#so you can't argue nepotism!

[typefacetournament]

ROUND 1 OVER

I'd do actual stats on these, but I'm still not at my PC. New polls up soonish, one group per day like before.

The highest-seeded loser was Times New Roman (1) against American Typewriter (128); the highest-seeded submitted loser was Garamond (6) against Martel (123). The most controversial judging by the notes was The Unseen (108) beating Impact (21).

#tournament bracket #round 1 #only one font i submitted made it and that was more people voting Against the other font #so you can't argue nepotism!

[simpforrooster]

would you be able to write something where the reader is maverick’s daughter and roosters girlfriend; she’s called back to top gun and graduated with rooster, grew up with him, etc. she is selected for the mission as well as Phoenix/bob, then rooster (so she would be on dagger 4). she sees her dad get shot down, is in the midst of trying to hold in her emotions, when rooster goes after him and also gets shot down? The last remaining have to fly back so once they land she goes somewhere to get air and doesn’t realize they’re okay until someone comes to get her? then she quite literally sprints to them and pushes through everyone (so sorry for the word vomit). angst and fluff PLEASE

for her.

Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw x F!MitchellReader

reader's callsign is Boho.

t/w: cursing, angst, mentions of death

a/n: oooooo yesssss! Love this! sorry this one took me a little bit to get to! I hope you like it :)

"Dagger 1 is hit!" Phoenix calls. "Dagger 1 is hit!"

The words are replaced with a high pitch tone as you realize the meaning behind your friend's words.

Was this sound just in your ears? Or were you and Payback next?

You and your boyfriend, Rooster, were called back to Top Gun recently. The two of you, along with the rest of your crew were taught how to fly this mission by your dad. Eventually, your dad 'Maverick'ed his way into the team leader spot. He chose you and Rooster to fly with him.

Maverick is in Dagger 1.

Your dad is in Dagger 1.

"Boho, you with me?" Payback calls from the front of your F-18.

You can't form words. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't.

"B, don't look," Payback warned you. Naturally, you turn your face to the right and see Mav's F-18 spiral toward the ground. A golf-ball sized lump forms in your throat.

You're going to pass out.

"I am going after him," your boyfriend says over comms.

No. No. He can't.

"Rooster, you can't. We've been told not to go back," Payback says.

That high pitch tone is still ringing in your ears. You can't stop picturing the smoke and flames coming from your dad's F-18. Maverick has always warned and prepared you that every time one of you goes up, you may not come back.

You just never thought you'd loose your dad on the same mission.

"I have to. For her."

You hear the dagger teams argue over the comms while simultaneously dodging enemy fire. You work through your weapons expertly, mindlessly.

"Dagger 3 is hit!" this time, it's Payback delivering the news over the comms.

Your dad and your boyfriend. The two most important men in your life. Blown from the sky.

"We've been ordered to go back. They don't want us turning around," Payback tells you. You nod your head even though he can't see, still numb. Still processing.

When the four of you make it back to the boat, you exit your aircraft with that same ringing in your ear. You stumble to the left, and then the right.

Is your head full of water right now?

"Boho, are you--" Jake reaches for you, but you move past him, like you don't hear him.

"Lieutenant Mitchell, you need to be debriefed," Cyclone commands, but this doesn't stop you from moving forward. Trying to find somewhere to let yourself breathe, to feel. To sort out these emotions. Warlock puts a hand on Cyclone's shoulder, holding him back from coming after you.

You make it to the other side of the boat before all hell breaks loose. Everything hits you like a Mack truck. Your dad was shot down. You watched his plane fall from the sky. Your boyfriend went after him.

"For her," he said.

Why the FUCK would Cyclone let your dad select you and Rooster for this mission. Wasn't that nepotism? Wasn't it a conflict of interest? What would Ice think?

It doesn't matter. He wasn't here anymore, either.

Gripping the side of the boat, your knuckles go white. Tears fall from your face. Your mind goes to Penny, to Amelia. To your mom.

Tears fall for yourself. Rooster doesn't have anyone besides you and your family. You will have to see to the arrangements. The love of your life's arrangements.

What kind of sick fucking joke is this?

"Boho! Boho! Where the fuck are you?" Jake's voice gets louder as he closes in on your hiding spot. "Y/n!"

You turn and take in the cocky aviator. "What, Hangman? What in the world could possibly be that important right now?"

Jake takes in your appearance and sympathy fills his eyes. The last thing you want is sympathy from Hangman.

"Come with me," his voice is soft, he holds out a hand.

You shake your head. "Tell Cyclone he's just going to have to wait. I don't care if he's an admiral, I just lost my dad and Bradley." Your voice breaks when you say the words aloud. Like you saying them just made it final.

It was already final when you watched both F-18 fall to the Earth in flames.

Hangman doesn't listen. Grabbing your hand, he forces you to follow him. You think about fighting him off, but suddenly, you don't have the energy.

As he pulls you back to the runway, everyone is shouting. Or is that cheering?

What could they be cheering for?

As you come around the corner, you see what everyone is cheering for.

You see Rooster first. He looks positively exhausted, and absolutely delectable. Is this a mirage?

Jake pushes you forward, and this resets your brain. You run, no sprint, through the crowd. Everyone steps aside as you shove through. Standing in front of Rooster, new tears fall from your face. Tears of relief.

"Oh honey," he says, drinking you in. You close the distance between you and run into his arms. Rooster lifts you up and your legs wrap around his waist. Grabbing his face in your hands, you attack him in kisses. When you're satisfied, you pull back and look him in the eye.

"I thought you were gone," you whisper. Rooster brings a hand to your face, wiping a tear away.

"I'm here," he says, pulling you in for another kiss. "I'm here, baby."

Your brain short circuits, and you pull back. "Dad?!" you whisper.

Rooster sets you down, and steps aside. You see your dad talking to Phoenix and Bob.

Relief washes through you for a second time. Both your guys were back and safe.

"Dad!" you shout, getting his attention. Maverick turns toward you and grins. He opens his arms to you, and you rush into them as if you are 5 again, and had just woken up from a nightmare.

Honestly, you really had.

"I see how it is, you go to Rooster first, then me," he chuckles. You pull away and swat his chest, your laughter mixing with tears.

Rooster's hand finds its way to the small of your back. He and Maverick take each other in, and Maverick reaches for him. Pulling him into a hug, you hear him say, "Thank you for coming back for me."

"It's what my dad would have done," Rooster murmurs into Maverick's shoulder.

masterlist

#rooster x oc #top gun #top gun maverick #top gun maverick fic #bradley bradshaw fic #bradley bradshaw x y/n #bradley rooster bradshaw #rooster bradshaw imagine #top gun fic #top gun imagine #rooster x reader #rooster x you #rooster x y/n

[magpod-confessions]

This is such an awful take that I know would get me killed by the entire fandom but I HATE Gwendolyn Bouchard. I feel no hate towards the people who like her, I just can't stand her. It's not even a mild dislike, no she is my absolute LEAST favorite character I do not like her AT ALL. She has 0 redeeming qualities to me, she fills me with such a deep seated and personal rage that I pray she doesn't make it though the entire podcast. She just isn't enjoyable! She's horrifically rude! If I was in a workplace setting with Gwen I know she'd make me cry out of repressed anger within the first week. I would quit my job because of Gwendolyn Bouchard.

And the entire fandom just warps her character SO much?? She is not a pathetic little wet cat scrimblo babygirl meow meow. She is mean and exhausted.

I also heavily detest the ship dyhard. There is such little chemistry, I have no clue what you guys are seeing. I know we all want toxic romcom yuri but they just??? Hate eachother??? Like. You guys know you have to tolerate someone to be romantically involved with them, right??? Cause these two ladies do NOT tolerate one another. Put them in a room together and within 5 minutes they will be arguing and not in the fun and sexy way.

I think I just hate authority and nepotism and bureaucracy too much to like Gwendolyn Bouchard.

.

#tmagp #the magnus protocol #gwendolyn bouchard #gwen bouchard #magpod #magpod confession

[mdzs-owns-my-ass-i-guess]

All grown up

Lan Wangji holds his husband close and whispers a final I love you in his hair, empty of any strength to protect him. Wei Wuxian responds in kind and burrows into Lan Wangji's chest, eyes squeezed shut. He can still tell the large, meteor-like burst of energy that's about to hit them is getting even closer now, burning bright and hot like a midnight sun. He doesn't want to think about it, doesn't want to think that even this second shot at life will not be any longer than the first has been.

Lan Wangji asks him to meet in the next life and he agrees, feels his husband shake at their impending death and cannot help grasping at his hands tighter than ever before, tears sliding down his face.

This is it.

The hit never comes.

There is a flurry of robes and then a high pitched sound, and suddenly there is someone shielding them both.

"A-Yuan...?"

Bright white spiritual energy shoots from his hands, shining powerful and relentless, stopping the deadly attack right in its tracks. The ball of energy hangs still in the air, struggling against its obstacle. Tendrils of dark, resentful energy snake around it from beneath the ground, wrapping themselves around it like vines. They can't see it, but his eyes burn red.

A flurry of talismans appears seemingly out of nowhere, and they burn a transparent dome around the two seniors as Jingyi finally emerges from deep within the forest.

"Hanguang-Jun! Senior Wei! Are you guys alright?"

"Mildly injured." Lan Wangji responds, somewhere between relief and wonder.

"How did you find us?" Wei Wuxian says, eyes never leaving Sizhui.

"We saw trouble and we figured that's where we'd find you." Jingyi replies, producing some more talismans that Wei Wuxian quickly recognize as some of his most advanced. "Sizhui, you holdin' up well?"

"Yes. Where's Jin Ling?"

Suihua flies through the horde of fierce corpses that's just been about to attack, drawn to the commotion. "I'm right here."

His three most powerful disciples follow and they begin drawing an intricate array as he sheathes his sword. "Da-jiu, I told you to stop making those 'I'm going to die jokes', or it would come bite you in the ass one of these days. It's called manifesting."

"Sect leader, the array is ready." one of the disciples says, "Power it up, please."

Jin Ling walks to the center of the array. "Sizhui. Step aside."

"I'm fine."

"I'm not arguing with you. Step aside or the blast will fry you alive."

Sizhui's eyes narrow, and the red in them shines deeper. "If I let go-"

A smile. "I got it. I'm not a sect leader for nothing."

"No, it's cause of the nepotism." Jingyi asks and everyone finds themselves breaking into a smile. Leave it to Jingyi to find time to roast his lifelong friend even in a situation like this. Sizhui does take a step back, but he can't find it in himself to release the resentful energy that's wrapped around the ball of energy.

Jin Ling doesn't reply to Jingyi's comment, though he mouths something obscene in return and closes his eyes to focus on the task at hand. The array comes alive with the qi of his golden core seconds later, and a burst of it runs through the ball of energy, tearing it apart into glittering bits of nothingness.

"Alright, it should be completely gone now." Jin Ling says, and flicks the long end of his ponytail over his shoulder, "Take that for nepotism."

Jingyi sticks his tongue out at him as he helps Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian up. Sizhui is quick to heal the few injuries on both of them, using the familiar healing cultivation techniques of his birth family's clan.

It isn't until they're both fine that his expression relaxes, the steely look in his eyes finally soft. "I am glad to see you are okay."

Lan Wangji nods, and so does Wei Wuxian. They're beyond words now, both of them. It's easy not to notice these things - but now they do. Their little ducklings aren't so little anymore.

"Did you manage to catch the bastard that did this?" Jingyi asks as the group now walks towards the camp the Jin sect set up for the night hunt.

"Find out that I did." comes the response. "Since this is my night hunt and he attacked us directly, I have to question him personally and see for a punishment."

Jingyi smiles, cat-like. "Oh, fun."

"But after I'm done, I can lend him back to the Lan sect for questioning."

"See that you do." Sizhui says, in a voice that's only a bit too dark, "Have him delivered to me personally."

They grow up so fast!

#mdzs #mo dao zu shi #wangxian #lsz #ljy #jl #writing attempts #this has been eating my brain cells since this morning now i can finally be productive

[izvmimi]

a/n: not me butting into other people's aus but i love @strawberrystepmom's kakashi x reader au so much!!!

cw: alcohol mention. reader is at brunch with a friend (oc)!

"so you're fucking the hokage, huh?"

you nearly spit out the drink in your mouth while maemi looks at you, unphased by the words coming out of her mouth, and stirs her drink. it's 11am, there's relentless hustle and bustle at this outdoor restaurant, and the soft breeze of early spring is not enough to abate the heat rising from your mostly bare shoulders up to your jawline.

"shhh!!!" you hiss, leaning in, as though you're suddenly surrounded by reporters. maemi blinks.

"damn, you didn't even argue with me." she laughs as your complexion reddens even more, and takes another bite of eggs benedict. you're covering your face now, embarrassment thick and unrelenting, and she chews and swallows before leaning in.

"don't worry, no one is listening in. plus i'm pretty good at misdirection - good grades in genjutsu class, remember?" she insists.

you shoot her a dirty look before rising to a regular sitting position, and adjusting the pleats of your spring dress.

"fine, a codename." maemi suggests. "are we going with your usual?"

you sigh. "That Man and I have not fucked yet."

maemi looks at you, contemplating, then takes another bite.

"he's fingered you under the table, right?" she asks.

"please!"

maemi takes a sip of her mimosa, nonchalant, and gulps it down a little too quick. "manabu told me, and if he knows, more people know than you think."

your blood seems to run cold, or is it early spring chill? you can't tell. her partner doesn't seem like the gossipy type, but he does work close enough to the hokage's office that it is feasible that he's heard something - or worse, heard something.

"you know, i could tell that once you started this job it would end up like this." she taps her forehead with the back of one of her chopsticks. "you know, the authority kink and everything?"

you take out your hand and place it on the table, palm up. "knock me out right now, to be honest." maemi looks down at your hand then looks up.

"oh no, you're gonna have to ask the alcohol to do that for you." she says, declining to waste her chakra. with that statement, she finishes the rest of her mimosa, then raises her hand up for the waiter to bring them another round of drinks. once the order is given, her eyes turn foxlike as she smiles at you again.

"hey, can you get the hokage to promote me? i'm not gonna be able to compete with nepotism baby sakura at this point, unless i have some kind of backer."

you snort. "i don't think being a former hokage's apprentice necessarily counts as nepotism. maybe she's just good."

maemi furrows her eyebrows. "listen, i may not be as good as her but i'm not garbage and i need someone powerful to back me-"

you raise a hand. "even if i WERE-" you pause, then bite your lip before continuing, "making love to current Lord Sixth-"

"is that what you call him in bed?"

you can feel your head start to pound before giggling maemi raises her own hands in defeat. "sorry, no more jokes."

you cut your eyes at her, and continue, "- what makes you think i can ask that?"

maemi leans in, brown eyes glowing with humor at her own jokes. "just give him the old spit shine and be like, so i have this really, really talented friend-"

"get out." you hiss.

your next round of drinks come, and you dig into a plate of potatoes and chase it down with iced coffee. as the conversation shifts away from the fact that you are notably entangled with the most powerful man in konoha at the moment, you consider what it might mean for your future, both as a biographer but also as someone who hopes to live quietly in this country. maemi notices you are somewhat lost in thought, and stops her tirade about the hierarchy of konoha's medical-nin, and gives you a reassuring smile.

"i know i just gave you shit, but i promise if anyone bothers you, i'll be the first one at your defense. i already told manabu to write down the names of anyone who even suggests that you're anything but sweet and sought after," she mentions. "you'll be fine."

you swallow.

"thanks."

maemi gives you another look, able to tell you're not completely reassured.

"do you love him?" she asks, her voice softer this time. "... it's not wrong if you do."

you can't give her a yes now, but you can feel your heart, slowly but surely, moving towards it.

#kakashi x reader #kakashi hatake x reader #thoughts: kakashi #daydreams: naruto #treasures: kendall #mimi's notes

[sehodreams]

it doesnt bother you that anton scored his position in riize from nepotism? the guy is undoubtedlu the weakest dancer and vocalist in the group

I can't argue about him being the weakest dancer, he's getting better, but you can still see a clear difference with the others, even Sohee.

I think his vocals are good enough though, and come on, we can't deny it, he's fucking gorgeous, I've seen many idols get popular because of pretty privilege, and in his case I think is that and his family what helped him get where he is.

I don't really mind that he's a Nepo baby because he still gives his best and has admited that he's thankful for his privilege, and I prefer that than him denying it. It's no secret that nepotism exists in every field, and yeah, it's a problem, but he's an idol, and even if got in thanks to nepotism, he wouldn't get far unless we really liked him, and he's such a pretty boy we're all head over heels.

However, I'm kinda weird because I've studied the consequences of capitalism and how it reduces opportunities and rights, so I'll keep saying eat the rich lol.

#sehodreams thoughts

[crymeariveronceagain]

i said i could talk about it and i think i will

Hunter's possession in Thanks To Them is highkey.... ironic.

The Owl House is most assuredly considered a criticism of religious extremism and of cultism. Belos is a cult leader, the only one who can talk to the god, who knows the will of the god, yada yada yada. This is all a sort of basic primal religious identity, and if you look through history, Kings and Emperors were often seen as literal gods or as the messengers of the gods, who were able to talk to the gods and commune with them.

Now, of course, the catch is that Belos is using his cult to straight up kill people. But the point remains that it is a cult, and it is a extreme and dangerous organization, whose primary focus is less on order, and structure for society(as primal religions were ordered) and on his end goal of destroying the witches and wild magic altogether. It's not about knowledge of self, for Belos, or identity for the wild society. It's about him achieving his selfish goals, and achieving a totalitarian control over the lives of his followers, especially Hunter. He brands them with his symbol, and then tortures them. He's a cult leader even down to his typology, with his manipulative words and smiles and professed care about people, all for his own evil ends.

The Owl House is ultimately less religion-critical, and more cult-critical. Think twice before you get a tattoo of a man's secret society on your hand. That's kind of the method of logic the show follows.

Moreover, it can be argued that the show is a condemnation of theocracy, of religion ruling all thought to a degree that drives the thinker further away from the Godly and more deeply into the dark. Nepotism, narcissism, and pride are all very key traits of Belos.

However, as a whole, the show seems critical of religion, in very loose terms, especially ones that try to control your life, or your being, or your expression of self, even through seemingly mundane rules.

This brings up something very interesting when it comes to Hunter's possession by Belos in Thanks To Them.

Possession has never, ever, ever been a good thing.

Not to any religion, as far as I'm aware. Especially not Abrahamic traditions. In Christianity, possession is considered the worst form of demonic affliction, and one that you need to do everything to avoid. That is not an end goal, that is not a good. That is something to be avoided at all costs.

Something other than you having complete control over your will, your being, is the exact opposite of what Judeo-Christian(Can't speak for Islam, I'm not super certain on their beliefs) Religions want you to achieve. True freedom is the goal of Judeo-Christian practices, and the ability to be wholly and completely yourself with God. Literally. That's the goal. They want you to become the perfection God intended for you from the beginning.

Possession is. Not it.

Even the word calls up thoughts of demons, of satanism, and of spiritual danger.

And therein lies the irony.

Belos possessed Hunter.

A religious/cult leader, with power that has slowly dwindled, took over someone else to do his bidding. That's literally what demons do.

(Of course, don't worry, demons aren't going to mess with you, dear reader. Christianity states that most often, just a little temptation is all it takes for us to sin, so why would they bother us with the big guns? Also. Like. In Christianity, to be possessed, you have to consent to the demons taking over you. So! Let that be a lesson to you! The world has a spiritual nature too, and what you invite will accept your invitations!)

Anyways.

It's ironic that the man considered to be a theocratic despot, a cult leader, a manipulator that stands for everything that should be avoided, was possessed, and then in turn possessed another.

It implies that religion is simply the tool being used by a greater evil. The idea of The Emperor's Coven as a cult is a tool used in a larger, more sinister design.

Because, if possession is inherently demonic, as it always is and always will be, then The Owl House has never really been about theocracy, or religion, or even cults.

It's about how darker forces can use those things to gain power and control.

It's about how darkness can twist even things like religion, which is a good, and is extremely important.

It reminds me of what one of my professors was talking about the other day, a Latin Phrase. Corruptio optimi pessima est. The corruption of the highest is the worst. Essentially, the Latin version of "The Bigger They Are, The Harder They Fall". It relates to how good is corrupted by distorting it, and how the worst things are all corruptions of what good is meant to be.

So, really.

Hunter getting possessed changes the entire focal point of the series.

Because it's no longer a single man possessed and ruined, destroying as many as he can out of narcissistic power-hungry desperation.

It's that same man taking over others in order to get control, and gain what he wants.

Belos is, for all events and purposes, a demon. His behavior is demonic, and his attacks are demonic.

And so, it's ironic.

It's ironic that a character seen as a religious leader is possessing the creature he made by playing god. It's ironic that possession is involved in this work at all. It's ironic that sacrifice had to be used to free Hunter. It's ironic. It is irony on top of irony on top of irony.

It's ironic that a series so widely considered to be critical of organized religion and cults is really just saying the age old tune.

Corruptio optimi pessima est.

#toh #the owl house #english major rant #english major thoughts #the owl house spoilers #the owl house hunter #toh hunter #toh belos #belos #hunter #hunter wittebane #phillip wittebane #philip wittebane #demons #tw possession #tw demons #tw dark themes #tw satan #tw cult #tw cults #irony #toh analysis #the owl house analysis #golden guard #the golden guard #hunter toh #thanks to them #toh spoilers #toh s3 #didnt mention this but CULTS ARE BAD DO NOT JOIN.

[blortch]

As far as the nepotism thing goes, I kinda agree with Mike. It might get your foot in the door, but if you're not good, no one is going to keep you around, in any industry. Like his example of Jack Quaid, I had no idea who his parents were when I first saw The Boys, and I can't imagine anyone else as Hughie.

He was arguing about genetics, and as far as genetics go I'd say that well. You're going to look a little bit like your parents and if your parents have that Conventional Look Hollywood Wants then it's likely you'll have it too and it'd be easier for you to get in. But that's the furthest I'd go from that angle, I don't know much about passing down actual skill, I'm not an expert.

As far as I understand, from my psych classes, in terms of instincts/skills you inherit very little which kinda makes humans stand out when compared to other animals, who are very instinct-based. Human Brains are designed, for better or worse, to learn the vast majority of the things they need to survive as they go along, as they are taught, which leaves room for a high variety in skills possible to be learnt. Mike mentioned himself too like just bringing the skill or that life close to that child could be impactful which, yeah, parents Teach Things and Talk about their jobs etc. to their kids. Usually.

For sure there's access/connection to Hollywood through them that I heavily, heavily doubt you can access otherwise no matter how good you are in lots of cases. A couple stars need to align for nepotism babies, as you say, but a lot less than for the average person.

I don't think it's right to imply that nepo babies are more deserving of the places they fill for the reason that they "have it in their blood", because 1. you're doing a disservice to them if you happen to care about them in saying that they didn't put much effort into it, it just Came to them because Talent Running in Family 2. I believe with my whole heart in that one quote that says, in essence (i forgot the exact wording), that scientists as good, or better, as Einstein have lived and died in poverty working in fields. This quote's point isn't to say that scientists are the epitome of intelligence there is, but rather that there's been brilliant people all over that have been denied opportunities, connections and support. An unbelievable amount of people have been barred from developing their abilities as they wish, and utilizing their skills as they wish.

I've been trying to word what I want to say concerning this topic ever since I saw on tumblr that Mike had said something 'controversial' on nepotism. For sure what he said has pissed me off far less than other things they've done (see: their treatment of the Amber Heard trial) just because the points were presented kind of confusing and all over the place.

I'm not big into the whole celebrity thing, but as Mike and Jay said nepotism is present in just about any industry so I had. Some Thoughts on it.

#mike #jay #blortchmod #you cant imagine anyone else as hughie. really #ah yes that bland paper mache character that nobody else can do #dont start scanning through actor names to see who can replace him #think about the fact that there's somebody that you don't know that would also work for the role #dont take this the wrong way that line in your ask was just odd to me #this isn't to argue either that jack quaid shouldn't have had that role

[roses-boar]

Chapter 4: Warlords and Cowards

A company of soldiers traveled down the beaten path in a stream of worn iron and bloodied steel, barely a hundred strong. The company was a coalescence of colors having been formed from soldiers of many dedications. Knights of Rose, disciples of Bismuth, followers of Pearl, and worshippers of many other gems filled the ranks of the derelict militia. The Paladin of Rose Quartz stood at the forefront of the march followed closely by Marianne and Sergeant Dewey.

"Sire, I do not mean to question your authority, but might I ask what the deal is with this stronghold?" Sergeant Dewey inquired as darkness began to descend upon the party. "Considering the corrupted could still be lingering about, I don't think it wise to risk our lives in search of something that may not even help us."

The Sergeant was a balding, middle-aged man who served the order most his life. His dark-brown beard was unusually dirty and unkempt. Reaching his age in this day and age was unprecedented. He had quickly rose through the ranks of the legion, a feat many attributed purely to nepotism.

The Paladin peered through the thin slits in his great helm, eyes rapidly darting across the barren landscape in search of the corrupted. His flail remained wrapped around his arm since the last attack. The Sergeant may be a craven fool, but his concerns were valid.

The Paladin set aside his concerns and gave an honest, albeit vague, response. "Answers, Sergeant. During the war, all home world captives and gem artifacts were to be turned over to the crystal gems. They would almost certainly end up in one of the Crystal Gem's fortresses," the Paladin gruffly responded. "Best chance at finding Rose Quartz and bringing us closer to salvation."

Before she disappeared, Bismuth had been responsible for directing the construction of many of the forts located around the world. By securing vital locations nearby warp pads the Crystal Gems were better able to make use of their limited resources. Human soldiers could reliably garrison forts while the Gems conducted safe travel under their careful vigil. 

"And how's that supposed to help us out of this mess? Sounds to me like we're heading straight into a whole load of trouble," Dewey replied.

"You scared of a fight Sergeant? Dying's not so bad y'know" Marianne teased. Squire Nora followed silently, closely behind her. 

"Knight-Errant, I thought you would at least listen to reason. Can't you see this is a bad idea?" 

"With all that foresight your expressing, must think yourself a sapphire. Honestly, did you think we would come all this way without knowing the risks," Marianne did not hide her disdain for the Sergeant as she spoke. "Don't worry, if anything happens to you, I'll be there to deliver a coup de grâce."

"Come on you two, why are we arguing over this? Fighting amongst ourselves is not going to help us," Squire Nora chimed in. "At least the Paladin has a plan."

Marianne placed her hand on Nora's shoulder and leaned down. "Your right child, we must all be together on this," Marianne whispered.  "L'union fait la force. You would do well to remember that, Sergeant."

Sergeant Dewey did not deign to reply.

Their armor clanked with each step as weary legs carried them on a seemingly ceaseless march. They all knew where they were going, but they were not all so sure it mattered. Every town they had come across had either been abandoned or razed to the ground, so they did not have much hope the fort would be any different, but the Paladin felt it worth the chance.

As they got within sight of the fort, the Paladin noticed the walls were unmanned and only a gaping hole was present where a gate should have been. Not a good sign, but the Paladin knew better by now than to expect anything else.

Pressing ever onward, his mind turned to the thought of his men. A single company was all that remained of his once proud regiment. Just a month ago they were a battalion strong, a number which continued to dwindle since the day the war ended. Since then, relentless assaults from corrupted gems followed them everywhere they fled. 

Any attempt to fight back was futile as the corrupted would simply reform if they were ever poofed, and to shatter a gem was to be deemed a heretic.

As they approached the gatehouse the Paladin raised his fist, stopping the company's movement. Ruins, all that remained was ruins, the Paladin thought to himself, disappointed. Collapsed buttresses had given weight to an object of seemingly immense weight, or perhaps strength. Not a single sign of life in sight nor any bodies for that matter, the Paladin noted.

"Wismut!" the Paladin called out. A tall, broad woman stepped out from the line of knights. Carrying a warhammer, she wore silver plate armor with a square Bismuth gem painted on the right arm and a black star on the left. Several locks of hair hung out the back of her helmet which concealed her face. As a disciple of Bismuth, she was knowledgeable on many of the structures built by the Crystal Gems. "Why's the fortress unoccupied?  An abandoned village is one thing, but an empty stronghold is another" the Paladin asked.

Wismut stood before the Paladin, nearly matching his immense height. "This used to be your average stronghold, a small company of soldiers protected local supply lines and settlements. But shortly after Rose Quartz defeated Hessonite, the Crystal Gems took this place into their care and removed the Order's presence entirely," Wismut spoke in a smooth, hushed tone.

"You think they're hiding something here?" the Paladin responded, suspicious.

"Hessonite's defeat was a major turning point in the war. This place may give us some insight into what happened to the Gems," Wismut added.

The Paladin pondered her words for a moment. He was certain she was still hiding something, but her story seemed to add up and he needed answers.

"At the very least, I heard there was a shooting star kept in the armory, stolen from the gempire," Wismut said with a chuckle. "A few more weapons wouldn't hurt our cause."

There it was. "And what cause is that?" The Paladin asked sternly.

"Survival. It's what we're all after and as far as I can tell, we have a common enemy," Wismut replied. 

"They used to be our allies, our friends, and you would just turn your back on them when they need us most?"

"The Gems we knew are gone. When it comes down to it, you're going to have to make a choice. Us . . . or them," Wismut whispered as she turned her back to the Paladin.

He had made up his mind. "Secure the fort! Scavenge what you can and dig in, we may be here a while," the Paladin bellowed out the order. 

The men quickly shuffled through the gate, lighting torches and dispersing throughout the fortress. As they stepped foot into the courtyard the ground seemed to shake beneath their feet, cracks widening in the earth ever so slightly. The men paused for but a moment before returning to the task at hand.

Amongst the ruins the Paladin focused in on the keep, it was the only structure still intact. "Marianne, I need a moment alone to think. Check in on the Sergeant will you, then come meet me in the keep."

"Understood, sir" Marianne replied, swinging her hair around as she turned towards Sergeant Dewey, her smile disappearing as she saw him conversing with his men. "Ugh, let's get this over with," Marianne said with a sigh, but as she saw Nora eagerly looking back at her she quickly switched up her tone.

"I've got a bad feeling about this whole situation," Sergeant Dewey murmured. "I mean, what exactly is the Paladin's plan here? Find some magic Gem tech an-" The Sergeant was interrupted by a light nudge to his side.

"She's coming this way sir," a knight whispered to Dewey, trying to hide his finger pointing towards Marianne.

Dewey became flustered as he quickly wiped the sweat from his balding head and a few of his knights tried to dust off his surcoat.

"Do I look alright?" he frantically asked.

The knights nodded their heads. "Nice," one said giving him a thumbs up.

The sergeant heard Marianne's light steps stop behind him as he spun around. "Oh hi, Knight-Errant, and you brought your um, sister?"

"My squire?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, confused.

"Of course, my mistake. Now, how can I be of service?"

"Looks like your workin up a storm over here. Why are you lot cowering in the corner?"

"Cowering? How insulting. The ground just feels more stable over here. Look at all those cracks in the ground. I'm not trying to be swept into a sink hole," the Sergeant confidently replied.

Marianne looked along the ground, she did not remember there being this many cracks when they arrived. She rubbed her chin as she considered what could be causing it. Perhaps the caverns beneath the fort had become unstable. "Just stay outta trouble."

The Paladin pressed on the door, but it refused to open as if it was fighting against him. With a firm kick the doors were swept open as he entered the decrepit keep. As he wandered the sanctuary, he noticed several vein-like tendrils protruding from the ground and extending along the walls. the veins consumed many of the statues resembling various members of the Crystal Gems. Berly, Jasper, and Bismuth among the many faces the Paladin recognized, but three much more familiar faces loomed above the altar.

A particularly ornate trio of statues resembling the divine forms of Rose Quartz, Pearl, and Garnet seemed to look down on the Paladin. These three were untouched by the tendrils, instead Roses sprouted from the crevices of the structure, a good omen he hoped.

This was but one of many once sacred sites constructed by the Order. Here people would gather to worship the Crystal Gems and present offerings in their name. Though extravagant in its own right, the Paladin could not help but feel it paled in comparison to the likes of the Lunar Sea Spire or Sky Arena which the Paladin had travelled during the war. 

The Paladin knelt before the altar facing the visages of his dear leaders. As he removed his helmet an unfamiliar feeling began to creep up on the Paladin like an assassin in the night. 

Doubt. Doubt in his purpose. Doubt in his ability to lead. 

Things had been so much clearer with the gems around. Rose always had the right words in the worst situations. Rose's right hand and closest confidant, Pearl, while brusque in manner, was an exceptional leader as she led from the front and taught the Paladin the art of the blade. In return he had taught her many things about his culture like the concept of knighthood. If Pearl was Rose's right hand the Paladin would reckon Garnet was the left. She was always there to give counsel and often offered guidance on the right path to take ahead. However, he may not have always taken this advice, often to his own detriment.

"Where did you go?" The Paladin exclaimed. "What did we do to deserve this?" 

"Could you have foreseen what was to become of us?" He whispered as he faced Garnet. "Or perhaps this is what was always intended to happen". The Paladin muttered these words as if the trio was standing before him. 

His head dropped, defeated. The thoughts slowly drifted away leaving the Paladin only silence and unanswered questions.

For all he knew they too were amongst the corrupted slaughtering his people. Yet, he could not help but recall what they had done for him - giving him hope and a purpose in a time when all else seemed lost.

Before he could continue the faint sound of footsteps could be heard approaching from behind. The Paladin remained knelt as the sound grew gradually closer until it stopped directly beside him.

"ça va, Paladin?" said a familiar voice.

"I feel lost. Things are tough and only getting worse by the day. The men expect me to guide them, but I don't know what to do," the Paladin Responded before falling silent.

As the Paladin remained knelt, lost in contemplation, she took a seat on the altar facing towards him. She looked into the Paladin's hazel eyes, it had been so long since she last seen his face. His short hair had turned a light pink like his skin and his facial hair was well trimmed despite the fact he insisted on keeping his helmet on all the time. Several scars stood out on his face, failing to match his skin.

Rather than consider her words, Marianne decided that openly speaking her mind was best. "Their scared, confused, and quite frankly in desperate need of leadership. That last attack has them all spooked and I sense their loyalties may be wavering," the knight expressed her thoughts to the Paladin.

She stood up and ambled around for a moment before stopping in front of him. "Things are getting desperate, and I'd rather that leadership come from you before Wismut gives them too many ideas. I don't know what the hell is going on, so I guess what I'm trying to say is, what's the plan sir?" She reached her hand out towards him.

The Paladin looked back toward the form of Garnet before gripping Marianne's hand as they both rose.

"Nice pep talk. You perfectly embodied the flourish and careful consideration of Pearl," the Paladin said sarcastically. "I got an idea. If we can find a warp whistle and a whaling stone, we can locate the Herald of Sapphire. If anyone knows where Rose is, then it's her. We'll need to head deeper into the fort to scavenge supplies."

"Sounds like a plan I can get behind. Lead the way sir,"

Outside the militia was gathered around the courtyard aside from a dozen men who manned the walls, keeping watch for the corrupted. 

Wismut stood at the center of the crowd, preaching her gospel. "When the corrupted arrive do not hesitate as the immortal legions did on that fateful day! The Crystal Gems are gone! The Order is gone! All that remains is us and them! Rose Quartz's chosen Paladin would-" 

"I would what?" the Paladin asked, his voice steady and firm. The men quickly dispersed to make way for the Paladin as he approached Wismut, bringing himself closer so that he was standing directly over her. The two clutched their weapons tight as they faced off.

The crowd began to split into two nearly even sides backing either the Paladin or Wismut. Marianne and Nora stood beside the Paladin while Sergeant Dewey remained reserved to the corner. 

"You would lead us to our deaths in a futile pursuit to save the damned," Wismut said calmly. "Just as you did with your own men."

The Paladin tightened his grip on his flail, the chains digging deep into his skin. But before he could respond Nora forced herself between them and struggled to push them apart. The two reluctantly stepped back as the young girl stood boldly before them.

"Please stop fighting! Just stop!" Squire Nora's voice cracked as she tried to shout. "I don't want to see anyone else die for nothing. Isn't it enough the Gems have turned against us? So, why turn on each other?" The squire asked to no one in particular.

The courtyard was deathly silent. Before anyone had the chance to speak the ground shook once more., and this time it did not stop. 

Another tremor? The Paladin thought as the ground shifted beneath his feet. Something wasn't right. "Get to high ground!" The Paladin bellowed out, but it was too late. 

Several small, grey, ant-like creatures emerged from the ground. They came out in force as they assaulted the soldiers, pulling them into the earth as their comrades struggled to hold onto them. 

The Paladin fought back striking at the creatures causing them to poof away, yet they did not leave behind a gem. The Paladin did not have time to ponder the enigma as he helped his men from being pulled under. He continued to strike down, but for every one he poofed two more took its place. There were far too many for them to handle and they did not stop coming. 

As men retreated to the high ground on the walls, the Paladin was still frantically fighting below. There was no sign of Sergeant Dewey, but a familiar scream caught his attention. He turned around to see Nora overwhelmed by a half dozen of the constructs who began to pull her underground. 

The ground violently rumbled once more, causing the Paladin to lose his balance. The center of the courtyard sunk in as a massive beast emerged from the hole. It was similar to the other constructs except far larger and the Paladin noticed a gem in it's mouth which was unfamiliar to him. 

Wismut was the closest to the behemoth and charged right at it, but the Paladin had other concerns. He searched for Nora again, but she was gone. Marianne was still fending off constructs when the Paladin came to her aid. He swung his flail with ferocity as it crashed into the constructs, poofing them in a single blow. One leaped through the air, but he caught it in his hand and slammed it into the ground. 

Marianne was short on breath, but she desperately forced out her words. "They took her down below! We have to go after her!"

"We will, but first we need to help Wismut deal with whatever that thi-" the Paladin did not finish his words before the sinkhole widened once more, pulling him and Marianne into the darkness. The sounds of battle deafened as they descended deeper and deeper below. 

#crystal gems #fanfic #steven universe #steven universe fanfic #paladin of rose quartz #fantasy #writers #su fandom #su

[rametarin]

One could argue that the corruption and bad things that happen from activist groups are at least partially the fault of the opposition to what the groups advocated for. Most activist groups started due to genuine grievances of some kind but turned corrupt over prolonged existence and loss of a clear goal in mind after meeting their initial goals but not being able to disband immediately for fear of reversal. Like labour unions having genuine problems with workers being treated like crap with stuff like scrip and poor working conditions or race inequality or gay marriage. All genuine issues before they eventually moved onto more corrupt or stupider issues. Which they may never have done so if the opposition just accepted the genuine grievances and didn't continue to fight them the whole time.

I'd argue that there's a difference between fighting bad things, or fighting for better things, and saying Your Way is the better way, therefore it's what you want to accomplish Better Thing.

Socialism and communism tries to find every greviance and organize it under itself, so you can't fight for better wages, racial equality or sexual equality without carrying water for them, and making themselves synonymous with the struggle. And it ultimately does not care about said groups, it just tries to make them think that ideology is the way forwards, and the only way to accomplish anything.

The Bad Things(tm) existing is not an excuse for an exploiter exploiting. They offer the opportunity for charlatans and abusers to co-opt any meaningful struggle, yes, but they become as big a problem to deal with once they've amassed any sort of power.

They in fact make it harder for any kind of resistance or solution to the problem by arguing you can't solve the problems of abuse of employees or disproportionately unlivable salaries without dogmatically moving systems to whatever ideological nonsense that sounds good on paper, when that's not true in the least.

Would-be heroes that only show up to lie and exaggerate and explicitly to float up to tell your children emotionally manipulative arguments and mislead them into revolution for a dumbass cause as, "the only way," aren't there to solve those problems. They're interested in how they can induct them into their army to accomplish their own goal and incentivize or lie to them to get them under their command.

For example, if we found technological ways using capitalism to reduce the cost of food down to pennies at market, reduce the price of hospitalization and surgery to a few hundred dollars, reduce the price of highly technical medical instruments and exams down to dollars, reduce the costs to go from concept to medicine pill to a few hundred thousand and made the tools for that accessible to individual hobbyist geniuses, brought medical costs from womb to tomb down to maybe a few hundred thousand, without socializing medicine, these people would still demand healthcare be socialized and insist on the necessity of it.

If we utilized technology to not just de-carbon fuel, but de-particulate every kind of harmful aersol or contaminate that could enter the atmosphere at all stages of the process from the mining to the manufacturing to the using to the land reclaimation, they'd still insist that business and industry was, "not sustainable or ecologically sound" under capitalism. No matter how provable the legislation was that put sensible regulations on it.

The very fact any of these things are property owned by the individual and not beholden to the state at all offends them and is the problem, and all things like ecological effects, actual nepotism and damaging problems of mismanagement and poor business, are secondary. You cannot have effective capitalism or liberalism in their eyes. You can't even have legitimate representatives without it being a form of, "fascism," if only because they move the goal posts.

So you really can't blame antifa running around punching non-fascists in the face, on the fact that the alt-right exists at all. Because if that were true, maybe fair's fair and I should be able to go out and beat anyone swinging around a hammer and sickle flag like they're the same people that starved Ukraine.

It doesn't make sense.

[dzchris]

hello, it's jamie, again, still, this time here to introduce absolute piece of trash chris kwon. i still am also the mun of @dzyuanjun and @dzyena i will not let you all forget i fear. yet again no plot page here (yet, i say hopefully, delusionally even) buuuut do feel free to read his profile and biography respectively. or don't. i'm not here to tell you what to do. i'll leave a rundown of them (derogatory) below the cut so feel free to check that out too. feel free to like this post or send me an im or if you prefer discord, just say so and i'll add you there

triggers: parental neglect, bullying 

chris kwon... my beloathed... can't stand their bitchass

non-binary, goes by he/they pronouns in general, just he/him works tho, in work settings and stuff

a cali boy (gender neutral), grew up in the states hence their perpetual 'relatable western-korean idol' stint that baekho media shoves down everyone's throats

grew up in a rocky family situation, mother's side is korean diaspora that settled in the us and their dad was a korean nepotism baby studying in the states for pretentious rich people reasons. no shocker that chris' dad was out the door the second he realized he had knocked his not all that serious fling up

chris' mom is... not that much better. kind of a hot mess of a person. def not capable of raising a child, leave alone one she kinda rlly didn't want

chris isn't privy to the fine details but at some point during very early childhood they almost got put in the system on grounds of child negligence but his aunt (his mother's sister) stepped in at the last moment and took over custody, chris and their mother both have been living with his aunt and her family ever since (which tbh is as long as chris can remember)

so obviously his bond with his mom is also Not Great, his aunt always tried her best as far as she could but tbh with his uncle and his older cousins also kinda despising chris' bitchass, family stuff has always been tricky

school wasn't much better, chris got picked on a lot as a kid and he always retaliated with outbursts or violence or something that vein which in turn always got him in even more trouble

yeah, chris has always been an angry defensive kid,,, still is a i fear

went to an alpha entertaiment audition with friends and somehow??? got in??? they were also kinda surprised by that but hey they were more than willing to take the excuse to get out their family situation and just yeet to korea instead, so they did

training under alpha ent was... not a good time... not for chris or any of the other trainees tbh. chris didn't really have much experience backing him up and quickly found himself with a raging inferiority complex which in turn only... made them Angrier and More Competitive

ngl they spent most of the 5? 6? years under alpha just arguing and fighting with just about anyone he could

ofc, clover debuted and chris wasnt in the debut line-up lmao

what did he expect 1) he couldn't stand any of these bitches and 2) i think they would have combusted on the spot if they had to sing baby

chris stuck another handful of years in alpha after that, continuing their shitty attitude vibe, not rlly sure what else to do with himself

until eventual baekho media hit them up like hey bestieeee wanna join our label if you do we'll promise you a spot on our upcoming survival show as one of our own label's representatives

and what was chris gonna do? say no?

they were kinda rlly popular on top five? they had like 5/6 years worth of trainee experience and baekho milked tf out of that 'former alpha trainee that was supposed to be in clover' narrative

was it true? no but it did earn chris the number one spot in the very first episode, not falling out of the top three for the first half-ish or so of the show

chris seemed kinda set for debut but ofc, like all good things in their life, they had to ruin it for themself

as he acted all around selfish, difficult, confrontational and sometimes straight up Mean to the other competitors, aided by very dramatic evil editing, chris found himself slipping down the rankings until he was actually not in the top 5 for the first time since the beginning of the show by the last episode before the finale

they ended up scraping in at fifth place, barely, and tbh chris has a tiny personal conspiracy theory that maybe baekho media rigged them into that fifth place spot. no real evidence for that. just cuz chris doubts he could've brought anything to a good end by himself

so yeah, top five is over now, 5ummit set to debut and chris is,,, impossibly struggling with overcoming the urge to fistfight their new members on a daily basis, to not see them as competition but as coworkers anymore

needless to say chris is bad at making friends, he's generally guarded and mean and callous, which as a not-even-debuted-yet idol is something that makes it very easy to come across as rude or disrespectful

chris can be charming and flirty in that fuckboy-y (gender neutral) sense when they want to be, the cool badboy (gender neutral) archetype

but most of the time he's just, a poorly held together pile of anger issues and feelings of inferiorty

so yeah,,,, have fun trying to befriend chris,,, they're a piece of work

they're??? kinda trying to no longer be evil, just want to experience love and affection now but it's an uphill battle, that's for sure

#❇ — ooc. #dz:intro

[ultraericthered]

Love Live! Lanzhu Zhong Drama

Was recently looking at an old Reddit thread that discussed all the controversy and discourse that Lanzhu Zhong and All Stars Season 2 in general got back in 2020, and another newer one about Lanzhu that was made after Nijigasaki School Idol Club Season 2 had aired.

My take on All Stars!Lanzhu is that I love her conceptually, love her design and her costumes, love her songs and her performances, love her general personality and the potential she carried with her as a truly antagonistic force who could make a great nemesis and anti-hero character for a series where such characters are scarce...but I could hardly stomach the writing and handling of her character in Season 2 and the story decisions coming with it, I feel it was a ball dropping of epic proportions. And I know Lanzhu defenders are prone to saying "Oh, too many Love Live! fans aren't used to conflict and antagonists who act like assholes to their Best Girls and they just can't handle it!" But I'd argue that the problem with Lanzhu many had was never that she was a bitchy antagonist or that she created conflict; it was that her antagonism as written was horribly excessive and unbalanced and that the conflicts she created were bad, stupid, and ultimately meaningless conflicts that were not very believable and came to the detriment of several characters, Lanzhu included.

Lanzhu as a character fell into the same trap as Paul from Pokemon: Diamond & Pearl, Regina Mills from Once Upon A Time, and Katsuki Bakugo from My Hero Academia - she acts like a complete shitbag who is spoiled, entitled, and needlessly cruel to everyone, yet not only do we have to watch her suffer little to no repercussions for it, but the writing around her and in particular the writing for other characters gets distorted so that no one is allowed to respond to her realistically given what her behavior should warrant, and in fact, so many of them outright sing her praises and talk her up to high heaven, a way of hammering in "This character is the coolest, OK? Respect what they do well and overlook their more negative traits! Please love them and don't hate them!" Which is never a good sign and will more than likely have the opposite effect on many in the audience who aren't uncritical media illiterates. One Lanzhu fan on there put the authorial intent behind her and her arc in Season 2 into clear perspective - that she was meant to be a different sort of School Idol who, in the conflict with the Nijigasaki Club, was wrong for the right reasons, or who went about being right the wrong way, so that once the other girls gave her open acknowledgement to what she got right, she'd begin to back down from what she'd been doing wrong and open her mind and heart to becoming a better, less toxic person who could forge healthier dynamics with others - and good on them for getting that. On paper, that sounds like an interesting character with an interesting arc of conflict and growth. It doesn't change that execution is everything, and the game's writers were not talented enough to execute this with the grace and nuance it needed.

Now notice how I was talking about All Stars Season 2 there? 'Cause in Season 3, Lanzhu is a more tolerable, even likable character now that she's a member of the club and on friendlier terms with the other girls, and we got a lot more cute, funny, humanizing bits out of her. The problem with THAT is that it does not organically gel with the Lanzhu we got in early Season 2. The character we were introduced to back then was a cold-blooded, mean-spirited narcissist with entitlement and nepotism issues. Lanzhu's "redemption" that grows her into this nicer persona relies on the fact that she was all along just a lonely rich kid who wanted other School Idols to like her and be her friend, and that the Nijigasaki Club was her main inspiration to start with....which is absolute nonsense when you remember that she treated everyone in a hostile, unfriendly way from the offset and even treated the two friends she did have like crap, and that she explicitly wanted to destroy the Nijigasaki Club in order to replace it with her "superior" Association. This literally feels like seeing how Paul is like in Journeys coming off of DP, or seeing Regina Mills in Season 3 of OUAT coming off of Season 2, or even Dramatic Bakugo VS Interim Bakugo. This does not feel like precisely written, naturally flowing organic character development, but rather like one character switching out with an identical but substantially different character.

Then we have anime Lanzhu, who is written like Season 3 Lanzhu from the offset but used for a different sort of antagonistic arc where she's an actual rival and ideological opponent for the club and Yu in particular, one who is amiable, honorable, and respectful but also haughty, uncompromising, and with a sort of mean streak that, when provoked, can turn downright venomous. So when it comes time for her to change her tune and join the club, it's certainly easier to buy. But there's another secret to its success; the anime writers looked at All Stars Lanzhu's loneliness excuse, that she just wanted other School Idols to like her and be her friend, and flipped it upside down. Anime Lanzhu is still lonely, but she is in denial about it and is not asking for friends; in fact, she wants to keep others out and away from her. The ideology she subscribes to that idols work best as solo performers, can only ever be in competition with other idols, and need to get by without help from anyone else especially not their own fans who they're meant to lord over and soak up adoration from, is actually an elaborate way to keep herself distanced from other people because past experiences got her convincing herself that there could be no one out there who'd actually want to be her friend over merits not school idol-related and so it'd only be hurting herself to try to reach out and make friends. Her narcissistic elitist attitude and antisocial behavior makes sooooo much more sense this way!

Someday I'd love to see something come out with a Lanzhu that strikes an ideal medium between All Stars and the anime; one who plays dirty and acts as a "villain" with a right-headed point to make like the former, but while possessing the mentality and redeemable qualities of the latter. But as it stands, this meme sums Lanzhu up:

#Love Live! #All Stars #Nijigasaki #anime #R3birth #Lanzhu Zhong #opinion #criticism #rival #antagonist #creator's pet #the Scrappy #sort of #bad writing #they wasted a perfectly good character #analysis

[euphorial-docx]

Your post about Kylie Jenner is so funny to me because like. Yeah. Sure, it's her career. Along with fabricating tax documents to look like it's successful and charging over 300$ for make up brushes. That's sure a career and not *checks notes* a makeup brand she needed mommy to help launch that is most likely struggling but again she Falsified Tax Documents to make look better.

Idk if you know this but... You don't actually need to defend rich people. It will not make a difference in anyone's life, especially theirs. People make fun of Kylie cosmetics for it's complete lack of originality, nepotism, and almost outright copying of other brands, not because they think women can't do things or something. There's also the whole origin of. 'I was insecure of my lips so I started a lip kit'" when her lips are blatantly cosmetic choice because no one goes from the white teenager she was to suddenly having very full lips without cosmetic intervention, which means she's capitalising on insecurity and sympathy for a choice she made. I dread to think who could be arguing about misogyny here, given that she's weaponised body insecurity to make money.

Anyway, thanks, this was a very good laugh. This is after all the "hates rich capitalists" website, where we love reminders of how bonkers society is about celebrities.

when did i ever say i liked kylie jenner.

tell me where.

all i did was explain that her brand is popular and that she is known for owning a makeup brand, being on reality tv, and being a nepo baby— i literally said she is a nepo baby.

i never said anything about the brand being good. or that i liked the products. or that she deserves the money. or that i even fucking like her. i never defended her being a billionaire, just said that she is one. which is a fact. facts =/= defense. it’s literally just… how it is.

i don’t know who you think you’re talking to, but i never said any of the things you are saying that i did. please get that checked out.

[frazzledsoul]

The thing with Logan in the planetarium episode that I can't really agree with is him using the fact that Rory is living at his place as a pointer against her when he offered for her to stay there. Sure, it's Rory benefiting from Logan having an apartment and not paying rent, but they're in a romantic relationship together and the key point here is that he offered. To me that comment of his is more of a personal attack against Rory in a similar way to how her article felt like a personal attack against him and his friends, but even that is not as comparable because we don't really see Logan be that incredibly close to those people. And it also feels lackluster when you recall that Logan has always had a love-hate relationship with the rich world he's a part of: in season 6 he was more than fine drinking during the day just to get through having to socialize with older rich people at one of the events that Rory organizes for her grandmother, he constantly argues that he's only being pushed through one door and has no further options because of his father, all while neglecting to consider the sheer benefits he has just from being in his family, and then in season 7, not even 5 episodes near the end, he's at least accepted that he's rich but is now all defensive about it?

It's just inconsistent writing on the character's part that in turn makes me feel disinterested in this whole side of his character that is so attached to who he is. If it was a more concretely written development for him, I'd at least accept it in season 7, but the writers felt like they needed to hammer in Logan slumming it in like 4 episodes before the end when he abruptly proposes to Rory and then dumps her. That's why the planetarium argument is neither here nor there for me when it comes to Logan and him calling out Rory. If he came from humbler origins I'd fully understand his criticism, but he doesn't. And he himself has such shifting feelings about being part of the rich world and his supposed friends, not to mention how this issue isn't even really resolved well within the episode for me because he goes from criticizing Rory's approach to being all "you intimidate me because you're such a good writer", that wasn't the issue they were arguing about. That's why I still don't agree with fans of his saying how this one scene is important in terms of Logan calling out Rory. Does this scene lead to any change in their relationship and Rory's own view of her privilege? No it doesn't. She still remains aloof as to how much privilege she has when she can't get into the NYT fellowship and Emily is even all "you didn't get it because of nepotism!". That even may be true, but Rory being able to finish Yale with no further student loans and a solid curriculum for future work is still more than other people get.

So pointing out that she doesn't pay rent there was a low blow for Logan and he knows it, which is why he apologized, but I don't think that makes every other point he made invalid. For me, it's not so much Rory's belief that "these people are rich, I'm not, therefore I have the right to make as much fun in them in print as I want, even though their chief sin is being boring!" but that these people were important to Logan, he needed them to further his goals, and she didn't care and decided to make fun of them anyway. It doesn't matter if they're his best friends or he likes them that much personally (they're not, he doesn't) you just shouldn't....do that. It's morally and ethically wrong. Find another angle. Rory didn't seem to care. The fact that Logan makes the connection with the website guy himself (to further her goals) when she doesn't care about his makes this even worse. However, I have little to no respect for Rory's profession in general because of stuff like this: journalists often seek to hurt and screw over any target they can find just because they can, and they don't care if their targets deserve it or the consequences of their actions. And I'll point out that Rory gets exactly in this frame of mind when she hurts Lorelai in AYITL by insisting on writing her side of Lorelai's life story when Lorelai all but BEGS her to find another angle and just write her side. You should tread more carefully when it comes to people you care about. Often she just doesn't.

This is why I kept going back to Jess, because Rory essentially ruined what should have been a great night for him because she was mad at Logan because her feelings took precedence over his. He didn't use her callousness against her (good for him) and she knew she had fucked up and treated him badly and apologized (good for her) but that doesn't mean any of it was right. In both cases Logan and Jess are trying to be adults and Rory has little respect for either of them.

How Logan feels about his privilege in general and Rory's ability to criticize it when she comes from similar privilege herself is a separate issue, but the fact that it is a conflict in the first place is reason enough for me to say no, this was not the second worst episode in the series and doesn't deserve it's reputation. And this is a low blow because Jennie Snyder Urman had no way of knowing this when she wrote this episode, but it's immensely amusing to me that Rory argues that she doesn't have a trust fund like Logan does when it's fairly obvious that she is using family money to get by in AYITL and ASP didn't want to say that outright.

So point being in general...this is not an altogether terrible storyline, Logan made some good points, and it's probably worth it enough by itself to move the episode out of the "second worst episode ever" category.

#i am a one woman introducing lorelai planatarium defense squad apparently #anyhoo #gilmore girls #team stop inviting rory to launch parties

[thingsarecomplicated]

There has to be an incredibly strong connection between what I shall call "unfairness tolerance" and political leaning, right?

By "unfairness tolerance" I mean the degree to which you see something unfair and go "well, I guess that's the way it is" vs. looking at the same thing and going "we should fix that!"

Examples off the top of my head:

I've seen some commentary on whether or not the Scholastic Book Fair should be a thing in schools. Some people argue that poor and neglected children are left out and excluded, so it shouldn't be a thing. Others argue that's just the way it is, and, while it's sad that some kids can't buy anything, that doesn't mean no one should get to enjoy it.

Back when Pokemon Go came out, I saw a lot of commentary that it was inaccessible to people who use mobility aids or who have disabilities affecting stamina or manual dexterity. Some people said it was unfair and the company should adjust the game to add options where disabled people could play easier. Others said "well, it's a walking game, it's sad you can't play, but that's the way it goes."

Honestly a lot of accessibility in general, especially regarding luxuries. If the luxury is inaccessible to disabled people, some will say "fix the barriers" and others will say "eh... that's unfair, but so?"

Nepotism. I have family members who say insist that nepotism is just how companies run, and there's nothing you can do about it other than accept it. But a lot of people think nepotism is corrupt and there need to be strict ways of preventing it.

Employers discriminating based on first name. Some people say "that's disgusting discrimination and is xenophobic and racist, there should be a screening process without first names to level the playing field." But I know people who say "well, they could change their name or go by their middle name, parents should be aware of this when they name their child."

I could probably think of more examples. And I'm not saying which of these positions is right or wrong. But my strong suspicion is that there is a STEEP connection between the "that's just the way it is" mindset and leaning conservative politically.

#ableism cw #racism cw #xenophobia cw

[darkhorse-javert]

Another Answer part 5

Christopher rather bluntly gives Andrew some truths about the situation.

Umm this is a bit expositiony- and I'm not sure it's quite in character (must get back to the rewatch), so yay, nay or critique is welcomed.

Christopher lets Andrew devour one slice of toast and start at the second sitting at the tablebefore he broaches conversation again.

"You realise that getting married probably won't help Sam, if she wants to make her way in the world?"

Andrew blinks and frowns at him, goes to say something and has to stop to swallow his mouthful of toast. "What do you mean?"

"Well, lots of places, Andrew, won't take a married woman to work. Teachers, secretarial, nurses. If a woman gets married, she leaves her position."

Andrew's eyes go wide, and he leans forwards, clearly ready to argue, "Some of the WAAF were married, the ATS, and the clerks, I saw the rings, and they talked about their husband sometimes."

He keeps his tone matter of fact, rests his arm on the table, "That was then, Andrew. The Extingencies of Wartime." His son starts to frown again, "Now we're at peace and many will be expecting things to return to normal."

Andrew's frown deepens, marking his whole face, "That’s ridiculous..." He bites down on his toast with an exceptional crunch

"I never said it wasn't." Foyle let's himself sigh "But I'd be surprised if it changes- people want things to be normal again, even if they can't be."

Andrew's eyes are still cross, but there's a tint of hope "What about the police? Would you take her on, she's proved her worth - surely?.

"I would, as would Milner -except he's going to Brighton, I'm retiring and I don't know who will take my post. But If I did take her on, or recommended her -with her relationship with you, it would be almost nepotism, and certainly seen as such by many others." Something in his posture stops Andrew from arguing "We know Sam has the skills and the ability, more than some of the men, but not everyone does or would be willing to. And then there's are the constables oming back from the war to fill their old posts once again... Andrew, Sam was never officially a Police Auxilliary, much less a WPC, she was attached to us from the MTC, she could have been recalled." Or sent back, Nearly was a couple of times.

His son's voice is bland, "She's obliquely under their authority then, and looks to them for demob."

Then Andrew's head drops, into his hands.

But Christopher sees his sons jaw clench and unclench, a heavy sigh shaking him. I know...I know, it's not an easy world, and easy change after everything. I was lucky, I had your mother AND a job to come back to.

Eventually Andrew lifts his head, "I'll talk to Sam." His voice is weary, strained, but there's still a flash of fight and defiance behind his gaze, "We'll think of something."

"Well, ah, bring her up for dinner on Monday, and we can all talk about it together."

"Really? It won't be- you know, improper." Andrew guestured with one hand.

"I would hope, Andrew that I am a capable chaperone for the two of you" he finds himself almost laughing," and you've been walking out without me more often than not, already - haven't you?"

Andrew's eyebrows rise slightly in a thoughtful manner "That's true enough." He gets up from the table "Thank you."

Foyle answers the little nod with one of his own.

Andrew pauses at the kitchen door "Oh Dad?"

"Hmm?"

"Did you catch the murderer, the one who'd killed the doctor?"

"Yes... Yes I did."

He can hear the smile in his son's voice, "Knew you would."

#andrew foyle #sam stewart #foyle's war #foyle's war fanfiction #sam/andrew #history #what if #we'll see #another answer