Journal of Other Forum Analysis (Volume II, Issue 1)

[Superstar]

Slayven with another topic that's just a tweet lmao

https://www.resetera.com/threads/paramount-will-no-longer-publish-box-office-numbers-for-better-man.1091697/

They're gonna have to ban a mod aren't they

US-era continually dunking on the monkey movie and UK-era being all offended by said dunking is one of the genuinely funnier things Resetera has had going for it in a long while. The board culture FUN threads ain't dead yet.

[nachobro]

No, how many are there?

every Black person in the united states of amerikkka

[BIONIC]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/angry-video-game-nerd-james-rolfe-finally-going-all-ass-out-on-gamergate-game-awards.1090881/page-8#post-134822274

One of my proudest moments in ERA was making the thread that got Angry Joe banned here

[benji]

every Black person in the united states of amerikkka

Have they heard about the artist-friendly lifestyle of Bahia?

[Hap Shaughnessy]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/thousands-of-lakes-in-greenland-have-crossed-a-tipping-point-from-which-they-cant-recover-began-emitting-carbon-dioxide.1091709/#post-134841306

The legacy carbon from human emissions means that the planet will continue to warm significantly for another 60 years even if we magically reduced our output to zero tomorrow. All these natural sources of carbon dioxide and methane awakening now into positive feedback loops just seals the deal on how utterly fucked we are. Everyone posting on the forum will live to see the death of modern civilization, biosphere collapse, and the end of the bountiful earth for millennia. A few survivors at the poles might allow mankind to escape extinction but they might as well be.

If I recall the earth is supposed to be at the beginning of the next glacial period.

Human global warming obviously put that aside, but after the end of civilization the planet will gradually correct itself. And whatever's left of humanity will be facing one of the planet's reoccurring great ice ages, where the area of New York was covered in MILES of ice.

If, big IF any humans survive the far future, none of them are going to remember anything of life in the distant past. It's going to be a huge reset on human civilization. A reset that should've been completely unnecessary, but here we are.

The doomerism in me from reading about all the terrible feedback loops poised to get unleashed really makes me struggle to see how we don't just end up like fucking Venus over the next several hundred years, even if we slow the pace of emissions or somehow magically avoid more massive carbon intensive wars.

That ice age cycle is no longer in play (at least not for multiple thousands of years) after we released 1.5 trillion tons of greenhouse gas in only two centuries. We're speedrunning the suspected cause of the Permian's Great Dying mass extinction with even higher numbers. The real kicker here is the gigatons of natural greenhouse gases we've agitated into rejoining the atmosphere regardless of how this civilization decides to kill itself in the next 70 years. Biologists are already seeing extinction rates matching or exceeding the worst known mass die offs in multiple sectors. On average it takes 10 million years for the ecosystem to bounce back from this level of catastrophe. I don't think humanity is going to make it through the eye of the needle. On the slim chance they do, they will be enduring a depleted hostile earth for longer than the species has existed.

[benji]

Don't think Reddit is a safe space just because they're banning HitlerNazi links. They deleted this thread:

[Taco Bell Tower]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/angry-video-game-nerd-james-rolfe-finally-going-all-ass-out-on-gamergate-game-awards.1090881/page-8#post-134822274

One of my proudest moments in ERA was making the thread that got Angry Joe banned here

That's really pathetic for him to flex about 

[Nintex]

I swear people are going to be getting loaded onto "work camp buses" and there will be people like you still saying that we need to vote and to stop dooming.

I like how his nightmare scenario is having to work.

[Taco Bell Tower]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/angry-video-game-nerd-james-rolfe-finally-going-all-ass-out-on-gamergate-game-awards.1090881/page-9#post-134825334

Genuinely was bummed to see him at this award show. As a millennial, I enjoyed his stuff in the late 2000s, and eventually stopped watching that sort of content. It's sad that James never could really grow or let himself grow.

And now he's here. Either paying or being paid to present a terrible award on a terrible production that's entire existence is because of hatred and bigotry.

[benji]

I've been intending to do this for some time but never bothered. But I took a break from working on something else to take a look to see what might turn up. Nepenthe is 22 or older in all of these posts.

Please welcome our new moderators, Nepenthe and Tornado:

While a lot of you noticed this yesterday (or today) since some keen eyed individuals started making status updates about it (which I admit I love to read because seeing the positive reactions of the members is so enticing), I wanted to give our two new staff members a few hours to adjust to the orange banner and fancy title before posting this topic. I'm a bit surprised you guys haven't pointed out any other comments I've made in the last day hinting at some of the stuff to come, but there was one member who suggested a third moderator would be coming which I won't confirm nor deny. Where would the fun be if I outright told you guys otherwise?

But before I do the proper introduction, I'd like to clarify a point about the differing usergroups between our new and our old. As you've probably seen mentioned, we currently have two usergroups for the staff: 'Moderators' and 'Super Moderators'. This change, while temporary, is simply a precautionary step for new staff due to the additional moderation ability that our existing staff maintain. It isn't saying that the newer staff cannot moderate certain forums or have a lessened ability to perform their tasks. But anyway, on to the task at hand!

It's my pleasure to officially welcome our two new moderators to the team: Tornado and Nepenthe. You will both do a fine job, and I hope the transition hasn't been too hard on you!

I was on there was BlizShadow from roughly around 2003 to its eventual death around 2007 or so, and I can tell you that the ire that forum got was wholly deserved. Most of the staff were pretty awful, a mean bunch who I imagine only got to their position of power expressly through connections with other staff members. The owner was never involved and got so distanced from the forum's running that he just sold it off to some guy in Italy who gave even less of a fuck to the point that he vanished completely, and with him so did access to the ACP hence the site's death. I think our very own Chris was called in to try to fix the situation but couldn't.

Also, the threshold for conversation and forum management was just as bad. If there were any grammar rules, they weren't enforced. Same with flaming. I also remember way back in the site's early days that they had a forum expressly devoted to each of the game characters. While I admit it was interesting in hindsight to see how these forums had such different atmospheres due to the congregation of different demographics that enjoyed these characters (the Cream forum was exactly like you'd expect a Cream forum to look like in terms of conversation, and it was subsequently the complete opposite from the Shadow forum), it also bred a lot of competition and resentment between regulars of specific forums and eventually got to the point where they just nixed it completely.

Even as much as I look back on the site and some of the people there with contempt, I nonetheless recognize that it was my first Internet home and it's where I went through the majority of my growing pains with regards to the Internet. I was undoubtedly an argumentative ass that couldn't really let go of anything without getting the last word in. It's a personal thing I have to shake off every now and again, although doing all of that arguing made me a better debater and conversationalist in the long run anyway. I also met a few good friends on there or at least during that period. Our own D'Metal is one; he was one of the good staffers on there. There was also Archer- an excellent writer and RPer- and an Axel Fire was another, who was joined at my hip as my debating buddy until the forum died. I've been trying to find him since; I'd love to talk to him again, or even wonder if he's still apart of the fandom.

I’ve seen plenty of topics on here asking people to define toxicity, usually in terms of concrete actionable offenses. I understand why people- particularly in the aftermath of being reported for vague reasons- want a consensus about the matter, but I think trying to define the concept on objective lines is inherently a disservice to the community, both because it implies that one is trying to find ways to skirt the lines, but also because it ignores much of the context that occurs when you understand you’re dealing with other human beings who ultimately want a positive experience, win or lose.

I played Rialto today and there was another Lucio on the enemy team. I’m pretty competitive with other Lucios and like getting into battles with them, but this was a relatively one sided affair I relished in. I got off several kills on them, but at one point I abandoned the team specifically to boot them into the river while they hid to recover from damage. In other words, I was willing to let my team mates die just to kill them.

The inevitable question I got asked when relaying this experience to others was “Why do you feel bad about winning the match and being the better Lucio?” My response was that it wasn’t about being the better Lucio. It was about the fact that I felt it necessary to rub their nose in it by specifically targeting them, to assert my skill and experience in ways that were overwhelming and yet not conducive to obtaining the objective.

And I also understand the desire to show off because everyone works hard at their game. Plus, genuinely friendly banter and jokes lighten the atmosphere on both sides and are a key component to putting matches back into perspective and making the game fun, win or lose. But I’ve been on the other end- I’ve been that Lucio several times that has been completely supplexed by Lucios who just want to just bully me simply because I’m Lucio.

And I’m not saying it’s not allowed. Playing the game is playing the game. But I would classify the desire to make the gaming experience miserable for others above all else, even within the bounds of the game rules, as toxic.

Afterwards I tried to befriend the Lucio to apologize and make amends, but they ignored it, which is fair dues. I would think such a person would be willing to harass me. But you live and learn, and from now on I’m gonna temper the kind of bloodlust and desire to make others miserable that people conflate with “competitive spirit.” The objective and my team come first. Another frog fight will come, but I’ll try not to be so antsy to initiate, and to thank them for the battle since Lucio’s mere presence is always a blessing. Again, Overwatch should be fun, matches sportsmanlike, and I believe there can be kindness in competition.

To that Lucio, I am sorry for being a jerk. Should we meet again, I honestly hope you hand my butt back to me. I deserve it. xD

Toxicity isn’t worth ruminating upon. It’s not worth considering beyond the initial recognition of it, just before hitting that ‘block’ button.

Of course it is worth thinking about. Overwatch is a community composed of actual human beings. There is nothing wrong with the desire to make a pleasant experience for other human beings.

I don’t expect the play environment to change. I just want to do my best to make sure everyone who comes across me as an individual remembers me as a kind player.

Doesn’t mean I won’t mess you up if you let me, of course.

Learn to draw from Nepenthe: https://sonicblast.org/Thread-BlizShadow-s-Guide-to-Drawing

It's not even a grand opening either; this forum's been sitting on the shelf for years. 8P But I feel an introduction's in order nonetheless.

The Seven Chaos is yet another Sonic forum out of the hundreds of Sonic forums out there, but what makes it more unique is that it exists to function primarily as an artistic one. The end game goal for us is to become a hub for fan artists of all types gather and pool their knowledge and resources into fun stuff. That "fun stuff" can range from group art projects to comics, calendars, and wallpaper, fan games, soundtracks, and even adding forum skins and smileys. Anything you can imagine is on the table.

But that's a bit far off. Right now, we should focus on building an initial base of members; people who are interested in the initial idea or at least having another place on the Internet to chill. So keep your ideas in mind, but go off and fill the forum up with topics and posts. Hang out. Meet people. Post your stuff for some feedback. Get settled. And if you would, take this banner and advertise in your signatures elsewhere as I'm doing now. But above all, have fun.

Ever wish Sonic was real? https://web.archive.org/web/20180711025717/http://s1.zetaboards.com/thesevenchaos/topic/4668762/1/

There would undoubtedly be technological benefits to living in Sonic's universe in fields like medicine, transportation, and entertainment, and perhaps there would be social ones as well. Even with the presence of GUN, Sega seems pretty intent on putting across an incredibly idealistic world: there's no signs of war, famine, economic strife, or social injustice. Everyone's happy and productive. It might even get a bit boring until Eggman attacks, which would realistically kill tons of people all the time. The more drastic plans, such as in Unleashed and Colors, would also have untold consequences for the planet's health too, and the trade-off for hover boards wouldn't be worth the increased risk of death by falling to the center of the Earth. =P

If there were specific things I would want to be real, the main and secondary animal cast and Extreme Gear would be my top ones. The latter would allow me to keep up with the former and perhaps find myself in some awesome social circles.

You're welcome; I find these sorts of hypothetical topics interesting.

But I forgot: I'd want Chaos Emeralds to exist too. They're the secret to immortality and revival. Practically and ethically studying these aspects of their powers would make life awesome.

Talking about myself is hard. :(

As far as the extent of my furry-dom is concerned, I've drawn animals as far back as I can remember and they remain a great source of inspiration for my artwork. Dogs are the best, and for more reasons than I'd be willing to list due to risk of droning. I'm also an ardent Sonic fan, (still? I know), and a modern one at that, although I don't particularly condone the overtly negative aspects of that fanbase or the franchise. While I'm not a particularly hardcore furry beyond that, I still appreciate the overall community and enjoy its friendly and kooky atmosphere. <3

Personally, I'm going to SCAD for animation, love going to the movies and running amuck in the city, have a west highland white terrier who provides endless amounts of amusement and facepalms, am now addicted to dubstep, and champion Sprite in all its forms as the ultimate soda. I'm also going through a seiyuu phase that I know very well I should probably drop due to its potential unhealthiness. Current target: Tomokazu Seki. Look him up then thank me later. x3

Finally, an elusive photo of Nepenthe:

No, it's not white-washing, although I don't know whether to call it progression (although there was certainly an era where the Human Torch would not possibly be cast as non-White.) In a perfect world, it would be repugnant to some degree to cast actors who had different races and ethnicities to those of the characters they were playing, because different people or no more or less deserving of big acting breaks than others, assuming acting ability is equal. White characters would have white actors, black characters black actors, Hispanic characters Hispanic actors, and so on and so forth.

The problem is that we don't live in a perfect world, or rather, America continues to entertain a predominantly white or Eurocentric culture because of social demographics and because that makes money. There's a shitton more white superheroes than black superheroes as a result, so it's less of a good to cast white actors in black roles than it is the other way around. Is it a double-standard? Yes, but it's a minuscule double-standard compared to the big ass elephant in the room of still-shitty race relations in this country and the subsequent lack of black characters to see in film. In short, this issue is White History Month levels of eye-roll. It was eye-roll worthy when people pitched a fit when Idris Elba was cast in Thor, and it will be for the foreseeable future.

Nepenthe extensively discusses the lore of Five Nights at Freddy's in this thread: https://www.sonicstadium.org/forums/topic/18799-five-nights-at-freddys-scott-cawthon-financially-supports-anti-lgbtq-politicians/

"Nigga" is similar to any other term or demonym used to refer to a person that may have context for use be dependent upon the relationship and social status of the speakers, but due to its racially charged nature people kind of approach it like they don't know how language works. For example, men don't normally go up to other men's partners and call them pet names like "honey," even though "honey" itself is an endearing term, because it's socially understood that when someone is taken you don't flirt with them. "Nigga" is basically the same, except the factors that change its appropriateness are broadly race dependent (although there are black people who don't like using the word either.) I admit I'm more likely to look sideways at a white person who says it than a black person unless they've been in company where it's implicitly understood they have a pass, due solely to historical and current political context of its use by white people. Red flags raise to me when white people get offended that it's a social faux pas for them to use the word a lot of times. We can get into an argument about that being a double standard, and I will happily bring up far more double standards that work to black people's detriment than simply having an awkward moment.

To me, honestly, if you don't feel comfortable using it, then don't. If you use it wrongly and get chewed out for it, don't blame sensitive people, reverse racists, or SJWs for your inability to know how language works. Take the L and move on.

Guess this explains B-Dubs n-word pass?

JonTron seems like the typical millenial alt-righter story: A young white guy who doesn't understand the world and has no skills regarding self-awareness or meaningful interaction with other groups of people was called out for his jokes and casual behavior one too many times for his liking and, unable to see what the big deal was or engage in introspection, kept doubling down out of defensiveness and spite, eventually diving into the rabbit hole that is Brietbart and the Daily Stormer where guys like him are vindicated as being the true victims of the world while simultaneously being led to believe that brown people are going to be the downfall of western society. It started out with shit like the "retard" incident on Twitter and some off-color black jokes, and then it spiraled into a general proclivity for defending alt-righters and provocateurs because he probably felt empathy due to the bad feelings caused when you're accused of doing something wrong. And once you're at that stage, unless you have a person bring you back from the brink, that's it. You'll inevitably become a full-blown racist jackass. It's literally textbook ISIL-like online indoctrination and it's insidious. Sad, but at the same time I'm tired of feeling sympathy for people who's ultimate issue is that they just won't grow the fuck up already. I'm not responsible for JonTron, so until he gets his act together he can go fuck himself to the moon and back.

Your opinions amount to little more than false equivalencies and flaunting how much you're above it all despite how little you ultimately know about politics and sociology compared to both sides of the aisle. You can state them, but why when it's apparent you don't care to engage beyond that every time a controversy comes up?

Even if any of that was verifiable, meeting people has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you actually know their area of expertise. My mom is a nurse and I know shit about nursing. You claim to know politics but think the KKK was once a Democratic organization by modern standards. You have failed numerous times to prove you understand the socioeconomic implications of racism in America and handwave the statistics and it with "Well, I'm black and I don't experience anything so obviously racism doesn't exist." You call BLM a terrorist organization. You look at people threatening others with bigoted language and then tell the victims to get over it because "You can't change minds". Being on a phone has nothing to do with it either, because I type half of my posts on a phone. Literally every time we've talked you've either been factually wrong on something, callously apathetic if not outright hostile to minorities, or both. And yet you're actively proud of this because you're not angry about it, as if being a happy accessory to bigotry is something virtuous to uphold.

You literally do nothing in these threads except show your ass and then bookend it with how much you supposedly respect us, when frankly I don't think you actually do respect me or anyone else.

She loved JonTron before, from earlier in the thread:

I have Sean to blame for introducing me to this guy. I love him, and half of the reason is because of his reddit-style freak outs. They're made by the high-quality editing he utilizes: The actual captioning of his screams and stutters, nonsequitur animations, the perfectly timed jitters and jutters, twirling words and phrases, that goddamned pointing hand, and his other habits are just spot-on with the dialogue and are prone to cracking me up. But the dialogue on it's own is also funny; he has a knack for comedic timing and improvisation that I can't really compare to any other critic I've seen, and he has a very camera-friendly and affable nature on top of it that makes watching his videos easier to handle than his raging contemporaries. I don't see myself ever tiring of this guy if he keeps up the quality level he's at now. Now time to watch his Home Improvement review; I think that's my favorite one thus far. x3

A new JonTron review makes my day infinitely brighter. Time to watch.

Another thing to note about politics is that they are pretty much omniscient and inherent in entertainment. If you make any kind of work, the characters, setting, conflict, and resolution are going to suggest a belief of some sort even if the work doesn't exist in a governmental environment. Steven Universe for example is pro-feminist and pro-LGBT without having a government official make any sort of speech about these things because the characters, conflicts, and beliefs they espouse are merely the surface covering for the subtext that is pro-feminist and pro-LGBT ideals. So if you don't want to have actual sociopolitical stuff in a work (and for Sonic we probably wouldn't), just make use of symbolism and character action. Repeat colors, patterns, or objects to suggest viewpoints (ex. red = right-leaning, blue= left-leaning). Have characters make decisions or engage each other in ways that imply or reference political beliefs and thoughts (questions and actions regarding free will, responsibility, collateral damage, helping or not helping people, misanthropy, inequality, etc.). Use plot devices that are parallels to real world concepts, such as in Steven Universe's case again where fusion is a parallel to a personal relationship. You can make a sociopolitical statement out of something that is fantastical and cartoony.

I don't think Phelps was misguided in the sense that he was totally ignorant. I feel he knew exactly what he was doing the entire time; his whole entire church is a scam to eke money out of civil suits by enraged people. What's an easy way to enrage people? Picket the funerals of gay people and scream they're going to Hell by using the rights given to you by our well-meaning country, of course. Throw on that a dash of extensive child beating, overall cult-rearing, ruination of those he had grudges with, and other psychopathic behaviors, and you have a man who by all accounts is pretty much the definition of evil. I don't feel sorry for him. I feel sorry for the children and gullible people who fell for his disgusting shit and perpetuated his nonsense. I hope they're able to go on without him and better themselves as people. But if there's a positive afterlife, Fred Phelps certainly doesn't deserve to experience it.

If you are for racial integration, you do not need to be an activist. If you are marriages between any pair of consenting adults, you do not need to be an activist. If you are for social equality of the genders, you do not need to be an activist. The fact that one of these has a specific "ism" attached to it doesn't mean its inherent definition has been changed to include activism as a necessity. This is literally the first time in all of my online life that I've heard someone denounce Feminism on this front.

Ignoring the fact that we never had true free speech and probably never will, (don't bitch when the police taze you for shouting "fire" in a theater),

They expect us to believe it because people largely do time and time again. This country doesn't empathize with racial minorities because it by and large does not have a meaningful relationship with them, meaning it's not in a position to personally witness and parse the sociopolitical problems they face on a daily basis. Couple that with a culture that believes- for better or worse- in the idea that we are a meritocracy free from the pratfalls of majority corruption, as well as a culture that hero worships the police and military to points that can be described as uncomfortably nationalistic without any idea of the egregious legal, procedural, and ethical violations that happen all the time, and you get the sincere belief that all of these victims are not actually victims at all.

Instead, they are magical masters of their own destiny who made every choice in a vacuous world of pure right and pure wrong. These people chose to be criminals, they are nothing but criminals, and their deaths are their own fault spurred on by forcing good officers' hands into using force that just happened to prove deadly. If Mike Brown wanted to live, he should've never jaywalked. If Eric Garner wanted to live, he would've never sold cigarettes in his past. If Freddie Gray wanted to live, then he shouldn't have responded in confusion to cops rolling up with their guns already drawn. And if Sandra wanted to live, she shouldn't have "assaulted that police officer." Deep down, if we're going to be honest, they were nothing but beautiful Black bodies to America.

I'm just tired of always having a reason to be outraged and angry at the apathy of this country and the inability of it to critically self examine. I'm tired of apathetic liberals and fence sitters who think racism isn't the problem, but economics or voting or some  easy shit that gets them off the hook. I'm tired of people trying to derail these conversations with claims of reverse racism because we have to address their precious feelings. I'm just tired, because at this point I'm nearly convinced nothing is going to change in any meaningful way. Too many fuckers who refuse to care and we don't have enough time and man power to get them to pay attention.

There is also counter evidence to these claims, as well as holes in the police force's testimony that happened before and after they got their statements together. Which is why you have a trial, an open platform where all of the available evidence can be aired and discussed in as theoretically neutral an environment as possible.

But oh wait, we didn't even have a trial because the officer's cheek was a little red and he simply claimed to be scared. Poor fucking baby.

Again, the standards for officers to kill and get away with it are a hell of a lot lower than the standards for normal citizenry, yet they are tasked with full authority over that citizenry. And the only reason it doesn't scare most people, the reason why you and other people think what Michael Brown did to deserve his death is even a real fucking argument in the grand scheme, is because statistically it's not happening to white people nearly as often as it's happening to other groups, so there's no reason for America to give a shit.

But again, this argument is completely irrelevant of the bigger issue, which is that police have practically no accountability and are thus inherently untrustworthy as an institution

 Don't criticize the police for shooting; criticize the attackers. If the attackers didn't attack in the first place, they wouldn't have been shot.

"If you do something wrong, well, you're asking for it."

Racism is at nearly every turn and corner at human society, with America as no exception. If you accept the belief that we are all consciously and subconsciously taught racial prejudices and apathy through segregation, media, and cultural stereotypes, and that the individual actions that are the result of these biases inevitably add up to systemic inequality by design, then the burden of proof is actually on finding some area of life that is as free as possible from racial bias so as to be reasonably called "colorblind," and if you do tell someone or some institution that's important because you will have just solved a very fundamental human problem, and personally you'll make me a happy camper because I'm sick and tired of being burdened with it. You can't even talk about video games without finding some level of racism towards black people, from the eye-roll stuff where people claim Knuckles is black because "lol rap music," to the diet variety where people claim they can't relate to black characters in games as much as they can the fucking fantasy loli moe anime girls with big ass eyes and bright-ass hair, to the outright hostile variety that is Gamergate.

The reason the average white person doesn't take racism in America seriously is because it doesn't happen to them in a way that is institutional within the bedrock of American society, and when we can't see or experience something then we operate our lives on the idea that it doesn't exist, and subsequently that our actions are either inconsequential or amoral since we all consider ourselves "good people" who don't do "bad things." White people largely live in a bubble free from racial discomfort, and confronting the public about it results in a defensiveness or attempts to reconcile it as something else that does nothing but reveal the culture's own mental fragility concerning the problem. OJ's lawyer is just icing on the cake for people to continue acting like the race card has any real power beyond that card in the deck with the manufacturer's information on it.

Profiling people based upon immutable qualities completely out of their control like race, gender, sexual identity, etc. is not the same as profiling someone based on the job they consciously chose to do and the behavior they display during that job, a job that is objectively demonstrably full of corruption, unnecessary brutality, and a disturbing lack of oversight, and it's utterly insulting to equivocate them. If you don't want to be seen as complicit to the problem of racism within the justice system and are tired of the criticism you and your boys in blue have been getting recently, perhaps you should either start visibly advocating for real change or choose another job. Seriously, anyone too immature to take some criticism of an institution they work under is not a person who I feel comfortable with in a policing profession.

It's also not on a black person to assume that an institution that has been allowed for centuries to kill without equivocal repercussion, to over-cite and over-police people in a bid to rack up quotas and pacify scared white people, and generally disrespect them and the black community is perfectly fine and dandy just because the legal system has decided to merely assume none of that stuff happens in order to work the way it wants to work. The court of law is not the court of public opinion and never will be. In general, it's perfectly demonstrative of the divide between white people and black people to always advocate that intangible ideals hold precedence over the real physical need to protect one's self, that black people are wrong or doing the most for being skeptical of an institution that's beat the shit out of them forever, the reflexive invention of ridiculous pacifist behaviors in the presence of police in order to come home alive to the point that it's a cliche', at least without actually offering up another plan that works better than what we have going on now. Kick an animal long enough and eventually it's going to start being aggressive in reflexive preparation for another kick. You don't blame the animal for overreacting every time it's approached, you blame the asshole for kicking it in the first place.

On top of that, the whole point of being a police officer is to be a professional upholder of the law. Since they possess more social power, they in turn have- or theoretically should- have a much higher standard of civic behavior to meet than the average citizen as a check in power. People in power do not deserve the benefit of the doubt that they are working with and for those on the bottom, and their feet should always be held to the fire in case they decide to get too big for their boots and start railroading and punishing those who lack the resources to fight back. If nothing else, this kind of anti-establishment sentiment is what the damn country was founded upon.

As for white moderates, y'all have never actually listened to black people even when we did come off as buying into this idea that subconscious racism doesn't exist. King dressed in a good suit, advocated for non-violence, was a man of the church, and ultimately a martyr everyone likes to use as a holy figure of, at best, good civic demonstrations, and at worse black respectability politics, and even he was like "Yeah, white moderates actually have no fucking backbone and would rather be comfortable than put in any real work to institute change for their fellow man." So being accommodating to their feelings and precious sensibilities doesn't and never has actually worked.

The perspective of cops that says it's unfair for them to be given any kind of significant criticism and scrutiny for the sake of self-preservation on part of the public is not a complaint worth kowtowing to for two reasons. First, they're in a position of power above most people meaning they theoretically have a higher standard of civic responsibility to uphold; yet despite this they lack any sort of meaningful or significant check in power so they're essentially allowed to cause harm with far more impunity than a normal citizen can. This is significantly dangerous and how actual police states happen. Second is the fact that- again- any career you choose is a conscious choice. It's not society's responsibility to make your job easy, particularly one where you're allowed to draw your gun at someone at a moment's notice. Again, if you don't want to deal with the fact that people are scared of a section of a population that has a higher likelihood of killing them and walking away completely unscathed from judicial punishment aside from a fucking paid vacation, you should either start enacting change from within your institution or find a job where you don't have to deal with the pressure. We should not be coddling adults like this, or at the very least I'm not going to coddle adults.

I think to say that black people only have two options- independence or cooperation- and that they must pick one, is highly disingenuous and patronizing, and it glosses over American's history with protest, violence, and countermeasures. It is a given that you must work within the law and with politicians to make legal and somewhat moral progress. That's what Emancipation got us for slavery, the 50s and 60s got us civil rights for a few decades (before the act was lovingly gutted awhile ago, of course) and that's what BLM is doing now. But this political work being done doesn't magically fix the system for all of black people in the now, which is why you simultaneously had slave riots and revolts, the BPP during the Civil Rights Era, and the current frustration and riotous behavior that is happening now in the wake of over-policing and vigilante justice. You cannot expect people who are starving to wait for you to come around to feed them on your schedule, much less laugh at them for thinking of just doing for themselves by going to find food for themselves even if that means stealing.

Physical pushback, middle fingers towards the status quo, and strains of independent work and programs on part of the oppressed are not the most endearing thing, but the facts to consider are that one, the oppressed have never been all that endearing to majority in general anyway (in this case, there's no shortage of examples of whites and even the government killing well-educated, well-dressed, and well-off black men and women), and two, in a country founded in part on an irrational riot within white communities against the British that was celebrated in history enough to become the name of a branch of one of the major political parties after, you would be wrong to say it is always avoidable or has never worked. Emancipation (that thing the whole damn country fought a war over), women's suffrage, proper labor standards and weekends, LGBT rights- none of these were achieved only at the ballot box or with protest signs. People have gotten hurt and things have gotten destroyed over them. It being undesirable doesn't mean it didn't have an effect or was even avoidable within the context of the situations at the time. 

There has been and always will be a healthy dose of both political and somewhat anarchic or alternative work happening simultaneously in through the inevitability of people living and functioning at a far faster rate than what the government and apathetic majority can or wishes to act on. To draw a line in the sand with black people, a group that the system has never really worked for to any significant benefit, and tell us it's only one or the other, and to shake one's head whenever something pops off without awareness of historical context, is patronizing and dismisses people's agency. If you're serious about wanting to decrease violent, uncooperative, and independent behavior on part of the people that are being fucked over, the only thing to do- honestly- is to stop fucking them over.

Black Lives Matter- despite its name- is inherently inclusive in its goals because they are fighting against generalized police corruption which isn't limited to black people nor actually committed against them the most in many statistics, and as a result you will see people of all demographics in many of its marches anyway. If you want to specifically focus on other demographics other than black people, then advocate for/join/create movements whose names are etymologically tied to the people you're actually concerned about (Native Lives Matter, Asian Lives Matter, Latino Lives Matter etc.) and allow the affected peoples to define their specific problems with institutional killings and lead their movements, versus trying to reclaim the name of a racist hashtag (again, ALM is not an actual movement) while also consolidating multiple racial groups with their own problems under one broad, unfocused mush of a banner that only seeks to downplay their identities.

No one wants police to cease existing. People want police to better serve their communities. That's going to come at the cost of police admitting there is a problem and empathizing with communities that have been burned by overpolicing and quotas. You're can't rebuild trust in a day.

I heard about this awhile ago but I didn't necessarily care either, and I'm actually in agreement with a few of their platforms, namely standing against wealth disparity. The movement seems pretty quiet and disorganized, and a recent demonstration was apparently an impediment to the goings-on of New York streets, slowing traffic and littering and whatnot, and people certainly weren't going to give the time of day to that regardless of the point attempting to be made. And I'm already of the cynical opinion that not enough people are going to do shit about wealth disparity and Wall Street debauchery until we're in more dire straits than we are now. So yeah, good intentions but it's not going to do a damn thing.

You know, I'm honestly surprised that the group has spread this much, although that's my fault for following them casually through cable networks. Hell, there's an Occupy demonstration going on rather close to my school, and I was interested in checking them out one day when I had the free time, (though I can't afford to sit in for any length of time). My politically cynical self is actually happy that the movement's gotten this far. But I have the usual big questions: Can they get themselves to focusing on a few specific problems to strengthen their message, gain some leaders, and actually stay grassroots unlike what happened to the Tea Party?

Is it reasonable to expect a perfect society or at least one in which there is absolutely equality and all (or at least most) folks are content? Is it possible, what they are asking for?

There's a difference between asking for a utopia and asking for pre-Bush era tax increases to come back. There's a difference between asking for perfect fairness across the board and demanding a government that isn't bought and paid off. There's a difference between pie-in-the-sky dreams and wanting more corporate regulation. These demands are not unreasonable.

Demanding that homophobic politicians resign isn't mutually exclusive from supporting politicians in favor of abolishing anti-gay legislation. If anything, both should be pursued. If you are a minority, merely supporting the politicians that favor your causes does no good if they're not getting elected by the majority or are getting blocked by opponents that managed to stay or remain in power. Removing players from the opposing team, or the viability of the opposing team's positions, is also valid and sometimes necessary alongside electing supporting politicians to enact true political change.


In short, there is a reason we don't have a whole lot of white supremacists in power in the US anymore, or at least open ones. And it wasn't only done by putting one or two abolitionists in power, but also by devaluing the position of white supremacists at the same time.

There's at least two US politics threads she's posted in but I'm not going through them:
https://www.sonicstadium.org/forums/topic/21701-the-general-american-politics-thread/
https://www.sonicstadium.org/forums/topic/21702-the-general-murican-politics-thread/

From the two threads I actually bothered to read to any extent she was not only far more moderate but entirely willing to debate people who would be instantly labeled Nazis and banned from ResetERA.com. Barely brings up capitalism at all, even in relation to Occupy Wall Street, and as quoted above begins the police brutality thread from the perspective of it being their lack of accountability before the argument and the passage of time shifts her towards blaming the racism more than the power. Though she still believes reform is possible with greater oversight.

Here's some other threads maybe of amusement or interest:
https://www.sonicstadium.org/forums/topic/20383-the-thermian-argument-and-video-games/
https://www.sonicstadium.org/forums/topic/5421-penths-sketchbook/

Here's the furry thread:
https://www.sonicstadium.org/forums/topic/18797-general-furry-fandom-thread/

8P It might help to define what exactly a Furry is before someone not too versed in the culture get the wrong idea. As far as I define it as hard as possible, it's a person who likes cartoon animals enough to both claim the label for themselves and express a desire to commune with other people who've also declared themselves Furries. Beyond that, the're no barrier to entry. There's nothing to watch, play, read, or experience in general to solidify your fandom, because the entire thing's based on a broad fictional and cultural concept anyone can immediately understand; thus individual expressions of fandom are unique to each individual. Making art, writing, fursuiting, attending cons, or anything like that aren't necessary. So if you like the idea of toon animals, and you like the idea of hanging with other people who like toon animals, you've met the base qualifications of being a Furry.

 

As for me, I've been actively involved in the fandom for about four years after attending FWA 2011. It already catered to my tastes and general interests, and it was good to be among a wide range of artists with unique styles and talent levels; drawers, painters, crafters, dancers, performers, the whole shebang. Nearly everyone is talented in something to some degree, and many are willing to share their techniques and experiences, so being around Furs- if nothing else- is always good for sparking inspiration to me; Being at a con is almost like being at SCAD, except without the homework and crippling debt.

 

It was also after that con that I decided to start suiting, both making my own and performing in them, which is rad too. I'm gaining skills I didn't think I'd ever have before (I can actually sew stuff now!), and it's made me particularly brave; I have no qualms with wearing a suit in public (although I follow protocol regarding private establishments). You'd be amazed at how well most people take a suiter who is at least an average performer, as well as someone willing to explain. It always puts a smile on someone's face. x3

There's another Sonic forum where she has 6500+ posts, but the site SUCKS now to where it barely fucking loads even if everything looks like it's still there and I think they go back to when she was younger. I don't know if this is the aforementioned Sonic Zone Forum or not, it has a different name.

[Taco Bell Tower]

NepNep was stealing money? 

[Gameboy Nostalgia]

Don't think Reddit is a safe space just because they're banning HitlerNazi links. They deleted this thread:

[Daffy Duck]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/angry-video-game-nerd-james-rolfe-finally-going-all-ass-out-on-gamergate-game-awards.1090881/page-8#post-134822274

One of my proudest moments in ERA was making the thread that got Angry Joe banned here

From the forum that says cancel culture isn’t a thing

[Besticus Maximus]

[Nintex]

NepNep was stealing money? 

Modern day Robin Hood

[benji]

Stealing from furries shouldn't be a crime.

[benji]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/angry-video-game-nerd-james-rolfe-finally-going-all-ass-out-on-gamergate-game-awards.1090881/page-8#post-134822274

One of my proudest moments in ERA was making the thread that got Angry Joe banned here

22 pages:
https://www.resetera.com/threads/angry-joe-really-went-full-misogyny-with-the-last-of-us-part-ii-huh-possible-spoilers.240457/

[Potato]

My previous employer did some experiments using human embryos and I guess I'm not super upset about being fired by them now.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/mike-johnson-confirmed-today-that-trump-and-vance-are-quickly-working-on-a-full-nationwide-abortion-and-ivf-ban-and-other-forms-of-birth-control.1091541/page-3#post-134832921

Newsfeed plz.

If Trump bans IVF and legitimate forms is of birth control, that's basically handing the next election to the democrats...IF they can put up a decent candidate and actually focus on the issues that are relevant to real people.

[Potato]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/mike-johnson-confirmed-today-that-trump-and-vance-are-quickly-working-on-a-full-nationwide-abortion-and-ivf-ban-and-other-forms-of-birth-control.1091541/page-3#post-134833977

Mike Johnson just assured a crowd at the March for Life rally"… can we please take a breath for a min and use a little critical thinking?

Being anti-birth control and IVF…. shit would be the end of the GOP. Dude's literally catering to the audience which is exactly what Trump does and it gets us riled up for nothing.

Incredible you think anything will ever take the GOP power away again, the age of real democracy is over in America. We will not have fair elections again, certainly none that will lead to meaningful change. It's going to be civil unrest that unseats this regime, hopefully sooner rather than decades later but my money is on decades. America is fucking toast.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/mike-johnson-confirmed-today-that-trump-and-vance-are-quickly-working-on-a-full-nationwide-abortion-and-ivf-ban-and-other-forms-of-birth-control.1091541/page-3#post-134834706

What does this even mean tho? You can't be serious. When the time comes people need to get off they ass and VOTE, period. Do you think Trump's gonna go for a third term or what? Please be realistic. Man's 78 yo

What does what even mean. Did you not read project 2025?

It's game fucking over.

I dont understand why people think we will be able to stop any of this with the tools we had to prevent it from happening in the first place. This was an existential test of our country and we failed.Political dissidents will just simply be jailed if they need to, voting rights will be stripped, voter ID laws will be used.

If anyone thinks for a second we will vote these problems away they haven't been paying attention.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/mike-johnson-confirmed-today-that-trump-and-vance-are-quickly-working-on-a-full-nationwide-abortion-and-ivf-ban-and-other-forms-of-birth-control.1091541/page-3#post-134835123

So, what is your suggestion if voting isn't going to fix it?

Escape the country if you can or prepare for civil unrest and be ready to fight. We are no different than anyone else history wont spare us the horrors of fascism.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/mike-johnson-confirmed-today-that-trump-and-vance-are-quickly-working-on-a-full-nationwide-abortion-and-ivf-ban-and-other-forms-of-birth-control.1091541/page-4#post-134836395

It's game over? REALLY tho? Bro I am so fucking tired of this hysterical dooming bullshit that's not grounded in reality. This shit is NOT over, not even close. Take a breath man… take a dive into what's realistically possible to get passed and what isn't. Find a way outta the algorithm and reassess. That's all I ask.

I swear people are going to be getting loaded onto "work camp buses" and there will be people like you still saying that we need to vote and to stop dooming.

Oh wait right we are literally watching that happen to immigrants right now.

Bro it's not over until I've taken to the streets and fucked shit up.

If you or anyone believes this I might ask when you think that will happen, because the time for taking to the streets was before we put maniacs in charge who will use the military against its own citizens.

Embiid really needs to come here. Dude is way too sane for the Retardera

[Taco Bell Tower]

Slayven with another topic that's just a tweet lmao

https://www.resetera.com/threads/paramount-will-no-longer-publish-box-office-numbers-for-better-man.1091697/

They're gonna have to ban a mod aren't they

I think the first mod to get banned was Beef
https://www.resetera.com/threads/etika-nintendo-gamer-youtuber-just-made-an-apology-video-that-seems-to-be-very-suicidal.124467/#post-22054925
1 month ban and got denutted aka demodded lol

[Polident]

Best/worst part of this clip is the host didn’t really say anything. His shtick is being an antagonistic asshole trying to humiliate guests. But he just sat there as the Reddit guy buried himself deeper and deeper.

[Potato]

NepNep was stealing money? 

The repossessed car explains why she had to accept a terrible finance deal from her step father for a car she still owes money on.

[Besticus Maximus]

Ain't it weird how whenever anyone goes full Mask off/Nazi/conservative/Misognyst/Saiyan/demon it often amounts to mildly disagreeing with some metaphysical point

[Gameboy Nostalgia]

Best/worst part of this clip is the host didn’t really say anything. His shtick is being an antagonistic asshole trying to humiliate guests. But he just sat there as the Reddit guy buried himself deeper and deeper.

when I saw Era post that r/antiwork banned x all I thought about was this interview.

[Snoopy]

Might take an extra minute or two right now, but the hope is that this can help pressure people to make Bluesky their default social media app which would mean that stuff would eventually be getting posted there first.

I honestly can't wait until episode 2 starts and these idiots start screeching about BSky being full of Nazis

[killamajig]

Don't think Reddit is a safe space just because they're banning HitlerNazi links. They deleted this thread:

It sucks when you are antiwork and have to get others to start your Revolution because you are antiwork.

[killamajig]

NepNep was stealing money? 

The repossessed car explains why she had to accept a terrible finance deal from her step father for a car she still owes money on.

So she was living out her on her own and incurred a bunch of debt because she stupid and childish and spends her money on a bunch of capitalist shit. 

She fucked up her credit rating and now is anti-capitalist. Do I got that straight? 

This also reinforces my pet theory. She hates white people because she secretly loves the big blonde Viking looking fuckers but got turned down by one in school. Now she hates white people. Especially white straight men because they broke her heart. You know she's finger banging herself to that white dick and that's why she hates herself. 

Yes Neppy we know your secret. You want gobs of that pre-cum but from a white dude. You dirty little bitch. 


EDIT:

Here, I'll even give you something to look at while you rub one out.



I bet this guy could make Neps legs tremble.

[Snoopy]

Isn’t it amazing that the most virtuous rees always turn out to have shady pasts. It was obvious that Nep was involved in some kind of low level opportunistic bullshit. I expected it to be something like porch piracy or charity theft.

[Besticus Maximus]

Those people didn't deserve the fursuit they paid for, because they were chuds/they disrespected the prophet/capitalism sucks and this is an object lesson

[benji]

So she was living out her on her own and incurred a bunch of debt because she stupid and childish and spends her money on a bunch of capitalist shit. 

She fucked up her credit rating and now is anti-capitalist. Do I got that straight? 

I have seen nothing to indicate she's ever lived anywhere but home. And from what I read she was vaguely "socialist" somewhere inbetween Obama and Bernie like all these people were back on GAF but it was not her all purpose explanation for everything yet. But again, I only read two threads, those US politics threads would probably refine it further but that's like 400 pages and I only looked at threads that were single digits in pages. I also did not attempt to read anywhere near a significant amount of posts, she has 20+K on that forum, I clicked on maybe a dozen non-Sonic topics she posted in.

I have no explanation for the repossession as here's what she says upon getting the infamous Versa: https://www.resetera.com/threads/i-just-bought-my-first-car-today.153138/

A few people were privy to this, but on Tuesday night my car- a 2008 Lexus ES 350- broke down in the way home from work. Going through a roundabout, something snapped and metal began dragging underneath. Accelerating the car resulted in no forward momentum. The transmission is busted. A few good samaritans got me to a safe spot and I was picked up. Got the car towed home for $4.

After going through the motions of existential despair because I'm a naive, mild-mannered millennial with no life experience who needs a car to be a reliable worker bee in society, I was convinced by my folks to call out (ugh) for two days (ugh!!!) to get it handled. That night I sent in an auto loan application request and got approved. Also did some budgeting to see where I was going to fit in a new car and my own insurance policy (Xbox Game Pass and my constant eating out have to go. -.-)

Next morning I got hooked up with a loan dealer with my credit union and began the back and forth with my stepdad's dealership to get all the appropriate information in the right hands. It's been an experience learning exactly what they need, which questions to ask, and how to properly frame emails. You basically have to organize the professionals and keep them on track with who needs to move and how.

Today, I signed up for my own car insurance policy for the first time after navigating the hell that are USAA's menu options. But I got a nice lady on the phone who guided me through and was on the ball in regards to communicating with the loan officer. Didn't have to do any phone tag. Afterwards, I hit the dealership, got to test drive it and was given an overview of how to work the features, and then signed my life away.

Check will hit the dealership Saturday. As of about an hour before this post, I've shook hands and driven home. Introducing my new 2020 Nissan Versa:

I actually have no real credit. However, I've been such a good customer to my credit union for a few years, and they've been offering me auto loans for awhile, that I finally decided to just take the offer. Initial pre-approval rate was $177.70/mo for 60 mos. However, my loan officer gave me an 84-month deal, so I imagine payments will be a little lower.

It was complicated. Basically:

- Apply for the loan. Get pre-approved. Wait for the loan officer.
- Loan officer emails me next morning. Says she needs my ID and address, and for the dealership to live her the bill of sale and some other shit.
- I give her that stuff, call the dealer to tell them to send the info, they're like cool.
- She calls back like, yo, the bill of sale has the wrong lien holder.
- I play phone tag trying to get them to put my credit union as the lien holder because clown shoes.
- They finally get their shit together today, right after I sign up for insurance, which was also annoying.

I long for the day that people fight over me and try to get me a lower price on anything. Speaking of which, my father is poking me to join Navy Federal for the increased benefits. I should get on that.

I don't know Georgia law but I know that in some states various bills regarding registration, tickets or insurance can lead to the cars being impounded rather than just not being legally driven. That's not repossession but Nepenthe's not great with using words correctly.

It's worth remembering that she attended that art school (which has an Atlanta campus to which she could commute) for seven years before graduating in 2016.