#when it should be included in your education program??

[khwabon-ka-seher]

Make it make sense please, why in Indian education institutes— be it school or college thinks it is sexy to make students write minimum four pages of journal entries in copy by hand instead of ACTUALLY teaching students how to do journal entries in accounting software?

[letters-to-lgbt-kids]

My dear lgbt+ kids, 

If you’re changing your name (for marriage reasons or gender reasons), that’s an exciting step! - and it can also come with the (potentially more boring or even unpleasant or nerve-wracking) task of having to update your contact information for a lot of places. 

Here’s a list with some places you should keep in mind: 

1. Government and legal documents

• Identity card / Passport

• Driver’s license

• Social security or tax office 

• Health insurance provider

• Any court documents or registrations (for example marriage certificate, birth certificate etc.)

2. Banking and finances

• Bank accounts (including savings and joint accounts)

• Credit cards

• PayPal or other payment platforms

• Loan or mortgage providers

• Insurance policies (life, car, household, etc.)

3. Employment and education

• Employer / HR department (for payroll, contracts, email, etc.)

• University or school records

• Certificates and diplomas (if you want them reissued with your new name)

• LinkedIn and other professional platforms

• Unions or professional associations

Unemployment office

4. Health and medical

• General practitioner and specialists

• Dentist

• Therapist / mental health providers

• Vaccination records and digital health apps 

• Prescription services or pharmacies

5. Daily life and memberships

• Phone and internet providers

• Utilities (electricity, water, gas)

• Rental agreements or homeowners’ documents

• Streaming services (Netflix, Spotify, etc.)

• Library cards

• Gym memberships

• Retail loyalty programs (Payback etc.)

6. Online presence and subscriptions

• Email accounts

• Social media profiles

• Blogs and personal websites

• Substack or Patreon

• Online shops you use often (Amazon, Etsy, etc.)

• Newsletter subscriptions

7. Travel and transportation

• Airline loyalty programs

• Train and public transport cards (monthly tickets etc.)

• Car registration and insurance

• Toll subscriptions or parking permits

Bonus Tips:

Consider making a spreadsheet to track where you’ve already updated your info and where you still need to.

Some places will require official documentation (like a court certificate or new ID), so keep digital copies handy if needed.

Laws on name changes can be wildly different in different countries. When in doubt on whether a certain point is applicable or necessary for you, make sure to look it up for your country specifically. 

Don’t forget the more personal stuff, like updating your name in group chats with your friends or in your private email signature!

If you’re changing your name for gender reasons, you can often update your information quietly or request discretion when dealing with customer service - but bureaucracy can still be frustrating. Feeling a bit anxious about potentially encountering transphobia etc. doesn’t mean you’re weak or that you’re not trans enough for this step or anything like that. It’s a normal feeling in a world where transphobia exists. 

Changing your name can feel overwhelming, especially when it’s tied to something deeply personal like gender or a new life chapter. But every form you fill out is also an act of affirmation - of who you are now and the life you’re building. That’s worth celebrating.

With all my love, 

Your Tumblr Dad 

[capesandshapes]

Every single person who thinks Libby is going to shut down forever has literally never worked in a library. I genuinely need you to know this.

The US government does not own Libby. The majority of library funding provided by imls is not for ebook funding.

It's still important to support Libby and support your library's use of ebook catalogs, and also look into ways to donate to the systems that they're a part of that directly pay for these catalog fees, but when you look at what is on a large scale impacted by cutting funds to libraries on the federal level, you understand what these cuts are really about.

IMLS helps with the start up funds for various programs and new libraries, the idea has always been to eat the cost of new programs and have the communities surrounding libraries fund them. They have since the 2000's been piloting various ways to make resources more accessible to people and act as a sort of equity program for different communities, with librarians moving to fill what gaps they can in their community resources and having to rely on grants and federal funding to do so.

There are rural and still developing libraries that receive their e-catalog funding via the federal government, but it's not the whole of libraries.

The largest things that are risk are accessibility services through the various programs we've developed for libraries in order to pool resources for the disabled, and national ILL services-- the big names being WorldShare and OCLC, which help patrons access books outside of their systems and have greatly helped with academic libraries. We're also going to see a decrease in supplementary education programs, which because of their rapidly expanding nature have always received federal funding and most states, this is summer reading and after school tutoring.

This is cooking classes, this is service delivery for disabled patrons, this is audiobooks. This is books in Braille. If your library is one of the many that used grants in order to fund distributing COVID tests, I've got bad news. This is hot spots for rural communities where students might not be able to access the internet at home because the infrastructure just isn't there yet. This is libraries that have tried to expand their space to include a food pantry and fill the gaps when people don't have funds to donate. This is niche libraries that provide valuable access to resources, like the federally funded library that provided my patrons with photos of their family when they lived on reservations. This is community education hosted by libraries like the technology courses that helped my patrons set up their first emails. This is money to digitize resources in archives that may otherwise never see the light of day. This is new libraries when there's not a single library for a hundred miles.

When you simplify it all to just ebooks, people want to believe that the solution is just donating regular books or learning to read in other ways. They don't see the whole of what this funding symbolizes.

The Corona pandemic led to a vast expansion in equity services amongst libraries, and with the instability of our economy and the way that legislators have been fighting against taxing the people who should be taxed, none of these programs are enshrined in budgets and bylaws.

Grants aren't fun to write, libraries do not propose specific programs just for shits and giggles. They propose them because they look at the community surrounding them and they realize that there maybe a need. They see where inequality lies, and many librarians try to find a way to solve it.

But this? This is a direct attack on providing opportunity and empathy to all Americans. This is a direct move to limit and punish those who the rich and powerful feel are less than, and it's bullshit.

I love ebooks and what they offer just as much as anyone else, but this is so much more than ecatalogs. Don't erase what this is.

[ms-demeanor]

You have mentioned that osteopaths (DOs) are not just medical woo and are roughly equivalent to MDs. I was looking into it more and finding that myofascial release and osteopathic manual manipulation seem to be verified about as well as chiropracty. As these seem to be the main differing abilities of DOs from MDs, would you explain your reasoning on trusting DOs?

I see one as part of my regular hEDS medical care for realigning and unsticking joints as well as craniosacral therapy. My perception is that it’s helpful when I’m in pain and often I can tell that something was misaligned and has been realigned, but I recognize that I see significantly more improvement when I’m regular about my PT, which is significantly more supported by medical literature.

It's not that they're roughly equivalent to MDs, it's that in terms of licensing, training, certification, scope of practice, and education they are *exactly* equivalent to MDs but they sprinkled some woo on top.

At some point, some people practicing osteopathy decided that they wanted to be real doctors, so they organized and lobbied and, very importantly, *went to medical school about it.* (As long as they went to medical school about it - make sure you're seeing a DO, not an "osteopath" - one is a legally protected term that grants the right to practice medicine and the other is not)

Completing a degree in Osteopathic Medicine requires first completing a bachelor's degree with specific requirements for biological sciences - the same course work and degree you'd do before applying to a medical school, basically. Then you get the four-year DO degree, then a one-year internship, then a residency of anywhere from three to eight years. In order to practice medicine, they have to pass the same medical board examines and have the same training qualifications as an MD. In the US, MD and DO are equivalent degrees, though DOs take extra time to study osteopathy (which is, yes, pseudoscientific nonsense).

DO programs have more of a focus on holistic one-on-one patient centered care than a lot of MD programs; DOs train and focus more on becoming primary care physicians and are less likely to become specialist surgeons (though there are DOs who are licensed to practice surgery!), but a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine is a fully qualified doctor. They have done all the same things that an MD has done - including 10,000+ hours of clinical training as part of a residency. They just ALSO do a couple hundred hours of the osteopathy stuff. There are DOs who are obstetricians, ER doctors, surgeons, endocrinologists - a DO is a full-on doctor. One of the doctors Large Bastard was treated by in the hospital in December was a DO. I cannot emphasize that enough, they are legally certified and educationally qualified to practice medicine throughout the united states.

Compare this to chiropractors, who also want to be seen as doctors, who do not need a bachelor's degree before attending a chiropractic college, whose chiropractic education is 3-4 years, and whose requirements to practice include about 4200 hours of clinical training. (Chiropractors, it should be noted, are very specifically not allowed to practice "medicine, surgery, osteopathy, dentistry or optometry" and may not provide "any drug or medicine" to patients; eat shit chiropractors)

However, you're correct, and both chiropractic and osteopathy are unsupported by good evidence.

I think the osteopathic stuff that osteopaths do is kind of a weird quirk that is tolerated by the medical establishment because it's unlikely to do harm and it doesn't prevent people from seeking actual medical care (because the DOs providing it should be providing medical care beyond osteopathy).

And even though the osteopathy itself is nonsense, a lot of people with chronic illnesses find better success being treated by a DO as their PCP because DOs - probably at least partially because they are trained in nonsense - are less dismissive of patients presenting with unusual or difficult-to-believe symptoms. DOs are less likely to ignore patients who come in with a stack of research from the internet and a journal of symptoms who are saying "I think I may have XYZ uncommon condition and I need treatment."

Personally I wish the osteopathy was cut out of it and there was just a branch of medicine that trained to listen to patients better than MDs do, but given that osteopathy isn't likely to cause significant harm either directly (WAY less risk of bad outcomes from gentle pressing and moving of the body than from rapid twisting and pulling of the upper spine) or indirectly (DOs can order tests, DOs can prescribe medication, DOs can refer to specialists, DOs get the same kind of comprehensive diagnostic education that MDs do) I don't have that much of a grudge against it. I see it more in the vein of "drinking peppermint tea probably doesn't actually do anything for nausea but hot drinks with honey in them feel good" area of pseudoscience than in the "chiropractor treating someone's cancer with apricot pits" area of pseudoscience. Except that they then also do real science.

It's a weird field, I'm not gonna lie! It feels very much like if you were talking to an orthopedic surgeon who was very much an orthopedic surgeon and then they sat you down for five minutes of a sound bath before your procedure. Doesn't make sense to me really, but the standards of practice that they have ("use actual evidence-based practice in addition to the osteopathy") cancel out the "okay but osteopathic manipulation is fake" of it all.

They kind of drive me crazy, and for a huge group of patients they're probably the best kind of provider. Hell, a DO might be the best kind of provider for *me* if I didn't have the most wonderful PA in the world as my PCP.

[stephanidftba]

From Sharon Astyk on Facebook:

Folks, if you haven't been wearing a mask regularly or consistently, but who oppose this administration I want to encourage you to start (folks who have been wearing them all along, let this one go, because this isn't about you.)

I know, I know, you don't want to - you don't want to be harassed, you've had covid twice and it wasn't that bad, you aren't that worried, so why would you do that?

1. Wearing a mask in public means that people who are protesting masked are normalized. If there are many people wearing masks in public spaces, they can't identify who is resisting easily. If masks are a proxy for resistance, as governments are calling them, then it is rather like the story of King Christian of Denmark donning the yellow star. So if you want to protect and support resistors, you can mask.

2. We are on our own with disease protection. RFK jr has been very clear he plans to make vaccines incredibly inaccessible to most Americans. Right now there are circulating cases of measles, TB, mumps, covid and below the radar bird flu (yes, that too) as well as other stuff. No one is going to give you a vaccine to prevent disease. No one is going to tell you when you or your kids are exposed to measles or tuberculosis or bird flu. They are not testing, they are not recording data, they are not seeking to protect you. If you don't protect yourself, no one will.

While I strongly recommend everyone get any boosters or vaccines they need, in a society with low vaccination rates, and permeable vaccines that let some cases through and wane with time, a vaccine-only strategy is not viable. You cannot tell when you are exposed to these diseases, and you will just get sick, and some people will die.

No one is going to tell you when Bird flu starts spreading human to human on any scale. We will find out when a bunch of people get very sick and die - and I don't want you to be among them. No one is going to tell you when a kid has measles at your school in many states now, and you don't know if your vaccine from 30 years ago is still holding. 38% of cases in Ontario have been in vaccinated adults.

Vaccines and air cleaning and far UV light, and smaller classroom densities (yeah right) are all good tools, but the most reliable one is an N95 or equivalent mask.

3. The opinion of Trump, RFK jr and the rest of this administration is that disabled or medically vulnerable people should just die. They've been very clear, and we've seen it in how they cut support, research, to cancer, sickle cell disease, diabetes, alzheimers, etc... and how they talk about people with disabilities like autism.

They are rapidly and painfully stripping resources like SSDI, Medicaid, Special Education support programs and funding, research for rare cancers and diseases, testing that would let you know if your baby has a condition...you name it.

A 14 country study just showed that after 5 1/2 years of the pandemic, 25-30% of people who have covid have long covid. And we've known that was going to happen - that's almost exactly the same stats we've seen in other studies. By your third infection, your risk of long covid is up around 30%.

And while our support systems have been broken and fraying for a long time, they are simply DEAD now. You won't get SSDI. You won't get health care for your disability. You may not get treatment for your cancer. Your Alzheimers meds may not be covered. RFKjr thinks the answer to type 2 diabetes or mental health issues is a work camp.

We know that some viruses, including covid are oncogenic (the obvious one is the HPV virus, and the vaccine prevents cervical cancer perfectly), which means they up your risk of cancer. We know it increases your risk of dementia, and the rate at which dementia progresses. We know that covid can reactivate EBV and TB.

We also know that measles wipes your immune system for three years - including your vaccines. If you get measles, and you cannot get vaccinated again, you could die of diptheria, tetanus, mumps, etc...

You cannot afford to be newly disabled right now. They want people dead or unable to resist. DO NOT COMPLY IN ADVANCE. No one is protecting you from this. So protect yourself - this is as much a step as getting your passport or supporting your food pantry.

4. Because they are so clear that they have eugenicist intents towards disabled people, as well as non-white folks, wearing a mask is an act of solidarity with them.

Statistics have always shown that non-white people are more likely to wear masks than white folks, mostly because they know perfectly well that the safety net has a lot of huge holes in it. They are often worn by people who simply cannot afford to be sick.

Moreover immunocompromised and disabled people HAVE to mask. There are also people who physically CANNOT mask, who rely on others to mask to protect them. When you put on a mask, you do two things.

1. You stand with those who must or wish to mask, and practice community care. You make it clear those lives are more valuable than your convenience. Remember, they are counting on you not to believe that and let disabled people be first targets.

2. You make protest, activism and resistance safe and accessible for millions of people who otherwise cannot participate in standing up to our goverment. You help cross crucial thresholds for engagement by making resistance fully accessible.

My father, who is in his middle 70s and disabled, repeats the mantra regularly that these motherfuckers are not going to get to kill him, no matter how hard they try. That he has no intention of dying under Trump. He's going to stay alive and piss them off and fight back until he gets to piss on their graves.

If you want to do that, you have to wear mask. Its that simple. Masking is fighting back. Masking is solidarity. Masking protects you and everyone. Masking is resistance. Wear a mask in public.

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1FT62GK2av/

@covid-safer-hotties

[justmeinadaze]

November Rain (Part 4)(Eddie X Plus Size Y/N)

A/N: They and I have been through so much that I just wanted to give them a comfortable day at home.

Enjoy <3

Warnings: Warnings: Older (Late 30s) Daddy Eddie/ Young (early 20s) Plus Size Sub Fem Y/N, SMUT, morning shenanigans, LOTS of dirty talk, reader gets a phone call and Eddie makes a show of it (so semi public...I guess...Idk lol), Daddy kink of course. FLUFF, they spend the day together just talking, being intimate, and getting to know each other. Ending is hella fluffy to. No Cliffhanger.

Light Angst, like I said reader gets a call from an asshole, Eddie talks to his lawyer briefly, Reader mentions her parents divorce (again brief)

Word Count: 4501

Series Here

Instead of my normal donate button, I'm going to add some charities here. Please help anyway you can <3.

Border Kindness- "provides asylum-seekers, migrants, refugees, and the displaced with comprehensive services that include food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and legal services."

Trevor Project-"Your generosity will power The Trevor Project’s 24/7 crisis services, advocacy, peer support, public education, and research programs."

Human Rights Campaign-"Your membership donation will help push for LGBTQ+ equality and fight the attacks on our freedoms." 

Planned Parenthood- "We're working every single day to make sure patients can get the care and information they need to control their own bodies and build their own futures."

Eddie rubs his eyes as he groans awake at the sun just barely peeking through the curtains in his apartment. 

A heavy sigh leaves him as his mind runs through all the things he should get done today. 

“I have to go for a run and then weigh in to make sure I’m on track for my fight next month. I need to call my lawyer and double check some information for my divorce hearing. I should check my email to see if my boss approved those extra OT hours I requested. I need to go grocery shopping for some protein and while I do that maybe I can call Paige to check in. Let me go smoke a cigarette and then I can text Y/N to see if she talked to her douchebag.”

Reaching for his pack beside his bed, he realized there was a bit of resistance when he tried to roll over. 

When his eyes landed on your sleeping frame, his heart melted. He was so used to waking up alone lately that for a few moments his brain forgot you had spent the night. 

All of his anxieties evaporated as he rolled onto his side to face you.

What did he do to get lucky enough to wake up to a Goddess like you in his bed?  

Your hair flowed away from your face so he was able to get a good look at your plump cheeks that he reached out to caress as his thumb ran along your still slightly swollen lips from your night of kissing him and leaving your usual marks along his body. 

Eddie had left a few on you, smiling to himself when his fingers traced the hickies along your neck and shoulder. 

As he lightly tugged on the comforter under your arms, you stirred slightly as you rolled onto your back, allowing the blanket to come free as he pulled it halfway down your body. 

Along your skin were more of his love bites but his favorite was the slight ring of purple around your areola where he had sucked and flicked his tongue around your nipple loving the way you squirmed at the feeling while your fingers tangled in his hair. 

Eddie loved the way you reacted to him in more ways than one. Ava was never really vocal in bed and the few times he tried she would shut down so he stopped all together. When he would masturbate in the shower in the morning, he would picture a woman like you. A beautiful woman who would beg to be ruined by him while clinging to his body as he made them cum.

Unlike his ex-wife, he never strayed and did everything he could to satisfy her sexually even while putting his own pleasure to the side. 

You weren’t like that. 

You always voiced your concerns or found ways to let him know you were enjoying his touch. You asked him after those first few times you were intimate if there was anything else he may enjoy. 

“Tell me everything. Tell me all of your fantasies.”, you murmured as you smiled up at him, curled up in his warm embrace.

“Fuck me. Are you real? Are you sure you aren’t just a figment of my imagination?”

Your grin grew as you cupped his cheek in your palm and your eyes looked up at him as if he had hung the moon in the sky.

“I want you to enjoy yourself. I like hearing you whimper, pant, and whine when you’re fucking me.”

Eddie breathily laughed as his fingers moved your hair back as he kissed your forehead. 

“You won’t believe me if I told you.”

“Oh, please, Daddy. Tell me.”, you respond playfully as he lightly blushes. 

“Honestly? I think my biggest fantasy was…is…you.”

As his beautiful eyes continued to visually drink you in, he couldn’t help himself as he tilted downward and his tongue flicked out to lightly lick your nipple. You face didn’t move or make any indication you felt anything but your body did as the bud became more erect causing him to salivate at the sight. 

Diving in again, he wrapped his mouth around the nub allowing the muscle within to play as his irises remained glued to your face. Your head turned towards him but your eyes remained closed while he tried to carefully scoot closer to your frame. His lips lightly trailed along your skin leaving little remains of his spit as his tongue would occasionally dart out to taste you. 

While delicately kissing your cheek, his palm disappeared under the comforter and he couldn’t help but groan at how warm you were between your legs as he cupped your sex. 

“Fuck, pretty girl. You’re always ready for Daddy, baby, aren’t you?”

Eddie’s husky whisper roused you slightly, as your body seemed to absently search for him and his smile grew when your side pressed against his chest. 

“Come back to me, sweetheart. I want to see those beautiful eyes.” Rough fingers slid between your folds and the metalhead moaned as he pressed his nose into your cheek. “Are you fucking kidding? How can you be this wet this early? Are you dreaming of me, honey?”

Feeling a sudden fullness, a deep moan left your lips as your eyes fluttered open meeting his now closed ones as two of his digits stretched your pussy open. 

“Daddy?”

“Fuck, baby, don’t…don’t talk like that. I’m going to bust right now if you use that sexy ass voice…God, can you feel how fucking hard I am for you?”

You nod, feeling his cock grind against your thigh. 

Craning your neck slightly, you kiss his lips and he subtly whines against them. 

“Do you want me to help you cum, Daddy?”

“Can I fuck you, sweetheart?”, he pants, barely able to get the words out as he licks his lips. 

When you give him permission, he haphazardly climbs on top of you and pumps his dick with you slick that was coating his fingers before guiding himself inside you. Your legs wrap around his waist as you hold him to you, tenderly kissing the base of his neck as his head falls beside you. 

Your light touches are a stark contrast to his almost animalistic pace as he continuously pants in your ear. 

“You feel so fucking good, Y/N. Fuck me. I don’t—don’t deserve you, pretty girl.”

You giggle as your legs lock around him at the ankle, slowing him down as he pushes up onto his palms to look down at you. 

“Yes, you do, baby. You deserve all the good things.”

“Shit…I’m gonna cum.”

Eddie falls against you once more and chases both your highs. A whine escapes your lips as your mouth falls open while your pussy quivers around him and you cum. The feeling is almost too much for him as Eddie’s fingers close around the pillow beside your head and he pounds his release inside of you. 

“Oh, oh, oh, go slow, honey.”, you whimper as he carefully pulls out and falls onto his back beside you, trying to catch his breath. “Good morning.”

He breathily laughs at your joke as he rolls onto his side to face you.

“Good morning. I’m sorry, I just…you looked so beautiful I couldn’t help myself.”

“Oh my god.”, you giggle even as you lightly blush. “What do you have to do today?”

“Um…I kinda want to…spend the day here with you if that’s alright.”

Smiling, you lean towards him and gently kiss his lips.

“I’d like that. I just have to text Paige and let her know I’m not dead.”

***

Throughout the day, you two barely left each other’s side as if to make up for the lost time of the last two weeks. He made you breakfast and afterward you both relaxed on the couch watching a movie that was one of his favorites as a kid.

“From what you told me, your uncle doesn’t seem like the kind of man to let you watch Gremlins at such a young age.”

“Hey, the 80s and 90s were like the wild west, sweetheart.”, he chuckled. “Plus, as a kid, I didn’t actually realize how graphic this movie was. I mean look at the little Mogwai!”

You offered to make lunch but he insisted on doing it himself which you were absolutely fine with. You loved watching him move around his kitchen as he focused on the task in front of him. His eyebrows would meet in concentration and sometimes his tongue would stick out making you smile. 

“Where did you learn how to cook?”

“My mom was a wiz in the kitchen and Wayne was a master at the grill.”

“What about your dad?”

“He, uh, wasn’t really a master at anything except being a fuck up. He could cook up some pretty get rich quick type of deals but other than that…”

As his voice trails off, you grab his arm, pulling him to where you were sitting on the counter, placing him between your legs and wrapping your own limbs around his neck so you could kiss him. 

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to but I’m always here whenever you want to talk about it. You can tell me anything, Eddie.”

Softly smiling, he tilts down to kiss you again before asking you about your family.  

You tell him everything you can think of including your own parent’s divorce that you breeze past hoping he won’t ask any questions which he doesn’t and after finishing the delicious meal he prepared you sit on his couch as you two continue to talk about everything that comes to mind. 

You weren’t sure why but talking with Eddie came easy and it wasn’t just because of the topic of conversations. While you told a story, he always kept his chocolate eyes zeroed in on your face as if he was literally taking in every word and digesting it into his soul. Occasionally, his palm would reach for yours or another part of your skin and his thumb would softly caress your flesh as if subconsciously reminding you that he was there and you were being heard. 

In the middle of one of your stories, his phone rang but he didn’t make a move to answer it nor react like he even heard it go off.

“You can answer that.”

“They can leave a message.”, he replies casually.  Smirking, you reach for his phone and when you read off the name, Eddie heavily sighs. “It’s my lawyer.”

“Answer it. This could be important.”

“Not as important as you.”

Again, your eyes locked on his as you searched them for any deception or indication that he was just saying these things to make you feel good before breaking your heart. He saw it immediately, the trepidation. 

“Sweetheart, I’m not going to change on you nor am I hiding how genuinely beautiful I think you are. You mean a lot to me.”, he murmurs soothingly as he reaches out to cup your cheek. 

After giving him a quick kiss, you press the green answer button as he playfully growls and pushes the speaker button with his finger. 

“Hey Carl.”

“Hey, Ed. I thought you were going to come by today?”

“Yeah, um, something came up.”

“Your dick.”, you mouth silently causing his eyes to narrow as he reaches out to lightly poke your side while you bite your lip trying to stifle your laugh. 

“Ok, not a problem, but please come around at least before Friday so we can talk about things. Are you sure you still want to give her the house? I mean after what she did you don’t want anything—”

“Ah, nope, Carl. I’m good with everything. I just want to get this over with as quickly and seamlessly as possible. I’ll come by tomorrow so we can talk. Ok, bye.”

“Well, that didn’t sound suspicious at all.”, you laugh as he takes his phone and hangs it up before tossing it on the table. 

“Sorry. Force of habit. Usually, when people find out I’m not asking for anything I either get the ‘Be a man’ speech or the ‘after what she did’ lecture. I just want to move on, you know?”

“Yeah, I know. My parents dealt with their divorce for a couple of years going back and forth on petty shit. Imagine being a little kid watching your parents go to court to argue about who gets the silver lamp in the living room.”, you giggle as your eyes fall to the void. “It took a while before they got to fighting over me.”

Calloused fingers lift your chin and you’re met with soft lips to yours. 

That evening without telling him, you ordered both of you a pizza and he sighed at your stubbornness as he shook his head. 

“I take care of YOU, little miss.”

“Yeah, ya do.”, you grin as you open the box and crack open one of his beers. “But I can take care of you sometimes to.”

Smiling the entire time, you two finished your meal and you were so giddy off the alcohol and the evening, you crawled into his lap to curl up in his embrace. 

“You alright?”

“More than.”, you giggle as you nuzzle into his neck. “What were you like when you were my age?”

Eddie laughs and as his whole chest vibrates you feel yourself dropping down further into that headspace. 

“Welp, back in ma day…”, he starts with a southern accent, unable to keep it up when he feels your body radiate with a happy energy that has him grinning wide. “No, um, I guess you could say I was a nerd. I played D&D with my friends and was into all that fantasy shit even then.”

As your forehead presses against his neck, your palm absently rubs his pecs to his shoulder before repeating the process. 

“I loved heavy metal and playing with my guitar. Some nights I could stay up till dawn just smoking cigarettes, playing, and talking with my friends. Then suddenly I was a husband and a father.”

Eddie feels you scrunch closer to him and his hand comes up behind you to tenderly stroke your hair. 

“Being a husband was never like this.”, he murmured. “I never felt…I don’t know…everything happened so fast. There’s not one moment I can think of where we had a day like I had today with you.” Your palm cupped his cheek as you leaned back so your eyes could meet his. “Thank you.”

Nodding, the tip of your nose touches his as he tilts down, pressing his lips to your own. 

“You’re welcome, Daddy.”

A gentle smile paints his lips as he tilts you onto your back to allow your head to lay on the arm rest as he opens your legs and lays his upper body between them to kiss your soft tummy beneath his shirt you were wearing. 

Eddie’s large hand braces against your hip as he closes his eyes and rests his head, exhaling when your fingers come down to play with his hair. You’re not sure how long you both lay like that but you know its long enough to fully fall into the warmth of your subby girl headspace and when his head tilts to look up at you, you know he sees it to. 

“If we were the same age and went to school together, do you think you still would have wanted me?”

His grin grows as you nod your head before your mouth opens and you tease, “No.”

Biting your lip, you giggle as he quirks his eyebrow and very lightly, spanks the side of your behind.  

“I’m just kidding, Daddy. I definitely would have wanted you to be mine. We would have had to sneak around though.”

“Oh? Why is that?”

“My father wasn’t a fan of me dating, let alone dating bad boys like you.”

Eddie’s laugh hisses through his teeth as he leans his cheek against your knee and places his palm on your mound, allowing his thumb to hover near your parted legs. 

“What makes you think I was a bad boy, huh?”

“Guitar, smoker, motorcycle, getting into fights… Naw, you were definitely an altar boy.”

Your breath hitches as his thumb presses down on the fabric of your panties just barely allowing friction on your clit. 

“Psh, I didn’t learn how to ride a motorcycle till I was 30.”, he jests. “Everything else was on point though. I definitely would have had you on the couch in my uncle’s trailer on the second date.”

“Second date?”

“I’m a gentleman, sweetheart.” Eddie smiles wide when you cackle, loving the way your body moves when you do. “Jesus, these panties are soaked. Is that all because of me?”

“Yes, Daddy.”

His chocolate irises lock on your face as his tongue flattens against the garment blocking your cunt. 

“Fuck, you always taste so good.”

Pushing up onto your elbows, you watch as he slowly licks up and down repeatedly driving you crazy at the delicate pace. 

“Daaaaaddy…”

“Am I being too mean, baby?”, he chuckles at your whine. “I’m sorry. I just…I love taking my time with you.” Your body slightly trembles as he tenderly kisses the meat of your thigh, trailing his lips to your core before making you pout when he stops. “Let’s get these off.”, Eddie whispers as he reaches for the band of your underwear and slides them down your legs. 

Your phone on the table vibrates but you ignore it as you feel his tongue finally where you want it. 

“Please.”

“So beautiful, Y/N.”

Placing your palm over the one he has resting on your side, you moan as he runs the organ in his mouth from top to bottom between your folds, stopping to flick and suck your clit before repeating the process. 

“Fuck, just like that.”

Your heavy pants encouraged him while he continued to devour you, his lips always having you see stars. 

Again, your phone went off and you grunt in frustration when Eddie pauses. 

“You should check that.”

“I can call them back. Don’t stop—”

“Could be important—”

Angerly you grab your device, checking who was stopping you from getting what you needed. 

“It’s no one.”

“Yet they’ve called twice—”

“Eddie, please!”

The man moved in the blink of an eye; his muscular arm reaching over you to grip your cheeks till your lips puckered out. He didn’t say anything and he didn’t need to. His annoyed eyes burning into your own as you swallowed, trying to calm down. 

“I’m sorry, Daddy.”

Eddie nodded, accepting your apology as he brought your lips to his. The phone rang again and this time you showed him your screen. 

Brad

He growled lightly before a devious smirk painted his features and he answered the call. Your eyes widened in shock as you hit his shoulder but he effortlessly caught your wrist and pulled you forward so his lips could kiss you again. 

“Hello? Y/N, are you there?”

“What do you want, Bradly?”, you hiss sassily causing the metalhead to snicker. 

“I want to talk. It’s been a couple days and I haven’t heard from you. I got punched in the fucking face and my girlfriend doesn’t seem to give a damn.”

“I’m NOT your girlfriend.”

With amazing strength, Eddie pushed you back against the couch and lifted your legs over his shoulders as he pressed his face back between your folds. 

“Then what the fuck have these last couple of weeks been?!” Covering your mouth with your hand, you tried to muffle the moans that wanted to escape as the boxer made out with your pussy, his mouth barely lifting from you while his tongue expertly roamed. “Huh?! Fucking answer me!”

“It…it was…was a mistake. Now leave m-me alone.”

“You think you can just play around with my emotions like that?!”

“Fuck…Fuck you…you can’t just…come b-back into my life and think—”

“Y/N are you…are you with someone?”, he growled eliciting a smile when you felt Eddie do the same. 

Climbing up the length of your body, two of his fingers slide effortlessly inside of you and as he thrusts them into your cunt his head falls beside yours. 

“Tell him, baby. Tell him Daddy’s taking care of you.”, he whispered, your eyes rolling shut. 

“I’m with…with Daddy…fuck M’gonna cum.”

“Naw…you…your fucking lying. Trying to make me jealous. Who would want someone like you?”, he sneered. 

“There she is. That’s it, pretty girl. Cum hard for me.”, Eddie said more prominently as your body shook and the coil snapped. “Good…good girl…MY beautiful angel.”

You smiled up at him as he brought his fingers to his mouth and sucked them clean. 

“Alright, honey, time to let little boy go so Daddy can make you cum on his cock.”

“Fuck you! And fuck you, Y/N! How dare you—”

You couldn’t help but laugh as he hung up your phone and tossed it across the room on the opposite chair. 

“Do you think he’ll recognize your voice?”

“I think he was to hung up on his ego to notice, fucking asshole.”

“Aw…I like who you get all grouchy like an old man.”, you coo obnoxiously as he chuckles. 

“Hey now. You’re my girl and no one insults my girl.”

At his words, your smile faulters slightly as your fingers reach up to caress his cheek down to the stubble on his chin. 

“I’m your girl?”

“Yeah…yeah, sweetheart, if you want to be. I know we have some…I don’t know…kinks to work out—”

“I guess you could call it that.”, you joke and his grin grows.

“But I just want you to know that I’m not…I mean…I haven’t been with anyone since I met you.”

“I haven’t either. Brad and I didn’t…we didn’t do anything, I swear. I like being with you. I feel safe with you.”

The tip of his nose grazes your own. 

“You are safe with me, baby. No matter what happens I’ll be here and I’ll protect you.”

Your lips gently kiss his, steadily growing more passionate as his lower half grinds against you seeking friction and Eddie lets out a soft hum as your palms run down his bare, muscular back. With closed eyes, his forehead leans against your own as you pull down his sweats enough to free his hard cock within. 

Your eyes watch his gorgeous face as his eyebrows furrow together and he licks his lips at the feeling of your hand around him. 

“Let me feel you, pretty girl.”, he whispers and you oblige as you guide his length to your entrance.

He effortlessly takes over as he gradually thrusts his cock inch by inch into your cunt and every time his hips touch your own an utterly sexy strained grunt escapes his mouth as his jaw goes slack.

“Fuck, your pussy takes me so well. Mmph—taking Daddy so deep, baby.”

Your legs lock at the ankle around his waist and his head falls into the nook of your neck as his hand comes up along the other side to dig into the fabric of the couch as if he’s using it for leverage to try and push himself deeper. 

“Atta girl…how-how does it feel?”

You struggled to find words as his mushroom tip delicious glided along that spot inside of you gradually that had your eyes rolling. Pushing up on to his palms, his long hair tickled your face forcing your gaze to meet his.

“Tell me, honey. I need to hear it.”

Eddie knew what he was doing. 

He knew you having trouble recollecting the English language as he purposely arched his back and rolled his hips.

“Tell Daddy, baby.”

At his whispered words, he smirked as your pussy tightened around him and your whimpered breath hit his face.

“Feels good…Fuck… please…”

Falling flat against you, his palm slid down to rub your thigh around him.

“Please what?”

“Faster, Daddy, please. I wanna cum.”

The feathery kiss he placed just below your ear was light but the way he thrust himself was anything but as he did what you pleaded. Your fingers threaded through his hair as your arms wrapped around his back and Eddie mewled at the feeling of your lips trailing along shoulder to his neck. 

“Cum…Cum with me.”

He didn’t verbally respond but you felt him nod as he picked up his pace and his grunts of pleasure filled your ears. Clinging him tighter to you, your orgasm crashed into you like a wave and a giddy smile remained on your lips as he roughly pumped his release into your heat. 

While his head rested on your chest, you kissed his forehead before he pushed up onto his elbows to give you a soft kiss. 

“Nooooo…”, you whine as he starts to get up and push away from you.

“I’ll be right back, sweetheart, I promise. I have to clean you. Do you want another shirt? Something not slightly covered in my sweat.”, Eddie teases as he pulls up his pants and starts heading for the bathroom. 

“No, thank you. It… smells like…you.”

He chuckled as he shook his head and disappeared to get a washrag. 

“Well, at least let’s move to the bed so you’ll be—”

When he entered his living room again, your eyes were closed giving him pause as he took in the sight before him. Kneeling down on the floor, he carefully opened your legs and tried to clean you without moving you too much, murmuring soft apologies when he notices your face scrunch at the feeling. 

“I think you were a good husband.” Eddie’s brown irises fleet to your face as you continue, your eyes still closed even through your head was turned towards him. “You said…being a husband never felt…like this. I don’t think…that was your fault. I think you were a good husband…”

Smiling, his hand cups your cheek as his thumb runs along your soft features. 

As he watches his arm across you rise and fall steadily, he realizes you’d fallen asleep again and as carefully as he can, lifts you in his arms to bring you back to his bed. After crawling in himself on his side facing you, you promptly scoot closer to him and press your face into his chest. 

His arm circles around you as he places his chin on top of your head while staring out the window behind you into the city skyline.

“Thank you, baby, for what you said. I’d…I’d like a chance to try again one day…to be a husband…maybe someday soon.” When you don’t react, he knows you’re down for the count. “Baby?”, he questions, just to make sure but when you don’t stir, he cranes his neck to kiss your forehead before whispering delicately against your skin, “I love you, Y/N.” 

###################

@dashingdeb16 @myherometalhead @micheledawn1975 @hardladyheart @chelebelletx @fireeyes-on-teller-dixon-grimes @paleidiot @alphabetically-deranged @sophiejayne-illustrations713 @yesimabratandwhataboutot @idkwhattoputhere08 @gryffindorqueensworld @mewchiili @veemoon @heavenlyhorrors @twirls827 @jamiecb66 @chelebelletx @longpondlibrary @friendly-neighborhood-ghoul @hellv1ra @utterlyinsanity @eddiesclub @wiinterwiidow @stylesxmunson

[kaitlyn-imagines]

Omg I just love you and your writing! I hope you're staying happy, safe, and healthy!! Would it be too much to ask for some angst ending in fluff for a Kirishima soulmate fic?? I'm in desperate need of that puppy but all the fics I find are either pure fluff or super dirty. Kiri has emotions other than happy or f-boy.. help a sister out? Thank you sfm I love you stay healthy my love!! You are so wonderful!!

Hello my gorgeous girl! Sorry it took me so long to get to this :) I looooved this ask, because yes, sometimes I feel like Kirishima can be reduced to a certain role, and a lot of people forget he’s struggled with mental health in the past. Any-who, I love writing angst, sorry it's long haha.

No Pain No Gain

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

Eijiro Kirishima x Soulmate!Reader Soulmate AU where pain is shared and linked between bonds

Warnings: Angst with comfort at the end, swearing, mental health, reader is the drama kind of, sparring/canon typical violence

Words: 5310

It had been pretty easy to figure out that your soulmate was part of the hero program. Afterall, no average person would be getting hurt every other day unless they were training for a career in heroism.

It wasn’t fair that they should be so careless with their pain, particularly since you gave them the luxury of having a soul mate in the general education course. It wasn’t like you were throwing yourself in danger at every opportunity for a good grade. No, all you had to do was ensure you studied well enough for your biochemistry class.

This fact—and the constant rate and severity of pain flooding down the soul bond to your nervous system—gave you half a mind to march down to each classroom and threaten to beat the shit out of whoever was breaking your back each day.

So, one day, you made an effort to sit outside and watch the various hero classes during their sparring sessions to figure out which asshole gave you debilitating pain every other day. You sat in the bleachers with your textbook atop your thighs, studying until some new shock of pain hit your system.

You were halfway through working on a Henderson–Hasselbalch equation when you felt a nauseating explosion to your pain receptors. “Fuck,” you cry out in a hiss, feeling like the very skin on your forearm was blistering into horrific burns. Yet, as always, when you looked at the offending arm, it was unmarred and clear of any abrasions. You expected as much—afflicted injuries weren’t carried down the soul bond, just the pain of them.

You were nearly nauseous from the burning sensation, feeling dizzy as you pushed your textbook off your lap and onto the surface of the seat next to you. You forced your eyes away from your sizzling nerves and towards the training field, where two students were sparring in the center of the ring.

You bit your lip, trying to focus through the excruciating pain still flaring off in your nervous system. As you glared forward, you noticed the familiar figures of hero class 1A. The two students currently sparing included an ashy blonde, who you recognized as Katsuki Bakugo, an infamous dick. You figured you had him to thank for the sensation of blisters eating up your arm.

Though, he wasn’t the one you had choice words for.

The other student, from a distance, was unmistakably…red. You’d see the guy before in the cafeteria, though you’ve never interacted before. This was lucky for him, because if you’d known he was the cause from your daily suffering, you’d have punched him square in the nose. Though, you supposed you’d also be the one feeling the justice of your fists. It’d be worth it, though.

Eijiro Kirishima…the name came to you through the haze of your pain, and it felt bitter on your tongue. You watched, a fierce rage in your eyes as you watched him battle his friend with the explosion-quirk. Despite your anger, you couldn’t help but feel a traitorous sliver of respect. How the hell was he taking hit after hit without even flinching? It was taking everything in you not to keel over as the weight of each blow hit you in tandem.

By the time the sparring session timed out, you were breathless and moaning, a sheen of cold sweat across your forehead. Your body had felt every lick of flame, every punch, and every slice of debris-made-shrapnel. And yet, when you lifted you head wearily, you saw Kirishima walking off the field with his back straight, laughing with an arm slung over his—your—assailant’s shoulder. How. The. Fuck.

You wasted no time, shakily stuffing your textbook into your backpack despite your sweaty palms. You rose from your seat on the bleachers, and nearly stumbled as your seemingly-uninjured legs buckled.

You gritted your teeth, forcing yourself to move as you slowly limped your way down the stairs of the bleachers. You lifted the straps of your bag onto your shoulders, and managed not to yelp with the irritation to your already sensitive skin.

You hobbled your way towards the field, where already two other students were beginning their own respective sparring match. A few students shot curious or confused glances your way, no doubt questioning why some random general education student was walking up on their class session. You paid them no mind, shooting a fierce look around in search of the scarlet headed boy.

It took you a moment, but then you spotted it—a flash of red. You pushed your way past a pink girl and her invisible friend, only just managing to grit out an ‘excuse me.’ You forced yourself to keep moving your exhausted, burning limbs… and then there he was. He was still standing next to his sparring partner, a grin on his face. He looked nearly unmarred, save from a few smoking pieces of his uniform. His skin though, which should have been covered in second and third degree burns by the judge of your pain, was without a single blemish.

“You!” you hiss out venomously, catching both Kirishima and Bakugo’s attention. You didn’t spare him a moment to react before you bridged the space between you, raising your hand and slapping him straight across the face. Except, when your palm made contact with his cheek, you didn’t feel the pliancy of flesh but a rigid, steely feeling of titanium. You felt the shock of the blow shoot all the way up your arm, and the delicate bones in your hand fractured upon impact.

To add insult to injury, your cheek stung with the force of your slap, and yet Kirishima still stood there, completely unmoved…albeit with a wide-eyed, shocked look on his face. Immediately you keeled over, cradling your injured hand, which was already beginning to swell. You bit out a curse, tears pricking your eyes. God, your entire body felt like it was falling apart.

“Oh, shit, are you alright?” you heard his masculine voice ask in concern. He reached out a hand to touch your shoulder, but you’re already jolting away from his outstretched hand.

“You motherfucker,” you hissed, and both Kirishima and Bakugo seemed just as stunned by your foul language as they did your abrupt failure of a slap. Still cradling your swelling hand, you glared at Kirishima with as much venom as you could muster.

“I-I’m sorry…?” his voice came out hesitant, unsure. He had no idea who you were, why you were here, or why you looked about ready to blow a fuse. He glanced at Bakugo, but his companion just shrugged, sharing his cluelessness.

“Sorry?” you laugh out callously. “Oh, fuck off. If you actually cared, you’d be a little less reckless and self-sacrificial. And, might I add, a little more thoughtful about who’s also taking your hits.”

Kirishima blinked at you, wide-eyed. He seemed to be floundering a little, still struggling to make sense of the situation. You sneer at him, not bothering to explain further. “How the hell are you even still standing? You don’t even look like you’re sore, for fuck’s sake. You can’t tell me you’re not feeling even an ounce of pain from all that?”

“M-My quirk…” he exhaled, shaking his head as his eyebrows furrowed. “It’s called Hardening. It allows me to harden and sharpen my body. I don’t really hurt when it’s activated…” he trailed off. At your accusing look, something seemed to click for Kirishima, and his posture shifted. His expression brightened, replacing any confusion or reservations he was feeling.

“Oh, wait!” he exclaimed, staring at you with a sudden clarity and eagerness. “Are you…?” His eyes were beaming with recognition. You couldn’t deny that such a bright look on his face made him look incredibly handsome, but the sheer amount of pain you were experiencing made you refuse to think of anything but your anger.

“Yep,” you gritted out, still cradling your hand, which had swollen to an alarming size in less than a minute. At this, Kirishima seemed to curb his excitement at discovering his soulmate. You watched him realize with a sense of alarm—and to your slight satisfaction, guilt—that you’d basically taken the full force of every one of his blows without any of his natural defense.

“Shit, that looks bad,” he winced, glancing at his hand as your injury sent small flares of pain down the bond to him. Then he stepped forward to look closer at your own hand. “I can’t imagine you’re feeling great anywhere, especially after my match…” You pulled yourself away from him, not allowing him to get closer to you. He looked like a kicked puppy when you did that.

Though, with your pain receptors firing off and competing with each other, you couldn’t find it in yourself to care. Nor did you dull the sharpness of your glare. “Don’t fucking touch me,” you spat, and he flinched. “You should’ve been more careful. I refuse to believe it never occurred to you that your reckless battling style wouldn’t go straight down the soul bond. Or, maybe you are that stupid…”

You were being mean, but in your mind, it was justified. His actions and selfishness had caused you physical pain for months ever since your soul bond manifested. The least you could do is inflict some retributive pain in the only way that seemed to affect him…verbally.

Bakugo, who seemed content to watch with a semi-amused smirk from the side, finally stepped in at that, his jaw clenched at your insult to his friend. “You watch your fucking mouth,” he all but growled out. “It’s not like he fucking meant for you to get hurt on his behalf.”

You barked out a bitter laugh, your feelings of injustice making you brave in the face of the notorious hot-head. “Yeah? Well, it doesn’t matter if he intended to or not, he’s still a shitty soulmate for all the shit he put me through.” From the corner of your eye, Kirishima seemed to deflate slightly, evidently weighed down by shame. Bakugo’s eyes, however, flared as he met your anger with his own.

“But,” you continued, “since you have such a hard on for him, you can have him for all I care. Fuck you, and fuck you too. Stop ruining my life and stay the hell out of it.” You shot that last bit Kirishima’s way, and despite yourself, you couldn’t help but feel the tiniest smidge of guilt. He’d forced his expression into something neutral, biting the inside of his cheek—but his eyes…they were nothing short of devastation.

You spun on your heel to leave. Despite all your pride and justified anger, the brutal limp in your step made your dramatic exit less effective.

You heard Bakugo growl from behind you, and you could only assume Kirishima was holding him back as he murmured a quiet, “Don’t. They’re right, man. I fucked up…” You didn’t care enough to look back and check. You had enough on your plate as you limped your sorry ass up to the infirmary for your broken hand.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

You had been absolutely, breath-takingly beautiful. Your cheeks slightly flushed and that passionate, fiery look in your eyes…

He hadn’t even felt the impact of your hand slapping his cheek, but he wished he’d known it was coming. If he had, he’d have deactivated his quirk…just to feel your touch in any capacity. Because, if he knew one thing for certain, he’d never feel the grace of your touch ever again.

He'd met his soulmate, and in the same breath, he’d lost them.

You’d been as devastating, fierce, and hypnotizing as a roaring flame. He couldn’t forget the vision of you. Your words had been sharper than a blade, and they’d cut him more than he’d care to admit. But he couldn’t really blame you.

He hadn’t even thought about the ramifications of his fighting style before. Due to his quirk, he was a highly defensive asset—he could tank debilitating blows without even breaking a sweat. It was perfect for combat, since he never had to consider any real damage or injury to himself.

But he had been thoughtless. Because, despite how excited he’d been when his soulmate bond manifested, he never once considered the consequences his brutal, reckless fighting would have on them.

He used to like taking hits, just to show off how tough he was…but now it made him sick to his stomach, thinking about all the suffering he’d caused you. All before he even knew you.

You were right. He was a shitty soulmate—at that fact made him loathe himself all the more. What kind of man did that make him? He’d willingly, though unknowingly, let you take the brunt of every hit. God…that look in your eyes. You hated him. You hated him, and you didn’t even know him, but it was his fault.

“Kirishima!” Aizawa shouted, exasperated, from the sidelines. The sound startled Kirishima out of his thoughts. “What the hell are you doing? You’re letting your team flounder out there!”

It’d been a week since the altercation with you, and admittedly it had affected him deeply. He wasn’t putting as much effort into his training, choosing to avoid the heat of battle where he could. This, consequently, was pummeling his teammates.

“Shit,” Kirishima muttered under his breath as he watched Sero take a brutal punch to the side of the head from Shoji, sending him sliding across the rocky terrain. They were in the midst of a team versus team exercise, and once again, Kirishima had abandoned his part in the formation.

He was the one who should’ve taken that hit, up on the frontline. He could tank it without a problem. Now Sero was down for the count, and their team was at a disadvantage.

He could hear Aizawa shout again, anger and frustration beginning to bleed into his tone as he yelled at him to get in there. But how could he? How could he willingly take the blows knowing that he was practically damning you to bear the pain for him?

Yet at the same time, how could he ever aspire to be a pro-hero if he couldn’t use his body as both a natural shield and weapon—if he couldn’t use his quirk? He was torn, and his own internal conflict had left him floundering ever since he learned who his soulmate was, and what he’d inadvertently done to them.

With Kirishima’s guilt and indecision forcing him into inaction, their team inevitably lost the exercise. Aizawa glared at him from across the field, disappointment painted across his face. And his teammates—his classmates and friends—were shooting him frustrated looks too, looking a little more beat up than usual.

Kirishima made his way over to Sero, where Denki and Mina were already helping him to his feet. Sero had a nasty bruise already marring the side of his head, purple extending all the way around his eye socket. Kirishima’s gut twisted painfully as a deep feeling of shame and worthlessness settled there.

Kirishima didn’t like feeling like a coward. He was more than willing to sacrifice himself for his friends…but he felt like his hands were tied. Either he had to watch his friends get hurt, or knowingly hurt you by taking it himself.

Old insecurities from his youth resurfaced. Self-doubt and self-loathing began to settle where absence had taken residence within him—he lost the chance of a future with you, his soulmate, and now he was losing whatever chance he had of becoming a truly respectable and manly hero.

Kirishima clenched and unclenched his hands at his sides before he ran one of them through his hair. Sero was slightly wobbly on his feet, and was forcing a gritty smile despite the evident throbbing of his head. With Denki helping to shoulder his weight, Sero spoke to Kirishima, wincing slightly.

“It’s okay, man,” his said, voice hoarse. “It’s not your fault.” His words, though good natured, did little to reassure Kirishima. He knew it was his fault, and knew that Sero was just being kind because of what had happened with you last week. His friends all knew the struggles he was going through—they could see the emotions, insecurities, and guilty conscience warring in his eyes no matter how hard he tried to be strong.

Mina knew this more than anyone, and so she patted Kirishima’s shoulder gently. “How about you take Sero to the infirmary?” she offered, and Kirishima recognized this as the kindness it was. It was an opportunity to help him feel a little less useless in that moment.

Kirishima swallowed, and nodded his head, feeling every bit like a young boy again and he assumed Denki’s spot and shouldered half of Sero’s weight. As he walked him up to the infirmary, he winced each time Sero did.

Kirishima knew he was a shitty soulmate, and now he knew he was a shitty friend too.

Once Sero was settled into a cot and under Recovery Girl’s care, Kirishima allowed himself to exhale the breath he was holding. He ran a hand down his face, and felt the urge to do…something. Punch a wall, scream into his pillow, pull his hair…anything to get rid of this heavy feeling in his chest and the loudness of his thoughts.

He leaned against the wall just outside the infirmary, standing like a sentinel while his friend had his mending done. Cutting through his onslaught of heaviness, Kirishima felt a sudden ache in his hand. He glanced down at it, and something tightened in his chest. That was you, wasn’t it? Down the soul bond…the hand you’d broken against his jaw was aching now.

Would this be as close as he ever got to you? Standing on the outskirts of your existence, only ever knowing your pain? It seemed a fitting punishment, considering he’d caused so much of it for you…

He wondered where you were. He wondered if you ever thought of him, or if you did your best to clear him from your mind entirely. Stop ruining my life and stay the hell out of it. Those were likely the last words he’d ever hear from his soul mate.

“Fuck,” he muttered to himself, before he finally pushed off the wall. Classes were over for the day, and he couldn’t think of a better start to his weekend than sulking bitterly in his room for the rest of the night.

≿━━━━༺❀༻━━━━≾

You rubbed your uninjured hand along your chest, trying to ease the painful, aching tightness there. It had refused to dull even a smidge for the past week. You had a small suspicion to the cause, but little idea as to what the sensation actually was.

It was Saturday night, and although the burn pains from last week had faded, the feeling in your chest was only getting worse. It was almost more miserable than the soreness beneath your cast.

You stared hard at your textbook, the lamp on your desk illuminating the words and diagrams in a warm yellow light. But as much as you tried to focus, the aching chest pain distracted you. You sighed in defeat, and closed the heavy book with a thump.

You pushed out from your desk, stretching to the best of your ability with the clunky, hunk of plaster encasing your fractured hand. Something was wrong with your soulmate, wherever he was. Ever since you presented with a soul bond, nothing like this aching feeling had ever been sent down the line. It was distracting, and…a little concerning.

You hadn’t planned on ever talking to Kirishima again after how you left things last week, but you felt compelled to get to the bottom of this. You told yourself it was because you needed to study without any distractions. Though, if you were honest with yourself, you’d been feeling kind of shitty about what you’d said to Kirishima in your anger.

You’d just been so tired of the near constant pain. You’d been at your wits end. You had resented him for it, and that resentment had built over time until it boiled over.

But this past week, you’d noticed something. The pain you’d so often associated with him and his hero training was surprisingly absent. There was only that deep, painful ache in your chest that refused to go away.

You swallowed, trying to clear your head of all these thoughts. You took a deep breath to mentally prepare yourself. Then, you raised you good hand, and gave three solid knocks to the door. You waited…but no one answered. You knew he was in his dorm. You could hear soft music playing on the other side of it. Perplexed, you raised your fist again and rapped your knuckles against the door a second time.

Once again, no one answered. Feeling slightly miffed at being ignored, you called out through the door, “Kirishima, open up.”

A moment later, you heard the music silence.

Your eyebrows furrowed slightly, and you shifted awkwardly on your feet as you heard shuffling on the other side of the door. You preoccupied yourself by looking at your cuticles, waiting for what must’ve been thirty seconds before the door finally and suddenly opened. It startled you slightly, but you quickly composed yourself.

There, Kirishima stood. He was in sweatpants and a sleep shirt. His hair was mussed and down against his head, as if he’d only just quickly ran a comb through it. He looked…not well. Beneath his eyes were slight dark circles, as if he hadn’t been sleeping well. He wasn’t smiling as he normally did either, as if his bright and cheery attitude had been snuffed out like a candle.

His eyes were widened slightly, staring at you as if you were a phantom, or a figment of the mind. He gaped, evidently stunned, and you cleared your throat awkwardly at the attention. “Hey,” you managed to get out.

You watched his throat bob as he swallowed. Then, he recovered, and leaned against his door frame. “Hey…” he answered quietly, his eyebrows furrowed. He seemed sad. “Sorry. Did I…did I hurt you again?” he asked, his voice sounding weak.

You blinked at him, and quickly shook your head. “No, no…” you said, speaking with a lot more patience and kindness than you had the last time you confronted him. “I just…wanted to check on you.”

At your lame explanation, Kirishima seemed to still. His expression morphed slightly, taking on a look of confusion. His eyes briefly glanced down the hall in either direction, as if there might’ve been a camera crew waiting to get his reaction. Then, when his eyes returned to you, you felt your heart leap into your throat. Was his attention always this all-encompassing?

This close to him, you realized that you never noticed before how pretty his eye color was. It was a gorgeous burnt-sienna.

You blinked when he cocked his head slightly, and realized you’d been staring. You cleared your throat, a little embarrassed, but undeterred. He hadn’t yet responded to you, seemingly waiting for you to continue. So, you do.

“I’ve been getting this feeling,” you began slowly, but immediately stopped as a few girls left their dorm a few doors down. You flushed slightly, glancing their way before looking back to Kirishima. “Actually, do you…mind if I come in to talk more privately?”

Kirishima’s eyes widened slightly, and glanced over his shoulder towards his room, as if a little self-conscious. “It’s messy,” he confessed after a moment, but one look at your pleading eyes had him caving. “But uh…yeah, come on in.” He stepped to the side, holding the door open to you in a way that seemed rather gentlemanly, despite everything.

You entered, ducking your head and keeping your cast tucked into your body. The room was dark, and as he’d said, a little disheveled. Some clothes piled in the corner next to the hamper, empty drink cans and snacks on the table next to his bed, a towel in the center of the floor…

Before you could enter too far, Kirishima closed the door and made quick work to tidy up what he could. You opened your mouth to reassure him it was alright, but something in your intuition told you to humor him. So, you patiently waited as he tossed the clothes and towel into the hamper, and swiped the trash into the bin.

When he finished, he ran a hand through his hair and puffed out a soft breath of air. “Sorry about that,” he muttered between his teeth. Silently, he gestured a hand to a red beanbag in the corner of the room for you to sit. You hesitated for only a second before thinking better of it, and accepted the invitation. It sank beneath you as you sat down. It felt like it was swallowing you.

“So,” he said after a moment, leaning his hips against his desk. He braced his hands on the edge of it, not quite meeting your eye, but instead looking at the floor near your feet. “You were saying?”

You cleared your throat, trying to fight off the wave of awkwardness threatening to consume this entire situation. “Yeah,” you began. “I’ve just been…getting this feeling like something was wrong.” He looked at you then, and you paused for just a second before you asked, a bit unsure, “Is something wrong?”

Kirishima seemed to search your face for something, words getting caught in his throat. Finally, he looked away and muttered quietly, “Can you feel it? Is it bothering you? …sorry, I’m…I’m trying.” He’d always been so boisterous when you saw him in the halls, always loud, cheerful, energetic, and bright.

Now he seemed so sullen and dejected. Geez, had you done that to him?

Guilt gnawed at your gut, and distantly you replayed the harsh words you had snapped at him the last time you’d spoken. You’d been angry, and you felt justified in being so. But also, you’d spoken without giving him any chance to respond or explain himself. And, he’d just let you. You’d never had a proper conversation before that afternoon, and he had no reason to quietly undertake your vitriol, and yet he did—without a single word of retaliation or denial.

“Kirishima,” you sighed, looking away in shame. “It’s not that…look, I’m sorry for how I behaved before.” You could feel the weight of his eyes back on you, watching your face. You wished you were brave enough to meet his gaze. “I was upset and… you didn’t know, did you? That it was hurting me that badly? You didn’t think of it. I’ve been thinking this past week, and I can’t imagine you would do it on purpose. You don’t seem like that kind of guy.”

You looked up in time to see him shake his head, confirming your guess. He was staring at you with an intensity, hanging onto every word as if you were the most important thing in the world. “I didn’t know,” he agreed quietly.

“I know,” you breathed, watching him carefully. He glanced away at your sudden attention, and you got the feeling he normally wouldn’t have if not for…whatever was going on. “I can feel your pain,” you said after a moment. “It’s different. It’s here.” You press your good hand to your chest, and saw him close his eyes, a strained expression on his face.

“I’m sorry,” he said again, and you felt your heart twist painfully. He seemed to feel it too, because he looked up at you the moment it happened.

“Stop saying that,” you frowned, and with minor difficulty due to having a cast, you pushed yourself up from the bean bag. You watched Kirishima stiffen as you approached him, and paused. “I’m the one who should apologize.” He seemed to relax a hair then, and watched you with the same rapt attention as before.

“I never meant to make you feel like this,” you said, again pressing your hand to your chest. You watched him watch you, and took another small step forward. He didn’t react, so you took it as a sign to approach. Slowly, you removed your hand from your chest, and ever so gently placed it upon his own.

You heard him inhale sharply, and could feel his heart hammering in his chest. “That’s what this aching feeling is, isn’t it?” you asked, and he didn’t respond. He didn’t have to. You could see all the confirmation you needed in his eyes.

“You’re not a shitty soulmate,” you murmured, wincing at the words you had once spat at him. “I shouldn’t have approached you like that, guns blazing. I shouldn’t have made assumptions. I haven’t felt anything this week other than the aching. You’ve been trying not to get hit during class, right?”

You watched him carefully. Again, he didn’t answer you, but instead raised his hand to rest it atop of where yours was still upon his chest. His eyes were soft with a vulnerable emotion, a lingering sadness, and what you felt might have been a tiny, fragment of hope.

You swallowed, feeling a slight warmth rise to your cheeks. No one had looked at you like that before. It felt intimate in a way. The anger and resentment you had burned with just last week was extinguished, and all that remained was a desire to reconcile and understand.

“Tell me what this feeling it?” you asked quietly, deciding to reward his vulnerability with some of your own. “Help me understand you.”

And so, he did. He brought you to his bed, and you both sat on the edge of it as he confessed how he had been feeling. The resurgence of old insecurities and mental health issues. The self-loathing, the struggle to work towards his hero dreams, to be a good person to his friends and to you, and to fight back the crushing waves of disappointment and expectations weighing down on him.

He was honest with you about everything, and you admired him for it. He was courageous in his honesty, and despite all the new and past hurt you’d triggered in him, he continued to speak kindly to you. Did you deserve his forgiveness? You weren’t sure yet, but he seemed to think so.

When he’d finished, you had slight tears in your eyes. The crushing weight in your chest, that ache he’d been feeling…it had been overwhelming. But as he’d talked you through his feelings, you noticed it had lightened considerably. It was still there, smaller yet persistent—but, you were certain with time, you might help him vanquish it as he’d done once before. You squeezed his hand with your own, and he looked at you with a slight color to his cheeks.

“Since we’re being honest,” he said after a moment, “I was always psyched knowing I had a soul mate out there.” He watched you for your reaction carefully. “Even though you looked at me like a raging bull, I thought you were so beautiful. You had so much spirit, so much courage.”

You bit your bottom lip, and realized you were still grasping his hand. You didn’t release it.

“That’s the kind of hero I want to be, you know?” he admitted with the softest smile. “The kind of person I want to be. Straightforward, honest, courageous, bold, and compassionate even when it’s hard to be.”

“You are,” you heard yourself saying, staring into his eyes. Those pretty, burnt-sienna eyes. After a moment, you swallowed, feeling your cheeks warm once more. “I don’t actually want you to stay away,” you admitted.

“I know,” he answered, and smile he gave you was familiar.

[unsolicited-opinions]

It's always hilarious when I see the dates on your posts because in NZ we go day/month/year.

So when I see your posts, for example one I saw just now dated 5/9/25, I'm like "oh cool post from the future". Then my brain catches up and goes "oh wait no that's not right, time travel doesn't exist. Amercian date duh"

(Please never change your date system, I enjoy the moment of confusion)

Can we talk about how weird the US is?

Most of the world uses DD/MM/YYYY, but the US uses MM/DD/YYYY

Most of the world uses Celsius, the US uses Fahrenheit.

Most of the world is metric, but the US won't let go of Imperial units.

The US is the only wealthy nation without universal healthcare.

Most of the world uses 220–240V electricity, the US uses 120-Volt

I read that only the US and New Zealand allow direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical ads.

The US is the only nation that ties many aspects of adult life (housing, employment, loans, insurance rates) to a secretive algorithm-driven credit score system.

Many countries vote on weekends or have national holidays for elections. The US votes on a Tuesday - and it's not even a federal holiday.

College sports are not an industry ($18-$20 billion per year!) anywhere but in the US.

The weirdest difference about Americans...is that they're largely unaware of how weird the US is among other nations.

It's funny. I was looking at the above and thought, I should make a list of things about the US I'm proud of! Some of the ways it is positively exceptional!

So I started making a list...and had to face the reality that Trump is attacking all of them.

1. Constitutionally Protected Free Speech

The US has some of the strongest legal protections for freedom of expression in the world - including unpopular, offensive, or political speech.

Unlike many democracies, "hate speech" laws don’t exist in the same form, and government censorship is much more restricted.

Trump hasn't dismantled free speech (yet), but he attacked the free press as "the enemy of the people," encouraged and filed lawsuits against journalists, and floated ideas like expanding libel laws to target critics. While not policy, this rhetoric chills speech and emboldens authoritarianism. His attempts to illegally de-fund public broadcasting are nakedly political, motivated by his distaste for the content of NPR and PBS, and in violation of the First Amendment.

2. Invention Culture

The U.S. is uniquely good at turning wild ideas into world-changing innovations: the airplane, the internet, the smartphone, GPS, social media, electric cars, AI, and yes, even the moon landing.

American culture prizes risk-taking and rewards failure as a learning process - rare in most countries.

Trump's immigration limits (like the H-1B visa crackdown) restricted access to top global talent, which could weaken innovation long-term. His attacks on institutions of higher education will dramatically slow technological innovation and destroy research programs. The brain drain to other nations of technical, scientific expertise has already started.

3. Higher Ed Research Powerhouse

The U.S. is home to nearly all of the top global research universities and attracts more international students than any other country.

American universities lead in medical, technological, and scientific breakthroughs.

Trump slashed funding for scientific research and gutted federal advisory panels.

Anti-intellectualism and attacks on elite universities (especially during COVID and around DEI issues) undermined trust in American academia and discouraged international students.

He also restricted foreign researchers, especially from China.

4. Peaceful Transfers of Power (Mostly)

The US had a long history of peaceful democratic transitions, without coups, assassinations, or military takeovers - uncommon for such a large and diverse nation...and then came Trump.

Trump's refusal to accept the 2020 election results, pressuring officials to overturn it, and inciting the January 6th insurrection are considered by legal scholars and bipartisan commissions as an unprecedented attack on American democracy.

5. National Parks System

The US pioneered the idea of preserving vast, stunning natural landscapes for public enjoyment - Yellowstone was the world's first national park.

The National Parks system is the gold standard for conservation tourism.

Trump opened millions of acres of protected lands to drilling, mining, and commercial use, including rolling back protections at Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante.

His administration also weakened the Endangered Species Act and gutted environmental regulations.

6. Civil Society Strength

The US has a thriving network of grassroots organizations, non-profits, advocacy groups, and independent media that hold institutions accountable and mobilize citizens.

Trump has attacked watchdog groups and frequently tried to delegitimize civil society institutions, especially those related to voting rights, environment, and racial justice.

His administration also attempted to weaponize the IRS and DOJ against political opponents.

7. Free & Open Internet

Despite pressures, the US has generally protected a free and open internet, with few restrictions on access or content compared to most other nations.

...until Trump’s FCC, under Ajit Pai, repealed net neutrality protections in 2017. Though the internet remained accessible, open access and fair competition were weakened.

9. Entrepreneurial Ecosystem

The US leads in startup creation, venture capital funding, and unicorn companies (startups worth $1B+).

It’s one of the few places where a person can come from nothing and build a global empire in their garage (literally - see Apple, Amazon, HP).

Trump's immigration restrictions hurt startups' access to talent and investment (e.g. STEM immigrants, startup visas).

Trade wars with China and uncertainty in international markets also created instability for small and medium-sized innovators.

10. Strong Judicial Review

The US Supreme Court and lower courts have real power to strike down laws and check the other branches - rare in many democracies.

Trump respected judicial review when it served him, but attacked judges who ruled against him, calling them "Obama judges" or "so-called judges."

He also appointed record numbers of federal judges, many of whom were rated "not qualified," and explicitly chosen for ideological loyalty, raising long-term concerns about judicial independence.

11. Religious Pluralism

While religion is prominent in public life, the U.S. also guarantees freedom of religion and supports a wildly diverse religious landscape - everything from Orthodox Jews to Buddhists to Wiccans to atheists.

Trump has embraced Christian nationalism and banned entry from multiple Muslim-majority countries (the "Muslim Ban"), which was later struck down and modified...until he revived it in 2025.

Rhetoric and policies have consistently signaled preference for one religious identity, undermining pluralism.

12. Robust Refugee and Immigrant Absorption (Historically)

Though flawed, the US has welcomed more immigrants than any other country in history and granted millions paths to citizenship, jobs, and education.

Trump cut legal immigration by nearly 50%, reduced refugee admissions to historic lows, ended DACA protections, and dismantled the asylum process.

His administration separated families, created a climate of fear, and made it harder for immigrants to naturalize.

Don't get me started on his ICE raids.

13. Civil Rights Legacy

The US gave birth to one of the most influential civil rights movements of the 20th century — and inspired others around the world.

Figures like Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and John Lewis are global symbols of peaceful resistance and justice.

Trump dismantled Obama-era civil rights protections, including for transgender individuals, voting rights enforcement, and police reform oversight.

He attacked movements like Black Lives Matter and used federal forces against peaceful protesters (Lafayette Square, 2020).

14. Strong Local Government

States and localities in the US have real, constitutionally protected autonomy, enabling political diversity and experimentation (think: marijuana legalization, universal basic income pilots, or charter school models).

Trump has repeatedly threatened "blue states" and tried to withhold federal funding from states or cities that disagreed with him politically (e.g., sanctuary cities, COVID policies).

Undermining federalism in this way weakened the traditional balance of state and federal power.

15. Disaster Response Innovation

FEMA and the U.S. military lead some of the fastest and best-coordinated global disaster responses - often being first on the ground for earthquakes, hurricanes, and humanitarian crises abroad.

Trump’s handling of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico was widely condemned as negligent and racially biased.

His COVID-19 response lacked national coordination and downplayed science, weakening U.S. disaster response credibility.

His FEMA director was unaware there is a hurricane season.

So...most of the things about my country of which I was still proud...are being erased.

(But I'm glad our date formatting is entertaining.)

[pintadorartist]

THE TRUMP-MUSK FUNDING GRAB: THE QUIET COUP

Since taking office, President Trump and Elon Musk have worked together to defund the federal government from the inside while consolidating power into the hands of a right-wing elite. Their goal is clear: gut federal agencies, strip public resources, and redirect power and money into their own hands.

Agencies Are Starved of Ability to Help People: Key federal agencies—including the Departments of Health, Education, and Transportation—have been forced into bare-bones operations, unable to implement vital programs we depend on.

FEMA and Disaster Relief Blocked: Funding for emergency relief programs is being deliberately slowed or denied, leaving communities vulnerable.

Social Security and Medicare Under Threat: Musk’s “Department of Government Efficiency” has gained full access to the U.S. Treasury's federal payment system, which processes Social Security, Medicare, and tax refunds. His team now has access to millions of Americans’ financial data and can manipulate payments.

DOGE is a Smokescreen for Dismantling the Federal Government: Under the guise of “efficiency,” Musk has proposed cutting $1 trillion in government spending, targeting social programs, education, healthcare, and regulatory agencies that protect consumers and workers.

At the same time, Trump and Senate Republicans are fast-tracking Russell Vought as OMB Director to oversee this attack on federal funding.

VOUGHT IS THE ARCHITECT OF PROJECT 2025

Vought wrote a chapter of Project 2025, which starts by outlining the role that OMB should play in implementing the massively unpopular playbook. If confirmed, Russell Vought will control federal spending. That means he will claim to have the power to:

Freeze funding for critical programs like Medicaid, public schools, environmental protections, and infrastructure.

Redirect federal dollars to right-wing priorities, including tax cuts for the wealthy and corporate handouts.

Defund regulatory agencies that keep corporations in check and protect workers and consumers.

THE PROCESS: HOW THE SENATE WILL PROCEED WITH THE VOUGHT CONFIRMATION VOTE

Monday: Motion to Proceed (MTP) passes, allowing debate on the nomination.

Immediately After: Republican Sen. John Thune can file cloture, starting the two legislative day clock before a cloture vote.

Wednesday: Cloture vote happens, kicking off 30 hours of debate.

Wednesday - Thursday: Senate Democrats must use the full 30 hours to expose this crisis and block the nomination at every turn.

Thursday: Final vote on Vought’s confirmation. If he is confirmed, the Trump-Musk takeover accelerates.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

1.THIS LINK BY INDIVISIBLE LEADS TO A PAGE WITH RESOURCES INCLUDING POSTERS TO USE WHEN PROTESTING AND WHAT TO DEMAND FROM YOUR SENATORS

2. THIS LINK LEADS TO A CALL TOOL THAT PROVIDES A SCRIPT FOR YOU TO USE WHEN CALLING YOUR SENATOR. TELL THEM THAT WE ARE IN A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS

3.Fax: use this link and send a fax to your senator

4. Read through the list of Senate leaders and call a number

5. Contact Your State Attorney General by phone and email:

Minimal script for ALL state attorneys general: We are all learning that Elon Musk, a man who can’t even get the security access he needs to enter parts of SpaceX, and a band of unaccountable teenagers and business cronies, walked into the GSA, TTS, the U.S. Treasury and the USAID offices and took whatever private information they wanted, firing any civil servant who tried to stop them. [Your Stateians] records have most likely been invaded in violation of the Privacy Act of 1974, and as he’s now embedded himself in the Treasury department computer system, payments for Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and other federal programs are at risk if the Trump administration decides to punish our state, [as he’s currently doing by holding fire victim funding hostage in exchange for extremist voter ID requirements.] Even the short pause from Trump’s executive order to freeze federal disbursements caused panic. We want you to sue the federal government to stop this corrupt and possibly treasonous attack on the privacy rights of our states’ citizens.

6. Contact the Secretary of the Treasury Department! – 202-622-2000

Minimal script for Secretary Scott Bessent: I’m calling to demand that you remove Musk’s access from all systems under your control, that all his equipment is confiscated, that his team is interrogated as to all actions they took under his direction, and that a computer forensics team is assigned immediately to check the system for integrity of its security systems.

More info on: https://indivisibleventura.org/2025/02/01/the-guy-nobody-trusts-with-a-full-security-clearance-now-has-access-to-all-your-private-data/

[eightyonekilograms]

It is making me crazy how bullshitting has become totally normalized and uncontroversial in progressive spaces . And not just among the Terminally Online.

There's a kerfuffle on Twitter today about some new sociology book. It doesn't even matter what it is, but the author includes this sentence:

We now spend a smaller percentage of our GDP on social programs than we have at any point in US history, with the percentage projected to fall even further in the years ahead.

This sentence is false, and not even by a little bit. It's completely false, it's outrageously false, it is not even in the same postal code as true. It's not true after adjusting for inflation, it's not true depending on which programs you count, it's not true on any time scale, it's not true under any possible interpretation. It's just utterly fucking wrong.

And the thing is, I don't know for sure, but I strongly suspect the author of this book doesn't even care if the sentence is true (the classic "lying" versus "bullshitting" dichotomy). Because "we spend a smaller percentage of GDP on social programs than ever before" is just something you have to gurgle out your mouthpipe to remain in Good Standing in their social and professional spaces. And if you were to point out that "this false sentence is false" in those spaces, you'd get a malestrom of the same tired cliches about how it doesn't matter if it's actually true.

Well, I care if it's actually true.

And it would be one thing if this sentence came from some rando with a rose avatar on Twitter, but the author is an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin.

What am I supposed to feel about higher education and the university system in general when it is completely normal to just lie like this? Why should I come to the defense of such a system? This is exactly the shit that gets people on board with just burning it to the ground.

[oceangemstone]

therapy resources / schema therapy / dbt/dialectical behaviour therapy / internal family systems / meditation / c-ptsd etc. resources

this is a link to my personal google drive, it has lots of dbt stuff, some random other resources that either i or my friends have found helpful incl. DID/OSDD/dissociation resources, & some handouts from a personality disorder program i did (was aimed at pplwbpd officially but the staff all refer to it as the "personality disorder clinic", fwiw)

bunch of other stuff under the cut including video content if that's more your thing

DBT stuff

this subreddit is a wonderful community, usually helpful with questions & has some resources linked also:

https://www.reddit.com/r/dbtselfhelp/ https://dbtselfhelp.com/

TIPP skills (from dbt/distress tolerance unit but deserves distinction. biochemical benefit > psychological benefit. at least for me)

https://manhattancbt.com/dbt-tipp-skills/ https://in.nau.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/202/TIP-Skills.pdf

also emotional freedom tapping / eft (not a tipp skill iirc but it should be, one of the few things that kinda works for me)

https://www.health.com/emotional-freedom-technique-8399985

SCHEMA THERAPY

"client's guide to schema therapy"

https://disarmingthenarcissist.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/clientsguideSchemaTherapy.pdf

(the website name is very questionable but i can't find the pdf for free anywhere else orz. this is a good starting point for schema therapy tho. sorry y'all. i will steal it for my google drive when i have time)

https://www.psychologytools.com/professional/therapies/schema-therapy

^THAT LINK stuff is not free!!! BUT you can find a lot of them with this google search:

[title of worksheet/handout] -site:psychologytools.*

ex. i search the following: "unhelpful thinking styles" -site:positivepsychology.* ...and this pops up, tadaaaa:

https://talkheart2heart.org/resources/unhelpful-thinking-styles/

(i'm just linking the paid site because i cant find them gathered like that anywhere else… dont have time to search each one individually rn lol. maybe another day)

free stuff:

https://positive.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Schemas-Needs-and-Modes-Reference-Sheet.pdf (overview) https://bmcpsychology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s40359-020-0392-y/tables/1 (more detailed info on each schema) http://www.schematherapy.com/id72.htm (more info on modes) https://positivepsychology.com/schema-therapy-worksheets/ (a few worksheets linked on that page)

if video content is more your thing:

DBT UNITS:

interpersonal effectiveness extras: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwPrhSDQ0V_tBg36U3wWZpLopxJBurSsq

"middle path" skills: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwPrhSDQ0V_uB2e7Y570ihYBEYd7dK9Sv

"radically open" skills: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwPrhSDQ0V_udTjVVHhz5e1wzOSDyVeN2

DBT expanded edition: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwPrhSDQ0V_vjlYkkflUDRmfhw_hM13M-

more DBT, videos by Dr. Thomas R. Lynch: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkKKzTWUSjRhnRr5Pe2GMA7VDg_E8wBcm

DBT skills animations:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4Qw4-tlRJe-T2l5MtFOsLkTIkfZqjobY

--

FAMILY SYSTEMS + ATTACHMENT

Patrick Teahan channel:

(great channel run by a mental health practitioner who has experienced childhood trauma, he gets it. check out the playlists tab. he also has some free resources/worksheets on his website which is linked on his channel iirc)

attachment styles playlist by Jennifer May, Ph.D: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwPrhSDQ0V_smHuEjj2CxW4u7J_FozLlS

Crappy Childhood Fairy channel: https://www.youtube.com/@CrappyChildhoodFairy/playlists

(cptsd content mostly, haven't watched much of her stuff but i liked what i did see. she isn't certified but she is someone who experienced childhood trauma as well).

healing cptsd (small channel, few videos but good info iirc): https://www.youtube.com/@healingfromcomplexptsd2767

MEDITATION

(i cannot recommend her channel enough… i don't watch her longer videos/seminar(?) stuff but her meditation videos are like. actually helpful lol? i find a lot of that stuff not helpful at all but something about her is very calming and open and grounding. love her)

--

MISC

Rachel Richards massage channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@rachelrichardsmassage9660/playlists

(she has some great videos for somatic symptoms... some playlists focus on anxiety relief, breathing/relaxation, posture/mobility, sleep, etc.)

-

Dr Daniel Fox channel:

https://www.youtube.com/@DrDanielFox/videos

(cw: ableism/ableist language toward cluster b's is present on this channel, he just has a LOT of videos so i include the link... like if youre looking for something specific to do with pd traits, there's a good chance you can find SOMETHING here. *i have mixed cluster b traits incl. the more demonized ones disclaimer*. but yeah steer clear if that bothers you)

-

Struthless channel:

(mostly adhd/exec dysfunction/motivational advice stuff but i find his videos like actually kinda inspiring/motivating so i'm including it here since not a lot of stuff... feels motivating to me at all ever. but i never regret clicking on his vids! good motivational speaker lol)

-

that's all i can think of rn please lmk if any of the links are broken or like... if you have a question u think i can help w ^-^

[labelleizzy]

Update from Democracy Action Network:

Despite his dreams, Trump is not a King. Marisa Kabas may have again broken the news. The Washington Post writes: "The White House budget office on Wednesday rescinded an order freezing federal grants, according to a copy of a new memo obtained by The Washington Post, after the administration’s move to halt spending earlier this week provoked a backlash."

He didn't back down because it was a good idea. It wasn't a change of heart. It wasn't a feint. It was a genuine administrative coup that — for now — has been thwarted.

He backed down because people pushed back — getting media to do their job and alert us to an impending problem, calling Senators who (more or less) found their spines, lawyers challenging the coup, telling the story of the many who would suffer under such an order, joining last-minute DC protests…

We'd like you to pause before your inner cynic speaks up (the one that says "he'll try another version" or "look at all the other things he's destroyed and people suffering").

The point is stunningly important: Trump can lose when we fight. He is not invincible and he is not all powerful.

It doesn't mean we will win every fight. But it does mean that anyone who is telling you it's hopeless is wrong. Folks need to get this message: our feelings are valid, but any conclusion that says it's over is wrong. They, too, will get a chance to join and we hope they do.

To us, the biggest stories not being told are the many, many acts of resistance all over. We wish we had journalists covering this. For example:

Teachers rejecting ICE raids ("we jump in front of bullets for our students")

Folks rejecting President-in-action-but-not-elected Elon Musk's potentially illegally sent and possibly illegal buyout offer to 2 million government workers (comments are fire: "I'll be honest, before that email went out, I was looking for any way to get out of this fresh hell. But now I am fired up to make these goons as frustrated as possible, RTO be damned. Hold the Line!")

National trainings teaching people how to organize and strengthen community when workplace raids happen (we recommend these!) or Teen Vogue's story on ICE Watch Programs Can Protect Immigrants in Your Neighborhood — Here’s What to Know

Lawyers standing up for the rule of law — like 22 state attorneys general sued Trump over birthright order or ACLU suing fast-track deportation policy or Quakers suing to stop ICE out of worship services

The internet spamming the DEI snitch tipline

Greenlanders refusing to give up free healthcare and education and rejecting any US takeover or Colombian President Petro staring down Trump and winning the "dignity" of returnees he asked for (the US media let Trump claim victory — but international press report this very differently, like here or here or read Petro's full statement)

Groups like Civil Service Strong helping government workers sort through their decisions in these trying times and the many people finding their path in these times.

Yes, we know the overwhelm is still there. There's a reason. It's called Shock and Awe. The goal is chaos and constant crisis to push through radical changes. The goal is to push our cognitive limits to overload, so we get paralyzed.

One implication of this: to stay active, many of us will need to limit our attention. Doing so is not a rejection of other issues. It's that in a time of rapid chaos, none of us can do it all. Let's give ourselves that permission. And then let's extend that grace our allies — for not joining the causes most central to us or for picking a strategy that we think isn't most effectual. It's okay to pick your lane and focus on that. In fact, we need you to. (We have this video to help remind people of different paths they may take.)

An overwhelmed teacher asked us what they should be doing to help their students. After an extended conversation that included their basic rights to keep out ICE, it came down to this: "The thing they most fear is an educated population. Teach your students." Do what you do best. We knew there would be a lot of loss in this time, and there is. We'll have to keep planting seeds for a better future.

We want to thank Democracy Forward for its leading lawsuits. Again, thanks to journalists like Marisa Kabas (an independent journalist at The Handbasket) and Anand Giridharadas (who quoted us in The Ink). Please support our independent journalists who did not downplay this administrative coup and raised their voices right away. Thanks Rebecca Solnit who first pulled our attention to this.

Some things we're going to go do: Eat some ice cream, pet a cat, and tap some maple trees with our kid. And then keep fighting the best we can.

Warmly,

- Choose Democracy

[hyperlexichypatia]

"There's no such thing as a useless degree! Learning is valuable for its own sake! If you think a degree program is 'useless' just because it doesn't lead to a job, you're an anti-intellectual capitalist who hates learning, creativity, and critical thinking!"

Okay, let me stop you right there, because this take annoys me every time: "learning" and "degrees" are two different things.

There can be many purposes to learning, including "for its own sake." You can learn things out of curiosity, or to enrich your life, or to challenge yourself, to further human knowledge, or to gain useful skills, or to become a more informed person! In general, cultivating an open-minded curiosity about the world can give you a more fulfilling life. Learning doesn't have to have a concrete goal or specific purpose.

The purpose of a degree is to be an official documentation to some external authority (usually an employer or regulatory agency) that someone has (at least theoretically) mastered a qualification.

There's no such thing as useless learning. There's no such thing as useless knowledge. There's no such thing as useless research. There's absolutely such a thing as a useless degree.

And look, as critical as I am of educational systems, standardized testing, lack of recognition of alternative ways of learning, etc., I absolutely think that degree requirements have their uses. I'm much more comfortable being operated on by a surgeon who graduated from an accredited medical school with a degree than by someone self-taught. Sometimes, when someone is assigned a task, you want actual proof that they've mastered the skill set needed for that task, and for want of a better system, a degree can be a useful proxy for that proof.

But unless you're training for a specific job or role that requires specific proof of a specific skill set, there's no actual logical reason that your learning journey should be in the form of a degree program.

"I have a degree in something completely unrelated to my job, but it's still worth it because I learned so much!"

Great, I love that for you, but unless you specifically need the actual degree credential for an external verification purpose, you could've learned just as much from a course of study not centered on a degree.

"I use my art history degree in my marketing job all the time!"

Unless you were specifically hired for your art history degree, what you mean is you use your art history knowledge in your marketing job -- which, again, great, but doesn't require a degree program.

"My boss said it looked good that I have a liberal arts degree because it shows I'm not just looking for money!"

That's Employer for "I assume you're independently wealthy and won't demand a living wage."

"But lots of employers just want employees to have a college degree in any field and they don't care what!"

Yeah. That's. That's the problem I'm objecting to. What logical sense does it make to want an employee who has A Skill, but be completely indifferent as to what skill or what relevance it does or doesn't have to the tasks they're being hired to do?

The only reasons an employer would consider a candidate with a college degree in an unrelated field to be more qualified than a candidate without a degree is: *because they think that someone who could spend ~$45000 and ~360 hours on something is in some way A Better Class Of Person than someone who couldn't (this is classism), or *because they think the cognitive skills involved in pursuing a degree reflect some kind of "general intelligence" indicative of being Good At Learning In General (this is ableism and let's be real, also classism).

There is no non-ableist, non-classist reason for jobs to require "a degree" that isn't a specific degree related to the skills of that specific job.

"But what about Critical Thinking Skills and Cultural Literacy and Being An Informed Citizen? These are things that everyone should learn, not just people training for a specific job!"

If these are skills that EVERYONE should learn, then they belong in K-12 education (the universal tier of education that's free and For Everyone). Why put it in the Optional, Extra level of schooling?

I mean, historically, the reason is that the "everyone" who needed a core college education didn't mean "everyone"; it meant "Everyone in the upper classes who would be the next generation of leaders and are more culturally and intellectually refined than the commoners." Obviously, the working classes don't need "critical thinking skills"; their simple peasant brains probably couldn't handle them anyway. (Again. Classism and ableism are always intertwined.)

And the impulse to "democratize" that by giving "everyone" the educational experience of the upper classes is like. Well-meaning I guess, but almost a microcosm of how "democratizing" elitist institutions without critically examining them leads to some wildly skewed conclusions. "Everyone" can't achieve the lifestyle of the upper classes by achieving the education of the upper classes, because the lifestyle and education of the upper classes is defined by and supported by a command relationship to the lower classes.

"That's why the U.S. should make college tuition free like in [other country]!"

Look, I agree, but that's only addressing one of the many problems here. Tuition isn't the only cost of college (in a capitalist system where time is money, the time commitment alone is expensive), and even if those costs were addressed (e.g. with a student stipend), "Everyone should have access to a useless degree" doesn't make the degrees any less useless, and doesn't address the central question: If not for a specific credential for a specific job/role/position, why does voluntary learning need to involve a degree program?

"But what if I want to get a degree as a personal challenge to myself to prove that I can?"

I mean, look, you do you, but I'll point out that I also do this, and I don't think it's a good thing. I've spent months agonizing over assignments -- not for a grade, but because I wanted my teacher to think I was Smart. And that is a hell of a thing to still be internalizing as a whole-ass middle-aged adult who's written many critiques of behaviorism. I think that impulse in me is a product of assessment-reward-punishment indoctrination, and I need to kill the teacher inside my head. I'm not saying that's true for you. But I'm also talking about how we talk about education as a social and public policy issue, which isn't necessarily about any given individual's personal goals.

"But if people only study what they want to study, they won't encounter new things that they don't know will enrich their lives! Degree programs require students to diversify and broaden their horizons!"

Do they? Sure, this happens sometimes (although, again, I think this is really the role of K-12 schooling), but I think the reverse happens even more often: The grading structure of degree programs actively penalizes students for "broadening their horizons" beyond the degree requirements. If you're taking a class for a degree program, but the class itself isn't required for the degree, you have a strong incentive not to take anything challenging that might bring down your GPA. I've dropped classes for that reason, which was an entirely rational choice on my part. If I'd been "learning for its own sake" and "broadening my horizons" outside the context of a graded degree program, I'd be much more likely to stick with a skill I'm mediocre at, and possibly progress at least from low-mediocre to passable. People are more willing to try things they're not good at if there aren't tangible material consequences for "failure."

"Okay but why are you writing such a long post about it? Yeah, we can all tell you've spent too long in school, because you won't shut up."

Because academic credentialism and the conflation of learning and "degree programs" is classist and ableist in both intent and effect. And the more Trump&Co. attack universities and professors and students and experts, the more progressives cling to academic credentialism out of reflexive contrarianism, and start screaming about how "anti-intellectualism" is a real problem we need to be worried about, and gifted kids are marginalized for being too smart, and it can be cool and progressive to insist that everybody but you is just intrinsically stupid, because you're pushing back against "anti-intellectualism"!

Because the cultural movement I hate most -- reclassifying young adults as children -- relies heavily on this framework of postsecondary degree programs as a Developmental Stage for Children in 13th-16th grade, and if you argue that students should actually have some autonomy in their voluntary educations that, not for nothing, they're paying for, people will scream that you're an anti-intellectual who hates learning for its own sake.

Because debates about things like the ethics of students cheating or using genAI or whatever to skip out on schoolwork get mired in endless circular arguments about what the purpose of grades and degrees even is supposed to be, between "Cheating and ChatGPTing your assignments is bad because you won't actually know how to do the skills you're theoretically being certified to do" vs. "A college degree is just a bullshit pointless hoop to jump through to get a bullshit pointless job, so who cares if you're 'really learning'?" vs. "But you're supposed to be learning for its own sake, not just trying to get a grade and a degree! This anti-intellectualism is why Trump won!" and it's all an incredibly pointless argument if there's no consensus on what the purpose of a degree program is or should be, or if people are insisting on conflating degree requirements with "learning for its own sake."

[vegan-peppermint]

Tim "Masky" x doctor!reader

Wc: 1.5k

Genre: plot? Tension? A lot of back story in the beginning if you want to skip it go to this post (same fic without the context).

No gender mentioned and not relevant.

Tw: references of a rough childhood

You should be grateful to your brother, truly. Without him, you'd likely still be stuck in your hometown, working a dead-end job and living in that nightmare of a house. When he turned 18 and ran away, he promised to come back for you as soon as he could. He vowed to take you so far away that the terrible memories of your parents couldn't reach you anymore. You were only 13 at the time and didn't fully grasp the situation—you just felt abandoned.

Thankfully, your brother kept his word. He completed his studies at the police academy, climbed the chain of command, and became a detective—and when the clock struck the first hour of your 18th birthday, he showed up as promised. It was hard, of course; you barely recognized the man who now seemed so distant from the teen you last saw in that same cold living room.

You are grateful.

He covered all your needs and wants, including your education—and medical school is goddamn expensive. Everything you are today is thanks to him.

Recently, he became a Supervisory Special Agent in the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit—a remarkable accomplishment, especially at such a young age. His promotion helped you to secure an internship within the agency. You were still exploring various medical specialties, uncertain about which path to choose. Psychiatry sounded intriguing, but you also considered something more hands-on, like emergency medicine. Truth be told, you felt completely lost, with no clear direction. So, you were thrilled to learn that the internship program would expose you to multiple fields: working directly with deranged individuals brought in by agents, assisting in interrogations alongside psychiatrists, treating life-threatening injuries on agents or criminals alike, and even assessing the capabilities of new recruits. It was the perfect fit for someone at your stage in life and career.

A couple of weeks ago, he brought in two men, suspects in crimes spanning multiple states, with no clear means or motives for their actions. The higher-ups didn't approve of the arrests, arguing that the crimes' circumstances were too unusual and lacked continuity; it was evident that more than two painfully average individuals were involved. But Kevin, your brother truly believed he had a sixth sense about these things. He was convinced they were the culprits.

When he brought them in, he was instructed to keep the operation low-profile. With minimal resources allocated, he had to choose his personnel wisely. That's how you found yourself in the midst of this circus. A third-year med student playing doctor in the underground of a semi-secret government facility. That's how you met them.

Brian and Tim.

Tim is the first one you met, seeing to his severe wounds was urgent. His whole torso was covered in bruises, some older- a deep shade of purple—but mostly bright red. His forearms and knees bore scratches and were actively bleeding. You’d never seen someone in such a dire state, raising immediate concerns about potential internal bleeding.

Despite his alarming condition, Tim exuded an unsettling confidence. He responded to each of your questions with a broad, almost defiant grin and a voice dripping with cloying charm.

His teasing demeanor only got worse with each (more frequent) visit to your office.

“Does this hurt?” you asked, applying gentle pressure to one of his ribs.

“It’d hurt so much more if you’d decided not to touch me, dove,” he said with a low voice.

“It’s important for you to talk with me, Tim,” you rolled your eyes, moving away from his side, his jokes and comments not bothering you in the slightest. He wasn’t a difficult person to work with, just awfully vague and badly hurt. “The sooner we treat you, the sooner you get out of this boring, sterile white office,” you encourage, and Tim hums in response.

An uneasy silence lingered after.

“Get out of here just so Agent Shit-Face can send me right back?” he said.

You didn’t react to his comment. You didn’t want to actually. If you did, you would have to acknowledge what, or rather who, had inflicted all those wounds on him. It’s not easy, but you have to remind yourself he is a murderer. This is a high-security interrogation center.

“I don’t think you broke anything,” you stated. “As far as I can tell, the wounds are superficial, nothing to worry about. I’ll give you some painkillers, nothing too exciting, just some ibuprofen.”

Tim’s eyes followed you as you walked over to one of your cabinets to grab the meds. Back turned to him so you could escape his piercing gaze.

“Who’s he to you?” he asked bluntly.

Perhaps he saw directly through your pretense of indifference towards his previous statement. You wouldn’t be surprised; you always had a very expressive face. Before turning around to face him, you had to repeat to yourself. He was not just a patient; he was a psychopath responsible for countless deaths. He is not vulnerable or a victim- someone you can bond with. He is dangerous.

“If you start coughing blood or have trouble breathing, come straight back here, you hear me?

“Every time you walk by, his eyes linger longer than anyone else’s,” he continued, an almost playful tone lacing his words. “I might have lingered a bit myself, watching you leave the room longer than I shuld've.” His gaze was warm, the corners of his lips turning a shade pinker from an instinctive bite. Nothing about him is threatening, not even the steps he had taken without you noticing, for now he was standing right in front of you.

He maintains some distance between the two of you, giving you a sense of control. He is not genuine; every step is calculated to trick you. The way he pauses, giving you space to react. You should say something, but you can’t find the words as your mind is overburdened with the task of holding a stoic face.

“I need to know,” he whispered as he inched closer, closing the distance.

In the depth of his green eyes, you catch a fleeting reflection of your uncertainty, prompting you to avert your gaze. He lowers his head slowly, following your movement with composure. Only for the soft thud his palms made against the wall did a realization hit you:

He had cornered you.

“I need to know,” he repeats, his voice laced with honey.

You closed your eyes, the mere presence of him overwhelming you. God, was this a mistake, as you now became acutely aware of his breath brushing against your face. You swear you felt his familiar sliding smirk forming in response to your distress.

“Am I flirting with another man’s woman?” he breathes with a teasing challenge.

Before you could even comprehend the weight of the accusation, a loud knock jolted you from your thoughts. Instinctively, you stiffened, frozen in place as if your body had abandoned agency. Only when the door creaked open did you allow yourself to breathe again.

Tim sat casually on the medical bed, his demeanor cheerful and utterly unfazed, as though nothing was amiss. Your brother, Kevin, towered in the doorway, his presence dense with authority.

“What’s taking so long?” Kevin said, his gaze bouncing between you and Tim.

“Sorry,” you replied, releasing a shaky breath. “He’s ready to go.” You let a deliberate pause hang in the air, then added, “Brother.”

No need to look at him to know Tim’s face lit up with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. You don’t know why you did that, what compelled you to let him know Kevin is your brother. No, rather, why were you so desperate to let Tim know you were single?

This is ridiculous; you were so stupid. The warning bells rang loud and clear, yet you completely ignored them. You fell for his charm and traps. Coming clean to Kevin is the right thing to do, surely. Tell him what happened and how you want to be taken off the case. Yes, that would be the safest, most righteous thing to do.

But as Kevin secured Tim’s hands behind his back and guided him by the shoulder, doubt crept in. What would happen if you left? They don’t have the budget or any interest in getting another doctor on base. Tim’s disheveled hair bounced with every movement, revealing red stains splattered on his forehead and neck. You cannot leave; you have to do your job as a doctor!

You tightened your resolve. This time, you’d do better. No more falling for his traps. You were done playing games.

You know better now, for sure.

[scholarinbookland]

I think (in my very naive and limited experience as an actually dedicated music fan to a living artist) that the most important thing to keep in mind as a fan is, “Don’t put words in your artist’s mouth, and don’t assume you know the inner workings of their mind, including their level of professional agency.”

The biggest thing I’ve noticed in K-pop in general and occasionally in certain BTS fan spaces (thankfully not in my experience with Jimin’s individual fan base) is a tendency towards either infantilizing grown adults (especially the men somehow) or assuming they have an absurdly unrealistic amount of power and agency that anyone who’s ever been an employee should not assume exists in any business. Both extremes are putting words in the artists’ mouths.

Instead of creating or passing around narratives in-fandom either positively or negatively discussing their level of agency, fans should instead think critically about the power dynamics at play in their professional lives.

What education level did your favorite star achieve before signing their first contract? Even Western artists who signed with labels before graduating high school have reported being cheated or otherwise exploited. Someone in K-Pop who signed their first contract before graduating high school is more likely to have become inured to unfavorable working conditions than someone who was already attending university when they auditioned or were scouted.

What was their childhood economic level? Someone raised in a lower-income or economically unstable situation is less likely to have access to a lawyer that can help them catch unfavorable terms or unreasonable conditions, and will be more likely to take the first opportunity instead of shopping around.

How much can an artist’s specific company be reasonably expected to invest in their career? Compare your artist to whomever is roughly equal in popularity level within the same company (if debuting groups being funded equally, for example, or perhaps comparing the funding given to each soloist and checking if any differentials are due to expected return on investment). If they’re being promoted over equally popular colleagues, they may have more bargaining power. If the reverse is true, they may have less.

What is the artist’s temperament, judging by how they react in off-stage content and interviews? While they still may be playing their assigned persona offstage, if a generally circumspect or mild-mannered individual lets slip dissatisfaction, take note. Conversely, if someone is known for being assertive and outspoken, trust that they will let their fan base know if something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

How much did the company invest in training/creating/developing the artist? Companies in the music industry run on big egos and greed. Promoting trainees which you discovered, mentored, or provided extra lessons for is an exercise in ego stroking, ensuring loyalty, and potentially having to pay that trainee less for longer. A trainee that needed minimal polishing and/or had skills gained outside of your company doesn’t raise company cachet as much when their star rises.

This is not an exhaustive list of why I find some reports of company mistreatment or benevolence more credible than others, but it’s a good starting point to the reason why I was fairly convinced it’s not all sunshine and roses at HYBE. I’ve watched some deep dives into the way their particular training program works compared to others, some honestly unconvincing justifications for their incompetence regarding spacing out album releases, read some interesting think pieces on the things Jimin values the most (stage performance opportunities, artistic connection of some sort to his material, the ability to practice and refine his efforts until they are perfect, achieving the vision and concept for each project), and those questions among others led me to believe that he is, at the very least, a threat to the justifications for their frankly baffling financial decisions this decade.

I’m neutral regarding initial FACE-era decisions (denial of a visual album, short promotion period, overlapping releases splitting fandom energy) being anything more nefarious and personal than neglect for his debut in favor of accommodating the rap line’s solo projects both financially and scheduling-wise (March and April 2023 had a lot of overlap just for BTS soloists), but the handling post him topping the BB H100 feels like a result of damage control regarding their Western expansion policy. Similarly, MUSE’s handling by Geffen feels more like a combination of retaliation to his fan base for upsetting their plans for Western record-setting the previous year and a devaluation of his financial importance to company investors by releasing it with minimal promotional budget and straddling two financial quarters.

This view allows me to only feel aggrieved by the things confirmed by the artist as not to his satisfaction (he wished he was given more time to prepare for FACE, he would have liked to have a full visual album) without kvetching about what we don’t know to be as meaningful to the artist (chart minutiae, record acknowledgement by the company or band mates). Reframing fan expectations to not dictate how your artist should feel about a situation and instead focus any group efforts on being conducted to show your appreciation for their artistry really improves the motivation of the fan base. It’s also way easier to motivate with love than spite, so I stream and vote because I really enjoy FACE and MUSE, not to beat any other artist or show up the company. But everyone curates their fandom experience differently, so mileage may vary on this philosophy.

[titleknown]

So, context: I'm in the Tucson, Arizona branch of the Democratic Socialists Of America. They need to get this out to more social media sites, and I volunteered my Tumblr. So here we are.

For further context, there's currently a debate in Tucson on what programs and services to cut. There's a lot of things they want to cut that they really shouldn't, including our big Free Mass Transit program.

So, this is to get folks to do the survey (Deadline is Friday, April 11th, 2025) to tell them no, don't do that, just increase the taxes by a bit and cut the cops. So, if you live in Tucson, please take the survey, and if not, please boost this so someone in Tucson might find it.

Full transcript past the break, because it's way too long for an alt-text:

------------

Your Money Matters! City of Tucson is asking YOU what services they should KEEP & what they should SLASH this year. TELL THEM!

This guide is for those who want to engage in collective action with others when filling out the FY2026 Budget Survey for Abolition & Housing Justice!

Don't Wait! The Survey Closes Fri, April 11th (Date changed from Friday, April 8th on the original) at 4:59 PM

Tucson’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Survey:

People should feel free to follow their hearts on the survey. Your voice DOES matter. If you choose to use your voice for collective action, here are some recommendations.

Words and phrases in BOLD are ones we want people to use specifically. 

There are some #hashtags suggested. Feel free to use all or none of them! 

Q1) Choose 8 Priorities:

Affordable Housing

More Firefighters

Fund early education 

Substance Use Help

Homelessness Support

More Shade and Trees

Job Skills Training

More Arts and Culture

Q2) Are there expenses in the City's General Fund that you consider to be wasteful/unnecessary that the Mayor and Council should examine cutting? Limit to 4 sentences.

Example:

#lesspolice #carenotcops 

Nearly 1/3 of the general fund is taken up by police personnel. The current high number of uniformed officers and surveillance technologies like cameras are a waste of city money when many tasks TPD does could be eliminated with a better public safety strategy.

Q3)

Are there city service changes you think would save money and or improve impacts for the community and visitors that the Mayor and Council should consider adjusting?

Example

#replaceTPD #freebuses #CBVI #morehousing

Replacing police services with community-based violence prevention and intervention would be a big improvement. Moving money away from police services upstream towards social services, transit services, & climate resiliency would be more cost effective.

Q4)

What options should the city explore for new or increased dollars to help solve its projected deficit? Number with 1 being your top priority, and 6 being your last priority:

Suggestion:

1) Increase the local per-night-stay Bed surtax

3) Advertising tax

2) Secondary Property Tax

4) 1/4 cent sales tax

5) DO NOT SELECT 

6) DO NOT SELECT 

Transit fare -DO NOT SELECT - do not add a 5th or 6th priority

Please leave transit fare unranked

Q5) What additional Thoughts or comments do you have regarding the City's FY26 budget development? Limited to 4 sentences:

For this question, we wanted to highlight how badly the city manager’s office had bungled the public participation for FY2026. 

Example:

The budget should be participatory

A rubber-stamp public participation program conducted like this, rushed & inaccessible to Spanish speakers, lowers trust in the government

Stop lumping fire service with police

Keep transit free, fund housing & services to unhoused, raise unarmed city worker wages