#FUTURE OF INTERNET OF THINGS

[hinamie]

green

[raavenb2619]

I’m not sure when exactly this happened, but I think it’s clear that the aro community really is a community, now.

For the longest time I’ve felt like we were still in stasis, not quite there; a proto-community, yes, but not quite a community. But we have more history now to lean back on, more of each other to talk to and laugh with and cry with and learn from. More people that’ll go forward and make a part of modern aro history. More people that believe us, believe in us, will stand with us if we ask them.

I wouldn’t consider myself an aro elder yet, though each year I’m surprised at how long aromanticism has been a part of my life, how long I’ve been free of doubt or insecurity about my aromanticism, how far we’ve come since I was questioning. Then again, when I was questioning, some of the people I looked up to for guidance were probably close to the age I am now, so I might be there sooner than I think.

And, I’m so so hopeful for all aros, young or old, new or not, because we’ve come so far. Day by day, progress is slow (and yes, it’s unfair, it should be so much faster), but looking back it feels fast. We are our own role models, the people we look up to for guidance. We carve our own path through life, making things up as we go. I used to find that terrifying, because I had no idea what the future would bring. But it’s actually amazing, because I can ignore all these silly “rules” and guidelines about what my life should be, and instead ask, “what do I want my life to be?”

Younger me, you have no idea how awesome your future is gonna be. I’m sorry about the pain and hardship you’ll go through first; it won’t be fair and you shouldn’t have to deal with it. But you’ll make it through, and one day you’ll be me. I can’t wait for you to get here.

[canisalbus]

heyyy!

newly discovered furry here, and just wanted to say that your Machete (I think that’s what they’re called?) has inspired me so much, xD

have a great night/day :D

Oh hi! I'm glad you like him! I hope you have a great night/day as well ´v`

[scatterbrainedbot]

the trouble with being the one who survives is you must keep on doing it

inspired directly by @onionninjasstuff 's heart wrenching comic of Future Donnie's death (read it!!)

[chomfoolery]

today i came out to my mom as trans. i put it off for years because i didn’t think the conversation would ever go down okay. much to my surprise, it went well! this feels surreal, i'm so so happy!! i say this all to say, it gets better! i know things suck majorly right now but please know that it gets better!! hold on to joy where you can find it, youll be ok! things will be rough but please hold on and know things can get better :) <3

[r0semultiverse]

Small indie artists in need of support for moving out by September!

💜 These lovely folks [@QuinsCurse (they/them) & @sswitchblade03 (xe/xem and he/him)] are part of a small queer-owned Youtube community I'm in. 💖

💖 If you could lend a helping hand by reblogging & queueing this post up until the start of September, I'd greatly appreciate it & I'm sure these fine folks would too! 💜

⚠️ Do not tag as d*nations or anything like that! ⚠️

"Hi everyone! Requests are officially closed as I am opening emergency commissions! Please consider supporting me as we are getting kicked out and have managed to find a place that’s affordable but need to save up 5k by the end of the month! Anything helps! I also have a dontations page if you are willing to help do that! All the money received from commissions will be going to the deposit! https://ko-fi.com/quinscurse/commissions https://ko-fi.com/quinscurse/goal?g=32"

⚠️ Do not tag as d*nations or anything like that! ⚠️

"https://ko-fi.com/sswitchblade03/commissions https://ko-fi.com/sswitchblade03/goal?g=0 EMERGENCY COMMISSIONS!! My roommate ‪@QuinsCurse‬and I are needing about $5000CAD for a down payment on a new place as we need to be out of our current place by September! Every bit counts! My goal is to be set to $3000CAD. I will draw anything (coloured and rendered) for $5 CAD each! If you are willing to give more it will be appreciated. Examples of my work below!"

⚠️ Do not tag as d*nations or anything like that! ⚠️

[wishchip106]

i wonder how long it took for charles to get out of his habits and depression after dofp

putting my problems on charles lmao

charles not wanting to change but knowing he needs too because nothing beneficial will come out of staying in his sad little bubble of alcohol and the serum.

i find it kind of unrealistic to just be able to get out of that hole. he would be going through two different types of withdrawal and his ex kinda broke his heart again

the main reason he got out of the house was because logan told him about the future and that his sister was going to be tortured and experimented on

he would also have to get re-used to not using his legs AND telepathy

bro stronger than me damn

i feel like mental health was also definitely not treated the same way it is now compared to the 70s so he pretty much just has hank as a support beam

change is an incredibly difficult thing so i bet it took at least a few years for charles to heal from all those years of drinking and taking too high a dose of the serum and depression. even then he still clearly has some lingering habits as we can see in dark pheonix he resorts to drinking whenever he struggles with something (and this is 20 years after dofp)

this guy crazy forreal

[steddiehyperfixation]

how to stay with you (steddie ficlet)

written for @steddieangstyaugust day 29: future, and also inspired by this post i saw ages ago

1474 words | rated t | cw: unhappy ending

When Steve and Eddie first got together, they had been young and in love and that’s all that had mattered. At 19 and 20 the realities of the future seemed so far away, so caught up in each other in each present moment that it almost felt like they would never grow up, like time would never pass and they would never have anything to worry about. Conversations of ‘what ifs’ and potential issues were brushed aside, anything that wasn’t an immediate problem dismissed with a kiss and a carefree “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” There was no need for premature concern when surely nothing would ever be so big as to come between them. Because they were it for each other, weren’t they? They were forever, and forever seemed so easy when forever was young.

But the time did pass and they did grow up, and now the bridges they thought they’d never come to are looming before them, fast approaching.

At 25 and 26, they sit at the dinner table in the one-bedroom apartment they’ve lived in for years and Eddie tells Steve about the life-changing phone call he just received. The Hollywood music producer he’s been in sporadic contact with finally wants to finalize a plan and work with Eddie’s band officially, and Eddie is so excited he’s practically vibrating as he rambles to Steve about the album he’ll make and the tours he might go on and how they’re gonna have to start looking for places in LA soon because they have to be local and the producer wants to get started on this by the end of next month. He expects Steve to be excited too, to match his grin and maybe hold hands and bounce around the kitchen with him, but his boyfriend’s expression only falls further and further into a frown with every word Eddie speaks.

“Eddie-” Steve interrupts him, his voice far too serious. “I don’t want to move to LA.”

Eddie’s buzzing energy freezes, stopping short. “What?”

Steve repeats, “I don’t want to move to LA.”

“But-” Eddie frowns. “I was always going to move to LA, that was always my plan. You knew that.”

“Yeah, I-I know. But we always said we’d just cross that bridge when we came to it.”

“Well, we’re coming to it now. So, why don’t you want to move?”

“I don’t want to uproot our life here. And I don’t want to end up having to wait around in a strange city while you’re off on tours all the time.”

“You wouldn’t, you’d come with me.”

Steve shakes his head. “I can’t live like that. And what about when we have kids? That’s no way to-”

“Wait, Steve-” It’s Eddie’s turn to interrupt, all trace of his previous excitement gone, having dropped like a stone into his gut instead. “I don’t want kids. Like, ever.”

Something fractures in Steve’s eyes as he stares at him, almost hurt. “What? Why did you never say anything? You knew- I’ve always wanted kids, Eddie, you’ve always known that.”

“Yeah, I know, I just-” Eddie’s mouth feels too dry and his tongue too heavy as he wets his lips and shrugs guiltily. “I mean, we always said we’d just cr-”

“-cross that bridge when we came to it, yeah,” Steve sighs, a dejected sort of exhale that slouches in his shoulder as if the full weight of this conversation has suddenly settled upon them.

Eddie feels it too, feels them sinking somewhere they can’t come back from. “Is that, uh- is that a dealbreaker for you?”

“Kind of, yeah,” Steve admits, and he looks at Eddie like it devastates him to do so, emotion swimming in his eyes and straining his voice. “Is me not wanting to move to LA a dealbreaker for you?”

Eddie swallows thickly. “Kind of, yeah.”

“Would you ever change your mind?” Steve asks, a last ditch hope. “About kids, or any of it?”

“No,” Eddie says; though he hates to watch the last of the light drain from Steve’s face, he can’t lie to him. “Would you?”

“No,” Steve answers in a barely managed whisper.

Eddie takes a deep breath, and it shakes. His vision blurs. He says, “Then this isn’t going to work, is it?”

Steve stares at him with glassy eyes, like he’s watching Eddie become a ghost right in front of him. His voice breaks as he speaks, “You mean we’re not going to work.”

“Yeah…” Eddie confirms, and it shatters his heart. “I’m so sorry, Stevie.” He reaches for Steve’s hands across the table. “I love you more than anything, I really do, but I won’t give up on my dream, and I can’t ask you to give up on yours either.”

“No you’re right.” Steve breath shudders. His eyes fall to their joined hands and he blinks rapidly, the way he does when he’s trying hard not to cry. He squeezes Eddie’s hands tight, desperate for something to hold on to even as he agrees, “We want different things, incompatible things. I don’t want to hold you back.”

“Exactly…I don’t want to hold you back,” Eddie echoes in barely more than a whisper, afraid if he tries to speak any louder he’ll break into tears.

Steve does break then, a sob escaping from his throat as if it’d clawed its way free, tears spilling from his eyes. Such a cry activates an instinct in Eddie that sends him leaping to his feet and pulling Steve into a hug within seconds.

“I’m so sorry,” he says again. His chest aches and he really wishes this wasn’t happening, hates that he knows that it has to.

“Me too,” Steve manages, head buried in Eddie’s shoulder. There’s no bitterness in it, only heavy acceptance. He knows it too.

They both know there’s no solving this, no compromise they could find that wouldn’t inevitably fester into resentment and regret. Because Steve wants to settle down and Eddie wants to fly - but Eddie isn’t built for the ground, nor is Steve for the sky, and there’s no common place left between them where they could both survive. It’s over.

So they mourn together while they still have each other to take comfort in, clinging tight to what they’re losing, just one last time. Eddie's crying now too, his tears streaming silently down his cheeks in counterbalance to Steve’s sniffly mumbling.

“I don't want to lose you,” Steve mutters. “Are you sure? Are you sure?”

And Eddie cries quietly into the crook of his neck that he doesn't want to lose him either, and he's sorry, so sorry.

When the worst of their sobs subside, they reach the bargaining stage of their grief, and they pull apart just enough to talk properly while still holding onto each other. Eddie swears he'll keep in touch, says he still wants to be a part of Steve's life. Steve makes him promise to send him postcards of all the amazing places he'll go to on tours and to invite him to shows whenever he's nearby. Eddie tells him to invite him to the wedding when - when, he emphasizes as Steve starts to shake his head - Steve falls in love again and finds someone who can give him the life he wants.

At that, Steve sniffles out a laugh, wet and humorless. “That would be cruel,” he says.

“I never said I’d actually show up,” Eddie clarifies, giving an equally complicated smile and bringing a hand up to cup his cheek. “I just want to know. I want to know that you're happy, even if it can't be with me.”

Steve closes his eyes - another tear or two leaks out - and turns his face into Eddie's hand. In a whisper, he agrees, “Okay.”

They decide it would be best for Eddie to leave as soon as possible. Since they've already concluded they won't last, there's no reason for them to stay in the same apartment even just one more night. It would only hurt more in the end.

With a sort of dissociated detachment, Eddie packs up his things, separating his life from Steve’s one piece of clothing and decorations at a time. It's all he can do not to start crying again.

As Eddie turns to leave for the last time, Steve grabs his arm, impulsive, desperate, and begs him for one more kiss. So Eddie turns around and indulges him. He tastes the salt of their tears on their lips, clutching at Steve's waist and tangling a hand in his hair as they both kiss each other like they know they never will again. Eddie savors every bitter taste, memorizes every sweet feeling.

And then they’re out of time and Eddie's out the door, his whole future ahead of him and his heart cracked right in half.

[greenerteacups]

Hey GT! Totally fine if you ignore this, and I apologize if you get asks like this a lot as I'm sure they can be irksome, but I was wondering if you'll ever feel comfortable revealing anything about yourself? Even if you keep it vague, I'm just so curious about where you're from (I think you have said you're in the US lol) your age and things like that. I know there are certain things we'll never know and I think that's completely fine, just wondering if you think you'll ever tell us any small, even vague, details x

Oh, sure! For starters, I'm a vampire but my teeth are straight and white. I have pale white skin. I'm also a witch, and I go to a magic school called Hogwarts in England where I'm in the seventh year (I'm seventeen). I'm a goth (in case you couldn't tell) and I wear mostly black. I love Hot Topic and I buy all my clothes from there. For example today I was wearing a black corset with matching lace around it and a black leather miniskirt, pink fishnets and black combat boots. I was wearing black lipstick, white foundation, black eyeliner and red eye shadow. I was walking outside Hogwarts. It was snowing and raining so there was no sun, which I was very happy about. A lot of preps stared at me. I put up my middle finger at them.

[thegreatyin]

so i made it to berlin.

[fierykitten2]

Funny thing I realised earlier: the UK elections this year happened on America’s fireworks day (independence day) and the US elections this year are happening on Britain’s fireworks day (Guy Fawkes day)

[jmdbjk]

And another thing...

Korean news media hyping how BTS has continued to release content with no gap even while enlisted in the military.

Yonhap News.

KBS News.

"Is this BTS' military service?" astounded, like... what kind of military service is this where the members are still active while they are enlisted??

They've even coined a new term to describe it: Rubber Shoe Content.

Apparently this sort of thing has not been done before, at least not to this extent, when an idol group is on break fulfilling their military obligation and release things for the fans while they are away.

"They are creating a new activity model to fill the gap with so-called 'rubber shoe content' for fans waiting for BTS, from music videos and entertainment documentary films to offline events."

The planning that had to have occurred and length of time it took for all of this to be produced... BTS and their staff, along with their agency BigHit and the resources available to them via Hybe, were able to carry out this extensive effort so that we would continually have things to look forward to while they are away. They worked hard before enlisting for us.

And we know more is coming! Wait until K-news sees Jimin and Jungkook doing MMA in their sleep!!

[asgardian--angels]

things I wish I could relive for the first time again:

that magical window where you finish a new piece of media, having watched/read it all by yourself with no fandom contact whatsoever, and you are just so happy about it, and full of interesting theories and takeaways, and just in love with it as a gorgeous piece of art.

because I swear to god as soon as you join the fandom for anything, you're bombarded with how you're supposed to view characters and their arcs, how you're supposed to morally and ethically judge the plot and the ways it apparently failed to present the right message, and if you don't you'll either be shunned for not sharing the popular headcanons or you'll be harassed for not criticizing the source material enough.

like how is it that the fans of a piece of media are also the ones being the most negative about it? If I like a show or a movie or a book, well, I liked it. That's kind of the point. I'm actually not here to tear it apart and talk about how it didn't live up to standards other people had! I enjoyed it for what it was, and forcing myself to find negative things to say about it doesn't actually bring me more enjoyment of it or reap any benefit to me. Fandom's a double-edged sword; you want to join a community to share your love for a piece of art, and the price you pay for a modicum of joy is a mountain of negativity. that's one main reason that I never engage with fandom until I'm completely done with a show, because if I was plugged into all of that commentary and discourse during the process, I'd be completely colored by how I'm expected to interpret everything this piece of art is presenting to me without being able to even form my own opinions.

[myfanfic-urfantrash]

Wriothesley: dairy in the front, bakery in the back.

[souridealist]

my wife and I went on an extensive spiral about Young Justice (tv) characters and their music opinions

SEASON ONE TEAM:

Kaldur is fucking hilarious because the music he found as a teenager is heavily Atlantean and surface music with a similar vibe to Atlantean, so a lot of new age Enya-type stuff... but his nostalgia music, the stuff he grew up with, is his dad's classic West Coast rap. He is fucking banned from the aux unless he swears off Shuffle All because otherwise you will cut from Orinoco Flow to Machine Gun Funk.

M'gann could not possibly be more obviously a Swiftie (not the kind who starts weird shit on Twitter, though, she has superheroics to do). In later seasons she starts picking up a lot of critical-darling pop too, huge Carly Rae Jepsen fan. Every few months she has, like, three days of blasting Riot Grrl.

Artemis's favorite artist is Kesha but it really takes the Kesha revival for her to admit this about herself. (One time she walked in on Wally singing along to Tik Tok full-throated and word-perfect and she had to go scream into a pillow about how much she hated that she liked everything happening there.) Other than that she's very into the Billie Eilish, Phoebe Bridgers type sad art pop.

Also both Artemis and Jade grew up listening to Sportsmaster's dad rock, with Sportsmaster very much being the "why are you even talking about how some of these guys were creeps and assholes. this is not a nuanced separate-art-from-artist position, why do you CARE, who CARES" type. Artemis finds out that Bruce Springsteen has in fact been a real one since the 70s and it feels like the entire universe flipping her dad the double bird.

Wally listens to white boy rap. You know it to be true. This man has too much Eminem. He is less embarrassed than Artemis about liking Kesha but still kinda embarrassed about how much he likes Kesha; they kinda go on that journey together. He's not so into Artemis's artsy stuff but he picks up some of their cheerier/more fun numbers, like he likes "Bad Guy.'

Connor honestly just listens to whatever's on. Like, he likes having music but he genuinely truly does not care what it is, he just likes filling up the silence. Results in him mostly sharing M'gann's taste just because that's what he gets the most exposure to; after he and Superman are on better turns he starts picking up Pa Kent's outlaw country too.

Dick is always going to be a performer at heart; at the end of the day his priority is that he wants something you can move to. His iPod tends toward the kind of thing that has 37 genre labels stuck on it at once but one of the labels is usually R&B or neo-soul or something like that. Likes energetic or dreamy stuff; music isn't where he goes for emotional catharsis, his angst soundtrack is silence.

Zatanna likes all the bands that were doing steampunk burlesque aesthetic music videos in the early 2010s, although they do lose points with her if they take themselves too seriously. Never, ever, ever going to outgrow her love for A Fever You Can't Sweat Out.

Rocket I have to admit I do not have a great read on; we're not done with s4 so I'm hoping she gets enough screen time for me to get a better sense of her? I am however quite sure that she grabs M'gann by both hands and is like M'gann. Honey. Sweetheart. Let me give you Beyonce 101. You need to know.

Roy-later-Will Harper is the exact kind of guy who talks enormous amounts of shit about Linkin Park because at some deeply repressed level of his soul he knows that he is exactly one different turn in his life away from being really, really into Linkin Park.

This is confirmed when original Roy | Arsenal comes back and gets really, really into Linkin Park. (In fairness to him, he's having fun with it.)

[thecircularsystem]

The Future Is... What?

[ID:

Picture One: A comic page. Panel one states, in a glowing yellow text, "I don't want my future to be plural." Panel two has images of tumblr screenshots overlayed over top of one another and states, "I see these posts from people in the tags, and I'll admit..." Panel three shows Circular at their computer, looking concerned. The text says, "It worries me." Panel four shows Circular walking and states, "In my daily life, I'm a teacher. This year, I am using the correct pronouns, depending on whoever is fronting. The kids... they're good about it, for the most part." Panel five and six feature a mirrored school hallway, with the mirrored side of the image being distorted, with everyone watching the perspective character. The text is split between the panels, saying: "I have to wonder what it would be like... if they all knew the truth."

Picture Two: A comic page. Panel one shows Circular saying, "This is, obviously, my own fears." Panel two shows a series of repeating creepy eyes, overlayed on one another, and states, "The idea of all these eyes on me..." Panel three shows Circular saying, "It's clear this isn't a common fear, for plurals." Panel four says, "But I'm not plural. I'm a system." Panel five features the header image for Circular's blog, a glowing green maze with puzzle pieces in the middle, with lines tracing through to try to find the center. It states, "I am a system of puzzle pieces, and we are trying infinitely to find our place, together. My disorder is not my plurality. My disorder is trauma responses and how they prevent me from functioning." Panel six, now featuring white text, states, "But the discussions about pluralphobia and how it affects me have been forced on my non-plural shoulders... and so, I decided to finally, finally test the waters. And, remarkbly... nothing has changed."

/End ID]

Alright. Now that I'm done pretending to be an artist...

Like the comic said, I tested the waters.

I told people at work that I'm a DID system.

There's about 4 people who know now? It was five, but one quit, so... I had a nice, long conversation with three of them during a social hour over drinks, and a shorter conversation with another coworker -- only I can't quite remember if that truly happened, or was just a nightmare I had. Regardless.

I told my coworkers. And nothing at all changed about my experiences. Well, no, that's not true -- I made my one coworker realize that she likely has DP/DR and encouraged her to look into that and get some help with it. But beyond that?

The most that happened was a single instance of a coworker using the current fronter's name.

Nothing else has changed. And I honestly don’t want it to. Work is a refuge away from my personal life; why would I want them to know who I am personally? I much prefer just being referred to by my last name.

So why do I still feel like I do not want my future to be plural? Isn't it nice to be accepted? Isn't it nice to be who I am?

I wrote all of this out some time ago, and in those notes, I wrote: if the future really is plural... Where do I belong? I would belong under the watching eyes of people who know about plurality, but… do they know I’m not plural? Does this plural future include one where I can be visibly not plural, even when I fit the definition?

I don’t think it does. Not from the discourse side of things, anyways.

In a future that is plural, I can't hide. And as a DID system, being hidden is safe, for me. I'm not saying I want to hide my plurality -- that's not even the issue here. I’m out, I’m proud, whatever — It's that I am not plural. And I don't want people to look at me and suddenly be confronted with... not what they expected.

I have not told my administration about my disorder. It is not because I know I cannot be plural with them. I know they would accept me changing my name when I change fronters. I know they would accept my change of pronouns -- they literally already have.

It's that it is unsafe. Not because of "pluralphobia" -- but because of my trauma.

In my home, growing up, I could not share myself. I could not let myself known. Somewhere around 2 and 3 years ago, I finally let myself be known. I let my parents see me for who I truly was, and now, the only family I have left is the one I built around me. Being myself is unsafe, the laws my brain has written say. Hide who you are, every aspect of it, or else things will come crashing down.

This isn't pluralphobia; this is trauma. Covering it with a different name doesn't negate the basis it has is not in my plurality. The basis is the trauma I have experienced. And that is what I hide.

It isn't safe for me to be too disordered at work. I have to be able to manage. If I can't manage, then... I'm unsafe. I'm incapable. I'm unworthy. Those are the messages I've grown up with, the ones I internalized, and what I'm working with my therapist with.

I don't want my future to be plural, because I'm not plural. I'm a traumatized individual who looks like plurality, but with a lot of added bullshit on top of it.

I am not on the train of the anti-endos, calling that endogenic systems are suggesting we traumatize children. Equally, I am not on the train of the pro-endos, calling that this phrase clearly was meant as a suggestion to raise awareness of plurality.

This was a slogan. A damn good one, or at least, good in that it did it's job. It was written with clear intention to shake things up. And I can hear the arguments now -- isn't it good to shake up the bigots? Except that we like to forget that the supposed bigots are largely traumatized individuals making bad choices. Nothing more. Nothing less. Pluralphobia is not the actions of a hate group. It's the actions of troubled young adults on the internet -- or even teenagers -- and does not have ramifications on a systemic level.

What happened to, 'If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all'? Did we all suddenly agree to obey the letter of that law and not the spirit? Suddenly, if someone uses a label, they deserve what happens to them? Because that's the message being presented. All anti-endos deserve isolation and the abandonment of everyone who loves them, right?

What about me, who fears abandonment and isolation? What about me, someone who is currently being told that, really, these fears are internalized pluralphobia, despite the fact that I'm okay with the plural part, it's the internalized ableism that's the problem, and the systemic issues surrounding my trauma.

Does speaking out against that make me anti-endo "enough" to deserve abandonment and isolation?

The idea of plural acceptance is a good one for plurals. Those who want to be seen; want to be known.

But this does not speak for me. It doesn't speak for the scared teenagers on Tumblr who are still being abused. It doesn't speak for those of us who are still struggling with the shame of being traumatized, each and every day, against our own wills.

It doesn't speak for those who aren't plural.

By all means; I hope the future is good for all plurals. I hope awareness is there when it's needed. I hope we all get the love we need, and that people stop purposefully misinterpreting or slinging hate.

I hope that your future is plural.

I just hope mine isn't.

I hope my future is my fiance. I hope my future is my family. I hope my future is teaching.

I hope our future lets us be who we are.