANINGFUL PURPOSE! YOU TOOK AWAY PEOPLE'S CHANCE AT CARVING OUT SOMETHING FOR THEMSELVES! FUCK YOU!

Ahem.

Anyway, we are united. We're united in wanting you fucking gone so the slightly-less-worse guys can come in and basically do the same thing for a bit.

What is something you wish more people understood about you or if you prefer about your job or hobbies?

Hey Lovely!!

Ahhh, oh gosh SO much, honestly.

So I'm a graphic designer by trade, and an illustrator and freelance designer as my side gig, and my hobbies are art-related as well.

FOR SURE, I have to say that I wish people respected designers as the creatives we are. I've GENUINELY had clients who think all I do is hit a "design ad" button and BOOM it's done, and don't think they should have to pay me because – and this is ONLY because I've been doing this for 20 years – I can finish a print ad in under an hour, and booklets under 5, not taking into account the AMOUNT OF CHANGES and STUPID things I have to talk people out of to not make them look bad.

Some other things:

Microsoft Word is not a design program. I HATED this when I worked at the Paper. Good fucking LORD the amount of times I've had to rebuild an ad because the client couldn't resize it themselves and couldn't understand why if they moved something everything fucked up is astounding.

Canva is good for mocking up design, but I'm sorry, you're NOT a designer if you learned design in Canva. I know it sounds gatekeepy and pretentious, and I am sorry about that, but even with Canva you need to know SOME principles of design to get something appealing out of it. A designer, after-all, MADE your templates you're working from. We're everywhere. We're a silent bunch that's under-appreciated. You're never going to get the precision and nuance and a proper eye that you'll get from a designer. Sure you'll get quick and dirty designs, work fine for socials, but I LOATHE when people send me shit they made in Canva that I have to, once again, rebuild because they can't figure out how to resize in Canva and complained to me that Canva isn't making it look nice when they export it (to be fair, that's a them problem, the tools ARE there for you to do that stuff)

When your designer tells you one thing and you're trying to push for another, your designer is trying to save you the embarrassment of your "vision". We know what we're doing. We spend most of our days knowing market trends and what will make eyes go to your advertisements and products.

Strokes don't fix everything.

I can't read your mind. PLEASE, if you wanted an element there from the start, you need to tell me, and not tell me I'm a fucking moron who should have guessed by the blobs you drew on a napkin as your layout.

Fuck AI; I see the benefits of it for smaller things like content aware fill to add a bit more height to a stock photo I'm using, or the smart-select to route a photo faster, but literally that's all I see useful for it.

I know there's loads more I'm missing, but I've seen SO much that I'm numb to a lot of things and tend to just "autocorrect" stuff without even thinking anymore.

I love my job though, I really do. The joke in my industry is that "I get paid to play in Photoshop all day long" and there is some truth to it after doing this for nearly 20 years. But I wish people would understand that we are trained professionals who want to make them look good, and to do that I need time and money. We are literally background characters for the main protagonists, and the pay isn't great unless you're really lucky (which I am, but it took me 12 years to finally get in where I am), and I wish people would stop saying my job is easy.

It literally is not. Think of it as retail, but you deal with the same people every single day nitpicking the tiniest things over and over again despite you telling them countless times that 6pt font is probably the smallest you should go, but no 3 pt must be on this ad.

Anyway. 🙃

My favourite though is Layout Design. I love designing the booklets and mailers we do at my job, because I get to be super creative. My boss is pretty lenient with me, since "you've been here longer than all of us, you know better than me how this works", so I get to have fun.

Thank you for this question :) And gonna promo myself here, if anyone ever needs design or layout services, I'm your gal :)

Why is he your favorite VA for Wesker?

Tbh the first time I heard him in game I thought he was Krauser. Like he’s just been stripped of personality in every aspect, voice, appearance, acting, etc.

He sounds like every other wannabe Batman video game character. I’ve heard the whole ‘well he sounded like a bond villain in 5’ and yes he might’ve but it was funny and memorable and now his voice just sounds so forgetful and generic.

but im curious to hear your opinions

i've been asked this question like five different times (almost as many times as i've been asked about lily gao), and i'm just. tired of the question because i'm tired of people looking at wesker in a vacuum. wesker doesn't exist in a vacuum. wesker exists in a series called resident evil.

idk if you've noticed, but RE isn't going for "funny" in the Remakes anymore. bond villain wesker worked in OG because that was the tone that the series was trying to strike to begin with. it's not trying to strike that tone anymore. so anyone who wants him to go back to being a bond villain wants him to stick out among the cast in a really bad way and feel out of place.

i've said this before, but when i first heard craig's voice come in over ada's radio, i got hit really fucking hard with HOLY SHIT THAT'S WESKER. THAT'S THE MOST WESKER THAT WESKER HAS EVER BEEN HOLY FUCK.

you thought he sounded like krauser for the same reason that i immediately knew he was wesker:

menace.

krauser always had a menace factor to him, but wesker didn't. this goes back to the whole "wesker shouldn't be funny anymore" thing. wesker is The Big Villain of the series. he should be menacing. we should feel scared of him -- or, at the very least, he should make us anxious and/or uncomfortable. he's not a morally gray "hero of someone else's story" villain. he is a menacing villain who gets off on psychologically torturing the heroes.

and that's why i always didn't like the bond villain approach to him in the first place. there was always something very sinister about wesker that got lost in translation because he sounded so fucking goofy.

it's not lost anymore.

craig carries a level of tension through his performance that makes it sound like he's always five seconds from snapping, and he does it in a very calm way, so you really have no way of knowing when he's going to pop off and raise his voice. you have no way of knowing when he's going to get violent, because he sounds like he's constantly skirting right along the edge of it.

and it's a good choice for wesker because wesker's particular brand of sinister has always had a sexual component to it, and sex and violence are very closely related psychologically. like i said, wesker gets off on chris's angst and jill's suffering. he now finally sounds like someone who would.

and on top of all of that, craig also has a very... i like to say he has a "radio voice" in his performance of wesker. it's deep and smooth-sounding and very breathy at times; if he were to be given a radio show, people would listen to it just because they'd enjoy listening to him talk. that's also fitting for wesker, because we know that wesker lived a double life for about 20 years.

i can't see dc douglas wesker charming his way into jake's mom's panties, because he's such a ridiculous human being. he always has some snide lilt to his voice. he's just barely this side of snidely whiplash. if he told me i looked beautiful, i'd be like "lol so how much money do you need to borrow?" but if craig burnatowski wesker told me i looked beautiful, i'd probably get the dokis, just because his voice is smoother and he sounds more serious overall.

the same principle applies to him betraying STARS. peter jessop did a fairly good job with wesker, but i couldn't see dc douglas or richard waugh wesker as a leader to look up to, because, again, they're both skirting the line of snidely whiplash. it'd be like "oh, there's a traitor in STARS? couldn't be the guy who sounds like a fucking cartoon villain, could it?"

like. get dc douglas and richard waugh out of your head. stop thinking about them and just look at wesker's lines of dialogue written out on paper. craig captures the character's voice better. he just does. and if you think it makes him sound "generic" then chances are you don't like wesker as a character as much as you think you do.

and now i never want to answer this question again lmao

Hello, and welcome to M*A*S*H enjoyers anonymous

Now tell us, why are you here?

(basically just a free space to talk/infodump, be free my sweet cheese)

Oooooh boy.

MASH is a show about war, but also mostly it's about people and how people react under stress. Something to note is that it's about the Korean War, but it's actually about the Vietnam War.

It's got its issues, definitely. It's not particularly respectful to Korean people despite being set in Korea. But it was the 70s so like. Idk, can't expect much. There's a lot to unpack in the way of imperialism. The show is very anti-war, but mostly focused on the Americans, which is pretty damn reductive if you ask me. There is also the misogyny and if one more person calls Major Margaret Houllihan "hot lips" I am going to throw hands. I'm not making excuses for any of this, but it's an old ass show and you can't get too hung up on it. ANYWAY, you asked about the good stuff.

The main character, Hawkeye, is this. Unhinged, sleep deprived, alcoholic surgeon who's just. Unreasonably good at his job. Despite the Horrors of War, he's still one of the kindest, most lovable people, and he only put Frank in a shipping crate one time, so it's fine. And the blood he stole was for a good cause. As was the money he stole and the one time he gaslit a guy into thinking he'd lost his mind. All for a good cause. He's so cool, he's a menace, he's a slut, he's deeply psychologically damaged, he's a little silly, he invented the principle behind Goncharov, he's even bisexual.

Hawkeye's best friend and roommate is Trapper John, fellow manwhore and prankster extraordinaire. He always makes me a little sad cause I think he's Hawkeye's best friend and Hawkeye isn't his best friend? To him, it's all temporary, and he'll get out of Korea and go back to his wife and kids and probably try to not think about any of it ever again, but Hawk's such a ride or die friend, and he depends so much on not being alone and. Fuck, man. He's just like me for real. No shit, I realized this a couple years ago, and it sent me into this huge spiral of wondering if my friends love me as much as I love them and it lasted like. Years. And then I did that thing people do where they tell other people about their feelings? Which was weird. But it was also cool and now I do not worry about that as much anymore. A little bit, because the fears never cease, but y'know. It's cool. Apparently I am also sad and lonely because I am FULLY spilling my guts here lmao. Don't read that. Fuck whatever BJ has going on, THIS is the Trapper Complex.

Also Trapper leaves like three seasons in and is replaced by Blow Job Hunnicut, who keeps saying shit like "man, I bet you sure had fun with Trapper, huh" and "boy this must be just like the good ol days with Trapper" like we get it, you're jealous. He's also deeply psychologically damaged. I don't like him so much, but I also haven't seen a lot of him yet so I guess we'll see.

Okay, now MARGARET. She's amazing. She's cool and fascinating and ALSO deeply psychologically damaged! She's a strong woman in the 50s, she's so angry all the time, she just wants some goddamn respect and also someone to hang out with her to do manicures. She has this fascinating mix of wanting to be feminine and pretty but also needing to be masculine and angry to get respect. She's a hardass, she's obsessed with the rules, she's so mad at everything all the time because she has so little control over her situation, she's just like my mother and I love her so much. She could do any man's job in that camp so much better. I like to think after the war she goes back to medical school and becomes a doctor and gets some GODDAMN RESPECT.

Also she's dating (she dumps him don't worry) this absolute schlub Frank who is. A garbage human being. He's so pathetic and funny but also like genuinely terrible and canonically homophobic. If he were in modern times he would vote for Trump. He's Mr. Patriot. He's the Yankee Doodle Doctor. He's a shit doctor. He's so funny to watch cause everyone around him is so funny and witty and good at snappy comebacks and he says shit like "ohhhh you- you- guys!! >:(" Like yeah Frank. Get em. Don't hold back. He's a real "why I oughta-" kinda guy. Apparently the actor got so much hate mail he quit the show which is honestly so mean and tragic because Frank is such a fun character. I want to watch him fail again and again and again and then cause more problems. He could call me a slur in a Walmart parking lot and I'd just laugh at him and ask him if his wife knows about his girlfriend. She doesn't.

When Frank left, he got replaced by this other guy and I have no idea what his deal is. My apologies to Charles Emerson Winchester III. People like him I guess. He seems boring next to Frank tbh.

Now lemme tell ya about Klinger. Actually lemme show you.

He's beautiful. Gorgeous. Show stopping. He started out as a bit character and the joke was that he was trying to get a section 8 discharge (sent home on the grounds of being mentally unfit to serve), but everyone loved him so much that he became a recurring character and the outfits kept getting better and it went from "haha man in a dress" to "he's a genuinely deep character and this is his coping mechanism and he is so afraid of this war. Also he's the hottest guy around and everyone knows it. Even the priest wants him carnally." Genuinely the best fucking guy. In the early seasons, the laugh track goes off every time he enters a room and it makes me so mad. Take his whimsical ass seriously.

Also I mentioned there's a priest. I'm not sure why they have a priest, but I think that was just a thing in the 50s. He's got too many names. You can find him currently in the Catholic Characters Tournament and it's funny cause the person who runs that keeps getting his names out of order. It's John Patrick Francis Mulcahy, cause they gave him one name in the movie and then changed it in the show like twice at least so. Four names. Anyway, he's the only priest I trust. He literally just wants to help people and he has no way of knowing that he's doing any real good so he wants recognition for his efforts but that goes against what he's meant to be doing, he's meant to be completely selfless, but he wants to know that he's at least doing something, otherwise what's the point. What's the point of everything he's worked for. What's the point of devoting his life to this. To these people and to his god and to being a good person. Because if he thinks of himself, if he wants anything for himself, does that not mean he's selfish? And that's bad, he can't be selfish, but he is because everyone is, that's just human nature to want to know the results of your work. Also he's convinced he's the second coming of Christ or some shit. I can't fully explain this one, but he really does think he's like. God's special little boy. Which is kinda fair, cause he gives fucking EVERYTHING to these people, to the doctors, to the soldiers, even to the enemy, because he just wants people to be okay. He wants people to stop fighting and to heal and to love one another. And he also wants someone to tell him he's doing a good job and that he's making a difference and he wouldn't believe them but it would be something. Also he wants to punch people sometimes. All the time. He could kick anyone's ass in single combat. I love him.

Am I missing anything.

RADAR!!!!! They put a child in a warzone but luckily he is hyper-competent and literally psychic. He makes me sad because he is 19 years old and he has a teddy bear and he is short and angry and eats a lot because he's a growing boy and everyone makes fun of him for having teenager behavior when he is!!!! A teenager!!!! He graduated highschool yesterday!!!!! He's the same age as me and he's in a warzone!!!!!! Get him out of there!!!!! Put him in college and let him work a boring ass fast food job like a normal teenager!!!!! And stop laughing at him for having a teddy bear!!!!!!! He's not even that short, it's just that all the guys in this show are at least 6 feet tall. Anyway, he basically runs the camp because Henry is fucking incompetent (affectionate) so yeah. This child is their commanding officer and the only one anyone respects.

Their actual commanding officer is Henry Blake. He just wants to go home and see his wife and kids again and go fishing and chill the fuck out. He's a good surgeon but genuinely a pathetic army man. But also I love him so much cause listen. He could just fuck off. We see another guy in his same rank and position who just hangs out in Tokyo the whole time making money off this shit. So despite being very afraid all the time, Henry sticks around in a shitty camp 3 miles from the front to patch up kids full of lead. He stays not out of any duty to the army, but a duty to his patients and his people, because he's a good person and a good doctor and genuinely one of the bravest people around. He could've been a coward and hid, but he stayed and he helped people and even though he knew the risks, it just never occurred to him that he could abandon his people to do it all without him. He stayed and he died and he never saw his wife and kids again and he never met his newborn son. He tells his oldest son over the phone to be good while he's gone, to stay strong and keep everything running until he comes back, and he never comes back. I am genuinely crying. Fuck. I hope he's catching the best fish at the big lake in the sky.

Anyway. I'm gonna stop before this gets out of hand. More than it has.

Hey, I hope I'm not intruding, but you're Ex-Catholic, right? Because as someone who was also raised religious, I've had to learn that virginity isn't some ideal human state. Whether or not you've had sex is a completely neutral quality. Some people have had their virginity taken from them, but that doesn't mean that they're bound to their abuser forever. And that's an extreme example, but the principle applies across the board. While it's true you can't un-fuck him, or go back to never having had sex, that doesn't mean you have to commit to him forever, despite what Catholicism may have taught you.

Don't fall into sunk-cost fallacy. There's plenty of going back if you ever come to believe that this isn't working for you. You've already lost your virginity to him, that's just a thing that happened, it's over. So don't let it affect any future choices you make pertaining to your happiness!

You are a complete individual on your own. You don't need him. If he makes you feel happier and healthier, choose to stay. If he doesn't, you're free to leave. And be sure that it's because you want him, not just what he could be or what he can do for you, and not because you need him, in the way that someone needs a drug they're addicted to. Fuck buddies are fun but you probably shouldn't commit to anyone for the rest of your life unless you truly know and love the person for who they are. What's in his past? How does he handle money? Responsibility? Anger? Is he a good tactical choice as a life partner? Call me aroace, but there should probably be a level of practical, logical trust there.

I'm glad you're happy. You deserve happiness in whatever form you can find it. "There's no going back" is just kind of a red flag for me. If it ever turns out that there are ways in which you can't rely on him, you're under no obligation to stay ^_^ -🧭

thank you. it's just. hard. I guess. I don't know shit about anything. you always manage to make me feel like I'm not completely lost anymore. thank you. you're almost like my guardian angel, eh?

and I think I love him. I do rely on him a lot, but that's normal. he takes care of me and says such sweet things about me. hes my everything, you know?

and thank you again. I'm forever in your debt for all this lmao

Okay, since I've seen quite a few people talk about communism, I thought it'd be nice to clarify what it is, what it actually looks like in practice, and why it doesn't work. Because I get the impression that most of you have a very skewed idea of what it is that you're asking for.

(ThoughtCo. provides a very nice and clear overview, take a look.)

First things first: communism and socialism are not the same thing. If you live somewhere within the EEA, congrats, you're most likely living in a country which functions based on some socialist principles (best example - the three Scandinavian countries, I hope the irony is not lost on you). And you are almost certainly not living in a communist country, although you might be living in a post-communist country - you can recognise these fairly easily because most of them have no money and are really struggling with... everything, basically.

And when I say they have no money - that goes for the people and for the state. And no, they're not just dumb, this is what fifty years of communism does to a country, you can't just reverse the damage in 30 years. That's why the West and the East of Germany feel like two different countries, why people in the East earn so much less, and why people in the West had to pay an "East-tax" for some thirty years (to the total of 1,6 billion or possibly even more). And just to make it clear - this is one country. How do you think countries which were completely swallowed up by the Eastern bloc are doing right now? To really dumb it down (this is way too simplistic but I want to illustrate my point) - Germany has been moving resources it already had in 1989 from one side to the other to try and balance it out, but the other countries obviously can't do that because they didn't have any resources to begin with, and they had to start from scratch.

Communism is big on equality but what you fail to realise is that everyone is equally poor. Everyone belongs to the working class but the working class is not in power, the politicians are in power and the only way to get anywhere is to lick their arses. If someone somehow manages to have money, no worries, they won't have anything to spend it on, because the shelves in all the shops will be full of... nothing. Vinegar and mustard, according to people who got to experience it first-hand. I'm too young, thank god for that.

But that's history. Let's look at some examples and try to figure out what would happen if a country became communist in the 2020s. First, there would most likely be a (violent and bloody) revolution, because unlike socialism, communism isn't really into gradual change (Civil War in China, Russian Revolution of 1917, etc.). Then, the class system would be abolished. Completely. No classes anymore. Let's ignore for a second the fact that the only way a completely equal society could work is if we were living in small groups of hunter-gatherers and consider the implications of everyone being equal instead.

If you owned any property - now you don't, because communism doesn't support the idea of personal property or assests. It's all... well, communal. You can't move up in society. Or down, for that matter. You die exactly where you were born - with no money, no property, and no real sense of achievement except for the fact that you managed to survive X years. Also no religion, in case it's important for some of you, but there's a little bit of leeway on this one.

If you are wondering what a communist country looks like in the 21st century, look towards North Korea. Now, I don't know that much about North Korea, for obvious reasons, but I would argue that this country has come the closest to pure communism, out of all the communist countries in history. This is what you are aiming for. North fucking Korea.

And if you are thinking of China, you're right too. But you're also wrong. China's economic power comes from the capitalistic part of the system, not the communist part. For a less diluted version of communism, you'd have to go back to the Mao-Era. Like the Great Leap Forward or the Cultural Revolution. Hardly an economic or political power at that time (The Republic of China, aka Taiwan, was still the "official China"), but the guy did manage to pretty much single-handedly cause one of the deadliest famines in history. Not just Chinese history, history of humankind. It is pretty impressive, especially the way he went about it.

And no, you can't have communism and personal freedom, it's one or the other. I can't think of a single communist country that didn't or doesn't employ strict censorship and doesn't forbid any and all criticism of the government. There's a reason for that. It's so that the idiot in power can stay in power.

Communism doesn't really work without censorship because people wouldn't stand for it, especially middle and upper classes. I'm not working class, and I have no intention of changing that, especially not in the name of "fairness." I'll pay my taxes and I'll be happy to help out however I can but I'm well-educated and have no intention of earning the same as a blue-collar worker. No offense, these jobs are obviously important, but I didn't work my arse off at uni to be paid the same salary/wage as someone with a high school diploma or less.

That's the difference between socialism and communism. Socialism accepts that people are not completely equal and rewards them accordingly ("From each according to his ability, to each according to his contribution."). Communism doesn't give a damn about how hard you work or how you contribute to the society ("From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.").

I can keep going by the way. I have a tonne of anecdotes from and in-depth information on both the Soviet block and China. But I think you get my point.

My thoughts on what probably happened after my fanfic Ethical Consumption/the parasitic!Twoey AU because why not (spoilers under the cut obviously)

Audrey got Seymour's body to the hospital even though she would've been pretty sure that he's dead at this point if she wasn't in denial and was informed that he died and hopefully did not get charged an exorbitant amount of money for the trouble like she would be today, eventually got back to the shop after all the bureaucratic red tape that would probably be involved in this and had a good ole 'breaking down mentally in her dead fiance's bed' session until the interviewers showed up, she managed to get back to the storefront and get interviewed about what happened and got that great big check for telling the tale of her very recently made tragic love story instead of for talking about the parasitic plant situation exclusively like Seymour would have, made it to suburbia after getting herself together enough to go through the stuff involved in buying a house because she still wants that even though obviously it would be much better with Seymour from her perspective (I don't think women were allowed to own bank accounts back then but Seymour would've put her name on his or willed the contents to her in the event of his death or something so hopefully she wouldn't be fucked out of the money somehow and hopefully since she has the cash she would in fact be allowed to buy a house), she runs a plant shop as her new job because yeah the 50s housewife thing isn't panning out anymore and it's what she knows and a tribute to Seymour and probably doesn't get into any new romantic relationships despite developing romantic feelings for other people eventually because she would see that as betraying him and the principles underlying her 50s housewife fantasy, knowing her she probably develops feelings for an at least decently nice guy working in the shop with her because her bar for good treatment is so ridiculously low and then feels incredibly guilty about it and doesn't act on it even in the extremely likely event of him noticing how amazing she is and trying to make things happen with her (so really the only requirement to this happening is that he's not gay, even then Orin was written to be read as an extremely masculine straight-passing gay man and he dated her so...), which is positive character development because she learned to stand up for herself but also negative character development because once again she's torturing herself over shit that isn't her fault and telling herself that she doesn't deserve to pursue her romantic desires, this is all assuming that she doesn't actually die from grief because that can happen but I don't think it would happen to her, she's very resilient

fezco cliff notes on 2.05

when rue first shows up he was genuinely pleased to see her, the way he called her ‘kid’ and invited her in, he knows she’s struggling right now, has been ever since jules cut town and she relapsed, so he’s worried - always worried about rue, because she’s family to him.

for the last few weeks ever since nye he’s been pulling back, keeping his distance because he knows being around him and his lifestyle isn’t good for her right now; not while she’s spinning out and acting dumb as fuck, the way she was a laurie’s and the fact she wanted him to front her money for dealing doesn’t sit well, because while rue is oblivious as fuck to just how dangerous a woman like laurie is, fez isn’t and he doesn’t want rue anywhere near her.

he already carries so much guilt when it comes to rue; he blames himself so much for her addiction, and while logically he knows if she hadn’t got drugs from him she would have only gone else where; and at least while she was using from him he knew exactly what she was taking and what was in them.

he’s said before, she’s family, he trusts her with his life and this is first time he’s ever truly not trusted her. she crossed a line, a firm boundary he has in place, because that’s the thing with fez, while he’s he is a drug dealer, he’s got a firm moral code, and loyalty is at the top of that. to see her in his grandmas room, to violate his home and his trust like that was devastating and disappointing. he feels betrayed and so grief stricken by his guilt over being the reason rue has gotten to this point and he doesn’t know how to help her. he’s not equipped to give her the help she needs right now so he does the only thing he thinks he can; he pushes her away.

what we didn’t see was how he stood with his head pressed up against the door after he locked it, how he’s thinking about how he’d been here with her before but not as dark as this, he’s ruminating over that and praying that this doesn’t end with another death on his conscience and more blood on his hands.

also, when she lost it at him and got aggressive with him in his own house, that had to at least on a sub-conscious level be triggering, since his own dad beat the shit outta him as a kid. and while yes, fez will occasionally resort to violence it's never his first option and in that moment it WAS Rue's instant reaction and that had to be jarring for him.

there isn't a lot that she could do that would hurt him like that did. but she crossed that line, and it's gonna take some work for him to trust her after that. like he loves her so much, and he cares so much, but like he said it's about the principle.

i don't even think he would have been thinking it, but like there would have been something about the fact it was in his own home - his safe space, that's already been violated by the feds a few weeks prior and now rue, his family betraying him like that, crossing that line, and then flipping out so viscerally as she did. for fez there is something very different about beating nate up at a party than someone he loves lashing out at him like that, so yeah, i think while he might not have been thinking it, there is a part of him in there -- that little 10 year old Fezco that was feeling that betrayal by family, by someone he trusted with his life.

and while on one level, he knows in the back on his mind that like, it isn't personal, that she's in withdrawal and not in her mind but that doesn't take away from how fucked that is of her to do

plus, the fact he says he doesn't keep drugs in the house anymore, after the raid, and after everything that went down with Mouse, Rue doing that was just like the final straw in that moment, when he’s saying to her ‘we’re not about to do that today’ what he’s saying is: i love you rue but i can’t help you right now. you need to want to help yourself and i’ll be here when you do.

PERSONALS DO NOT REBLOG