Hi, guys! I'm back. I've just finished reading Starset's new novel, A Brief History of the Future, and i really needed to share it.
Some of you may know me from my previous posts on the Starset lore:

• In "The Starset lore Part I: Transmissions", I covered the events told in The Prox Transmissions (Starset's first novel) and linked them to the album Transmissions.
• In "The Starset lore Part II: DivisionsThe Starset lore Part II: Divisions", I tried to gather the information we had on the new storyline, mainly based on Divisions content (Horizons hadn't released yet by then) and I shared my speculations about its meaning.

Now that I've read this book, I want to sum up what we have now. Keep in mind that, for obvious reasons, this post is all spoiler content. If you plan to read the book(s) I encourage you to do so, because I'm unveiling some of the main "plot-twists" in the second book. I won't be writing a literal summary of the book's plot (I will focus on the content more than in the "drama" -in fact, I will start at the end), but key elements of it will appear. Also, I'm taking for granted you are already familiar with the contents in The Prox Transmissions -if not, I recommend you reading my post or just dropping this post altogether and go read the book!
If you have already read the books, don't plan to read them or don't care about the spoilers, stay with me along this long post because you will discover much about Divisions, Horizons... and what's coming next!!
Let's go then!
In a unknown year the novel starts in a world dominated by a state called the New East. it's not explicit in the book, but we have reasons to identify the New East with China: it is a current superpower and the powerful people in control have Chinese names. This state is governed by a Governing Committee, composed by Ministers that stay in charge for 5 years, with an exception: the Minister of Security, also known as MinSec. He is the head of the New East's secret police and he is to remain in charge for life.
Prior to 2024, Aston Wise (remember he was one of the protagonists of the previous novel!) is locked up by the US Government. They force him to create the BMI and its Architecture. In 2024, as I have said, the New East manages to obtain it and the big war starts. This part of the story is also explained deeper in a video (called "Initial Debriefing", available in Starset's YouTube channel since September 9th, 2021), with some minor incongruencies:

In the year 2010, the US Defense Advance Research Projects Agency -or DARPA- began work on a neural link system known as the "Brain Machine Interface" developed under the highest levels of secrecy. This technology was to be used in covert espionage campaigns with the goal of giving the US a major advantage in the ever-growing cyber warfare battlefield. The intention was to use the "BMI" on unsuspecting foreign agents, giving US Intelligence a remote line into their minds. Launched in 2020 to great success, the BMI provided a window into the intentions and secrets of numerous potential adversaries. Then, in 2021, a botched operation allowed this technology to fall into the hands of an undisclosed state who would then use it agains the US itself for over a decade. This state -which came to be known as the New East- used this technology to syphon intellectual property and assert control over the US, allowing it to rise swiftly as a global superpower. In the early 2030s, the crippled US launched an attack to the New East. This was quickly thwarted. However, as the New East was fully aware and prepared, in the end, the US and its allies capitulated and became known simply as the New West. Citizens of the New West, now mostly impoverished laborers, were offered BMI implantation -sold on the wonders of its amazing benefits. Eventually though, all were made to comply. Only then did the true goals of the New East become apparent.

The New West is a de facto and de iure protectorate. The New West has its own local police -that dealt with murder and robbery-, but the military and, most important, the Civil Authorities (CA), are controlled by MinSec -focused on thought crime.
Soon after the end of the war, some people were drafted for the reclamation in Virginia by the New East army. This was a forced-labor suicide mission because it was a fallout zone. The goal was the recovery of documents from the US, such as blueprints for advanced weapons and intel. Those who survived, developed NeuroTIDS (neural tissue interface degeneration syndrome) because of the radiation.
Once in control of the US (now New West), the New East implanted into all citizens the BMI. Now, people deal with three layers of reality: unaltered reality (UR), augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR). Considering the BMI, there are three states:

• BMI glowing white (normal state: people are in UR with elements of AR).
• BMI glowing blue (also called frosting: people are in VR having some pleasant experience, while looking absent and apathetic in the outside). See an example of person frosting in the Diving Bell music video.
• BMI glowing red (also called supplication).

(There also exists the Everything Machine in this storyline. Indeed, people ate only printed food, as real food as reserved for the New East).
On top of this, there’s an intelligent algorythm or artificial intelligence in the Architecture, called the Overseer. It is capable of detecting thought crimes by accessing a person's sensory input and also altering their perceptions (for example, blurring texts from banned books). When a thought crime is detected, CAs intervene and turn the perpetrator into a supplicant. Supplicants are stuck in VR prisons while their bodies wander in the streets or are collected and put into "corrals". See an example of a supplication facility in Where the Skies Ends music video.
The protectorate of the New East upon the New West is mantained thanks to the Quantum Comunicator, which keeps both connected and also connected to the Architecture
On the other hand, there's a rebel network still in function. They manage to meet and develop their plans by modding their BMIs, so that they become undetectable under the eyes of the Overseer. Their plan is to trap the MinSec and use their credentials to get access to the Architecture and destroy it from the inside.
(In Manifest music video you can see examples of people frosting, people supplicated, the modding minor surgery, the rebels, the CAs using their "freezing" weapons and supplicating civilians and a bigwig from the New East, maybe the MinSec himself).
Also, it is said that the New East didn't manage to conquer all the Old West (US) territories. There's rumours about the socalled Western Territories, free land where some former rebels already live, though its real existence it's in never confirmed in book. In The Breach music video we can see how a family leaving in the New West takes the opportunity of escaping into the Western Territories during some sort of shutdown.
The New West capital is established in Philadelphia, where the events in A Brief History of the Future are set. Here's the Quantum Communication Center and the New West Center for Advanced Innovation (CAI), where the most brilliant programming students are sent to develop their skills and work for the New West/East. One of this students is one of the protagonists of this book, Thomas Bell (again, someone whose name we are already familiar...), who quickly proves to be the best one and gets to be chosen as the Director's assistant. Eventually we get to discover the Director is Aston Wise and later on we find out he is the Architect himself.
A feature or app of the BMI that will reveal crucial to the plot is the Shadowcast: one can frost but, instead of being conscious in a VR, "enters" inside a celebrity's mind for an hour and experiences all they are experiencing live (the user is passive and can only perceive, but not intervene or influence the shadowcast celebrity into doing anything). You can see an example of this in Symbiotic music video, where the user is finally able to successfully Occupy the body of the celebrity. In the book, when this happens, the person occupied has their BMI turned purple.
In the book, Occupation will be a tool used by Bell and Wise, but also by the government, in an attempt of using the supplicated bodies to their own purposes. The original project launched by the New East and commissioned to the Director of the CAI (Aston Wise), was called by Wise himself 'Project X'. New East wanted to present it to the citizens as a way of emancipating from work: while working, you can let yourself be occupied by the Overseer, who wil perform your job while you can be having fun in VR. In Icarus music video you can see an ad made by the New East to promote the "benefits" of this technology (called Werk here); the other ads are based on previous BMI technology (AR, VR and Shadowcast). (Fun fact: have you noticed that the actor in 3:12 is the same from the Ricochet music video?).
As I said in the beginning, it is not my goal to sum up the book's plot and even though I have already spoiled you much info and some plot-twists, I'm not telling you here how the story of the protagonists develops and how it ends. However, I can't refrain from telling you this: the last page of the book has a QR that redirects to a video that has me really excited.
In the video, we see a man. He tells us it is 2048. In spring 2026, the New East took over the US. But... guess who's back! Oh, yes, the Order! Or rather they were there all along. In fact, the man who's talking to us is Stephen Browning! On July 4th of 2026, after the New East invasion, the Order tried to launch a spacerocket to get to "a lonely planet" (Prox!), but it was intercepted by the New East and then the army destroyed their base, so they lost all hope in a future on another planet. However, they managed to hide a "time mechanism" (I guess the same they had in The Prox Transmissions) and, finally, sent a message to 2024, warning us about this future that awaits us. Then he sais:

Dear Order friends, the time has finally arrived. We're headed to space. We're going go Prox.

This announcement matches Starset's video from six months ago ("It begins. And it ends. Now."), where we see images of astronauts and spacerockets, evoking space travel. Wow! Did you miss that "space-y" aesthetic, plots and sound from Transmissions and Vessels? Because it sounds like we're getting them back! Note that at the end of this video, the three dots of the BMI are occupied by three symbols:

• The bottom one is the symbol of the Order, appears at the beginning of each chapter in The Prox Transmissions.
• The middle one is the symbol of Divisions album, I'd say it's a symbol of the rebels.
• The top one is... unknown? It is quite similar to me to the symbol in Faultline, but I guess it represents the "following chapter"? Who knows.

It also matches the music video for Starset's last single, Brave New Word! And there's more news: the end of the video linked in A Brief History Of the Future ends with a "to be continued in Spring 2025".
So... Again, there are some questions left unanswered (and I love that!): How are both books linked? Are they the same Aston Wise and Thomas Bell, but in an alternative timeline? From where will the story continue? (The Order in 2048 colonising Prox?). I'm soooo excited to learn what's coming next and to listen Starset's next album (I love Brave New World).
Let me know about your impressions, opinions, theories... feel free to add any info I could have missed, to correct any piece I could be mistake about, etc. Thank you so much for your attention (I literally created this account only to write these Starset lore posts I feel very invested to and English isn't even my first or second language), I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful!!

(TL;DR - I run a module written by a DM from another group, it goes off the rails, I allow it, we have fun, and the other DM completely loses their shit on me when they hear about it a few years later.)
This one is hopefully going to be fun, the original event happened a number of years ago, and the end of the event is fairly recent, so a lot of the earlier details are a little bit fuzzy but I can definitely relate the story.
Back in my game store days, I was the DM of one of two consistent Dungeons & Dragons groups at my LGS. The other DM and I really weren't friends, and I can't say we even actually liked each other, but we had a mutual respect and we had a few common players in our respective games.
One day the other DM approached me with a folder of papers. He said he had written a module that he was thinking of publishing and he wanted to have other DMs run the game with a few different groups at the same time so that he can have usable feedback. I told him I would read it and then I would try running it with my group.
It wasn't bad. Not exactly the best writing, there were some small spelling and grammar mistakes, but not anything incomprehensible. The plot basically involves a corrupt treasurer of a merchant guild blackmailing the player characters into doing a long series of side quests because he could very easily frame them for an event they witness.
The thing about this was that the writer spent a considerable amount of effort in writing contingencies so that the villain in the story could not be killed too early because it would ultimately result in the players getting framed for the event anyway. Kind of heavy-handed railroading, but I would give it a shot.
The corrupt merchant guild treasurer was Harvey. He was a smarthy middle-aged half-elf with what was described as a "manipulative personality"; None of that is actually relevant to the story.
My players decided that instead of trying to investigate the potential murder of another merchant guild office holder, they were going to try to loot Harvey's office before meeting him.
While the players are looting, Harvey walks back into his office after paying for the hit on the other office holder, one of the party members panics and wins the initiative before Harvey can even speak. Two natural 20s later, Harvey is dead.
Well shit.
The thing is, the way the module was written, every opportunity the players would have to kill him early, there would be witnesses and contingencies. This particular event did not, and wasn't exactly planned for in the original writing. When the players characters search him, and find out who he is, the players collectively panic and try to find a way to get out of the situation without having the whole town after them.
So after about 30 minutes of in and out of character discussion among the players, they eventually came to an agreement...
They were going to try to keep up a charade where everybody in town thought Harvey was still alive and that they were his best friends looking out for him enough for the events of the story to resolve themselves.
"Hold on, you guys are going to actually try to do a Weekend at Bernie's on this?"
"Well, what other options do we have? We are in big trouble otherwise! "
Every single time something like this happens, I am famous for saying four very specific words…
"Okay, roll for it."
Potentially 15 sessions worth of dark political conspiracy then proceeded to turn into 22 sessions of black comedy gold.
Finally at the end, one of the other merchant guild office holders storms into Harvey's office while the players characters are in the next room trying to explain to a town guard that the reason Harvey is slumped in his chair is because he's drunk. In full view of the party and the guard through an open dividing wall, the other merchant proceeds to start stabbing Harvey multiple times. The other merchant guild member is promptly arrested for Harvey's murder, and the players are praised for being true friends to Harvey and the town, and are invited to his funeral.
The hilarious thing is that this end result was in fact one of the possible endings that the original author had written into the module (merchant guild member murders Harvey and frees the PCs of the blackmail). My players just had a really messed up way of getting there though.
I went back to the other DM, handed him back the folder, told him that the players loved it, we took a few liberties, but they ended up getting what he called "Ending C" in the DM notes. He asked me for constructive criticism, and I gave him the pretty basic stuff but also mentioned a couple extra contingencies to try to keep the plot from being too inflexible.
We didn't talk about this for a few years, then I bumped into his game group when I came back in to browse the scene at my LGS a couple of weeks ago. DM greeted me and explained that the group was playing the revised version of his module for the fourth time with different characters, trying to get each of the different endings. While we were talking I ended up letting it slip just how off the rails that module got when I ran it.
I didn't think it was a big deal, But that DM proceeded to get fairly angry and offended. He asked me specifically what happened and I explained that they rather accidentally killed Harvey at the very beginning of the module and pretended he was still alive for 22 sessions just so that they would not get arrested. Two of the players at the table started to laugh hysterically, one of the players looked genuinely horrified and the DM got pissed and raised his voice.
"YOU ACTUALLY LET THEM DO THAT!? THAT'S NOT HOW THE TONE OF THE STORY IS SUPPOSED TO GO!"
I tried telling him it wasn't a big deal, told him it was just a game and that the players had a blast, but he wasn't having any of it. He told me if I was going to "defile" his writing, I should at least keep the tone consistent with the original work and tell him when it happens. I apologized, but he demanded that I leave the room. I just turned and left.
Over the ensuing week I heard from a couple of different people that this guy was cursing my name left and right and how in someway I betrayed his trust by letting the game get that way. Worst yet he somehow found my number so that he could bombard me with angry text messages about the subject. Tried to text him an apology and an explanation, but I'm pretty sure he blocked me. Haven't talked to him since.
I understand that it was his brainbaby of sorts, but I can't help but feel like this is a complete overreaction. Not to mention he clearly had it edited such that he was happy enough to run it four times and was satisfied with it. I wouldn't personally hold this kind of thing against anybody that did this very thing with one of my games. What do you guys think?

Discover the tale of Queen Azshara, the once-great ruler of the night elves who became the Empress of the Naga. After striking a deal with the Old Gods, Azshara transformed her people into naga, and has since plotted to reclaim her former glory. Learn about her rise to power, her role in the War of the Ancients, and her continued influence over Azeroth's oceans at Warcraft Stories.

It's my 2nd time on attempting to pass my driving test!!! I failed the first time due to head checks as I always forget to look back first before shifting to reverse (I got so used to the cameras which I am aware, isn't a good thing).
I am nervous and I cannot sleep. I just want it to be over and done with and get my license.
Any tips or stories that might help to calm this down?

. First sentence:
"Underneath the neon glow of a trendy bookstore, a group of friends discovered that the chapters of their lives were entwined in a plot of love, laughter, and unexpected twists."

**Last sentence:** "As the bookstore closed its doors for the night, the friends left with a stack of new books and a story that continued to unfold on the streets outside." 

So I have a creative writing assignment where the teacher has given us some pretty stringent rules (stringent to me because I do more intuitive writing) for the short story. The rules are as follow:

1. a clear plot.

2. character(s), point of view (s), setting, theme & stylistic devices

1. a twist founded on conflict.

The last one is what's really bothering me. I'm adapting from a story I wrote a while back ~500 words about Life and Death talking to each other but I have no clue where and how to put a twist in the story. The twist already is that Death is more compassionate than Life, so I don't know where I can put any conflict. On top of that I'm not too sure if its a "clear plot".
I'm unsure if I should post my story here as its quite long already, but if someone would be wiling to read over my work, I would be forever greatful!
I'll make a google doc to share it if anyone is interested in helping :)

This is going to be short so lets run through some stuff Cast: DM(dmpc druid) , me(sorcerer) + other characters that are irrelevant to this story
Camping started abruptly after dm left a westmarch server due to "unfair use of server rules" we were on a oneshot that the dm ran, he asked us if we want to continue that one-shot on a different place, he made hos own westmarch where we continued it as a "Camping" so the dmpc that joined us from the start was a furbolg druid that was an exceptionally high level relative to out characters, there's been some fights that the dmpc simply decimated while our low leveled characters barley got a turn in combats (sometimes none if the dmpc was on top initiative), that was fine and i just went with it just to honor the "friendship" that i built with him the previous server, what cut it for me was that one time his dmpc got assassinated for some reason, and rose up as a goddess . . Well turns out she was one all along, what do you know now we have a god on the team, good luck being challenged by anyone
The assassins were dismissed, as in there is no trace of them nor plans that the dm set to add them to the plot, made me feel that he just made that up to make his dmpc a god, i asked him about that and presented my complaint about the situation, so the dm said "if you don't like how i run MY campaign, then just leave" iwas shocked that he wasn't planning to do anything and just put me in a you are free to leave situation and i did, i said "fine, i guess i will be pulling out of this campaign" that prompted others playing with us to do the same too, some of them had the same complaints but didn't want to confront or be rude about it, that sent said dm into a fit, calling us bad players and eventually kicked us all from the server we played in.
If i have anything to tell reddit about this is, if you feel like somthing is bad, be the one to speak up and save the other players the hassle

Please be literate, descriptive and over the age of 18. I will be writing as three seperate characters who each have their own unique personalities. Your character is a human (or perhaps a different supernatural creature) who is in charge of taking care of these three orphans who reside in a large mansion. If you have any questions or if you're interested in this plot, feel free to send me a message.
Deep within the darkened forest far away from any other civilization or people, a village full of Vampires lived in solitude. No one besides the villagers knew that this place even existed. They normally kept to themselves and it was absolutely crucial that they did not tell anyone that this placed existed. Because if they did, a large amount of humans would come and most likely end up destroying the village.
The village was very well maintained and every citizen had their own assigned duty to take care of. Even though it was still rather small, the village still had the necessary buildings to survive and thrive. They had a school, grocery store, farms and a random assortment of different buildings that included a museum, indoor pool, library and restaurants.
It had seemed like they were doing very well for themselves. However, they had one very big problem that they could not solve. Due to the severe lack of female Vampires, it was impossible to continue the "Vampire legacy" of living in this village. There wasn't a single female living in the entire village, only males. Due to this severe problem, the Vampire who was in charge of the village decided to invite one single female to the village and see if she would be able to get along with the other Vampires within the village. The whole point of this was to see if a non vampire can get along with other Vampires could get along in the first place. It was something that the whole village agreed on, considering that their race would eventually die out if they continued to do nothing about this problem.
The woman would be staying in the orphanage with three Vampire boys. If she was able to get along with them, surely it would be no problem to interact with the other Vampires of the village. This was a test to see if a human female was able to co-exist with another completely different species.
The orphanage was rather dark and dreary. Even though the building was rather large and had many windows, there was hardly any light shining through the windows because the curtains were almost always closed. Sunlight did not affect them at all, but obviously Vampires preferred to stay in the dark. It wasn't dusty or dirty at all, except for a few things that were left on the floor and never picked up.
The boys who occupied the Orphanage were named Drax, Athan and Cain. Drax was always the trouble maker who thoroughly enjoys teasing people and occasionally playing pranks. He was also mischievous and the oldest out of the three of them. Athan was straightforward and was basically the one always making sure Drax would not get into trouble. He is very responsible and makes sure everyone is taken care of. Cain was shy and hardly talked to anyone besides Drax and Athan. He normally kept to himself and it was difficult for him to open up to new people. None of them have even met a female before, let alone seen one.
High above on the second floor, Drax leaned against the railing with his elbows perched against the top of it. His bright pink eyes scanned down at the floor below, watching Cain draw a picture with a piece of paper and a wide variety of different pencil crayons. He leaned his face against the palm of his hand in boredom. "When is that new person supposed to be arriving? I'm getting tired of waiting." Athan who was also on the second floor adjusting a few pieces of furniture replied back to him. "I think she will be here in a few minutes. I'm very curious to find out what she looks like. I guess she will look a lot more different than a male, right?" Draw replied back. "I guess so. Hopefully she is pretty." He said, grinning evilly.
Athan rolled his eyes. "I doubt she would do that in the first place. Anyway, I'm sure it will be fun showing her around the village and visiting all the fun spots."
Cain continued to quietly draw his picture which consisted of a mansion with a bunch of bats surrounding it.

FALL RIVER — The Bristol County DA’s office is asking for the public’s help in solving a 32-year-old cold case involving the murder of an 11-year-old South End boy.
Bristol District Attorney Thomas Quinn, in a statement, said his cold case unit and state police investigators are actively revisiting and reviewing the unsolved murder case of Thomas Picard, who was reported missing on Oct. 2, 1988.
Thomas Picard, an 11-year-old boy who lived in Fall River, was reported missing by his mother on October 2, 1988.s Picard, an 11-year-old boy who lived in Fall River, was reported missing by his mother on October 2, 1988.
Quinn said scientific advances in forensic DNA technology and genetic genealogy -- which combines DNA testing and profiles with traditional genealogical methods -- “have provided new avenues for investigators to pursue” previously unsolved homicides.
Picard’s body was found more than three months later on January 7, 1989, in a shallow section of Cook Pond.
https://www.heraldnews.com/story/news/2020/11/29/police-trying-crack-1988-cold-case-murdered-fall-river-boy-district-attorney/6427306002/

During the height of my high regard for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), among the movies of which I had been a major fan were the Captain America releases. At least two of them. The third film in this mini franchise - 2016's "CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR" proved to be a major disappointment for me. However, when I heard that Disney and Marvel Films had plans to air a miniseries about the characters Sam Wilson aka the Falcon and James "Bucky" Barnes aka the Winter Soldier, I must admit that I felt a renewed interest in the franchise again.
When I said a renewal of the MCU franchise, I meant it. Aside from a few movies like "ANT-MAN", "BLACK PANTHER", "CAPTAIN MARVEL" and "ETERNALS"; the MCU had become a major disappointment for me ever since the release of 2015's "THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON". One might ask . . . what about the MCU television productions that aired on the Disney Plus streaming channel? Aside from one production that I somewhat liked and one that I loved, most of them have been disappointing to me. Unfortunately, I have to include this follow-up to the Captain America movies, "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER".
Set six months after 2019's "THE AVENGERS: ENDGAME", "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER" followed former war veteran/Avenger Sam Wilson, who has resumed working the for the U.S. government, while using his role as the Falcon. When the government recruits Sam to track down and deal with a group of enhanced anarchists known as "the Flag Smashers", former World War II veteran/HYDRA tool/Avenger James "Bucky" Buchannan aka the Winter Soldier decides to join Sam in his mission, due to his lingering guilt as a former HYDRA assassin and their shared experiences as Steve Rogers' close friends and battling Thanos and his army.
Since "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER" had aired on the DisneyPlus channel in six episodes, I had seriously considered ranking the episodes. But like Season three of the Marvel Netflix series, "DAREDEVIL", the more I watched "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLIDER", the more it disappointed me. Aside from complaints about its pacing, the limited series had received a great deal of praise from critics and fans alike. Because of this, I believe it was one of the most overrated productions in the MCU history. People had seemed so focused on little moments and scenes that very few had noticed how the series' narrative seemed to be all over the map. For example:
~\Sam Wilson~* - This limited series is supposed to be a follow up to the events of "ENDGAME" in which Sam had received the Captain America shield from an aging Steve Rogers, a sign for him to take up the latter's costumed role. Was this an attempt by Marvel Films/Disney to make Sam a more relevant character? If so, why? Why did a MCU character have to replace Steve as the new Captain America to be more relevant? Why not allow Sam to continue as the Falcon, only push his role to the forefront as one of the franchise's new leading characters? Some might accuse me of not wanting a black man as Captain America, a topic that was brought up in the series. Frankly, I never wanted another character - regardless of race, gender or ethnicity - to become the new Captain America. That includes Bucky Barnes. Allow Steve Rogers to fade into the background and let Sam (as the Falcon) shine as one of the franchise's new leads. However, the die has been cast. One can only sit back and see if moviegoers are willing to accept Sam as the new Captain America.
Perhaps the MCU had to make Sam the new Captain America in order to make him more relevant. Why would I say that? The showrunner for "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER", Malcolm Spellman, came dangerously close to shoving Sam into the role of the second lead or worst, a role he has been since his debut in 2014's "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" - a supporting character. During the series' first three or four episodes, someone other than Sam (either Bucky Barnes or Helmut Zemo - two white men) made decisions that allowed the plot to move forward, not Sam. He was simply regulated to being an observer or reactor. The series even managed to undermine Sam's decision not to support the Sokovia Accords in "CIVIL WAR". In thee 2016, Sam became the first Avenger to speak out against the Accords and declare his intentions not to sign it. Yet, according to Bucky in this series, Sam had merely followed Steve's example in rejecting the Accords. And Spellman did nothing to allow Sam to correct this misconception.
~\James "Bucky" Barnes~* - One of the few aspects of "CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR" I found enjoyable proved to be the interactions between Sam Wilson and Bucky Buchannan. Despite their lingering jealousy and competition over the role as "Steve Rogers' best friend", the pair's interactions proved to be very entertaining, thanks to the screen chemistry between Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan. Unfortunately, Mackie and Stan could not save "CIVIL WAR" for me. Nor could they save "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER", due to its problematic writing. A good deal of that writing surrounded Bucky's character. I have so many questions about his role in this series. For example:
-Why would any official of the Joint Counter Terrorist Center allow Bucky to visit and question Helmut Zemo, the man responsible for the U.N. conference bombing in Vienna, in "CIVIL WAR"? That made very little sense to me. Surely the JCTC authorities remembered how Zemo managed to brainwash Bucky into making his own prison break in "CIVIL WAR"? Also, Bucky was on parole for his activities as a brainwashed HYDRA assassin. Yet, the JCTC had allowed him to visit Zemo? Surely, the showrunner could have allowed Sam, who was serving the U.S. government again, to be the one to visit and question Zemo?
-How on earth did Bucky managed to evade being arrested and charged for helping Zemo escape from the JCTC? The U.S. and other governments should have been suspicious of Bucky after learning about his visit to Zemo.
-Bucky came off as an arrogant school jock, who thought he was entitled to get his way - especially in his interactions with Sam. I found it hilarious that many fans had criticized John Walker aka Captain America aka U.S. Agent for such toxic behavior. Yet, they had turned a blind eye to Bucky's own behavior. And so did the series - up until the last two episodes. Why did the showrunner allow Bucky to get away with this behavior toward Sam for so long without any complaints from the latter?
-I did not care how Bucky had bullied his way into Sam's mission without the latter's consent. What I found even more annoying was the U.S. government's decision to allow Bucky to join Sam's mission after that ludicrous "therapy session" they were forced to attend together.
~\Racism -~* A good number of MCU fans had complained about the inclusion of racism in "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER". I had no problems with this direction, considering the story was about Sam, an African-American man, becoming the new Captain America. However, I had a good deal of problems with how the production explored the topic of racism.
The story of Isaiah Bradley, Marvel's second Captain America, had originated in the comics. In the MCU, he was a Korea War veteran whom the United States Army used as one of several unwilling African-American test subjects for their version of the Super Soldier serum. I realize that both Marvel Comics and the MCU had attempted to use Bradley's experience as a metaphor for the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The problem is that I cannot see the U.S. government and the Army - both racist organizations in the early 1950s - be willing to risk the possibility of creating a non-white super soldier. Despite the recent desegregation of the Armed Forces in the late 1940s. And both the government and the Army had been more than willing to use white soldiers in other experiments.
After saving a group of black American super soldiers from a prison camp, Bradly was imprisoned by the U.S. government for thirty years. I saw nothing wrong with this twist in the character's narrative, until I remembered two things - Bradley had been able to free his fellow soldiers without anyone's help; and nearly sixty years later, Steve Rogers managed to break into the Raft and free those Avengers who had refused to sign the Sokovia Accord. Why was Bradley unable to free himself from prison? This is the man who had defeated the Winter Soldier by breaking the latter's metal arm. And he was not powerful enough to make a prison break, let alone evade capture?
I had assumed Sam's difficulty in becoming the new Captain America would stem from the government's reluctance to recruit a black man for the position. That would explain their decision to recruit the blond-haired John Walker instead. But the series never really made it clear whether political racism had played a role in Walker's recruitment. The series also had James "Rhodey" Rhodes had paid Sam a visit, emphasizing the importance of the new Captain America being black. As it turned out, Sam's own insecurities about becoming Captain America had more to do with him not initially assuming the role. There was also that interesting scene outside Bradley's Baltimore home where the police arrested Sam during verbal argument with Bucky. Although the cops backed away when they recognized Sam as an Avenger, they ended up arresting the parolee Bucky for missing his required therapy appointment. This scene was supposed to be a case of racial profiling. But . . . we might as well be honest. In the real world, the police would not have backed down from hassling Sam. What I found more disturbing was the production's handling of Bucky's arrest. Once the police discovers that Sam was an Avenger; they turned to arrest Bucky for failing to show up for his missing his therapy session. Not only did the police arrest Bucky with a more gentle behavior, they did so, accompanied by Henry Jackman's mournful score, something that did not accompany the moment of Sam being arrested. Were the audiences expected to notice the hypocrisy and racism in the police's handling of the two men? Expected to feel sympathy for Bucky? Or both?
The last episode featured a scene of two black kids playing with toy Captain America shields. Someone had commented that the shields (especially in the hands of non-white children) represented hope to the future of race relations in the United States. Why? How? This country had a biracial president for EIGHT YEARS. Yet, U.S. racial policies have remained problematic even to this day. I can say the same for other countries. The so-called symbolism of this scene only reminded me of how human beings put so much faith in imagery and symbolism. And this strikes me as a FALSE FAITH. Why was taking up the mantle of a costumed hero that had been previously occupied by a white man, the only way for Sam Wilson to become relevant within the MCU franchise? What was wrong with him being "the Falcon"? Sam becoming the next Captain America was not going to save the U.S. in regard to race relations - not in real life and not in the fictional world of the MCU. Looking back on the series, the series' only scenario that seemed to expose racism in a realistic manner, proved to be Sam's failure to acquire a bank loan for his family's fishing boat in Louisiana.
~\Sharon Carter~* - I am certain many MCU fans are aware of this. One of Marvel Comics' most iconic couples happened to be Steve Rogers aka Captain America and Sharon Carter aka Agent 13. She also happened to be the great-niece of Peggy Carter, Steve's love interest during World War II. Portrayed by Emily VanCamp, Sharon was first introduced as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" as a potential love interest for Steve. Despite Sharon's appearance in the following Captain America movie, "CIVIL WAR", their romance never really developed. Many blamed the lack of chemistry between VanCamp and Chris Evans. I never had a problem with their screen chemistry. I had a problem with the lack of relationship development between Sharon and Steve. And I blame Kevin Feige's decision to transform the third Captain America film into a third (and badly written) pseudo Avengers movie. The change in the film's narrative, along with Sharon's failure to appear in "THE AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR" and "ENDGAME", left no opportunity for Sharon and Steve to become the romantic pair they had been in the comics. Instead, Sharon became a fugitive from the U.S. government after helping Steve and Sam hunt down Bucky, moved to Madripoor, a city-state with no U.S. extradition and became an embittered criminal known as "the Power Broker".
After "CIVIL WAR", nearly five years had passed before Sharon appeared in another MCU production - namely this series. And what happened? The franchise, with Spellman, ended up completely destroying her character by transforming her into the villain known as Power Broker, the criminal leader of an Indonesian city-state called Madripoor. After helping Steve and Sam acquire their suits and equipment in order to go after Bucky in "CIVIL WAR", Sharon lost her job with the C.I.A. and became a fugitive. She eventually moved to Madripoor, a city-state with no U.S. extradition, to evade capture, survived Thanos' Snap and became an embittered criminal nicknamed "the Power Broker" in order to survive the new world.
What really pissed me off about Sharon's arc between "CIVIL WAR" and "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER" is that her development into a major villain all happened OFF SCREEN. Off screen. Apparently, screenwriters for "INFINITY WAR" had written a draft that included Sharon in the movie. But according to Christopher Markus, he and Stephen McFeeley could not imagine scenes featuring Steve and Sharon trying to make it work in an apartment, because the 2018 movie did not have time to focus on their personal life. Why did Marvel simply fail to allow Sharon to be part of Steve's vigilante team - like Sam and Natasha Romanoff? I mean . . . good fucking grief! And why did Malcolm Spellman believe the only way Sharon could be interesting was to become a villain in "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER"? This was his idea of improving Sharon's character?
~\Helmut Zemo aka Baron Zemo~* - Why did Malcolm Spellman, Kevin Feige and the MCU thought it necessary to bring back Helmut Zemo, the Sokovian-born villain from "CIVIL WAR"? What role did he play in "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER"? I realize that Bucky, of all people, visited the incarcerated Zemo to acquire information on who had created the super-soldier serum that empowered the Flag Smashers. But why did he believe Zemo could provide the answer? Because he thought HYDRA was involved? Bucky or Sam could have searched for information from sources other than Zemo, who had been incarcerated for . . . what? Eight years? Eight years. Zemo managed to become something of a crowd-pleaser, thanks to Daniel Brühl's performance. Otherwise, I found his presence in this series unnecessary.
~\The Big Bad~* - Why on earth did it take this series so long to finally reveal the main villain's identity? At first, the series hinted the Flag Smashers, led by Karli Morgenthau. However, the series tossed other potential candidates for the Big Bad before viewers - John Walker, Helmut Zemo and yes, Sharon Carter. But in the end, Morgenthau and her group proved to be the main villains.
The Flag Smashers were a group of empowered people who believed the world was a better place between Thanos' Snap and the Blip (resurrection of those who had died during the Snap), when Humans around the world managed to unite and form a borderless society, one in which people helped others without any thought to nationalism and bias. Thanks to the Avengers, the world resumed its conflicts between nationalities and other groups. In other words, the borders returned.
Frankly, I have nothing against this ideal. Only Ms. Morgenthau and her followers resorted to violence and terrorism to achieve their goals. Does this sound familiar? It should. The Flag Smashers proved to be another example of characters with a progressive goal, resorting to extremism and becoming villains. This seemed to be a growing trend within the franchise, which I believe began with Erik "Killmonger" Stevens aka Prince N'Jadaka in 2018's "BLACK PANTHER". Since then, the MCU has not looked back at its growing roster of progressive villains. Perhaps I should not have been surprised. The franchise's ambiguous portrayal of an unconstitutional document like the Sokovia Accords, should have been the wake-up call. It seemed as if Kevin Feige, Marvel Films and Disney Studios had finally exposed themselves for the faux progressives they pretend to be. Frankly, this form of villainy has become tiresome to me.
After writing this article, I had considered ranking the six episodes featured in "THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER" anyway. But I decided against it. My dislike of the series made it impossible for me to even bother. Being a fan of the first two Captain America movies, I had truly hoped this series would redeem the franchise. Unfortunately, it proved to be just as disappointing as "CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR". Pity. Perhaps the fourth film, "CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD" will do the trick. I hope so.

I want to write a story but everytime I try to include my character in the grand scheme of things it feels... shallow? Naruto is the jinchuuriki and child of the prophecy and Ashura's champion, Sasuke is the last Uchiha, Indra's champion and was needed for controlling Gedo Mazo. I don't know where my character is supposed to do when the plot is centered around these two and their relationship. I really don't want to write a Mary Sue but if my OC isn't powerful enough in War Arc why do they even exist. It discourages me from writing.

First of all, let me start by saying, what a game! I'll forever treasure my first experience with this game, discovering all its secrets and locations. That said, I played Suikoden 1 and 2 right after finishing Eiyuden Chronicles and... It could've been better... But in this post I'll focus on what I think was improved, also, these are just my opinions, let me know what YOU think in the comments.
Here are some things I think this game did BETTER than Suikoden:

• Character recruitment

Recruiting the 108 stars of destiny in Suikoden can be a nightmare without a guide or previous experience. Suikoden 1 is an extremely short game, so you can kinda play it again (as I did) to get all the characters, Suikoden 2 however is not at all a short game, so when you realize you messed up, that can be a huge bummer. You don't get that in Eiyuden Chronicles because there's no time-sensitive characters (except the last one) and most of them you recruit on the go, so yeah, points for Eiyuden here.

• War battles

I actually enjoyed the war battles of the first Suikoden, that kind of rock, paper, scissors game kinda grew on me, not to mention I love the war song there as well, however, I HATE war battles on Suikoden 2, it's too slow, too clunky, way too dependent on RNG... I don't know, that was one of the worst aspects of that game imo, not to mention your characters can DIE in there, making you have to load and restart... Eiyuden Chronicles makes the war battles very simple tho, some people might complain that you don't have that much control over them but war battles are not supposed to be the main course anyway, so to me is perfectly fine for them to be an extra and not impact too much on your playthrough.

• Headquarters

I don't need to elaborate on this one, right? Being able to collect mats and actively participate in your HQ improvement is way better than seeing it grow out of nowhere. Not to mention how much of a mess it is when you return to your castle in Suikoden and the whole layout has changed making you get lost every now and then.

• Fast-travel

Being able to just go everywhere without having to go back to your HQ everytime is reaaaally good, RIP Blinking Mirror.

• Death of a major character

I might receive a lot of downvotes because of this one... Now listen... Gremio, Nanami, and Perrielle, these 3 characters are extremely different but they are connected through one plot point in common: They may or may not die. Nanami's death is the more impactful of these 3 but why do I think it's better in Eiyuden Chronicles? Well, and this is my opinion by the way, I hate when stories are afraid to kill their characters or go back on it, what do I mean by this? Consequences! Old RPG's have a bad habit of having "Best", "True", "Bad" endings, and most of the time the "bad" ending is actually the best ending in terms of writing. Gremio is pure bullshit, he dies and gets revived at the very last second just cause. Nanami recovering from her injuries is acceptable, but her death shouldn't lock you out of a "good" ending, since it's a good motivation for Jowy to feel empathy for Riou and look back at his mistakes. Perrielle tho, it's an impactful death that doesn't really lock you out of anything (well, except Leene), I don't think Leene saving her is bs nor do I think her death is badly executed, both outcomes are perfectly fine, and don't punish your progress.

Came here due to following The Click on YouTube LOL so I'd try my luck posting. Might be a bit long, so TLDR at the bottom. Technically I posted this before on pettyrevenge, but my friend told me that I should also post a copy here, so here we are. And as a side note, I'm not from the US, so yeah.
This happened during my college days in the 2000s. I majored in Business Admin and one of my classes we had to take for the core subjects was Business Management, which I shared with a few of my friends who took the same major and a few other acquaintances who were in a different major but took them as part of their elective courses.
One of the acquaintances, whom I'll call Gina (not real name) was one of those that really had to stick her nose into other people's businesses. If she sense someone talking about something juicy (in her eyes), she would quickly insert herself into the conversation and insist the person to spill the tea for her, regardless if she knew the topic of discussion or not. Not only that, she has absolutely no inside voice whenever she joins a conversation. She adopts this "loud and proud" attitude and would just talk and respond loudly during the conversation that you can sometimes even hear her outside of the room.
Even when the topic in question is just a general discussion of a course subject that she didn't even take the class of, she'd insist on joining the conversation and either 1) spout out absolute nonsense and be completely oblivious that she had said anything wrong or 2) steer the conversation to finally talk about something she is familiar with. Not only that, she's the type of person who has to one-up you at any topic, e.g. "You got a Nobel prize? I got knighted by the Queen!" type of attitude.
It got to the point where she sometimes try to butt into private conversations or people talking about personal matters and insist on hearing about it and also give unsolicited advice even though she knows fuck all about the issue, and if you try to dismiss her, she will loudly chastise you for not including her into the conversation and not being a good friend for doing so. As an Asian ingrained in polite Asian culture (remember, I'm not from the US), we would either just smile and nod and tolerate her presence or try to make an excuse to leave the room to continue our discussion elsewhere away from her earshot, and our dear ol' oblivious Gina would move on to the next grapevine to grab the next gossip.
One day, I was talking to one of my friends Jordan (who takes the same major as me, also not real name) about a family crisis at home. IIRC, I think it had something to do with their father facing possible jailtime for embezzlement and that they might face potential dropout from college because their father was the main breadwinner and the one paying for college tuition and their mother might not be able to cover it in the future once their father is officially convicted. As usual, Gina saw how intense our faces were while we were talking despite us using hushed tones, and plopped herself next to us to get the scoop.
I tried dismissing her, saying that this is a private matter and that she shouldn't get involved. But of course, she took offense and loudly chastised me in front of the whole class for being "anti-social, leaving her out, that's not what friends do, all I want is to help, I just want to know, what's so wrong about that?" Everyone heard her but decided not to interfere (again, polite Asian culture), but we could still see that all eyes are on us to see how this drama unfold and how we're going to deal with her. Jordan's face became visible distraught and uncomfortable both by the prying eyes and Gina's endless loud chastising, and it was obvious if Gina didn't shut up, all hell would break loose.
Then it suddenly clicked to me on one of Gina's quirks: she was the type that had no patience for foreign films or TV shows. She would only watch movies or TV shows if they were in English, Mandarin or Cantonese (like famous Hong Kong movies and/or TV shows). Anything other than those three languages, she would NOT touch them, even if the show comes with subtitles, because she doesn't have the brain capacity to read subtitles AND watch the show at the same time, and even more so when it comes to anime.
During that time, the Three Kings of Anime (Bleach, Naruto and One Piece) were the rage and while I'm not a die-hard fan, I'm kept up to date with the storyline thanks to being a backseat audience whenever my now husband (then boyfriend) watched those three shows every week when it came out. And we knew for a fact that she actively avoids anything to do with anime because she has no patience to watch them and is completely ignorant of anime fandoms, and from there, the nerdy gears in my head turned the cogwheels to sprout out my demon horns into imaginary existence.
I gave my friend a "I got this" look, pretended to sigh in defeat and said, "Fine~ We were talking about how we could get our hands on the One Piece."
"One Piece?" Gina's eyes began to show intrigue, and a bit of smugness thinking that she had wore me down.
"Oh yeah, didn't you know? It's a family treasure heirloom in Jordan's family for generations!"
I proceeded to basically tell Gina the plot of One Piece anime, but replacing the anime characters' names with Jordan's and their family. How Golden Roger was their ancestor who used to be a pirate in his heyday and had kept a stash of treasure hidden somewhere in the far corners of the Earth, and that a treasure map has become Jordan's family heirloom and passed down from generation to generation, and now that Jordan's grandfather had recently bequeathed the map to them in his will, they were trying to discuss with me the best way to travel to find this One Piece. I spun tale after tale (may have even included Naruto and Bleach plots into the mix) to keep her intrigued, all the while everyone in the classroom (those in the know, anyways) were just trying very hard to keep a straight face at my fanciful tale. Even Jordan played along and added their own spin into the plot to keep the conversation going, and dear ol' oblivious Gina just lapped it all up.
We kept it up for almost 2 weeks as Gina kept coming back for more of Jordan's "family lore", in which we kept feeding her more anime plots (at the same time, it gave Jordan a bit of stress relief and distraction from their own real family crisis). Until one day, at the campus cafeteria, we saw Gina with another group of her friends about two tables away from us and we could hear her talking in her usual loud self about Jordan's "family lore" (yeah, if a story is juicy enough, she would tend to spread around to anyone who would listen; another bad habit of hers).
One of her friends, whom we know is an anime fan, suddenly called her out, "Hey! I thought you said you don't watch anime!"
Gina, with an obvious disgust on her face, said, "Of course not. I wouldn't touch them even with a ten-foot pole! Don't lump me with your lot."
"Really? Then why does your story sound like the anime plots of One Piece, Bleach and Naruto?"
Gina went dead silent for almost a full 2 minute to let everything sink in before she VERY SLOWLY turned towards us sitting two tables away and gave us the world's deadliest death stare, in which we just grinned and comically shrugged at her before walking out of the cafeteria laughing our heads off.
We're not sure how, but she soon realized on that fateful day when we started telling her the "family lore", everyone in class was in on it because no one came forward to stop or correct us. She completely stopped talking to everyone in class and no longer butt in on conversations after that because she couldn't trust anyone at that point, and by mid-semester, she dropped out of this class altogether. From what I heard, she picked a different elective class to go to because she was so traumatized with paranoia by the fact that "if OP lied about her conversation with Jordan, what else are others lying about in their conversation??" in her mind.
Eh, good riddance either way.
TLDR: Entitled classmate wants in on everyone's drama regardless of their privacy or relevance, so I gave her fictional drama to stew on, and she got embarrassed for being told the drama ain't real.
P/S: If The Click sees this, that'll absolutely make my day LOL

Welcome to GRANDMA

"Generally Regarded As Not Doing Much Anyway"

🚀 Glide Amongst the Galaxies with GRANDMA: Tranquility in Transit!

Seeking a sanctuary from the speed of life? Longing for languid loops around luminous stars? GRANDMA is your destination! Come, be part of our congregation of calm cosmonauts, harmonious hagglers, and sporadic saviors. Our ethos is ease, our pace placid, as we savor the silent symphony of the spheres in the orchestra of the infinite.

What GRANDMA Offers:

• A constantly evolving community dedicated to ensuring you experience the game your way
• A relaxed and humorous community for mature players.
• A 'do as much or as little as you like' philosophy. No pressure, all pleasure.
• Events scheduled around the consensus of 'whenever we feel like it'.
• A code of conduct that prioritizes fun and fellowship over strict rules.
• No rules regarding money spent or how often you play, GRANDMA understands that life comes first
• Varied roles from leisurely patrols to the occasional bout of industry.

Who GRANDMA Is Looking For:

• Pilots who love to drift through space at their own pace, ship or no ship.
• Individuals who appreciate a good laugh and don't take things too seriously.
• Members who might enjoy sporadic participation in group activities.
• Mature Players looking for a low-key experience.

Why Choose GRANDMA?

Embrace the GRANDMA way, where the vacuum of space is filled with echoes of joy, and the weight of the world floats away like a ship in the dock. Our alliance is bound by shared smiles and a mutual love for the gentle pace of the galaxy. Join us, and let's navigate the nebulous unknown, fueled by the thrills of discovery and the bonds of friendship.

🌌 Drift Into Our Orbit Today!

Chart a course for leisure with GRANDMA. Explore at your leisure, engage when you want, and become part of a story where the only rush is the one you decide to create.

Contact Us:

• RSI Org Page
• Discord

Fact of the Day: Lorville, located on the planet Hurston, features a dynamic weather system with dust storms that can affect visibility and flight conditions.

I've realised just by playing with Apple's own test chart that the screens on current generation M1/M2/M3 MacBook Pros are really about twice as bright as they need to be.
I'm thinking about getting an Xrite/Calibrite Display Pro HL to make my monitor look more like what it should for editing purposes.
When did Apple get into this bussiness of hype vs. reality. At full brightness levels the blacks and whites are way out and then "true tone" is anything but...
It's like "night shift" except controlled by the OS.
Am I missing something here or have we all bought into the eye bleeding hype of HDR.
Even at 1600nits max, dialing the brightness down to about half seems to result in much more natural colour reproduction.
It's leading me to question the reality that these screens DON'T need to be calibrated... My response is really wanting me to buy a colorimeter but there are very few that handle the mini-LED screens in the current MacBook Pros.

I just finished reading the manga and I’ve been lurking around for lore and other stuff and I just don’t think I can handle the idea of how most of you predict that the story will end with Guts’ death, Griffith defeated but it feels hollow, or even how all the other characters will die as well.
I feel like the absolute most devastating point of the story so far has been, and will always be, the Eclipse. That kind of earth-shattering plot point should stand alone in the story with its only redemption being that it all comes tumbling down for Griffith and Guts and Casca finally get the opportunity to live freely without having to fight anymore. Guts as a character has developed far past where he was during the Golden Age Arc where he was just a sword swinging Chad. He’s become so much more and if he goes out like a punk without anyone in the world other than the people closest to him being able to recognize his suffering and sacrifices, I’m going to flip my lid.
Just wanted to open this up because it can’t always be just a depressing mess right? The nightmare eventually ends right?

misogyny is rampant in anime communities and anime in general, but i want to talk about one specific series and its fans here.
there is a popular battle shounen series that i watch and read. something that always bothered me is how the community for it, especially on sites like reddit and twitter, are overly obsessed about one plot point in the story.
a villain in the story has the ability to take over people's bodies. it was revealed that he took over a woman's body, had sex with the main character's father and gave birth to the main character.
the community constantly brings up about how this character took "backshots" from another man (taking it from behind). they're always making fun of it, not in critiquing the storytelling, but making fun of how he had sex with another man.
here are some actual examples of the way they talk about it. (copy and pasted)
"Tell me another person who would take backshots to achieve his goal. Nobody more dedicated than him"
"Bro was getting rammed in his pussy 8 days a week in order for his goal to be realized"
"He relished getting backshots and efficiently shaking his bottom, I can say that now."
"You forgot to mention he is also dedicated enough to take backshots from another man"
"You think his last thoughts were about those backshots?"
"the man behind it all. the man who put it back in and gasped when it slipped out. he took backshots and went through hours of labor for the cause. the most diabolical man to exist."
"Reminder that he was taking backshots, gripping them sheets so his son can inherit those feats"
"It's still absolutely wild that a villain would stoop THAT LOW. My guy really mastered the reverse cow girl technique"
i am not exaggerating when i say people "joke" about it all the time in the community. they talk about how it's disgusting too.
and what i always found weird was...why? what is so funny about it, what is with the emphasis on "backshots" - like the author never went into any sexual detail, you just know that the villain took over the woman's body and gave birth to the MC so it's inferred they had sex.
and i think that's when it really hit me - the way some people in society think lesser of people who have sex with men. most men do not respect the people they have sex with which is the basis for the madonna-whore complex, they toss away their respect for you when they hypersexualise and objectify you. they see sex as a form of power and they see you as "lesser than" when they have that power over us.
obviously it's also homophobic but the reason why i tie it to misogyny is because these people find it humiliating to be in the woman's position and being a bottom.
i was a feminist before this and knew about most of these things. but i think this is when it really hit me that this is the way lots of people see women and gay men - inherently lesser than just because a man might have had his penis inside us. and not just about being not pure, about having autonomy or letting ourselves experience pleasure, it's just that they think it's inherently shameful/humiliating for women and men to have a man's penis inside them and to give that man pleasure with our bodies.
name of the series which i omitted because of people who might not want to know about minor spoilers: jujutsu kaisen

In this roleplay I was thinking that we could have a lot of options when it comes to plot, charcaters and setting because I don't have anything specific set in.
We could either use our own charcaters, create new characters or just use the characters from the game/TV show.
The story can go in many ways depending on our preferences