While the Onion buying InfoWars is indeed extremely funny, very few of the posts I've seen commenting on the sale have mentioned that the families of the Sandy Hook victims apparently agreed to voluntarily reduce their lawsuit payout as part of a deal to ensure that the Onion would acquire InfoWars wholesale, rather than having the company broken up and auctioned off piecemeal, as the latter course could potentially have allowed some of those pieces to end up back in the hands of Alex Jones' cronies.

Like, yes, it is in fact very funny that InfoWars is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Clickhole, but the real props go out to the Sandy Hook families who saw the opportunity and willingly gave up the additional millions of dollars that could have been realised by stripping InfoWars for parts in order to make that happen.

Bonus:

btw if I ever end up with a kitchen looking like the one on the left, it will only take one afternoon and a palette of paint before I've turned it into the kitchen on the right.

I understand why people see venats “no more shall man have wings to bear him to paradise. henceforth, he shall walk.” as a #hardship breeds character #ease is bad statement but to me in the context of endwalker and in the context of Hermes’ whole deal it was more to me a “you are so fixated on heaven you think earth is a misery. I’m overturning the fast lane you are trying to pave to heaven. Everyone is taking the scenic route”

i havent seen actual lyse hext hate but i can guess the shape of it based on her characterisation, and while i thought her stormblood story was really pretty good (with a few glaring omissions and underexplored themes), i think it's also really important to note that in terms of growth, she's fundamentally reactive. her whole story is told by bouncing her off conrad, m'naago, fordola, hien, gosetsu, and yotsuyu.

lyse is proactive in terms of actual plot; she's a major driver of events and does make decisions to go places and do shit (and is often advised not to in a mini-parallel of Alphinaud's arc, since squenix felt they did that well). however, she doesn't seek growth; she grows in response to the actions of others. she grows into former peers' expectations (of conrad and m'naago) in gyr abania, she grows into role models' shadows (of hien and gosetsu) in doma, and she grows into the person her enemies once needed (for fordola and yotsuyu) throughout the story.

characters like this tend to grow invisibly to the audience, because they never seek growth and their growth manifests as a bunch of tiny little aggregate habits and beliefs. alphinaud's growth in heavensward doesn't fall into this category because it's SO overt and he's SO vocal about seeking it, so you literally cannot miss it. lyse's growth doesn't show up until the end of 4.1, i would say, when you get the echo flashback to her freeing fordola. that scene is a combination of all her peers, role models, and enemies in one: she knows the expectations placed on fordola, she knows how to cast the shadow that nakes fordola feel safe enough to shine, and she knows when and why fordola needed someone like her twenty years ago.

it's such a crucial moment for actualizing lyse's arc, presented in such an action-heavy context that i worry a lot of people skimmed over it. i liked her character quite a bit because of hiw subtle and implicit her growth was; i'm always a fan of "growth as shutting the fuck up sometimes", and squenix took it to the next step as well by making lyse's main strength be her ability to know when and where her voice and hands are necessary (monk shit lol). that's why her little round table that got primal-bombed happened: lyse went "well now that ive learned to shut the fuck up, we gotta get some other people talking". and that's a fun way to do it.

Honestly there's no one I'd rather be on a forced saving-the-world road trip with than the origins gang. Sorry kotor companions sorry bg3 companions but no one does it like the origins gang. They are a family they are insane they are not to be fucked with they never would have been friends if they were given a choice in the matter. The perfect road trip squad.

They consist of the best dog in thedas, the worlds most royal himbo, a demi-god shapeshifting witch, a bisexual assassin nun, a bisexual assassin orphan, a powerful spell-slinging grandma living on borrowed time (who is bffs with a spirit), a giant spy man who doesn't know how to function by himself, the worlds grossest dwarf, and a giant statue that has a life goal to kill all birds.

the amount of people going “I really dislike/hate Zero” & like ok. whatever. that’s fine you’re entitled to your opinion and all NOW MOVE THE FUCK OVER, DORKS, MORE FOR ZERO FOR ME

the amount of people going “I really dislike/hate Wuk Lamat” & like ok. whatever. that’s fine you’re entitled to your opinion and all NOW MOVE THE FUCK OVER, DORKS, MORE FOR WUK LAMAT FOR ME

I’m literally unwell whenever I think about how much estinien loves people

WHEN WILL I GET MY TACOS, BAKOOL JA JA????

(I now have FFXIV merch in my Ko-fi, check it out!)

On Wuk Lamat, and Female Characters in FFXIV

The Thing with Wuk Lamat is you can tell me you think she had too much screentime; you can give me numbers on how many lines she had or how many scenes she's in relative to other characters or other expacs; you can prove to me "objectively" that she gets more focus than other main NPCs; you're simply not going to convince me that this is something I should be unhappy about. And not just because it's silly to think you can use numbers to prove a story is good or bad and make someone else go, "Wow, you're right, let me just throw away all the joy I experienced with this story and revise my opinion because you've scientifically proven to me that I'm wrong."

Because while I love Final Fantasy XIV and I have greatly enjoyed its story in so many ways, fundamentally one of my biggest beefs with this game has been how much female characters have been denied complex character arcs and growth and agency and interiority.

one thing I think ffxiv nails about its depiction of fascism that other works of fiction tend to miss is how fucking patronizing it is

take the negotiation scene with varis at the end of stormblood for example. every single person in that room (except alisaie) is a whole-ass adult, yet varis spends the entire meeting talking to them like they're children who couldn't possibly manage their own shit without him to tell them what to do. it's extremely insulting and very much on point

I adore y’shtola now because every single plan she comes up with is nigh-guaranteed to be the most unhinged idea ever thought up by cat or man. Being pursued by cops? COLLAPSE THE TUNNEL AND TELEPORT DIRECTLY INTO HEAVEN. Need to distract the Children of Everlasting Dark? THROW BEEHIVES INTO THEIR HOUSES. Need to perform a diving save into a bottomless pit? TELEPORT DIRECTLY INTO HEAVEN. AGAIN. Need to get on Mt. Gulg but air travel isn’t feasible? GIANT ROBOT. Need a portal to hell? MAKE A DEMON. That doesn’t work? SHOOT A LASER. AT THE MOON. Banger after banger.

I actually love hearing about reformed people's stories. I love hearing about people who were in toxic communities or people who used to objectively be dickheads talking about how they got out of that. How they made themselves better.

I hate how most people's initial reaction to stories like that are things like:

"How could you have ever done those things?!" "Oh my god, you believed those things?!" "Well it doesn't un-do the harm you did!"

People incessantly advocate for change but then refuse to allow people who have changed the grace of being acknowledged and given opportunities and chances.

I love hearing about ex-antis talking about how they don't spend their days being angry and sending death threats anymore.

I love hearing about ex-homophobes who realized there's no magic law about what is "natural."

I love reformed bullies talking about how they made amends with their victims and spend their days being considerate of others.

You can't scream about wanting people to change but then expect them to spend the rest of their lives stuck in the past and on who they used to be. You can't expect people to spend the entire rest of their lives grovelling and apologizing and demeaning themselves.

Instead of clinging to who they were, latch onto who they are.

Ask how they got out of it. Commend them on changing. Enjoy that there's one less cause of harm in the world.

I also love stuff like that because it's a blueprint for how we can save others. If someone used to be a giant racist and stopped, we can take what convinced them to change and spread that message

One of my favorite parts about Dawntrail is that no one knows who the WoL is.

Like, Koana has a vague idea, sure, and Galool Ja Ja clocks that we're far from average in an instant, but no one else has a fucking clue who this adventurer the Third Promise brought with her is.

Cause it leads to so many moments that are absolutely hilarious for us as players (and arguably our WoLs if you rp).

The way every threat of violence against the WoL and the party, and every "I bet you've never seen anything like this" could absolutely get one of the responses about:

-how we've slain eikons and gods,

-how we've saved the Star multiple times,

-how we've channeled (and honestly probably still have some of) the power of dragons,

-how we've been to other worlds, the past, and the edge of existence

And instead we get to respond with things that are effectively intimidating smiles and humble confidence.

It's not "Bitch, you don't who you're messing with."

It's "Yeah, ok, bud." Which is arguably the funnier and the more insulting of the options.

This is Stormblood all over again, but x2 cause we've done so much more than help settle revolutions by now. 😂

If you can’t think of anything to say about a fic, writers also like to know:

- what time it is

- how long you’ve been reading

- how many chapters you’ve covered in the last 24 hours

- what you were late for because you were reading

- the woeful few hours you have left to sleep

- the emotional outbreaks you’re experiencing

- the inappropriate place you’re having said outbreak

- the general public’s reaction to your outbreak

- how much phone battery you have left

I’ve had the joy of quite a few of these comments! I love them!

#if my fic has in some way ruined your life i would be honoured to know about it (via @hoidn​)

thinking about that moment late Shadowbringers where Y'shtola expresses that she kind of wishes she too had been granted the gift of the Echo, that she might be able to peer into the WoL's heart, and juxtaposing it with this other moment before one of the dungeons that she's looking forward to being able to drop the air of absolute self-control that she's presented to the Night's Blessed and really cut loose and unleash her powers for a change, and it's like... both of these are more or less incidental dialogue, stray almost throwaway lines, and yet...

For as much as she found a place amongst the Night's Blessed, and for how content and comfortable she was with them, she still never really let them see who she is under the surface. She never felt so comfortable as to drop her tightly controlled presentation, to let the mask drop and show her heart in full. For as much as she identifies with, and misses them, she still never let them truly know her - not the way that Y'mhitra, or the real Master Matoya, or even the WoL does.

It makes me wonder if part of what she's wishing she had isn't necessarily so much the Echo itself as it is the ability to share her heart openly, to be able to just drop all the carefully constructed walls for a spell and bare her innermost thoughts and feelings without fear of being dismissed or judged for it.

I personally think Y'shtola deserves some more credit for how she advocates for the Warrior of Light during Shadowbringers. Without knowing the whole story I've always felt she had every right to be uneasy with the Exarch, and to be honest I was expecting a pricklier welcome from her in Rak'tika... but as soon as she realizes who it is, her greeting for the WoL is incredibly warm. I love that her first question is "How are you?" She cares about them! And when her aethersight gives her reason to believe the WoL is in danger, she's concerned! She thinks they need to be told! And when Urianger won't agree to tell them, she does it herself, because she thinks it's the right thing to do. She treats the Warrior of Light like a person who deserves to know what they're getting into and make an informed decision, and it's such a far cry from the "You'll do it because you're the Warrior of Light!" attitudes of everyone in ARR.

And I think it's also worth noting that in the end, after she knows the whole truth, she doesn't seem to hold any of it against G'raha. When you're back in the Source, she's talking about whether he should be given the title of Nunh after his long tenure as the Crystal Exarch, and after he joins the Scions, she seems cool with him, so I genuinely have no reason to think she holds a grudge about any of it.

She was, ultimately, concerned and wanted to do the right thing, and she cares about the Warrior of Light and their wellbeing, and I think that's an important thing about her.

y'shtola gets way too little credit for being fiercely protective of the people she cares about, and a ton of shit for the dramatic things she does to save them (that she has to be rescued from).

some of my favorite bits of missable dialogue that i do not have screenshots for, but come from the text strings from npcs in fanow and slitherbow after the events of mt. gulg, which you never see because honestly who wasn't racing into the finale?:

y'shtola not only advocates for the WOL, she is exhausting absolutely every resource she can get her hands on, and she is grieving. the WOL is her friend, and she wants to help them, and it kills her that she can't. dats it.