#seriously cannot emphasize enough that this is going to be a huge deal for so so many people

[reasonsforhope]

Federal regulators on Tuesday [April 23, 2024] enacted a nationwide ban on new noncompete agreements, which keep millions of Americans — from minimum-wage earners to CEOs — from switching jobs within their industries.

The Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday afternoon voted 3-to-2 to approve the new rule, which will ban noncompetes for all workers when the regulations take effect in 120 days [So, the ban starts in early September, 2024!]. For senior executives, existing noncompetes can remain in force. For all other employees, existing noncompetes are not enforceable.

[That's right: if you're currently under a noncompete agreement, it's completely invalid as of September 2024! You're free!!]

The antitrust and consumer protection agency heard from thousands of people who said they had been harmed by noncompetes, illustrating how the agreements are "robbing people of their economic liberty," FTC Chair Lina Khan said. 

The FTC commissioners voted along party lines, with its two Republicans arguing the agency lacked the jurisdiction to enact the rule and that such moves should be made in Congress...

Why it matters

The new rule could impact tens of millions of workers, said Heidi Shierholz, a labor economist and president of the Economic Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank. 

"For nonunion workers, the only leverage they have is their ability to quit their job," Shierholz told CBS MoneyWatch. "Noncompetes don't just stop you from taking a job — they stop you from starting your own business."

Since proposing the new rule, the FTC has received more than 26,000 public comments on the regulations. The final rule adopted "would generally prevent most employers from using noncompete clauses," the FTC said in a statement.

The agency's action comes more than two years after President Biden directed the agency to "curtail the unfair use" of noncompetes, under which employees effectively sign away future work opportunities in their industry as a condition of keeping their current job. The president's executive order urged the FTC to target such labor restrictions and others that improperly constrain employees from seeking work.

"The freedom to change jobs is core to economic liberty and to a competitive, thriving economy," Khan said in a statement making the case for axing noncompetes. "Noncompetes block workers from freely switching jobs, depriving them of higher wages and better working conditions, and depriving businesses of a talent pool that they need to build and expand."

Real-life consequences

In laying out its rationale for banishing noncompetes from the labor landscape, the FTC offered real-life examples of how the agreements can hurt workers.

In one case, a single father earned about $11 an hour as a security guard for a Florida firm, but resigned a few weeks after taking the job when his child care fell through. Months later, he took a job as a security guard at a bank, making nearly $15 an hour. But the bank terminated his employment after receiving a letter from the man's prior employer stating he had signed a two-year noncompete.

In another example, a factory manager at a textile company saw his paycheck dry up after the 2008 financial crisis. A rival textile company offered him a better job and a big raise, but his noncompete blocked him from taking it, according to the FTC. A subsequent legal battle took three years, wiping out his savings. 

-via CBS Moneywatch, April 24, 2024

--

Note:

A lot of people think that noncompete agreements are only a white-collar issue, but they absolutely affect blue-collar workers too, as you can see from the security guard anecdote.

In fact, one in six food and service workers are bound by noncompete agreements. That's right - one in six food workers can't leave Burger King to work for Wendy's [hypothetical example], in the name of "trade secrets." (x, x, x)

Noncompete agreements also restrict workers in industries from tech and video games to neighborhood yoga studios. "The White House estimates that tens of millions of workers are subject to noncompete agreements, even in states like California where they're banned." (x, x, x)

The FTC estimates that the ban will lead to "the creation of 8,500 new businesses annually, an average annual pay increase of $524 for workers, lower health care costs, and as many as 29,000 more patents each year for the next decade." (x)

Clearer explanation of noncompete agreements below the cut.

Noncompete agreements can restrict workers from leaving for a better job or starting their own business.

Noncompetes often effectively coerce workers into staying in jobs they want to leave, and even force them to leave a profession or relocate.

Noncompetes can prevent workers from accepting higher-paying jobs, and even curtail the pay of workers not subject to them directly.

Of the more than 26,000 comments received by the FTC, more than 25,000 supported banning noncompetes. 

#seriously cannot emphasize enough that this is going to be a huge deal for so so many people #it could seriously drag up wages in food and service industries in particular #especially in the long run #and also massively reshape tech and video game industries #do you have any idea how many game devs are legally not allowed to start their own studios? probably most of them #and that's about to change for the better!! #ftc #noncompete #united states #us politics #business #business news #biden administration #voting matters #democrats #federal trade commission #video game industry #game devs #fast food #fast food workers #labor #labor rights #workers rights #blue collar #service workers #good news #hope

[grimrester]

i am really so sorry to continue harping on about the watcher entertainment streaming service. but this kind of stuff (internet content as a business & marketing it as such) is truly my obsession, and i think i will implode if i don't talk about some of the takes i'm seeing.

i'd like to emphasize again i don't have strong feelings about watcher either way. i like ghost files, i watch mystery files sometimes, i watched worth it back in the buzzfeed days. i don't watch any of their shows religiously.

anyway, here's the main things i keep seeing crop up and my thoughts on each:

"watcher has 25 employees they have to pay, and employing people in this economy is good, so we should be banding together to pay them."

employing people is good if you currently have the capacity to pay them. i checked watcher's linkedin page, and many of their employees were hired within the last year or two. if they hired people they cannot pay with the business model they had before, something is seriously wrong with their internal bookkeeping/decision making. it means they either didn't know they couldn't pay these people long term, or they did know and were content with risking newly hired employees' livelihoods on a huge content pivot in the next year.

of note is that none of their employees' titles have anything to do with managing the finances of the company. they are the size of a small business but have no one aside from the figureheads of the company in charge of their finances.

this is the kind of company decision making that leads to downsizing and layoffs, which can be devastating. but you know what's worse than laying off a portion of your staff? laying off everyone because your business is going under.

"not everyone can afford the subscription, but those who can should pay it to support the watcher team."

no. $6/month for a couple hours of content (depending on what shows you actively watch and the natural fluctuation of their release schedule) is a fundamentally bad value. i can pay that much for a few movies on amazon. i can pay that much for dropout, if i want to support a smaller business instead.

and to be totally frank, even if people do sign up, i don't think they'd get enough to compete with the amount they get through patreon/sponsorships. and the fact that they didn't know how many of their subscribers would realistically sign up is a bad sign.

a pretty good conversion rate of free to paid subscribers of a service or content is 3% (usually accomplished through a free trial). given the very poor reception of the announcement, let's say about 1% of their 3 mil youtube subs pay for their service. that's 30k people paying for their new platform. that's $180k a month in their pocket.

(they currently only have 12k subs on patreon so we are being generous here.)

a sponsorship deal (based on my googling, i have less direct experience with this) is anywhere from $10-50 per 1000 views. they've gotten about 1 mil views on their last few videos. 3 mil subs is nothing to shake a stick at, but let's say they're on the lower end of the payscale at $25 per 1000 views. that's $25k a video, $100k a month if they release 1 video a week. their lowest patreon tier is 5 bucks, so even if all their subs are at that tier, that's another $60k, so $160k total. it's entirely likely they're bringing in much more than that when you factor in merch, adsence, etc.

did anyone on their team crunch numbers on how many people would need to sub to make the switch worth it? did anyone do market research on how many people they could convert to paid users? because if not, if they really didn't have a game plan for this, the subscription service was always doomed to fail.

"this was their only option to continue making the content they want to make, with the production value they want."

i watched their announcement video. a key point in that video is that they have done sponsored videos and that's what used to pay for their content, but they did not like the amount of creative control the sponsor had over the content.

look, i get that's no fun. we'd all love creatives to be able to make whatever they want. but when you are a small business with a team of employees relying on you, you have to think about making money, sometimes at the cost of creative liberties.

and they had so many other options to make money for the projects they want to make without jumping to a subscription platform.

they could have started actually promoting their patreon, and maybe done some restructuring of the tiers. why not a highly produced, special series just for patreon members? or a special high-budget episode of each series, while the main series is lower budget?

bite the bullet and continue taking sponsorship deals on some less-produced shows, while axing sponsorships from the ones the crew feels more passionate about.

schedule larger, blowout-production shows only when they can be afforded. this is what Notorious Amongus Guy streamer jerma does. he saves up for big productions like his baseball or dollhouse streams, so he can really get creative with them.

they had other options and they've tried very little, especially when you compare them to other content house business at similar scales. try guys and good mythical morning both put out significant content with significant staff, and have had to diversify their income streams with auxiliary products, shows with widely varied levels of production, etc. but it seems to be working for them. watcher has merch and that's about it, and seems to only want to increase the production quality of ALL their shows.

really, all this just boils down to a terrible business decision. it's hard to say if the watcher team is working with a consultant or anyone outside of their team, but they certainly don't have anyone internally who is experienced with running a business like this. to me, it seems very much like they got in a room together and did some extremely optimistic income ballparking with no research behind it.

and that might have been fine for three dudes running a channel alone, but if they're a business, they have to start making decisions like one.

#i encourage discussion on this in my notes btw! #you can even be mean to me if you disagree. i dont actually care #watcher

[inchidentally]

https://www.tumblr.com/inchidentally/742246572437504000/apart-from-the-absurdity-of-thinking-that-mclaren?source=share

Pro tip from someone who has been in this world for a really long time: DON'T READ WHAT KARUN HAS TO SAY!

Moreover, Oscar and his environment are happy with the cooperation with McLaren, just as McLaren is happy with Oscar being their driver. So there is no logical reason for Oscar to change his surroundings. Plus, from a sporting point of view, the move to Mercedes will not be an upgrade for Oscar. Another thing George and Oscar will have different car preferences, in McLaren Lando and Oscar are on the same side of the river so. The media first focused on Lando and his move to Red Bull, and now they started focusing on Oscar. Jesus, I'm tired of this season and the season hasn't exactly started yet. Another thing that pisses me off about all this is putting enormous pressure on Kimi Antonelli. His career is already so accelerated that it cannot be accelerated any further. Let the media leave him alone. Carlos in Mercedes or Red Bull is also a suicide mission because George and Max love oversteer cars and Carlos loves understeer. And in these two teams, Carlos will be the number two. So the only logical move is Audi or Aston Martin if Fernando does not renew his contract with AM or goes to Mercedes. If Sebastian wasn't stubborn, Mercedes would welcome him with open arms. A German driver in a German team, what more could you want. Plus the current regulations we have in F1 are perfectly designed for him (AM has blood on their hands for not giving him the car he deserved). There are also side options like Esteban and Pierre (their contracts are running out after this season) and Mick.

This is a digression from me.

you absolutely nailed it all anon !! like I really need everyone to remember that not only is it a journalist/presenter/pundits job sometimes to throw out wild cards and generate engagement, it's also the truth that Oscar has a particularly and uniquely brilliant set up with Lando and McLaren. and that there is literally no option for him that wouldn't be a pointless frustration or an outright downgrade. Andrea Stella and Zak Brown deserve every acknowledgement for how wisely they've put this partnership together.

but in particular Karun invoking Mark's name is hysterical bc Mark is why the McLaren move even happened AND Mark is not in the business of burning bridges with teams in a restless chase after a WDC.

Mark also hasn't spent the years managing Oscar and talking about wanting the kid to feel stability and the importance of trusting the people and team around him to start wheeling and dealing so that Oscar ends up with four teams behind him before he's even thirty !!!

overall, if the headline makes your heart race and has absolutely no history to support it then move on from it. the Lewis to Ferrari move was huge but it was NOT the first time Lewis had talked about it and we now know that Ferrari and Carlos talks were a long time in breaking down. both of these drivers have already made moves - they aren't in their second season of Formula 1. the biggest shocker about that was the timing of the announcement which sounds like it was bc an outlet was about to scoop it anyway.

and seriously as you said, it cannot be emphasized enough - and this is one positive point among many in favor of McLaren for Oscar and Lando - that having both drivers match up their preferences for the car to the point of as Andrea Said, using the same terminology and having their own private agreements on it, is so unusual and so hugely beneficial that it's why everyone makes a big deal of it with McLaren. if that were all that the boys had going for them at McLaren, it would be reason enough to stay put rather than go through two years adjusting to someone else's car and inevitably putting off race wins and a championship even longer.

#inchreplies #ty anon that was so well said

[euphraisette]

Some more Cosette/amis headcanons cause y’all liked the last one so much:

-Cosette, joly, and feuilly love ghost stories and scary movies and watch them together frequently and text each other about spooky paranormal things and send each other r/nosleep posts and have ghost story nights where they sit around on joly’s rooftop and tell ghost stories all night

-combeferre and bahorel sometimes join but combeferre likes to point out how illogical and improbable the scenarios in the movies are and bahorel often likes to randomly scream at the top of his lungs or throw a piece of popcorn across the room in an attempt to try and make feuilly scream (it most often works)

-enjolras and Cosette are the siblings who google ‘ugliest cats’ or ‘ragged raccon’ or something and then send each other the pictures like ‘omg its you’

-also during meetings when enj is talking Cosette will send Eponine and grantaire memes to try and make them laugh and therefore get them in trouble with enj

-grantaire and Cosette like to get sort of dressed up and go to this swanky wine bar downtown and sit at the bar and talk for houuuurrs

-since enj is a few years older than Cosette and has already been through law school he helps her with her studies a lot and gives her his papers and quizzes that he did really well on so she can take pointers from them and justifies it as ‘not cheating’ by citing freedom of information and press or some shit like that

-Also contrary to a lot of fanon i actually think that enj likes Marius a great deal, even if he finds him in need of a lot of work in terms of his beliefs and ideals, and often playfully chides him but i do genuinely think that in his own way, enj likes Marius and approves of his and Cosette’s relationship

-(though he does need to instate a rule that there must be no less than one other person sitting between them at meetings because they distract each other and therefore everybody else)

-I CANNOT EMPHASIZE ENOUGH how close bossuet and Cosette are. Like literally almost inseparable. They go to department stores and smell all the candles and buy matching throw pillows. They watch a lot of old animated movies and TV shows like the Peanuts and are also those friends who assign everyone a character in whatever they’re watching

-chetta and Cosette reaaaalllly love to do each other’s makeup. Cosette is like a little bit more natural and glowy and chetta is a full glam girly so they like to do each other in their own styles so sometimes Cosette will be walking around with like a shimmery smoky cut crease and a bubblegum pink glossy lip and chetta had like fluffy brows and highlighter on her nose that’s how everybody knows they’ve been hanging out

-Eponine doesn’t wear a lot of makeup bc she can’t afford it rlly so Cosette and chetta always give her some and buy her some for her birthday and stuff. Eponine actually really likes it and since she never learned much about how to do makeup growing up she gets most of her tutorials from them and its a huge bonding thing for them.

-after a while Eponine makes Cosette a guardian for Gavroche because if anything were to happen to her she knows that he has the chance of a best life if Cosette were to take over. Cosette takes this VERY seriously and volunteers to chaperone field trips and takes him to dentist appointments and picks him up and takes him for lunch so he can feel like a cool kid rocking back up to school with a Burger King crown

#les mis #les miserables headcanon #hcs #les amis #les miserables #cosette #enjolras #Eponine #bossuet #lesgle #feuilly #joly #cobeferre #bahorel #grantaire #musichetta #Gavroche

[hoperays-song]

Character Deep Dive: Klaus, Ryan and the Dance Troupe

Finally, it is done! I hope y’all enjoy this deep dive!! Just please read the trigger warnings first. Seriously, read the trigger warnings first. Cannot stress that enough. Also shout out to my beta readers, y’all are amazing!!!

- <3 Gooseless

Character Deep Dive: Klaus, Ryan and the Dance Troupe

*TW: This deep dive will mention abuse, grooming, misuse of power, and manipulation. All the events and actions mentioned are based on real world events told to me by friends in the dance industry and my personal experience and research into the industry as well. However, this is just a theory based on my analysis and the analysis done by others. No hate to the people who actually like this character. Again, just a theory. Also, there were two attempted murders on screen as well as implying other murders had taken place in the second movie, so I feel like this theory (while very dark) isn’t the darkest the series could go and is therefore not that out of place. DO NOT READ IF SENSITIVE TO ANYTHING PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED. Also, no, this is not Klaus friendly. What about anything I’ve ever posted would make you think it is? That man gave me multiple panic attacks and made me go back to therapy for a bit because it reminded me of stuff, so nope, not going to be friendly. *

 As someone who was in dance my entire childhood and was raised by someone who was a dancer for 14 years, I always enjoy watching the representation of the dance world in media. I’m constantly looking for small details that allude to the real-world dance culture and I was ecstatic to note that in Sing 2 we got to see some of those cultural aspects as well as a wide range of diversity within the dance class itself. However, less than forty seconds in, I noticed what would become my main issue with the movie itself, the character Klaus. 

Klaus’s actions were shown to be antagonistic and cruel, yes, but the fact that they were brushed off at the end of the movie to allow him to continue to work with a student he was shown on screen to physically, verbally, and emotionally abuse for the simple reason of “he now knows what he’s capable of and won’t underestimate him again after that performance”. The thing with Klaus is that the major issue wasn’t his underestimating of Johnny’s abilities, it was the very blatant abuse and belittlement that was a constant part of his class. It was bad enough to cause Johnny to have at least one panic attack, and that’s Johnny. A kid who was raised in an extremely high stress situation and is used to being dragged through Buster’s bad and typically very dangerous ideas. Within the course of the first movie, we saw him chased by cops, trapped in a flooding building, and face down a group of potentially dangerous gang members. And while he seemed more than slightly worried and a good bit scared in some of those scenes, it was never enough to cause him to have a panic attack (at least not onscreen).

Yet, when you put him in Klaus’s class for two weeks and he ends up having panic attacks and is clearly extremely burnt out to the point other characters start to notice. You have to ask, what is going on there? Well, after analyzing (probably way too much) everything about Klaus and the dancers I could and doing a ton of research, this is the conclusion I’ve drawn.

 Analysis and Allegations

The actions we see from the character Klaus are far from just concerning. Not only do we see Klaus verbally berate and belittle his students, but we also see him physically hit them. No matter what modern media tells you, these are not normal in the dance world. That’s just blatant verbal, emotional, and physical abuse> It should not be tolerated or seen as normal under any circumstances. And, what’s worse is Johnny’s almost definitely not the youngest in that room. One of them, yes, but most likely not the absolute youngest. Most professional dancers report their first official contract at the age of 18. However, troupes are known to have members as young as 15 years old. And since Klaus was hired as choreographer and was able to produce a troupe on such short notice (literally canonically overnight), those are probably all his current students, meaning those kids could be as young as 12 (the age when most professional dancers report starting to circle the professional sphere, however dance classes can start as young as 2 years old). That is further backed up by the fact that every student stayed.

Now I understand that that statement itself might seem weird, however, contrary to popular opinion, dancers are some of the most terrifying people I have ever had the genuine pleasure of meeting. It’s a cut-throat industry and dancers are a lot of times forced to learn to stand up for themselves against abusive choreographers and directors that don’t actually value them. Most dancers I know would have just walked out the moment they saw how Klaus was treating the others, let alone if he started treating them that way. It’s very much an industry based on self-worth to survive. So, the fact that everyone in that class stayed told me that not only were they used to Klaus’s abuse, but they were also more than likely conditioned to take it. 

Like I said, most dancers tend to be extremely good at sticking up for themselves. Sadly however, as in the majority of athletics industries, grooming is a huge problem in dance. As I previously mentioned, dance classes can start as young as 2 years old with most professional dancers reporting to have started seriously training at the 4–6-year-old range. That means that young children, I can’t emphasize that enough that these are children, are being exposed to Klaus’s abuse on a daily basis (Choreographers typically are also teachers at a dance school and since anyone with common sense would fire him to avoid a lawsuit, I would believe that Klaus owns the school). And as anyone who has interacted with a child before can attest, they are incredibly trusting. So, if they were told by an authority figure that they’ve been told they can trust, like say a teacher, that something is normal and not a big deal and they’re lucky enough to have a nice teacher as others are worse, they’re going to believe it.

Even if as they get older and realize that they were lied to and are in fact being mistreated, a lot of times they feel trapped or have no support systems outside of the people involved in the bad situation. Especially if you have been going to a specialized school where everyone around you has been going through the same thing and your contact with people outside it is extremely limited. This can be made worse by the power held by higher ups in the dance industry (choreographers, casting directors, etc.). Those higher ups completely control the lifeline of everything in the industry. One bad word from one can seriously be a career ender. Not only that, but those people tend to be more successful, more in the public eye, and therefore can sway public opinion against whoever might have spoken up with ease as well as making court cases where poor dancers are going up against vastly successful higher ups a literal nightmare for the dancers. A lot of times they cannot afford a good attorney and will end up losing the case or being hushed by settlements that they desperately need due to a lack of work.  

         Therefore, I believe that even if Klaus’s abuse of his students has been brought to light before, it more than likely was swept under the rug. And I believe his abuse of Johnny was evidence proving that theory. Why? Well, Johnny is different than every other student in that room. Not just because he’s never danced before, but because he is not a permeant member of Klaus’s Troupe. He’s only there for the run of the show. And if you are struggling to see why that might be important, let me explain. Johnny has no stake in Klaus’s success. He will not be affected if Klaus’s name is dragged through the mud. He will not be out of a job if Klaus is fired. What Johnny is, as Klaus and every member of that Troupe must know, is a close, personal friend of the director and absolutely can affect their employment status if he wants. He can have them fired and replaced with a different group the next day if he really wanted to beg Buster for a new teacher. Klaus knew this and still chose to target and abuse Johnny. He knew how risky that was and he still did it. That shows to me that he’s gotten away with that kind of thing before. He’s more than likely done this to several other rookies and not faced consequences. And if he’s willing to do it to them, people with no reliance on his success, he definitely is willing to do it to his students, who are relying on him for essentially everything. If Klaus’s reputation is ruined, so is theirs and their resume will probably not get them as far. If Klaus goes under, they suddenly are out of jobs in a city known for its competitive performing job market. If they speak up, they’ll be fired, and Klaus’s reputation will absolutely carry him through any court case they may try. They are very likely end up homeless and hungry if they lose their jobs with him. Klaus has all the power. And he knows it.

         Those are the primary reasons I believe that not only did Klaus physically, verbally, emotionally, and mentally abuse his students, he more than likely is guilty of several much more sinister crimes like grooming and misuse of power.

 Ryan, The Primary Victim

          This part of my theory is where it gets a little more intricate. In dance, there’s a role in most organizations known as the Principal Dancer. The Principal Dancer is the top dancer in that company and frequently are given not only solos but starring roles in shows the company is hired to perform. Starting to sound familiar? That’s because that’s exactly what we see happen to Ryan. Ryan is given the role of being Johnny’s dance partner in the duet, one of the starring roles in the scene of a show being put on by a head of the entertainment industry. However, when we look at the students during this announcement, none of them look surprised. Ryan seems to have been the choice that everyone was expecting. On top of that, Ryan is the only one of Klaus’s students to publicly receive praise in front of the others, something that again doesn’t seem to surprise anyone. Klaus wasn’t doing that just to make Johnny feel bad (he would have pointed out how other students were doing better than him too), he clearly has praised Ryan before. Ryan is Klaus’s Principal Dancer. And upon realizing that, I immediately started to worry for him.

         Principal Dancers are often used as the example for all other students to follow. They stand at the head of the barre during warmups and help other students during practice. They can even help the teacher/choreographer with the choreography and the class overall. Essentially, they can tend to take on the role of a teaching assistant. And rather unsurprisingly at this point, we see Ryan doing just that during the practice scenes. While we never see them doing group warmups on barre, we do see Ryan seemingly helping another student correct their pose when Johnny shows up late for class. In fact, he’s the only student not doing those poses and is instead walking between the others as if checking what they’re doing. He also then proceeds to do the fight scene choreography perfectly. And while we might be meant to brush that off as “oh, he’s a talented dancer, of course he can do the choreo perfectly”, I’m here to tell you that essentially no one can do choreo absolutely perfectly on their first full run through. And that’s what it’s hinted at being, especially for Ryan. Johnny might have learned bits and pieces of the fight scene choreo before that point, however, Ryan’s role was announced in that very scene, and he was still able to do the choreography perfectly. That means that Ryan had practiced that choreo before, more than likely numerous times till he was able to do it flawlessly. And that means, he was more than likely practicing alone, or at least without Johnny (a neutral third party who would note and potentially protest any abuse), with Klaus.

         We know that Klaus has hit his students before, hell we see him do it multiple times in the movie itself, and we know that he also verbally and emotionally berates his students on the regular. We can see by how his students react to this, how scared they look, that they too are targets. And statistically, the person closest to the abuser is typically their primary victim. In this instance, we know the person closest to Klaus within the troupe is Ryan.

         What’s more, the behaviors of Ryan and Klaus within the movie hint to this fact as well (this is probably where I go into over analysis but I’m too far deep in this rabbit hole now so). For starters, let’s look at the scene where Johnny, Buster, and Gunter enter the training room. The first thought that blared through my mind was their shoes. If you didn’t know, street shoes are not allowed on practice room floors, like ever. It can wear down the flooring and therefore make it extremely dangerous for the dancers. So, the fact that the dancers didn’t say anything in of itself was odd, but then again, the Principal Dancer might have been the one expected to speak up in that instance since it involved the show’s director. Speaking of the Principal Dancer, Ryan is the one dancer we do not see in that opening scene. He’s nowhere to be found and neither is Klaus. Now, Klaus being gone on the first day of a show isn’t that surprising. Choreographers have a lot of people they have to talk to such as the director, the publicity manager, the wardrobe department, etc. but Ryan being missing is odd. For one, he would technically be, at least honorarily judging by the troupe’s dynamic, in charge while Klaus is gone, and two, there’s no way they didn’t know they would be getting their new dancer (Johnny) that morning. Having no one there to formally met him or tell him the expectations would spell disaster to a cohesive first practice. And yet Ryan is missing. He could have just stepped out for a moment, true, or been helping Klaus with something, but we never see him being treated as an assistant choreographer so that seems a bit far-fetched to me. Therefore, I have chosen to believe theory three: he wasn’t allowed to be there.

         Now some of you might realize where this theory is headed, but still, let’s keep going. Why wouldn’t a Principal Dancer, the top performer in the company, be allowed to be there when the new student was introduced for the first time? I don’t think it was due to the new student, it was due to who would be there with him. Johnny didn’t walk into that practice studio alone, he walked in with the director and the screen writer, two people of power on set. What’s more is that those two are currently being backed by one of the heads of the biggest entertainment industries in what’s hinted at being the world. They have power and they can use it. If Ryan would have said something to them, perhaps warning them of what Klaus is like or asking for help, they would immediately have them removed from the show and done anything in their power to help Ryan. Therefore, Klaus kept Ryan close or might have even sent him out to do something to avoid him saying anything that could hurt his image. And what’s more, I think Ryan would have. Let’s look at Ryan’s behaviors throughout the movie now, shall we?

         First off, I will admit Ryan is a character with one to two lines and a surprisingly limited amount of screen time for actually being decently important to the plot (though he might have more/close to the same amount screen time than Alfonso if I remember correctly. I’ll have to check.). The first time we actually see Ryan, it’s at Crystal’s Auditions. However, he’s not auditioning. From what I can see (and common fan theories) he’s there to support someone, maybe a friend, maybe a child of a sponsor of the dance company. And he’s also more than likely supposed to be networking for the company as well, getting these potential rich sponsors to like him enough to support Klaus’s company. That is a job assigned to Principal Dancers at certain companies after all. In the scene where we see Ryan, we actually notice him mostly paying attention to Johnny (yes, I do ship them, no, that is not where this is going, nice try). In fact, we see him look him up and down and watch him the entire time he’s in the room. Why is that important for non-shipping reasons? Because there is no way Ryan did not recognize Johnny the next day when he showed up in Klaus’s class. He saw him as a janitor and the next time he sees him apparently his director is friends with Clay Calloway, and they can put on an award-winning show with only three weeks of prep? Yeah, there’s no way Ryan didn’t know that wasn’t a lie. He knew they snuck in. And he didn’t say anything. Klaus would have absolutely used that as ammo against Johnny if he knew and we don’t know enough about the other troupe members to know if they would have told him if Ryan had mentioned it, so it’s a decently safe assumption that he didn’t say a word. He was willing to protect them and their secrets, no questions asked.                                                                                           

         Now, onto where we actually see a fair bit of Ryan, the dance classes. This is where we finally see Ryan being acknowledged as the Principal Dancer as well as a surprising amount of his personality. For starters, we can tell he’s extremely patient and dedicated. He never seems annoyed or upset that Johnny’s struggling so much to the point they have to go long. He is just calm and steady, doing the choreo over and over again the exact same way so Johnny can get used to the same movements. He also has clearly been dancing since he was a kid to reach the rank of Principal Dancer when he’s as young as he is (I always though he and Johnny were close in age, 18-19 years old). So, what do we now know about Ryan? That he’s trustworthy, patient, and very dedicated.

         Now on to why this personality we see hints to Ryan actually being a threat to Klaus’s reputation. Ryan doesn’t act like Klaus. And why does that mean Ryan doesn’t agree with Klaus’s views? Well, a lot of times when people of similar ideologies and behaviors are together, they amplify those traits in each other (think about things like political rallies or groups of friends). Or think of how couples who have been together a long time develop the same habits or how kids mimic their caretakers (and since Ryan is Klaus’s Principal Dancer and probably been training with him for years that probably the closest fit). However, Ryan’s mannerisms and personality seem to be the exact opposites of his teacher’s. He’s even willing to sneak into Crystal Theatre to help them put on the show apparently behind Klaus’s back, seeming to lead the other students there. He doesn’t align himself with his teacher’s ideology towards Johnny at all. In fact, we see him being extremely supportive of the other boy during the show and practices. At this point, it’s pretty clear to me that Ryan has definitely grown disillusioned with whatever Klaus probably told him as a young student and in fact seems to rebel against his teacher’s wishes constantly. He wouldn’t have held back if he had been alone with Buster and Gunter that day. He would have warned them.

         You might be asking “So if this is the case, why hasn’t Klaus fired him then?” Well, simple, sponsors. Remember how I said earlier that Principal Dancers are commonly used for networking between different troupes? Well, as we can observe, Ryan seems to be a very friendly and outgoing guy. He seems like the kind of person who can make friends quickly and easily. And while that is great for making those networking connections, it also means those connections are more than likely fonder of Ryan, a cheerful and friendly young adult, then Klaus, who is shown to be a perfectionist and egotistical. If Klaus was to fire Ryan (especially since I don’t think Ryan would sign an NDA), Ryan would more than likely go to those sponsors and ask for help. He likely could financially cripple the troupe if he wanted to. Klaus is kinda stuck with him at this point.

         And that being stuck with him, especially since Ryan is almost definitely under contract, spells worse news for Ryan. If he leaves and breaks contract, he can be sued, and that lawsuit would probably destroy his future in the dance industry. And if he stays, Klaus more than likely is going to target him even more to try to eliminate the chances of Ryan saying anything (gaslighting, scarily common these days). Ryan is trapped between abuse and essentially financial desolation for the foreseeable future.

        That wraps up by deep dive into the theory that sprung to life after watching the interactions and behaviors of the dance troupe and Klaus in Sing 2. And in the case of a TL:DR scenario, I believe that Klaus has committed much worse crimes than what we’re shown on screen and I believe that Ryan is his primary victim.

#sing 2 #sing ryan #sing the dance troupe #i am not tagging klaus #why? because of literally everything i wrote about #again no hate to people who like his character #just please acknowledge how he treats his students onscreen is not healthy or normal #just because it's like that on dance moms doesn't mean its good #and by the way this isn''t even the worst of what could be happening #I avoided writing about that here due to personal triggers #but if you are curious and have a strong stomach google abuse and dance and scroll past the videos to the articles #it's fucking horrifying #all events above are based on real world occurences #my thoughts and sympathies to those victims who went through things like this #I wish the worst on your abuser #for all dancers who potentially are reading this after seeing their own classes reflected in klaus's #there are resources to help you #please please please reach out to someone #that is not normal or ok #i will go a bit more in detail about this in my fic of course #but for now this is everything

[shihalyfie]

02 as a story about relationships, and the value of “guest characters”

02 is, first and foremost, a story about relationships between people; it is not a story about the individual, and it has never been a story about the individual.

I cannot emphasize enough how important understanding this concept is to understanding 02 itself, to the point where I might even say something as extreme as insinuating that not taking this into account means risking having the entire point of 02 go over your head. Not only has it been outright stated by official (multiple times, at that) that this is a point it intentionally was made to contrast with Adventure with, you can also even see it in the evolution gimmick (Jogress) being about people connecting with each other. It’s an important point to make in general, too; as long as we live in a world with other people in it, how we reach out to and connect with others is just as important of a personal character trait as how we deal with ourselves. This is one of 02′s most standout qualities, especially in contrast to other Digimon series; it’s the theme that sets it most apart from everything else.

I’m writing this partially because I felt I should touch on it in general, and partially because lately I’ve been hearing sentiments about how introducing the new upcoming 02-based movie with a “guest character” instead of the 02 group itself is somehow doing said characters a disservice. I touched on this a little earlier, but to be honest, as someone who personally loves 02 very deeply, this take unnerves me a lot (and, predictably, comes very often from people who don’t even care for 02 that much; seriously, it’s a bit unnerving to hear these kinds of sentiments acting like they care about the series’s welfare from people who never cared for it in the first place). So here’s a post about the importance of “relationships” in 02′s narrative overall, and how “guest characters” tend to play into this.

“Relationships” within 02 itself

I admit that this is probably a bit harder to tell if you’ve only seen the American English dub, due to a lot of dialogue changes that make it ambiguous as to how much some of the kids like each other (that each and every member of the 02 group has almost unequivocal adoration and respect for each other at basically all times is not even remotely ambiguous in Japanese), but the intimacy between the members of the 02 group is one of the most notable things about it, to the point that it stands out even among the rest of the franchise. You can even see this trend reflected in official key art and fanart; depictions of the 02 group often reflect physical intimacy between the characters (linked arms, huddling together) and a strong sense of the full group hanging out together in a cluster. The observation that the Adventure group generally is in need of a reason to get together outside Digimon-related incidents whereas the 02 group hangs out with each other simply because they like it has been pointed out by many people around the world for years, and it probably wasn’t until Appmon (all the way in 2016!) when the idea of a cohesive group of this size all hanging out together regularly, purely for social reasons, came up again. Take any two characters from the 02 group and you’ll already be able to say a ton about how they’d likely treat each other; that’s a pretty huge accomplishment for a full group of six!

Because the whole concept of “human relationships” is so important to 02, it’s additionally essential in understanding the question of why the protagonist at the forefront of 02′s narrative isn’t Ken, whom the story can somewhat be said to be mostly “about” (in terms of his fall and recovery being relevant to almost all of the major story beats), but rather Daisuke. Of course, now that we’re all adults, I think most of us have experienced a lot more narratives where the line between “the character central to the narrative” and “the protagonist whose primary viewpoint the story is seen from” is very blurred (the currently running The Case Study of Vanitas is having a ball with this), but, nevertheless, Daisuke is the protagonist primarily because his way of approaching others and his philosophy of action is vital to the story 02 itself wanted to tell. (It’s not because he’s the “leader” of the group, because he isn’t really.) It’s also important to note that the narrative isn’t necessarily endorsing that everyone should be exactly like Daisuke -- after all, part of the reason he’s able to do what he does is because he has the other five kids with very different personalities complementing him -- but rather, it puts focus on the fact he’s able to have such a huge impact on others, and his relationships with the others that move them forward.

02 often gets an accusation of having characters that “don’t change throughout the narrative” or “have little/no character development”, which is an accusation that really isn’t true at all and has been easily turned down by anyone who’s actually bothered to sit down and think about the series in the last few years. Part of the problem likely comes from 02′s unfortunate penchant for subtlety -- its characters are fleshed out over an entire 50 episodes and their behavioral changes not spelled out for you in explicit words, so you have to actually pay attention and note the differences, and a lot of people seem to have just let it go over their heads and claim that it means nothing actually happened. (In fact, I’m about to whip out what may seem like a heathen statement to many: I never personally felt that 02 and Frontier ever lacked much in the way of character writing nuance compared to Adventure and Tamers respectively; it’s just that they didn’t happen to spell it out and hand it on a plate for you. Just because they don’t explicitly say it doesn’t mean it isn’t there!)

The bigger problem, however, is that people keep trying to analyze 02 through a lens built more for Adventure -- that is to say, one that was never meant to fit 02 in the first place, because that’s never what it was meant to be about. It's frustrating to see people go "Daisuke has no depth as a character!" just because they were expecting some kind of Crest-like epiphany mid-series where he speaks about all his individual flaws and how he overcame them, instead of simply just looking at the difference between how Daisuke behaves and interacts with others in episode 1 versus episodes 45-50 (and it’s huge!).

In fact, every single major character arc in 02 is better defined not by “how each character is individually”, but rather “how they interact with and form relationships with others”. Taking it character by character:

Daisuke: Yes, he’s explicitly referred to by official as a character who didn’t change much (...compared to Ken, anyway, which isn’t actually saying all that much). And, to a certain degree, that’s true; his fundamental attitude didn’t change a lot between episodes 1 and 50 of 02. What did change, however, was how he approached others and how he asserted himself; he spent the early episodes of the series running around in circles and deferring to others, and slowly developed into someone who became more assertive about his decisions and confident about supporting others. So it’s not about whether his fundamental view of the world changed; it’s about the fact that he initially started off as someone who, thanks to his abysmal lack of self-awareness, wasn’t able to get much done at all, but eventually accepted the support and validation from his friends to become a pillar supporting everyone and pushing them forward.

Ken: Ken’s shift in “morality”, when he decided to stop being cruel and to try and make up for his mistakes, happened abruptly in 02 episodes 21 and 23. The part about his own fundamental approach to life happened there; it didn’t need any further changes after that point! What did change, however, was that he was drowning in regrets, self-hatred, and keeping distance from others at that time, and, thanks to Daisuke and the others, learned to accept the support of others in order to move forward with his life. In terms of “doing good”, that was already long past him! -- but accepting the others into his heart and getting to the point where he could hang out cheerfully with them without restraint took much longer.

Miyako: Even from the very beginning, Miyako’s character was based on “going out of her way to dote on and help others” (it is very misleading to look at only her profile qualities like “good at computers” and reduce her entire character to that), and on top of having a penchant for panic and causing trouble for others, she also had a complex about panicking and causing trouble for others, often being the first to criticize herself for her own behavior and negatively comparing herself to others like Mimi and Hikari. It’s during the second half of the series when she starts to channel those qualities into being able to reach out to others and check on their emotional needs -- especially Hikari, who was so closed-in by default that Miyako’s aggressive tendencies were vital in reaching out to her -- and thus becomes someone who can properly support others in the way she wants.

Iori: The beginning of the series had him inflexible in thinking to the point others find it difficult to deal with him (although they certainly try) -- and to the point where he blocks out anything he sees as intolerable, most infamously when he’s initially the most cold and unforgiving towards Ken. His interactions with trying to figure out Takeru’s complicated nature help him open his mind towards acknowledging Ken’s position and desire to make things up, and overall, his observations of the complicated nature of the human heart help him understand others like Oikawa better -- something he would not have been able to do at the beginning of the series at all.

Takeru: The seemingly “cheerful” Takeru started off with a lot of horribly repressed emotions he wouldn’t admit and a penchant for being evasive, meaning that it was initially difficult to tell what his real intentions were -- causing Daisuke to get set off by him in the early parts of the series, and causing himself problems when he almost alienated Hikari (02 episode 13), Daisuke (02 episode 11), and Iori (02 episode 19) during some poorly-timed fits of anger. Iori reaching out to him allows him to finally be a little more straightforward and communicative, even about heavier topics, and understand the need to communicate with others in such a way.

Hikari: Her closed-in nature caused her to never truly speak her internal feelings to others nor be willing to ask others for help, giving others a poor scope of how to connect with her and causing her to develop a feeling of resignation that she couldn’t do anything to help herself; thanks to Takeru’s efforts in 02 episode 13 and Miyako’s efforts in 02 episode 31, she became able to more concretely voice calls for help when she needed them, stop resigning herself to her fate, and in general be able to speak her thoughts more assertively.

See the pattern? All of the initial major conflicts have to do with difficulty with connecting to others, or having a hard time accepting others’ support; over the course of the story, the kids end up changing in terms of how they interact with others, how they’re able to support others, or how they communicate with and interact with others. It’s not a development of one’s sheer fundamental qualities, but a development of one’s place in the group and their capacity for forming relationships.

Hence, when you look at Daisuke -- someone who has virtually zero self-awareness and puts all of his energy into supporting others -- thus comes the answer as to why he’s the protagonist of this narrative! This is the philosophy that everyone in the group is guided towards by the end of the story -- becoming people with empathy for others and a desire to support them, working to understand others’ feelings, and helping them get through their troubles. All of them have their own different ways of going at it, but, ultimately, “the importance of being able to connect to others” is one of the core principles of 02 as a series.

The importance of “guest characters”

So, speaking of the concept of “guest characters”, and the accusation that including one in the new movie will supposedly lead to an inevitable shafting of the 02 cast: well, first of all, let’s get on the table that this concept is hardly new to this franchise, nor even Toei series at all. It’s very common for theatrical movies to get these -- namely, Wallace in Hurricane Touchdown, Kai and Minami in the first Tamers movie, Bearmon and Kotemon in the Frontier movie, Rhythm in the Savers movie, and, most recently, Menoa and Imura in Kizuna -- because this is an opportunity to cover territory that would overcomplicate a full series. I have to emphasize that this is the same for Kizuna as well; even though it certainly was a very loaded 95 minutes due to having to establish so much in such little time, in the end, it was only a 95-minute movie. Theatrical movies are short stories, and shouldn’t be seen as anything but short stories; it’s kind of uncomfortable to see people have such high expectations of them in terms of carrying a series-tier narrative. It’s quite the opposite; these kinds of movies are taking advantage of the shorter format in order to cover territory that would be troublesome for a stretched-out one.

So yes, when “guest characters” don’t leave as much impact as the primary series characters, that’s, uh...well, that’s kind of the point. You’re not supposed to be giving them the same weight as the main series characters, because their entire existence comes from exploring possibilities that are only doable in short narratives! Wallace was a character whose whole appeal comes from the fact he’s a chaotic vagrant with unpredictable behavior and not much of an ability to commit to anything, so his character suits a one-off movie (and later drama CD) far better than it would suit being a regular in an ongoing series. Wallace, Kai, Minami, Kotemon, Bearmon, Rhythm, Menoa, and Imura were never, ever intended as characters that you had to put on the same level as the series regulars; they're just there to introduce new backgrounds and concepts to the existing setting, shake things up a bit for the sake of the short story, and show off what the regular characters can do in an unfamiliar situation. (In fact, you could say that Menoa is basically responsible for briefly introducing 02 thematic concepts to the Adventure cast.)

However, to me, the really baffling part about this discourse about how a new character would be “shafting” the characters in a 02 movie is that the 02 group is the exact kind of group that benefits best from the presence of this kind of character.

Let’s put it this way: When you look at Daisuke, what moments brought him closest to his emotional breaking point within 02 canon? Personally, I’d say his top moments are:

Hurricane Touchdown, openly crying over Wallace’s plight and empathizing with his situation even when it wasn’t supposed to be his problem (for those coming only from Digimon: The Movie, please note that this scene was very heavily altered from its original context) -- this is the only time in 02 canon, as of this writing, when we see him openly break down in tears

02 episode 26, when Daisuke agonizes about the fact Ken’s on the verge of suicidally throwing himself into a reactor in an attempt at penance (I don’t know how much this was kept in other dubs, but Kiuchi Reiko’s voice performance makes it pretty obvious Daisuke’s on the verge of tears)

The Door to Summer, when Daisuke is also pushed to the verge of tears seeing Nat-chan suffering and trying to reach out to her

Remember that Daisuke has basically no sense of self-awareness, and said openly in 02 episode 49 that he doesn’t have anything to worry about in his personal life. But that’s in his own personal life! In said episode, he also expressed that he was personally offended by BelialVamdemon trampling on others’ feelings, and if you want to go three years prior to Adventure, Daisuke’s own core motivations were stated in the Adventure novels and Spring 2003 to have been originally based on “frustration over not being able to protect others”. Daisuke may not have too many of his own problems, but when someone else has a problem, he makes that into his own problem -- he cries over them, is pushed to emotional limits empathizing with them, and is frustrated and angry with himself if he fails to help them.

In other words, all of the moments where Daisuke is seen at his best are when he’s interacting with and supporting others. That is where Daisuke’s potential as a character lies -- and it’s also tied into the rest of the group in 02 as well! Look at all of the moments of the most tense drama in 02, and what pushed each character to the limit; it was often to do with empathy for others, in the form of things like pain over hurting others, frustration over being unable to understand others, frustration over being unable to help others...

In fact, when you say “02 was a lot about Ken”, this is technically a correct statement, but it’s not so much about Ken himself as much as Ken in relation to the others. The entire second half of 02 was basically a “test” for the kids in terms of dealing with an “outsider” like him -- having built up a reasonably strong group dynamic already, what would it take for them to understand and reach out to someone who wasn’t from their neighborhood and had spent a whole half a year antagonizing them? Many of the episodes between 02 episodes 25 and 38 are really not about Ken himself to begin with (he spends a lot of time hanging around and being helpful, but not always much more than that), but rather about the rest of the group struggling with their own feelings regarding him and debating over what to do with him. That’s why the order and circumstances behind how they accepted him really say a lot more about them than they do about him (Daisuke is open-minded and forward-thinking, Miyako’s a bit more emotionally sensitive but is roughly just about as much, Hikari and Takeru are overly cautious and hesitant about their approaches, and Iori had to go through a whole journey of self-examination in how he approached others).

So in regards to this movie, we happen to have introduced this movie right off the bat with...none of the actual 02 characters. Daisuke still narrates the trailer and talks about meeting the person in question, so it’s pretty obvious that there’s still some tie to said characters, and V-Jump still uses the words “the 02 group is in a leading role”, so it’s pretty apparent that at least some of our favorite characters are going to be involved...but they’re not put front and center, and instead our very first promotional piece of art has someone else entirely, which is something official outright wants you to pay attention to.

Now, of course, I know as much about this movie as the rest of us do, so I’m not going to necessarily make any hard speculation about it either. I can’t tell you what role the 02 group would play in it, or which characters are even going to be involved beyond (presumably) Daisuke and V-mon. However, the mentality I just can’t get behind at all is the idea that this treatment of them is “shafting” when being in support roles is literally what the 02 group specializes in. And, on top of that, tying into what I said about the disparity between “the protagonist of the narrative” and “what the story is actually about” -- even if this movie decided to go as far as not even making the 02 characters the “protagonists” of their own narrative, it’s in fact possible to show off a lot about them without doing so.

The definition of what the 02 group was aspiring for in 02 itself was, simply, “happiness”. Like, for instance, a Christmas party where even getting to laugh was such a big deal (02 episode 38). Or aspiring to simple dreams even when they don’t involve high expectations (02 episode 50). One of the biggest, most major differences between them and their seniors was that what they lacked in “productive competence” compared to their seniors, they made up for in emotional support. Their major accomplishments and specialized skillsets aren’t really incredible compared to their seniors if we’re just talking about Digimon battling or something, but in terms of being positive and uplifting? Unparalleled.

In other words, if you want to show how far the 02 group has come, and their capacity for emotional support, introducing an external factor like a new character is one of the easiest ways to do it. If all they wanted to do was cash in on the 02 characters’ names and faces, and therefore put them in front as if they’re the only characters driving the story, I’d conversely be really worried, because it would make me wonder: what kind of territory are you trying to cover with them alone? In something like only 95 minutes (or maybe even less, since we don’t even know how long this movie is going to be)? There’s not a lot of good ideas you can come up with if your range is so narrow! 02 itself was a story with the kids contending with a lot of external factors -- the conflict between them and Ken, and later the conflict between them and Oikawa, and the conflict between them and the Dark Seed children who were suffering in their own way. The series even had its own “guest” factors like Michael or the other international Chosen to shake up the status quo every so often! It was never a story about them dealing with things within themselves, but rather trying to figure out their place in a huge world, and dealing with problems both internally and externally. You could get away with a self-contained story that centers almost entirely on introspection and self-improvement if this were about Adventure, where that kind of thing was part of the story itself, but 02 doesn’t work that way at all.

So, again -- the part that eludes me is how this apparently constitutes “shafting”, when an element like this is outright expected, or perhaps even required, if you want to bring the most out of 02′s themes and what these characters best specialize in. I understand that past experiences have tended to make people a bit suspicious of how these characters are treated and whether someone’s secretly out to get them, but reasonable worry is a far cry from the sheer concept of having a focus character outside their group being taken as such an alarming sign of them being sidelined, especially when this is the exact kind of situation that they conversely operate best in. An unfamiliar factor like this is exactly the kind of thing that would put their emotional mettle and supportive capacities to the test, rather than trying to show those off in a context where everyone already has known each other deeply for eight years!

Again, I know as much about the movie as the rest of us do, and as we find out more about it maybe there’ll be things to be worried about, but in terms of this apparently being evidence that the 02 group is in for a bad time: as they say, this just isn’t it, guys.

#digimon #digimon adventure 02 #shihameta #digimon adventure 02 the beginning

[i-did]

I would like to hear more of your opinions on fandom depictions of Neil, if you don't mind! Your post made me realize some things I wasn't even aware of when reading aftg fic!!

Yeah sure I have a lot of thoughts on this. I think this is an overall fandom issue and not just an aftg fandom issue, but the feminization of neil as well as the ironing out of his personality to make it more palatable is definitely a thing.

I've noticed in a lot of fics hes a lot friendlier, a lot less distrusting, and a lot more oblivious. I also noticed the amount of demand for vixen neil, and neil in dresses and skirts and crop tops, neil crying and being vulnerable isn't a challenge on traditional masculinity because andrew and the other guy foxes don't receive nearly the same amount of demand.

There is heavy emphasis on people wanting not just neil but andrew to be softer, and while that's okay, it's important to remember the moral of aftg is that trauma makes some people hard, and intense and not traditionally likeable, and that those people aren't broken and don't need to be fixed. So when people just, ignore that and make andrew and neil a lot softer, neil always sitting in andrews lap and other things, lots of expressions of PDA, and other out of charter moments, it erases the idea nora was trying to convey.

I've stated before about how the fandom also often doesn't mention body hair but when it does its andrew having facial hair and neil having less typically, but also there is usually emphasis on andrew having a deeper voice than neil, who sometimes gets written almost as whiney and petulant or pouty.

-nsft text below-

I also think there is an overall lack of understanding of mlm culture in fandom which is largely a women's space. I won't go into detail here but how pwp is written (especially a lot of the trans andrew or neil ones) are not with a mlm gaze in mind, after all if it was proper gay porn then only mlm would be turned on by it, but the consumer in mind isn't mlm at all, both because the authors are almost always not mlm, but the readers aren't as well. There is emphasis on neil being more vocal and whining, mewling, whimpering, and moaning, all common in how straight porn treats the woman, while andrew is emphasized in being a lot more quiet, maybe grunting and groaning.

Lingerie is not common in gay porn outside of fanfiction, jock straps?? Thats a thing thats a huge thing, but in all the pwp I've seen of them in their exy gear I haven't seen it mentioned before, not a cup or jock strap or anything like that.

Neil is also the one being put into the lingerie and there is emphasis on him feeling pretty rather than handsome and him being petite and slim rather than a bulky athlete

There is also an overall lack in realism in preparation and dynamics that are physically impossible or unsafe but thats a whole other thing.

This is just off of the top of my head, I can get into the fetishization of trans andrew fics another time thats a whole other thing, but yeah this is just my unprepared thoughts and observations I've noticed.

Fanart also tends to lack the men having bulges, i respect trans hc but i have possibly never seen a flaccid penis in running shorts neil is wearing. They don't go away they sit there and take up space.

-end nsft text-

I have more to say when it comes to the dealings with trauma in fanfiction but for another time. I also have a huge rant about how fanon deals with the race in fics, both nickys canon race as well as the fanon everyone else's race

Overall, people can write what they want to write, and fiction is fiction and i cannot stop anyone from doing anything, and people can interpret the characters how they want. But when writing fiction, the authors own biases can slip though, the charters are written by them after all. An author who writes a torture scene isnt someone who has done that, but an author who writes let's say nicky as even more predatory, slutty, stereotypically gay and "ayeyeyye" in fanfic is unknowingly being racist and homophobic.

A person existing in real life fitting steryotypes is one thing, I've been told like once a week that im stereotypically gay since I've been alive, and have been under a lot of fire for being both "too mexican" and "not mexican enough" but an author who is not mlm and is white can still fall into these pre conceived notions they don't realize they have. There is no such thing as a real life queer couple being heteronormative, but someone else writing one can be because they're not real people, they're characters.

Why does this dynamic appeal to you? Are you projecting? In what way? Why do you think x character is more passive and y is more aggressive? Are they like that in canon ?

When quarantine started I threw myself into aftg even more, but quickly became depressed and felt gross and watched, I felt lonely as an mlm and isnt white in a dominantly white wlw/wlm fandom. Most of tumblr is queer white women dominant tbh, in the same way its American dominant, and fandom is like that too. I still have a hard time talking to my friends who aren't mlm about fandom stuff sometimes because I will tell them something bothers me and I'm not sure they understand or take it seriously. I was so depressed because my personal escapism was making me feel worse.

My depression has gotten better since then, but I still get very uncomfortable with the word "twink" being applied to not just neil, but now any queer man, especially when not said by someone mlm.

Okay I'm gonna stop here lol this was a longer ramble than planned. Ah. Don't cancel me don't twist my words I swear I don't care what others do this is just my observations

#aftg #all for the game #neil josten #andrew minyard #the foxhole court #tfc #andreil #fandom politics #ask #mailob #fandom psychology

[lucemferto]

WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT TECHNOBLADE (or A Narrative Analysis of the Dream SMP Doomsday Event) - Script

Heyo! Per request I am posting the script to my video of the same name here on tumblr. I must warn you that just reading the script will probably not give you the full experience, so I would encourage you to watch the video (linked above).

There might also still be a lot of grammatical errors in the text, because I don’t proofread.

Okay, so! I don’t want this to turn into a reaction channel OR a Dream SMP channel for that matter! I am planning on doing a big dumb, way too long analysis video on the Dream SMP which will – at my current pace – come out in five years. I am already way too late on this one.

Spoiler Alert for the Doomsday Event that took place on the 6th of January in the Dream SMP. Surely the worst thing to take place on the 6th of January 2021 … I’m sorry, what’s this about the Capitol?

In case you don’t watch the SMP and need context: The Dream SMP is a Minecraft Multiplayer Server, that, throughout the last year, has transformed from a normal Let’s Play to an ongoing new-media series streamed by multiple high-profile streamers such as Dream, TommyInnit or Technoblade. It comes complete with script – by which I mean loose bullet points – and story events. It has attracted a large fanbase specifically invested in the story and less so in the actual gameplay content. Like I said before, I will probably do a big video on the Dream SMP at some point in the future.

The storyline is long and complicated and trying to explain it all would take up the majority of the video and there are other channels who have already done a much better job than I could ever hope to do, so give them a watch. I’ll try to summarize all that is pertinent to what I will talk about in this video.

Okay, let’s speedrun this summary. Cue the music!

Major Players here are TommyInnit, a founder of the independent nation of L’Manburg, Technoblade, an anarchist who was deep in conflict with L’Manburg, Tubbo, Tommy’s best friend and current president of L’Manburg, and Dream, the ruler of the Kingdom of the Dream SMP (even though he is not the king, but we’re not going to get into that right now). Tommy had in the past been exiled by Tubbo for endangering L’Manburg’s shaky peace with the Dream SMP. Tommy had then teamed up with Technoblade, who was hellbent on destroying L’Manberg after some prior altercations – more on that later.

Tommy and Tubbo came into conflict during a festival set-up to celebrate the friendship between L’Manburg and the Dream SMP. After punching out their feelings, Tommy came to the realization that his friendship with Tubbo was more important than his vendetta against Dream and those who exiled him. Techno took that change of heart badly and teamed up with Dream to destroy L’Manburg … and that’s exactly what happened.

Techno and Dream, with little to no opposition, obliterated L’Manburg with no hope for recovery leaving its inhabitants stranded hopeless and alone.

… And that’s what you missed on Dream SMP!

Okay. So, usually I just put whatever thought slime drips out of my mouth hole into your subscription box. But then I asked myself: “Am I not taking this a largely improvised nonsense story from a bunch of 16–24-year-olds a little too seriously?”. And then I remembered. I’m a pretentious bitch. I made an 18-minute video explaining why the popular commentary YouTuber memeulous is secretly the time travelling Anti-Christ, REASON HAS NO SWAY OVER ME!

So, like the English Major drop-out that I am, I will present you with two theses, which I will then combine into one … supratheses! That word doesn’t exist, I just coined it, it’s mine! I am very smart!

[I know words, I have the best words!]

 Thesis #1: The Fandom focuses too much on Character Analysis in Favour of Narrative Analysis

The Dream SMP is truly something special. It is uniquely singular in how it tells a story of this scope through its chosen medium. While there is an overarching script that lays out the plot points of the future, each of the 30+ streamers on the SMP are their own cameraman, director, writer and actor. You cannot watch “the Dream SMP” – if you attempted that, you would be 80 by the time you caught up to the Doomsday Event. You have to choose whom to watch. You have to choose your focal point character.

Because by the way the story is told and consumed – aka in such a compartmentalized fashion; you watch one streamer and get one character’s perspective – it has sort-of unintentionally conditioned fans to look at the SMP and its characters less as one coherent story with messages and themes and more as sports teams they can root for. You’re Team Techno or Team Tubbo or Team Tommy or Team JackManifoldTV (formerly known as Thunder1408) and every other side is in the wrong! It’s like Twilight for a decade old children’s game about virtual Lego!

Okay, I’m exaggerating, but the amount of discourse perpetuated by and revolving around so-called “apologists” – a terrible term that unfortunately has caught on – is really not something that I think is good for how we interact with the story of the Dream SMP.

The Dream SMP is discussed a lot on character-based level, which is, like I said before, hugely advantaged by the way the story is consumed by its audience. With traditional, visual media such as film for example, the audience can be made more aware of what messages the narrative might try to communicate on a narrative level without the need for an explicit narrator to tell you the moral.

As an example, in a movie you could have a smash-cut from the Butcher Army’s discussions about neutralizing the danger Technoblade poses to Techno being nice around villagers or taking care of animals. This would communicate on an extradiegetic level, that the Butcher Army is in the wrong with their assumptions. Alternatively, you could contrast Techno’s declarations that power corrupts and that Tubbo’s administration is cruel with Tubbo choosing not to punish Ranboo for his association with Techno – thus the narrative would communicate that Techno’s view of Tubbo and by extension the government is one-sided and not true to reality.

Stuff like that helps the viewer understanding a story holistically and manages to communicate stuff like themes and morals without having to solely rely on in-character logic and argumentation, which, as Ghostbur put it so eloquently, is comprised of a bunch of unreliable narrators.

Character analysis is great if we want dive deep, if we really want to give a character flavour and understand their motivations. It helps make the universe feel like it is alive, like it’s real. But – and this might be a shocker for you – it’s not real. It’s written. It is construction – and as such, in its construction, it has messages and themes and morals, intentionally or unintentionally.

By being so focused on specific characters and their individual journeys, viewpoints and motivation we really run the risk of not looking at the bigger picture and fail to see what the overarching narrative is actually communicating. And we may also fail to understand how characters might or might not fit into the overarching narrative.

Speaking of which …

 Thesis #2: Technoblade experiences very little Meaningfultm Thematic Conflict

Okay, let’s talk about Technoblade. I’m sure I’m not going to get any hate for this one.

I want to preface by saying that I don’t watch Technoblade’s streams; I catch up though clip channels and summaries. I’m mainly watching Tommy, Tubbo and Quackity – which is honestly already more than I can handle – but I want to be clear that while I’ll try to be as even-handed as possible – like I explained previously – the way I consumed the storylines will undoubtedly leave me with some bias.

Also, needless to say, I’m talking about the character Technoblade, not the actual content creator, unless I specifically say so. That should be obvious.

Now, I’m not doing a Technoblade character analysis, because that would be hypocritical of me – seeing how I just bitched about the overwhelming amounts of character analyses in the fandom – but I’ll try my best to summarize what is necessary.

Technoblade’s interesting in that he is a very static character – at least inwardly – he doesn’t change much. He is very steadfast in his beliefs and ideals and has very little introspection. He doesn’t question himself; he doesn’t waver, he is never in a bind about whether what he’s doing is right or wrong. He is very much a parallel to early TommyInnit – who, of course, famously said “I’m always in the right”.

And I want to emphasize that I mean this in no way as a critique of Techno’s character. A static character provides a nice contrast to more dynamic characters and can balance them out. It can also be utilised by the writing as a character flaw – which is what I hope content creator Techno is going for.

Like Techno doesn’t have a lot of empathy in the sense that he is particularly skilled at or interested in trying to see the viewpoints of others. There is never an attempt to reconcile, for example, the goal of the Pogtopians to reclaim L’Manberg and install another administration with his desire for an anarchist society. This is also compounded with his overreliance on violence as the only tactic for conflict resolution – Techno has a whole thesis statement about violence being the only universal language. I’m sure you’ve heard the quote.

And lastly, what really drives this all over the edge, is his all-or-nothing approach when dealing with the enemy – he is not so much eye for an eye as he is – to use another biblical example – you make fun of me for being bald and I’ll sic two bears on you that maul and kill you and 41 other children.

There’s also the open and completely unacknowledged hypocrisy of a self-described anarchist working together with a man that installs and dethrones Kings with his every whim – someone who – and I cannot stress this enough – hits about every box when it comes to the definition of tyrant.

So, what I’m saying is that Technoblade is the Dream SMP equivalent of Dick Chenney. C’mon you know it’s true! He will bomb that freedom into your country whether you want him to or not. That’s some cogent political commentary in the year 2021.

Okay, so now that I’ve outlined his character, what kind of conflicts does Technoblade face. Well, it’s mostly physical or external. He fights a lot whether it’s against Quackity or Sapnap or bodying Karl Jacobs five times in a row. And – with the exception of maybe Sapnap – none of it is challenging. Technoblade is the best PvP-Player on the server – there really isn’t much tension to be had from a purely physical fight.

So, how are these fights supplemented emotionally. Well, internally there is not a lot going on. As I said before, Technoblade isn’t really an introspective character. Even during his shouting match with Tommy there’s not a sense that Technoblade is wavering or unsure of himself in the way that Tommy is. He exposits that one of the reasons, he acts like he does is that he feels dehumanized; that people only use him like a weapon and then discard or even try to neutralize him once he’s no longer useful.

But that is not something that Technoblade has to grapple with – it’s not conflict for him, it’s more conflict for Tommy. Technoblade is self-assured in that he’s a person and not a weapon – it’s almost like there was a character arc there, where Technoblade self-actualizes and breaks away from the people that want to use him. But we didn’t see any of it. Technoblade unleashes the withers; then he goes into retirement because he wants to be, I suppose, and then he returns to violence as a reaction to the Butcher Army. There is a story of vengeance here, but not any conflict about being used. There is never a point where we see Technoblade come to this realization or comes to assert himself.

In season 1 there’s never a push from Pogtopia where the narrative frames them as exploiting Technoblade. He fights with them of his own volition, he gives them weapons and armour of his own volition. Nobody pressured Techno into procuring their inventory for the fight. And in Season 2, he’s the one to approach Tommy about their potential partnership – he is in the position of power here, explicitly not Tommy.

Like, I’m sorry, if this ruffles some feathers, but I really don’t see this arc where Technoblade is being used. There’s a story of misunderstanding and maybe co-dependency – but not of dehumanization. This entire line of thought seems to solely reference that moment, where Tommy says to Sapnap “I have the blade” during one of their wars – which, to base an entire emotional arc around that without any further set-up, is, and I’m sorry to say that, incredibly flimsy.

Okay, so we covered physical and emotional conflict? But what about conflict on the narrative level? Well, that leads me to my suprathesis …

 Suprathesis: The Narrative is Unclear on how it treats Technoblade … and that’s Not Good.

Here’s a Hot Take: The narrative of Season 1 treats Technoblade way less sympathetically than that of season 2.

Let me explain. The narrative of Season 1 revolves mostly around Wilbur and Tommy. The emotional fulcrum of the overall narrative is Wilbur’s rise and fall from Grace – and Tommy succeeding him as symbol of L’Manberg’s “special”-ness. Now I will talk about all that more in detail, when I talk about Season 1 of the Dream SMP. So, you’ll just have to go with me on this one for now.

Technoblade, by contrast, doesn’t really have much going on thematically in Season 1. He mostly exists as a sort-of utilitarian character – he is an accessory to make story beats happen. Like him executing Tubbo doesn’t open up any sort of thematic conflict involving him – on a character level it sets up antipathy between him and Tommy and it grants us some insight into how he operates with his violence speech – but on a larger-scale narrative level it really just shows how far Wilbur and Tommy have drifted apart in how they react to the event.

His biggest contribution is during the Season 1 finale, but even there he plays second fiddle to Wilbur. Not just because Wilbur does way more destruction with his explosion than Techno does with his Withers, but also because Wilbur had an emotional and thematic climax to his arc and by extension the entire storyline. Like Techno’s is a cool moment and very epic visual but in terms of thematic relevance, his Theseus-speech is really more set-up for Season 2.

And Season 1 is very unambiguous about L’Manberg being good and Tommy’s ideals ultimately being morally justified – I mean, they have a whole speech about it in the end and it was built-up throughout the entire Season – Techno is cast in a … less than sympathetic light. He is, if not a villain, then definitely an antagonist.

But with Season 2 the narrative is either uninterested in or not very clear on exploring Technoblade’s flaws.

Like ask yourselves: is Technoblade’s character ever consciously challenged by the narrative? Are his actions ultimately shown to not be in the right? Are his beliefs about government and power ever called into question? Are the negative consequences that his actions cause ever shown to be larger than the “good” he does?

I think what exemplifies this the most is how the Butcher Army event played out on December 16th. Now, during that event, the Butcher Army, which was comprised of Tubbo, Quackity, Fundy and Ranboo, managed to apprehend Technoblade, who at that point was living the quiet retirement life, and tried to have him publicly executed – without trial.

Now, smarter people than me have pointed out that the Butcher Army had a bevy of in-character reasons that can justify or explain their actions. And that’s definitely interesting, but as I said before, I want to get away from that and look into how the Butcher Army is treated on a narrative level. Because this is one of the few instances where the otherwise grey-loving Season 2 has some very clear narrative intent when it comes to morality.

The Butcher Army is very deliberately framed as almost cartoonishly corrupt and violent. They very forcefully investigate Philza, mock him and then put him under house arrest – and there’s just no remorse in the script even from normally sympathetic characters like Tubbo.

Compare and contrast with the Tommy-exile scene, which is also an act of moral ambiguity and is treated as such. And things get even worse once the Army arrives at Technoblade’s abode and attack him after he softly tells them that he has left that live behind him. They then proceed to take his horse hostage, mock him and execute him without fair trial – and I haven’t seen it but from live commentary I gathered that Techno really played up the whole softie-schtick before the Butcher Army arrived. I mean, before the big Technoblade vs Quackity fight, Quackity had whole villain monologue for Christ’s sake.

And even afterwards, the Butcher Army really plays up the corrupt angle with Tubbo proposing a festival as a guise to publicly execute someone. And again, I know that on an intradiegetic there’s nuances and it’s not really comparable to the Red Festival, but in combination with what the audience has seen up until that point and with how much it feeds into the already established themes of history repeating itself and becoming like your predecessors, it really does not paint a pretty picture of the Tubbo administration.

You can feel the heavy hand of the script on your shoulder, which is a feat seeing how – as discussed before – that’s not something that can be easily accomplished in this medium.

And that is what I mean when I say that Technoblade is not really challenged by the script and is in this case even emboldened by it. Because after this whole ordeal the thought of Technoblade taking revenge by destroying L’Manberg doesn’t seem like such an extreme response to the viewer – even though in my opinion, it is.

As of right now it is too early to say how the narrative will judge Technoblade’s actions in the future. Will they be framed as extreme but ultimately justified or perpetuating a cycle of ever-escalating vengeance? Will we ever see a government that’s not just at best misguided and at worst completely awful?

Ultimately, I believe and hope that Technoblade will be challenged by the narrative, mostly because a character that cannot, believably, be physically challenged, who doesn’t have any meaningful internal conflict about what he’s doing; and who does come out on the other side having everything he always believed in be proven completely in the right by the narrative, would be incredibly boring. Not just to watch but also to play as.

As it stands now, if the destruction Techno, Phil and Dream inflicted upon L’Manburg is framed as ultimately in the right, I would find it personally a distasteful message to send. I would ultimately say that the “correct” way to counter corruption in government is to completely obliterate the entire country. Like we’re not talking simply disbanding the government – that’s not what Doomsday was – we’re talking complete and utter annihilation. And that would be cynical and depressing. Like, call me a big softie, but even bothsidesing this argument would be bad.

Like, I’m not calling for Technoblade to be transformed into or treated a monster like Dream. But I personally feel like the narrative needs to acknowledge that the Doomsday was something that was taken way too far and that it ultimately brought more harm than good. And Technoblade needs to held accountable by someone who is not a cartoonishly corrupt government-official or who is in conflict with him anyway, like Tommy.

I thought Philza or Ranboo could do that but seeing how their storylines are progressing I don’t believe that will be the case. But who knows, maybe Captain Puffy will come through for us. We stan a Queen.

 Conclusion

So, yeah, I made this entire video just to air out my grievances with how one-sided the mode of analysis is in the fandom, because no person actually involved with the production of Dream SMP will ever see this.

But after everything I am cautiously optimistic, that content creator Technoblade knows what he’s doing. He has talked in the past about how his character is a bad guy and he loves his Greek myths. After all what’s more Greek myth than hybris being rewarded with punishment? [Technoblade never dies] That bodes well for him.

Also, this isn’t the video I promised at the end of the last one!

#dream smp #dsmp analysis #dsmpblr #dreamsmp #c!technoblade critical #dream smp analysis #dsmp #dream smp doomsday #dream smp season 2 #l'manberg #l'manburg #lmanberg #lmanburg #tubbo #dsmp tubbo #quackity #dsmp quackity #butcher army #tommyinnit #dsmp tommyinnit #dream #dreamwastaken #dsmp dream #dsmp tommy #lucem ferto scripts

[simpforgojosatoru]

TERRITORIAL (One-Shot) - Gojo Satoru x Reader

P

Summary:  Your boyfriend- Gojo Satoru has been away on an overseas trip, only to surprise you by returning early and showing up at your workplace, but came upon a scene of a very flirtatious male flirting with you (much to your annoyance), and decides to declare his territory.

Pairing:  Gojo Satoru x Reader/Reader-insert

Rating: General, just some fluff

“Two million yen, no more, no less,” the male opponent stated firmly.

You stare at him incredulously, “That’s very low, there is no pre-nup between our clients, and it should be at least 50/50. Have you even considered the circumstances?”

Sitting in the conference room, Inoue Takuya- the very flirtatious lawyer for the opposition, is over to negotiate a settlement deal, and he is constantly throwing you playful or teasing or flirtatious looks, while you just kept rolling your eyes since the looks he threw have not gone unnoticed by you. This guy has been irritating the hell out of you, getting on your nerves all the time, as he has been using every opportunity to flirt with you, to get you to go out with him despite your very publicly known relationship with the one and only Gojo Satoru, and the fact that he has a thing for the very beautiful you is no secret to every one of your colleagues, and even bosses.

Takuya laughed sarcastically, “No way, 2 million yen is more than enough.”

“No, my client was with your client ever since her high school years, she gave up her career, she gave up everything for your client, and not to mention, she gave your client a family life with three children,” you argue. “And now your client is ditching her for a much younger model. Nothing can compensate all that.”

Takuya sighed, “You are too sentimental.”

You scoff, “I am fighting for what my client is very well entitled to.”

“Then, what’s your desirable figure?” Takuya queried.

“Two billion yen at least,” you reply firmly. “Take it or leave it, or I will see you in court.”

The man laughed, “Ha, two billion yen, dream on.”

You did not say anything, but look at him dead on. He stopped laughing upon seeing the serious look on your face.

Takuya sighed, “Two billion yen is way too high.”

You shake your head, as you smile knowingly, tracing a finger around the rim of your glass of water, and you sigh. “Does your client know how much his three beloved children hate his guts?”

“What?” Takuya asked, surprised, taken aback at your question.

“Even if your client does not know exactly how much, he should at least have the sense and idea to know that he is not their favorite person right now,” you reply.

“You see, the children have always been very close to my client, and they love her ever so dearly. What your client did to her have now completely alienated the children, they no longer want anything to do with him, and they cannot care any less about the money or inheritance,” you continue. “In fact, they are quitting their positions at the company, which I believe and I know will be a huge loss to your client and his company, losing his heirs and such competent successors.”

“My client still loves and cares for his children all the same, he wants to keep in contact with them,” Takuya stated. “And of course, he wants the children to take on the company and business in the future.”

You tilt your head to one side, “But his children want nothing to do with him.”

Takuya sighed, finally understanding what you are inferring, “Fine, I will take the figure back to my client…”

“And I will discuss with my client and her children, and see if there can be any leeway,” you finish.

You start gathering your files and documents, while Takuya just continued to stare at you, you did not have to look to know that he was staring at you, and you frown.

“Inoue-kun, I believe we are done for today, just get back to me when you have discussed and negotiated with your client,” you state, standing up from the table.

Takuya nodded with understanding, also standing up, he offered a handshake, “OK, it was nice talking to you today, I will be in touch.”

You accept the handshake, but when you try to pull your hand back, he wouldn’t allow you too.

“Excuse me,” you state in a hard-tone, looking at him sharply.

“Nuh-uh, we still have a matter to discuss,” Takuya stated arrogantly, with an arrogant grin.

“What?” you ask, a little annoyed. “And let go of me first!”

Takuya smiled, and nodded, he let your hand go, but he did not back off, standing close mere inches to you. He carried on with his arrogant air, and he grinned confidently, “You still owe me a cup of coffee, Y/N-chan.”

You look at him incredulously, “What? I don’t owe you anything, not a cup of coffee in the least!”

“When I asked you to get a coffee together the last time, you didn’t say anything, I assume that was a ‘yes’ from you,” Takuya replied with a grin.

“You assume?! What kind of logic is that? You cannot assume anything from me when you practically know nothing about me. I didn’t say anything to you because I did not care about your offer, nor do I want to go out with you. How many times do I have to tell you that?” you say, annoyed.

“I will shut up if you go out with me,” Takuya stated with a charming smile.

You roll your eyes, and then you turn serious, looking at him dead-on. “Look here, Inoue-kun, I do not like you, and most importantly, I have a boyfriend, and I love him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While you and that lawyer were bickering in the conference room, some people are starting to cause a raucous outside, as Gojo Satoru and his just-as-handsome guy friends- Geto and Nanami have made their first appearance in the law firm in front of all of your bosses and colleagues, who gasped and stared in awe in stunned surprise. They had just landed back in Tokyo, after an overseas business trip to South Korea, and they headed off to the law firm after dropping everything off, as Satoru couldn’t wait to see you again. Knowing that the guys are probably here for you, the bosses and colleagues respectfully greeted them, but they did not bother them for selfies, although most of them were tempted to.

Your friend and colleague- Suki grinned on seeing them at the office, and greeted them brightly and cheerfully. “Hi guys, wow, this is a really nice surprise! Didn’t you just arrive? What are you doing here?”

Satoru, Geto and Nanami grinned.

“I cannot wait to see Y/N again,” Satoru replied with a grin.

Suki nodded in understanding, and then grinned, “Oh good, now that you are here, you can totally help her out.”

The boys frowned.

“What do you mean?” Satoru asked, confused.

Suki nodded her head towards the direction of the conference room, the boys looked and their eyes widened at the sight of a very annoyed you, and a clearly very flirtatious man, who stood very close to you, and way too close for Satoru’s liking. The boys turned back to Suki, still gob-smacked.

“What’s this?” Satoru asked.

“Don’t worry, Y/N is the most loyal and faithful person I know…” Suki replied.

Satoru nodded, “I know that, but who is that guy who is clearly flirting with my girl?”

Suki and the other boys grinned at Satoru’s use of the term ‘my girl’.

“That guy is also a lawyer, but a really flirtatious one, he has been hounding after Y/N for months and months, despite the fact that she has already told him thousand times that she has a boyfriend whom she loves, and despite the fact that your relationship is already public knowledge,” Suki explained with a sigh.

Satoru growled, “Who does he think he is?”

“This is why I said it’s so good that you are here now, you can assert yourself in front of him,” Suki stated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, inside the conference room, you are delivering your final blow.

“Not to mention, you are incredibly disrespectful, you know very well who my boyfriend is, our relationship is no secret to the public, this clearly tells you that I have a boyfriend, and we are committed to one another, yet you are still persistent,” you state. “What on earth is wrong with you? We are done here.”  

You turn and back away, and immediately opened the conference room door and you are stunned to find yourself facing the grinning face of the love of your life. Not caring anyone else around, you quickly envelop him in a tight hug, and he was only more than happy to reciprocate.

“Oh my god, baby, what are you doing here so early? I thought you’d be taking a rest, didn’t you just arrive from Seoul?” you ask.

Satoru grinned, “I couldn’t wait to see you again, and I have missed you ever so much.”

“I’ve missed you so much too, baby,” you state back with a loving look.

Satoru smiled, so happy and content to be back with you, he leaned in to kiss you, and you happily kissed back, but he did not forget the one additional thing he has to do, that is, to assert himself as the boyfriend, right in front of the flirtatious male.

Cupping your face, he stared lovingly into your eyes, “How has work been for you? Not too stressed out or tired out, are you?”

Holding his hands in yours, you shook your head with a reassuring smile, “Baby, I am all good, don’t worry about me.”

He smiled lovingly at you, before casting his eyes up to stare at Inoue Takuya, he looked back at you, asking, “Who is this?”

“Oh, him, right, this is Inoue Takuya, the lawyer for the opposition in one of the cases I am working on now, we were meeting to negotiate and discuss a settlement,” you reply.

You turn to Takuya, smiling proudly, and introduced Satoru, “Inoue-kun, I’m sure he needs no introduction, he is the one I’ve been telling you so much about, my boyfriend- Gojo Satoru.”

You turn back to Satoru, smiling proudly at him, and he grinned back in return. Satoru then turned to Takuya, he did not smile, and stated seriously, and heavily emphasized, “Hello, Inoue-kun, I’m Gojo Satoru, Y/N’s boyfriend.”

Then, Satoru looked the guy up and down, and stepped up close, smirking, “I saw what you did, and as flattered as I am that you find Y/N very attractive to flirt…sorry to inform you that, there is no way in hell Y/N will ever leave me for you.”

You, standing at the back, watched on with amusement at your boyfriend’s cocky confidence, but you also can’t help enjoying him being territorial around you.

“Inoue-kun, can’t you find a girlfriend of your own?” Satoru continued taunting. “Or are you so terrible at it, that you have to hit on someone else’s girlfriend? I’d appreciate it if you stop doing that to Y/N, my girlfriend.”

Without another word, with a cocky grin, Satoru turned back to you, and wrapped an arm around your waist, held you close and led you out of the room.

“Oh, Mr. Gojo, you are so territorial,” you comment with a grin.

“You don’t like it?” Satoru asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Oh, I love it!” you reply with a grin.

#gojo satoru x reader #gojo imagine #gojo satoru x you #gojo satoru x y/n #gojo x reader #gojo satoru #satoru gojo #jujutsu kaisen imagine #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen #jjk x reader #jjk

[lindsayrises]

Oh.

My.

God.

I have never felt more seen.

I was diagnosed with ADHD in December 2019.

I've been on medication for it since then.

Yesterday, after a week of being ridiculously unproductive at work, I was desperate for any tips or strategies to get more done.

I found a podcast on ADHD. I listened to 2 episodes while driving/running errands.

Oh.

My.

Fucking.

God.

I was nearly in tears.

EVERYTHING that was said is me.

I have FOREVER been cruel to myself, telling myself (and believing) I do (or don't do) things because:

*I'm lazy.

I'm stupid.

I'm unmotivated.

I'm not dedicated enough.

I must not care enough.

I lack will power.

*I never follow through with things/am unable to follow through with things. (I am particularly sensitive about this one. Something was said to me about this literally YEARS ago and I still get an uncomfortable feeling thinking about it and get emotional talking about it. I can think of 2 other instances where comments have been made to me about this - one recently, one years ago. I am SOOOOOOOOOOO insecure about this.)

(*these 2 are frequent topics in therapy.)

Seriously. Then when I struggle to get things things done, I beat myself up and feel like a huge failure. Rinse and repeat.

I always just thought, "I guess the medication must be working...maybe???". I never considered that there could be a change/improvement BECAUSE I THOUGHT "THIS IS JUST WHO I AM...I'll be like this forever. Past behavior habits prove it. It's hopeless. I'm hopeless to even work on. I'll never change."

I cannot tell how many things I've tried to do better...to be better. I have shelves of books I've bought - thinking, "maybe this one will help!". I can think of exactly 3 books that I've actually finished. Yes. Three. Planners and calendars? I buy a new one at least every 6 months. I use it for a few days and then stop.

It had gotten to the point where I thought, "Why bother even trying? Nothing sticks. Nothing works. And then I feel shitty for failing yet again."

I can't count how many times in the past 3 months I've thought, "Why do I even keep trying? I must not want to change badly enough. There is just something wrong with me. I'm done trying. This is me. This is my life. Deal with it."

So, I'm not (insert all of those negative things and more that I didn't list)??? It's just my fucking brain?

I actually feel hopeful...that maybe things don't have to be like this.

I would like to note that, no, I do not use podcasts and internet things as medical advice.

But wow. It all makes sense now...

Impulsivity (food and shopping)

Forgetfulness

Hyperfocusing

Easily distracted

Difficulty getting started

Feeling paralyzed because I'm overwhelmed

Rejection sensitivity

Noise sensitivity

Difficulty with grocery shopping, meal planning, meal prep, basically any part of the cooking proxy.

HAVING AMAZING PLANS THAT I'M REALLY EXCITED ABOUT BUT ABANDON SHORTLY AFTER STARTING (I'm looking at you, millions of "get healthy" plans and attempts). *****I cannot emphasize this one enough.

I have frequently thought, "I have so much I need to work on and improve about myself. Where do I even start?" and beat myself up about this, too.

I will sit in my classroom...terrified that someone will come in at any minute and see that I'm not working on something... haven't been working on anything...am close to tears because I'm so angry, frustrated, ashamed, and embarrassed because of this.

It.

All.

Makes.

Sense.

Yes, I will talk to my doctor.

But wow. How did I not realize that all of these things are connected??? Would/Could my anxiety and depression get (a little) better if ADHD was less of an issue?

This whole time I've been thinking that these things that I struggle with are because there is something seriously wrong with me...that these things make me a bad person and leave me constantly hustling for worthiness. But there's an explanation for ALL OF IT? And things don't have to stay this way - things don't have to be and won't always be so hard and miserable?!?!?!

Thank God.

Edit: I have to laugh. I've been up since 3:00 am. It is 6:00 and I'm just getting ready to go to work. What have I been doing the last 3 hours? Writing this. Reading about ADHD. Coming back to this and adding something new I just thought about/made a connection to, going to do something, coming back and adding something else to this, start and stop at least 5 different songs or podcasts on Spotify, and repeat. Oh, and mindless scrolling/checking of FB/IG/Tumblr. And looking at the clock - if it's 4:41 saying, "ok I'll get off my phone/stop doing what I'm doing at 4:45.". Loses track of time. Checks time. "Oh, now it's 4:47. I might as well just wait until 5:00.". This is me all the fucking time. I know it's illogical, but this is my life.

[bokunoheroanalysisforthefuture]

So hero Deku, vigilante Deku, and villain Deku are all canon this week. Fun stuff! Hori really be going all in on the fanfic tropes… you love to see it.

Anyways, time to finish up this chapter. 

[No. 14 - Encounter with the Unknown]

We return to another dark portal opening up, with Izuku being dumped out of it over what turns out to be the flood zone. Luckily, it wasn’t high enough for him to take damage on impact with the water, just make a large sploosh. As Izuku reorients himself in the water, he quickly parses through everything that just happened - the teleportation quirk, the goal to kill All Might - but he still is trying to figure out everything going on.

Then we see our first villain in the flood zone, a guy with a shark mutation and… scuba gear? 

Yikes, if he was gonna get a shark mutation, he could at least have gotten the underwater breathing too. I wonder if he’s also part eel or snake or something, because the way his jaw opens up to attack Izuku is like Not A Shark Thing (as far as I am aware, I know I don’t know every shark species so.)

[IMAGE CENSORED]

Well then. Yeah, the villain makes his threat to kill Izuku, then gets absolutely bodied by Tsuyu stomping him in the head with both feet, Minetsa under her arm. She then grabs Izuku with her tongue and shoots away at high speeds only possibly with an aquatic quirk. Also dskgkld

Tsuyu you little savage I cannot even. 

Tsuyu surfaces by the boat we saw in the flood zone earlier, using her tongue’s reach to deposit Izuku up on the deck. Mineta, still out of it, makes a comment about Tsuyu’s boobs, which gets him slammed on the deck by her tongue right afterwards. Tsuyu climbs up the side of the boat as Izuku thanks her, and Tsuyu tells him to call her Tsuyu, before noting that they seem to be in trouble. 

(Also her quirk is noted to be Frog, which lets her do whatever a frog can.)

Izuku flashes back briefly to Kurogiri’s question about the schedule being revised, which Izuku realizes means the villains know the schedule, and that the simplest reason for that was that they caused the media rush in order to get their intel. Like Shouto said, they were waiting for their chance, and prepared for it well.

Mineta is skeptical, saying there’s no way the villains could ever kill All Might - he’ll thrash them once he gets there! He even makes a little show of punching the air to emphasize his point. 

Tsuyu points out that the villains must have figured out a way to kill him, otherwise why bother to show up just to get beaten? Mineta is stunned silent in growing fear as Tsuyu calmly goes on to explain that she wouldn’t put it past the villains, especially since that one guy promised to kill the students as well. She then ask whether they, the students, can hold out until All Might arrives, and that even when he does show, whether he might not end up killed after all.

Mineta, complete shook, turns to Midoriya for I guess some kind of denial of her claims? Which he doesn’t give. 

The shark villain surfaces, calling Tsuyu a brat and declaring that he’ll kill her. We get a wide angle view of the boat, showing a lot of villains surfacing around it. Mineta is freaking out even more, noting that it’s a whole school of them. 

Izuku is caught up in a muttering storm mixed with flashbacks, and I just. His face, the worry and fear at the thought of losing All Might. You can practically see the nausea crawling in his gut as he tries to figure out their motivations. 

And that ending panel before we transition to the other rescue zones, where we can’t see his face as he determines that if there’s even a chance the villains have a way to beat all might, then they need to do, well, something. Though that something is cut off with the scene shift to another zone. I am just, such in awe again over Hori’s use of facial expressions to convey what isn’t being said here, I just. Izuku’s so terrified of losing his mentor. Both Mineta and Tsuyu are worried for him. 

On a closer look at the transition panel, we see the landslide zone being iced over, with the panel after that showing Shouto having encased all the villains in his area in ice in one move. He calls them pathetic for losing to a kid, while the villains struggle to try and break out (and fail at it). Shouto taunts them a bit, point out how they’re adults, which adds back to that ‘you seriously lost to a kid’ thing just a moment ago. 

Next we get two shots of the other groups - Katsuki and Kirishima in some ruins, and Yamomo, Jirou, and Kaminari in some rocky area, surrounded by villains. There’s some narration stating ‘we’ve got a job to do’ in between the panels with the groups. And- wait, is that Jirou getting a fucking sword from Yaomomo?

Also, I just noticed Katsuki’s gauntlet here is on his right hand, which is the opposite of what we see in the title card page at the beginning of the chapter.

Weird! I suppose it’s not a huge deal since the chapter itself is consistent with Katsuki wearing the gauntlet on his right hand, but still. 

Our last page is another couple large group shots. The first panel is Tenya, Ochako, Shouji, and Mina all alert to the shadow villain as he recondenses. Next, we have Aizawa standing his ground in the middle of the group of villains while Shigaraki watches on quietly. And finally, we go back to Izuku, Tsuyu, and Mineta, with Izuku declaring out loud that they have a fight to win. 

Huh, that was a shorter second half than expected. Probably could have fit all the chapter into one update, but alas… 

Anyways, come back next time, where we get to see more student trauma develop! :D

#chapter 14 #usj arc #boku no hero academia #my hero academia #readthrough #midoriya izuku #asui tsuyu #mineta minoru #izuku's drenched hair... #the facial expressions once again coming in clutch #izuku's so stressed and trying to hide it #poor kid #poor all of them #this is such bullshit

[sxypigeon]

Chapter 20 - Bolin tries to write a screen play and everyone has a bad day

Book 5 Absolution (a mostly canon korrasami story)

Things in the refugee camps have gone downhill, Korra checks on Kuvira, and Asami tries not to murder Varrik.

Chapters  1,  19

---

The scene: A dusty Earth Kingdom village on the edge of the Si Wong Desert - a sleepy tourist town in its off season at dusk.

Enter: Ting-Ting in disguise wearing sandbender wraps and clothes, looking for his informant.  He walks down a side street and into the shadiest tavern, through the torn sheet acting as a door.  The interior is crowded and smokey, just the way Ting-Ting likes it.  He approaches the bar and says to the bartender -

“Bolin!”

Said earth bender turned from the window of the airship he’d been vacantly staring out of to his brother.  “What, I’m here - yes! . . . Um, could you repeat that in case I missed everything you just said?”

Mako sighed and rolled his eyes from his seat opposite him, next to Jeong.  “I asked you if you enjoyed your time with Opal, but judging by the look you just had, I guess I don’t need an answer.”

Bolin frowned at the pair of them as they shared a smug smile.  “Of course I did, but that wasn’t what I was thinking about.  I have this idea for a mover I’m working on-”

“Still?” Mako asks in surprise.

“Well, yeah.  What with working on uniting the Earth Kingdom and then saving Republic City, I haven’t had a whole lot of time to work on it.”

“What’s it about?” Jeong asked with interest.

“Oh, here we go,” Mako muttered with a small exasperated grin.

A huge grin lit up Bolin’s face.  “It’s about an ex-United Forces operative named Ting-Ting who’s on the trail of his kidnapped love Ivy.  His arch-nemesis Dr. Razor took her as revenge for Ting-Ting’s last mission with the United Forces to shut down his illegal laboratory where he forced spirits and thugs to merge and become his minions.  Ting-Ting’s research leads him to the edge of the Si Wong Desert where his former partner, Lee, is undercover trying to bust a smuggling ring among the sandbenders.  All clues point to Dr. Razor using the lost city of Sobata in the middle of the desert as his base and the center of the sandbender’s smuggling operation.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of information.  Do you think people will be able to follow along with the plot?”

“Sure, I mean, maybe there’ll have to be a voiceover explaining some of the finer details, but I think-”

“We’re here,” Mako interrupted.  

Jeong smiled and shrugged, “Next time.”

“Yeah,” Bolin muttered, “maybe by then I’ll have a bit more of the plot worked out and not just the backstory.”

---

“What do you mean you took over an Earth Empire reeducation camp?  Where are you?!”

Kuvira sighed tiredly and rubbed her eyes.  The avatar, as usual, had chosen an inopportune time to appear.  “Reeducation Camp 11, just east of the mountains and Fort Senlin.”  She paused to yawn.  “I helped the prisoners overthrow their guards and we currently control the camp and it seems like the Empire forces are unaware.  Was that all - can I go back to sleep?  It’s been a long two days.”

The spectral form of the avatar glared at her for a moment before worry won out over anger.  “What’s your plan for the camp?  Are you going to keep control of it or shut it down?  I don’t think the prisoners will want to stay long if they have the option of leaving.”

She is the wettest blanket.  No appreciation for taking over a camp singlehandedly, I see.  “We’re working on a way to send some of the prisoners by boat to Republic City, others want to stay in the area and fight the Empire locally and reunite with their families,” Kuvira muttered through a yawn.  “Seriously, I’ve had maybe three hours of sleep in the last two days.  Let’s hurry this up.”

“Do you need back up or me to help in any way?”

“Other than going away and letting me sleep?”  Kuvira ignored another glare.  “Send a ship to meet the boat in three days.”

“What about the guards?”

“What about them?”

“Are they dead or your prisoners?  Do they need to be moved?”

“No one has died per your orders,” she sighed.  “I was going to destroy all of the camp except the cells and leave a few days of food.  Someone will investigate if radio-silence goes more than forty-eight hours.”

“Okay, what’s after this?”

I’m working on that, but your pestering isn’t helping.  Kuvira was quickly losing what little patience she had left.  “If all of this works?  Who knows, maybe I’ll open a tea shop in the middle ring of Ba Sing Se and retire.”

Korra looked ready to explode.  “I’m trying to help you!  We both want the same thing!  I can’t do anything for you if you don’t let me in on what you’re thinking.”

“And I’m telling you, right now, what I’m thinking about is sleep.  Now kindly disappear since that seems to be something you’re good at.”

---

This was a mistake.  Why did I ever agree to this?  This was one of the most important buildings in Asami’s entire company . . . and she was letting a known swindler and thief in through the front door.

“You know, I came up with something like this in a dream eighteen months ago,” Varrik said thoughtfully while passing an airplane large enough to hold two dozen people.

There is no plausible way this will end any way, but in disaster.  “As a reminder, Varrik, everything in this building and in or around the surrounding complex is off limits to you and Zhu Li.  These are trade secr-”

“Yeah, yeah.  Zhu Li, did you remember to pack the pumice scrub?  You know how bad my calluses get.” 

Asami gritted her teeth, but maintained a smile for her employee leading the tour.  He will steal at least one of my R&D designs.  He’ll steal it, copyright it, and then counter sue me when I try to take him to court over it.

Varrik wildly flung his arm in the direction of his wife’s head and pointed, “Hey, is that the break room?  Does it have a full kitchen?  Top quality genius requires expertly prepared, well-balanced meals.

He’s going to drive me insane and I’m going to kill him . . . then I’ll go to prison and never see Korra again . . . or I could go on the run and maybe Korra could come with me . . . as long as I don’t have to live in the sewers again.

The group came to a stop just inside the break room while Varrik tested the water pressure and temperature coming out of the taps in the kitchenette.  The tour guide, the head of the research building, approached her with a calm smile born from years of dealing with eccentric researchers. “Will there be anything else, Miss Sato?” 

“No, thank you, Mr. Taka.  That will be all,” she replied.  She waited for him to leave before waving her guests over and addressing them.  “I cannot emphasize this enough: everything you see here falls under the heading Trade Secret and cannot be copied or reproduced in any form-”

Varrik rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around Asami’s shoulders.  “What are you, a broken record?.  I remember the forms your lawyer made us sign.  She read them all out loud - it nearly put me to sleep.”

“You can never be too careful,” Asami said with a forced smile.  Remember to breathe.  Maiming him won’t make this easier . . . or will it?  “Would you like some time to settle in or-”

“Heck no!  Let’s get straight to business!”  He stepped away, with a hand behind his back and a hand in the air, counting off what he needed on his fingers.  We’re going to need three heavy-duty electro-magnets, five industrial spools of thirty gauge copper wire, multiple sheets of pure platinum ranging from 0.25mm thickness to 5mm, and a pot of black tea every fifty-two minutes.”

Asami attempted to unclench her jaw before answering.  “Zhu Li warned - informed me of what we’d need.  It’s all set up in the lab.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?!  Zhu Li, do the thing!”

Asami watched the newlyweds practically run toward the ballistic R&D laboratory hopelessly.  Maybe everything will go fine . . . and maybe the Earth Empire will spontaneously surrender and give up their super weapons . . . and just maybe I’ll come out of this with my sanity intact.

---

“Is it just me or do these people not seem happy to see us?”  Bolin asked

Mako kept his head on a swivel.  Everyone on their path hurried away as they approached.  “They do not.”

“I don’t like this,” Jeong whispered.  “Something must have happened while we were away.”  She led the group down the dirt path between the rows of tents at a brisk pace.  “Dad!  What’s going on?  What-”

Jeong was stopped in front of her family's tent when the boys caught up to her.  The stricken look on the man’s face told them nearly all of the story.

Mako stepped beside the silent young woman and addressed her father gently, “What happened, sir?”

He breathed deeply and squared his shoulder, trying to hold his emotions in check.  “My son . . . and at least two other members of the neighborhood watch have been abducted.”

“No,” Bolin muttered hopelessly behind Mako.

“Did someone see any of this take place?  Are you sure they’re being held against their will?” Mako asked as he took out his notepad.

“Letters were sent to the families . . . delivered by young orphans we’ve seen with Triple Threat members.”

“This is my fault,” Jeong muttered in shock to herself.  “I stole that weapon.  I set up the watch.  I tried to drive the Triple Threats out of the area-”

“No!  You helped your neighbors!” Bolin insisted.  “Everything you did was to make everyone safer.  We’re going to get everyone back and bring the Triple Threats to justice!”

“Assigning blame isn’t going to help the situation,” Mako cut in, mostly to prevent Bolin from making more promises he wasn’t sure they could keep.  “May I see the letter you received?  Jeong, I need you to stay with your family while Bolin and I look into this.”

Perhaps as a sign of how distraught she was, Jeong simply nodded and headed into the tent.  Her father sighed sadly once she was inside.  “She’s tried so hard to help.  Here, find the bastards and bring my son home . . . please.”

Mako met his eyes and nodded as he took the letter.  “We’ll do everything in our power, sir.  I’ll let you know when I’ve learned anything.”  He grabbed Bolin by the arm and marched them back toward the airship they arrived on.

“Wait, aren’t we going to collect evidence and question the neighbors or stake out a . . .a tent or something?” Bolin asked.

Mako kept his face neutral.  “The two of us can’t take on an entire gang by ourselves.  We’re going to need back up.  There’s a radio in the airship.”

“Oh, right.  We can call for backup?”

“I hope so,” Mako muttered to himself.  If there is any . . .

---

Thanks for reading!

#korrasami #legend of korra #mako #bolin #Asami Sato #kuvira

[popwasabi]

What “The Dark Knight” says about our bad politics

Waaay back in the summer of 2008, me and my dad drove up to Northern California to attend San Jose State University’s freshman orientation.

It was a long drawn out process where first-year students basically were told and shown a bunch of things they would forget and relearn by their first day anyways and culminated with all of us spending one night in the campus dorms so we could all get a taste of the “campus life” experience.

I wanted it to end badly for a couple reasons. Being an introvert, I was not comfortable sharing a room with anyone, let alone a stranger, for a night but more importantly, I was being kept from the biggest movie premiere of the year that day: “The Dark Knight.”

As soon as I woke up the next morning, I rushed my dad to find the nearest theater and purchased tickets immediately for a late-night screening. I was already a huge fan of “Batman Begins” but every trailer to Christopher Nolan’s epic follow-up indicated we were in for an even bigger blockbuster than before and I was beyond pumped.

(Me getting the fuck off campus to watch “The Dark Knight” that day.)

Two and a half hours later I left the theater blown away by the experience. “The Dark Knight” was everything, at the time, I was hoping for in a comic book movie; angsty, dark, edgy (all things I thought I was as a teen), cinematically sharp, thrilling, a fantastic score once again by the legendary Hans Zimmer, and fulfilled just about every fanboy wet dream I had at the time for a perfect Batman movie.

To this day it remains the most satisfying theatrical experience I’ve ever had seeing a movie, not that it’s my favorite movie of all-time anymore, mind you, but that I have never gone into a movie with such high expectations and had them blown away quite like that since.

(Conversely, this^ was my most disappointing experience...)

I’m a different person now, of course. If you were to wipe my memory of the film and had to watch it again today I doubt I would have the same fanboygasm I had then as the cynical 30-year-old I am now but I’ll argue that “The Dark knight” still remains a high mark, if not the standard, for comic book movies today.

That said, parts of this film have definitely not aged well. Visually the film still holds up, the action is still exciting, the performances are all stellar (though Bale’s Batman voice is still bad) but what hasn’t aged well, for me, are the movie’s politics.

“The Dark Knight” is, of course, a post 9/11 movie, in fact, it’s arguably the definitive one as its pop-cultural footprint dwarfs pretty much all within its sub-genre. This Nolan sequel deals heavily in themes of terrorism with its iconic villain The Joker, played maniacally by the late great Heath ledger, wreaking havoc across Gotham with various explosive devices. Though the Clown Prince is more an anarchist than someone with an ideology, like those in Al Qaeda or the Taliban, the results of his beliefs/non-beliefs are more or less the same; cause pandemonium and fear in the masses. Batman, representing the power of justice and order, does battle with this in a war to save Gotham’s soul and again this is still a damn entertaining and thrilling story.

(Seriously, it’s still a rock solid entry in the comic book movie genre.)

But where the film’s 9/11 politics become problematic is toward the end of the film when the Joker begins his final act to plunge Gotham into unstoppable chaos. Batman becomes desperate; The Joker has eluded him at every turn, always two steps ahead of him, escaping justice no matter what Bruce Wayne does so he concocts a plan to finally to locate and stop the Joker for good.

He creates an elaborate sonar system using every cell phone in Gotham, effectively creating a massive surveillance state to spy on its citizens in order to locate the Joker.

(And it’s the only time we have ever got the real Batman eyes on screen, damn it!)

Lucius Fox, played by Morgan Freeman, appropriately calls this out telling him he’s wrong and that he cannot support this but Batman insists that it’s the only way. Fox reluctantly agrees and tells him he’ll resign once this is over as he can’t morally support such a system. The sonar, of course, works and Batman is able to stop the Clown Prince once and for all and upon Fox entering his name into the sonar computer the program dissolves and is deleted presumably for good.

This is of course to wash Batman’s hands of this deed to the audience. Our protagonist knows this is wrong, the audience is told it is wrong but by ending the surveillance he shows he would never abuse such a program, that sometimes good men have to do terrible things to defeat evil and that makes it ok.

For years, as a bleeding heart liberal (at the time) who grew up in the Bush years but loved the hell out of this movie, I tried to reconcile with this part of the story because Batman was the hero. I thought maybe this kind of action is ok because if the “good guy” is in charge bad stuff is fine because he/she won’t abuse such power. That’s real justice, right?

The problem is in the real world, at the top, there really aren’t any good guys and they are counting on you to believe that they are when they get a hold of such power because that’s how we are programmed.

The Patriot Act, which was the signature Bush-era reform post 9/11, created our current surveillance state. In the interest of national security and ensuring those “dern turrists don’t go killing lil’ Timmy riding his tricycle out in Des Moines, Iowa” our elected leaders, both republican and democratic (make no mistake), effectively signed away our constitutional rights to “ensure our safety” by spying on us basically without warrants. The proponents proudly claimed its necessity in fighting the “War on Terrorism” and those naysayers either shouldn’t worry “if you have nothing to hide” or worse were un-American Taliban sympathizers.

For progressives, of course, this was an evil violation of our civil liberties but for many conservatives, this wasn’t a big deal. They are just trying to keep us safe after all. 

But conveniently ignored by many on the left still today is the complicity they had in bringing about this era in warrantless surveillance. Yes, this policy started under Bush, of course, but it continued to be re-upped through the Obama administration and the Trump administration, not to mention revolving majorities in the House and Senate, showing no matter who was in charge they all liked the idea of keeping an eye on all of us with or without reason.

Considering the Patriot Act was made to win the “War on Terrorism” our leaders were never going to relinquish this power anyways because you can’t win a war on terrorism. Terrorism is not a country or a people, it’s an ideology behind many different ideologies. The US, no matter how you see it, be it as liberators or oppressors, will always have enemies and that’s all the reason they need to keep this power it seems.

Having the data on our lives mined like oil can easily be used against us in a variety of ways regardless of if any of us have terroristic or even criminal intentions. But for many in this country, it was only a problem if the wrong guy wielded that power. As soon as their “good guy” got in though, suddenly it was no big deal. I wonder why...

“The Dark Knight” puts forth a problematic view on who can and should wield supreme power, that even terrible choices can be made as long as the “right” person is the one making them.

Liberals are notorious for justifying them when it’s one of them who does it.

It’s a lie. A lie that both parties use to their advantage because they want you believe everything they do can be justified because you happen to be a part of their party; the “good guys” once again. But there is something extra cynical about the way liberals wield it as they parade themselves around as paragons and moral pillars against the Jokers of the Republican party.

For all the platitudes liberals give, that would make some superhero speeches seem benign, they wear masks about as well as the vigilantes do but not for the same reasons. When confronted by this blatant hypocrisy, liberal voters justify all kinds of horrible things as long as the other “bad guy” isn’t the one doing it. For all the shit Bush gets, and rightfully so, for plunging us into a military, financial, and humanitarian quagmire in the Middle East, Obama gets almost zero real pushback by liberals for effectively drone bombing the hell out of the same people. During these past three years Trump has more or less allowed ICE to run rampant on immigrant communities sure and liberals have been critical, again as they should, but who made the cages they were thrown into and who deported more of them during his first three years in office than Trump did?

(And once again, and I can’t emphasize this enough, Andrew Cuomo is NOT your fucking friend...)

Liberals often like to present themselves as the moral purveyors of good in the face of conservative opposition and they use it to their advantage to more or less do many of the same foul things those with R’s next to their name do. Sure, not all their actions are equally as evil but even then, we rarely truly hold either of our leaders feet to the fire because we believe their actions are somehow better because they have a “D” next to their name.

These horrific policies and actions will never see justice as long as we keep justifying them because the “right” person is behind them.

No, this is not an all sides are equally bad take. That discussion requires more nuance and for a different time, but I will say both sides are varying degrees of bad that should be taken seriously instead of not at all and can’t be pushed aside again and again and again because “the other guys are worse.” 

We are running into the same situation today as our presidential election features a credibly accused rapist, sexual predator, who supports Bush-era tax cuts, who takes money from major corporate lobbyists, who is against Medicare for All, has open disdain for millenials, and not only supports but openly bragged about the aforementioned The Patriot Act.

Hmmm, sounds an awful lot like someone we know, huh?

You could argue that one of these two men mitigates, or even vastly mitigates, harm if in office and I’m not here to necessarily scold you for making what you feel is morally the least awful choice but the point still remains; we are justifying evil again because our “good guy” is in charge.

Being liberal, just on its own, does not vastly minimize the problematic nature of a bad person.

Regardless of how you feel about this election and what choice you plan to make this November (and again, I’m not here to tell you what to do), bad things and bad policies will be continued to be enacted by bad people because that’s what choices we’ve been given. There isn’t a good one and the most vulnerable will be hurt the most by it regardless of who wins. There is a reason so many are disillusioned with voting and it’s not just voter suppression laws.

I can already hear some of you screaming “OH MER GERD pURiTy TeStS,” but this is far more cynical a standard we have than simply choosing a less than perfect candidate. Many are already making rather tone-deaf comments about people being “privileged” for choosing not to compromise their morals anymore. What’s “privileged” is voting for the guy who will do less harm for you but ultimately still disproportionately harm more people of color no matter who is in office.  

(The country and the world can really begin to truly heal when a Democrat is in charge of one of these Freedom Machines once again!)

Yes, I might agree that one is probably a net positive for the world at this point but to act like someone choosing to not participate anymore in what is effectively a never-ending cycle I can’t say I blame them either. At some point, our society has to draw a real line in the sand on these things with our leaders and force a more moral standard for our government instead of the status quo.

We can’t go on this endless “pragmatic” path picking “the lesser of two evils” until we gradually just become evil. You can make the argument that maybe the time isn’t now, and you might be right but when? These folks at the top are COUNTING on us accepting circumstances and justifying terrible beliefs and actions over and over again because of the state of our politics.

“The Dark Knight” believes that sometimes bad things must be done to defeat evil but the real world can be so much less cynical if we stopped compromising on our beliefs. It’s not entirely too late for us to do the right thing. We can’t go on forever letting bad behavior go because the “good guy” will be the one doing it instead of the other one.

Taking money from corrupt billionaires is wrong. Extra-judicially drone bombing the Middle East endlessly is wrong. Throwing migrants in cages like fucking animals is wrong. Rape and sexual assault are wrong. Mass warrantless surveillance is wrong. Doesn’t matter if its Batman or fucking Superman doing any of these things; immoral behavior cannot and should not be ever justified.

Otherwise, we really will live long enough to see ourselves become the villain...

Looking forward to the comments on this one...

#The Dark Knight #Batman #The Joker #joker #Christopher Nolan #DC comics #comics #comic books #super heroes #9/11 #Terrorism #politics #Biden #Joe Biden #Democrats #Republicans #liberals #conservatives #leftist #bernie sanders #socialism #medicare for all #drone strikes #iraq #afghanistan #war #political #neoliberalism #neo liberal #centrist

[fallingin-like]

november 2

andriel into the future (series) by @dustbottle

see which other fics i’m reviewing this month! / my review request post!

these are some wonderfully written post-canon fics that make you feel warm and safe. we get to see neil and andrew’s relationship grow and strengthen. there’s neil’s year at psu without andrew, a minyard-josten rivalry fic, just some good times, coming out, and cats! there are 5 fics in this series.

missing you (is all i am)

i feel like this whole series is so iconic, and i understand why. it’s really well written and is just such soft content. as much as it’s fun to read the many au’s that are out there, it’s nice to come back and have some comforting post-canon that wraps you up like a blanket because you know andrew and neil are just out there living their life together.

parts i really liked:

”tension scraping at the back of his throat and humming distractingly under his skin. the quiet of his empty apartment… is pressing in on him from all sides, treacherous and thickly oppressive.” i really like the description that you use so well. i can imagine how this feels, you’ve put to words something that i have only ever experienced before

that the exy highlight is literally just neil. andrew is so far gone ahhh

”in neil’s absence, andrew feels strangely untethered, smaller and emptier and less somehow than he has in years.” i just really like the words you used, it is so right

that when andrew finally sees neil looking bad and immediately looks for an injury or something, it reminds me that andrew doesn’t realise how much neil missed andrew. during the novels we saw everything from neil’s perspective and it can seem like andrew is just an anchor, so it’s nice to understand that andrew, like everyone, is uncertain and unsure and new to this whole relationship thing too. i find it’s easy to forget because andrew always seems so decisive and confident, that he’s never done anything like this, let himself be so vulnerable, given parts of himself away to other people like this.

”he bleeds raw emotion all over the place even as he fights to keep it contained.” i love the imagery here

“neil says, and smiles; a dismantled gun; a knife wrapped in lace.” yes!

”’because it’s the truth,’ neil tells, trusting and honest and harsh, and just like that, the resistance breaks apart.” this feels so fitting, because truth is such a huge part of the foundation of this relationship. 

minyard-josten: a rivalry for the ages

i think like most people in the fandom, rivalry!au’s are so so fun to read. there’s something fun about being in on a secret, especially since in these fics, it’s not necessarily a secret, people just are oblivious. 

parts/things i especially enjoyed:

West! not going to lie, he actually kind of reminds me of someone i know (named Wes) who fits this character. the guy i know is really nice and chill, but has serious muscle, a bunch of tattoos, and always looks super cool which is how i picture Wes. and i like when this type of character feels awkward, it endears me to them a little bit more

great to hear of the bonding between neil and his new teammates! i imagine it must have been tough for him at first, he has to adjust because the foxes were his first team, but also his first family and that’s something you can’t just move on from.

”…[matt] keeps an impressively straight face, commenting that andrew and neil have always had a ‘unique relationship’…” i LOVE when the foxes play up the rivalry with increasingly ambiguous and wild comments. i mean they’re not wrong?? they’re just purposely misleading the public and i am here for it!

”kevin catgeorically refuses to talk about anything not strictly exy-related; when pressed, he stiffly remarks that their teamwork had never been a problem.” of course kevin tries to stay out of it. he must be preparing such a long lecture for the next time he sees andrew and neil.

the bit where neil scores on andrew and andrew grabs his helmet. they’re sO cute!! i can only imagine that it must be so rewarding for neil to be able to read andrew so well because it shows him that 1. how he is affecting andrew and making him feel things and 2. allowing himself to have a strong enough relationship with someone to recognize all these small quirks, etc.

”as he watches the other team celebrate their win, with andrew a speck of calm indifference in their midst” something about the imagery of andrew being this calm in the chaos. i think that’s such a big part of their relationship. neil knows that no matter what, andrew will be there for him, his rock, something stable when everything else is crazy. 

you did a really great job transitioning between all these scenes in such a short amount of time. going from the intensity of the game to the quiet of the changeroom, moving from having their teams and the crowd around them to being alone. there’s this distance between them when they’re on court, but when they’re alone? they’re free to be themselves and it’s so interesting to see how different and similar it is to how they normally act. andrew shows his affection in all the little gestures and neil is able to catch all of them where other people just see the blank mask still. 

the self i am

the parts i really enjoyed:

something you don’t quite emphasize, but the fact that they’re driving home. it’s clear that since they’ve been driving for such a long time, it would make more sense to fly, but it’s cute that they don’t. first, it shows just another way that neil takes andrew’s preference into consideration. second, it gives them time to spend together! even though they’re about to have a few days alone in the columbia house, there’s definitely something different and intimate about being in a car with someone for hours. there’s nowhere else to go and no way to reduce the time that you’re together (because i’m sure that andrew was speeding anyway)

andrew not smoking around daisy. although i do think that neil has softened some of andrew’s edges, i do think that andrew would be more considerate towards children than adults/teens. he knows too well how vulnerable they are and even if he doesn’t enjoy spending time with them, i believe he would do the small things like not smoke around them, or share his candy with them.

”progress is slow and not always linear, but it is there” sometimes this can be easy to forget, but that doesn’t make it less true. 

all the ways that andriel should have been obvious to the public but they were too oblivious to know (perfect format of a 5+1 if people still did that HAH you know what maybe there is one like that out there and i just can’t recall it at this moment)

”’i’ll think about it,’ he says, and it would have been a dismissal from anyone else, but from andrew it’s a promise.” i like this because it shows that andrew won’t commit to doing something if he’s still unsure about it. he still takes his word very seriously and doesn’t want to give neil false hope.

oh double fudge ice cream sounds GOOD

”winter sunlight bathes andrew in watery gold, lending his pale hair an almost ethereal glow, and neil feels, with a fierceness that surprises even himself.” i love the imagery you use in this. watery gold? yeS.

th e kiss!!! yeahhh

”kevin is staring stoically ahead, either resigned to his fate or possibly sleeping with his eyes open” I LOVE KEVIN DAY (and also the way you wrote this. so funny)

woohoo! acknowledgement that even though neil is mostly soft, he is also a knife boy and could cut you if he wanted *insert knife emoji*

i can imagine the headlines MINYARD-DAY RIVALRY?

bless the foxes and their reactions. they’re exactly what i would expect. 

neil asking if andrew wants him to sleep on the couch!! so considerate! these boys!!

i wanted to say that i like that this fic didn’t just end with the kiss, in fact that’s the middle of the fic. the fall-out/reaction of the public is definitely some of the more interesting parts, and the scenes where andrew and neil are likely dealing with the most stress

a battle, a war, a growing up

things i really liked:

hearing about andrew’s childhood! i think the idea of andrew reading harry potter is pretty fitting too, i imagine that it would be something easy to come across and that he would be the type to try and spend time at the library, either a public one or with school

acknowledgement of andrew missing neil, it must be hard for him, after trying to pretend he is independent for so long

”andrew’s mind is flat with the kind of bone-deep exhaustion that comes from beating himself bloody against the constraints of his own spiralling thoughts.” i feel this.

that andrew is still in contact with bee! and he still comes and talks to her about the big decisions he is making in his life. i think that it’s great to see how much he trusts her and wants to share himself with her, she’s probably the second adult he has been able to do so with (first being wymack).

”you have been taking care of people for years, andrew… this is not so different when you think about it.” YES THIS IS GOOD

i like the idea of andrew picking out two cats at once, of the cats being brothers and keeping them together

the first time that king sits in andrew’s lap is so soft

”there are no more sharp edges to the way he feels about neil; there is only trust, hard-won but utterly true” ugH this is so good! their relationship started as only sharp edges and things that they could cut with, it’s so great to see how time has worn them softer and allowed them to grow and live and want and love

sir! allowing! pets! bless this moment forever

YES NEIL. YOU ROAST THAT REPORTER!!! 

oh dang, i forgot that andrew being sick would likely be so similar to withdrawal that it would trigger him. i think i read a fic that explored this but i cannot for the life of me remember what it was called.

”bee picks up on the first ring, just like she always does, and andrew finally exhales.” i just really like the wording that you used, it feels so right

neil and his bandana strikes again, stealing andrew’s heart (and mine)

so nice to see aaron and andrew getting along!! i do believe that post-canon they work things out like this. they’re still rough around the edges, i think that’s how most siblings are, but they have come to an understanding that they won’t always understand each other but that doesn’t mean they won’t always support each other.

also? i just relate to this fic because i really really want a cat. this just made me want a cat more. they’re such a perfect addition to the life that andrew and neil have.

i think this whole series was lovely. the writing is really easy to read and i love seeing the progression of neil and andrew’s relationship, both with each other and the rest of the world. you have great characterization and i like the direction you took with all of these fics. it was really nice to see glimpses of their life in this last fic and it’s so nice to hear everything from andrew’s thoughts. he’s a character that keeps so much on the inside that it’s great to be able to explore what’s really going on inside of his head and see how he reacts to everything inwardly and his process filtering these reactions. this was so nice to read again, and i’d love to read any more additions to this series!!

#andriel into the future #aftg fic review #raelle writes

[thiswaycomessomethingwicked]

Your post on Bernie has me a little confused. Do you consider yourself a strict democrat, leftist, socialist or anything else? To me at least, it seems odd that you dislike Bernie for not being an “actual democrate” when Clinton is pretty right wing.

So I dislike boxes. They’re restrictive. I vote for who I like in terms of policy and who I think will perform best once in office. I’m a democrat, sure. I have leftist ideals but a realistic/pragmatic approach to things. I understand that we all wish to burn things down but that’s not how things work sadly. So let’s be realistic about getting shit done. Guillotine memes don’t feed the starving and they don’t end white supremacy. I’m a uh, let’s call it a north american socialist (no one running is an actual, by the books, definition of socialist, but that’s neither here nor there). 

Since people on this site apparently need to dissect my political beliefs, here you go: 

I believe we should have free healthcare; I believe that university education should be heavily subsidized (free would be great, but let’s start with at least making it subsidized and work from there); I think we should have universal basic income; I believe we should spend more on public infrastructure because our roads and bridges are falling apart; I believe we should have accessible, reliable public transit and an improved public transit network that works at municipal, state and national levels; I believe election days should be national holidays so everyone can vote; I believe gerrymandering is a curse upon our democratic system; I believe that we should spend more on public education at a K-12 level; I believe in subsidized and/or free after school care especially for the economically struggling; I believe we should have stronger anti-hate crime laws; I believe dental and mental health care should be covered anytime we talk about health care coverage; I believe in reparations; I believe we should start our own Truth and Reconciliation process for both slavery and the genocide against the Native Americans; I believe that we should try and address class and wealth disparity but that won’t solve racism, sexism, homophobia etc.; I believe we need electoral reform; I believe we need to do more for climate change but that the Green New Deal is empty in terms of actual things to implement in terms of policy - anyway those who wrote it admitted it was more of an economic plan than a climate one; I believe we need to tax the wealthy including all those pesky millionaires with three houses and wives who were investigated for tax fraud as well as the billionaires — 

I can go on. 

Of those running I currently like Castro, Harris, Warren. I really wish Stacy Abrams was running but she’s not. I think she’d be the best. I’m not a fan of Biden, Sanders, Gabbard (I mean, can we really call her a democrat?), Steyer, Yang. I’m neutral on Mayor Pete, Klobuchar, and Booker. I don’t know if that clarifies anything for you. Also, this is liable to change as we move forward through the primaries. 

And Clinton isn’t right wing. Calling her that continues the lie that she and the GOP are two sides/same coin which isn’t true. It’s a harmful position to perpetuate. There’s been a ton of stuff written on that so I’m not going to put it all in here. But I recommend starting with an analysis of her voting record - it’s on point with Sanders, if that’s your bar, on almost everything with some differences, the notable ones being Iraq (she was for, he was against) and gun control (she is for, he is generally against - his record is really dodgy on that).

I believe all politicians are up for grabs when it comes to legitimate critiques. But there’s a difference in saying “I disagree with her arguments for why she voted for Iraq” and calling her right wing. One is a legitimate critique, the other is hyperbolic and untrue. I also believe in understanding the context of the time in which many policy decisions were made. She, and Sanders, have been in politics for over 20 years. There are going to be decisions made in 1992 that we can look back on and go: Oh boy that was Yikes. But at the time, that wouldn’t have been so clear cut. No one has all the answers. No one is perfect. Purity politics isn’t the solution to our social ills. 

Anyway, some things HRC has supported, or accomplished, includes but is not limited to: 

The ACA - which was huge at the time. I cannot emphasize this enough. It was Ground Breaking. I think younger folk either don’t remember, or aren’t aware, of what a game changer this was. Indeed, it’s because of the ACA that the many Americans are even open to the conversation around medicare for all/any sort of more socialist health coverage. 

On a personal note, as a child of a single, poor working mom in the 90s this is the reason I had any sort of healthcare. Without it, we’d have been fucked. 

This is also one of the things that sent the GOP into a fucking TIZZY about HRC and why they started their 30 year long smear campaign against her which has influenced a lot of the more recent leftist rhetoric on her. 

Indeed, she was an early leader in expanding healthcare coverage in the early 90s and continued to be throughout her career. 

Leadership with SCHIP which which expanded health coverage to millions of lower-income children. 

I know we all wish we could have Instant Health Care For All but small steps is how you get these things. It’s incredibly complicated and difficult to set up health care systems and programs. They’re large, they become unwieldly, they’re expensive to fund, and they’re difficult to pass through congress. It’s useful to be able to point to precedents. 

She founded the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families

Supported and championed the Violence Against Women Act

Adoption and Safe Families Act (she was a supporter of it and helped champion it through) 

One of the leaders of the development of the Lilly Ledbetter Pay Equity Act 

Supported the Pediatric Research Equity Act - improving health and pharmaceutical access for children 

START treaty - an attempt to begin regulating the amount of nukes Russia and the US have which, even if one wishes we could snap fingers and get rid of them all, one must admit isn’t a bad thing. 

Negotiated ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in 2012 - again, regardless of views on Israel, Hamas and Palestine - having people stop fighting for a time isn’t a bad thing. The hope was it would lead to more productive, long term peace talks etc. but that sadly didn’t pan out. 

Copenhagen Climate Change Accord - one of the chief negotiators 

Etc. etc. she has 25 years of things to list but none of these things are right wing. One can disagree with her foreign policy approach, or think she didn’t push hard enough on health care, or that she came late to the table on LGBTQ issues, but that doesn’t make her right wing. I have right winger-s in the family and they’d all love to see Clinton dead. I know what the right wing looks like and it’s not her. 

Things she supports that make actual, real right wing people (like my great grandfather and my uncle’s sister) hate her: 

She supports and advocates for two weeks of paid family and medical leave at a minimum of 2/3s wage replacement rate 

She supports expanding social security 

You know, she believes in climate change and has worked to reduce carbon emissions, pushed for climate change accords, encouraged renewable energy, and ending tax subsidies for oil companies

clearly things a right wing person would do /sorry sarcasm I just can’t take it too seriously when people call her right wing

She supports immigration reform with full path to citizenship 

She supports the naturalization of around 9 million lawful permanent residents in the United States who are eligible to become U.S. citizens

She’s pro-choice and believes abortion is basic health care

Sorry how do people think she’s right wing again? 

She supports making it illegal for pharmacists to refuse to provide access to emergency contraception

When she was Sec. of State she wanted the US to join the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

She supports the Disability Integration Act, which requires states and insurance companies to provide people with disabilities who need long term care the choice to receive care at home instead of solely in institutions and nursing facilities

She’s obviously pro-gun control and was the first candidate in 2016 to produce an extensive position paper on guns and gun violence

She supports voting rights and advocates for changes in national voter access laws, including automatically registering American citizens to vote at age 18 and mandating 20 days of early voting in all states

She has criticized laws passed by Republican-controlled state legislatures that do not permit student IDs at polling places, place limits on early voting, and eliminate same-day voter registration

She had one of the most thorough mental health care plans that I have ever seen in a presidential nominee. 

It goes on. I again - I don’t get how people can look at this and think her right wing. I sure don’t agree with everything she’s done and every position she’s taken, but she’s not right wing. Good lord my people. 

There’s a lot many people have to thank her for and they’re unaware of it. Tumblr and twitter aren’t ideal places to form and consume political points. 

As a note, I work in the civil service in Canada (am a dual citizen), I’m very familiar with how large socialized programs work and how difficult it is to implement them. There are never any quick and clean solutions. 

And on that note - I’m done for the time being. I hope this answers your question. 

Required civic duty reminder: Everyone vote in the primaries and vote in 2020. Also - no politician is perfect, no politician is going to align 100% with your views and nor should they because you know, we live in a democracy. Do your homework, get off of tumblr and twitter, and make sure you vote! 

#politics #us politics #ask #anon #reply

[migleefulmoments]

"And whether he plays queer or not (we don’t know), the show has strong themes of homosexuality and closeting during the “golden age” of Hwood." lol we DO know but abby is demented. she thinks he's a pathological liar but he's not going to lie about this subject. seriously, she's so obsessed with him playing gay that she doesn't care about the backlash he'd get for taking another role. as an actual fan of his, I wouldn't wish that on him. nor do I think he lies about everything.

Her entire statement just hit me the wrong way.  IDK if it is her continued use of the word “queer”, her believing the anon who knows the entertainment industry, that she claimed we don’t know if his character is “queer” (we do) of if it was her use of ‘homosexuality” like it was a slur or her “How ‘Raymond’” comment. I posted hate entire post below simply because I needed to read that “how Raymond” quote again.  

“Obviously how problematic will depend on just “how raymond” his character is, but I cannot see how his character does not have some connection to closeting”. WTF does “How Raymond” mean?  She goes on to say she cannot see how his character does not have some connection to closeting? Why? What would make you think that based on what we know about Darren’s own comments about not playing gay characters and all the summaries we have seen about the show itself. This is purely wishful thinking and probably what she is hinting at what she “thinks” might be happening.  

She is also claiming that his team was able to get all the media outlets to talk about the statement.  They would be pretty damn powerful if they could actually make all the independent, for-profit media organizations and legit news organizations talk about their story. That isn’t how the media works. Yes there are sleazy rags that take stories for money but not any that I read.    

Anonymous asked:

Part 1: dividing this up in case this is too long. I work in the entertainment industry and I have a theory about the no more queer roles. The fact that this was brought up again tells me neither of his 2 upcoming roles are queer roles. That being said I have first hand knowledge that the one thing gay actors can’t stand other than a straight man getting a queer role is a closeted man getting queer roles.  

Part 2: what might have happened is after D’s rise playing gay parts someone (in or out) of the gay communities threatened to leak some information. D is well known especially in the Broadway/gay community and access to information about him is easily obtained. That explains why he seems more free in non acting roles to be himself (lip synch, halloween parties, gay benefits). Remember that it’s not just other gay actors that feel threatened by D. (wtf? if it’s easily obtained information then Darren must be prepared for it to come out. What could someone blackmail him over? He’s gay? I thought the theory is that Darren wants to come out, had tried to come out but he can’t conractuly? Are you claiming he’s too scared to come out? Because if that is the claim, then he is a spineless twit who has egregiously lied to his fans for 10 years and even married a woman he must not love to hide his truth).  

Part 3: it’s their managers that feel threatened by D. It’s not inconceivable that someone was threatening someone. None of D’s current actions make sense. No actor that I no of would make that statement on their own. Not one. In fact no legit manager would let their client make that statement. They would just not accept anymore gay roles without announcing it to the public. (Soooo you are in the industry but your only insider info is your first-hand knowledge that gay men don’t like closed men taking gay roles? Any woke, knowledge and compassionate actor would make a statement like that and if their manager wouldn’t let them make that statement, they need to let them go).

Part 4: I just finished Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow. There is a whole other world where young gay men are taken advantage of in Hwood. Fact. I fear that all of this bizarre things we are witnessing with D’s. careers we are all questioning is only going to lead to some very dark things. (oh ...so your insider information is from Ronan’s book?)

********************************************************************************

Hi nonnie! I would agree that is is very well known in Hwood and on Bway the D is queer and M is a beard and I also agree that out actors often resent closeted ones for taking queer roles but not being honest about themselves. However, out actors also very well know the struggle that closeted actors face in Hwood and many know how closeted actors are treated pretty deplorably.   (So she agrees because she knows? I guess it’s all that insider information she has but can’t share with her followers, right? HI love how Abby is so aware of gay men’s feelings but she has never spoke to one.  Also she agrees that gay men don’t like closeted actors taking gay roles but she also know how deplorably they are treated and gay actors are well aware of the struggle.  She what is her point? Oh, right it isn’t Darren’s fault). 

My issue, like you, isn’t D not playing queer anymore, the issue was how such a production was made over the statement and frankly the timing of the statement. (Liar liar liar). I contend this is not something D circulated .  He absolutely mentioned in an interview earlier in 2018 that he did not think he should play queer anymore, i cannot deny that. But it was a podcast delivered to a very tiny audience and it was not done in such a big, slamming the door kind of way nor was it offensive.  Months after that podcast, his team (December) decided to turn this into a huge media story and had it published and subsequently talked abut by various media outlets so it pretty much spread all over the industry and to the GA forcing D’s hand and pretty much making it impossible for him to accept a queer role from then until he comes out of the closet.  

And in my opinion, it was a harmful statement, that was incredibly offensive. and his team led the charge to make sure it was circulated. (No, it wasn’t offensive in the least. In fact, it was the opposite)  

Several factors, D had just won an emmy for ACS and was nominated for 3 more.  Seems to me like a slap in the face to the very community that he built his career on and it could have (clearly did not) jeopardized his chances of winning if people had resented him for making the statement. (No it wasn’t offensive to actual gay people Abby, just you) 

It precludes him from considering roles with queer characters from now until he is out of the closet. Seems to be to eliminate a ton of opportunities without evaluating each one on its merits. (Yep, it absolutely does... because that is what representation means. It means he is also eliminated from all black roles, all female roles, all child roles...you see how this works?) 

And another huge factor, we now know D made a deal with RM prior to the no more queer roles article. And whether he plays queer or not (we don’t know), the show has strong themes of homosexuality and closeting during the “golden age” of Hwood.  This seems very problematic. And it seems like his team trying to sabotage his ability to be in this show.  (I still don’t get this argument- does she really legit think we will believe this is a valid argument? Being on a show with gay roles is no where near the same as playing a gay character. It isn’t a thing no matter how much Abby plays confused about it- in fact if he refused to be on a show with gay characters THAT would be offensive AF and would be worthy of the gay community hating him) Obviously how problematic will depend on just “how raymond” his character is, but I cannot see how his character does not have some connection to closeting.  But that is speculation and we will know more as time goes on.

Personally, I think his team did it to hurt him and to hurt the new show (SO Ricky -the world’s shittiest manager is going up against Ryan Murphy? That seems like a fair fight) .  They do not have his best interests at heart,(But you do abby don’t you?)  they know he is miserable and does not want to be closeted and frankly I think that makes the down right giddy and joyful. And they use the closeting, and M, to control him because they know how much he loves to act and that he does not want to jeopardize his career. And you can bet there is blackmail and threats going on behind the scenes, the essentially forced him to marry the most toxic person in his life (I cannot emphasize this enough, they are not friends).  

And you are correct, a team that actually cared, would never allow such a harmful statement to be made. Never.  But then again a useful team wouldn’t force him to pretend to own a misogynist bar either, and well, his does that as well. Nor would they force him to pretend to love a person that is vile, unambitious and the opposite of a role model not to mention a complete detriment to his well being. (blah blah blah blah the record is the skipping) 

So it is clear his team doesn’t give a fuck about D, just about themselves.