#hashtag old people are concerned for me

[darkstarofchaos]

I really appreciate your post about Megatron’s redemption in ES being a massive weak spot of the show. It really helped put into words the way I felt about it, especially the part where you said he was written to be a good person with his dark past not mattering, because that really had been bugging me, but I couldn’t find the words to explain what felt off about him lol

You're very welcome!

To be honest, Megatron being "redeemed" was one of the reasons I almost didn't watch EarthSpark. I was afraid they were just going to make him a generic good guy. And while I ultimately don't dislike him, his history doesn't inform his character at all.

Like. We're told he wasn't a very kind or caring person, but we only see him being kind and caring. He has no trouble getting attached to or protecting or teaching the kids. He doesn't feel emotionally distant or otherwise uncomfortable with feelings. He never shows any hint that he might fall back on old habits of intimidation or violence. The only time he truly acts like someone who used to be a not-great person is when he attacks Starscream (and ironically, people were complaining that that ruined his redemption).

It also bothers me that people have been saying that Starscream needed to do something bad before he could be redeemed, because like. Megatron got a free pass on doing anything bad. We're told he was bad, but he never had to have an on-screen Moment of Evil before he could be officially Redeemed. And you can argue that it's because he had his redemption 15 years ago, but you could also argue that we could have just heard about bad things Starscream did instead of seeing them.

Additionally, while Megatron was reportedly violent and uncaring, Starscream was shown capable of concern for others without any degree of redemption (that is, I don't think his behavior towards Hashtag was "redemptive", I think he was just already that kind of person. It wouldn't have come easily for him to risk his life for her otherwise). So like. If Megatron can be redeemed without showing anything bad he did, Starscream definitely didn't need to be evil before he could be good.

I guess what I want to say is, Megatron should have been developed as a Decepticon before he was developed as a redeemed version of himself. There should have been some thought given to how he behaved and why, and what core values or perceptions had to change before he could. And most importantly, he needed to have something he still struggles with, even if it's just little things like having difficulty expressing softer emotions, or taking a while to get attached to people. He doesn't feel like a redeemed Megatron, he feels like a well-adjusted Autobot who made some bad decisions in his youth.

(And yes, I get that EarthSpark is about the Terrans, not the Autobots and Decepticons. But you don't need to give a character more screen time to give them more depth, and the other Decepticons did just fine being complex characters with just a single focus episode. There was no reason why Megatron couldn't have been developed better).

[nilusanimationworld]

So....the KFP4 plot huh? WHEW! I really needed DAYS to process all this & uh...I think I’m finally ready to talk about it?

Also before I start saying anything please note that I may share few more EXTRA details. Where did I get the details? Welllll? I may have cheated & decided to spoil myself a bit to get more stuff out. Although I promise I’m not gonna share any images & go deep to spoil movie. To be honest I myself only managed to get like only 5% extra details. Also reason I had to spoil myself to dig this deep by talking with the person who got this stuff personally from CinemaCon is that I’ve seen a lot posts saying most of you all have GIVEN UP on the franchise after the plot news was out. Granted some of the plot is not making sense. I myself had to read like 100x to process all in. But giving up on the franchise? I still can’t do that. KFP has a special place in my heart. I’m not saying I’m here to rescue by giving you guys hope. Instead I’d highly suggest you all to keep the expectations low....LIKE REAL LOW! The higher we’re setting the bar the more disappointing results we’re gonna get. Some things so far I found does give us a little hope of light & some are well....meh?  

ALSO PLEASE NOTE IF YOU DONT WANT TO GET SPOILED I’D HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM REDDIT & TWITTER FOR A WHILE! ESPECIALLY DO NOT USE THE KUNG FU PANDA 4 HASHTAG ON TWITTER 

|| SPOILERS UNDER CUT || 

So first let’s just start with the villain herself. The Chameleon. Turns Kate Mckinnon is voicing the villain & her design so far is actually not bad? So far it actually looks good. Only way I could describe her looks is that she’s giving me a bit Shen mixed with bit of Viper vibes. Elegance is the only word I can describe her. Since its only a storyboard image sadly. Its not even a concept art image. 

As for her abilities/powers! Ooooh I hate Dreamworks here for baiting us saying this Chameleon can ‘summon’ the old villains. I know they’re doing this for keeping this a surprise or something idk but whatever the CinemaCon fans saw are completely different from the whole summoning idea. Apparently turns out she IS THE ONE HERSELF who can turn into TAI LUNG, SHEN & KAI. SHE’S A SHAPESHIFTER! Which is no surprise since she is a Chameleon & they’re known for changing colors. So I really don’t see the point why Dreamworks made movie news blogs & reports saying & using the word “SUMMON” which is completely different from “Shapeshifting”? Another thing this is gonna disappoint a lot of Tia Lung, Shen & Kai fans because i’ve seen a lot over excited fans who are waiting for a rematch Especially a Po vs Tai Lung. I’m so sorry guys but these guys are not coming back. They originals are dead DEAD!

She’s also gonna shift into one of Po’s biggest challenger yet too. I’m not mentioning this one this is worth saving it for the movie or the trailer. I hope they save this surprise of the MOVIE ONLY

So far for me the villain actually does sound & look promising. Whoever came up with Chameleon shapeshifting idea is actually pretty darn smart. My only concern is that she doesn’t become one of jokester type villains since its Kate Mckinnon who’s voicing. So yeah...that’s the villain info

Now for the fox character Chen?Zhen?Zhan?Chan? LMAO y’all have no idea how many different spellings I had to come across to get this character info! The funny part is people are even changing the fox’s gender in some articles which is really weird because its Awkwafina who is gonna voice her. So far we only know that she’s gonna be shown as a thief first? And later as Po’s student? Her design? No idea. For now. 

Judging by Awkwafina’s past animated characters like Sisu & Ms Tarantula I’m assuming the character might be some playful, sneaky, childish, cunning type of a fox character since the fox is gonna be introduced first as thief? idk this is just my thoughts? Bonus if she turns out to be some annoying teenager or young adult who would try to get on Po’s nerves during their adventure.Kinda to give Po taste of his own medicine & realize how difficult it is for Shifu & Tigress who has to deal with Po’s shenanigans. 

Also I won’t be surprised if the Fox too has some very similar backstory like Po or Tigress. I’m really getting a feeling the story is gonna be about misunderstood fox who most likely could be either an orphan or abandon by family/villagers or something

Okay so now comes the plot. We all know that Po is gonna get promoted to higher master position & he has to find new Dragon Warrior...yaddy-yaddy-yadda!  Apparently their gonna show Po finding Chen/Zhen/Zhan/Chan (SOMEONE PLEASE CONFIRM WHAT’S HER REAL SPELLING!) in the museum where Po is....patrolling? (i’ll be honest this info is a little confusing because I really don’t see why Po of all people is patrolling at the museum especially since now he’s in a bigger position....like why?) So after he finds her & catches her & stuff & she tells about Chameleon & later go on this adventure (Oop! Dragon Knight plot?) to city where the Chameleon resides & here comes the typical Mike Mitchell writing. Take a wild guess what the city is gonna filled with? We had got Wolves for the Gongmen City right? Now what could be MORE DANGEROUS THAN WOLVES? Hmmmmm? Well.....

LADIES & GENTLEMEN! WE’RE GONNA GET CUTE EVIL BUNNIES! WHEW....LET. THAT. SINK. IN 

This really reminds me of one episode in LoA where Po had to deal with his past bully which was also a BUNNY! Funny part of that episode was that even Tigress had hard time believing Po couldn’t fight his bully bunny enemy & constantly reminded Po how tiny the bunny is which pissed & offended Mantis off. Anyways back to the main topic.

Now I’m not gonna sugar coat this one. The plot STILL very much does sound very off & very animated series level of writing. Also the person has confirmed this movie is gonna have more of comedy BUT (here’s the hopeful part or at least I’m hoping) the thing is all this info is just like 10 or 20% of the plot. There could be chances that we could still get some emotional stuff since Dreamworks is known for hiding & saving the emotional stuff strictly only for the movie. Remember Puss In Boots? The trailer gives us more of action & the idea of the plot meanwhile the scenes like Puss feeling guilty about not attending his own wedding, the anxiety scene, Goldie’s wish scene & Perrito’s back story all this was saved for the movie. So yeah I am still keeping 5% hope we do get some heavy stuff especially if this movie really does turn out to be the FINAL CHAPTER. Who knows that those storyboards were only the main stuff just to give idea & furious five too MIGHT be there during the adventure but their all split up or something? Idk man I’m just saying.

Where is Shifu? Furious Five? Po’s dads? The Other Pandas? OKAY....uh...so far uh....sadly I’ve no freaking idea where the hell are Po’s dads or the pandas? I’m just gonna assume all the pandas have settled down in Valley of Peace & living regular lives. Po’s dads I’m assuming running the restaurant? There’s sadly no info on this one. Although I really wished his dads would’ve played important role in this one since its gonna be lot difficult for Po to take in his new position & to pass his Dragon Warrior title. 

As for Shifu & the Five. We are gonna get them but we’re told they’re NOT gonna be part of the adventure or what so far the storyboards was shown at Cinema Con din’t have much of them. I am still like 3% hopeful for this one since the guy mentioned these were only the boards which were shown there could be chances the changes can be made. But if the movie really is only focusing on Po, the fox & the Chameleon than I’m assuming we might get very few cut scenes of Furious Five & Shifu. Back & forth scenes like they did in KFP3. Either that or the Furious Five are having some other separate mission & hence that’s why Po decides to go solo with the fox. 

THIS IS WHY!!! THIS IS WHY WE NEED A WHOLE SEPARATE FURIOUS FIVE SPIN OFF MOVIE

Now for the big question; Why isn’t Po giving his Dragon Warrior title to any from the Furious Five? Especially to Tigress?! OH BOY! When I came across the articles saying Po is gonna have to find new Dragon Warrior replacement my mind too immediately went on Tigress! HECK! EVEN MY MOM SAID THIS! Also I had the whole KFP1 movie flashed in front of my eyes Especially the scene of Tai Lung screaming at Shifu telling him about how he filled Tai Lung's head with Dragon Warrior dreams & trained him hard till his bones cracked & Shifu & The Furious Five being sour & bitter towards Po in beginning...I understand now...I FREAKING UNDERSTAND THE PAIN THEY WERE GOING THROUGH TO PROCESS THE FACT THAT THEY ALL TRAINED THE HELL OUT OF THEMSELVES FOR THIS DAMN TITLE EVEN GOING TO EXTEND THE GET THEIR BONES CRACKED & END UP GETTING NOTHING & instead some random noodle folk panda fell from the sky with no whatsoever kung fu skills gets the title...YUP I UNDERSTAND THE RAGE NOW. AND THIS SHIT IS HAPPENING ALL OVER AGAIN I SWEAR TO GOD THIS DRAGON WARRIOR TITLE IS SUCH A FREAKING CURSE!! GODDAMN OOGWAY!!

BUT...BUT...Here's the thing what we also see is that Five...ESPECIALLY TIGRESS never had that desperate goal for Dragon Warrior title in the first place. We all know at this point well aware that Tigress only wanted to get the Dragon Warrior title is because she wanted to make Shifu proud but after seeing Shifu finally being more compassionate and the older playful self again thanks to Po. Tigress doesn't hold that grudge or jealousy anymore towards Po. Which same goes for the five since they were already warming up towards Po before Shifu & Tigress.  

I know most of us & myself deep down all wanted Tigress to get the title since she has gone through hell the most right from her Bao Gu days but Tigress has made it very much clear that she's moved on from the whole wanting Dragon Warrior title and she's become her own warrior

Now in Tai Lung's case. Even though Tai Lung says he did all that training to make Shifu proud but it was clear that Tai Lung was already blinded & thirsty for the Dragon Warrior power the most (Thanks to Shifu). Heck! Shifu himself admits this that his pride blinded him so badly he turned Tai Lung into a monster.

So yeah I know right now we're all disappointed that Po isn't giving his title to any of the furious five but to some random fox (who is a thief...wow..nice choice Po) but let's not forget that's how even Po's story started & we'll just have to wait & watch to see Po taking Shifu's role as master & trains this fox character. 

Also I’ll make a separate post on how Chen?Zhen?Zhan?Chan? (I SERIOUSLY STILL HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HER REAL SPELLING IS) on how she could earn the Dragon Warrior title. That’s not gonna be a spoiler post that is just gonna be an analyzing post or how I can see it happening

And lastly can we trust Mike Mitchell?...OOOOOH BOY! Judging by his past projects I would say it’s a little concerning but lets not forget even Joel Crawford had made some not so very successful projects in the past as well & years later Puss In Boots 2 became one of his best & successful projects yet. I’m not so concern of Mike my main concern is what exactly happen to Jennifer Yuh Nelson for not being part of this so sudden? I remember in interview she had mentioned if she really decided to make all 6 chapters like Jeffrey Katzenberg suggested she really wanted to make a complete beautiful necklace franchise for Po’s journey! Heck to be honest the third movie itself WAS ENOUGH AS A PERFECT END TO THE CHAPTER! It really did give us a perfect trilogy I honestly don’t know why or what made them to give us fourth. This whole retiring thing & passing on torch has been a very common plot trend in most animated/anime/comic medias lately. Anyways. Too late now. Lets see how this chapter turns out.

So....uh..yeah I guess that's it? I tried my best to keep this post with some positive stuff just to you know...lighten up? The thing is we can't say much anything right now because the movie is still in beginning/mid (storyboarding) stage. Its still too early. Changes still can happen hence we cant say much yet. Jack himself mentions that its too early for the trailer. So yeah its very common at times last moments some ideas could have changes.

Only word of advice to the pandom I'm gonna give is be a little more patient. I myself needed DAYS to process & break it down. If we have waited this long we just going to have to wait a little longer. My guess on getting the first teaser we could most likely get it in... August or September (this year)? I'm calculating according to how we got Puss In Boots trailer. The trailer was released in June & the movie was released in December.

We just gonna have to play the waiting game a little long & PRAY!! LOTS & LOTS OF PRAYERS (& INNER PEACE) THIS MOVIE DOESN'T RUIN THE FRANCHISE!! That is all for now. Feel free to share your thoughts or can private DM me!

[kingmagnificoofrosas]

Hi. So I’ve been enjoying your blog for a few days now and I just want to say ‘thank you’ for giving King Magnifico fans the safe space they deserve. Thank you for giving King Magnifico the safe space he deserves.

I tried to find other blogs that defend him the way you do but I couldn’t. I agree with you 100% on Magnifico and honestly think he was the only good part of the movie.

You’ve inspired me to create an OC of my own to ship with him. I’m remaining anonymous and don’t want to tell you about them because I don’t want to offend you, due to your faith. But I will dedicate the OC side blog to you once it’s open.

Without you, I would’ve felt like a silly 37 yr old caring so much about a Disney character. Especially while I’m going through a hard time. Now I will preserve my endangered mental health by spending time on developing my character and my Magnifico fan blog.

Please keep it up. You’ve given me a Magnifico safe space and have inspired others to celebrate their love of this character.

Oh my goodness!!! *emotional noises*

I'm so immensly moved I'm struggling to find the right words. Thank you doesn't even feel enough! I feel beyond happy and honored that I've managed to help, inspire, motivate and comfort people. That's what I want to do and if I manage to, it fills my heart with so much gratitude and joy!

But really, without you guys, I wouldn't be standing where I'm standing with my blog at this point.

I loved Magnifico from the moment I first saw him on screen and as soon as I understood enough of his story, it was more than clear to me, that I had to not only create a safe space for fans who - just like me - realized that he isn't a villain but also a place where I can fight against the very toxic stance against traumatized people and mental disorders.

And no! Never feel bad or silly for loving something because of your age! Age doesn't matter. I'm in my late 20s and one of my friends is already 30 so 🤷🏻‍♀️ Who's to tell us we cannot love certain things anymore just because we aren't kids/teenagers anymore? People who spread such information aren't better than all those other bullies and they're obviously wrong. You can be a 100 years old and still love plushies and dolls, or Legos, or disney - it's not just for kids!

Also, while I'm more than pleased to see that more and more people start siding with Magnifico and becoming vocal that he's not a villain but a traumatized protagonist, I'm also greatly concerned by people still shaming, ridiculing, belittling and villainizing trauma.

The fact that Disney itself has pushed those toxic stigmas is beyond me! Just like one of my greatest fellow defenders stated : When did bullying a traumatized person into uncontrollable rage become acceptable? When did it become acceptable to villainize traumatized people? Since when does the message "true love breaks every curse" matter no more?

When did people lose so much compassion and became ok with pushing hate and unforgiveness?

Standing up for trauma and defending those people is not justifying wrong actions! It's calling awareness! Compassion and love! It's explaining and drawing a big difference!

There are so many toxic statements I hear people make toward traumatized people and people with mental disorders. And I think it's one of the cruelest, most disgusting and heartless things!

Magnifico has become a symbol for so many and a beacon to rise awareness to trauma and the toxic stance of disney and some people out there.

Btw, Japan has even created a hashtag that celebrates Magnifico. The japanese have been stressing from the start that Magnifico isn't a villain. The japanese amazing! ✨️

So, I thank you for being a part of this incredible supportive, growing defender squad! I'll keep doing my best to fight for what's right and keep this blog growing ✨️

I wish you all the best from the bottom of my heart! ❤️ And again, thank you so very much!

[and-then-there-were-n0ne]

Something I’m increasingly sceptical of in modern mental health culture is this constant insistence to open up. Share your story! says every celebrity. Speak out! says every company. [...]

My main concern with this is that Gen Z are very lonely and screen-addicted and so often take this advice and start opening up online. [...] On TikTok #mentalhealth has over 127 billion views; #trauma alone has almost 30 billion.

And no wonder! Not only is there this cultural push to open up, but campaigns and influencers explicitly encourage us to share our problems on social media. Like Kendall Jenner’s #howareyoureally hashtag, encouraging fans to share a video of their mental health story on Instagram. Or #postyourpill, the campaign started by Love Island influencer Dr Alex George urging people to post a photo of their mental health medication every month. “Join me,” he insists, “and take a stand against medication stigma”!

I have many concerns about this. Not because I think Dr Alex has bad intentions; I’m sure he genuinely wants to help. But firstly because his fans are likely very young. We’re talking teens and pre-teens. And he’s sharing this on TikTok, where a third of US users are thought to be 14 or under, and Instagram, where more than a million users are underage. Should we really be pressuring them to “please please please” post their pill and share their mental health problems with strangers?

Then there’s this framing of it as activism. Actually, more than activism—now it’s almost a duty. You need to open up because it helps other people! Maybe, but does it help you? You, a 15 year-old girl, are not responsible for removing the stigma around autism or ADHD. The progressive narrative now also seems to be that if you aren’t opening up about your mental health problems it has to be because of stigma or discrimination. Have we forgotten the word privacy? You don’t have to be ashamed, but you don’t have to share either.

I say this because there are risks to sharing your personal struggles, especially online. Something our current mental health culture seems unable to admit is that being open about your problems comes with problems. Rarely do we talk about the regret of opening up to the wrong people, or too soon before you’ve tried to recover or really understand what’s wrong, or of misrepresenting yourself. 

One major problem with opening up online, for example, is that whatever you share inevitably becomes part of your brand. This, I think, can explain a lot of Gen Z’s current obsession with and confusion around identity. We market ourselves from very young ages and then struggle to rebrand, to integrate our evolving selves into our online image. Once you share something on social media—your anxiety, OCD, gender dysphoria—it’s documented. You’re categorised. Consciously or not, you are more compelled to stick with it. But identities evolve! You are supposed to change! I find it so suffocating how modern culture makes us feel like it’s inauthentic or some sort of moral failure to change who you are or what you believe. Nobody can live up to that! And actually the opposite is true: something is very wrong if you aren’t changing. 

As I see it this is why older generations often chafe at all this oversharing. Not because they can’t relate to adolescent angst or have no compassion for mental illness, but from an understanding that things, people, change. Maybe you are in real emotional pain. But don’t go blasting your gender identity journey all over the internet because someone told you it’s brave. You might not feel that way in six months, a year, six years. Even if you do, you might not want it out there. You might not even remember that you thought you had Tourette’s in your pre-teens. Also: trends change. There may not be the same cultural cachet for sharing your symptoms in the future. People might not be as rewarding or forgiving, so don’t start relying on their validation now.

This is a caution, then. A plea, actually, to the young girls recording their anxiety attacks, documenting their depressed day in the life, introducing their multiple personalities, posing with their mental health pills, to honestly think about this: what if things change for you? What if when you’re 30 you don’t want that video of you crying on your bedroom floor online? Or cleaning your messy depression room? What if you don’t even relate to that person anymore?

And please, ask yourself: is this going to be good for your recovery? Because despite what the mental health industry would have you believe, your anxiety isn’t fixed or inevitable. You could get over your OCD. But you’ll make that much less likely and harder for yourself by posting it all over the internet and publicly building your identity around it first. Maybe you’re socially anxious at 14 but not at 20, but you made it your brand and showed the internet that you struggle to make a phone call and can’t order food. Maybe you desperately want to be seen as confident but you’ve already marketed yourself as anxious and that’s how people treat you. All I’m saying is you might regret reducing yourself to a collection of symptoms. This world can be cruel and unforgiving, and you might one day regret telling it you can’t cope.

Of course I understand sharing helps people feel less alone. I also recognise that social media is a nauseating highlight reel, that everyone is pretending to be perfect and that’s so much pressure—but I don’t think the answer to that is to post all of our personal and vulnerable moments. My answer would be to post less about everything.

Because another thing I want girls to think about is who really benefits here. A good rule of thumb for when something is being pushed this much in modern culture—when you’re hearing the same mantra over and over again like open up—is to think, okay, someone is majorly profiting here, who is it? Sometimes I wonder if this message to open up is so heavily pushed by social media companies like TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram because they benefit when we plaster our problems all over their platforms. [...]

“Check out how you can take care of your mental health on Snapchat and encourage your friends to do the same!” Right, well, firstly you’re never going to take care of your mental health on Snapchat. And Instagram—the place some teens have traced back the desire to kill themselves—is absolutely not #HereForYou. Open up and find “mental health resources on Instagram”! Key words: on Instagram. All this is an attempt to keep you on their platforms. Platforms very often responsible for mental health problems. Please don’t buy it.

I’m not saying don’t tell anyone. Just don’t tell the internet. I mean that sincerely: I wouldn’t even recommend opening up to online therapists. The therapy service BetterHelp has been fined millions for selling users’ mental health data—“rest assured this information will stay private!”—to platforms like Facebook (Meta) and Snapchat. And the more these sites know you are struggling, the more advertisers can categorise you. You’ll get ads for therapy apps and ADHD meds and mental health chatbots and get stuck in a cycle. This is more than a self-fulfilling prophecy. There’s software engineering behind it. [...]

So: open up to people you know and trust. Talk to family and friends. If you aren’t fortunate enough to have those, turn to local communities, support groups, professionals when necessary. But stop opening up on the internet. Stop opening up about everything. Give yourself the chance to change organically; give yourself the option of moving on. Bottom line is I don’t think it’s worth exchanging your deepest emotional struggles for that hit of dopamine. Because Instagram being #HereForYou? Hahaha, please. Open yourself up to friends and family. Close yourself off from these companies.

[banqanas]

Stuffs from the ldh expo livestream that i remember:

- omi: well with the amount of members we'll have im more concerned about the stage breaking so. We'll see what we can do

- kensuke: i wasnt able to go to exile's 2010 fantasy tour bc i was too young (7 years old), so to think that the next time exile will be standing on the same yanmar stadium stage, i will also be participating together, is something i could never have imagined

- comments: because omi sama will be there, isn't holding the concert at an open stadium be of concern? (Omi is a well known rainy man)

- omi: its true, im too much of a rainy man. But i think most exile tribe members are sunny men so i hope we have enough sun y member to suppress my unlucky rain luck

- leiya: and considering the members age, the concert time might also be a bit early

- yuta: gene is a group that's very involved with both senpai groups and jr groups. So with the addition of neo it'll definitely be a different stage than we've had before

- yuta: im looking forward to the kind of performer showcase we'll have. Like sekai and I tend to go against each other

- omi: even as creative directors, we still need other people's opinions on what kind of show or collab they want to see. Not just something well thought, just something you simply want to see. For example i might go for something with me, takahiro and kazuma. So everyone please share what kind of mix you'd like to see using the hashtag

- takahiro: yeah and maybe i want to do something with lil league for example! Please let me have them...! *begging to Shokichi*

(pls take with grains of salt, these are all by memory i did not rewatch the broadcast 🙏)

[madalice31]

I swear, there’s nothing that I’m afraid of more than being afraid of what police could do to my autistic younger brother. He is 6’4, 31 years old, and imposing physically but he is a gentle giant. That’s not what these racist police officers will see tho. They will see a “thug” “a problem” “a threat”. Simply because he’s black.

Sonya Massey lost her life because a biased police officer felt threatened by a pot of hot water, EVEN as she said I’m sorry while ducking because SHE was scared and also schizophrenic. At no point in time did she “come at him”. She ducked. Y’all know what happened. I’m not even about to rehash it.

My point is that I’m tired. What are we going to do? Don’t tell me about a hashtag or saying someone’s name. I’m sorry, but I’m tired of saying names. What are we going to do to make sure shit like this doesn’t happen to us? What are we going to do to make sure there are no more names?! I don’t want to wake up and it’s my brother next. Joe Biden talking about this shows how black people have to fear for their safety in a way that no one else does. No shit Sherlock. We’ve been saying that for literal years. We told y’all our lives mattered and you dismissed us by saying everyone’s life matters. But as Joe just told you, “everyone” doesn’t go through the same shit we do. But you know what he doesn’t talk about? What he plans on doing to make sure that’s no longer a problem. Don’t tell me that you get my plight but then you don’t do shit about it.

Police departments across this nation do not put enough effort into putting their officers through rigorous psychological evaluations and bias checks. They don’t train these men and women to know how to interact with people of all backgrounds. They force them to see a psychiatrist after an incident, but never before. And when they do something wrong, they crowd around each other, talking about blue lives. It’s a fucking job that you can quit or lose at any time! It’s not your life! It should never be your life! A doctor is not going to defend another doctor who has botched so many surgeries that his license has been revoked. There’s no excuse. So why do police give each other excuses? Why do they act like they can do no wrong? If you that scared then get another fucking job.

And unless there’s a situation that is just obviously wrong, like in the case of Sonya, they do not get punished for the biases and racism that they display.

If an officer knows he’s getting 20-life just for killing a black man, no matter what that black man did. Just straight up life in prison for killing anyone period. Either we’ll have a lot less people becoming police or a lot of police in prison. And what message do you think that will send to the rest of them? I guarantee there will be a decline in police interactions that end in violence or death. Provide thorough training and psych evals to make sure it doesn’t happen. And if it does, throw the fucking book at them so they know how serious you are. Y’all do that to our black men all the time but can’t hold your own colleagues accountable?

THIS is why “blue lives matter” is so dangerous. It makes police feel like they are above the law and have to care more about their “brother’s in blue” than the people they are supposed to be protecting.

In the case of Sonya, that officer’s partner should have been yelling at him to stop and to chill out and asking him what the fuck his problem was. His partner knew nothing about that situation had escalated to the point of pulling weapons. He didn’t even have his weapon out until his partner pulled his. But he sits there in silence as his partner behaves in a way that is very obviously racist/biased against this woman. As far as I’m concerned, his partner should have been arrested and charged as well for idlely standing by. I don’t care that he stayed after the fact, I don’t care that he offered to get a med kit. He should have said something BEFORE his partner decided to walk around a corner to shoot a woman who’s DUCKING OUT OF FEAR. In the face, just as he told her he would. His mind was made up. She called for help and they treated her like she was the problem. The house is going to catch fire over boiling water? It shouldn’t have even been anything to pay attention to. But he walks in and see a black woman, expects an attitude, expects a hard time, expects her to be combative because that’s what he thinks black people are. He acted accordingly.

This is not new and I am tired of the same shit happening over and over. I’m in tears over this shit. My heart is broken over this shit. Because there’s a genuine fear that even if you call for help, you will end up being the victim of the people who are supposed to help you.

I can’t confidently tell my younger brother to call the police if he’s ever in trouble or need help. Because they will see him and immediately act like he needs to be taken down. I can’t even think about it without emotions rising.

Meanwhile a white man takes a police officer’s baton and beats her with it but at no point does she or her partner pull a gun. They sit and they struggle and tussle with him to the point where he gets in THEIR car and drives off. Sounds comical, but it happened. Google it, im sure the footage is still out there.

You see the very stark difference? You think a black man doing all that would have made it out of that situation alive?

So what we doing? Sonya deserves way more.

I’m sorry this happened to you Queen. I’m sorry that this happened to your family and friends and all your loved ones. I’m sorry they have to mourn you over something so senseless. You deserved so much better. Your life mattered.

Y’all take this how you want. I know y’all keep talking bout ain’t none of us free till we all free, but I think it’s time we stop being so caught up in everyone else’s problems and focus on our own because it’s not like we’ve solved them and it’s not like anyone else is trying to help us solve them. We still got the plank of wood in our eye, blinding us, but still attempting to get dust out of someone else eye.

So how about we eliminate all the injustices that WE deal with, then worry about justice for everyone else! Let’s start there.

So what we doing for OUR community? How do we make sure this shit doesn’t happen ever again?

[quincyhorst]

Some Concering Things About (Manga) Samuel Mayo: The Post

Some add-on to the previous Samuel post. This draft was originally meant to combine his profile analysis too, yet that ended up being dispersed in previous posts. So this will be focusing only on manga!Samuel and few stuff I originally wanted to say on his backstory.

Overall... Samuel in the overall Yabuten manga is weird. He just randomly goes to bully some keeper children just because of their nationality (🤨), shoots twice to flex on them, and gets humilliated in BOTH occassions. And worst part is that we just don't see him again...

But while I was reading his chapter, there's some particular things that stood out with me.

First off the initial context; Samuel comes to Endou during his quest of catching 100 shoots. When he appears, he seems to inspire fear on the crowd, to the point one of the passerbies straight up introduces him the following way:

アイツは激しいプレイでたくさんのケガ人を出しているあぶないFWだ！ He is a dangerous forward who has injured many people through his intense play!

DeePL translates this phrase quite differently, but I do believe that Google Translate's the more accurate one, mainly because the word "ケガ人" means wounded person. Either way, I feel like you know what's going on: Samuel has injured many, many people on the field, enough for even some random to know about it. Worrying.

(He also very rude towards footballs >:( )

Also, said previous passerby also tries to warn Endou when he accepts to catch Samuel's shoot.

あいつのシュートは危険だ！ That guy's shot is dangerous!

For a non-player to be THAT worried of Samuel and his aggresive play, it makes one wonder 1- How did RM pass to Liocott on this specific scenario, BUT ALSO 2- Why Samuel does keep his position on a national selection. Seriously (Unless he got a red card and this is his way of coping. LMAO)

One last line that honestly concerns me a lot comes from Samuel himself after he uses his hissatsu Dragon Ground/Land Dragon/whatever.

荒ぶる牛をも倒すこのシュート。 "This shot can knock down even a raging cow."

...I genuinely don't want to know HOW he came to that conclusion. I really don't want to.

I'm aware this is Inazuma, the franchise where 13 year old bear killers exist, plus some instances where animals are fought on by other characters. And to add, we're ALSO at the Tenya Yabuno manga, where things are more hashtag hardcore. So it wouldn't be too surprising (Although horrifying) that in that Ina11's Spain there might have happened the situation of literal soccer bullfighting.

I mean, in the same manga Endou brings a bull to train... Who knows, maybe Red Matador did the same too, but it went south (?

Either way, I think that's all what we gotta say about Samu for now. If his manga profile truly shows the personality he's meant to have, then that's... Something to say the least. Specially when removing the backstory I did for him. I actually don't know to say if I like him or not.

But hey... Remember that every medium of Ina11 tends to play by its own rules at times, so... You don't have to worry much if you want to go a different route than what's shown here.

Personally, in my setting Samuel is a bit too rough when attacking, yes, but not enough to cause actual injuries. </3

...Okay, bye for now. Here's a random happy Samuel for ya >:D

Bonus.

We in Spain are called 'red matadors'.

...

[braintapes]

The Hotel Podcast Season 3 Analysis: Part II - The Lobby Boy

(Time to blow out another candle.)

Welcome back! Part I was allll about the Manager's arc, covering episodes 3.1 - 3.4. We saw the Manager as she was repeatedly killed by a pale, gibbering creature, we watched the darkness consume her and the lobby, and we also witnessed the Hotel being built, in a way.

The Manager's been killed again by the gibbering creature. Now we see from the Lobby Boy's perspective. Well, we will see.

As I said in my previous post, S3 is simultaneously the old crew's origin, end, and a place/time/series of events they intermittently return to. This means that we're seeing the staff in a very specific, raw state of being. A different a lens to understand them through.

(Time to make a wish.)

This season functions as a collection of character studies showing us how the old crew responds to inevitability. The certainty of death. There is no release for these three, as there may be for the guests. There is only dying to wake up to die again.

The Manager's arc emphasized the certainty. The Lobby Boy's arc will showcase the cycle.

As always though, this is only my own personal read on the text/audio. Analyzing the art and stories I like in this way is a creative fun outlet for me, and my hope is that this can prompt more discussion for other people too. I love getting to see other people's perspectives and bring up stuff I hadn't considered!

Enough preamble though, let's get right to it. (Do get comfy though, because this is nearly 7 full word pages long)

(It's almost my birthday.)

To properly set the stage for the Lobby Boy's arc, I need to talk some more about the Manager first. Who is the Manager? What drives her?

I'm going to go by Season 2 here. I believe S2 is another, though different, look at these characters. There, we see them as raw as raw can get. They're a mixture of ingredients sitting in the pan waiting to be put into the oven. Whereas in S3 they are freshly baked and piping hot. And also still being baked. And speaking of food metaphors…

The idea of hunger and satiation continually shows up in the Manager's stories. Burger Baby is, uh, fairly obvious and speaks for itself, I think. Mrs Bones is interesting because again we see her thirst as this primal need inside the Manager, a desperate instinctual urge that drives her forward. This also happens in 5.1 Merp and Burble, where she. Well. She merps and she burbles.

In these altered states of consciousness, she has an animal-like nature. She is concerned only with satiating herself. But even when she gets what she's looking for, it's never enough. She can never truly be content.

This shows up in 3.2, when the laborers' deaths satiate the Manager. They even build her/the lobby as they perish one by one. But of course, of course, the fullness doesn't last. This is one of my absolute favorite aspects of the Manager's character. It makes her so distinct from the other two.

The Manager's response to the inevitability presented to her is to allow it in. She neither fights it, kicking and screaming, as the Owner would, nor does she run from it, as the Lobby Boy will. She accepts her circumstances and adapts to them. She takes to everything the easiest of the three.

So, she dies. So...she dies. So what? She's dead now, and will remain so for the rest of the season. What's done is done, until the Hotel wills it otherwise. They serve at the pleasure of the Hotel Herself, after all.

(Do you remember how to die? I'll remind you.)

The most distinct difference between the Lobby Boy and the Manager is that the latter seems to relish in her job. Not in the way the Owner does, as a title to preen and puff up over. She gets nothing out of lording her position over the other two. She does what she does because it's in her nature to do so, and it's a form of sustenance. Her job is her life is her nature. Literally hashtag ultimate girlboss, y'know?

The Lobby Boy, on the other hand, does NOT relish his duty. He is deeply intimate with death and dying and the horrors that lurk inside the Hotel in a way that the other two simply are not. He constructs nearly every awful thing in the Hotel and personally delivers the guests to those things.

As the gibbering creature continues to beat (and then starts to consume) the very dead Manager in 3.4, the Lobby Boy notes the "pulsing and bruised" walls of the Hotel. Something is deeply wrong here and he can feel it. The way he's seeing everything is not how he normally would. He says:

"It's not supposed to look like that, I think. Not to me. Maybe to the guests, but to me it only looks like...I knew underneath and behind and through everything was something awful and vast watching, but I could still look at the facade and know my place here."

The Lobby Boy has, off the top of my head, seen the Hotel in this way two other times. Well, one of this times was in a bonus episode and so doesn't really count, but it's one of my favorite bonus episodes so I'm going to talk about it a bit anyway. Feel free to skip that part.

First, in 4.12 X - X, during the big fight between the Owner and the Lobby Boy, the two go sailing and flying through the Hotel. They crash through lobbies and halls and rooms. The Lobby Boy SEES everything in the Hotel. He sees everything he has built and everything he hasn't yet. He sees the guests dying. He sees himself, burning. And he hates it. He decides to look away, to try to not remember.

In fact, the Lobby Boy's active avoidance of witnessing his own work is THE big reason the Owner hates the Lobby Boy and picks that fight with him in the first place.

In the bonus episode The Hotel, the Lobby Boy has a dream in which he is entirely alone. He examines the lobby before using his cool powers to rise up through the Hotel in such a way that he can see it all. He keeps going, pushing aside and shaping and conducting the Hotel's form until it reaches a crescendo of swirling color and shape and fervor...Then, of course, he remembers that he's not alone, not really. He's never alone in the Hotel.

Like I said, that lies in murky non-canon-ish waters so feel free to ignore it. I personally consider it an interesting supplemental to the other two examples. The point is, the Lobby Boy isn't an idiot. He's very well aware of what the Hotel is. What he is and what he does.

3.4 ends with this:

"In the Hotel there is only death. Only ever death. But still I run to the second floor, where the deaths don't matter so much. The floor with the guest rooms."

He sees the darkness consuming the lobby, the Manager, everything in the Hotel lobby. He knows what's happening. Still, he decides to run. He chooses to look away. To not think about it, if he can.

He runs to what he knows best: the guest rooms. The familiar forms the Hotel is supposed to take. The facade he can try to lose himself in, knowing all the while that it's a lie and he will face the horrible truth that envelopes and underpins it.

(Here comes another one, don't miss it or we'll have to start over.)

Now, it's time for 3.5 The Lobby Boy Dies.

“I step off the elevator and hold the door for the guest, but the elevator is empty.”

The Lobby Boy is alone as he walks down the endless hallways. The lights wink at him as he passes by. We'll see the Hotel Herself flicker her lights at the Lobby Boy other times, like in 4.10 Audrey Burns. It's one of her cheeky and fun ways of communicating with him! The Hotel is absolutely playing with him like a toy in this arc. I mean, that's true of every arc but this one especially feels so delightfully cheeky.

He refuses to look back behind him. He's seen the guests look back and it's never saved any of them. Then he spots a different kind of light – a candle by an empty guest room.

“I...the candle wants me to stare into the flame. It wants me to go inside the room. The door matches the key ring in my hand... Why-”

But the Lobby Boy knows what's happening here. He drops his keys and continues walking. He avoids looking at anything but straight ahead of him, down the hall. With each room, door, candle he avoids, another one shows up until every room is an empty guest room with a candle. For him.

He wants to refuse. He doesn't want to go in. Tells himself he won't, he CAN'T. But the Hotel pulsates in the background and he starts to imagine what it would be like if the walls caught fire...the fire spreading...Chasing him...He runs!

But why? Why avoid the flames and the burning and the smoke when he knows he can't, won't escape them? When he knows he'll end up dying anyway?

There's a few ways to look at this. One is that it's part of his nature – he doesn't want to face death, not necessarily in a human way but because it - like basically everything else - makes him squeamish and uncomfortable. If he runs, he doesn't have to face it. If he runs, he can pretend:

"The doors seem to turn towards me as I pass now. Stretching, almost reaching out. Presenting to me, showing me the sweetest lie: Safety. Safety from what is behind me. Safety from the end ahead."

“The flames behind, the fire ahead, I will pretend not to know what is beyond the door and know relief for a sickening, hopeful, instant.”

[Bolding mine]

The Lobby Boy is aligning himself with the guests here. He is a guest in this episode: he has a room he will go and die inside of. He knows the guests aren't saved by their pretending, but he does it anyway because the tiny glimmer of light inside the Lobby Boy is hope. Is wanting. In this case, it's wanting the comforting lie that he'll be okay, somehow.

Another part is that this is technically new to him, new and frightening. His nature is fearfulness, so of course he runs. He's still a fresh-out-of-the-oven Lobby Boy at this point! All of this that's happening doesn't gel with whatever knowledge was baked into him from the Hotel. He hasn't had a chance to acclimate yet!

He enters his room and sees, just before the door closes, himself stepping off the elevator in the hall. He stands in the dark for a long time until the candle appears again.

“I stare into the flame and I can hear the Hotel around me.”

He's transfixed until the candle falls over and the whole room goes up in flames, burning him to death. He doesn't accept it, he screams and tries to run and tries to open the door he knows will not open again. He dies just like one of the guests.

(You were there too.)

Since the previous Lobby Boy is dead, the Lobby Boy who we just saw step out of the elevator is our narrator for 3.6 The Lobby Boy Tries Not To Die.

“I step off the elevator and hold the door for the guest, but...there is no guest. I'm alone.”

Last episode, we saw the part of the Lobby Boy that identifies with the guests, the part of him that's just as trapped as they are. But there's plenty more layers and sides to the LB we've yet to peel.

The Lobby Boy lies to himself and attempts to convince himself that the guest he saw at the end of the hall definitely did not have his face. It for sure wasn't him. Totally. He slips back into his role, what he knows he should be doing. But everything's wrong, still. He continues down the hall and passes rooms full of smoke and burning and screaming.

Occasionally, his voice reverberates. Notably, it happens when the ceiling is full of soot. He says:

“I don't want to fall up into that void. I don't know if I'll hit the ceiling, or just fall forever. (forever, forever.)”

[Formatting taken directly from transcript]

In my last post, I talked about how the darkness – the Hotel – is inextricable from the Manager/the staff. The idea returns here with...Well, with the smoke and soot, obviously, but ALSO with these vocal effects. It's one of the Lobby Boy's things, sometimes if he's particularly worked up he'll get effects like this in his narration.

As it's applied here, it feels like something directly tying him to the Hotel. A part of him that is like it. These reverberations come back at the end of the season both with the Hotel Herself's narration and the staff's response to her. They are not separate entities, but a strange splintering and amalgamation of each other.

The Hotel's pulsing starts up in the background. The Lobby Boy continues walking but his steps become wet and squishy as the floors become coated in, um. Melted Lobby Boy soup leaking out from the room doors. It pools and congeals into a gory sticky mess that clings to him, hinders his running. The desk bell dings and something is chasing the Lobby Boy and screaming at him and his immediate instinct is to run away.

The slurry of himself enmeshed in the floor shows that the part of the Hotel that is the Lobby Boy is this second floor. The same way the Manager is the lobby and we saw her being built, the Lobby Boy is every endless hall, room, door, ceiling, floors. He is both the facade and the horrible truth at the end of it.

What he runs from is himself, literally, in this episode, but also from...himself. You know what I mean?

“I run faster. I want the soot black ceiling to take me. I want to sink into the cold bleeding carpet. I want grey walls and nothing else.”

(mood man I hate being yelled at too.)

They're both screaming now, his pursuer and himself. Just...screaming. I LOVE the distorted layered yells here. Something visceral and miserable about the sounds perfectly encapsulate the Lobby Boy, I feel.

He runs and every door turns into an elevator. He ends up, of course, back at that door. That room, with the smoke and the fire and the other burning Lobby Boy already inside of it. He looks back and sees himself clearly this time. He's terrified. He'd rather burn to death than be caught by himself. He closes the door “a little faster” before the other him can get inside.

And so the Lobby Boy Fails To Not Die.

(Did you see him? Was it too fast for you?)

We are roughly two Lobby Boys down as we head into 3.7 The Rooms Are Filled.

“I step off the elevator and hold the door for the guest. The guest steps out and into the hallway.”

So now there's two of them in the elevator. One must be the guest, if one of them is the Lobby Boy. But then...? They walk together and the other lets our viewpoint LB into the room.

Once again, this opening sequence involves the Lobby Boy following his standard routine. Bring the guest to the room. Ask if they need anything. Our narrator gives a quick rundown of the room but then the fire starts consuming everything again. Instead of running away from each other, the two Boys struggle pathetically over each other to get out. One of them escapes, the other remains trapped in the room.

He heads back to the elevator and goes to another floor.

“There are so many buttons twinkling dully at me. I like to stare at them on the way.”

Bringing up this quote just to say I'm putting a pin in it for later in this post. Bear with me, there WILL be a payoff to this. I just wanted to make special note of this line in particular.

The elevator doors open and the cycle continues, repeats. One Lobby Boy brings the other Lobby Boy to his room and he dies there as the Lobby Boy goes back to the elevator to do it again. Again. Again. Every time the Lobby Boy dies, a light in the elevator goes out. Slowly, they burn to darkness every hall in the Hotel.

He's not running the same way he was during the last few episodes. He's settling in. Getting acclimated. The way he gets through this is by not thinking about it. If he doesn't think, he can hold out the sliver of hope within him that he won't be the one to die. But he'll still die.

He sounds so utterly exhausted as he relives both the walk from the elevator to the room and the burning to death inside the room. So strained, bordering on anger almost.

“Why do I look so afraid, if I'm not the one who has to burn? But I am the one who has to burn. And the one who has to close the door. I'm the only one here.”

Okay to be honest you could just ignore every single thing I've written here and just look at these lines because this is the crux of it all.

The sound gets...weirder from here. The elevator door dings wrongly. The Lobby Boy doesn't hold the door open for the guest. We hear the Owner's scream for the first time in a while, though this comes immediately after the line saying, “The rooms are filled with my screams.”

Hmmmm...

But I can't talk about that yet. I need to talk about this:

“The halls are filled with smoke and mess. I don't know why The Manager only had to die once and I have to die so much. So much. Too much.”

[Bolding mine]

Does this line sound familiar? He sounds envious here, almost...resentful, in a way that reminds me very specifically of 2.2 Cracker Man:

“Why do they get to be in the house? Why do they get to be young and happy and beautiful? Why does it hurt to watch them live? I don’t know why but it does. Every smile stings.”

The Manager's S2 episodes showed us her primal instinct as one of her core traits. The Lobby Boy's S2 episodes show us his envy and rage. He's portrayed as a stalking figure in both Cracker Man and Frozen Figures, something that watches from the outside before going in for the kill. Yeah, technically the Owner and Manager do this too, but it feels personal for the Lobby Boy.

Why do THEY (the guests) get to live? Why do THEY get to pretend, to have the luxury of not knowing what's going to happen to them? Why did the Manager only have to die ONCE instead of being stuck in this endless cycle? (She didn't, she died at least like 4 times, but I suppose he doesn't know that). Why is he stuck here and they're not? WHY CAN'T HE D--

“There are so many buttons twinkling dully at me. I like to stare at them on the way.”

That envy and his feelings towards the guests are also why I think the Lobby Boy likes staring at twinkling lights. I mean, there doesn't have to be anything deeper to it. I do think it is just...a thing he likes and that's that. But if there WERE deeper meaning to it, I would say part of him wants what the guests have. He wouldn't know what, exactly, he wants. But he knows they're different. They have something else. Maybe something nicer. Maybe. He admires the shimmering light until it turns into a desperate flame that eventually burns to soot and ash.

His envy collapses and gives way to the rage tucked deep inside him in Cracker Man. Here in 3.7, he taps into that and chases down the other Lobby Boy. Once again, he becomes the pursuing monster. He is the rooms he built. He is the guests he brought to them. He is the horror that will kill them inside the rooms. The screaming effects layer beautifully again.

“Every room is getting filled. Endlessly. We put ourselves here because we did. Never a thought to why or where. He runs so I'm running. He burns so I'm burning. If I could catch him, if I could touch him, could we burn together?”

I have nothing to add to this, I just want to sit and appreciate these lines for a minute.

The chase continues. This Lobby Boy can see into the elevators lining the hallways. Behind the both of them, “the void spills out” and chases them. No matter what direction they go, he'll always end up back in that darkness. Whether he's inside the burning room or out in the hall. He still, still, holds onto that tiny sliver of false hope that maybe, just maybe, he can catch him this time.

But the Lobby Boy sees him and closes the door a little faster. And the Lobby Boy is brought to a void by a trillion lights.

(The guests were never meant to come this far.)

There's...a lot more I'd love to say. I could go on and on in endless circles about this arc. It would be fitting, but this is already so long and I still have the Owner and the Hotel Herself to talk about!

So for now, let's see what happens to the Lobby Boy in the cleverly titled 3.8 A V O I D.

The Lobby Boy doesn't actually...do much here, since this episode is meant to start us on the Owner's arc. LB sits in the void, afraid. As familiar gibbering/Powers That Be noises follow after him, he panics.

“The worst it can do is kill me. Again. And Again. Forever. WHY CAN'T I DIE?”

[Formatting taken direct from transcript]

One last time, there's the crux of the Lobby Boy's despair. Why is he trapped like this when he's so, SO afraid? Why? Why why? The hopeless wailing and thrashing shared by the guests in their last moments.

We proceed listen to the Lobby Boy having the worst time he's probably ever had when he whimpers and begs “No no no no please no.”

His question is answered by as he's brutally killed by the gibbering creature the Hotel.

(He seems to be dead now though.)

And then the Owner chimes in with the fucking funniest possible line, “Thank you. Dispatching that creature has been long overdue.”

Thanks king. So glad to see you on your hater streak <3

Anyway, that wraps things up for the Lobby Boy's arc. I've never seen a more literal version of the “Man Vs. Self” style of conflict as this, as he grapples and struggles and fights with himself across time.

We get to see the fearful core of his being on full display along with the reasons why he'd be so afraid compared to the other two. Neither the Manager or the Owner are as down in the dirt with the guests, so to speak, as the Lobby Boy is. He embodies the most important aspect of it, the rooms and the killing.

It seems the only way he can get himself to function in that endless cycle is by avoidance, turning himself away from it all. The Owner just doesn't get it. Even though they have so much in common...

Well, that'll be for next time to delve into. See you then friends. Thanks again for reading! :-)

[romaritimeharbor]

Regarding ur repost abt muichiro i totally freaking agree like i just checked out the hashtag 'muichiro x reader' and yeah its full of people simping for him💀 a 14 year old💀💀 Some dont even age him up (not that it matters, its still weird regardless) and still make some suggestive content abt him like brotha eeuh🤢

brother eughghhhhhhh what's that brother 😨😨😨😨😨😨 genuinely how i feel when i scroll through of the tags related to him tbh :(( like guys. please. that is a 14 year old. he is one of the youngest supporting characters in the series. Guys. idc i will never not think that this is insanely icky behavior (unless it's being done by another child. in which case it's whatever but that raises a different concern for me: why is a child writing and posting smut where anyone can see and interact with it? but that's a completely separate and honestly more concerning issue).

[abrahamvanhelsings]

1, 22, 33 for the ask game? 🦇

plus i'm giving you one bonus: be the one to choose 1 question you really want to answer to!

1. who is/are your comfort character(s)? i answered this with edward and dimitri fire emblem before, but probably my og comfort character is from the first 'real' book i read, which is tiuri from 'een brief voor de koning' (letter to the king). there was a netflix adaptation of the book a couple years back, but it was atrocious, and the dutch movie was not much better if i recall, so i really stick to the book. in any case, at the start of the book tiuri is a squire who has to spend one last wake in a chapel before he can be knighted, and none of the squires present are allowed to open the door. but then there comes a knock, and again, and again, and eventually he does open the door bc he worries it is someone in need - and it turns out this person has an incredibly important letter from the king to the king of the neighbouring country, but the knight who needed to deliver it has been attacked and is dying. so the task falls to tiuri, and the journey begins. again, in tiuri we have a very loyal and dutiful person - both to what he thinks is the right thing, to his king, and to his friends. he was really formative to me as a kid and he's always stayed with me in my heart, even if i rarely think about him, like a little talisman of sorts.

22. what type of person are you? coming in with the big questions i see. hmm. my mother always says im an old soul, or a 60-year-old stuck in the body of a young adult. im the kind of person who likes being alone, doing things alone. i don't really like social settings outside of small outings with friends, so parties, festivals, clubs, going for drinks late at night, none of these have ever been my thing. usually im more at ease with animals than people, i have trouble looking people in the eye and interactions with strangers are difficult for me (im great at public speaking, however). social events take more energy than they ever give back. but i may appear loud and somewhat charmingly goofy because i copied a lot of my interaction skills from my mother, who is naturally very extroverted - it's a way to get past the embarrassment. at the same time i am fairly vain and arrogant, which i try not to act upon/show in my words, and i can be very opinionated concerning topics i like or find important. i tend not to mince my words - in fact one of my former employers called me 'disarmingly honest' (as a compliment) on the goodbye card they gave me.

33. the last adventure you’ve been on? hashtag life no im sorry terrible joke. in some ways many things i do for the first time are an adventure in some way to me, bc i often do them alone and it often involves pushing myself to do something i find scary of difficult. i did feel very adventurous when i went mountain biking alone on some norwegian hill last summer while i was on holiday with my family, lmao. idk perhaps the phd is an adventure in and on itself, tho at times it's also torture lbr. finding out more about opera has been something of an adventure tho, in the intellectual, expanding your horizons sense.

10. would you slaughter the rich? *sensually exhales smoke from an imaginary cigarette* ive always thought the guillotine a most elegant contraption

[hornystiel]

hiii again gen z mutual from the other day here, i wanted to let you know that yes i did read everything and enjoyed too!

regarding the issue of using "old" too loosely and using it to make weird ageist comments, i understand your concern and i agree. although i haven't seen that much towards other people in the spn fandom but more towards actors like to wish a happy birthday to them i saw people saying "grandpa" and that was very odd (wasn't on tumblr though). also about your point about how busy adults have time for fandom, the way you wrote that was quite moving and very real.

regarding destiel you had a super insightful answer, which i was not expecting but was super appreciated i'm gonna try to reply slightly more in depth, sorry i don't remember the order but several points were made:

- 40 is absolutely canon dean age and in no way old and dying at any age below like 80 is quite young so yeah absolutely dean is not old

- regarding them getting old and being put in a heteronormative box, i agree on that so much and i hate those stereotypes with a passion too. i will say i get the appeal of the more white picket fence life, the suburban lifestyle or baby jack in art, it's downright delusional but it's the kind of dream that leads to seeing them happy which is heart-warming. thankfully there are wonderful exceptions that are realistic enough to want to indulge in them especially for AUs. i'm not immune to high quality fluff is all

- i LOVED the super realistic headcanons you had for dean and cas and i need you to know how incredibly interesting and CORRECT they are (the cas being too frustrated to garden too real)

long story short: no offense taken i appreciated your in-depth reply and if you read all this you're the hero ;)

(re this convo)

i am genuinely so happy my thoughts didn't look smth like 'old woman yelling at cloud' :') your answer is very sweet, thank you

the 'old' thing i mostly see on twt because here i follow those who'd never say smth like this in an ageist way but well even here some posts like this can still reach my blog through the vine but usually it's people already rightfully grumbling at the op so <3

about destiel - thank you again, usually people don't really like my way of thinking about them or are simply not interested in that (no offense to each their own) and i'm just doing my thing with a close circle of weirdos but sometimes it do be lonely. so you saying you find my thoughts interesting means a lot 💜 and of course, there are works (fics, art etc) that nail even the happy-fluffy-white-fence concepts and i enjoy them despite me not being a fluff loving person really. and sure, aus are literally for this - discovering different paths for the characters and if it's done in a compelling way - cheers

i can talk for a long ass time about all my hcs (hashtag just girl things) it's just i usually don't receive a lot of feedback on them so i keep them to one on one chats mostly, but you're always welcome to ask me stuff or just chat, i love chatting (even tho i guess i can be seen as an angry intimidating person sometimes because...well. i am angry at a lot of things sighhh)

anyway thank you again, i really enjoyed both answering your asks and reading your reply 🌷

[mqfx]

i think i would need to see mqfx in an entirely different light before i would believe they would enjoy being humiliated. possibly because its also just not my thing although i have thought about what must be appealing about it (the joy, the release of understanding that someone sees you as imperfect but is still interested in a relationship with you? the realization that even if someone does believe these things they're saying they still want to at the very least have sex? feel free to correct me if this isnt actually the appeal ive just come to this conclusion on my own)

ANYWAY. i think i'd have to view their squabbling in an entirely different light, like one or both of them doesn't have their heart really in it and are keeping up their side of the argument for pride's sake or! maybe everyday life behaviors have absolutely no connection whatsoever to what one enjoys sexually (<- totally possible, what do i know)

tldr im on your side the fighting might be homoerotic but perhaps not in that flavor exactly

good morning anon <3 i'm awake now (kinda) and my lawyer can't do shit to meeeeeee so let's talk about it

ok for everyone who didn't see the post i deleted, the tldr of what i said was: "i don't think any of the xianle 4 would be into degradation. hc bc he'd kill himself before being mean to xl, xl bc he wouldn't keep a straight face, and mq/fx would literally just argue. on the other hand i think if either mq or fx were somehow sincere enough to tell the other person "you are good" they'd finish too fast (crass! my lawyer disapproved!!) so. can't praise each other bc they'd both like it too much, can't insult each other bc then they'd have to pause sex for a fistfight break. sad!" <- paraphrasing but it was funnier last night

i'm not qualified to address the first thing bc i didn't take kink studies in college (we DID have one, hashtag liberal arts!! but i was busy doing REAL work pestering my old man and drinking in stats class) but that's probably true at least for some people bc everyone always has a different reason for these things. it's subversive, it's pain under control in a safe environment, it's reaffirming, it's addressing trauma, sometimes even self harm so watch out! (sex, like any action, can be detrimental if you're not careful, but that is not the action's fault)

the second thing i CAN address (points to my nametag) SO: i don't think either mq or fx are the type to do anything by halves they're both passionate (fx obviously, mq within the many layers of his artichoke* heart) so i do think every argument they have is real and not just for pride's sake. if either of them didn't wanna argue they just wouldn't and the other guy would be like "um......what's wrong w u 🤨 (concern disguised as suspicion)"

i Wouldn't say that daily life has no connection at all to kinks but that's a discussion i'm not having on my sideblog (tldr: these european fuckos have been arguing about sublimation** and libido longer than i've been alive. Scholar Charlie assumes that whatever doesn't get sublimated finds its way into one's sex life and vice versa but don't quote me on thiiiiiisss i should've taken that damn class fr)

as a sidenote: what we might find hot is not necessarily what the characters might find hot. not to lend personhood to the narrative devices (especially when fanfiction is literally the "play with them like paper dolls" genre of writing) but it's an important distinction to make as readers and writers. like do i think for example that mq's emotional repression and torment is hot? very. do you think He's enjoying it??? jury's out (though with melancholic types one Must assume they derive some relief, even if harmful, from flagellation)

back to the important matter of mqfx's hypothetical sex life: in canon they insult each other in equal measure and there's no one in that situation who is actively/consistently made to feel lower than the other (whether they actually do is incidental). it's not that their squabbles Wouldn't make it to the bed but it simply doesn't count as degradation. argument (equal) ≠ degradation (power dynamic). am i saying it's impossible for them to have ANY S/M thing going on?? also no bc as mentioned before i think mq views Everything as a power struggle, but fx also strikes me as the type of guy who would really really like getting called good boy but he doesn't know this about himself. for that matter mq would probably like some praise too he's just way more roundabout with it

this is aaaaaaallllll a very convoluted way of saying "yes the fighting is still homoerotic, not on the basis of unequal standing but because they're equals. i don't think they specifically find the insult aspect of fighting hot, and in fact some mutual kindess would be nice. would they do it that way though? idk"

ok gotta get ready for smth this took me 2 hours to think. byeeeee

*here i got distracted looking for artichoke facts bc i saw on my gramma's cooking show that it's basically a thistle and it's got a spiny center you gotta scoop out before eating. anyway it's from the mediterranean! so don't use it in canon-compliant fic lol

**death in venice is in that wiki article :( why did my ex-mutual leave meeeeeeeee (<- divorced)

[justforbooks]

What is Lucky Girl Syndrome?

“I just always expect great things to happen to me, and so, they do.” With those words (and more) describing her impossibly charmed life, a 22-year-old TikTok influencer ushered in the “Lucky Girl Syndrome,” a viral trend wherein people (mainly girls and women it would seem) are encouraged to accept that just believing all good things will come to them can make it so. It’s as much positive psychology as it is toxic positivity, depending on who is being asked. Here’s everything you need to know about Gen Z’s obsession with Lucky Girl Syndrome.

Okay, so what, exactly, is Lucky Girl Syndrome?

It’s basically the belief that “affirmative mantras and a positive mindset in life will bend everyday events in your favour,” according to the Washington Post. Its “founder,” New York-based Laura Galebe, gets the “most insane opportunities” thrown at her from, like, everywhere, she explains in her viral clip. “Nothing doesn’t ever go my way.” Thoughts like, “nothing ever works for me,” never enter her mind-set. Lucky Girl Syndrome started trending soon after New Year’s Day. On TikTok, people are crediting the LGS mantra for helping them score raises, amazing apartments, cheap flights. Videos with the #LuckyGirlSyndrome hashtag, the Washington Post reported, “have been watched a collective 149.6 million times.”

Is it new?

Not really. It’s more a Gen Z spin on old concepts like positive manifestations, Vox reports, meaning “the practice of repeatedly writing or saying declarative statements in the hopes that they will soon become true.” TikTok has an uncanny knack of making “even the most stale, ancient ideas seem suddenly urgent using one simple trick: give it a new name,” Vox’s Rebecca Jennings wrote.

Essentially, manifesting hinges on the belief “that we can change and shape our lives just by the way we think,” according to the Newport Institute, a mental health treatment centre for young adults that has produced an FAQ on Lucky Girl Syndrome. Also known as the law of attraction, manifesting “gives us the sense that we can create order in a world that feels chaotic and unpredictable.”

That sounds peachy. Couldn’t we all use more positivity?

Well, yes, studies have found that positive thinking can be a salve for anxiety. It may help bolster the immune system and lower blood pressure. It can make people feel more confident and more resilient.

“There’s nothing against wishing,” said Gabriele Oettingen, a professor of psychology at New York University and author of, Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation. “Our wishes are an expression of our needs, of what we don’t have,” she said. Her own research has shown that “optimistic expectations” help motivate people to work toward achieving goals, and not just click their heels three times.

Positive manifestation, Alyx Gorman wrote in The Guardian, shares some features of positive cognitive behavioral therapy, which focuses on enhancing that which helps people flourish. The difference is, cognitive behavioral therapy is anchored in science.

Still, the notion that if you just wish for something hard enough it will “manifest” itself is a seductive one. It alleviates people of actually having to work at achieving goals.

“As much as we might like to tell ourselves otherwise, we can’t transform our lives, luck and circumstances simply by telling ourselves so really, really hard that we can,” writes Roisin Lanigan in Vice.

“There are going to be, unfortunately, some situations in life that we are not able to manifest and think our way out of,” psychologist Carolyne Keenan told the BBC. “I would be concerned about people being in a situation where maybe that’s not going to be an effective strategy.”

What is it that people don’t like about this?

Lucky Girl Syndrome conveniently glosses over barriers like poverty, and systemic racism and inequalities. An argument could also be made that believing in luck “is an entitled luxury for the privileged,” according to Newport’s national advisor of healthy device management, Don Grant.

Indeed, Lucky Girl has been called “icky,” the “smuggest” TikTok trend yet and “the peak of the internet’s delusional era.” A defiant Galebe challenges her followers to, go ahead, “Try being delusional for a month and tell me if your life doesn’t change.”

Thinking positive thoughts and pushing away self-limiting ones is generally a good thing. Humans have an inherent negativity bias. “Thousands of years ago, our brains were constantly scanning the horizon for threats,” Louisa Jewell, author of Wire Your Brain for Confidence, told Forbes.

“Whether conscious or subconscious, (people’s thoughts and beliefs) strongly affect what we want and whether we succeed in getting it,” Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck told the magazine.

But ignoring reality isn’t helpful for mental well-being. “Trying to manifest change — and failing — can make people feel worse,” according to the Newport Institute.

“(It) triggers disappointment for some whilst others completely lose their confidence,” Lucy Baker, a U.K.-based confidence coach, told the New York Post. Believing one is the “luckiest person on planet Earth and luckier than any other living being can be dangerous.”

Daily inspiration. Discover more photos at http://justforbooks.tumblr.com

[vizthedatum]

On dressing up, getting through life, and doing “the work” in an unjust world

Being the desi queer that I am, I woke up early on menstruation-day-4 and put on a classic ‘90s Bollywood song, “Woh Ladki Jo” (I find that the eponymous lyric that says that this girl is different from everyone ("Woh ladki jo sabse alag hai") very hilarious because I’m all like “I really am not like other girls because I’m not actually a girl. I just love makeup and dressing up regardless of all that”), on repeat, and did my makeup. Put on my girlfriend’s dress. Rolled my eyes at my cramps (and fatigue and breakouts and omfg all the pain). I did a lot of spoon recovery and self-care yesterday: was able to take off work because the schedule was sparse, got a much-needed haircut (the last one was before my defense in April 2021), and basically was horizontal for the rest of the day. Today, I’m much more active - I can feel myself being more genuinely upbeat even though I’m still grieving.

And I’m so upset at the state of the world. I always am.

As Angela Davis says: “Sometimes we have to do the work even though we don't yet see a glimmer on the horizon that it's actually going to be possible.”

I think we should all do something. Anything. Within our limits, sure, but something.

But what work should we be doing?? How do we measure or even justify if we are doing what we can or if it is even going to make a difference? When things are so systematically unjust at so many scales and levels of entrenchment, it’s hard not to get jaded even when you’re outraged at the senseless violence that not only happens in this country but all over the fucking world.

I used to be a part of the DEI group at my old department at Pitt (where I did my Ph.D.). DEI stands for diversity, equity, and inclusion. We were a group of four: two professor-types, one student (me!), and one staff person. We banded together after the murder of George Floyd - many organizations all over the country formed DEI groups. Our department head was SO enthusiastic about it (you know how it goes (paraphrased): “we gotta do something about this!!”) but … only four people signed up. And we were powerless. We came up with ideas and drafted a couple of plans/documents: a proposal, a mission statement, a budget, a failed book club idea (my idea, no surprise), and a contentiously received presentation…. We were largely ignored. There were some programs in place and efforts made to increase diversity but it all was strained. Other people in our department mentioned that the work was hard with little payoff. Others had grand ideas that could not be done without more staffing. No one had the allotted time or energy. Morale was low. And we didn’t have the resources to really conduct investigations into the state of equity or even have the requisite knowledge to educate or bring about change.

Many activists say that DEI groups don’t work. They’re performative, at best.

Performative DEI is perpetuating the problems we face. It is not “the work.” Posting a blackout picture (even though you can! And there is utility and validity in raising awareness and sharing your pain/concern!!) or simply sharing a hashtag without any real follow-through is… not furthering the cause. Having an organization that is isolated from everything else just to have it… is laughably not “the work.” Throwing money at the problem (even though you should donate and support as much as you can) is not just enough.

These are my suggestions (I come from a place of privilege as I type this, and I am open to feedback, criticism, and suggestions):

1. Make a fuss. Call people out: your colleagues and even yourself. Say uncomfortable things. Say “I don’t like it when you comment on my colleague’s hair” or point out the lack of diversity on your team “There are 5 white-passing folks and only one brown person. Hmm, why?” Use your words as best you can and then be humble when corrected on your language. Clearly state that you think your organization is racist or gendered or not inclusive. Call out ableism. Say it in front of your boss. Be emotional. Make it socially uncomfortable. Do it over and over again. Everyday. Risk your job even if you’ll lose it and you’ll be left with nothing - sacrifice is necessary. Make it obvious. Because we are all too complacent and… keeping the peace keeps the oppressive structures in place. 2. Actually make DEI a priority by funding it, hiring more staff, encouraging it at EVERY event, and making it a part of day-to-day operations (how you ask? Idk… why don’t you take the time to figure that out? Cancel meetings and meet about this instead. Scratch your heads and figure it out - it’s not an extracurricular, and it’s not easy. Do it for years! It should be a part of your job, no matter what your job is.). 3. Make real progress on DEI goals. DEI goals should be part of the business plan. Mandate it. Make the goals small and realistic so that they can actually get done. Follow whatever paradigm that will help (e.g., SMART goals). 4. Pay everyone involved. Fairly according to industry standards or whatever. More than just a livable wage, whatever that looks like in your area. This goes along with funding. Require DEI training, regularly. Make it mandatory. Make it so annoyingly part of the training and maintenance of your organization that people talk about it all the time. 5. Have a DEI presence at every level of your organization. Connect the presences. Clearly define any form of accountability metric. Then publicly and obnoxiously showcase those metrics, even if they don’t look good. Especially if they don’t look good. Awareness and “the work” requires us to acknowledge our failures and not just our successes. 6. Keep creating accountability metrics and then redefine them… constantly. Have people relearn what they need to keep track of. 7. Don’t sensationalize DEI. It’s not just an event. It just doesn’t happen when someone gets murdered. Integrate it within your work and your life. Some of us don’t have a choice but to be affected by the inequities of the world… then why do you or your organization have that choice? 8. Don’t be discouraged by a lack of progress. Don’t give up (I did give up because I was fatigued but there were no structures in place to help motivate me. And the people who cared enough to encourage me didn’t have the support either). Don’t give up like me, even if you’re a fatigued POC. And if you feel like you’re drowning and no one is listening, SCREAM. Protest. Figure out a way to get your voice heard.

That’s my call to action. What’s yours?

[blueempty]

Due to several sleeping errors, I forgor

My day was alright outside of my stomach waking me up after 3 hours of comfy sleep, and then me falling asleep for a little too long on the couch at work, which is why I don't think i'm gonna have a new kanji for today. I'll probably just practice some other vocabulary and keep hammering in the first half of my katakana

Like I'm always saying, I dont want to vent here but like, its part of my day ya know. And I'm not upset as I write this its just thoughts in my brain. Btw did you know that overexplaining yourself is an autistic trait? Anyway, I've been thinking about my brain and its problems because my partner has a new work friend who is also autistic, but her and I followed different paths. She seems to be on the Naruto Uzumaki grind of saying exactly what she means and is thinking at all times. The barrier between her and other people made her more forward and blunt, which is probably good. I however went the conflict avoidance route, where I got tired of trying to be understood so I've just spoken less and less over the years. I used to be very social but lately I'm going whole days saying almost nothing to anyone

Its largely because of the specific people I'm around every day, cuz my mom doesnt care about whatever the fuck I'm doing in Onimusha or Splatoon. I've learned what stuff people outside my fixations would be equipped to find interesting. My mom listens, but I dont want to waste her time or bug her while shes working with stuff that isn't relevant to her. And my brother is the most equipped to have conversations with but he's also on a different autism wavelength that seems to be becoming incompatible with mine. Like earlier today I said I was getting really tired of him and our friend being so fuckin negative about everything all the time and then like 2 minutes later he said I was a bitch for paying attention to what skills I have on in Monster Hunter. Something just ain't lining up in our conversations

BUT, thats all to say, my response to that comment wasnt to push the point further, instead I just stopped talking. Because I've learned that he in particular seems to have lost the ability to argue or discuss in good faith when it comes to specific topics. And because of that I sit there and filter everything I think about saying. I have a thought about something in the Splatoon DLC and before i say something I think "my brother doesnt like Splatoon anymore so at best he'll ignore me and at worst I'll get into an argument about whether or not skills are stupid"

So you the reader at this moment may be thinking "this sounds like a problem with you and the 3 people you talk to every day" and you'd be right. But this learned silence has got my ass unsure how to speak in general, so idk how to make new friends or how to interact with old ones. Its quite the pickle oh yes

Again this is literal hashtag thought posting, I'm not trying to complain but this is just stuff thats been on my mind since like January. And now this new friend that my partner has made me think damn I couldve just pivoted into an assertive style autist but I assumed a defensive posture. The human mind truly is fucked and full of terrors

But all that shit aside Dungeon Meshi is amazing, the whole crew is great. I am concerned that I'm getting incorrect localizations on their names cuz i'm reading it on manga dex. So I've just been calling the hobbit Chalk. I'm on chapter 15 now I think. Kensuke is my MVP right now I love that little guy

And finally the moment youve been waiting for yes its true I only have 4 weapons left to go in Side Order. I was spoiled on the name of Eights pallette weapon and it didnt tell me anything but it made me want to get it as soon as possible to see what the fuck it is

My partner also brought me a big sammich at work and it was good. I lob her

Peace and Long Life

[wishiwasaplatypus]

Hello

Well, I am not really sure who I am writing to, but this introduction is just so that I can outline what this blog will be about, my plans, and document my journey along the way. I plan on being as honest as I can, writing my innermost thoughts so that I can look back on them in the future. I will be concealing my identity for the sole reason that it doesn't get discovered by the people in my life. (not that they're avid Tumblr users but you never know :P)

I am hoping it continues for a long long time.

A little info about me:

I am 25 years old and graduated with a design degree in 2020. And since then I have been bouncing around here and there without anything solid. I plan on doing my master's in Business Administration from a top institute but for that, I need to qualify for an exam and this year would be my third attempt. The reason I have started this blog is that I have been struggling with keeping myself motivated, spending days and days in bed, without an ounce of passion or zeal (I mean, I ain't surprised that I am here). This will be an attempt to keep me on track, document my journey along the way, and accomplish our goals.

To be honest, I am concerned about my future. But there is a weird optimism too, that some way or the other, it'll all work out.

Things I plan on posting on this blog which would be found under the hashtag in the parenthesis:

detailed monthly/weekly (as required) to-do lists (#to-do lists)

check-ins on every 3rd day (#check in day)

accomplishments (#accomplishments)

things I did [it is a journal after all, lol] (#story time)

random thoughts/musing/realizations (#musings)

month-end review (#month end review)

Final words: let's achieve our goals and dreams. let's do this. I can do this. LETZZ GET THIS BREAD