#ActualAlchemistEdwardElric

That means that when you donate, it goes to change.org. Now, this isn't useless — it does mean that the petition gets boosted. However, you're pretty much doing the same thing by reblogging. I am concerned about people donating something like $40 dollars since I'm not sure if they realize it doesn't contribute to the legal fund or not.

But first they must catch you 🏳️‍⚧️

Note: this does NOT go in depth into all of the song's lyrics. I don't have time to recount two decades of his discography. This is just a summary of the performance itself.

Let's start with the first visual we get:

UNCLE SAM - most notably recognized from WWII American wartime propaganda, Uncle Sam is the personification of American patriotism and freedom. The term "uncle" is also evocative of Uncle Tom from Uncle Tom's Cabin, an abolitionist book that aided in inciting the Civil War. Uncle is also a very common term (both endearment and derogatory) towards Black men (eg. "unc"). Samuel L Jackson was fantastic.

Uncle Sam also resembles a circus ringleader, notable for my next point:

THE GREAT AMERICAN GAME - no, not Super Bowl. The GAG is us the people being pitted against each other: through late-stage capitalism, through the culture war, through class warfare, through being built of the backs of slaves. We are all players in the GAG because none of us on this site were the oligarchs seated at the inauguration.

This is also seen as Kendrick's stage was a Play Station controller. Not only did it remind of circus rings visually, but it was a game battle stage. The Great American Game is a battle royale of the commoners for the amusement of the rich whites.

Remember the foods / Them color was tin and brown / But now they 100 and blue - For this I'll just say, look what the last election said about lowering the price of eggs... and look at the prices now.

The revolution about to be televised / You picked the right time / But the wrong guy - Election 2024 once more.

THE FLAG DANCERS - yes, the dancers formed the US flag... off of the backs of Black people. Not a single white person in sight, and that's true of the cotton pickers in the fields. Plantations are part of how the US came to economic prominence after being a "backwater" colony. Remember tobacco? Cotton? Our bloodlines do.

The red and blue dancers are also notable for representing the Crips and Bloods, two infamous street gangs. The dance in Not Like Us is the Crip Walk. I recommend researching more on your own time about them, but just know they are a large part of the stereotype of Black people being "ghetto."

TOO LOUD, TOO RECKLESS, TOO GHETTO. Do you really know how to play the game? - This is exactly what Black people, especially Black men, get told all the time. It's why we change our names on resumes if they sound "too Black." It's why we codeswitch in non-Black company. This is especially rich considering how non-Black people love our culture and love to make money off of us, as the latter part of the quote points to. And it's even more profound during the Super Bowl-- the NFL is majority Black players.

STREET LIGHT A CAPELLA -- "thug" stereotype dancers to counteract the a capella connotations, with Uncle Sam then saying that Kendrick figured out "bringing other street guys around being a culture cheat code." Yes, this is a direct hit at Drake (listen to "Not Like Us") but also politically. Look up "model minority". Notably I would point to Candace Owens, or the Miami Venezuelan political group that's been in the news recently, especially as this directly led to Kendrick being surrounded by...

DANCERS IN WHITE -- it's white America. That's... that's the allegory.

NOT LIKE US TEASER -- Kendrick says "Not Like Us" is "their favorite song." -> he means white people specifically here. It comes after he's surrounded by all white dancers, the women around him who are his call and response are also in white (my opinion, they represent the industry). He's saying "Not Like Us" is the favorite of yts because it is about BLACK MEN FIGHTING. This again is reflected in the video game stage and ringleader Uncle Sam.

SZA -- instead of giving what they want, we see SZA. She's one of Drake's exes and Kendrick has always supported her.

ALL THE STARS -- This was in the first Black Panther movie, which I recommend you watch. Rest in Power Chadwick. Notably, this movie was incredibly mainstream as a major Marvel movie, and then we have Uncle Sam say...

"THAT'S WHAT AMERICA WANTS: NICE AND CALM. DON'T MESS THIS UP" -- translation: Marvel (the industry, America, etc.) wanted a safe, semi-pop song because white American likes safe pop songs, not Kendrick's usual heavy rap style about his life as a Black man! Don't mess up what you've got going mainstream for having this "Black rap feud" with Drake, who is an R&B model minority to white people because he's safe.

So what does Kendrick say?

IT'S A CULTURAL DIVIDE / IMMA GET IT ON THE FLOOR -- He was warned not to be political or apologetically Black for this Super Bowl performance, but he is using this big stage opportunity to speak out.

40 ACRES AND A MULE / THIS IS BIGGER THAN THE MUSIC -- 40 acres and a mule are what the freed slaves were promised. Instead, this land went to white sharecroppers. Research Jim Crow laws.

THEY TRIED TO RIG THE GAME / BUT YOU CAN'T FAKE INFLUENCE -- rig the election, rig the industry like with model minority Drake, rig the Great American Game with culture war to distract from active class warfare.

NOT LIKE US -- the only thing I'll mention because it made me holler is Serena Williams crip walking on Drake's metaphorical grave. She's another one of his exes.

TURN THE TV OFF -- exactly like he said! The TV is a distraction, the Super Bowl is a distraction, the mainstream news is often a distraction. Turn it off and get with your people!

GAME OVER — could not see this on my stream but at the end of the performance, the lights in the stadium spelled this out. The world is watching, America…

@sashabarkov

@cowumbo-uwu - I like this point because it is a good example in pop culture of “Uncle (derogatory)” characters though. But I would like to add the context that Django Unchained is revisionist historical entertainment by a white man, with a central plot about Black slave fighting pits…

@spiritsong

@your-dads-filing-cabinet

All fabulous takes.

There are of course other bits of his performance I may have missed or overlooked to try and make this long post more concise, but I can’t believe I forgot to mention one of the visuals that started it all: the US flag dancers PILING OUT OF A CLOWN CAR.

With the world watching, Nantambu, 41, made his choice. As the rest of the 400 hired dancers moved in a coordinated rhythm to Lamar’s music, Nantambu reached into his clothes and unfurled a joint Palestinian and Sudanese flag. He took off running, waving a flag adorned with the words “Sudan” and “Gaza” in black ink. After roughly 30 seconds, he was wrestled to the ground by security as the crowd watched.

Despite the mere seconds of screen time, his protest captured national attention.

“I don’t get caught up in politics or anything,” he told The Intercept, adding. “What’s going on in these places are inhumane. The civil war in Sudan, the oppression and the war and the tyranny that’s going on in Gaza, is inhumane. And these people are connected with us all as humans, and especially with me in faith.”

Over the last few weeks, both conflicts have been in the spotlight, thanks in part to the actions of President Donald Trump, who attended the game on Sunday. Trump has called for all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip to be expelled from the region in an ethnic cleansing to facilitate the development of seaside real estate. In Sudan, the civil war has continued to rage with millions facing acute hunger as the Trump administration freezes critical humanitarian aid projects in the country.

Nantambu said that he couldn’t allow those who share his Muslim faith abroad to suffer without speaking out. “I can’t live in America — live in a lap of luxury — while those are suffering, without trying to help or bring attention to it,” he said.

The New Orleans performer and designer, who also hosts a YouTube show, said he was partially inspired by Lamar’s revolutionary messaging during rehearsal. “Looking at Kendrick Lamar’s performance, when he was talking about revolution, because we were at practice. So I’m seeing the performance. … I’m seeing him talk about the revolution is not going to be televised,” he said. “This is a lot bigger than all of us, bigger than me, bigger than the Super Bowl, bigger than Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s beef, because humanity is involved.”

Nantambu said that he decided to make the statement before it was announced that Trump would be attending the game. “That just added an extra layer of anxiety,” he said, “I was scared, I thought I was gonna get shot. I didn’t know what was gonna happen, but God gave me comfort, calmness.”

The performer said he was detained and questioned by security but was ultimately released. Despite reports suggesting that he may face criminal charges, Nantambu said he has yet to face any legal ramifications. Roc Nation, which produced the Super Bowl halftime show, denied any involvement in the protest.

What a time to be alive.

Hugely curious about the stats of this. I'm testing a theory. Elaborate in the tags if you please.

It's been almost 5 years.

They are all run by cartoon villains

The only way they make money is by denying as many people care as possible

They get to decide which medicines and procedures you get to have, not your doctor

They also get to decide how much they pay doctors for covered procedures, regardless of the billed cost for those procedures

You typically have to pay a significant deductible on top of your monthly premiums before they'll even pay out at all

Kavgv tagged: #Do they even require any medical knowledge as well

so … yes. Claims are supposed to be reviewed & signed off on by a licensed medical professional in the same field as the claim itself. HOWEVER, the stringent requirements for that claim reviewer: fully credentialed in a specialization with appropriate continued learning credits, registered in the state where the claim originates, etc, are probably not often met in full.

If you get a claim denied for not being a medical necessity, you can request all this information from the insurance company. They will probably just approve the claim instead of coughing all the info about the process & the decisionmaker up.

They are all run by cartoon villains

The only way they make money is by denying as many people care as possible

They get to decide which medicines and procedures you get to have, not your doctor

They also get to decide how much they pay doctors for covered procedures, regardless of the billed cost for those procedures

You typically have to pay a significant deductible on top of your monthly premiums before they'll even pay out at all

Shepherds of Haven is a dark fantasy interactive fiction game. In it, you play as a Mage living in a world where magic is outlawed and your people—those possessing supernatural powers—are oppressed and reviled. The world is ruled by humans who believe in science, technology, and industry: at best, you and your kind are nothing more than a fairytale, and at worst you are the state’s greatest threat. 

Thus, using magic has been illegal for centuries. But after years of persecution, you are suddenly offered an opportunity to use your powers for good: demons are now returning, and the world needs fighters like you to protect the population from their invasion. Guns and bullets do no good against monsters pulled from primeval nightmares; only your people and your supernatural powers have the ability to fight fire with fire. 

So you join the Shepherds: an order of elite heroes and fighters comprised of the very people the world once feared more than the demons themselves. As a Shepherd, you’ll solve magical crimes, slay demons to protect the citizens of Haven, and build your reputation throughout the capital. Explore the world of Blest, recruit allies and factions to join the Shepherds’ cause, find romance and companionship, investigate mysteries, lead rebellions and exorcisms, and uncover answers to the crises plaguing the world. Where are the demons coming from? Where have the gods or God gone, if they ever existed? Who are you, really? 

And will you be the world’s true savior… or will you be its ultimate downfall?

Customize your protagonist: choose names, gender, sexuality, appearance, weapon, magic specialization, educational background, racial heritage, and much more

Play as male, female, or non-binary; straight, gay, bisexual, or pansexual; as well as aromantic, asexual, aro-ace, or allo

Thousands of choices and role-playing variations: build your character’s personality and worldview from the ground up, test your loyalties and morals in every chapter, and make meaningful decisions that will change the story and world of the game in large and small ways

15 companions to recruit and befriend, each with their own unique story

10 romance options (5 male, 5 female) and 2 one-night stands/flings

Fulfilling friendship and romance routes, culminating in dozens of different possible endings for each major character, as well as diverse endings for the protagonist, their relationships, and the state of the world

An ever-changing codex, character guide, journal, inventory, and stats page that grows and adjusts as you play

A hubworld-style exploration system between chapters: interact with the city and explore the world on your days off; take quests or side jobs; train; shop; gamble; pray; read; and spend time with or date companions between story missions

Dozens of mechanical secrets to reward your playthrough: achievements, a new game+ system, a save system, unlockable art, collectible trading cards, room decorations and souvenirs, a planned “stupid mode,” and planned DLC

Much more!

✨ Play Here ✨

Completed Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

Approx. 270,000 words

Last Updated: August 2021

FAQ

⭐️ Play here ⭐️

Prologue, Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9

Approx. 1,234,000 words without code

Last Updated: November 2024

Currently only available to testers and Patrons until the beta build