#Important Topics and Issues

[moyazaika]

hmm

[pseudophan]

i'm so extremely irrationally annoyed by people not knowing what various terms mean and using them incorrectly like i feel like that's such an asshole thing to care about but oh my god stop

[irawhiti]

kia ora! i would like to suggest the coining of a term that would hopefully help a large demographic of mostly-forgotten-about māori to connect with each other and share our experiences to feel less alone, congregate around a concept regardless of country of origin and upbringing, and organise as activists.

i politely ask as many people to spread this as possible to help indigenous people organise with each other and to get the largest amount of interactions possible.

anyway, with all that being said,

i would like to coin the term "ngāti rangiātea" for māori who do not know their iwi to use.

this is based on the well known whakataukī/proverb, "i will never be lost, for i am a seed which was sown from rangiātea." i chose this whakataukī due to the spiritual significance of rangiātea as a place in māori culture, as well as to emphasise that no matter how it feels, we are not lost, we can find ourselves in each other, we can experience strength and self-realisation, and that we will exist with mana and without whakamā as rightful tangata whenua.

i've put my reasoning, personal experiences shaping my viewpoints on the matter, and various statistics under the cut to make this post reblog-friendly and i would suggest fellow māori read it regardless of whether or not they know their iwi. i also ask for the opinions of other māori, ESPECIALLY AND SPECIFICALLY other māori who do not know their iwi. in fact, i politely ask māori to share this with their whānau and people in general to share this with māori they know, especially any they know who do not know their iwi. a wide reach is what i am going for to get the largest amount of voices, critiques, and opinions on the topic and to avoid this from just becoming a very small thing that stays in an online echo-chamber.

to begin, the 2018 aotearoan census shows that, of the 775,836 people identifying as māori in aotearoa, roughly 17% are unable to identify their iwi in the census. this has gone up by 1% since 2006, showing that we are a considerably stable percentage of people. along with this, there are more than 170,000 māori living in australia and, while there are no solid statistics, there are an estimated 8,000 māori living in the UK, 3,500 in the US, 2,500 in canada, and 8,000 in other countries where there's no option for māori or any polynesians on the census.

this number adds up to 967,816 total māori and while there's no census in these countries asking for your iwi, i would go as far as to assume that there's a larger number of diaspora māori who are no longer able to identify their iwi than there are in aotearoa. of course, this is just speculation based on my lived experiences and conversations with other diaspora māori, however even assuming that it's the exact same amount globally, 17%, this is roughly 164,532 māori worldwide who do not know their iwi. nearly one in five māori do not know their iwi.

regardless of the specific statistics, the hard fact here is that there is a large percentage of māori who are unsure of their iwi for whatever reason. it's extremely easy to feel unsure of yourself, lost, disconnected, and uncomfortable speaking on issues regarding te ao māori when you're unsure of your iwi (or your hapū, whānau, waka, or anything else, but there is heavy emphasis on the iwi) and it's very easy for whakamā to take hold, especially when many māori who can recite their whakapapa aren't very polite or understanding about your situation to say the least.

and there are a lot of those people.

unfortunately, i've spoken to many māori who are of the opinion that not knowing your iwi due to colonialism, assimilation, forced disconnection, etc. means that you should not, cannot, call yourself māori. this is a disgusting viewpoint to have and in my opinion it spits on the fundamental concepts of māori culture and worldviews. thankfully this is a small yet vocal group of people, but even so, they add to the collective experience that makes it extremely difficult to navigate a world while full of whakamā and internalised racism. it can feel like there's no space for you, no term you can use, nobody you can relate to, no mana you can claim, nothing. when you cannot recite your whakapapa, it can feel like there's a part of you that's fundamentally missing.

as well as this, even when people mean well, when you are in this situation, you're usually told to just do some genealogy work, do some research, ask your family what they know. sometimes, these steps are simply not possible. other times, we've already done everything suggested over and over and over again. we're generally told "oh, that sucks, but one day you'll find out, keep looking!" in response to our lack of iwi. sure, they mean well, but i have never once been told anything along the lines of "that's okay, some things are lost to time through no fault of your own. don't beat yourself up over something your whānau had to hide to survive, what you do now to uphold your family's mana, what you do know about your whānau, and who you ultimately become is more important than what you no longer know."

and why? why is it seen as shameful to say matter-of-factly that i don't know my iwi? i'm not looking for comfort, i'm not looking to be told that, aww, there there, i'll find it eventually. i'm stating a fact. i do not need pity, i need my mana and voice to be respected.

this concept is what i want to emphasise by coining ngāti rangiātea. some things are lost to time, but we aren't. our loss of knowledge does not mean that we are unworthy of being māori, that we are unworthy of basic human respect. it does not mean that we have lost everything that our whānau knows. it is a scar, a reminder of what colonisation took from us, yes, but we cannot allow it to continue to be an open bleeding wound. we will not be lost to time and we should not bow our heads and act like we do not exist, that we're inconvenient, that we damage the "image" that māori have. in fact, we are an important aspect of māori culture and ignoring our existence does harm to everybody.

and of course we can't speak on some topics regarding te ao māori. this seems to be a topic that comes up frequently as a strawman. yes, there are some topics that would be irresponsible to speak on when we have no experience with them. this doesn't mean we can't speak on anything. having a collective identity, an "iwi" to congregate around even just politically, would help us speak on topics that we are more qualified to speak on than māori with knowledge of their iwi (yes, those topics exist, shockingly.)

we will never be lost, for we are a seed sown in rangiātea.

by identifying as ngāti rangiātea, i wish to emphasise that it's important to accept that sometimes, someone just won't be able to find every piece of information. loss of family knowledge is literally one of the primary goals of forced assimilation! we all went through it as colonised peoples, why must we continue to attach shame to those of us who were forced to obfuscate our history to keep our children alive? it's not a personal flaw, it's not a dirty secret, it's a fact of life that must not continue to be kept quiet out of shame, and the sooner we can focus on healing this subsection of our community, the stronger māori as a whole will become.

so, this is why i'd like to coin a term for māori who are unsure of their iwi. this is what i intend to achieve by giving us a name, our own "iwi" to congregate around, to identify ourselves as. instead of hanging my head and saying "i'm not sure what my iwi is, i'm sorry", instead of feeling inclined to beg like a dog to be treated with respect, i would like to look people in the eye and tell them that i am ngāti rangiātea. i would like this label to be synonymous with strength and not shame, that i refuse to let my whakamā swallow me, that i am just as worthy of calling myself māori as anyone else, that there are many others in my iwi (or lack thereof). i would like other people to have that as well and i would like those like me to feel less lost when all they've been told is "well, you'll learn your iwi eventually!" as if that's going to help someone feel better if they can't find their iwi.

and even if a person finds their iwi eventually, it's absolutely disgraceful that people are treated that they're not allowed to access many basic parts of te ao māori until they discover something they are not even 100% destined to find. i think that this view contributes to a lot of people who eventually find their iwi becoming unnecessarily arrogant towards those who truly cannot find this information, that they're just not putting enough effort in. if a person finds their iwi after identifying as ngāti rangiātea, they are fully welcome to continue to identify as this political label along with the iwi they now know they belong to as i wish for it to be a term that describes your experiences, your upbringing, and your community. you don't suddenly lose your whānau or your lived experience when you discover your whakapapa.

finally, this hopefully goes without saying, but ngāti rangiātea is not meant to function as a real existing iwi does. the term will hopefully be used as a way to identify yourself and other people and organise but i don't expect nor do i want this to be treated like a coordinated iwi. i expect and hope for this to be a decentralised way of identifying and experiencing community to make it easier to organise as a people. think of this the way the terms ngāti kangaru, ngāti rānara, ngāti tūmatauenga etc. are used.

-----

so, the tl;dr is that i feel like coining a name for a phenomenon that nearly one in five of all māori experience in quiet shame, to make it easier for us to congregate and find each other, speak on our experiences, organise as activists, feel less lost, and ultimately give us the ability to regain our mana as a community with shared goals and experiences. i have spoken to many māori who feel this way and my suggestion for this term is ngāti rangiātea, to show homage to the well known whakataukī, "i will never be lost, for i am a seed sown from rangiātea", to give us a community to work with, and to give us an "iwi" to list when asked instead of fumbling for words and feeling whakamā.

i would like to take the emphasis off of constantly looking to the future for what you may or may not even find with this identity. we are not broken, we are not lost, for we are seeds sown in ngāti rangiātea.

tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā tatou katoa, and if you got this far, thank you for reading.

[oidheadh-con-culainn]

sometimes i overshare on here as a form of exposure therapy to make me less afraid of talking about my feelings and my desires bc i spent so long not being able to voice them that i never learned how to do it. and even though this isn't necessarily the best place to be like "hey guys i went to Sex Therapy" it's also like. necessary to say that somewhere given that for a month after i got referred by the gender clinic i was ashamed and embarrassed to admit to mySELF that i even got the referral. so. you know. it's part of the process of unlearning shame and normalising this stuff for myself. sorry for using youse as my therapy. i will continue to do this

[prince-liest]

I’m a sex-repulsed ace, and reading the latest chapter of 666 (as well as your analysis here on Tumblr) made me realize that I have been subconsciously thinking about MY OWN sexuality from an allo perspective? And that it has kinda been messing me up?? Like, ever since I learned that sexual attraction was actually a Thing and that it’s Important To People, I had been carrying around a fear of being deficient in some way and not being able to love to the same extent as allos. (1)

Even though I know logically that’s complete garbage and totally untrue, I felt left out of the loop because people seemed to care strongly about this thing I couldn’t even imagine. Whenever it looked like a relationship might happen I panicked for a reason that I couldn’t understand. But now I’m starting to realize that it’s because I was subconsciously terrified of an ‘ulterior motive’ behind the other person’s reasons for wanting to be with me. (2) That part of the reason they even cared was because of something I don’t experience. So thank you, because this realization just clicked into place while reading your work. The thing is, this way of thinking was just internalized in such a way that I didn’t even realize it was there until literally this week. And I think you’re right; one of the main reasons behind that is because I’ve always consumed media written from an allo perspective. (3) If ace/aros are shown at all, they’re depicted as “lacking” and their character development usually revolves around being “fixed” by the story. When I was ~10 years old my mom sometimes let me watch the Big Bang Theory with her (looking back, maybe not the best decision). Anyways, there was one episode deep into the series where Sheldon (who for the past nineish seasons was probably the closest thing to mainstream ace rep) has sex with his girlfriend for the first time. (4) Afterwards, he says something along the lines of “that was better than I thought it would be”, and it’s presented as a Very Good Thing and a big step in their relationship. I think a lifetime of stuff like that makes it very easy to internalize aphobia and feel like the lesser part of the relationship. Or to feel like the other partner is making a huge sacrifice to be with you. That got wayy too long, sorry. All that was just a lot of words to say that I appreciate you. Take care of yourself!(5)

The portrayal of asexuality that you see in media being almost exclusively as you described is very tedious to me because it presumes that something is inherently lacking in aro/aceness rather than that feeling of "lacking" being something that is induced by societal norms. Actually, one of the things that I find additionally alienating is that fandom spaces specifically have been getting better and better about ace characters - but got damn does fandom not jive with aromanticism. Like, a character doesn't want to fuck? That's becoming a liiiittle more fine, it's 2024, we stan consent. But not shipping someone romantically?? Not so easy, now.

I'm glad that my work has been something that resonated with you in this respect! Alastor cares a lot about his reputation as a demon but is pretty blatantly a person who could not possibly give less of a shit about being "wrong" for not being experiencing romantic or sexual attraction. The explanation Viv gave at one point for his own understanding of himself (that he thinks he's just "waiting for the right woman") actually stuck out to me a lot because it's a very "well, nothing is wrong with me for not feeling anything, it's the world that's failed to produce a suitable person" perspective.

But having that kind of confident perspective of your own rightness in the world is really not often portrayed in media, or even in fandom, which even ten years ago was still in the throes of standardizing "Oh, no! Me, gay? These feelings are so wrong!" style m/m content and is honestly not that far off from essentially that for aro/ace characters.

Anyway, all of that is to say that there's not yet much out there that doesn't frame allo/amatonormative values as the default that "even aro/ace people can (and should want to) achieve," and that it's really fun to write a fic that is unequivocally from the perspective of a character who is aroace and doesn't see it as even remotely a fault in himself. Does he have moments where he's a little confused and trying to process how things fit for him? Absolutely. But he just doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who thinks he owes romance to Vox of all people, hahaha. I've written him trying to conform to allo/amatonormativity more with Mimzy, because I think the social standards of their time could push him into it, but Vox? Absolutely not, he does not respect Vox enough for it to even enter his mind.

And then, on the other hand, writing it from an aroace perspective centers the way that romantic and sexual interest can feel like a betrayal of a good thing. With a character like Alastor, it frames romantic and sexual attraction the same alien way that we usually see aromanticism and asexuality framed as.

In the end, this is just one of a plethora of different experiences that aro/ace people can have, but it's one that I really wanted to see represented more, so I'm very happy to write it. I'm glad that you're enjoying it!

[hyunin]

omg as an aside from my tags on the last post. i briefly worked for a company that wrote letters to political reps on behalf of constituents who couldn't/wouldn't write to them themselves for whatever reason and i know for a fact that letters are WAAAAY more effective at influencing government officials than emails are, and sometimes they're even more effective than calls. emails are better than nothing but a lot of times (especially if they all have the same subject line/content) they will just be considered spam and get deleted without making it to the rep at all. letters are way more likely to make it to them for them to read! they Are more effort but that is a big part of why they're more influential too. so if there's an issue you're passionate about i rly encourage u to write a letter/letters to the people who can do something about it 🙏 there are websites out there where you can write the content of a letter to your rep and they will send it for you but i don't have any on hand atm, but otherwise writing and sending a letter yourself is not as intimidating as it might seem and is a great way to make your voice heard

[wolvebonez]

style experimentation!!! for a story ive been pondering on:) It's very important to me that, if i ever commit to making a comic with this story, that it has a realistic-leaning style. It needs to feel very grounded, but also being simplified into a way that allows distinguishable character designs and is feasibly simple enough for a comic/graphic novel or comic-adjacent format.

I'm more happy with the first, even if the second is a bit more realistic leaning! the first defiantly is cleaner and more distinguishable i think, and has more "personality"(?) than the second, even if the second is in an more dynamic pose. But thats just my thoughts on it so far- if anyone has feedback I'd love to hear it!!!

[darkfictionjude]

Is Nia bipolar? Because is like is she is angry to see Crowny but happy of having them near in that ask 😭😭

No?

Someone having conflicting feelings doesn’t meant they’re bipolar. Being bipolar is much more complex than the pop culture version of it

Its common to feel two ways about someone who you’ve had history with and also can’t be near. Bipolar disorder is characterized by highs and lows, and they don’t happen at the same time. A person can be on a high for a bit and then go on a low. It has nothing to do with people, it has to do with their brain chemistry and whether they are in treatment or not and what kind of medication they’re taking

It’s so weird that sometimes I find myself explaining normal human emotions on here 😭 like I’ve had friends who have irritated the crap out of me and I would not want to be near them but then like a few hours later it would be like nothing happened. It’s called being a teenager

Bipolar disorder is a very serious condition and if a character had it I would have made that very clear and been very diligent in portraying that. It should not be used as a plot device for a relationship between two characters 🫂

[kayetra-spade-queen]

The Problem With Animated Shows Showcasing Toxicity In People (mostly in Indian Shows)

Let me just come out and say it;

Indian Shows by far had the most atrocious showcasing of toxicity and had little to no filter whatsoever, especially when they market those shows to be made for kids.

Word vomit ahead ⬇️

Indian Shows, especially with action-genres are definitely gonna showcase some violence with friendly(?) filter on it.

What many do not realize that a lot of minor actions done by a character or multiple characters, either a protagonist or antagonist or otherwise, they tend to do some quiet violent things themselves that could've made them be charged with assault when it's the real world, but are treated like a gag instead, subconsciously teaching the audience that such actions are fine because the show does not showcase the severity in them.

(If anyone is saying otherwise, just so you know there's a viewers discretion that wasn't there until a lot later. There's this even one kid who tried to recreate Panja Attack on his sibling despite it all).

The characters amplify this because of how they react to such things; they didn't address the situation, or point out that it's wrong, no. Instead, they just laughed it off to keep up the humorous charm (or lack thereof due to the nature of the actions itself).

Here are a few examples of the actions of some things from shows, while isn't showcased as a major thing compared to the actions of the show's antagonists, are actually pretty bad themselves;

1. Chhota Bheem

Ah yes, everyone's oldest and still favorite Indian hero. Based on the second Pandava brother, Bhima, Bheem lives by his namesake to be the strongest of all. He helps others, and protects his home from any danger.

While this show is a favorite to many for years (and honestly, me too), there are some actions of the characters that were barely addressed (at least from what I can see. Though I'm sure there's some people out there pointed this out, but their statements never gained enough attention to make this something people will point out often).

For the first, I'll address Kalia as our first study subject;

First and foremost, he is by far the most abusive character ever in the show, at least by visual senses. I don't include the villains for obvious reasons.

Kalia had 2 lackeys who are arguably (more like objectively) the most useless characters the show had ever made; Dholu and Bholu, a pair of twins.

Kalia had not once, not twice, not thrice either, but several times in the span of this show's 16-17 years long airing.

Sure, you can account because of Kalia's character who is honestly pretty bad, but the fact that the only way they can showcase Kalia's character was through sheer violence and domination towards people is just-

Moving on to the next person, Bheem himself;

Tbh, Bheem (and pretty much everyone in his group) is somewhat of a gray area when it comes to his morality. The thing about him is that he doesn't seem to give two shits when an actual abuse is going on in front of his eyes (i.e Kalia's abuse towards the twins).

And let me just bring up one of the many times he actually harmed animals in the name of "protecting the people", when he was supposed to protect both.

I'm talking about the crocodile in the early episodes of the early seasons. On the get go, he was set on getting rid of the croc from the dried riverbank by any means necessary, but it doesn't seem to include talking to it.

Like- ok, the animals are hostile and shit, but with the fact that animals can talk (*looking at Jaggu and the winged tigers*), I don't see the point of physically beating the shit out of them when they can just talk it out civilly.

"Hey, sorry to bother you, but my people here are having problems, and you kind of scared them. Can you maybe move somewhere else? I can find you a good place if you'd like."

"Oh shit- aight man, no prob, thanks. I'll take my leave now."

So many problems can be avoided if you just do this bro.

This also applies to everyone in Bheem's group; they don't seem to give 2 shits with whatever's going on around them, unless it's actually threatening them.

2. Roll No. 21

This whole show is just the most confusing and stressful, and I'm not even kidding; inconsistent lore, information provided do not seem to align, among other things.

Anyways, the first person on this list is Golu, the resident bully of Mathura Ashram himself.

He was the stereotypical bully you'll find; big and fat, and of course, a bully. And of course, like Kalia's case, he's actually part of the gang, but his overall status is interchangeable depending on the situation.

I know that the teachers are all demons so they won't bat an eye about it (most of the time at least), but the fact there's lack of order in Kris' orphanage department baffles me with how carefree Kanishk is

Second, most of the characters, if not all;

Idk, the fact that those kids will laugh at the most nerve-wracking and gut twisting shits ever kinda baffles me, like they're like a bunch of sadistic pieces of shit that would laugh at anyone experiencing pain and/or humiliation. And aren't they like 12-13?? It's literally not just Kris, it's literally every single character that does this.

I would say I kind of understand where this is coming from; all of the students of the Ashram are victims of Golu's bullying, and because Golu always had instant karma every single time (more like Kris' revenge plots), they would laugh because they feel satisfied because their oppressor had been served with justice (or whatever the hell this is).

But then again, it's kind of cruel regardless from one human being to another, especially kids who are like 12-13 year olds. Like, cutting in line when waiting for shower turns, but got frozen by ice water in return? That's like a bunny outsmarting a wolf but the wolf eventually eats the bunny.

3. Little Singham

The ongoing sensation that is literally on par with India's beloved and one of the longest cartoons in a matter of a few years.

I won't address the obvious here, but I would address the more minor ones, like Montu's bullying and the retaliations of his victims (this includes Ajay);

Again, we're met with the stereotypical bully, big and fat build, domineering. Honestly- they should make more variety of bullies, cuz this is just giving us the big build people a bad look. Make a bully to be a pretty girl, a handsome guy, expand the variety bro, you can't just keep the same theme over and over.

Anyways, Montu had been self-explanatory already. He's a bully who wants to outshine and dominate his way in the game, but gets karma almost immediately, whether it's by the law of nature or the protagonist's intervention.

Now onto the other characters, particularly the victims, and the trio of Mirchi Nagar;

Again, they had this sadistic mindset that they would immediately laugh loudly when Montu got his "karma", regardless how absurd it is.

And let me just say the many and different times and types of how Ajay retaliated against Montu for bullying him and/or his friends. From sticking a fake donkey tail to his butt after making fun of Karate, to asking the animals to mess with him.

In comparison, Ajay is a lot more tamed than Kris' retaliations. And also with the possibility that he may have been a long-standing victim of Montu for a while even prior to his promotion as LS. I have to bring up the fact that Ajay is introverted and shy with only 2 friends at his back. To kids no older than 10 or below, these types of people are considered weird and often an easy target to bullying because of how weak they are perceived whether it's physically or emotionally.

That isn't to say I support what Ajay has done. Yes, I know what he did is mostly classified as self-defense (I think), but it's not really worth going this far.

Well, I suppose I have to blame the teachers for not handling the situation at all (*looking at Ms. Tara because I hate her with a burning passion*), so ig the biggest villain in the civil side of the world are the teachers.

4. Arjun, Prince of Bali

Last but not least. I put APOB at the very last because of how much things is going on in this show even if it was classified as the minor things, especially when the background setting is a kingdom, where societal values and expectations are at its peak. Also because it's easier to talk about for me because I'm hella into royalty shit lol.

Let me just bring 2 people up, Khojo and Sankat;

First and foremost, they're a lot less like bullies, more like raging oppressors. They both had their goals with the requirements of getting rid of Arjun by any means necessary, and I do mean that quite literally.

Position-wise (and moral-wise also), it's honestly utterly unethical of them to try to fight with a godforsaken heir to the throne. I'm not sure if anyone is aware of how the hierarchy system works (which is weird honestly, but hey-), but when the first heir is eliminated, the title of future monarch will be passed down to the next to the throne, in this case which is Tanya.

And for picking fights with one of the members of the royal family is the equivalent of going against the entire nation.

Let me address Khojo first because he's a repeat offender in majority of the cases; he was delusional in an absurd amount. He hated Arjun but liked Tanya. He wanted to eliminate Arjun so badly so he could be prince, in which if you didn't read my previous post about APOB before, I've explained that it can't be possible, unless he wanted to be prince consort and nothing more if he were intending to just be that and marries Tanya. Even so, when Arjun got kidnapped, Khojo won't be prince —not by a long shot at that— he'll still remain as nothing more as the Minister's son. If he marries Tanya, he'll just be prince consort.

And then there's Sankat; Arjun and Tanya's cousin who seemed hellbent on getting rid of Arjun due to his jealousy. Internal conflicts in the royal family shouldn't be made public to keep up an image, usually there's this inner war between family members to determine which will be worthy to ascend to the throne, or bringing the entire kingdom into ruin. I'm not sure if the people are oblivious or just dumb (both most likely), but there are several times where Sankat pushed Arjun aside in favor of himself in front of public, and he wasn't even subtle about it either.

This concludes my ramble. I only mentioned 4 because for 2 reasons;

1. These shows are the ones I'm most aware of

2. Many would recognize this compared to the newer ones lol

Again, I feel like things like these aren't being addressed enough, because people are more inclined to look passed these in favor of holding the things they liked up high in high standards while in the meantime completely disregarding the bigger issues laying underneath the glorified fighting champions.

This entire post isn't made to take down the shows because they're bad; I'm simply trying to address the things that many people seemed to have prefer to ignore. I am by no means trying to take down these shows or trying to treat these shows as something not worth to be watched; it does, it just had a lot of flaws like many cartoons typically do because they're not made to be perfect, they're shows for kids.

But truthfully, because these are cartoons for kids, such behaviors should be properly addressed and handled, treating them like a gag, especially when they had this whole stereotype in place in majority of these shows which creates this subconscious mindset that'll affect how they'll react in situations.

Ok- I think I can FINALLY conclude this essay holy shit-

[skepticalarrie]

Hey there! I was wondering what your thoughts are on the boys public image going forward into the future. Louis public image has obviously changed a lot, at least in my opinion with from beginning of 1D, to bad boy Louis, uninvolved father to father of the year. Harry more open in recent years but still the model dating womanizer, one year relationship guy. Do we think Harry continues that way? Or as he gets older will there be a push for him to “settle down” as well or just continue like this?

Oh, but that’s so hard to predict, anon. It really depends on their professional goals and what they want moving forward. Maybe what we can discuss is what the fanbase wants from them and how other artists are shaping their PR strategies.

This might seem unrelated, but I’m very into trend forecasting and study it a lot for marketing strategies in my job. So we can easily draw parallels between brands and artists in the entertainment industry. Right now, there’s a huge desire for authenticity, truth, and honesty—mostly driven by issues like mental health, social media, and politics. Basically, people just want to connect with others who share their beliefs and who can genuinely represent them on a deeper level. So, any kind of interaction or action that feels insincere, surface-level, or disconnected from the public tends to be dismissed and forgotten. Which is what I assume most artists are focusing on currently.

With that in mind, I think Louis has really found a way to connect with his fans by leaning into his "Father of the Year" persona and going back to his roots in this new era. I’ve touched on this before, but I think it was a significant rebrand. Making his family and backstory central to his public persona helps fans feel like they truly know him, not just "stage Louis." His album and tour were very successful, and I think he’s in a great place right now. IMO this is the path he’ll stick to for the next few years, at least.

As for Harry, I’m going to guess he’s probably recalibrating right now?! At least, I hope he is! He’s a mainstream artist, and his public image needs to be managed on a bigger scale. The whole Holivia situation and the Grammys put him in a bit of hot waters, and his public image wasn’t at its best during that time. So, I expect some rebranding and new strategies (hopefully) for HS4. People aren’t really buying the old PR relationships and "fuck boy" image that Harry has leaned on since his 1D days. It used to generate a lot of attention and fuel female fantasies, but it’s not being received the same way anymore. He came dangerously close to being seriously canceled with Holivia. So, I think he needs to pivot in a different direction, I assume a lot of artists with similar strategies as him are also in a similar situation and this concern has been a discussion in his fanbase for a while now. It’s tricky because being a womanizer has always been part of his public persona and used to his advantage for promo. Honestly, I don’t think he’ll completely drop that (maybe ever) because there’s still some appeal to it, but being too mysterious or ambiguous about certain things has an expiration date. Rumors and controversy sell, but they can also get you canceled—it’s a pretty dangerous line to walk these days. So, I think he’ll need to start balancing things out carefully.

[radicalcoffeeclub]

I feel like I should feel bad for this but I literally dont its annoying when people send you like minutes long reels about their niche interests and they send you a bunch of them every day like yeah i appreciate people thinking of me and sharing stuff and its cool to see it but im not spending half an hour watching reels someone sent me thats just not happening. Like why does scrolling reels on ur own feel fun but watching what someone else sent you feels like a chore when theres 20 videos to watch thru. Im not watching them all start to finish

[soundleer]

Please don't hate me for this but am I the only one who ships Brud and Sky before their the creator announced their real ages like I taught Brud was like the same age as sky (I used to headcanon they were both 12 years old) but after knowing the real age I quickly abandoned that ship and sees them as big brother and younger brother

i know people will find this very controversial so let me just articulate what i think about this the best i can

i personally didn't ship them even before their ages were confirmed so i can't really agree at the same level as you but i can see the vision of them initially thought to be around the same age range!

ill assure you, the headcanon you originally had at the time there was no confirmed ages were valid. you did say you immediately dropped the ship once their ages were officially revealed and see their dynamic differently nowadays which was the right call to make.

it's not problematic to have that headcanon especially at the time the ages weren't confirmed. it's only problematic if you continued shipping them even after the canon age reveal which i know is not the case for you so you're fine!!

[boopboopbitch]

I'm down for genderbending Sophie. Hell give us lesbian Eloise. But Michael Sterling?? The entire point of that book is based on his male privilege. Then there is Francesca wanting a child leading her to go back on the marriage mart. Despite her reluctance because she LOVED John. You literally see her torn because she feels like she is cheating on her dead husband. We won't get her and violet bonding over the loss of her beloved husband now because she never loved him in the first place! We wont get her crying because the baby was the last piece of john she had AND the keys to the earldom. We won't get the marriage of convenience that came from Michael becoming the earl because women can't inherit. Despite frannie being far more competent at the job than michael. Which was something that was both acknowledged and celebrated in the books! We wont get frannie reading michael to filth for taking advantage of his male privilege and ditching when shit gets hard.

This was like the one DECENT bridgerton book. The one with fleshed out characters and a form of complexity.

Why destroy this plot when you had ELOISE RIGHT FUCKING THERE.

Her book is terrible and very outdated ALONG WITH BENEDICTS!!!!! Those books needed a makeover NOT THE ONE ABOUT GRIEVING YOUR DEAD HUSBAND AND INFERTITLY.

Not the one discussing important topics women go through AND RESONATE WITH. What the fuck.

This was a misfire.

[twobellsilence]

I thought blazed posts were served by region bc I kept getting ones from a Peruvian game bar's page. But apparently not because now my dash is chock full of USAmerican politic blazed posts and I'm so tired for the love of christ i just want one (1) day on this earth where i dont have to hear about that hellhole please give me my Peruvian game bar posts back

[fungi-maestro]

Internet mutual thrice removed: did you hear about the newest person with bizarre/disgusting/repulsive beliefs & behaviors that we just found in a weird corner of the internet and are dragging around publically where no one has heard of them and no one wants to see that shit? You have to have an opinion on this btw.

People in real life: did you hear it's going to be in the 50s next week?

[olysmile]

𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐥𝐩𝐡𝐚 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝

I cannot process how damaged children are nowadays.... Seriously what is this? Acting mature for their age? Having their faces stuck on an iPad screen 24/7? Ten-year-old girls doing skincare and stealing products from Sephora and other shops? Having sexual intercourse with each other, or even watching this kind of TV shows??? And the most important out of all: Why are the parents ok with all that?

I seriously can’t understand how things work for kids these days. Ok, I’ll admit that my “for you” page on tik tok is full of skincare tips etc. With that feed, it happens all the time to see a video of a mother who is doing her five year old’s skincare routine, or another mother who lets the child use her makeup products so she can go to a birthday party. Many people are going to come at me now and say: “You are overreacting, it’s just a kid” Well THAT’S THE ISSUE! She is a kid.If she starts doing this stuff now, what will she do in the future? A breast job or a nose job when she turns 13? As a mother, you should know better that this is a bad influence. And the worst thing is that you don't let your kids use them just to play inside the house. YOU LET THEM PUT ON MAKEUP FOR SCHOOL!

The saddest thing about makeup products is that they don't have any age restriction, so many kids think that it is normal to use them and try them out from a young age, especially since cosmetic brands like Drunk Elephant, Tower 28 and Rare Beauty will have products that go viral on TikTok. Each kid can scroll through their tik tok (wich I believe is something also insane) and they will find something that 'suits' them and is 'ideal' for them. Some mothers do not allow their children to buy these products, and this is the main reason they end up misbehaving and stealing products from Sephora. I don't know why they chose Sephora specifically, but I am sure that this is not the main concern we have right now.

The other issue that we have with kids and their parents (mostly the generation Z parents) is the TV shows they are watching. Most of the time, parents don't pay any attention. When children have access to endless information on the internet, they can end up finding an animated show and might think: "Wow this seems cool! I will watch it" And the parents see that their kid is watching the show and they think:"Ok it is just an animated show" OH REALLY? Shouldn't you check the age restriction before you decide that? You have no idea how many kids have watched shows such as Hazbin Hotel, Helluva Boss, Arcane, Rick and Morty, and also many Anime at the age of 9.

I am mentioning specifically the age of 9 because of the incident at the Galaxycon. For those who don't know what i am talking about, there was a q&a event with the hazbin hotel cast at this con and a nine year old was asking the voice actor Blake Roman, whether it was uncomfortable for him to record the sex tape scene in episode 1.... All the voice actors where in shock. I do not have the full video only, but i can show you what happened and the opinion @_crow.lex_ has expressed about this on his tik tok account:

We can all agree with the fact that one of the main roots of a child's development and behavior comes from the parents and the environment that they grow up in. So this is a call for all the parents reading this: Please pay attention to what your children watches or researches on the Internet, or even set a screen time limit for them. In addition, explain them that some things are not appropriate for them and they will not become 'mature' if they start getting into these right now.