#be smart and think critically

[jimpagne]

How Not to be a Cultist: a 4-Step Guide

Following the discharge of both Jimin and Jungkook, I've noticed that a lot of people on both this platform and others have been exhibiting behavior akin to the 'cultists'. I've actually seen a lot of Jikookers point out this behavior as problematic, but other Jikookers get entirely defensive, saying that they could never be the degree of crazy that the 'cultists' are.

Well, they had to start from somewhere... and they probably didn't have anyone within their circles telling them to stop doing problematic behavior. So my only question is, why? Why push back against people within your community trying to stop you from crossing boundaries?

Don't share photos of private and/or non-scheduled moments. For those who may be confused, non-scheduled means events in which were not approved or disclosed for fans. Taking pictures of BTS at a concert or taking pics with them after asking permission to? Totally okay. Taking pictures of BTS when they're walking home at night or going to the airport for a private trip? Not okay. In order to know where they were going to be, most of these people would have had to have bought information regarding them, and by sharing these photos you're only telling these stalkers that you directly support what they're doing. Of course, not every person who accidentally stumbles across them is a stalker, but there are signs that they could be (aka bringing a professional camera, carrying merchandise like albums to be signed, or somehow coincidentally 'bumping' into these people a few too many times in densely populated areas). Some people might sit here and tell me that they missed them so bad... but you are still engaging in a form of stalking. I don't care if it's a way to 'prove your point', the only thing that you have proved to me is that you have 0 boundaries for two very real people and their overall safety. We shouldn't be using leaked photos of other human beings as a 'gotcha' moment to people we dislike. Also, stop looking for their relatives... it's fucking weird. Unless they themselves have a decent social media presence, do not go looking for them. These are people trying to live their lives, and I don't think they appreciate being stalked just for information about a 'ship' that their kin could be part of.

Take every speculation with a MASSIVE grain of salt. Every whisper or speculation should not be taken at face value, and should instead be treated as untrue until proven otherwise, usually by the boys themselves or from the company. For example, when people were talking about where Jikook was, I personally felt like it was a little ridiculous at times how easily people within this community believed the words of these faceless people. Unfortunately, people dropped both photos and videos of Jimin and Jungkook to prove what they said, but at the same time, you should be treating the words of the eye witnesses like their words are maybe... 20-30% possible. Don't take a narrative and run with it, that's what causes cult-like behavior and promoted delusions.

Think critically, make room for doubts. At the end of the day, the idea of Jimin and Jungkook being a couple is still speculative. Many people on here like to say that they personally think that they're real -- which isn't inherently a problem, but I think it's still important to remind ourselves that all of this is just a big guessing game, and nothing has been 100% confirmed. With that being said, another issue that recently came about was the analysis of the room in which Jimin and Jungkook shot their Killin' It Girl dance cover in, some people zeroing in on the exact location and speculating about the room that they might've stayed in. Not only is that incredibly dangerous, but people immediately began stating that it was a hotel specifically for couples or for weddings. I had this issue when it came to people making posts about the hotel they stayed at in GCF in Tokyo, and I would like to remind everyone that just because a hotel markets themselves as being good for couples does not necessarily make it a couple-exclusive space. For example, LOTTE WORLD in Korea is often promoted as a place for couples, but also it is heavily frequented by children and singles alike. Thinking critically about these kind of things can save you from completely jumping into the deep end and making speculations that can actually be more harmful to you, the community, and the boys at hand. Also important to note: Just because someone is Korean does not make them 100% right. Koreans might have a better cultural and linguistic understanding of certain events, but that does not immediately make everything that they say 100% credible. They're still people too, and we've seen stuff in the media pushed by K-netizens that are simply not true.

When you make theories, don't commit to them fully. This ties a little into what I said above... I think it's normal for humans to want to make connections -- after all, it's in our nature. However, some people make theories and then they immediately try to promote them as facts. You can make a theory post, but try to incorporate more language that could suggest doubt or uncertainty. After all, a theory is a theory, not a proven fact. When I made a theory post about Jungkook's tattoos, I made sure to repeat multiple times that I wasn't sure if any of this could hold actual meaning, and I also proposed certain details that poked holes in the theory entirely. This is important. I saw people just flat out state that Jungkook was the one who wrote the caption on Jimin's Instagram post just because he used the '~' in it. As someone who has a relatively high level in the Korean language, I can tell you that using '~' is very common and not just a quirk exclusive to Jungkook. Jimin has even used it in the past before. I think it would be better to maybe write it like: "Jungkook uses this a lot, and I don't think it's entirely crazy to maybe think that he could've wrote it, but again, it's a common writing trait in Korean, so I could be entirely wrong." This type of wording is better than putting ALL of your eggs into one basket and then immediately stating it as the truth.

But yes, these are things that I think you should be incredibly cautious about so this community doesn't delve straight into the deep end and end up like 'the cult'.

[sunlight-shunlight]

anyway dai solas you will always be famous to me. nothing but respect for my boy who wandered off mid-cutscene in the hinterlands to go help out refugees, is extremely good at Lies Of Omission™️, has a whole spy/agent/informant network of elves who followed him, fervently argues that it's unethical to be happy about killing bandits bc they had lives and loved ones, describes his own temple(?) prison(?) as having "indecipherable" elven writing, has ferocious debates with dorian and iron bull about slavery, set himself on fire once by mistake, and within about a year of his 10000 year lifespan, went from seeing all the world as disposable emotionless husks, to developing actual friendships and even falling in love.

and then! still thought it was necessary to destroy and reset the world! but he would treasure the chance to be wrong again!!

[bakwaaas]

I constantly see content which is like ‘10 questions you must ask someone before marriage’ ‘15 red flags to look out for’ etc and while there’s definitely value in these things and it’s important to look for positive qualities in a partner, there is no set formula or checklist you can follow that guarantees success. relationships are an art, not a science. I think people seek comfort in these excessive checklists and requirements because it’s scary to accept love is a gamble and you’re not really in control.

when a relationship doesn’t work out people often assume there must have been some big mistake which led to things unfolding the way they did. as if they missed an ingredient in a recipe or input the wrong number into an equation but as long as you read the textbook thoroughly enough, this could never happen to you. but it’s not that straightforward. life is unpredictable and things can change so quickly. you could do all the ‘right’ things and it can still not work out - that’s life. that’s human nature. there’s a saying which I love - a bird doesn’t land on a branch because it knows it won’t break, it just knows it can fly away if it does. instead on obsessively focusing on how things could go wrong, I think we should be focusing more on becoming someone who will be okay no matter what happens.

[deadpoetsandlivinglegends]

Something something every time Charlie isn’t fighting to be the center of attention, he is always looking around to others to gauge their reactions and silently observing them all something something he is searching for connection, to fit in and be loved but he doesn’t know how to ask for love so instead he gains their attention by acting out in ways he knows they’ll notice and tries to pretend their attention and love are the same thing

[glass-not-a-girl05]

My take on the Sabrina Carpenter album cover situation is that while, yes, her speech tends to contain some form of mild political, sexual and feminist commentary that paint her as a modern, liberal girl, her music lacks the radicalism necessary to subvert the imagery she employs, especially on this instance, and that's why it comes off tone deaf and "male fantasy" rather than empowering or satirical

[shrugsinchinese]

Older Wulfstrid is a yaoi couple in a yuri kind of way

[loverboybrightsideghost]

ballister has those huge sad wet puppy eyes but let’s be honest that man is not pathetic. in fact i think he’s really cool and smart and capable.

[lainalit]

Instead of the fifth smut scene in Acosf we could have gotten the equivalent of a fae chess scene between nesta & cassian, so we could have seen how strategic and smart they actually are but this would require for sjm to understand her characters and not write them like horny teenagers for more than five minutes 🤡

[customboytoyz]

i had a moment earlier where a (very white and incredibly annoying) person was ranting to me about trans guys in our circle being "too masculine and shoving masculinity in everyones faces"

and im literally sitting there feeling like peter parker. Like bitch.... if you only knew what im known for on tumblr.........

[little-ratsnake]

sketches of wife to ease the yearnery as i prepare for finals

[corviiids]

ok but . . . . . . . Could YOU be kira and win?!

based on how light formulated kira, it's impossible for kira to win. kira's 'new world' has no win condition - light never cleanly defines what criteria he would need to satisfy, so the new world is inherently aspirational, because deep down, light doesn't want to win at all, he just wants to play.

social reform via mass murder, especially in the way kira formulates it but really in any way, is also not only (obviously!!!) deeply, deeply unethical, it's also just fundamentally impossible for myriad reasons. again, kira can't win.

if you found the death note in real life, i would heavily advise against using it. i personally would not use it. aside from, again, the obvious ethical ramifications, it's just too fucking risky!!! the parameters of how the note functions, the potential consequences, the rules, the terms of the 'contract' you'd enter into by using it - all of these are unclear, even if you knew about death note the series. furthermore, even if you had access to the rules, which you don't, the rules explicitly state that the shinigami don't have to explain everything to you. not even the shinigami can access all the rules (only the shinigami king). and based on the a-kira short story, the rules can change and apply retroactively at any time. even if you didn't know all that, by choosing to use it, you would be submitting yourself to all sorts of unknown supernatural and non-supernatural risks. it's just not a smart thing to do. leave that shit Alone

kira is a hubris trap. the death note is designed to appeal to all the most unstable parts of a person's psyche. it's especially good at targeting one particular vulnerability in humanity, which is that people are generally much worse at considering how they would react in a hypothetical scenario than they think they are. anyone who thinks they could succeed in using the death note, even with a better formulated plan than light yagami, is falling victim to that trap.

yes

[lastofthe20thcenturygirls]

(ln8 spoilers) jinshi thinking except for my godly looks i am just average and then his smartass goes and kills around five birds with just one brand. someone whose status is so high that even his name can't be said by anyone except the emperor jinshi branded himself with the crest of the empress vowing loyalty to her assuring her he doesn't wants to take the place of her son. one-upping his "bro" with this who refuses to let him leave the line of succession wouldn't let him become a commoner doesn't wants to let him become a servant to the royal family. only slaves get branded and if this ever got out there will be chaos in the court. gyokuyou tho considers jinshi like a brother and he did swear loyalty to her but if she ever tried to cross his family her clan's brand on his body would be enough to prove her as an adultress which would be bad for her and her clan.

and jinshi did this in front of these two people and maomao so now she is the only one who can see him naked and the emperor cannot order him to marry anyone which was something that was definitely gonna happen had he not done what he did. as a bonus he gets to spend more time with maomao after a long time and he did all this while saying the exact words: empress gyokuyou, your enemy i shall never be in front of maomao reassuring her because she once muttered i don't want to be an enemy to empress gyokuyou and he had heard her but before he could tell her that he had no intention of doing that either he couldn't because of the lishu incident. one of the major reasons maomao hadn't accepted her own feelings for jinshi one of the obstacles he promised to remove for her. even though he doesn't even know that maomao's concerns about her becoming gyokuyou's enemy had to do with his birth secret his true status. that no matter what he is the rightful successor. something jinshi himself isn't even aware of and yet without knowing that he did this to deal with it all in a single way most preferable to him: masochism

[extremely-judgemental]

Azriel is the worst spy ever. (I say this lovingly)

The whole Amarantha's reign. Walking into a trap in Hybern's castle. Attack on Summer. Infiltration by Hybern's men into Night twice! Failing to get into the queen's castle. Not knowing Beron's alliance with Briallyn. While saving Elain from Hybern's camp, he was just muscle to carry her. Feyre didn't even have to stay in Spring for two months. Azriel has a network of spies working for him. And Lucien's heritage! It would've been more plausible for Azriel to find out since he's good at noticing things and a spy, and then choose to keep it to himself. (Feyre only came off nosy instead of clever in that scene)

Even Cassian had his hero moments before his book. What is Azriel meant to do in his? Fail more as a spy?

Throw the man a fucking bone.

[chronotopes]

there's just this increasingly unpleasant vibe on this website i think where a pretty decent number of people will ostensibly self id as feminists while still being really desperate at all times to find acceptable women they can hate and make fun of without reservation. both celebrities and normal strangers. and it's like, why. at the end of all things what is the point of taking the tenth 22 year old in a row whose influence stops and ends at a viral microblogging post where she's wrong about something and circulate it context-free declaring 'feminism is over' besides feeling better about yourself and your beliefs and your public speech acts

[aestknowsbest]

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I have been sorely slacking on my civic duties so have some crack.

[patopq]

i still think matt should've gave tm9 some kind of bonus/advantage on thr wisdom saving throws thing they had to do in rumblecusp, when caleb did the programed image thing