[Maru]

Daze's issue for me is not her political beliefs, but rather her narcissistic streak.

Unfortunately, there is a common thread among hyper-obsessed political folk where their agenda is often crafted around pinpointing oneself as being the most virtuous, self-elected and most holistic practitioner in the room when it comes to general reasoning. I tend to see the personality defects at play there more and unfortunately the projections being crafted there are usually shallow.

I generally disagree that society prefers vanilla discourse or views. I think it's more that normal people are often being talked down to like children from either respective side of the spectrum. Especially as the spectrum itself is barely even acknowledged now by these fringes. One is either pegged as "this" or "that'. No room for everlasting happiness but plenty of room for the most grim assessments of opposing thought when it comes time to disagree.

The left often gets a lot of points for misbehavior, but the right will punish others with vitriol for holding particular views when it doesn't like how something is said. The most staunch have to have their needs and expectations constantly met in order to feel properly acknowledged in any disagreement. This aspect is narcissistic and very needy.

So I'd argue it's really the fringes of these collectives that can't handle disagreement or take criticism well. The average person can deal with nuance in their lives just fine, mainly because they generally have to. They pay the taxes and face the consequences of these debates most directly. They have to make do the most with any deviations in intellectual diversity and its resulting cultural shifts. And good luck to the person who says to the one on the fringe to double check their own math. People like Daze are all too happy to continue to work out life with a hastily self-crafted abacus. Truth be told, a good portion of these folk hardly truly care what regular folk think anyway or what they go through on a personal level or even a daily basis, and that perception isn't hardly helped by the never-ending victim mentality or grim behavior that results from it. Not until it becomes something to get people to vote or act on their behalf, does it even seem to register that the middle majority might actually offer perspectives of value.

Re: Ryan, he came off a bit childish this past episode but I think he could do fine if he doesn't get evicted. Too soon to tell, but I still find him likable.

I don't know enough about Nathan to fully assess him yet. Unfortunately, politics is not a personality for me so it's not as critical in deciding how I might feel about an HM. Sometimes people break their own mold, sometimes unintentionally, because the game forces them out of one's respective box. That is what makes an HM interesting for me is how much they willingly allow that to occur... and if they fight that process, what quality of character can *that* reveal, good and bad?

So I think Nathan could be interesting—as a person, not a party—but too early to tell. Ryan could just need some settling in, but needs to avoid eviction first. Daze, like many narcissists who continuously face existential psychological injury, only has a few tricks up their sleeve personality-wise imo and will remain kiddie pool tier for me. Whatever streak she chooses to take next, she will either loved or hated for those qualities, but her motives will always be purely self-referential. Some people take better to narcs. I just see broken people who treat others like supply and miss out on the generous social opportunities that life continues to just toss at their feet. Sometimes it is missed, but generally misrecognized, because they're too invested in their own pursuits for flattery and praise... So Marcello, basically.