#starbucks discourse

[statementlou]

i feel like i can talk to you about this because you have rational opinions. so louis bought a starbucks coffee at the airport and the fandom on twitter are eating him alive, calling him evil and wishing he goes to hell. i’m disappointed since starbucks is on the list of brands to boycott but i feel like this reaction is too much? someone even said jay would be disappointed in him, but people said that was taking it too far. i don’t know, i love louis and i’ll keep supporting him and his music but the fact he can be a careless millionaire is disappointing

1. thank you sweetie I would boop if I could 2. oh my god it's a fucking cup of coffee and if people think that's the worst thing Louis, a multi millionaire, has ever done financially they need a reality check! His money will be handled by bankers who are putting it into all kinds of evil fucking shit that he won't even know about, it's actually very hard to know or control that and there is no way trying is even on his radar. That's a passive thing and not on purpose; but the fact that people don't bother to know about that or care really speaks to how performative this kind of online approach to activism is, that they only care about image rather than effect (the effect of his investments would be easily thousands of times more than any number of coffees or even of the promotion Starbucks might get from him holding it.) But furthermore buckle in cause you hit a nerve: Starbucks isn't even an actual organized boycott target as concerns Palestine because THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT financially! The official BDS movement calls for boycott of very specific and pointed targets of which Starbucks IS NOT ONE it's literally just an online trend which is not the same as an actual boycott to materially impact a target! Losing them money is always great, they are a crappy union busting small business killing corporation, but it has zero direct effect to help Palestinians unlike supporting the meaningful boycotts called for by BDS. I don't think Louis has decided to buy starbucks because he has this analysis, but to me it's a pretty important point. Him crossing an actual picket line (playing Israel, playing Eurovision [lmaoooo that thought tho], waving an Israeli flag god forbid) would be a very different situation and something that would trouble me so the distinction matters to me. But I get that to people on twitter, that's what they feel like he has done. To which I would say...

There are so many fewer ways to help Palestine than we would wish, and it's SO hard to deal with feeling so powerless right now in the face of such horror, so I love that people feel so strongly about doing whatever they possibly can. But worrying about consumer spending, even on BDS targets, is perhaps the least effective of the things a person can do. Note that BDS boycotts do not mostly focus on asking people not to buy things; they list the products that are especially complicit, but the main work of the movement is to get large investors (corporations, public institutions, whole governments) to divest from the companies targeted because that actually hurts them enough that it becomes less profitable to continue to collude with Israel than to drop them as clients. Consumer spending is not enough to do this. It's easy and doesn't require doing actual work but it's basically virtue signaling, not organizing. Just NOT doing something (yes including voting) is not enough! I personally choose not to give my money to certain corporations because it feels bad to me and I can't stomach doing it, even if they never notice me doing it. But if I was running out of fuel and the only nearby station was a Chevron, I would spend a few bucks there and not beat myself up about it because it will have zero impact on their overall profit reports but a LOT of impact on my life. And if I was in the airport for the second time in mere days after circumnavigating the globe and playing a massive show and doing press and fan service before even having time to adjust time zones and about to get on another flight to another country I might buy a fucking coffee from whatever coffee shop was in there too! But Louis isn't me and I'm gonna be real honest I would be real surprised if he KNEW there was a boycott or gave a shit- he is not a political activist! It's reasonable to be disappointed if someone behaves not how you want them to, but just in general responding to being disappointed in people by lashing out at them is... not it. Not useful, not rational, and not actually an okay way to act to other people. Louis is an awesome sweet caring person who I believe tries hard not to have a negative impact on anyone directly and who cares very much about others; if that's not enough for someone to be a fan of him, okay then they should not be a fan of him! But warning: they're not going to be able to be a fan of anyone else either. No one is pure and perfect... maybe that energy would be better spent trying to make a meaningful difference in the world, and a great first step in that IMO is to recognize and challenge your inner cop. The better world I want to live in doesn't include policing other people, not on twitter and not anywhere.

[sleepdeprivedsurgeon]

i don't care what Rolin Jones or Anne Rice or G-d say. those vampires are my close personal friends and i KNOW they are drinking coffee and doing elaborate skincare routines. i don't care if their skin hasn't changed in several centuries, if you think Armand isn't spending 2k at sephora every month on cleansers and serums then we watched different shows and read different books. same deal if you think any of them would pass up a large americano. they literally flew here from neworleanscaliforniaflorida to tell me these things in person. and Lestat was holding a venti pink drink

[beautifulpersonpeach]

I’m curious BPP, what do Koreans think about the call to boycott Hybe (although most of the focus is on BTS) to get rid of Braun? Do they agree with it?

***

Based on what I’ve seen, most Korean fans fall into one of three camps:

1. They think this boycott campaign is the work of multis, mantis, and antis/akgaes;

2. They are somewhat sympathetic and might even want Scooter gone, but still don’t agree with a full boycott;

3. They don’t care.

The reality is a lot of Koreans have no real view about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and of those who do, the split between people for and against either Israel or Palestine seems 50/50, going by the chatter I’ve seen. Among the G20 nations, South Korea and Japan both do not recognize the Palestinian state, and general sentiment in Korea is largely more in line with the government in this case.

A lot of the people pushing for Scooter’s removal on the k-side are akgaes and mantis who have disliked him since he started promoting Jungkook last year, and that bias colours the arguments against him to other people watching this go down. While a few others have genuinely bought into the arguments and want to kick him out in any case.

But one thing that’s generally accepted or understood by most everyone on the k-side, is that kicking him out has more to do with satisfying the desires of that select minority, than doing anything to actually benefit the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.

[atopvisenyashill]

im so happy i dont sound crazy lol.

but ABSOLUTELY. I wholeheartedly think people who are mad about certain character choices are deeply mad that another version of f&b characters are following their headcanons AGAIN.

even more, I think people combine both book and show canon, create a whole new version and get mad that the writers are following that canon either. which makes it so hard for me to take some criticism seriously.

“the pacing is off and some things drag on.” very much so.

“some things can get repetitive.” absolutely.

“the showrunners aren’t following the characters they established (the ones living in my head), aren’t following their plots (that I fantasized going a different way) and are purposely making them worse (aemond would never burn aegon even though he talked about aegon not deserving that throne last season) because they are biased (they don’t like my side).” well, no. not really.

even more, I think people combine both book and show canon, create a whole new version and get mad that the writers are following that canon either. which makes it so hard for me to take some criticism seriously.

ya and like the thing is, i GET this, i think both the book and show have some good things in them and the best "version" is the one that combines both. but like - a story needs to be internally consistent lol, certainly a show can go a way you're not interested in and you drop it but that doesn't mean it's inherently going a "bad" way. if the story is consistent...it's fine lol? like, people really wanted the velaryons to be loudly and actively hostile to rhaenyra's branch and it's like well...but the point is that they're smarter than that, they have a clear vested interested in being loyal to rhaenyra, and, oh yeah, they are loyal to her in the books. i get that people wanted laena to hate rhaenyra for having bastards but well, that's not who laena is, and i don't think you (general you) are actually interested in who she is anymore than condal & hess are! you don't have to like every character but disliking a character doesn't always mean they're badly written! and certainly not having baela be out and out aggressive with rhaenyra isn't them "preferring the blacks" anymore than like, portraying alicent as a victim of the patriarchy is "preferring the greens."

like you said, i mean, aemond is gearing up towards a death where he stupidly goes head to head with his much more capable uncle because he's convinced himself he's an anime protagonist and the power of the faith and anime is on his side and gets got. he's not the jon snow, he's not the beric dondarrion, he's not the robb stark, he is victarian, jorah, joffrey, someone who is in over his head and doesn't realize it because he's too busy giving into every violent impulse that crosses his mind. it's fine if that type of character doesn't appeal to you but to say it's ~favoring the blacks~ because....the pathetic death that awaits him is being broadcasted for what it is, that's just goofy. it's not as if daemon is being portrayed any less pathetically, his own daughter and mother by law basically call him a little bitch right to the camera and he's on strike TWO for domestic violence incidents with rhaenyra like. can we be fr!

[swallowtail-ageha]

Fandom discourse is inherently silly in the way that many people who engage in it and want to insult people over it usually use insults so generic so toothless so blatantly childish that even if they expect you to be hurt its like wow. This is what a baby's slap might hurt like

[seasononesam]

why do people get annoyed specifically with the vegetarian sam headcanon bc it goes against canon when has this fandom ever cared about a headcanon going against canon

[erismourn]

I think part of the reason why people reacted so strongly to lightfall is bc it like. Didn't meet the standards destiny has set. Was it bad? No. Were there some pretty glaring differences between it and the usual quality destiny achieves? Yes. And this has led people to label it as "bad" when it really isn't - it's mostly just average and gamers are quick to anger and harass the developers

[hathorik]

Class consciousness was the ONE THING that Marxism had sparked and fucked most of what capitalists tried to build: a world in which they can exploit the life of others while making only profits and shaping the world as they see fit. It made workers unionize, strike, and create mass movements to make things change and have their voice heard. In some places, it even caused what the authorities refuse to refer to as wars but that social historians are eager to call so. Unchecked, they *will* use violence to enforce their power, but that only happens because of class consciousness.

Create an education framework in which the divide is apparently minimized or, at least, normalized. Erase social conflicts and the fight for workers’ and civil rights from history books and school programs. Put an end to people being able to have steady careers and make them hop from company to company as they struggle to keep a job to keep food on the table and the lights on.

They don’t know what it took to have workers’ rights. They don’t know those can theoretically be enforced by suing your employer. They don’t know they are actually the struggling lowest level of a grand pyramid scheme we call The Economy. All they know is that if they piss their boss they get fired and will have to fight to get a job again. Or maybe go homeless. Fuck knows nowadays.

Destroying class consciousness by disorganizing workers, preventing them from bonding with one another and punishing any attempt to organize or make demands is how they keep power without having to call in Pinkertons to perform "self-defense".

People used to say "Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime". They had class consciousness on their side. Today the accurate version is "boss makes a grand, I make half a food coupon." And class consciousness is fragmented, corrupted, misrepresented or crushed whenever someone tries to light the old marxist lantern back up.

The interests of the 1% at the top is to drink the blood of the other 99% of society. But still what feels like an overwhelming majority of it supports them, because the blood sacrifice affords them comfortable living conditions. And a feeling of superiority on all those welfare-sucking waste of space ticks… who are actually the people who would defend their real interests: not to have their blood drawn for an uncaring god at all.

So yes. We need class consciousness to be a thing again. But the propaganda is strong, and no-one is immune to it.

Ive noticed recently that my generation has... no concept of what the various economic classes actually are anymore. I talk to my friends and they genuinely say things like "at least i can afford a middle class lifestyle with this job because i dont need a roommate for my one bedroom apartment" and its like... oughh

You guys, middle class doesnt mean "a stable enough rented roof over your head," it means "a house you bought, a nice car or two, the ability to support a family, and take days off and vacations every year with income to spare for retirement savings and rainy days." If all you have is a rented apartment without a roommate and a used car, you're lower class. That's lower class.

And i cant help but wonder if this is why you get kids on tumblr lumping in doctors and actors into their "eat the rich" rhetoric: economic amnesia has blinded you to what the class divides actually are. The real middle class lifestyle has become so unattainable within a system that relies upon its existence that theyve convinced you that those who can still reach it are the elites while your extreme couponing to afford your groceries is the new normal.

[littlebitoftrolling]

At Starbucks asking for a latte in 5 stacked cups like it’s Wockhardt

[hollowistheworld]

y'all ever curate your dash so well that when a little bit of tumblr brand discourse does break containment it does extra psychic damage because you've lost some of your immunity

[ladybugmania]

(To the tune of "A horse is a horse, of course, of course")

(Think 1960s sitcom jingle vibes)

Verse 1:

A horse is a horse, of course, of course,

Unless she's yelling in Congress discourse,

She gallops through bills with wild remorse,

It’s Marjorie T, the hoofed tour de force!

Chorus:

She neighed on the floor and filibustered fate,

Believes that space lasers control the state,

Snorts when she speaks and kicks up dust,

Thinks facts are optional — trust is just rust!

Verse 2:

No one can talk to a horse like her,

She debates with mirrors and calls it a spur,

She tweets in all caps, neighs in reply,

And swears JFK Jr. is still alive!

Bridge:

She munches on bills like a bag of oats,

Wears tinfoil hats with conspiracy coats,

Says windmills are woke and vaccines are plots,

She’s the queen of Q and unfiltered thoughts!

Chorus 2:

Clip-clop goes Marge down the House hallways,

As logic runs off and reason decays,

But give her a mic, she’ll bray and she'll preach,

About Satan in Starbucks and freedom of bleach!

Outro:

So if you hear hooves on Capitol Hill,

And see someone hoofing with zero chill,

Don’t call the vet — no need for concern,

It’s Marjorie Greene — now trot and adjourn!

[statementlou]

my post yesterday about why I don't really care if Louis Tomlinson supports starbucks shocked me by actually circulating and getting notes and obviously I like validation and appreciation.... but I feel kind of weird about my big contribution to the topic being something that might come off as discouraging attempts to help Palestine. Feeling powerless in the face of such injustice is horrible and scary and traumatizing and while there are certain things that I do not think make much difference (like boycotting irrelevant targets), that's NOT how I feel about the situation in general! We CAN make a difference and help the Palestinian people! It can feel impossible to fight against all that power and propaganda and military might- but it has been done successfully over and over, colonialism has been destroyed in one place after another a hundred times in the last century, apartheid regimes have fallen, occupations have ended, because over and over, always, even all the military might in the literal world is less powerful than a united front of the PEOPLE. As Ursula K LeGuin said, "We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings. Any human power can be resisted and changed by human beings", and as Louis Tomlinson said "The power and magic comes from the people, you guys. Don't undermine your role in all of this" and "get off the 'gram and into the streets"!

Under the cut are things you can do that I believe actually directly impact the Palestinian people and the Israeli government, including some easy ones, and the key to a successful movement is to have every type of contribution, to have NUMBERS. However- it is also necessary to have people willing to do the actual work of fighting injustice, not just changing their consumer habits or yelling at people online. I strongly encourage people to explore becoming physically involved in activist work, and not to see it as yet another tiring obligation but rather as a way to help yourself feel less overwhelmed and exhausted. Feeling powerless and defenseless is a trauma that follows us into every corner of our lives, but standing up and working for change can not only save lives, but is good for your own mental health as well, I promise.

I can't make you an exhaustive list of resources, only tell you some tactics that I believe are actually useful. I'm not an expert or whatever, but I have been actively involved in social justice advocacy, activism, and direct action for over 20 years and am drawing on that history of both things that worked and were great and things that were not from my personal experiences. Thank you to @captainrayzizuniverse for helping me (but she didn't see the post any stupid things said by mistake are entirely on me), and especially for pointing out a big (typical white person) slip up, which was to almost forget the very first item on this list: Listen to, support, and amplify Palestinian voices!!! The whole starbucks issue wouldn't even exist if people just went by this single important guideline and did the things Palestinians were asking for rather than making up other things to do instead. In life altogether, and speaking as a disabled person god does this come up a lot: if you want to help someone, start by asking them what they need and then do that even if it isn't what you think they should want. Don't fucking wing it!! Join local groups organizing for Palestine: the people united are powerful, but only if they are united and working in large groups! Join a group! This is hard because... how? who? And I can't answer that for everyone but I can tell you that in the US JVP (Jewish Voice for Peace) is doing a huge amount of very accessible recruiting, you can just join (you don't need to be Jewish) and get involved straightaway in the great actions they're putting on. PYM (Palestinian Youth Movement) is not open to everyone to join but you should definitely follow them on SM to keep up on actions and maybe find ways to support. If you're a student I bet there is some kind of group at your school?

Go to protests: protest works, period. The general politician rule of thumb is that anyone who bothers to actually go out and march represents 10-100 voters. When they look at the numbers (like- '500-1000 people protested the most recent bill you signed') they do this math and they worry. But also honestly if it's something you can manage- it's good for you. It helps. Even if you just go alone and don't talk to anyone, being in a crowd of hundreds of people feeling the same things you are, caring as much as you do, it helps. If you can, yell along to the chants as loud as you can. Get fired up and use that energy to keep going and not despair!

Call and write officials: if you live in the US or UK this is HUGE. What I said above about how they count people at protests as standing for more people who didn't bother but agree? Same with phone calls for sure, it REALLY pressures them. Many orgs make this really easy- I get emails all the time with links to send a letter in a single click or click to call and all you have to do is read the script, get on some lists I guess? But many sites also have this feature, JVP does for example

Support BDS: the Palestinian led BDS have been doing the work of isolating and chipping away at Israel for 19 years and like I said, the actions of the masses only work if we are united behind a few strategic targets rather than all over the place; they have made this possible. It's good to avoid buying from the companies they target; even better to work on the big divestment campaigns. For example, student groups pressuring the big universities to divest from BDS targets echo the successful University divestment efforts that helped end apartheid in South Africa.

Send money: money helps, immediately and concretely, and again if we are many, each person doesn't have to do a lot. Do what you can spare, it all adds up. This has been painful with Gaza for sure, with millions donating but aid being blocked. I don't have The Answer but here's a group I found that actually seems to be getting aid in, and here's a spread sheet of gofundmes- note that people who have foreign passports do not have to pay the horrible border crossing fees, so you may wish to focus on funding those who don't have that privilege. this could maybe be better and there was some other stuff I wanted to say about doing activism to tie up the "activism as self care" thing from above and also bringing it back around to talk about Louis more but I'm tired and I'm hungry right now and this is a lot already. So. Bye lol sorry. send me asks if any of that is something you care about or want to hear

[serialapplepeeler]

21st century shit each cullen NEEDS to experience

Jasper: red dead redemption, risk (the board game), pony town, brokeback mountain

Esme: wine mom culture, smart fridges, alexa, family youtube channels

Emmett: fursuit conventions, extreme mukbang challenge videos, cocaine bear

Rosalie: beauty youtube and drama channels, a pro life rally, a call of duty lobby, getting her name mispelled at starbucks

Edward: /mu boards, thrifted carharrt jacket craze, the emo renaissance, tiktok mafia pov videos, high school counselling

Alice: glee, hoverboards, the akinator app, online lesbian discourse, depop

Carlisle: twitter gore, greys anatomy, ethel cain, the AITA subreddit, zoom nights with the denali coven

[thebibutterflyao3]

Marauders Ships Timeline

I’ve seen an uptick in discourse about Remus Lupin and Sirius Black-related ships, so here’s a timeline for those who weren’t around when the HP books were first being released.

Disclaimer: The Marauders friend group were introduced in POA, so I’ve excluded the first two books. It is difficult to pin exact dates for rare pairs because not everyone was sharing online and a lot of fics/blog posts were deleted. I didn’t include crack ships or recent/newly created ships for brevity.

James x Lily are canon.

**When POA was released, we see Remus, Peter, and Sirius for the first time, the “prank” involving Sirius telling Severus how to get past the Whomping Willow was explained, and Rosmerta called James and Sirius inseparable friends.**

Wolfstar was the first main ship for Sirius and Remus in fanon.

It was initially called “Puppy Love” or some form of “puppies” because of Sirius’s animagus form and Remus’s lycanthropy.

Began shortly after the third book, POA, was released due to the unintentionally homoromantic scene in the Shrieking Shack and quickly grew in popularity.

First widely accepted fanon LGBT+ ship.

Sirius x Severus and Remus x Severus became rare pairs in fanon.

These were largely angsty enemies to lovers fans and/or Severus fans. Some overlap of Remus x Sirius x Severus.

Occasionally Severus was written as a revenge fuck when Wolfstar was on the outs, but most were related to the “prank.”

Severus making Remus his Wolfsbane potion was a common theme in Snupin fics.

Sirius x James became a rare pair in fanon.

Has many different names: Starbucks was the first I’d ever heard, later Prongsfoot and Bambibelle.

The comments made by the professors and Rosmerta in the Three Broomsticks about how close Sirius and James were was largely cited as evidence they were dating.

Often initially written in fics as a secondary school crush/relationship before Jily and/or Wolfstar happened.

**When GOF was released, Dumbledore instructs Sirius to “lie low at Lupin’s” at the end of the book.**

Wolfstar became an “accepted as canon” ship in fanon.

This was the last release before JKR’s multiple year hiatus to write the last three books, and so Wolfstar blew up in Fanon spaces online. So much fanfic was written!

JKR made it very clear that she did not like Remus and Sirius being shipped together.

“Lie Low at Lupin’s” became an entire story trope all on its own.

**When OOTP was released, we meet Tonks for the first time, Sirius falls through the veil, Regulus is properly introduced by Sirius, and Marlene Mckinnon’s name is first mentioned as a past Order member.**

Remus x Tonks became a rare pair in fanon.

This ship was largely unpopular because of the 13 year age gap between the characters.

Many Remus fans wanted to see their favourite character happy again after the tragedy of losing Sirius.

Tonks was a very popular character and one of the few single young adults in the series at that time, plus she and Remus were both Order members and sent on missions together.

Sirius x James became semi-popular in fanon.

James showing off for Sirius’s entertainment in the scene “Snape’s Worst Memory” and Sirius’s comments about James throughout made this ship slightly more popular.

James x Regulus became a rare pair in fanon.

Very small, niche group of fans who enjoyed the best friend’s brother trope and wanted to flesh out Regulus’s character started this ship.

Often written to create turmoil between Sirius and Regulus or to explore the dynamics of the Black brothers. Usually written as pre-Jily.

When DH was released, Harry finds Sirius’s bedroom and the letter that Lily wrote to him specifically mentioning Marlene’s death and Remus x Tonks became canon.

Sirius x Marlene became a rare pair in fanon.

Ship name was Blackinnon. Mostly written as secondary school sweethearts or in AUs.

Marlene was often positioned as a past girlfriend of Sirius’s or as potential competition for Remus in Wolfstar fics.

Marlene’s character was usually characterised as the female version of Sirius or as a self-insert.

BONUS

The Wolfstar fanfic All the Young Dudes was posted to AO3 in early 2017 and introduced Sirius x Mary as a short-term flirtation.

Sirius x Mary became a rare pair.

Similar to Blackinnon, Mary was often written as a foil to Wolfstar or as Remus’s competition for Sirius. Occasionally as secondary school sweethearts.

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

the worst thing about wwdits ending in mid-december is that i can't shake the daydream that tonight, a surprise christmas krampus episode will drop. laszlo in a jaunty santa hat that he calls a satan hat! everyone singing really macabre versions of carols 'round the piano, nadja's soprano stylings busting eardrums! the vampires trying to attend sean and charmaine's christmas party next door without blood tears pouring out of their eyes and their bodies starting to catch on fire! nadja doll having a fling with an elf on a shelf! colin robinson feasting on starbucks holiday cup discourse! nandor and guillermo getting caught under the mistletoe! everyone being really thirsty for krampus! i can see it all so clearly .........

[shtupidspain]

"The ancient Greeks were Catholic" no they weren't. "We can't know if dinosaurs had feathers because they don't fossilize" Are you sure? "Transgender 'lesbians' are only interested in cis women" have you asked any? "People are only boycotting Starbucks because they think they have locations in Israel" Starbucks accused their unionized workers of aiding terrorists.

Senator Armstrong "my source is that I made it the fuck up" is funny and all but that is a real thing people do. People will go their whole lives believing something because the thought crossed their mind one time and it sounded too plausible to bother fact checking. They are often just as set in these beliefs as people who actually research theirs, and it is lethal