#let's kill addictive algorithms

[theoutcastrogue]

HOW TO TUMBLR

Unlike other social media platforms, on tumblr you can decide what to see and what NOT to see on your dash. You are not bound to an algorithm that makes that decision for you. However, this unique feature is NOT DEFAULT any more, you need to set it up. It’s a bit of a hassle if you’re on an app, but you only have to do it once, and it’s 100% worth it.

[Y’ALL, I NEED YOUR HELP TO MAKE THIS POST MORE USEFUL. I’ve stayed away from apps myself, so I can only give proper instructions for the web. If you’ve seen posts with the same instructions for iOS and Android, or if you can make such a post, and especially if you got screenshots (my goal is to make this as easy as possible for newbies), please send a link my way. Thanks!]

1. Algorithm begone

Tumblr’s “algorithm” isn’t remotely like facebook’s, but it still involves decisions you didn’t make. The option “Best stuff first” was an especially bad move that upset many artists, whose posts suddenly got buried and whose activity plummeted. Here’s how to fix this.

WEB:

click on the little person icon on the top of the screen to your right

go to Settings

go to Dashboard

scroll down to Preferences, and toggle to deselect “Best Stuff First”, “Include stuff in your orbit”, “Include ‘Based on your likes!’”, and “Include followed tag posts” [I suggest to deselect the last one because tumblr chooses which posts from your followed tags to show you, and that’s a decision you didn’t make; you can always look for tags normally]

2. Begone ads and unsolicited recommendations

Install the ad blocker add-on UBlock Origin on your Firefox. If your browser is Chrome, it is STRONGLY suggested you first switch to Firefox, for privacy but also because Chrome is out to get ad blockers, so that won’t work for long.

And/or you can install the XKit Rewritten add-on, which has a number of useful features (Quick Reblog most of all), including “Anti-Capitalism” which hides advertisement containers. This is probably redundant if you have a proper ad blocker, and also slower (X-Kit loads all these elements and then hides them, the ad blocker kills them faster), but I’m not opposed to redundancies when it comes to ads and privacy.

XKit also has a “No Recommended” feature, so you can focus only on what you follow. can You replicate this via UBlock Origin’s Block Element feature, but that’s a bit advanced for the purposes of this guide, so while I do suggest it I won’t elaborate here.

3. Unlock all content

By default, tumblr has to assume (because laws and monopolies etc) that you have the maturity of a small child, and it will therefore hide some content from you without asking you. Here’s how to fix this.

WEB:

go to Settings, as before

scroll down to “Community Labels” and select “Show” for all (current labels are Mature, Drugs and alcohol addiction, Violence, and Sexual themes)

in the same section, toggle to deselect “Hide additional potentially mature content”

ANDROID:

see this post for instructions wrapped in a rant on how needlessly complicated this process is, and see here for tumblr’s Help Center article on Community Labels; on the app it looks like this

Afterword

These were instructions for how to liberate your dashboard from external meddling by letting all content (except ads) through. The cool thing is you can also choose what to NOT let through. In your Settings you can filter tags, and you can filter content. You can choose to blur or hide Community Labels (but keep in mind that’s a brand new feature, and how it goes will depend on how the user base adopts it; it’s safe to say it doesn’t work well yet). More importantly, you can choose who to follow, who not to follow, and who to block altogether.

You can and indeed should curate your dashboard, and decide for yourself what appears there. (With the understanding that no matter what you do or anyone else does, stuff will slip through, and it’s not the end of the world. You have tools to make that happen less and less. That’s feasible. Completely and preemptively isolating yourself from stuff you don’t like is NOT feasible, on any platform. So please manage your expectations.)

[northwest-cryptid]

I believe I've finally figured out why this website feels so exhausting to me. It's a few reasons but they all sort of funnel down into the same sort of "overall thing" which is that you're not allowed.

Allowed to what? Anything.

No no, stay with me a moment here let me explain.

See Tumblr doesn't really have an algorithm outside of the "For You" tab, everything you see is funneled into your dash through the people you follow, and by extension the people they follow, and then their dashboard is populated by the people they follow. What this means is that you don't have a lick of real privacy here.

That's true for most of the internet, however if I make my own website, host my own blog; and write my own thoughts and opinions there. It's a pretty clear concept that what I'm writing is mostly for me, secondarily for you as the reader; and ultimately not for "everyone" which is fine.

What we have on tumblr is essentially a huge open forum, where anyone can add anything; to any post. Which isn't inherently the issue, but you've got so many smaller fandoms, communities, and politically aligned groups who believe whatever the hot topic of the week is.

Which, for all the nuance people want to put forth in issues like "do you like coffee" becoming "I only like certain kinds" or "I only like certain flavors" or "I only like it cold!" Suddenly becomes a no nuance "no actually coffee is bitter." If you dare to say "well not all coffee is bitter" you're labeled with "oh look they said #Not All Coffee!" You're sent anon hate, you're ridiculed and dragged through the mud for stating something. It doesn't matter how right you might be either, if it's not popular to side with you; people won't do so.

Obviously my coffee question metaphor is a sort of blanket example that is meant to encompass a broader topic of discussion. We don't talk about the nuance of issues, everything is black and white; and furthermore people act like they want to.

But because it's an open forum for everyone, someone from an opposing side of the argument, or someone who doesn't like what you're saying or how much attention it's getting; can easily toss in their two cents.

Your only option to stop this? Disable reblogs from everyone, stop the conversation with you. Isolate yourself to the point using SOCIAL media is all but pointless. I have enjoyed using this website significantly less after having to turn off asks and submissions, but can you blame me when I was actively getting hate and annoying remarks on the daily?

Now normally I'd argue "hey if that many people don't like me maybe I'm doing or saying something wrong!" Thing is, it's not like I've not reflected on that; when I get some form of hate, I tend to do my best to ignore the actual hate and focus on what's trying to be said under the layers of "go kill yourself." Typically it's "I don't like what you're saying" or "you said too much and I didn't bother reading it all because I have TikTok brain!" However there's a handful of times when people actually do explain their side of the argument politely and I can sort of learn that this isn't the place to talk about certain things.

Like when I openly talk about how porn addiction isn't real, I get a lot of people saying they themselves are victims of it. Yea fam I thought I used to be as well, and then I educated myself about what addiction really is; and understood the nuance of the situation:

To put it plainly, addiction is when your brain chemistry is physically changed in a way where you form a genuine dependency on the substance that changed it. This change can be temporary or permanent; which means something like coffee can be actually addicting since it can even temporarily make you dependent on the caffeine to function.

However, did you know; that there's literally no way to change your brain chemistry with pornography? Yea believe it or not, that's a total myth. That being said it's not a myth that masturbation does release dopamine and generally can help people suffering from a lack of dopamine; typically this involves people who are depressed.

This is a two fold thing, since if you're not literally ace your brain likely produces hormones that tell you that you're supposed to be reproducing; which means it will more easily motivate you to masturbate than say, play a video game or listen to music.

You brain isn't just concerned with producing dopamine, it's just hardwired for survival of the species; so you can easily get yourself to jack off but god forbid you try to do something fun with your time. Depression is just sort of like that; you lack the motivation to do much of anything, so falling back on masturbation for a quick hit of dopamine is easy.

Now this causes a feedback loop where you find the easiest, and most effective method of keeping yourself happy is to watch porn and jack off. That's not a clinical addiction; that's just literally the nature of your brain at work.

Why do I say all of this? Because this is the sort of thing I can't talk about on this site; not without 50 random anon messages either agreeing with me or telling me this is a women's issue and I shouldn't talk on it "as a man." Which is fun because I thought we were all supportive of LGBT but it turns out I'm not a valid NB because I don't shave my facial hair or something.

We don't discuss the nuance, we don't actually bother to read and understand what each other have to say; we just get mad about shit constantly. How dare you have an opinion that I don't have.

We say buzz words are bad, but then we use buzz words when they benefit us.

We say generalization is bad when it applies to the LGBT, or PoC but you know; those white people and cis and christians are all the same... right?

Talking on this site is like walking through a mine field; my mutuals might politely just go about their day, or maybe even agree with me. God forbid my post "breach containment" I start getting messages from people I don't even know. People start commenting and reblogging on my posts to yell at me about shit I literally covered already.

I can literally say "I don't think this is bad, but I think it's a bit more nuanced than this and we need to look at it from this angle too" and I'll get comments saying "I can't believe you think this is bad!" To which I just kind of sit there wondering how you somehow couldn't be fucked to actually read what I said and understand it.

I know we joke about the reading comprehension on this site, but I am serious when I say people will READ what I say; but not COMPREHEND what I say. I didn't understand how or why that was happening for a long time and now I think I finally get it.

It's because this site is all about knee-jerk emotional reaction response.

Don't tell me it's not, think about it; every time someone on this site needs help or financial aid what are the first words you see?

Typically it's some form of their entire label chain "help a lesbian, genderfluid, PoC, with [Disabilities] pay rent!" Not just "Hey I lost my job and need help paying my bills" Like dude I'd help if I could in either scenario but when you lead in with literally like 10 random labels I have to wonder if maybe you're trying to say "we're the same you and I, we come from the same community" or if you're trying to say "you get woke points for helping ME because I'm not just some cis white straight guy!" It feels like borderline guilt tripping.

When we see posts about how "love language" is fake, I'm literally told "it was invented by some CHRISTIAN MAN so he could PRESSURE his POOR WIFE into SEX!" Like whoa boy that's one hell of a claim; even if it's true that's still a bit of an emotionally charged statement you know?

It's like, well sure; I'd love to talk about how the concept of love languages isn't entirely false. To say that is to ignore that people love in different ways, and feel loved in different ways. Let's not even get me started, as someone who became hypersexual thanks to being sexually abused (and yes I am in fact amab, and was in fact groomed by a cis woman when I was a minor; and she was a 26 year old in the navy. Later I was again sexually abused by a cis woman when I was a few years older.) On the topic of the whole "people pressure others into sex saying it's the only way they feel worth and love." Like alright yea let's literally not perhaps look into that trauma response and maybe try to help these people live normal lives.

It's the same way I see people talk about pornography. They go off about the porn industry being extremely horrible towards women. Which like, yea it absolutely can be; and mostly is. There's no mention of the way we view men, and how the way the media portrays men is just as harmful to young boys with self esteem issues and all that. We don't talk about how stupid the idea of dick size mattering is; no we in fact reinforce negative amab issues by saying "that's small dick energy bro" and the like. You bring that up and people will say you're ignoring women's issues; absolutely the fuck I'm not? I'm just trying to make you aware the problem is actually larger than just that. "Oh but we're just focusing on this right now" right, that's fine; but you're literally ignoring the other problems.

It's like how when people bring up how there's bans on pornography or, how people view pornography we always have to make it about how this effects the LGBT before people care. We go around saying "sex work is real work" but then we also go "these poor women on OnlyFans who are FORCED to do sex work need to be saved uwu" meanwhile I know a LOT of women who enjoy doing work on OnlyFans, and who hit me up to be their manager because I have a reputation as being a chill dude who can help them grow their numbers. I have a lot of connections in NSFW spaces and yes believe it or not sex work IS in fact real work; which is why like we should probably actually focus on the real industry problems. The women and even men being harmed by this are not typically your OnlyFans indies; but your industry people.

This is like how if I bring up the stigma on pornography I'm labeled poorly for it, I'm told I'm misogynistic which like, I don't believe I am; but believe it or not I have done a lot of self reflection on it. I even went around to a lot of women I know and sat down with them to talk about whether or not they believed I was misogynistic or if I had some form of unnoticed internalized misogyny. Do you know what those women (and yes, some were in fact; as we say here on tumblr transwomen) had to tell me? They literally told me that I need to chill the fuck out and get off tumblr because it was only contributing to my anxiety.

You're not allowed to talk about things on this site, because you're not allowed to be wrong. You're not allowed to grow and change, you're not allowed to have a flawed opinion that needs to be workshopped with some other people who could talk with you on the subject. You're not allowed to be given kindness, you're not allowed to speak up on issues that matter to you.

It's how I speak up on Native issues, even more specifically sometimes Lakota issues. Only to have other Natives and even other Lakota disagree with me; and then a bunch of their followers dogpile into my inbox to tell me how stupid and wrong and bad I am for having lived the experience of being a "breed" back during a time when racism in Native communities was much more rampant than it still is.

On this site you're told how bad and wrong and sad it is, that we as people have been reduced to being "content creators" who have to make the most palatable entertainment for the masses. Then you speak to a niche, say something about your lived experience; or simply have an opinion and whoops there it is. You're now public enemy number 1, all those posts about how it's rotten and evil and wrong to tell someone to kill themself? That doesn't matter anymore, not to the dozens of anons in your inbox who have found "slightly more creative ways" to say the same thing.

You either get to be an aesthetics blog, who never has an opinion, or a voice of their own; and you get to keep your ask box open and enjoy being toted around as a good person and shit. Or you speak your mind and immediately get labeled by someone as something.

Tumblr is no better than twitter in this regard, it's no better than reddit; it's not even any better than 4chan if I'm being honest. We just really don't want to admit that because there ARE a handful of us who are genuinely just chill people trying to enjoy blogging and staying in our lane. The problem comes when other people decide they're going to merge into oncoming traffic without so much as a turn signal because they revel in the discourse.

It sucks because I cannot tell you how valuable discussion and such is to me. I cannot tell you how many times I've come out here and said my piece, spoke my mind; and someone has politely come out to the post to mention things from their own angle. We have a back and forth, maybe we both learn something. I walk away with information I didn't have before, and they do as well. It's a way for us to see things from someone else's perspective. We're all unique individuals, we all have different lived experiences; we all know stuff other's do not. I value that information, the interaction we're allowed to have as human beings who can communicate.

This website however does not.

It feels strongly like this website merely wants to tell me to shut up and kill myself.

But hey, don't worry I'll probably reblog a funny video of a cat; or wholesome anime picture; or a funny meme in 2 minutes and we'll all just move on with our day.

[mobileappdevelopmentsolution]

6 Top-Performing Entertainment Apps in Social Media

In today’s digital world, Social Media Apps has become the epicenter of entertainment. But with new apps launching everyday, how do you know which ones truly delight users? We’re fascinated by dissecting what makes an entertainment app successful.

Let’s discuss six of the top-performing entertainment apps on social media platforms based on user statistics. Understanding what makes these apps so popular can help other developers create successful social entertainment experiences.

Top Entertainment Apps on Social Media

Now let’s dive deeper into why each app hooks users…

TikTok:

With over 1 billion monthly active users, TikTok is one of the most addictive entertainment apps today. Its “For You” feed leverages an uncannily accurate recommendation algorithm to serve up an endless stream of tailored short videos. Users quickly get lost scrolling through funny sketches, dances, viral challenges, and more.

TikTok also democratizes entertainment by making it easy for anyone to create. Built-in effects, sounds, and editing features let users make high-quality videos in minutes. This powers viral trends as millions recreate and riff on popular ideas. Hashtag challenges in particular spread like wildfire between creators and fans. No wonder professionals now strategize #marketing campaigns around TikTok.

YouTube

YouTube is the internet’s largest video library with over 2 billion monthly logged-in users. It contains videos on every topic imaginable, from music and comedy to tutorials and podcasts. YouTube has become the default place people go to be entertained, educated, or simply to kill time.

Features like subscriptions, playlists, and recommendations keep users coming back. The platform is also accessible across devices and integrates well with other social media sites.

For creators, YouTube provides monetization opportunities through ad revenue sharing.

Twitch

Twitch is a live streaming Social Media App development with over 2 million daily active users. It initially focused on video game live streams but has since expanded to include other topics like music, sports, talk shows, and cooking. The interactive nature of live streams allows influencers to engage directly with their audience in real-time through chat. Users can subscribe to support streamers and gain access to exclusive perks.

Key features like stream raids and gifted subs have cultivated a vibrant culture. The “just chatting” category has especially popularized Twitch as a social space.

Instagram Reels

Instagram Reels allows users to create and share 15 to 30 second multi-clip videos with audio, effects and creative tools. Launched in 2020, it has quickly become one of the main entertainment formats on Instagram with engagement rates often surpassing Feed and Stories.

Its TikTok-style features give it viral potential while its integration within Instagram allows it to leverage the existing user base and social graph. Over 50% of Instagram users now post reels highlighting its massive growth. Brands have also flocked to Reels to reach younger audiences with entertaining and engaging content.

Snapchat Discover

Snapchat Discover offers users bite-sized entertainment from top publishers. Partnered media companies create visual Stories optimized for mobile that range from 5 to 20 snaps.

Covering both serious and lighthearted topics, Discover provides an easy way for Snapchatters to keep up with news, learn new things, and pass time without leaving the app.

Over 20 million users view Discover content each month. Features like Fresh Updates keep the content timely while personalization algorithms show users relevant Discover channels.

For publishers, the vertical full screen format provides an immersive place to engage an audience.

Reddit — r/entertainment

R/entertainment is one of the most popular communities on Reddit for entertainment lovers. Users discuss and share the latest news about movies, TV shows, celebrities, music and other entertainment topics.

The highly engaged nature of Reddit communities leads to lively discussions, funny takes and thoughtful analysis. Members get a pulse on what’s buzzworthy while participating in a social experience. Reddit’s upvote system surfaces the most interesting and relevant content.

Features like AMAs also provide access to celebrities and entertainment pros. For many, r/entertainment has become a daily destination for all things entertainment.

Conclusion

The Keys to Winning Entertainment App development

After analyzing these top entertainment apps, we see several success factors emerge:

Highly personalized feeds

Interactive and social elements

Bite-sized or easy-to-consume content formats

Features that drive virality and sharing

Strong communities with engaged users

These principles are key for entertainment app developers seeking the spotlight.

At Consagous Technologies, our award-winning Entertainment App development service leverages insights like these to craft digital experiences that capture attention.

Reach out to our mobile app development company to bring your creative entertainment app vision to life.

[mushi-shield]

[Verse 1] Humans been controlled since the day that they was civilized The truth has been so heavily politicized If you don't who's controllin' you and killin' all the little guys Find out who you're not allowed to criticize Black folks who were never ever actual slaves Fighting with white folks who ain't actual Nazis Controlled by rich folks who use the news to make hate While elite folks control all the political parties It's a big lie, tryna make you pick sides Tryna make you burn the cities down and kill each other, they got sick minds Big lies, dеfund the police so that therе's big crime Then take away our freedom to restore order they let die Play with people, turn men into women Make the counterculture mainstream to mix up the system Change the pronouns, if gender is a spectrum, so is privilege I know poor white folks and black celebrities with millions They starve you wit' a lack of information And only give you facts through a branded corporation Distort your worldview with an algorithm that changes Based on propaganda curated for your engagement [Chorus] We can't be free (No!) Can't have no peace 'til we're on the same team But y'all are sheep (Oh!) Glued to screens, just part of the machine Y'all are sheeple, what do y'all believe? To all my sheeple, nothing's what it seems

[Verse 2] Hollywood been rottin' your brain, controllin' your mouth You say "Lit", "Fleet", "Bet", "Cap", they tryna dumb you down They endorse whatever narrative is popular to shout And use minorities in movies for diversity clout Two sides on the spectrum, but ain't none of 'em honest Took the red pill and the blue pill, spit 'em both in the garbage Bein' woke used to mean you understood you're a target And now it's havin' two good legs and never takin' a step forward If you agree, it's free speech, disagree, it's hate speech Erase it if it came from anywhere except the mainstream Trump supporters labeled as the racists, but that can't be Lincoln was Republican, and that's who ended slavery Science been politicized, it's easy to see A mask became a symbol of which side you believe But you'll never cure a sickness 'til you cure all the greed 'Cause the problem with our natural immunity is it's free Society is broke and want you locked inside a cubicle Addicted to pornography, liquor, and pharmaceuticals Tell you that you're fat and poor and you were never beautiful Then tweet how much they love you when they hear about your funeral [Chorus] We can't be free (No!) Can't have no peace 'til we're on the same team But y'all are sheep (Oh!) Glued to screens, just part of the machine Y'all are sheeple, what do y'all believe? To all my sheeple, nothing's what it seems

[Verse 3] If they can't convince you they confuse you, they want you dumb or dead They divided you by race, religion, income, and sex Made everybody right or left, the hatred got so intense If the other side likes oxygen, you'll put a bag on your head And the conspiracy theories labeled as misinformation It's just the terrifying truth that scares the hell out the nation The system treating you like trash and you got rifles to aim with Just imagine how they'll treat you when your guns get confiscated George Orwell, 1984 was his last lecture George called 'em "thought police", now we call 'em fact-checkers Government surveillance tryna catch you, they don't ask questions Mass incarceration equals capital for cash investments The system isn't broke, it's workin' fine Oppressive and chaotic is how it was designed They say, "If we ain't doin' nothin' wrong, there's nothin' to hide" While their agenda and intelligence completely classified They don't teach you rights in school, you never learned 'em at all 'Cause they're easy to remove if you don't know what they are The only people you can rule are the criminal ones So they force you into corners 'til you're breakin' the law [Chorus] We can't be free (No!) Can't have no peace 'til we're on the same team But y'all are sheep (Oh!) Glued to screens, just part of the machine Y'all are sheeple, what do y'all believe? To all my sheeple, nothing's what it seems

[doiefy]

nct dream playing league of legends

ok so this is completely self-indulgent because i finally got a new computer and can properly play league again ahfjkhfjh. a quick rundown for anyone who hasn’t played the game:

the objective is to destroy the nexus in the enemy team’s base, which can be reached through three different lanes.

top lane: brawlers and fighters mid lane: assassins and mages bot lane: one marksman and one support jungle: neutral camps 

some other terms cs: creep score, number of minions killed in lane kda: kill, death, assist ratio gank: going into another lane to flank the enemy

mark: “nice job bro”

the reliable jungler. or at least, he tries to be. 

will constantly come help you if you're getting beat up in lane. laughs when his ganks fail but will hype you up when it works.

always lets you get the kill and apologizes profusely if he accidentally steals it.

forgets that dragons exist “oh wait dude, dragon was up?? FUCK WAIT THAT WAS ELDER”

he'd play rammus, nunu and zac, literally all the wholesome, funny characters. memorizes their voice lines and repeats them while he clears his camps. 

would quite literally die for willump. if he dies and hears nunu say “no! don’t leave me, willump!” he’ll go on a muderous rampage when he respawns. 

renjun: "GET ME OUT."

the mage midlaner who’s hardstuck in silver and can’t get out.

the ranked matchup algorithm hates him and puts him with an entire team of trolls.

at first he refused to play the game, but somehow got addicted overnight. hates the game.

preaches against the objectification of sexy female characters and bonks evelynn to horny jail whenever he sees her. 

a farming and skillshot GOD. perfect cs even under tower, lands everything and people think he’s scripting. 

plays mage assassins like ahri and leblanc, artillery mages like lux and xerath.

refuses to spend money on the game and relies on skin shards. 

mass reports everyone he doesn’t like. you didn’t say gg to him? reported

jeno: "ggwp <3"

the wholesome top laner who beats people up and then friend requests them at the end of the game.

looks tough, has a deep username, so people are scared of him. in reality he’s just having fun

has the most wholesome emotes. 

while everyone’s casually laning, he’ll already be in the enemy base at 20 minutes, 1v5ing and singlehandedly ending the game.

sends cute faces in all chat as if he doesn’t have a perfect kda and can beat your ass to the moon. 

probably plays sett, malphite (oh god), gwen, renekton... probably has the patience for nasus too. 

never fucking pings before he teleports but it somehow works out. 

haechan: *aggressively pings enemy missing*

TOXIC ASSASSIN MAIN CHANGE MY MIND.

he’s good, has good mechanics, but usually ends up getting way too cocky after two kills, constantly dies while diving the enemy.

spams pings on people and emotes whenever he gets a kill.

plays teemo just to be a little shit.

istg he’d play zed, yasuo, yone, katarina, all the assassins. “you need skill to play yasuo.” proceeds to go 0/20/1

streams his games on twitch and accidentally sends the link in all chat so the enemy can stream snipe him.

either he carries or he’s useless.

takes special game modes just as seriously for some reason ?? buddy calm down it’s just super mario party

anyways i love you donghyuck <3

jaemin: "you're doing great sweetie. just fucking amazing."

the passive aggressive support main and i stand by that.

likes the pretty champions and will buy ONLY pink skins and chromas, even if it’s for a champion he doesn’t play. pink warwick?? hell yeah

pretends he’s proud of you even if he’s completely, utterly done with your dumbass. 

the passive aggressive, disappointed comments like “you need me to get that cannon for you? no? you can do it yourself? andddd you missed it. nice job sweetie. we just lost 60 gold.”

lets people play ranked with him even if they’re bad and then he has to smile through the pain of demotions.

plays champs like yuumi, lulu, janna, morgana.

will play yuumi and do nothing just to spite you. “sorry you died but my heal is on cooldown.”

is really sweet sometimes though <3

chenle: "i got autofilled."

unbothered king. 

he can play every role pretty decently, and gets experimental with his champion picks. like he’ll take a mage into the jungle and somehow get away with it, or play a support against a brawler and beat them up ??

just laughs at everyone’s pain and doesn’t really care about his rank.

secretly owns thirty smurf accounts. 

has the dumbest ideas like selling all his items and buying 6 mana crystals.

will somehow get the entire team to partake in said dumb idea; in other words, jisung’s worst nightmare.

dances in lane while his team is fighting. “GUYS LOOK AT ME.” “chenle DO SOMETHING.” 

again, he plays e v e r y t h i n g

also streams on twitch and makes a whole army to bring donghyuck down.

jisung: "my entire team is dead and they think it's my fault."

the stressed support main.

he’s good at the game but can’t possibly save his entire dumbass team from certain death.

ends up having to fight tooth and bone on his own while the rest of his team is dead. 

always calling the shots but no one listens to him so he just talks to himself instead, “guys, stop splitting up- oh and they’re all dead. k i’m gonna go over here.”

plays engage tanks like nautilus, leona and blitzcrank. engages the wrong enemy and gets yelled at. 

refuses to play ranked with anyone. not even renjun. n o  o n e. trust no one. 

ends up playing tft, the autochess of league. because at least it’s every man for himself. somehow climbs to diamond. 

[lsholland]

𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐄 (𝐓𝐨𝐦 𝐇𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝)

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐈 - "𝐇𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠?"

Word count: 3.7k

tw: addictions (alcohol, drugs), swearing, disease, murder...

genre: psychological thriller / suspense / drama

Synopsis: Tom Holland is Hollywood's #1 celebrity and is adored all around the world. But this rise to fame hasn't been easy for him. With fame comes his own demons: addiction issues, a relationship that's about to end and...he doesn't know it yet, but he's about to kill an innocent woman. How is he going to get through it?

You can also read it on Wattpad.

Reblogs and comments are appreciated :)

"Tom! Tom!!! TOM!!!" shouts a woman in a black hoodie among a hysterical crowd of young boys and girls trying to get this man's attention. "PLEASE!!! I love you so much" her voice crackles, she's sobbing in despair.

He stops walking and stands right in front of her, a sharpie pen between his fingers and an unnatural grin on his face. Even though these people claim they love him, he's tired of them. It's something with the drama, the screams, and the perpetual inconsideration that drains his energy. His straight face says it all, if only they weren't obsessed with his looks, he'd be pleased to spend time with them. But he knows he's just an object of their fantasies. He forces a smile, or something close to it, and accepts to take a picture with her. He stands next to her, his arms in his back, his fingers intertwined and shakily holding the pen, glancing at the camera lens, lost in his thoughts. His body is present in the moment, but his mind is thousands of kilometres away in the universe that is his brain.

And she's so happy to finally have that precious picture that her smile shows all her impeccable teeth; she's sweating and rapidly breathing and laughing with the same high-pitched voice as everyone else; she's just a typical fangirl. All her friends gather around her and whisper as if they were hiding a secret from an alien.

And onto the next one. Same hysteria, same cry for help, miserable for his attention. She hands him a picture of him in a Spider-Man suit and asks for an autograph while she's filming the scene with her brand-new iPhone.

It has to do with the way they treat him. The way they pretend he doesn't notice their weird behaviour. The way they simply believe he's not a human being. That he must be good-looking, happy, nice, and funny all the time.

"We've gotta go" says his assistant as he presses his shoulder with his hand. Tom looks at him with relief and closes his eyes for a second. He lets out a sigh as a soft smile appears on his angelic face.

"A'ight, I'm sorry guys" he apologises, but that's not enough. Many of them start crying and push through the thin barrier to get a hold of him; like monsters that haven't been fed, like addicts when you can't provide their usual dose of drugs. They look so disappointed and hopeless; leaving now would reduce all his efforts to dust. Keeping a good image and reputation is the key. He doesn't want to be hated.

Guilt rushes through him like a thrill; he glances at his watch and gulps. He gives them another 5 minutes for pictures, autographs, and hugs. Even if he's late. Even if he's going to miss his interview. Because he owes his success to them; or at least he thinks he does.

And when he goes into the back seat of this huge black SUV with no registration plate, he slams the door shut and . . . Peace. Finally, the moment he's been waiting for. The pressure leaves his body like a bubble burst. He sighs and relaxes his muscles, his head falling back on the seat. His eyes are closed; he doesn't say a word for the whole ride. His time alone is so rare and valued.

And when they arrive in front of that gigantic building to pass this final interview, Tom prepares to show his usual bright smile and pretends he's happy. Nobody notices what's hidden in his gaze. But his eyes are telling the truth. His eyes show how hopeless he is. But nobody dares looking into his soul. They only see the superficial layer, the mask he puts on every day. Because nobody knows who he is. Nobody cares about him.

It's so much simpler to ignore sadness in other people. We just tend to believe only good moments are worth sharing. We just pretend we're happy all the time because that's what everyone else does. And why would he show his sadness anyway? He has it all: a girlfriend, loads of money, a caring family, success . . . What can he be sad about?

The interview is done, Tom is in the car, cruising in the city. He's finally going home after a long, tiring, and stressful day.

He unlocks his phone and checks his text messages. They're plain and all related to his fame or his work. All his conversations are so self-centred. What are his plans? What does he like? And what's his opinion on this subject? He, he, him, him, again and again!

He's so tired and wants to be entertained. This empty space laying in his heart and brain becomes bigger and bigger. It's become harder to ignore it, especially when he's alone like tonight. Besides, he's too used to entertain others that he almost forgets what it's like to be passive and watch people do things. As if the world revolved around him.

Here we go. Instagram. The most toxic of all social media platforms. He scrolls through pictures of his friends. The famous ones on red carpets or photoshoots; the anonymous ones a drink in their hands. They're all so superficial. All the same. And the algorithm showing him pictures fans have taken of him earlier today . . . Icing on the cake. Why would he watch this? He doesn't need it. But he decides to read what the fans say, because he's curious. Or because he's obsessed with what people think of him. He needs to be known, loved, remembered, at the centre of attention – adored. He wouldn't need to sell his soul to the devil because it's already in him, and he's now paying the price of this sin.

The fans he met earlier, who were so happy to finally see their idol, were bullying him on social media. They aren't even aware of it. All these people objectifying him, posting pictures of his family – invading his privacy – and saying he can't 'write' or 'walk' or do anything properly because he's just human. They say they are joking except it's not funny. Tom's feelings are hurt, again. He should have written 'you're' instead of 'your', he should have noticed there was a hole in the grass and not trip . . . These images are roaming in his brain like a car's spinning wheels when you brake at 60 miles per hour; the pressure of the tyres scratching your mind, and the intrusive thoughts that can't be stopped like the wheel. Ever. And you eventually hit the wall.

He glances at the rear-view mirror and see his driver focused on the traffic lights. He glances around to make sure no paparazzi is watching and takes a flask out of his back pocket. His trembling hands poorly hold it, but he needs to drink something to feel better; to feel energised. He spills his boose on the leather seats and sighs with annoyance. Grabbing his hoodie feels like lifting the weight of the world; he manages to wipe it off and savours the sweet taste of vodka. Just one sip can't hurt.

That's how you know it's too late.

"Do you really need it?" says the assistant in the front passenger seat who caught him.

"It's just a drink" Tom replies instantly, frowning his eyebrows.

"I'm just worried about you, you know" he adds as he turns around and looks at him in his eyes.

"There's nothing to worry about," Tom mumbles as he feels relaxed "I can stop if I want to."

"If you say so . . ."

And even the people surrounding him day and night aren't trying to help him. Everyone's aware he's slowly getting addicted and is wasting his potential, everyone but the fans. Everyone pretends to love him, but nobody truly cares. They're just after his money, power, and fame . . .

It's like watching him tiptoeing on the deck's edge of a ferry and being shocked when he eventually falls off in the unforgiving cold, dark sea.

He smiles when the car stops in front of his London house. That's the only place where he feels like he can truly be himself. Or the last of it. After all, who is he really? Spider-Man? An actor that pleases 13-year-old girls? A failure? An impostor? Or no one at all?

What happened to the young boy who was excited about everything and anything? What happened to the one who used to laugh more than he'd breathe?

He is torn. He can't love anymore. He's had many girlfriends, each one more famous and beautiful than the last, but they couldn't bring him back to life. He truly loved them though. He felt good with them and always thought they were a match until he messed up. Making up a behaviour so they'd leave him because he's not strong enough to quit. Because he is just like this. A kid who can't handle success.

He currently has a girlfriend. Everyone loves her. He thinks she's too good for him though. Too beautiful, too clever, and maybe too famous. He feels like she's achieving much more than he is and that scares him. He can't even make love to her without feeling like he's not worth it. So, he ignores her calls, takes days to reply to a text, becomes cold as stone, distant, and unstable. This is how cowards break up. But she holds on to him.

Once he gets home, he sits on his couch and starts watching TV. His stomach is empty; he hasn't eaten all day but the only thing he wants is to drink more. It's like a voice in his brain that takes control of his body. He sees everything but can't do anything about it. The smell, the thirst, the mind that can't think of anything else. His hands are shaking, breathing becomes uneasy, he's uncomfortable in his own skin; he's a stranger to himself until he drinks. He's desperately waiting for someone to help him. But they're all too busy with their own problems.

He tries to drink from his flask, but it is empty.

He groans. "One more isn't gonna hurt" he whispers to himself as he walks towards the kitchen area. He opens the fridge and grabs a cold one.

And another one.

And another one.

And another one.

And another one . . .

The saddest thing about the situation is that he truly believes in his excuses. He doesn't realise he desperately needs help.

Now, the fridge is empty. But he still doesn't feel it. He doesn't feel the uninhibited state he wants to reach. He's still a victim of his thoughts; the sadness, the anger, the feeling of being trapped in a never-ending game.

He glances at his 80,000 dollars Rolex and decides it's time for him to go to a bar. He grabs his phone and calls his assistant. No answer. He calls his second assistant then. No answer.

"It's only 2AM, come on!" he grunts.

Only?

He thinks for barely a second and grabs his keys and gets into his car. There's a night bar in Kingston that he absolutely loves, and he knows he's always welcome there.

As a celebrity he's obviously welcome everywhere. But he noticed the way people looked at him with pity when he spent an entire night drinking without speaking to anyone. Alone in his thoughts that only he knows. It's different there, the barmaid usually talks to him and entertains him. And she just doesn't care he's famous, which is rare nowadays.

He's been caught drunk driving many times, but he was always released without a word because he's so famous. As if all the police officers have daughters who worship him.

Maybe his problem is thinking he's above all. He who used to be so humble, kind, and generous.

He parks in front of the venue, but the lights are off. He rolls down the window and squints to read the paper sticked to the door.

The bar is closed for annual leave.

"Fuck it!" he shouts. He checks on his phone if another bar is open tonight. Miss Jackson is. It's not the bar he usually spends his time in, but the beers are good and it's not too crowded for him. He absolutely wants to avoid fans tonight.

Most of them are underage, it's dangerous for him. One mistake and he'd become a paedophile. That's why he swore to himself to never do anything with a fan, no matter how hot they are. It's harder to respect this rule when he's drunk though.

"Let's go then" he says in a lazy way, the alcohol slowly taking control of him.

His eyes are red, everything he sees is blurred. He can't keep his thoughts straight.

He starts the car and puts some music to lighten his mood. He needs this to feel better. If something bad happens while he's drunk it ruins his mood. And when this happens . . . he starts having very dark thoughts. The kind of thoughts you better keep to yourself if you don't want people to be scared for you. Where your life is on the line, and you don't care about tomorrow because you just want to stop it . . . The sadness; the anxiety; the constant fears. Because the only moment you feel happy is when you sleep, as if you were dead. Tom feels like this all the time, and he hides it well.

But now he's focusing on the moment. The boose allows him to feel better. He listens to this pop song and its energy is spreading in his body. He's pushed by the music; the excitement and adrenaline take control over his body. He's ready to go.

He quickly backs up the car. He's so excited to go to the bar to finally drink some more and—

BOOM! His car abruptly stops, it sounds like a crash. An alarm is wailing, echoing in Tom's ears, making him feel dizzy. The shock was so intense he hit his face against the airbag of his steering wheel leaving his skin half-burnt. He passes out.

Tom startles as he wakes up, "what the fuck just happened?" he hisses. He stays still giving time to his brain to proceed the information and checks his rear-view camera. It's been disconnected.

He jumps out of his car and checks what happened. He collided with another vehicle. A much smaller car with a crushed bumper. Tom's car is damaged as well, but he doesn't care, he walks over the small Fiat 500 and scans the surroundings. His heart is pounding; air isn't traveling down to his lungs. He suffocates as if he were trapped in a cage down the ocean. He doesn't control his shaking fingers rubbing against his sweating forehead. His lips are parting, gasping for air, while his eyes are wide open looking straight to the ground.

For a second, he realises that he can be in big trouble if anyone knows about this. This can be enough to be fired by the Marvel Studios and ruin his entire career, his life. No one wants a drunk superstar to ruin a movie's reputation.

He hesitates. He wants to run away. He faintly grabs his head in his weak hands and is heavily panting. He can taste iron on the tip of his tongue. He rubs his forearm against his mouth and feels wobbly at the sight of his own blood.

What is he going to do? Has someone seen what happened? And if he leaves, what happens to the unconscious person in the car? But if he helps them, what guarantees him he's not going to be prosecuted? And lose it all? But what if he leaves and this person dies? What if they die and someone knows he killed them? Each scenario is getting worse and worse.

There's only one viable option for him.

"Hey, are you alright?" he says as he approaches the fuming car.

He glances around, but the street is empty. That's the reason why he usually loves this place; because it's so quiet.

"Are—Are you okay there?" he stutters.

He opens the door and see blood. Dark, thick, red blood. An unconscious woman with blood all over her face is lying on the steering wheel. Her car is so old there is no airbag. The shock must've been tough for her. She might even have a brain injury.

Tom places his hand on this woman's neck to check if her heart is still beating. It's weak. She needs help or she'll die because of his stupidity, because he's a drunk who can't even check his surroundings before backing up his car. Poor woman whose life is on pause for his mistake. She'll die because of him.

He dials 999 on his cell phone and repeats what he's going to say once someone picks up the phone.

"There's a woman—she's injured! Car accident!" he cries. He doesn't even try to make sentences; he just wants this to be over. "Please come quickly"

"What's your name, sir?"

His body is wavering, tears are streaming down his face – it's absolute chaos in his mind. He can't tell his name; he'd rather die than publicly suffer from the consequences of his actions. He needs to fly away; he needs to escape from this nightmare. He needs to leave, and now.

He hangs up in a hurry. No one can know he is drunk, and he almost killed someone. He walks back to his SUV and catches one last glimpse of this woman's body before closing the door and driving away.

As soon as he leaves, he regrets his decision, but sticks to it anyway. His soul is crying for him to go back there and help this dying life, but his cowardice tells him to hide and wait until this is over. He's reaching his lowest point, and the only person he wants to see now is his mum. When she holds him in her arms, the weight of his problems is bearable; he can even feel relaxed. And he wishes she'd be able to do it tonight. But it would kill her to know what monstrosity her son just did . . .

He's home, all alone. It's been a few hours since the incident happened, and Tom can't think of anything else. This woman's face, her blood all over the windshield, her crushed car.

Why didn't she see him? Why was she driving so fast in an empty street at night? So many questions roam in Tom's brain, it's slowly eating him alive.

He's sobering up as the morning lights glow on his face. It's already 6AM and he hasn't slept at all. He watches himself in his bathroom mirror and only see dark circles, pale skin, and the features of a monster. The broken blood vessels in the white of his eyes give him an evil aspect. He raises his arm and see the pink burnt skin, another scar for life. How on earth could he leave a dying woman?

He doesn't only feel remorse; he doesn't recognise himself. He's lost and wonders what happened in his life to be so miserable he considers his career more important than someone else's life.

He firmly rubs his face with the palms of his hands and takes off his clothes in a simple sweep. He crawls onto his bed and covers his body with a weighted blanket. He's almost trying to forget he exists when he squeezes his eyes shut and stops breathing until his lungs pressure him to open his mouth. Nature has done a wonderful job preventing us from suffocating on purpose. What a bummer for Tom; he would be dead already if he could just stop breathing . . .

He takes his phone, his only friend and his worst enemy, and checks the local news. Maybe they've mentioned the accident and he'll be able to know what happened to his woman. Not many articles have been published since last night. He keeps scrolling until he finds what he's been looking for.

25-year-old in coma after accident in Southeast London, fugitive remains unfound

Tom's heart skips a beat; this article must be about her. For a second, he apprehends and hesitates to read the article. But his guilty mind needs to know everything about what happened since he deserted.

As he reads the article, he gently places his hand over his mouth to stop him from crying out loud. The woman was so heavily injured they needed to put her under artificial coma to keep her alive. She was on her way to meet her dying husband, in the same hospital she's at now.

Such an emotional shock inflicts a profound pain to Tom's heart. He sobs in silence and passes out due to sleep deprivation. He's finally at peace; no thought, no nightmare. His mind is off, and his body is fully regenerating. His brain is solely focused on keeping his body alive. His soul is resting for a few hours until his cell phone starts ringing.

Tom wakes up with a start and answers his phone without checking who's on the line.

"Tom, what are you doing? I've been knocking at your door for the past 10 minutes," shouts his brother "what happened to your car? Dude what are you doing? You've gotta get ready for GQ!"

"Wh—What?" he mumbles.

His brother knocks at the door. Tom gets off his bed and walks down the stairs with difficulty. When he opens the door, the lights blind him, it's too sunny outside. He'd rather stay inside for a few more hours.

His brother checks him out and sighs. "Have you been drinking? The photoshoot is in less than an hour and you look like shit"

Tom remains silent, trying to process the information.

"And what happened to your car, man?"

And here it is. Every memory comes back in his mind like fireworks and his feet are failing, he can barely stand still. He grabs his brother by his shoulder and holds him tight in his arms. He's the only one who can really help him feel better. He wants to tell him everything that happened, but he can't admit he's got a problem.

He's lost.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading! What do you think so far of the story? Tom is in a very bad situation, I wonder how he's going to get through it?

Please like this post to be in the taglist.

[strapskinkstories]

A long list of reasons to be in a bad mood today. Mostly censorbots & heatwaves, at least I got some work done on Minecraft

Facebook and Twitter have got to be the outright most corrupt companies in the world run by hackjob right wing trolls.

Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey are both republican ass kissers. Worse yet the hackjob Elon Musk who is trying to take over Twitter actively kissed Trumps ass to get preferential treatment from the government.

What does that mean? That means algorithms and censorbots that are biased against democrat personalities and are far more lenient with RWNJs celebrities and worse yet politicians. 

Politicians don’t need to be protected from WORDS ON A SCREEN. They need to be protected from real bullets and real threats, like the people who marched into the capitol on January 6 2020 with assault rifles in hand.

Instead, people like me get banned for calling white trash white trash. Lauren Boebert is exactly what I said she is, white trash. 

https://coloradonewsline.com/2022/06/02/lauren-boebert-american-menace/

This is the second time I’ve been banned by Twitter for calling her white trash, and it won’t be the last, because just like I did last time, and the time before, I waited some time made a new identity up and jumped right back on.

You can’t silence the truth forever. Lauren Boebert IS WHITE TRASH. Twitter, you and your censorbots might be able to temporarily shut me up, but you’ll never permanently shut me down because everyone banwalks in this day and age. I don’t know a single political Twitter user whos raged against the republican machine and hasn’t gotten banned for it. Most of “The Resistance” has had to use multiple accounts to get past their censorbots.

It doesn’t help that Facebook is run by incompetent five year old coders who make censorbots worse than nannies. 

Called out for violent conduct, over mentioning a The Simpsons movie line “Stab one more eye and it’s a federal offense” and then called out for violent conduct over a vaccine joke with a friend who laughed at both items. Facebook seems to have no sense of humor nor do they have humans reading anything. It’s all run by worthless algorithms. And apparently, algorithms that support Vladimir Putin too. Totally unironic because both Twitter and Facebook have been caught red handed in the 2016 election hack.

The internet has been overautomated to a point its literally killing people. I kid you not that people have been driven to the edge of and even worse to suicide because of the rampant censorship and abusive algorithms.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/meta-lawsuit-instagram-caused-eating-disorder-self-harm-rcna32221 this is just one recent case of many cases 

https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-snap-lawsuit-teen-suicide-social-media-addiction-2022-4 this is another case, in which someone actually died. 

I refuse to let any of these apps have that kind of an impact upon me, but you can damn well bet I will continue to fight them. I will make new identities if need be. It doesn’t take much skill to create a new name, grab a burner phone from Walmart, set up a new email account and bam, you got yourself a brand new internet identity to use on every single website.

That said, while I refuse to go to the point of suicide. I can definitely say, this is a real downwards dragging force on me.

Full picture below for more context.

This was posted by a friend of mine who works in retail. My response, I was PISSED OFF to say the least.

I would never wear a form fitting piece of fetish clothing into a retail store showing my genital outlines with great and disgusting clarity.

I’ve shown up in harnesses and restraint cuffs, but these are bulky items that are added on top of non revealing clothing. Items that when I presented myself to a shopkeeper they just chuckled and wondered to my partner who had me on a lead “Is he, uh, mentally disabled if thats the polite way of saying it?” and I just laugh right back and say “Naw, its fun being in a harness and in restraints on a lead sometimes, relaxing actually.” That time a shopkeeper learned about my autism and my kinks all in a midnight trip to Walmart, and respected me for my decision to enjoy my restraints and harness in public.

But what these men did? They posed as IRS agents and demanded the credit card number of my friend.  As shown below.

That comment right there, set me off BIG TIME. So I left a response, and it apparently pissed off Facebook. So badly that they decided to lock my account out for another 60 days and a 3 day total lockout. 

I frankly find the above comment a joke to warrant a total account lockout let alone any action whatsoever as the violence implied is theoretical. Nevermind the fact it’s impossible in that particular store as those stores nationwide don’t have gun counters (Unlike Walmart in the south, which does) 

Instead, Facebook would rather stand behind IRS impersonators rather than let someone vent their frustration with CRIMINALS infiltrating a retail store with their faces obscured and harassing an employee to the point they had to air their grievance publicly online. NO RETAIL WORKER SHOULD EVER BE PUSHED TO THIS POINT! I am disgusted at these men, I am disgusted that they posed for a picture in such a way that makes them look hipster / gangsta. I am disgusted on so many levels... Particularly the fact that they had the nerve to reveal their genitals in body conforming face obscuring clothing and then defraud the IRS.

People like this dumb bitch get thousands of likes and retweets on FAKE NEWS. I mean legit, FAKE NEWS. The stock market doesn’t care what political party is in office. It either goes up or down based on CORPORATE ACTIVITY and INVESTOR SENTIMENT. It has nothing to do with politics that the stock exchange started crashing mid last year, it has everything to do with wage stagnation, uncontrolled inflation being controlled by bad mechanisms read:interest rate hikes and bad politicians being in the mix causing investor sentiment to go in the toilet. Investors are risk shy. When election season comes around, investors switch to a risk off method. They dump money into low risk assets. Even worse so investors often are not ESG investors, especially on the private side. Even in the major ESG players side, a lot of them have side pools of money that they funnel into dirty stocks like Exxon. Exxon just pushed a record quarter, hit an all time high, and then bounced off the ceiling as investors saw the warning bells flashing as the alarms deepened and the market began to enter bearish territories. Now in a full on bear market cryptos are worth about 30% of what they were in Q1 of 2021 

The stock market and crypto markets surged as trump left the white house and rode on a Biden high for almost a year and a half before coming crashing down as Trumps economic failures became more apparent. It’s like small tiny cracks in the hull of a ship, slowly letting water in until BLAM, CRASH, BOOM, the hull breaks wide open and water comes gushing into the boat sinking it. So having absolute white garbage fools like this bitch running their mouths doesn’t help REAL INVESTORS who know a damn thing. High as shit interest rates help nobody, they don’t help people refinancing (Ever refinanced at 10%? Of course not, only an idiot would have a mortgage with that high of a rate) they don’t help people move into new houses, they create a perfect storm environment for homelessness and violence to thrive.

Extreme heatwaves, do not help people psychologically. They destabilize people. They are perfect catalysts for more violence, people can easier find guns hidden in the alleys and then go shoot people up with them. It’s not good when people cry out “climate change is a myth, climate change is fake news, the earth is flat.” in the year 2022 when in 1930 the Senate received a warning that global warming could eventually tumble out of control. In 1970 that warning turned into a full on fire alarm. https://history.aip.org/climate/timeline.htm

Alas not all is bad news... sort of... 

It’s been way too hot to do anything kinky with gear so I’ve been heavily working on my Advocate Lutheran General Hospital Virtual Hospital build in Minecraft with my friend Amanda. https://www.flickr.com/photos/alinslive/albums/72177720299761942 the photos are here. And what’s that blue bar up there? YUP It’s a goddamn censorbot claiming that my damn tweet ABOUT A HOSPITAL FUNDRAISER is ‘sensitive content’

So I complained, I decided I’d whip out one of my favorite TV scenes. Family Guy “HTTPete” scene “Electric Urinal” 

And what happens when I decide to whip out electric urinal? another damn censorbot hit! 

This is legit what I sent into Twitter after the final censor hit. I’m fucking sick of these damn nannybots coded by five year olds who cant seem to wrap their head around humor or theoretics.

With that I rest my fucking case. At least I know here on Tumblr I can run my mouth without worrying about censorbots hitting my blog. Because Tumblr doesn’t use censorbots on text, they only censor images if they think they are excessive nudity. And even that still isn’t a total censor, it simply puts the images behind a sensitive content interstitial clickthrough.

Of all the platforms Tumblr has the freest speech of all my experiences. Hate to say it but if I need to push a political rant you’ll likely see it here on my blog. It won’t be often though because you can damn well bet I’ll be back to harassing Lauren BOOBert. She harasses and damages people and personally attacks them. I have a right to shoot back if she’s going to shoot at me.

I’m going to bed. I better not wake up to my Tumblr having a warning on it or anything and I doubt it will as what I am doing here is DOCUMENTARY in scope and is intended to warn people that if you’re gonna talk about politics or anything online especially on Facebook or Twitter, you may as well act like you’re sat at the altar of a Catholic church and best act like a good little cherub or you’ll get censored because these two platforms especially are censorship havens.

Google is also a censorship haven but y’all have already heard my rant on those goons.

Goodnight, and fuck you Twitter and Facebook.

To all of my friends who actually read to the end of this post, seriously, if you’re reading this far down this gigantic deposition so to speak, thanks. Thanks for sticking with my giant rant and actually reading it. It means something if you mash the like button here. It means something to me when I see people respond and like these posts. I know someone is listening and I know someone cares. Because these corporate censorship happy fuckfaces sure don’t

[gem-rewatch]

SU rewatch- S1E11- Arcade Mania

Hey, long time no see!

I’m desperately bored in solitary quarantine at university right now, and decided to try and pick this SU rewatch series up again for fun. It’s been a while since I’ve watched through the show in order. Plus, now that this show is completely finished, there’s plenty more connections to make. I can’t promise I’ll be consistent with this, but at the very least I can have fun trying to make a few more posts at my leisure.

Anyways. With that business out of the way. Let’s get right on to the show!

We begin with yet another mission Steven’s guardians have brought him along on! I believe this is the fifth mission we know of that he’s accompanied them on so far. (Lunar Sea Spire, Inverted Pyramid, the unknown mission he returns from in Tiger Millionaire, the desert, and now this one.) It’s really sweet seeing the Gems begin to trust him tagging along more often. There will come a day in the near future where missions become routine for Steven, but in these early episodes, you can really tell that each and every one is a brand new adventure.

In terms of plot, though, this episode is honestly Future Vision: The Prequel.

We learn a lot about Garnet’s abilities and her role in the team here, even if all of these details aren’t spelled out word-for-word quite yet. Hints towards her future vision we see this ep include:

Garnet moving ahead of the group to be in the perfect spot to catch Steven when he falls.

Her flawless moves while fighting and dodging the monsters.

Her becoming a master at the rhythm game later in the episode.

Like, damn. Look at this.

Look at her go.

My Q U E E N!

I had to gif all of this just because it’s such a beautiful and smooth sequence of animation.

If there’s one thing all of the Crystal Gems can 100% agree on, it’s that Garnet is friggin’ amazing.

Garnet: “Let them go. They’re just parasites. If they want to be a problem, they’ll have to answer to me.”

So, does this statement mean that- at this present moment- her extended stay at the arcade was entirely beyond her future vision? That the only futures she saw were ones where she was actually present to deal with containment of the Gem parasites? Given that later scenes insinuate she’d never been to the arcade before, and would have no “data” about its games to factor into her internal understanding of the world, this seems likely.

I adore the gradual palette change here, from shadow, to setting sun. It’s a nice detail that adds so much more life to what could otherwise be a rather mundane transition scene. It seems like unique palettes were more common in early SU- I wonder why Crewniverse stopped implementing these as often later on?

Pearl, entering the arcade: “Humans find such fascinating ways to waste their time.”

Thanks, Pearl. Love you too. <3

This sequence of Pearl failing at playing a car chase/road rage game hits so much different knowing what happens in Last One Out of Beach City. It’s genuinely radical how far she grows in confidence from this point, because here, she seems so shackled to rules and guidelines. Now that we know about her rebellious past, it might be tempting to write this characterization off as “early series weirdness,” but... I don’t think that’s what’s happening here.

Instead, I wonder if she’s working through grief-related regression.

Think about it... the pain of Rose’s passing is still so fresh for her. She was a rule breaking rebel once, yes, but she spent all of those days at Rose’s side. And I get the sense that she’s poured so much of herself into keeping Rose safe, into the rebellion against Homeworld, that without those, she’s caught in a vacuum. What IS her purpose now, when the very person she rebelled for is gone?

So she slips back into old pearl-like habits. Chronic rule following, and a fear of deviating from norms. How familiar. Thankfully, much of her arc throughout the show is her directly growing beyond these habits to live boldly as her own Gem.

The friggin video game when Garnet knocks its head off: “TELL MY WIFE I’M SORRYYY!!!”

Yo, what the fuck. This line is both hilarious and messed up, all at once. Please tell me the game isn’t sentient.

Aaaand here we finally introduce Garnet to the video game sensation that is Meat Beat Mania! This game is perfectly suited to her and her power of foresight because its patterns are algorithmic and not vulnerable to spontaneous deviations, and thus easy to predict, with enough input. She’s probably getting a quick rush of satisfaction with every correct move, and she barely has to exert any energy with her future vision to get that rush. After years and years of wading through endless possibility at every avenue, this video game’s patterns must be a rejuvenating breath of fresh air.

It’s addicting.

...Kinda makes me think of how I get sometimes when I play solitaire on my phone for an hour straight. After a while, I barely even think, I’m just shuffling through my deck and moving cards almost on automatic. I don’t have to use much energy to play, and it gives me animated fireworks every time I finish a match. It’s a win-win.

Amethyst: “I’MMA WIN AN AIRPLANE!”

I don’t know what it is about the way Michaela Dietz says the world “airplane,” but this makes me laugh every time. Does... does she think she can win a genuine airplane here because she saw Onion win a tiny motorbike from the ticket booth?? Amethyst, oh my god. XD

She’s got the spirit, this wild child.

So, moving on- we meet up with our crew later the next morning, Garnet nowhere to be seen. There’s an interesting exchange I’d like to highlight real quick-

Pearl: “If we’re supposed to fight a giant foot, Garnet would let us know.” Amethyst: “Yeah, Garnet’s the boss!” Pearl: “Well, we’re all a team. Garnet just has heightened perception that guides us towards our mission objectives.”

Considering the specific phrasing Pearl uses here- “heightened perception” instead of “future vision-” did Garnet outright tell the two of them to not explain her powers, just like she told them not to mention she’s a fusion? Because I’m pretty sure no one ever uses the phrase “heightened perception” again in reference to her powers.

Given the fact that Garnet chose to keep the knowledge of Ruby and Sapphire under the table until she felt Steven could understand her better, my guess is that this is a similar scenario.

Ahah, I genuinely can’t tell if this is Steven being gullible, or just impulsively playing along with Amethyst’s antics. Still- gross, kid. Don’t wipe your wet cereal face on your shirt! Ew! :O

When he goes outside and starts to use a kiddy metal detector to scan for quarters... so THAT’S where he finds his arcade money! Because I can’t imagine Greg is financially able to give him that much to spend on non-essentials at this point in the show.

Okay, so... I just want to bring light to the fact that Garnet has literally been in this arcade ALL NIGHT LONG.

It was evening when she first arrived here- the sun was visibly setting in the background, and when Steven, Amethyst, and Pearl left, the sky was dark. But now it’s morning. Steven was just seen eating breakfast. And Garnet is STILL HERE.

Does this mean Mr. Smiley locked her IN? I have so many questions... Did he try to get her to leave, only to be intimidated by her complete lack of response? I would kill to know more about this interaction. Poor Mr. Smiley. That man deals with so much bullshit in this town, huh?

Geebus, is Garnet a solid wall. Previous episodes have shown Steven forcibly shoving whole tons of food, and swinging a mini-freezer over his head, and yet he can’t get her to budge even an inch.

I absolutely adore how he climbs up her frame like a koala, though, ahah. Cute.

Meat Beat Mania announcer: “That’s rare!!” Steven: “Oh my gosh...!”

I take these two lines as evidence that this is the first time Steven’s ever seen Garnet’s eyes. Specifically, the fact that there’s three of them. Which, makes sense- since Garnet is still really reserved emotionally at this point, and is only begins to get in the habit of taking her visor off to show Steven her full face later on in the show.

This expression deeply hurts me.

Steven’s so distraught here- because the others are in danger, the town is in danger, and he doesn’t have his trusty, dependable guardian who catches him when he falls and beats up scary monsters for him. Without her, the whole team is vulnerable and blind.

He feels alone. He feels... powerless.

And so he responds to that confusing, powerless feeling by trying to compensate with his own power. When all other routes he can think of fail, he smashes the video game console.

It... uh, it works... but once again, Steven entirely fails to consider the consequences, huh? He experienced a little bit of character growth in this regard in the episode Serious Steven, but even past that it’ll remain an recurring issue for him. Hell, his impulsiveness is a general character flaw even stretching into SUF.

In summary, though:

Poor Mr. Smiley. He works so hard, and doesn’t deserve this BS. ;-;

[ofstarsandfireflies]

My list was progressing smoothly until I realised some of the movies I want to do I don’t even own, I just thought I owned.

Why is my brain like this?

It had been an accident.

An on purpose accident, but if you had asked Stephen if he’d wanted Tony’s consciousness to reside within his body with him while he tries to figure out how to return him to his own, Stephen probably would have looked at you like you’d sprouted a second head right before his eyes.

At first he’d thought the spell had succeeded and Tony’s astral form had taken control of the Iron Man suit.

But then he’d heard a voice.

Tony’s voice.

And Stephen had tried leaving his own body to see what would happen, only to find he couldn’t.

He was locked in and Tony was locked in with him.

So that’s what had happened and that’s what Stephen’s trying to remedy while listening to Tony snark at him as if Stephen weren’t the Sorcerer Supreme.

The constant arguing, which is hindering Stephen’s reading for the counter spell, and when he yells for Tony to shut up, his hand comes up and decks him in the face.

Stephen tries magic but somehow Tony’s stronger than him and just takes complete control over his hands to smack himself in the other cheek.

Wong walks in, raises his eyebrows at whatever it is Stephen is doing rolling on the floor, and walks away unnoticed as the both of them get their frustrations out and Tony allows Stephen to just lay on the floor, both realising this isn’t getting them anywhere.

Stephen stands up, a little shakily and feels Tony ground him, before beginning to read once again.

Tony doesn’t keep quiet for long, bored out of Stephen’s skull from looking at the strange text he can suddenly understand and seeing no fix to their issue, but of course Stephen won’t listen to him.

When Stephen decides its late and he’ll try again tomorrow, Tony is not tired and Stephen knows Tony will keep him up at night when they need sleep so he tells him if he shuts up tonight and lets them both rest, then tomorrow they will do what Tony wants to do.

Tony reluctantly agrees and allows Stephen to sleep, and the next day Stephen keeps his promise, deciding to leave the reading for another time.

They go to Tony’s lab where he wants to improve his suit and Stephen can think of nothing worse, but he made a promise and their current predicament is his fault so he relents.

He feels his hands begin to move, Tony’s hands somehow making them his own as he types into a display, moving holographic pictures around almost like magic.

And it’s almost addicting seeing his hands capable of the things he used to do.

If Tony were up for it, Stephen could do surgeries again, be who he used to be again.

It only when Stephen asks Tony if the pain in his hands is bothering him that Tony stops immedielty, having no clue Stephen’s hands were hurting at all.

But Stephen tries to backtrack, telling him he couldn’t feel it for the first time in a long time, and was worried Tony was just working through the pain, as it’s something he’s known Stark to do before.

Tony is silent for a moment before closing down the display.

When Stephen asks him what’s wrong, Tony just tells him they should get back to reading.

Stephen doesn’t know if the pain in his chest is from Tony or himself.

A few hours into their reading time, this time much quieter which is kind of scary knowing Stark and his loud ways, they find some information regarding the spell, and how the longer the souls remain linked the harder it is to seperate them and there have been instances where the two become one and share the body until death.

Tony makes a remark how they’re married now and Stephen ignores it because he doesn’t need to be thinking about that as he’s trying to find the counter spell, but it’s not there.

It’d been ripped out.

And not only that, but Tony’s and Stephen’s phones are going off, which can only mean Avengers business.

So Stephen heads there with an empty suit controlled by Friday and lucky for them the two get paired together for the mission.

It’s distracting having to relay orders to Friday from Tony while also listening to the team chatter in his ear, but it’s also a good thing that Tony has his back because not only does Tony’s intuition come in extremely handy while searching for survivors of the building collapse Rhino decided to go rampaging through, he also manages to use the building’s structure as a trap which stops Rhino in his tracks.

And it’s all thanks to Tony taking control of him and the suit.

So when Stephen asks him if he wants to go back to the lab tonight as well, Tony jumps at the chance, not realising Stephen is just using him to have the sense of feeling in his hands again.

Only, this time, Christine walks in and sees Stephen through the portal he’s left open, commenting on how it’s a miracle he can use his hands again.

And Tony wonders if that’s something Stephen wants.

If that would be their life if they can’t undo this stupid spell.

He supposes it wouldn’t be too bad, that they’d give up their hero lives for the mundane and just go about coexisting together.

But when he forfeits control over to Strange again and his hands start to shake like they always do, a darker thought enters his head.

What if Strange did this on purpose so he could have a normal life again?

So, once Christine leaves and Tony asks Stephen if he wants that normal life and the wizard denies it, it just sparks a massive argument.

Tony is inside Strange’s head.

He could deny it all he wanted, but the truth is it is something he wants.

Has wanted for a long time, and now he has a chance to grab hold of it with hands that won’t shake.

But Stephen wouldn’t do that to Tony.

It’s not right.

Keeping Tony like this with him isn’t right.

And Tony goes quiet and stays quiet.

He doesn’t answer Stephen, who’s gotten used to speaking out loud and having Tony answer him.

He doesn’t give any help or hindrance while Stephen researches a way to free Tony once again, nor does he speak up about going to his lab for any reason.

It’s only when Stephen starts to become concerned and begins yelling at Tony to answer him that he finally does.

He thinks Tony was doing it on purpose just to make him worried, but it turns out that’s not the case at all.

Tony had, for lack of a better term, fallen asleep.

He didn’t realise it had happened until he heard Stephen’s voice calling him back.

And weirder still, Stephen’s hands, which had been still all this time, begin shaking again.

Stephen is in a right panic now because the last thing he wants is for Tony’s consciousness to fade away when they are so close to getting him out, he knows they are.

But then it happens again, and each time it does, it happens for longer and longer, sometimes cutting Tony off half way through a sentence or throwing Stephen back into control.

Tony’s not scared, but he can feel Stephen’s fear at losing him and in an odd way it’s comforting, knowing he cares about him so much.

Out of options and with no way of saving Tony, Stephen asks Tony’s name to emptiness around him, receiving no reply.

He likes to think that Tony is safe with him, protected from everything.

He likes to think he can still feel his heartbeat within his own, bearing steadily as Tony sleeps.

And he still likes to talk out loud as if Tony could still hear him, as if what he thinks Tony’s reply would be is him answering back.

He’s not crazy.

He’s not imagining it.

At least his hands don’t shake anymore.

Quotes

“May I point something out?”

“Hello?”

“Yes?”

“Ok, who’s saying that?”

Stephen hearing Tony’s voice

“Now you can start living again.arent you happy?”

“Yeah...I can walk again.”

Christine seeing Stephen be able to use his hands again

“This has to stop.”

“What has to stop.”

“What I’m doing, what we’re doing.”

“It’s a simple algorithm even you can understand. If you don’t find the last of them he’ll find you and kill you.”

“No, we’re- we’re gonna get caught. It’s over.”

“Grey, you must understand-“

“No, No! Shut up! Get the fuck out of my head!”

Stephen and Tony fighting

We Are Me

Stephen may be the Sorcerer Supreme, but even he makes mistakes.

January, February

Missed a Day? Catch up here!

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5

Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10

Day 11

[bakutae]

haikyuu headcanons #2

today's menu:

a plate of oikawa tooru with a side of akaashi keiji, an appetisers worth of kenma kozume and a tall glass of bokuto koutarou

scenario:

where you try the 'kissing my best friend' trend on him

oikawa tooru

alright, so you were going through tik tok, scrolling through it until iwaizumi walked past and stole your phone, vigorously typing in something in the search bar

so he introduced you to the whole concept and he wanted you to try it out on oikawa cause he desperately wanted to see his reaction

'what if i tried it out on you instead'

'w-what? then it wouldn't be a surprise anymore! besides, oikawa would kill me'

you were confused by what he meant by the phrase 'oikawa would kill me' but you let it go and hastily agreed to do it

you asked iwaizumi to help plan the whole thing, since the two of them were mostly together

you and oikawa had gotten significantly closer ever since you were cheering for aoba johsai in one of their volleyball matches because your friend had practically made you go

and towards the end of the match, the opponent hit the ball too hard, causing it to fly to the audience

all the oikawa fangirls immediately reached for the ball, hoping to toss the ball back to him personally

unfortunately for you, you were swarmed by fangirls and some of them were so aggressive that they actually pushed you away just to get the ball, resulting in you suffering quite the injury

you had no choice but to sneak off to the restroom to treat your wound as the match continued

you were limping out of the toilet and he caught sight of you and apologised to you

he seemed to have taken a liking to you and started clinging onto you quite often, and therefore the two of you grew quite close

it was another one of their matches, but it hasn't started yet and the members of aoba johsai was just wandering around the event venue

as usual, oikawa was surrounded by his fangirls when you sauntered over to him and made sure his eyes were fixated on you, before glancing at iwaizumi from the corner of your eye then briefly nodding

you mouthed the lyrics to 'death bed' and when the beat dropped, you pulled oikawa towards you by the collar of his jacket and pressed a firm kiss to his lips and quickly pulled away

all of his fangirls were yelling in fury and glared at you i wouldnt be surprised if one of them pushed you away fangirls are scary

but oikawa though, he might be shocked for the first couple of seconds after the kiss, then he'd smirk and pull you in for seconds and you panic, glancing at iwaizumi

now you understood why iwaizumi said that oikawa would kill him

akaashi keiji

bokuto was getting on your nerves

ever since you and akaashi had gotten close, he was annoying the both of you constantly, whining about how you 'stole his best friend'

and so, you wanted to get back at him and at the same time, confess your feelings to kill two birds with one stone

you weren't exactly sure if it'd work though, but he's not ignoring you like he does with other girls so you considered it a major advantage

you wanted video evidence on how you stole his potential lover away from him and wanted to see his reaction really badly

so you approached tatsuki, asking him to help you film the whole incident on your phone during one of their trainings, and you managed to get their managers and coach agree too

even the managers themselves wanted to see how bokuto would react to you kissing akaashi in front of everyone

poor bokuto

so one day, during their training, you appeared out of the blue, which made bokuto feel sour already, since he knew that you'd be here for akaashi

so you watched them train and waited till they had their water breaks, when you passed tatsuki your phone, and have him film on the audio that you chose

you counted the beats in your head as you called out to akaashi, eyes still facing the camera to check if tatsuki was filming

he nodded briefly and you approached akaashi

bokuto was talking to akaashi as usual until you tapped akaashi on the back and he turned around and stared at you in confusion

your mind blanked out when your gaze met his and your body froze, though you knew the beat was already off and you should have kissed him by now

face awkwardly breaking into a smile, you hastily flung your arms around him, and kissed his cheek, feeling him stiffen against your touch, but relaxes after a while

the two of you stayed like that for a while before you felt someone tear the two of you apart

of course, it was bokuto

he was frowning and whining at the same time and kept on telling you to 'stop hitting on his best friend'

akaashi simply smiled and stared at you, his gaze instantly softening

bokuto caught sight of that and began to throw his tantrum

tatsuki came to you, phone in hand as you showed akaashi the video, and the rest of the members began to crowd around your small device

'it was a tik tok trend, akaashi. where you kinda confess to your best friend. but i wanted to see bokuto's reaction too'

akaashi's face turned significantly redder and bokuto started sulking again lmao

kenma kozume

i don't really know if you can text your friends through the nintendo animal crossing but let's pretend you can

you and kenma were addicted to animal crossing ever since it came out and the two of you had been playing for days on end, irritating all of nekoma's members but no one had the heart to stop him

you were trying to search up animal crossing hacks on tik tok and downloaded tik tok for that reason only

however, you stumbled upon humans in your for you page, contrary to your animal crossing filled one and you got curious, so you watched it to the end

that was when you learned about the trend and you decided to try it on kenma, with a twist

you were going to type the kiss in chat and find out his reaction through there

you didn't think it was ever done before so you were quite curious as to what his reaction would be

you weren't going to lie, kenma was very attractive, and if he showed any small sign of reciprocating your feelings, it would make you really happy

so you and kenma were on a whatsapp call, while the two of you were catching bugs, trying to catch the biggest one of them all when you told kenma about a hack you saw on tik tok

though you couldn't see him, your heart was still pounding and your hands began to sweat as you waited patiently for his reply

however, he replied through the call

'why are you typing in chat aren't we in a call right now?'

'kenma just play along!'

he grumbled but typed 'okay hit me' in chat anyways

so you quickly typed in the word in the chat and pressed 'enter'

however, you eyes widened in shock as you wrote *piss* instead of *kiss*

kenma burst out in laughter through the call, occasionally snorting as he was chuckling with glee

'did you just... piss on me?'

you didn't even tell him to type in chat anymore

you wanted to die from embarrassment as you felt your cheeks flush red immediately and you tried to explain yourself

kenma was still giggling uncontrollably as you felt your cheeks turn ten shades darker

'i... wanted to type kiss instead but-'

the laughter abruptly died down and you bit your lip, heartbeat suddenly increasing as more silence filled the air

you soon saw '*kisses y/n*' chat bubble appearing on top of kenma's animal crossing character and your heart stopped beating

'l-like that?'

bokuto koutaro

this boy-

he'd probably be the one doing the trend on you because he's too scared of confessing straightforwardly

and he wants to be a tik tok star so he thought that starring a beautiful girl like you would cause the algorithm to show his videos on everyone's for you page

so he brought you to the school rooftop after school and y'all would be talking about schoolwork and things like that when he suddenly pulls out his phone and asks you to wait

he starts frantically pushing buttons on it and you thought he was sending an important text message so you waited for him

until he started muttering under his breath and you could still hear him clearly, but to bokuto he was probably mumbling

'why isn't the audio working? it was working this morning when i checked...'

he nervously glanced at you and you just looked at him in confusion, you had never seen bokuto this serious and nervous before

'WHAT? WHY DID THEY DELETE THE AUDIO AT THIS PERIOD OF TIME? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KISS Y/N NOW'

at that moment he knew, he messed up

you didn't know what he was trying to do, but you kind of got the gist of it

but bokuto was scarred; he was glancing at you with big bug eyes, mouth agape and the grip on his phone loosened as it dropped on the ground

you picked it up for him and caught sight of his screen where it was filled with the captions 'kissing my best friend to see if they like me back'

bokuto would just be frozen the entire time, still not believing that he had just said thise exact words in front of you

it was way worse than straightforward confessions which made him really nervous as he anticipated for your reaction

you found the trend really cute and was really honored that bokuto wanted to try to trend out, especially on you

with his feelings practically displayed out in the open, you couldn't help but tease him a bit

'aww bokuto, are you sure you didn't mistake me for akaashi instead?'

'n-no! of course not! akaashi is just my best friend-'

you had a feeling he was going to keep rambling about how akaashi and his' relationship was purely platonic and you decided to shut him up with a kiss

and damn did it work

but now, he had to worry about what to say when people asked about how you started your relationship and boy was it going to be fun teasing him about it

taglist: @sugacookiies @sushij1ma @shiggywiggy

message me to be added into my taglist!

[pointreyesjournal]

Skin : ep9

The relationship between skin and brain is a fascinating one. Nerve endings in the skin are always sensing and feeding that information to the brain. One of the brain’s primary functions in disseminating that information is suppression. Let's take shoes for example. You would go crazy if your brain didn’t ignore all of the sensory inputs stemming from the fact that your feet are encased in socks and squished into shoes. But, as you wear the shoes your brain begins filtering the signals from your feet and within a minute or two, you don’t even notice that you’re wearing shoes.

To think of it in computer terms, the suppression algorithm is pretty complex and takes up a lot of processing power. Ever get a rock in your shoe? Your brain sends up a red flag immediately. Intruder alert! More often than not, that rock will be tiny, nothing more than a grain of sand. But your brain’s filtering algorithm has normalized the shoe input and senses the rock intrusion.

Although we don’t think of it consciously, the brain power used to operate that suppression algorithm greatly affects our mood and well being. Ever wonder why taking off your shoes at the end of the day feels so good? It’s your brain deactivating the shoe suppression algorithm.

Motorcycling puts the suppression algorithm into hyperdrive. Wind activates the intrusion function of the algorithm constantly throughout the course of a motorcycle ride. Air is forced onto your legs through the mesh of your denim jeans. The imperfect joint between gloves and sleeve lets air jostle the hairs on your wrist. Air penetrates the helmet at the neck, and fills the entire motorcycle jacket like a balloon as it’s forced up the sleeves. Every inch of skin is being bombarded with different intrusion signals. Motorcycling is mentally fatiguing.

Have you ever seen a motorcyclist on the freeway getting battered by a loosely fitting leather jacket? They'll be mentally battered when they arrive home and not even know why.

Running that suppression algorithm into hyperdrive is also part of why motorcycling is so exciting. The combination of wind battering your entire body, with the visual sense of flying through space, and the loud roar of the engine, and the pure physicality of operating the machine overwhelms our lizard brains creating a sense of euphoria. Motorcyclists often enter a flow state.

But when it’s over … it’s over.

When I get home from a ride, a shower would damn near kill me. When the helmet comes off, I need peace and quiet. Silence, stillness. No music or tv, no bright lights, just a comfortable chair or bed and time to decompress.

I’m worthless for an hour or two after a ride.

But as the brain resets, you realize that the man-made construct of asphalt roads combined with two-wheeled, engine-powered, balancing-machines are nothing more than dopamine administrators.

I am, quite literally, addicted to motorcycling.

[stuckwith-harry]

not to be like, [incoherent rambling about the Themes], and all that, but something that really struck me about chamber of secrets this year is how current it feels to me, a 2000 baby - like, Ginny And The Diary is a very 21st century horror story

so, eleven-year-old girl strikes up a conversation with an kind, invisible stranger; it’s not a face-to-face conversation, so she can’t verify who he is, what he looks like, how old he is; he gains her trust; she is mistaken in believing they’re friends, that he genuinely cares for her; she gives away a lot of private information, basically ends up kidnapped, about to be killed. it literally only takes replacing the magic horcrux-diary with any device that connects to the internet (but, let’s say it’s a smartphone) to turn it into the Cautionary Tale Of All Cautionary Tales About The Dangers Of The Internet. (could be about your regular creepy 70-year-old man chatting with underage girls, pretending to be one of them; but then i also think about those apps that let you chat with what you know is artifical intelligence - you chat a while, the algorithm learns stuff about you, you let it, it adjusts its responses to your personality and tastes and wants. no potential at all for that to get addicting and dangerous noooo.)

wish i had a point here, but, the themes the themes, “never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain”, yknow?

[behrooz-musigns]

+ Innovative, warm, witty, kind, protective, geeky +/- Intellectual, observant, horny - impatient, unreliable, outspoken, easily distracted

++ BASIC INFORMATION

FULL NAME: Behrooz Hakim Najm PRONUNCIATION: Beh-roes MEANING: Lucky ZODIAC: Pisces ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Bi SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Poly CURRENT LOCATION: Epineios OCCUPATION: Student, IT

++ BIOGRAPHY

Behrooz personally invented the saying ‘I guess luck is just on my side’, or so they would have everyone in their school believe when they got another high score in one of the games they played in the back of the school. They would do guessing games, with people asking them a number which they had written down, and Behrooz would always guess right. 

Sadly luck rarely followed them home. They were raised by their grandmother, who forbade them to hang out after school, and certainly ensured they would never be seen hanging out with girls on their own. She would remind them time and time again of their father, a gambler who had made it big winning game after game, then one day showed up with a baby, only to drink himself to death a year later. She would remind them that they were the family’s burden, and they would have to behave in order to not bring another burden upon them. 

And as they grew older, luck left them more and more often. Being a practicing Muslim was already a hard sell, but with the world growing more extreme around them, they found the community stifle their ambitions daily. It confused Behrooz that while their religion gave them anxiety, praying chased the demons away. It was almost as if they couldn’t have the one without the other. 

Life was a constant . Bad people walking in and out of their life, bullies, racist teachers, judgemental neighbors, judgemental extended family members. Behrooz tended to lock themselves up in their room every day, listening to music or playing games of chance. A knot seemed to live inside their stomach all the time, a fear of being plucked off of the street and never arriving home. 

When that actually happened, it wasn’t like they had imagined. 

Being mostly interested in digits, numbers, code, etc. Behrooz hadn’t paid much attention to history class when Ancient Greek and Ancient Rome were being discussed, and as they saw a creepy creature with goat legs walk up to them, they really wished they had. There was a whole speech about being in mortal danger, gods, strange creatures on the loose, yada yada. Behrooz had a headache by the time the goat legged creature told them to follow him. Very close to sparking some lie about soccer practice or prayers, their head snapped back to attention when the creature suggested they had a mother who was a God. 

The only thing driving them forward was the possibility of learning who their mother was, something in their brain sending out constant messages of: gotta meet mom, gotta meet mom, gotta meet mom. Rather than forming coherent sentences. They disappeared into some cleared out old train tunnel, and emerged on the other side of the bleedin’ ocean. All Behrooz knew to say was: “thought your accent sounded funny.” Before being swarmed by the strangest assortment of kids, some younger than their fourteen years, others older, everyone excited. Was this the right time to say they were Muslim and watch everyone slowly disappear like they had done back in school? 

Nobody really seemed to care however, over the years - in which they discovered their godly parent, never got to meet her, discovered she was probably the most difficult goddess to find, got a large portion of the camp to join them during Ramadan - Behrooz stayed at the Camp the whole year round. They didn’t wish to return to the UK, and followed online lessons to keep up with their education. Of course they were bleedin’ lucky, and with time they learned how to use that luck to their advantage, and to that of those around them. Yet, Behrooz started to appreciate the balance of it all, the bad and the good. 

To them, code was good. Watching others struggle with programs and computers, just made them more interested in it. Algorithms fascinated them, they could spend hours looking at code trying to figure out how it worked. When the time came for them to move out of the warm nest of Camp Half Blood, Behrooz had already set their sights on studying Programming at the University of New York. 

++ HEADCANONS

++ Horny as hell, and often very lucky in love, although they can never seem to hold on to anyone for long. 

++ A skilled programmer with a love for code and numbers and digits. They can stay up nights on end trying to figure out some new program or write an algorithm of their own.

++ Despite their interests in the digital, Bez spends most of their time outside if they can help it. They love forests, trees, the fresh air. They take walks a lot, driving the metro to the park and helping themselves to a huge thermos of coffee. 

++ Religion is an important part of their life, without it they would be nowhere. Whenever they feel lost or anxious, they tend to be eager for it to be time to pray, something they do five times a day. 

++ They’ve read the Quran, although their grandmother never taught them Arabic beforehand, so they’re currently reading it in English in between classes, thesis writing, and walks. 

++ Bez is a very kind individual, who will help others whenever they can - mostly with IT stuff. As a job, or a way to get money mostly, they help teachers or partake in arranging anything that needs a programmer. They’re a regular Upwork user. 

++ In fights Bez uses their ability to generate luck to get other Demigods out of trouble and make the damage less. 

++ They love bunk beds.

++ Wears very loose-fitting clothing. 

++ Drinks way too much coffee and black tea. 

++ Doesn’t like it when people constantly nag.

++ Extremely messy, will end up finding coffee mugs everywhere. 

++ Is always running from one place to the next because he has too much planned on a daily basis. 

++ SKILLS & ABILITIES

PHYSICAL STRENGTH: Above average  OFFENSE: Lacking  DEFENSE: Main attribute  SPEED: Above average  INTELLIGENCE: High ACCURACY: Descent AGILITY: Good STAMINA: Fine  TEAMWORK: Speciality  TALENTS: Luck manipulation SHORTCOMINGS: Easily distracted, no overview LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN: English  DRIVE?: yes  JUMP-STAR A CAR?: not really  CHANGE A FLAT TIRE?: absolutely not  RIDE A BICYCLE?: absolutely  SWIM?: decently PLAY AN INSTRUMENT?: piano and guitar  PLAY CHESS?: no  BRAID HAIR?: one day maybe  TIE A TIE?: yes  PICK A LOCK?: yes

++ PHYSICAL APPEARANCE & CHARACTERISTICS

FACE CLAIM: Viveik Kalra  EYE COLOR: brown  HAIR COLOR: brown  HAIR TYPE/STYLE: semi-long, wavy, thick GLASSES/CONTACTS?: no  DOMINANT HAND: right  HEIGHT: 1.75m WEIGHT: 65kg  BUILD: lean  EXERCISE HABITS: jogging in the morning, some sparring during the weekend  SKIN TONE: brown  TATTOOS: none  PIERCINGS: none  MARKS/SCARS: none  NOTABLE FEATURES: three-day beard on account of forgetting to shave  USUAL EXPRESSION: concentrated or dreamlike  CLOTHING STYLE: loose clothing, soft fabric.  JEWELRY: two rings on their right hand  ALLERGIES: incense

++ PSYCHOLOGY

MORAL ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Neutral ELEMENT: earth MENTAL CONDITIONS/DISORDERS: Dyslexia, slight ADHD  SOCIABILITY: normal  EMOTIONAL STABILITY: average, let’s not talk about it.  OBSESSION(S): code  COMPULSION(S): gambling, drinking coffee and forgetting coffee, hyper-focus PHOBIA(S): fear of people being Islamphobic  ADDICTION(S): caffeine DRUG USE: none  ALCOHOL USE: none PRONE TO VIOLENCE?: no

++ MANNERISMS

SPEECH STYLE: quick, active, excited  ACCENT: London British  QUIRKS: licks teeth, uses swear words HOBBIES: coding, walking, jogging, drinking coffee, is Starbucks a hobby?  HABITS: forgetting to sleep, running from place to place  NERVOUS TICKS: tapping feet, sighing a lot DRIVES/MOTIVATIONS: meeting their mom, finishing their education  FEARS:  fear of being neglected or ignored SENSE OF HUMOR: yes, mostly dark British humor. DO THEY CURSE OFTEN?: a lot, though they use ‘bleedin’’ and several other more British less terrible words.  CATCHPHRASE(S): “must be my lucky day” “I was born lucky”

++ FAVORITES

ACTIVITY: walking/hiking in the forest ANIMAL: raven BEVERAGE: coffee  BOOK: Thief Lord by Cassandra Clarke CELEBRITY: Tom Hanks  COLOR: Green DESIGNER: ??  FOOD: Sharma FLOWER: Lotus  GEM: Emerald  HOLIDAY: Eid al-Fitr  MODE OF TRANSPORTATION: Bike  MOVIE: The Internship  MUSICAL ARTIST: Sigur Ros QUOTE/SAYING: “No person knows what he will earn tomorrow”  SCENERY: forests  SCENT: freshly grinded coffee  SPORT: soccer SPORTS TEAM: Manchester united  TELEVISION SHOW: I, Robot  WEATHER: overcast and drizzly VACATION DESTINATION: -

++ ATTITUDES

GREATEST DREAM: to create their own algorithm that can help people choose what they want the most  GREATEST FEAR: being targeted or discriminated based on their religion  MOST AT EASE WHEN: at home, in their bed, with coffee, coding, or hiking in the forest, or at a mosque praying  LEAST AT EASE WHEN: in a crowded place, discussing religion  WORST POSSIBLE THING THAT COULD HAPPEN: being killed before finishing their degree  BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT: getting a scholarship on luck alone  BIGGEST REGRET: never having known their father MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT: grabbing a girl by her boobs in a hug from behind by accident  BIGGEST SECRET: sometimes wishes they weren’t born a Demi-god.   TOP PRIORITIES: finishing their thesis

[arpwrites]

[Tarot!BTS] One Thing They’d Change About Themselves

© | Disclaimer! | Tarot Masterlist | Commissions | Tip Jar Do not repost, modify, or translate without explicit written permission.

In order to get a deeper understanding of who the boys really are, I’ll be drawing a few cards to find out the one thing they’d change about themselves because who you want to be is sometimes more telling than who you are.

Heads Up! Depression TW, Negative Thoughts TW

Read my disclaimers for fullest understanding of this reading’s implications!

Kim Seokjin

Jin wishes he could stop being torn between different things and having to juggle multiple roles, he just wants to invest all of himself into one pursuit. Though Jin’s heart really lies with acting, his career requires him to be a jack of all trades. This reading speaks of his wish to pursue his dream and only that, but responsibilities to rest of the boys and his commitment to BigHit keep him from doing so. He wishes he could have the guts to go for it, break the contract and be selfish, but he just can’t. His consideration for his family is a good thing, but he thinks of it as a flaw, as an inability to commit, fickleness. He can’t see that he’s just committing to something else. 

Min Yoongi

Yoongi wants to change the part of himself that gets too extreme in his pursuit of wealth and material stability. If he’s being honest, he can get greedy and/or place money over people. He doesn’t want to let accumulating wealth and fear of losing it run who he is and what he does. He wishes he could be free of the siren song of gold that lures him in to do things he’ll regret later. 

Jung Hoseok

Hobi wishes he could change the mental hell he builds himself every time he feels adrift in his love life. We have established that Tarot!Hoseok shares Canon!Hoseok’s need for love and a partner despite the struggles fame allots him. We already know he craves someone to love and share his life with but this reading reveals the extent to which it bothers him. The Devil is about obsession and addiction and depressive spirals, it’s about a never-ending loop of thoughts telling yourself you aren’t good enough, no one will want you, you’re going to be alone forever. Hobi wishes he could change the part of himself that thinks these thoughts every so often. Every time he emerges from this tenth circle, he thinks it’s going to be the last time. He wishes he had the mental fortitude to make it stick.

Kim Namjoon

Joon wishes he could change the part of himself that is unemotional and controlling and wants everything for itself. RM is a great leader and is always thinking of other people. He isn’t selfish but that’s because it is a conscious choice on his part. Deep down is an instinct to take all credit and control for himself. He wants to change the selfish, greedy, controlling voice in him. He doesn’t realize it’s enough that he isn’t listening to it, that that in itself is a victory. 

Park Jimin

Jimin wishes he could change the part of himself that is too trusting and gives too much too soon. His naivety comes from the purest parts of himself, his childlike core that has survived despite everything. It is something he keeps hidden and shows only those who have completely earned his trust. Life has taught him to be careful with people but some still slip past his barriers. It always ends up hurting him and he regrets it. They don’t realize his sincere feelings are a gift, a privilege that shouldn’t be abused. Jimin knows he cannot control other people, so he’d rather control himself and change this part of himself though others are to blame for its mistreatment. It is better to kill this part of himself than keep getting hurt like a fool.

Kim Taehyung

Tae wants to change the part of himself that says exactly what he thinks and means even if it results in conflict or sows discord. He values speaking his truth over other people’s feelings. Sometimes, it is better to say nothing and let things go but something in him makes him pipe up at all costs. He has learned that this behaviour of his can be selfish at times and he’s still figuring out where to draw the line. 

Jeon Jungkook

Kook wishes to change the part of himself that makes him ineffective and sits him out on the sidelines. His inability to help or accomplish a task is one that surprisingly bears down on him. He can’t stand not being able to do something, which makes sense considering the many talents he has usually render him successful at tasks the first time round. We can see this in his determination to learn English to help Joon during interviews. He has grown a lot since his teen years and now understands that the common gifted child problem of failing at a task the first time is normal for all human beings, but he still beats himself up for being unable to take action to solve a problem or help someone. 

A/N

Jin drew the Page of Swords, 7 of Pentacles, and 2 of Pentacles. The Page of Swords has consistently been showing up in the last four-ish readings I’ve done for him. I think it’s presenting itself as his significator alongside Death. It refers to his surface personality while Death is his core. It appeared in this reading as a way to validate its veracity. 

Yoongi drew the King of Pentacles. This card, along with The Hanged Man, is the card that best represents Yoongi. I find it interesting that both cards have upside down figures on them and both figures have ceded control over their surroundings. They’ve surrendered, they flow with the current to wherever it takes them and by doing so, have attained mastery. It’s an ultimate zen concept. I think it corresponds to Yoongi’s philosophy of, “Let them do what they want, it doesn’t affect me. I will prosper regardless.”

Also, almost every single reading I do about Yoongi involves wealth/material stability in some way. I’m really not making this up. Even if you look at the traditional meanings of the cards, that’s exactly what they tell. I don’t draw my own cards so there’s no bias there. I shuffle and whatever falls out, falls out. So I think all the emphasis on that aspect of him is just confirmation it’s a key element of him that affects all parts of his life and is a big part of who he is.

Tons of cards for Hobi!! The King of Pentacles and the Queen of Pentacles as well as The Lovers tell me it’s about romantic partnerships; The Hanged Man tells me it’s about his disillusionment regarding it; Rx. The Devil and 6 of Swords speak of his toxic spirals and need to work past them. 

Joon drew the Rx. 6 of Pentacles, The Emperor, and Rx. King of Cups. This is new information about him though it fits very much with The Magician he usually gets. Both The Emperor and The Magician are about control and power.

Jimin drew the Page of Chalices. A heartstring-tugging addition to Tarot!Jimin’s story so far. 

Tae drew the 5 of Wands. It’s funny because this is very similar to the card that kept coming up in his Fatherhood and Future Children readings. Looks like the combative side of his personality will pass down to his children and karma will teach him what it’s like to deal with himself 😂 

Kook drew the 4 of Cups and Rx. The Devil. He think he needs to be good at everything and is disappointed/upset when he isn’t. Part of it is the perfectionism he subjects himself to, part of it is arrogance, part of it is expectation, because if he can do everything else well, why can’t he do this too? 

Overall, I felt a pretty high level of accuracy with this read, about 92%. I drew multiple times to make sure the cards I got were the right ones. Some cards were expected but others took me by surprise, yet they made sense once I thought about it. 

Personally, I think Yoongi, Hobi, Tae, and Kook are the ones who need to work on what they want to change. Jin, Joon, and Jimin are doing a great job as they are. What do you think?

If you enjoyed reading this, please support me by interacting with this post through likes, replies, or reblogs. It tells the algorithm that my work is valuable. So, it’s a meaningful way to let me know you want more of the same content from me.

As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts about this post. Let me know if you agree with what the boys think should change in themselves and whether these are things you’d change in yourself. Is change always good? Which of these would benefit vs. hurt the boys and why? Are there any other ways you think the boys need to change? Let’s talk 👾

Bonus: Relevant Discussions

© | Disclaimer! | Tarot Masterlist | Commissions | Tip Jar Do not repost, modify, or translate without explicit written permission.

[artoflifehealingarts]

Posted on Quora

By Tony Castaldo

Q: My IQ is at around 151 (Mensa). What can I expect to achieve in life?

Welcome to the club! You can expect to achieve absolutely nothing!

This is like saying, “I have a race car engine. How fast can I go?”

Well, buddy, you need the rest of the car, and unfortunately nature will not always match your engine with all the rest of the mechanical parts in your car. All the parts are randomly chosen and then forced to fit together.

The “rest of the car” in this case is both your physical self, and your emotional self, all you have proven with an IQ test is that you are capable of fast analytical problem solving. That doesn’t automatically make you well-adjusted emotionally, it doesn’t automatically make you an athlete, it doesn’t mean anybody will love you or you will love them, it doesn’t mean you will make a ton of money.

Here is the key you will learn when you get older. It may take time, but I’m giving you the hint now, so you’ll recognize it more quickly than I did: Emotions are king, and will ultimately determine your fate. Not rationality, that is a servant to your emotions, and it will always be.

The neocortex is called that because it evolved recently; before that we were ruled by instincts and emotions and very limited reasoning power, like all other animals. Well, in this case evolution worked by adding something new, not subtracting. Before the neocortex, our instincts and emotions were completely in charge of our actions, and guess what? They STILL hold the throne!

There is an “accidental” brain experiment* with a man that lost his amygdalae in surgery (basically the structures that act as an emotional clearing house) to excise a brain tumor. As a result, he was rational, he could solve math problems, ace quizzes, he did not lose any of his intellect. But he was incapacitated anyway, because he could not make decisions. Asked to pick out clothes for a day, he dithered in the closet for hours, until he had to go to the bathroom. And narrating what he was doing, he could endlessly analyze and come up with reasons to pick one shirt over another, depending on who he might meet, where he might go, what the weather would be, and never come to a conclusion.

You might think he’d get bored or angry or frustrated and just grab a shirt: Nope. Those are emotions. He wasn’t embarrassed by taking so long; he didn’t hate himself, he didn’t worry about what it meant that he could not make a decision. All emotions. In essence, he just did not LIKE any shirt more than another, and he had no rational reason to pick one over another. So his intellect just came up with one thing after another to present to the king (the amygdalae), which was dead on the throne and never indicated to the intellect “I prefer that option.”

Now bladder pain, hunger, muscles and joints hurting and getting tired from standing too long; those are not emotions, and he knew how to respond to that. Physical discomfort is a thing; but also not intellect. Given orders, he knew how to respond to that.

So what is the evolutionary role of Intellect, then? It is a SERVANT to your physical and emotional self, and provides you information, projections and predictions, and understanding for you to emotionally react to.

Why stay in school, when, emotionally it would be much more satisfying to have some money by getting a job? Your intellect will project those two futures, in one you likely have a better job and better life, in the other your short-term indulgences will lead to lesser jobs and a more difficult life. And when you emotionally consider one of those options better than another, the intellect has done its job and you stay in school, despite the short term allure of not being a broke ass student.

You have to learn to manage your emotions, delay gratification, and your intellect can help you with that, but it also depends on your emotional constitution right now. The Intellect can let you breeze through school and college. Mine let me finish a Bachelor’s in Mathematics in 3 years flat, and my Master’s in same in 18 months. It let me go to college for 12 years, earning five degrees with a 4.0 GPA, including my PhD.

Academic success is yours, and getting it will help you become financially successful, because our society pays (literally and figuratively) way too much regard to advanced college degrees.

But your emotions can derail all that. Mensa itself has studied this**; their members are not all successful, even in their own judgment, not all of them are living happily ever after. They have had members get addicted to drugs, get defrauded, go to jail for committing impulsive crimes. They have had high IQ women that got pregnant and bore children at 15. Mensans end up as janitors, truck drivers, and Amazon warehouse workers. Mensans have struggled with depression, and committed suicide. Mensans have attempted stupid stunts and ended up paralyzed for life. Mensans become obese and diabetic and get diseases because they cannot control their eating, their depression, or resist impulsive temptations.

And guess what? All of that shit at about the same rate as the general population that is NOT high IQ.

Why? Because emotions rule our lives. The best thing you can do with your intellect is not to “gain control” of your emotions; you cannot dethrone the King and should not try. But what your intellect CAN do is manipulate the King, learn to convince yourself to choose the best balanced outcome of short, intermediate and long term gains.

Should you study Computer Science and within that Algorithmic Science, there is an interesting class of Algorithms called “Greedy Algorithms”. Greedy algorithm - Wikipedia . The hallmark of such algorithms is that always choosing the optimal short term solution is guaranteed to produce the optimal long term solution, so it is very easy.

That is how basic animals work, as if this is always true of the world. It is why we can trap them: We humans can devise traps so the optimal short term solution for the animal will NOT lead to their optimal long term solution, it will kill them instead. The rat taking the bite of cheese triggers a spring-loaded bar that breaks its neck. The deer chased by a human takes the route of fastest escape and lands in a concealed pit.

People have all that same Greedy Algorithm equipment built in. The purpose of the intellect is to let you defeat this very strong tendency to choose the optimal short term solution, because the Greedy Algorithm does NOT solve all problems. Animals, and us, evolved emotions to use the Greedy Algorithm because it is the simplest and easiest algorithm to implement, one step up from the random action of bacteria and viruses.

The intellect is there to help you accurately predict the consequences and outcomes of your actions in the future, so your emotions can make an informed choice about what will give you the most emotional gratification in the long term, or at least for as far as you can see the future.

There is often a tendency amongst the high IQ crowd to put undue importance on the value of their intellect. They want to “Spock it out,” dismiss emotions as unimportant.

Well, Spock is mythical bullshit, humans don’t work like that, so figure that out as soon as you can. The point of life is emotions, and the best thing you can do with your intellect is use it and delayed gratification diligently to ensure you live a happy life, find love, avoid fear and embarrassment and prison and disease and disability, work at a job you love that uses your talents.

There is no point in being smart if it doesn’t make you happy. You have been gifted with a superior ability to solve problems and understand consequences. A bigger hammer to solve life’s problems, or avert them altogether. But it is useless if you don’t use it, there is no point in being proud of just owning a big hammer, you need to use it.

And remember that your Intellect is a servant to your emotions, it isn’t there to replace them, but to inform them, so you can resist short term gratification when your intellect sees it is likely to sabotage your long term future. That is how you avoid being trapped like an animal and suffering at the hands of others.

* Amygdala results: I believe I first read about this in the book “The Man That Mistook His Wife For A Hat”, but for a neurologist’s talk see Antonio Damasio | Speaker | TED.

** See for example High intelligence: A risk factor for psychological and physiological overexcitabilities.

The remainder of the conclusions and advice are my own based upon reading several such studies, and the implications mentioned.

[positivecreations]

So I just watched the Netflix documentary “The Social Dilema” which had some interesting reflections on social media. I feel fortunate to be old enough that email only arrived to my life at age 19, social media at 24 and I only started using a smart phone in my mid 30s (after much resistance). I feel it’s a crazy tricky situation that these days smart phones are given to young kids, who now shape their maleable personalities while being under the microscope of social media. It already seemed like our superficial society had us on some pointless “Popularity Contest”, where being good looking and wealthy was the goal, but social media amplified that into a video game for our egos. To start this conditioning from our youth is so dangerous. The phone has become an addictive drug, that either gives us dopamine rewards or depresses us. It can also be a tool to manipulate the perceptions of society and put us in the wrong direction or even create strong cultural divisions. We have to be very aware and present of this, so that we don’t create “Eco chambers” for ourselves that keep our personal ideologies “safe”. Open minded conversations with different points of views are always healthier than believing you’re “right” on any issue. We have to be in control of these devices and not let it control our lives nor rob us from the experience of being alive! I myself have fallen for the tricks of these platforms, so I vow to be more conscious of the situation. As a communicator, I do Love Social Media and the ability to express myself to thousands of souls every day. I want to continue to use these platforms to keep spreading positive images/ideas/medicine into the matrix, as to help heal it in any way. Be a positive influence. I also only want to follow or “Like” accounts that also bring positive, conscious and spiritual content to my attention. Anything that isn’t I will unfollow as mental garbage or a time-killing distraction. This is just a tool at the end of the day, even with the algorithms trying to own our attention. So let’s keep evolving into a conscious society and use this tool to further that objective of our collective awakening! 📸 @ricomichel #thesocialdilemma (at Montreal, Quebec) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFAA-yznqwx/?igshid=17e11a33dirki