#not on any social media for years and spent that time learning from women some of whom were radical feminists and some of whom were not and

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Andrew Doyle

Published: Apr 8, 2024

One of my shortest-lived jobs was as a teacher at a school for girls near Sloane Square in London. I resigned after just two weeks because the headmistress was a religious zealot who had objected to me teaching a text which featured a gay character. In my resignation letter, I explained that I wasn’t prepared to work at a school which fostered such antediluvian attitudes. I stayed on to finish the term, but was delighted when I eventually made my escape.

I had previously worked at a boys’ school, and I soon noticed that there were some broad differences that manifested in an all-female environment. One of the most concerning was that many of the girls were engaged in what can only be described as competitive starvation. During lunch duties, I was warned to keep an eye out for pupils who had taken just a single lettuce leaf from the salad bar. If I saw any girl doing so, I was told I must immediately intercept her and demand that she return and fill her plate.

My first teaching post had been at a co-ed school in which cutting one’s own skin was the fashion. We even had a visiting expert telling us how to encourage these pupils to hold ice cubes in their hands until they felt shooting pains as a substitute for the razor. I remember at the time thinking that this wasn’t the best advice, but I was too green to raise an objection. Besides, this speaker had spent a considerable part of the session reminiscing about a shepherd she had once counselled who had, over the course of many months on the hillside, used a sharp wire to whittle his penis so that it eventually became forked. To this day, I am none the wiser as to the purpose of this anecdote.

But the shift from cutting to starvation was striking. At the former school, pupils were not refraining from food, and at the latter there were very few who were injuring themselves with blades. It was almost as though only one form of self-harm could predominate at any given time. And when a small group started doing it, the trend spread with remarkable rapidity. I hadn’t seen an equivalent back when I was teaching boys.

I have since learned that social contagions are especially common among teenage girls, and that there are numerous historical precedents for this. I have written elsewhere about the Salem witch trials of 1692-93, in which a group of girls began seeing demons in the shadows and accusing members of their own community of being in league with the Devil. Then there were the various “dancing plagues” of the middle ages which seemed to impact young women in particular. In 1892, girls at a school in Germany began to involuntarily shake their hands whenever they performed writing exercises. And when I visited Sweden last year, I was told about a local village where, during the medieval period, the girls all inexplicably began to limp.

It's perfectly clear that the latest social contagion to take hold in the western world is that of girls identifying out of their femaleness, either through claims that they are trans or non-binary. Whereas in 2012, there were only 250 referrals (mostly boys) to the NHS’s Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS), by 2021 the figure had risen to more than 5,000 (mostly female) patients. Gender activists like to claim that this is simply the consequence of more people “coming out” as society becomes more tolerant, and at the same time insist that it has never been a worse time to be trans. Consistency is not their strong suit.

Of course there are no easy answers as to the explosion of this latest fad, but surely the proliferation of social media has something to do with it. Platforms such as TikTok are replete with activists explaining to teenagers that their feelings of confusion are probably evidence that they have been “born in the wrong body”. For pubescent girls who are uncomfortable with their physiological changes, as well as sudden unwanted male sexual attention, the prospect of identifying out of womanhood makes complete sense. These online pedlars have some snake-oil to sell. And while a limping epidemic in a medieval village would be unlikely to spread very far, social contagions cannot be so confined in the digital age.

Much of this is reminiscent of the recovered memory hysteria of the late twentieth-century, when therapist cranks promoted the idea that most victims of sexual abuse had repressed their traumatic memories from childhood. It led to numerous cases of people imagining that they had been abused by parents and other family members, and many lives were ruined as a result. One of the key texts in this movement was The Courage to Heal (1988) by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis, which made the astonishing and unevidenced claim that “if you are unable to remember any specific instances… but still have a feeling that something abusive happened to you, it probably did”.

A common feature of social contagions is that they depend upon the elevation of intuition over material reality. Just as innocent family members were accused of sexual abuse because of “feelings” teased out by unscrupulous therapists, many girls are now being urged by online influencers to trust the evidence of their emotions and accept a misalignment between their body and their gendered soul. We are not talking here about the handful of children who suffer from gender dysphoria, but rather healthy children who have been swept up in a temporary craze.

Activists have been quick to demonise the entire notion of “social contagion” as a “transphobic talking point”, but the evidence for it is now indisputable. The review into paediatric gender treatment by Dame Hilary Cass is due to be published this Wednesday, and is likely to include recommendations that schools stop the “social transitioning” of children. The interim review had already pointed out that enabling pupils to adopt alternative names, pronouns and dress codes was “not a neutral act”. And there is mounting evidence that such an approach consolidates a child’s psychological conceptualisation of herself as a member of the opposite sex. While social transitioning is seen as compassionate, in reality is causes long-term harm.

It would seem that teenage girls will always be prone to these social contagions, but some are more damaging than others. Whereas limping and dancing and trembling can be overcome, the lifelong impact of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery will not be so transient. Let’s hope this particular hysteria soon goes the way of all the others.

[blackautmedia]

I'm seeing some people raise the possibility that "col1ardgreens" is not a real person, but whether the claim is legitimate or not, the Anti-Blackness and violent hostility toward Black people is real and has been for some time. I'll post as I'm aware of any new details but damn I hate social media sometimes.

You can easily look up the replies to that post taking that as a legitimate Black person, racial slurs and everything. I know all of my countless Black mutuals, friends and family right now who are being called psyops and feds by supposed ally "leftists" who feel so violently angry at being told something by Black people.

Right now most of my mutuals especially on twitter are being called slurs, being harassed both by leftists, liberals and conservatives alike.

Nothing brings people together on an issue quite like Anti-Blackness.

It's also really apparent how many people aren't familiar with organizing spaces or the time or effort it takes to build up organizing efforts, especially with the technological developments of the last few decades and the complications of social media.

When you can submit someone's tweets as evidence in a court of law, when the internet becomes a space to radicalize and give information to people from the age they can start looking at a screen, when we have a visual connection that allows us to see past a nation's propaganda attempts, it's no longer just twitter drama.

These things all have very tangible effects on Black lives, but it's clear it's just a game to too many people. It's why so many Black people reject the term "BIPOC" in how it links our issues to people who also perpetuate Anti-Blackness.

Anything Black people do as an organization tool and to bring focus and attention to specific people in Black communities, which is what phrases like "rest in power" and "say their name" were modified to do is then dismissed as frivolous twitter nonsense by non-Black people (and frankly some Black people who like to align with them) and it's tiring.

A friend of mine from a few years back, one of the most brilliant women I've ever met is a digital organizer. She would seize up thread titles and names in order to prevent white supremacists from easily being able to organize. I find it completely asinine how people play off being online and in digital spaces as some fictionalized world that means nothing when it is one of the largest and easiest sources of propagandizing people available.

Social media and online spaces also are a fantastic way to stay in community with and listen to the needs of Black disabled people and the day to day struggles they go through. But just a few weeks ago, the same people were also subjected to harassment and casual eugenics over the same refusal to listen and engage.

I've seen so many people dismiss a tool used by Black people on digital platforms that has seen use and origin passed down in Black communities orally (so miss me with that poorly cited Wikipedia article because you spent five minutes googling a gotcha) that don't get captured or acknowledged by white scholars. "Rest in Power" was not some 2000s thing. "Say their name" is for Black victims, especially for cis Black women as well as trans and all queer Black people across the gender spectrum.

We have living ancestors we can easily contact to verify. Several of my family members were Black panthers, they were journalists and worked in the Black press, and they were there to know firsthand that it's not some new thing like those poorly researched community notes are.

But Black oral traditions are not recognized by white scholars and then nobody wants to have the conversation about appropriation. Because that's what "rest in power" is a conversation about.

And me being triply marginalized in that I'm Black, queer and also disabled, I learned a long time ago not to trust anyone or ever trust in allyship because truly nobody will have your back. I don't even expect most Black people to show any concern let alone non-Black people.

That doesn't mean I will ever withdraw my support for other genocides or for the plights of other oppressed groups because you really can't understand Palestinian genocide without addressing or understanding Anti-Blackness, but I also know that Black bodies are just seen as commodities to extract from and these last few weeks have made that especially apparent.

[quoteablebooks]

Genre: Fiction, Adult, Contemporary Romance

Rating: 5 out of 5

Content Warning: Death of a parent, Grief, Sexual content, Cancer, Infidelity, Child abuse  

Summary:

A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters. Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast. They’re polar opposites. In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block. Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no-one will fall in love. Really.

*Opinions*

I know I say this at the start of almost every review, but this read was influenced by social media. However, I do think that almost everyone heard of Beach Read when it came out in 2020 so I can’t blame Tiktok and Youtube for this one too much. Beach Read follows January Andrews and Augustus Everett, two writers that are suffering from a number of crises in their lives as well as writer's block. There is also the added issue that January has always seen Gus, as he went by in college, as her writing rival because he dismissed her writing of women’s fiction and romance for his high-brow literature. One ill-fated book club meeting later and a deal is struck, they will both attempt to write a novel in the other’s genre. Whichever book sells first gets the bragging rights. However, living next door to her college rival, whom she spent one steamy frat party dance with while dealing with digging up all the secrets of her father’s past might be too much for even disillusioned January Andrews to handle. 

This was a five-star read for me and there were only a couple of hiccups in the story that I found. However, because I read this book three years after it was released, I had also been warned that there were some heavier topics in the novel that had such a light-hearted title. I can see how some people would have been taken off guard when they thought they were going into a light-hearted romance and were hit with a lot of not light-hearted issues. In the Author’s Note, Henry stated that she didn’t write a romance novel, so perhaps it was the marketing team that got it wrong. That being said, I really enjoyed that there was a lot going on in both January and Gus’s lives aside from their jobs and their evolving feelings for one another. It made them feel real and well-rounded. It also made some of their miscommunication make more sense than just ‘they won’t talk to each other’. 

I related to January a lot more than I thought I would. While I don’t have a box of gin and an agent breathing down my neck for a new novel, the way her thought process played out was very familiar. While my outlook on the world might not be as happy and optimistic as January’s, I think I still try to find the happy ending, or at least the satisfying ending, in all the stories I tell myself in my head. Gus, at times, was a little too brooding, but understandable once you learn more about his background and past relationships. He also had some great romantic lines in this novel. 

The one gripe I had was that there were numerous miscommunications that, while cleared up usually pretty quickly, seemed to fall into a predictable rhythm. Gus would grow distant, January would blow it out of proportion (relatable) and then she would get emotional and he would comfort her. As someone with anxiety, my mind is constantly telling me that everyone hates me and will never talk to me again, but reading about it multiple times in a novel does get a little old. Luckily, I liked the characters enough and cared about their arcs enough that it didn’t really dampen my enjoyment of the novel. One more time and it probably would have knocked the novel down a star rating. 

Overall, I think that this is an interesting novel that takes a look at love and how our perception of our loved ones can change over time. How relationships don’t have to be perfect to be right for you. This isn’t a perfect novel, but it was perfect for me at the time I was reading it so it is a five-star read. I would suggest checking out the content warnings before going in though, so you aren’t caught off guard. 

[parkerterrato]

A little background- Long Post

I've been writing since I was 13, I'm 29 now. I grew up in a family of hardcore Christians and so my access to anything, especially media was heavily scrutinized and controlled. One weekend I spent with my uncle, he let me watch his VHS collection of lord of the rings. I fell in love with fantasy right then and there. The next scholastic book order I completely ignored the animal books, my usual favorites, and poured over the sheet looking for any fantasy books that caught my eye. I was told no to harry potter for obvious reasons, but I found others.

I didn't really have friends, I was too "weird" and I just hadn't figured out how to mask quite yet. I hadn't figured out that I had to water myself down for other people to like me. But I had books, I couldn't take them to school with me because I was forced into a private Christian school, but every moment I could after school and between chores, there were books.

One of my favorites was Eragon, I think it was because I related to him. We were both raised by people in our family and didn't have our parents around. At one point I was tearing through a thick hardcover book a day. At some point, I ended up volunteering at the local library just so I had an excuse to be at the library all-day and unlimited access to books. I started hiding books in my bag that I knew my family wouldn't approve of, I would get in trouble, and potentially grounded for an unknown amount of time or smacked around depending on how "bad" the content was. I was taking home books about magic and folklore.

One of the women my uncle was dating at the time was a huge nerd. She played wow and would let me play on her account. She went through books at the same rate I did and would let me have the novels she was done with and had no intention of rereading. I had so many books one of my bookshelves collapsed.

I decided I wanted to write and publish something at around 13, I was determined. I started working on my first novel, writing any chance I got. I had come up with characters, and worlds, and I could see them so vividly it was like watching a movie when I wrote or when I was spacing out thinking about it. I later learned it was called maladaptive daydreaming. I worked on my novel finishing it in about 6 months. I didn't know the first thing about publishing, I didn't have open access to the internet, but I found books about it. I read anything I could about the publishing process, and what the procedure was.

I scrounged for change, anytime I saw some or it was left laying around I would collect it up. I'd take it to the library and print off part of my manuscript and cover letter and mailed them to publishers and literary agents. No one helped me, my family shot down any dreams that I had that weren't profitable. I hid the rejection letters. I didn't want them to see that I failed, I didn't want them to know they had been right. Things only went downhill from there.

I dropped out of school when my brothers came to live with us, I had to take care of my disabled grandmother and 2 of my younger brothers. I got a job and threw myself into working and being a parent at 17. It was pounded into me at a young age as the oldest I had to keep everyone together. It was what I was supposed to do.

At 18 my depression was at an all-time high, every day was a fight. I was fighting for some sort of normalcy in my life, what little social life I had with my friends. I decided to start dating, but everyone was against it. Someone I had connected with 2 hours away came to see me. He picked me up from work, I got in his car and my only thoughts were "We'll he's either who he says he is or he's a serial killer and it's not my problem anymore." He was who he said he was, and a few months into dating I had enough, I couldn't take things at home anymore. I spent the night at his place and begged him not to take me back. We've been together since.

Fast forward 10 years, and I have 2 amazing partners who have loved me through so much. I came out as non-binary and gay. I'm no contact with all of my family and I've started healing. I've made a small living as a freelance artist and I stay home with my 2 girls.

As part of my healing process, I started doing all the things I wanted to do and dreamed of when I was younger. I had healed my inner child, but my inner teen was still angry, they were still pissed and mourning the person I could have been if things had been different.

So I started writing, and I started breathing life into new characters and worlds. My one partner pushed me to try and publish it, and My other partner agreed to edit it for me, I'm fortunate enough that I've surrounded myself with amazingly creative people and I paid one of my close friends to design the book cover.

While my book doesn't launch until the spring gets here, getting to this exact point, and getting to the person I was meant to be has been such an experience. I want to share it with people, I want to share that books kept me afloat during my darkest times, and I want to share why I write what I write. Because for me, if writing about it, or my novels themselves can reach someone like it did me, I'll be happy.

[cosleia]

I think sometimes about the fact that I am not a “fandom old” even though I am physically old, and what that means.

My online life started in the ’90s with chat rooms and learning to build websites. In the early 2000s I was part of a play-by-post role playing game (kind of a fandom, in that it was based on an anime…it was like writing fic) as well as a single regular fandom for a TV show.

We didn’t call it a fandom, though we may have referred to places as “fan sites”. Our activities mostly took place on individual people’s websites and forums.

I wasn’t familiar with fandoms and found a lot of the community norms and behaviors extremely offputting. There were some pretty gatekeepery people who seemed to be “in charge” of the fandom. I think I only participated in that community for a year.

I was also a member of IRC chat rooms about Star Wars and Robotech for many years. Those weren’t really fandoms; we discussed the media, but we also were just friends who chatted about life and other topics. Once I left the RPG and the TV show fandom, I wasn’t part of anything like fandom again for over a decade.

I spent the interim years in blogging communities and then on Twitter. I maintained my own website and read dozens of webcomics and spent a lot of time reading the news and other things of interest via RSS feeds.

In 2012 some guys decided they hated the idea of women existing on the internet, and so they started doxxing them and driving them out. My Twitter usage dropped considerably because I didn’t want to catch their attention. It was a really uncomfortable, unhappy time for me online. Eventually I remembered my Tumblr account, and I came over here more and more.

Then, in 2014, I became part of a fandom again: the Night Vale fandom.

Other than a few bad actors (kids who I have forgiven, as they were kids), this fandom was pretty great. There were lots of fics and art and headcanoning, and it was a lot of fun. I met some amazing people who are now lifelong friends, including someone I ended up dating for six years. It really just felt like a safe, fun place where I could be myself.

I’d loved Star Wars since I was a teenager, around the same time as the original Thrawn trilogy came out but not caused by that I don’t think. So when The Force Awakens came out I was tentatively excited. I didn’t expect much and I didn’t learn any spoilers, except that I got the impression Han died in it. I didn’t see it until after Christmas, so it had been in the theater for a bit.

It meant more to me than I ever imagined it would to see that lightsaber go to Rey, and from then on I was back in a galaxy far, far away. I ended up joining the kylux fandom in January of 2016, and I’ve been there ever since.

So I really haven’t had the storied fandom past others have. While I had a LiveJournal, I didn’t understand it and rarely used it. I read a few fics on FFN here and there, but I wasn’t a regular to the site.

The move off Tumblr to Twitter was DEVASTATING to me because I’d never gone through something like that before. I didn’t, and still don’t, like the idea of performing fandom for a global audience, which is how Twitter makes me feel. I like little communities of friends sharing things, which is probably why I tend to feel like a fandom old while not actually being one.

Now it looks like Twitter might radically change or just stop working entirely. And there really isn’t a place to go from there. Lots of people hate Tumblr, and the various new social media sites and services that have popped up all have problems. There’s no clear solution, and I hate it. I’m in the interesting position of being very emotionally affected by this, unlike fandom olds who seem to just be very “oh, this again” about it. But I am much older than the other people who are upset. I kind of feel alone.

But! I will just wait and see what happens. I’ll use Tumblr more, continue to use Twitter, and see if something else comes along that actually works for us. Fingers crossed. Hopefully the tired assuredness of the fandom olds will turn out to be correct.

[itsrattysworld]

Without Prejudice Mervelee Myers Last Post 13/01/24 Address Social Media Cyberbullies Target Me On Behalf A-Z Abusers Let Me Share Passions Of Writing Storytelling Singing Performing Dreaming From Growing Up In Household Of Males With Strong Females Who Instilled Resilience Not Accepting Giving Up As An Option I Recall GanGan Irene Who Lived 10 Years After My Father Buried Some Of Her Children From Infancy GanGan Elsie Who Died Of A Broken Heart Despite Surviving Strokes Last Time I Seen Her Out Of Her House Day They Bring Uncle Terah From March Pen St Catherine 1st Buried On Our Land Mama Lou Laugh Sing Her Way Through PTSD Carer For Those Who Needed Her TLC After Her Nearest Dearest Left Home She Even Treated The Cats As Her Family Like I Learned To Communicate With Neighbours I Created Legacies Foundations Laid When I Joined Facebook 2009 SM Influencer Homemade Books On LinkedIn Websites Carry Stories Published On Subjects Cradle To Grave I Was Featured Online Across Globe Face Windrush 70 I Contributed Mum's Eulogy Viewed 7K Times FB Until I Became Victim After Death Mother Dementia June O'Sullivan Sanctions Hate Crimes Label UURICA-LE Spent 10 Years Clearing Name Time For Me To Benefit Intellectual Property Copyright Images CPPDP Instead Of Having Them Harvested Stolen Those That Underestimated My Education Gained Via Personal Experiences Are In For A Shock Am Not On SM Seeking To Rob Anyone Like What Is Happening To Me And Husband To Us Nigel Pearce Seb Adjei-Addoh Sir Mark Rowley Will Not Hear Last Of YouTube Benefiting From My Creations Trying Trick Me To Make Me Voiceless Vulnerable Victim Past 10 Years Some Name World Is In Denial Black People Refuse To Help Their Own Except Take Advantage Mimi Owusu Scam £10,000.00 Sold Me Out To H4W 12 Pages Witness Statement Sent Police To Do Welfare Check Adult Social Care My Great Grand Parents Were Land Barons CCMCC Judgement Ryan Clement Pay £9,450.00 Have Lists Offered £46-55,000.00 SENCO Job Smart Teachers Endorse Tony Bertram Chris Pascal LinkedIn 3/1/2024

Refer to Without Prejudice Mervelee Myers Writes For Therapy Confused Girl Lost My Father To What They Said Was His Nerves Worked Too Hard Did Not Take Care Of Himself Lindon Stolen Balis Story Lists Of Defamation Section Registered Deaf Doing Rounds Maudsley NHS Southwark Council Housing For Women Mimi Owusu Life Open Book To Help Others Experience PTSD Or SEND Any Stages Of Journey From Cradle…

[itsthebethblogever]

Wilderness Solo

Context:

This was written during a 10 day Wilderness Solo retreat as a part of the Four Seasons Journey, a year long course, run by the School of Shamanic Womancraft (SSW). And yes, that first sentence may take a reread or rererereread to understand lol, we love a good attention grabber. In the middle of those ten days, myself and six other women spent 3 days on our own water fasting with a tent, our medicine drum, and a journal with the intention of calling in a vision - hence calling this a Vision Quest. Our two teachers and apprentices held space at the home on this property by monitoring the walkie talkie (we could call in or whistle in case we needed anything). When I wrote this, it was the first full day of the Vision Quest, October 6th. Since then, I have done more processing and integration and feel deep gratitude for this experience - which is not really highlighted in this stage of the journey. I’m learning that by writing in rhymes, it helps me continue the writing flow by giving my thoughts some sort of loose structure.

In my experience, I haven’t come across much content of people who are beginning/in the middle of their “spiritual journeys”. Like most media, polarization is the most common stance - either social media is making fun of spiritual people, or it’s a guru preaching love and light. So, I volunteer as tribute to act as a Bridge.

My whole life I’ve always been drawn to nature as a teacher, which is what spirituality basically is, in essence. Then, as I started to get more into studying astrology in 2018, the world of mantras and meditation found its way into my orbit. I’d say that my move back to California in 2021 was the real start of my #journey, thanks to the ample supply of open hearted humans I met (specific shoutout to the gorgeous soul Austin) and the strong culture of psychedelics that exists. After 10 months of exploring the magical lands of Mexico, I signed up for the School of Shamanic Womancraft based in Australia, eager to wet my witchy whistle. Quite quickly, I felt like I was in over my head, that the other women were already so advanced in their abilities/careers/etc, and self-doubt began to emerge. Without saying much more, this poem/free write thang expresses those emotions of frustration, blame, and resistance about where I’m at in my journey. I wrote it right after I meditated and FINALLY felt like I connected to a higher frequency without any external assistance (to be explained more below).

I hope this share serves.

Much love,

Beth

Woke up and choose love and gratitude

Sat outside, stared at a tree ribbon, changed my whole attitude

My vision started to blur into fractals

Figured I’d give meditation a crackle

Kept my focus on the stringy ribbon thing

Imagined my thoughts as a rat on a wheel

Killed the rat, put it for a rest

Continued to keep my focus as a test

Checked out of reality, said goodbye to time and space

The sun came out and surrendered without a trace

Not long into it, flys came around

Changed my position to in my tent, continued to ground

Breath flowing in and out with intention

Became aware of my energy, fostered a heart connection

There I felt a tightness around the chakra

Love myself is a fitting new mantra

Laying down, my thoughts began to drift

Give wings to my voice, spirit felt a lift

Had a check in with my guides, my family

I was most in tune to listen to their voice

James, Bernice, and Mildred intuitively came to me

Grandpa, Gramma, Aunt from my sequoia ancestry tree

Supported like a spider on a web spun with silk

There’s no point in climbing if the base isn’t built

Start small babe, don’t get in over your head

Life’s about taking risks, keep trying til you’re dead

Being so self aware at times feels like a burden

How I feel inside’s never hidden behind a curtain

Feeling behind my sisters’ abilities is a truth

I’m starting to ground and they’re astral projecting out the roof

Can’t trance dance or journey without weed

Reaching for the stars while feeling like a seed

“You already can” I am told but feel without guidance

My mom never pushed me, without support, feelings heighten

Swimming deep down into a lake of pity and resentment

My lungs burst for air so I climb onto a bench and

Look around, raise my eyebrow, and say - Why all this anger?

Everything happens for a reason, self sabotage is danger

Dangerously close to placing all my bets

Towards my future in a program whose pre-reqs I haven’t mastered yet

I keep trying hard, giving up’s not in my nature

In every course I’ve ever taken, I achieve the highest stature

Turns out shamanism isn’t quite like that

Your intuition initiation may come from a bat

In February, three years have passed since my breakup in Spain

The freedom to find myself has had doses of pain

Returned to home, took all the risks, spent weekends MIA

On Halloween I crashed my truck, to jail I was taken away

Fuck the justice system, fuck the US, I found an online job

Moved to Mexico to start anew, my dreams cannot be robbed

Loved living life as I desire outside my nine to five

Forty hour weeks compared to magic peeps who knew of no restrictions

Inspired me to realize I, too was worthy of abundance

Decided now was time to invest in skills that’d grant me everything I wish

Heard Australia’s a land of opportunities and ease

My bro is there and sister in law, getting a visa was a breeze

Go there for what? I considered, Not anything will do.

“Aha!” Said Kiki, my sister in law, “What about this school?

It’s called Shamanic Womancraft, their workshop was v cool!”

Women’s circles, wilderness solo, cyclical wisdom?

My curiosity peaked an all time high, my searching was done!

Quit my job, flew back home, changed my life in three short weeks

Surrender and trust in the unknown, what’s sown I’ll surely reap

Well, little research and lots of faith had unexpected results

Connection to Spirit has no instruction guide, no missing nails or bolts

Then how? I question, feeling lost and unqualified

Nothing’s working, nor my cycle’s flowing, no matter how hard I tried

The only hope that I find’s in the hands of Mary Jane

With her, I fly in meditations and hear voices of my guides

But without her medicine, I am a novice and tears come to my eyes

My final hope rests on the Wilderness Solo, surely answers’ll come

Yet, the same actions produce the same results, from the truth I cannot run

I push myself, so very hard, to sing, to drum, to dance

Wind, rain, and cold take me ahold, defeat’s my only trance

Finally the sun comes out, so I sit in meditation

Loving joy overwhelms me once I find my concentration

Small wins are much more valuable than aiming for the moon

To land amongst the stars feels sparkly and I shift my tune

This is my path, it’s full of surprises, and surely never boring

Into the lion’s den I fearlessly marched, and I’ll come out roaring

For some reason, this is necessary, perhaps later I’ll know

This seed has landed amongst giants - what motivation to grow!

[holisticsoulhealer]

Kindness - A Spiritual Story

I have so often spoken of my mum and my extraordinary relationship with her. It didn’t always show up in such a profound manner. After all, I was a teen for a number of years, thinking a different set of circumstances were better than my own. Even if my family was quite dysfunctional ( and it had it’s own juice of craziness) it was mine, and I knew it well. It was still on the whole, better than many other families from my viewpoint.

One of many sweet memories of my mother was how she interacted with others, both in business and in our personal lives. As years went by, and as she dealt with really tough medical issues like a fantastic hero, I grew my love and respect for her, in unimaginably loving ways. She moved from being my parent, to becoming my darling friend. She wasn’t perfect by any means, and I definitely wasn’t one bit perfect in my interactions with her either.

One thing that developed over time and with how many years we spent in each other’s company every single day, mostly 24/7, was the kindness we shared. I asked her questions about her past, about who she was, how she had shown up in life, and what had shaped some of her choices and decisions. There was an innocence around her, a childlike aspect to her, which encouraged her to leave most of the arrangements in life to be made by her husband.

My father was mostly out of integrity during his life. He cheated on her with many other women, drank heavy spirits daily and smoked like he was on fire. He was also a huge character, with jokes always ready, he loved an audience and was a bit of a lovable rogue. She really loved him and forgave him more than anybody should. He liked her a whole bunch but didn’t love her the way she would have wanted. He wasn’t satisfied with his brotherly love shared with her, and she felt his frustration and anger at who she wasn’t.

They weren’t a great match at all, and as years went by, it became apparent. He was definitely not kind to her. She wasn’t always kind to him either. I have witnessed the roles of married partners in similar ways with people I’ve guided over the years, and their dynamic wasn’t as unusual as you’d imagine.

My own first marriage mirrored this great unkindness in almost every way, especially to the point of complete estrangement from the children that came out of that marriage. They weren’t my children, they were his. They chose their father and became close to him, while he dishonored and disrespected me and everything I came with.

I learned to live in a kind and loving World with people who have become my family over the many years. I love the kindness I show them and they return. I must be honest and admit to all of you that I don’t miss the children that came out of the marriage. I am entirely grateful for the sweet years I helped raise those little people to be the adults they are today. I am not sure I’d change much, while I continue to close the circle on my past, making peace with every step.

I am very much in love and happy now with a man who is kind and loving all of the time. I don’t tolerate unkindness in any area of my life for very long and I instead, invoke and invite wonderful and joy filled relationships and experiences into every single day. Kindness really does matter.

As always, please share this post with anyone that you feel can benefit from it! Please like us on your social media channels and subscribe to our mailing list if you haven't already done so! We are mailing out a monthly newsletter and a recap each week of our blog posts and interesting tidbits! This is how you can stay informed with what is new in the world of The Holistic Soul Healer!!

Love & Blessings,

Ruth

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[jennativnancom634]

Introduction

I never thought I would have to create a Tumblr after skipping out on that phase in middle school, but I also never thought I would be in an extra semester of college as a captain of a Power 5 Soccer team too. I am not going to lie and say I am taking this course because of something that I am not. I was trying to just find a graduate course that I may somewhat be interested in and relevant to my future when my friend recommended this one. I am looking forward to maybe getting some networking connections out of this class, but also learning about where the digital work is heading. Ever since Covid social media and tech has blossomed and has provided so many more jobs for the sports world that are interesting.

Where I come from is not a super interesting question as I was born and raised in Massachusetts. Easton to be specific except where my story gets a little bit interesting is that I chose to go to Boarding School. I know that sounds like I grew up wealthy, but that just isn’t the case there is a great thing called need-based financial aid. Growing up I knew I wanted to get out of my town, I was closer with my club soccer friends than anyone in my town and the time I spent not in any form of sports practice, strength and agility training,  doing my homework, juggling by myself, or napping I spent with my club teammates. One of my club teammates went to a private middle school and her mom gave me a book that had every prep school in the country in it. Throughout that summer I went through every single page, circled, highlighted, and researched which schools I would want to go to. I did the applications with the support of my parents, but did them myself. Then after just picking what highschool I went to, my freshman year of highschool I was picking what college I was going to.

College has been a wild ride since intra-university transferring from exercise science into sport management. I graduated last spring with a degree in Sport Management and minors in Marketing and Sport Analytics. So far I have been able to do a few internships as it is difficult getting ready for preseason and working. In 2021 I was a WiST fellow, Women in Sports Tech, which I actually got in a connected way because of a friend who took this class. I was able to intern with Comcast SportsTech Accelerator and saw a whole new side to what jobs are out there. Last spring I did my Capstone with Zoomph which is a partnership analytics company that is platform based. Finally, this past summer I worked with ThePostGame doing more research based things that has now turned into a part time job while I take two classes at a time and play soccer.

I think the area of media I will be focusing on will be something to do with sports media. I am not entirely sure where to go from there but the technology alongside sports is continuing to evolve which is something I am interested in. 

[beasley02conradsen]

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[svenssonfink03]

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China Duplicate Purse, Reproduction Handbag Wholesale, Producers, Value Overall, this may be a good store to buy some good reproduction baggage. With a rating of 93.2%, this new age store has a good assortment of products. They deal with a broad variety of merchandise such as leather handbags, designer summer time bags, one shoulder messenger bag, sling baggage, wallets and more. For people who care about their style quotient and want to buy hip accessories, that is the shop to go to. Their baggage are tremendous inexpensive and even the women’s leather wallets are priced very reasonably. This is the sort of store, where you choose up 2 or 3 baggage because of its value and high quality and design. If the value is just too good to be true, the bag is in all probability going faux. Authentic luxury handbags, even pre-owned or classic examples, will retain their worth nicely and rarely drop to prices thought of “cheap”. They promote hand baggage, shoulder baggage, travel bags, cross physique luggage, messenger luggage, purses and more. They have a great assortment of replicas from Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Prada. Some fakes disguise their sloppy work in the lining of the bag. one hundred pieces for customized or OEM order Sample Policy Our professional R&D team releases many new styles regularly to fulfill market calls for. They are value it within the sense that they appear low-cost and are easily affordable. The replicas look the very same with no differences and they are a legitimate bag which can stand the check of time. If you look at my closet and also you didn’t know any better, you can have sworn that I have spent lots of of hundreds, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in my collection. Let’s dive in and get stepping into our unbelievable journey into the fascinating world of high-quality design brand knock-off handbags. You have to grasp that there are plenty of knock-off merchandise are offered on-line. The downside is, if you do not learn my guide, you most likely will get faked out. The tests might go on for even months, eliminating the possibilities of any faulty merchandise releasing into the market. For occasion, Louis Vuitton’s signature brand comes with gold-colored plates, an angled design, and a shiny look. Some also exhibit a chained design that elegantly connects with the designer bag. Something with much detail can be onerous to exchange, permitting you to judge effortless which one’s the red flag. Over the past year, counterfeit fake items have rocketed the digital luxury market. In the midst of lockdown, and Gen Z having too much time on their hands, the dupe floodgates have inundated social media websites like TikTok and Instagram. If the authenticated bags don’t fit your price range, search for acronyms like “NWT” which means new with tags, or “NWOT,” which is new with out tags. You’ll need to deal with only trusted sellers which have positive suggestions from patrons. wikipedia handbags A single bag from luxurious designer brands corresponding to LV, Hermes, and Chanel costs 1000's of bucks. Buying them isn’t unlawful, however in the United States, selling them is, which is likely why so many individuals favor to order from DHgate and have them shipped from China. Did get my arms on the doppelgangers, I would fortunately flaunt my lookalikes, over the moon if somebody requested me if my bag was designer. That mentioned, I all the time told the reality, and never tried to play off my purses as the real deal, nor did I buy anything with fake designer branding or logos. When you store via our extensive selection of designer brand fake purses, you will discover that they're exactly the identical as the true thing. replica handbags This is because we utilize the same supplies as the designer model, all of which are of the highest high quality.

[karlsencrosby3]

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China Duplicate Purse, Reproduction Purse Wholesale, Producers, Value Overall, this can be a good store to buy some good replica luggage. With a rating of 93.2%, this new age retailer has a good assortment of merchandise. They cope with a broad variety of products such as leather-based handbags, designer summer season baggage, one shoulder messenger bag, sling luggage, wallets and extra. For people who care about their type quotient and need to buy hip equipment, this is the store to visit. Their bags are tremendous reasonably priced and even the women’s leather-based wallets are priced very fairly. This is the kind of store, the place you pick up 2 or three baggage due to its price and quality and design. If the worth is just too good to be true, the bag is likely faux. Authentic luxury handbags, even pre-owned or classic examples, will retain their worth properly and infrequently drop to prices thought-about “cheap”. They promote hand baggage, shoulder bags, travel luggage, cross body baggage, messenger baggage, purses and more. They have a great collection of replicas from Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Prada. Some fakes disguise their sloppy work in the lining of the bag. 100 items for customized or OEM order Sample Policy Our skilled R&D team releases many new kinds regularly to fulfill market calls for. They are value it within the sense that they appear low-cost and are easily affordable. The replicas look the exact same with no variations and they're a reliable bag which will stand the test of time. If you look at my closet and also you didn’t know any better, you can have sworn that I even have spent lots of of thousands, if not tens of millions of dollars in my collection. Let’s dive in and get getting into our fantastic journey into the fascinating world of high-quality design brand knock-off purses. You have to understand that there are lots of knock-off merchandise are bought online. The drawback is, if you do not learn my guide, you in all probability will get faked out. The tests may go on for even months, eliminating the probabilities of any faulty products releasing into the market. For occasion, Louis Vuitton’s signature logo comes with gold-colored plates, an angled design, and a shiny look. Some additionally exhibit a chained design that elegantly connects with the designer bag. Something with a lot element can be hard to exchange, permitting you to judge easy which one’s the pink flag. Over the previous year, counterfeit faux goods have rocketed the digital luxurious marketplace. https://skel.io/ In the midst of lockdown, and Gen Z having too much time on their arms, the dupe floodgates have inundated social media sites like TikTok and Instagram. If the authenticated luggage don’t fit your finances, search for acronyms like “NWT” which means new with tags, or “NWOT,” which is new with out tags. You’ll want to cope with only trusted sellers that have optimistic feedback from buyers. A single bag from luxurious designer manufacturers corresponding to LV, Hermes, and Chanel prices thousands of bucks. Buying them isn’t illegal, however in the United States, selling them is, which is likely why so many individuals prefer to order from DHgate and have them shipped from China. Did get my arms on the doppelgangers, I would fortunately flaunt my lookalikes, over the moon if somebody asked me if my bag was designer. That mentioned, I always told the reality, and never tried to play off my purses as the real deal, nor did I purchase something with pretend designer branding or logos. When you shop through our broad selection of designer brand faux purses, you'll discover that they are precisely the same as the real thing. wikipedia handbags This is as a outcome of we utilize the identical materials as the designer model, all of that are of the highest quality.

[mccall67andresen]

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China Replica Handbag, Reproduction Purse Wholesale, Producers, Price Overall, it is a good store to purchase some good duplicate bags. With a ranking of 93.2%, this new age retailer has an excellent collection of products. They cope with all kinds of products such as leather handbags, designer summer baggage, one shoulder messenger bag, sling baggage, wallets and extra. https://phoenet.tw/ For individuals who care about their style quotient and want to buy hip equipment, that is the store to visit. Their luggage are super inexpensive and even the women’s leather-based wallets are priced very reasonably. This is the sort of store, the place you decide up 2 or three bags because of its price and quality and design. If the worth is too good to be true, the bag is in all probability going faux. wikipedia handbags Authentic luxurious purses, even pre-owned or classic examples, will retain their value nicely and barely drop to prices considered “cheap”. They sell hand baggage, shoulder bags, travel bags, cross body bags, messenger baggage, purses and extra. They have a great assortment of replicas from Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Prada. Some fakes disguise their sloppy work within the lining of the bag. one hundred pieces for personalized or OEM order Sample Policy Our professional R&D staff releases many new kinds frequently to fulfill market calls for. They are value it within the sense that they give the impression of being low cost and are simply inexpensive. The replicas look the precise same with no variations and they are a respectable bag which will stand the check of time. If you have a glance at my closet and you didn’t know any higher, you could have sworn that I have spent tons of of thousands, if not tens of millions of dollars in my assortment. Let’s dive in and get getting into our incredible journey into the fascinating world of high-quality design brand knock-off handbags. You have to know that there are plenty of knock-off products are offered on-line. The downside is, if you don't learn my guide, you most likely will get faked out. The checks may go on for even months, eliminating the chances of any defective merchandise releasing into the market. For occasion, Louis Vuitton’s signature emblem comes with gold-colored plates, an angled design, and a shiny look. Some additionally exhibit a chained design that elegantly connects with the designer bag. Something with much detail could be onerous to replace, permitting you to evaluate easy which one’s the purple flag. Over the past year, counterfeit pretend goods have rocketed the digital luxurious market. In the midst of lockdown, and Gen Z having too much time on their palms, the dupe floodgates have inundated social media sites like TikTok and Instagram. If the authenticated luggage don’t suit your finances, search for acronyms like “NWT” meaning new with tags, or “NWOT,” which is new with out tags. You’ll need to deal with only trusted sellers that have constructive feedback from consumers. A single bag from luxurious designer manufacturers corresponding to LV, Hermes, and Chanel prices 1000's of dollars. Buying them isn’t unlawful, however in the United States, promoting them is, which is likely why so many people choose to order from DHgate and have them shipped from China. Did get my hands on the doppelgangers, I would fortunately flaunt my lookalikes, over the moon if somebody asked me if my bag was designer. That mentioned, I at all times told the reality, and by no means tried to play off my purses as the real deal, nor did I purchase something with faux designer branding or logos. When you store by way of our broad number of designer brand faux purses, you'll notice that they are precisely the identical as the real factor. This is because we make the most of the same materials as the designer brand, all of that are of the highest high quality.

[alluringjae]

it’s a royal order - jjh

⤑ summary: one of your royal campaigns became a success, and your bodyguard jaehyun was there to see it all happen. it’s only fair to celebrate, right?

⤑ pairing: jaehyun x female reader

⤑ word count: 2k

⤑ genre: fluff, suggestive (dirty talk, jaehyun got a daddy kink, superiority complex!!), implied smut | bodyguard!jaehyun, princess!reader, slight enemies to lovers!au, modern royal!au (where south korea remains under monarchial power)

⤑ warnings: mentions of alcohol, drugs, family problems and therapy, explicit language

⤑ playlist: lows by pink sweat$ | céline by gallant | i put a spell on you by iza | nasty by ariana grande | dance for you by beyonce | body by sinead harnett

⤑ author’s note: this is definitely less emotional than all i do is wait! i got this idea from a show i really enjoyed before it got cancelled named the royals. specifically, i really liked the story of eleanor and jasper, which is the whole princess x bodyguard dynamic. the pining and tension, ugh! if you know this show or not, it doesn’t matter. anyways, thank you for the 30+ followers and 200 notes on aidiw! enjoy!

i need holy water because of this piece.

⤑ credits to jeongjaehyuns for the gif above uwu

⤑  leave me some feedback, constructive criticism or hellos!

“On behalf of the royal family, I would like to extend my utmost support for the Anti-School Violence campaign for all students to have a safer and more meaningful learning environment.” You proudly announced to the board of officials alongside other influential individuals in Korean society.

Being the only princess in the current royal line may have its pressures, but holding a strong, direct impact for a brighter future for the people motivated you to take advantage of your platform for the better. As the image of pure innocence and revamped women empowerment, you aimed to accomplish all the things your mother wished she could before her untimely death alongside your personal aspirations.

Expressing genuine joy with the campaign, with a tinge of desire to annoy the old-fashioned and closeminded officials, your prying eyes were more enamored by a certain man in the back clapping by the ballroom doors. You can’t help but act flustered whenever he witnessed you in a state of success and satisfaction.

This man went by the name Jeong Jaehyun, your trusted bodyguard since you were in your early twenties. 3 years later, he still stuck by your side and helped you endure all the darkness as a royal.

Back then, you went through a rebellious phase that was ruining the image of your family. Clubbing almost every night, drugs, skipping school, you even managed to get all assigned bodyguards to quit! The media ate up all your tricks, turning them into scandals. That was the plan, of course. You desired your own freedom from all the royal obligations because you didn’t ask to be born into that lifestyle. To all of your peers who wished to be in your footsteps, you would’ve impulsively passed your title to them. There’s so much deception that lies behind the glitz and glam of it all.

This unexpected change in your former untainted attitude came to the point that your father, the king himself, stepped in and personally assigned one of his men to get you in check. He figured that appointing a guard nearest your age may lessen the tension and mend you back together.

In the start, you absolutely despised him. There was no way to fool him when you were up to no good. He easily found your alcohol and drug stash which he disposed of on the spot and stood by your bedroom door every night so you wouldn’t sneak out past curfew (which your father also strictly implemented).

One big turning point in your relationship was when he rushed you to the royal hospital when you drank a cocktail that went unnoticeably spiked. To think that this was a typical social gathering with other royals and officials, you’re a constant target to many. You didn’t wake up for a few days, and the entire time, Jaehyun willingly stood by your bedside and outside your hospital room.

Since that and more instances your father insisted you get involved in royal affairs, you softened up. As cliché as it was, the more time spent with him, the more you knew about him and vice versa. He was the one that got you to fully open up about your grief towards your late mother, encouraging you to seek help. Turns out you weren’t as different as you thought despite your differing ranks in society when he also had a void for a missing parent. In his case, it was his father, who ditched his family for his mistress. Silently, you helped each other recover from your traumas alongside therapy. From dreading his presence, you started treating him more casually. Your father’s tactic of assigning a bodyguard around your age admittedly worked.

Oh, how time flies.

This campaign was the last thing on your weekend agenda, so you had the entire late afternoon and evening to yourself. Bowing one last time to the audience, you stepped down from the platform and accepted the soft hand of your bodyguard, who quickly made his way to you despite the flashing cameras. It was something he got used to as it is part of the job.

Once he successfully ushered you out of the ballroom, his hand still held yours. Nothing new, except this event was quite public and you didn’t want anyone to get any wrong ideas. Strolling down one of the many hallways in the palace became a pastime for the both of you, where no one can catch you. It was a safe haven within the destructive life of the Park kingdom.

“You did phenomenal as I expected, your highness.” Jaehyun complimented, recalling your panic the night before as the stage fright hit strong when you were reciting your speech to him over and over again.

“We are in private, Jaehyun. Must you really use those formalities with me?” You taunted, bobbing your head sideways mockingly. With him could you felt like a normal young adult, and you wouldn’t have it any other way. Jaehyun loved being frisky with you, catching you get irked up. And he was up to do it again.

“Hmm last time we strolled these halls, Yuta caught us making out after a successful meeting with the Prime Minister.”

You gasped at his statement, conscious of whoever may be in the vicinity. But before you could refute, your hand that was interlocked with his were mightily slammed against the white wall. You lost your breath for a moment, his warm body closely on yours. His free hand freely roamed up and down your covered waist. His lips were dangerously near your neck, where you’re sensitive. Your hips naturally grinded against him to release the pent-up tension.

“Something tells me you want to do it again, princess?” Now he’s just using your title as a pet name, but you couldn’t complain. It just hits differently when the situation was set up like this.

“I deserve it, don’t I? Got a lot of those hell-driven officials on my side for this round.” You raised both your brows cockily, licking your lips.

“Hell yeah, you do.” Finally, he rids of the tension and plants open kisses on your bare neck. Your throaty moans were uncontrollable, and you could care less.

“My princess,”

Kiss.

“So intelligent,”

Kiss.

“So benevolent,”

Kiss.

“So helpful,”

Kiss.

“But,” He changed his pace and direction, swollen lips near your ear.

“But?” You question naïvely. He scoffed, smirking at your antics of playing dumb.

“But a total slut for her bodyguard.” He dominantly planted his lips against yours, one of his veiny hands gripping on your waist and the other by the arch of your butt. He was hungry, needy even. Due to your shared schedules, it’s been a constant struggle to have proper alone time from the snooping eyes of Korean society. After all, it wasn’t in the norm for a princess to fall deep for her bodyguard. Nor were you sure you would be accepted by anyone. Yuta, the bodyguard of your oldest brother, the crowned prince Jinyoung, finding the both of you at that time was a total shock but didn’t care either.

All that mattered was that your feelings towards each other are real and strong. Accepted or not, you had each other.

All this lust put you in a daze, wanting much more than another smooch fest in the hallway. Tugging on his belt, he squeezed your butt tightly. You emitted a moan, which allowed his tongue access. No way could you keep your hands to yourself, touching his upper body and the flexing of his abdominal muscles from his button-up. You felt his now hard member poking through.

Analyzing your area, you were on the other side of the palace. Farther to your bedroom where numerous rendezvouses were made, one kink you’ve considered in the past amplified your mind. Considering this area was also the king’s side, and he was abroad for royal affairs, this was your chance.

“I have an idea, my love. You up for it?” You rose a brow at your lover, challenging him. Not one to overpower this man in bed, but always suggesting a way on how to spice it up.

“And what exactly does your feral brain want to do with me, princess?” His finger lifted your chin so you meet eye to eye. You can just see the fire still burning, and oh how you were ready to intensify it.

“The main ballroom, where my father and late mother’s throne rest, are a few doors away.” Your fingers signal him to lower his stance as his tall height was difficult to reach. With a sneaky smirk,

“Let me ride you in the king’s throne, my love.” Your lips brushed over his and sucked his bottom lip, tugging him by his belt. He groaned, squeezing your butt. “It’s a royal order.”  

“Nasty, your highness. Insanely nasty, you are.” His hands hoisted your waist, boosting you up in his arms. You gasped with profanities, ravenously cut off by his lips again. His nails digging deep in your bare thighs, your legs naturally linked themselves around his torso while your arms passionately intertwined his broad neck.

In between kisses, he carried you to the said main ballroom. One of your wildest imaginations, just a second away. This room remained to be the only place without any guards stationed technological advancements or updated interior designs to preserve its traditional beauty. Dated as far as the 19th century, only special events were held and the highest of the high were allowed inside. Spacious, surrounded by gold linings majestic paintings of angels from above with a huge crystal chandelier right above the center. Right ahead, the original thrones that your ancestors, grandparents, and parents sat on when they were throned in its pure glory.

Pushing your lover on the king’s throne, the gold sun-like rays plastered behind the headrest, he cockily leaned back and manspread his legs for comfort. He rubbed his hands before patting his thigh, waiting for your submission. But you weren’t going to give in just yet.

Not when you prepared a mini-show just for him underneath your designer silk dress.

Jaehyun’s solemn eyes marveled over your gorgeous figure as you stripped down one strap after the other. Due to its silk fabric, it effortlessly dropped down to your figure to reveal a new set of black lace lingerie from your previous trip to Paris. Ages ago, Jaehyun unhesitatingly ripped your favorite ones during his birthday, so you decided to get a mature version of it. A version where your bra lifted your breasts more and undies hiked up to your waist to elongate your legs. Only for the eyes of yourself and the man in front of you, establishing that you were a powerful woman who can be absolutely anyone she can be. Princess, a normal young adult, or his slut, it’s up to you how you see yourself.

Jaehyun mumbled all the profanities he could think of at the moment. Looking like a divine angel when the sun from outside shuns behind you, his slacks tightening so much more than a while ago.

“All this for me?” He ogled shamelessly, undoing the buttons of his dress shirt and untying his necktie. “What did I do to deserve such regal treatment?”

You sneered at his comment, stepping out your dress in your heels and stationing right in front of his luring lap. “You’ve always been there for me, thick and thin. I think you deserve a reward, don’t you think?”

Lowering yourself to straddle him, his breath hissed when your damp core collided with his crotch. Distracted and caught in your trap, “I don’t think you answered my question, my love.”

Rather than a verbal response, he roughly pulled you back in for a kiss. His hands scattered to explore from your back down to your waist. Your hands messily ran through his hair, tugging on some when your body got too sensitive to his wild touches. The thrilling sounds of the two of you drowning in your fiery romance bounced throughout the ballroom, not minding if anyone passed by the hallways outside. It was a private room after all, and whatever happens here, stays here.

Rolling on his crotch while his lips trailed down to your collarbones, the quick snap of your bra wires echoed. The tight lift lessened as Jaehyun’s fingers dropped the straps, unveiling your bare chest covered in his marks.

“Enough playing, princess. Let daddy have some real fun with you.”

[therealvinelle]

I've always wondered this, but what do you think the Cullen's political viewpoints would be, given their individual backgrounds? if vampires don't change after they turn, then surely they would all be extremely racist (especially Jasper). would this not come up at some point? they aren't like the Volturi because the Volturi are too old to care, but the Cullens are young enough that they have been brought up with opinions on stuff like sexism, racism, homophobia and the like.

Oh fuck.

You get an early answer because otherwise I'll just chicken out and delete this one, pretend I never saw it.

UMMM.

Since I'm guessing you meant American political viewpoints, we need a disclaimer. I am not American, and not too knowledgeable about your politics. Not just in the sense that I don't follow the day-to-day drama, but as I am not an American citizen there are several things I don't know, can't know because I've never lived in your country and therefore can't know what the effects of living in a country ruled by American policies is like. What I do know is based off of the news in the foreign section, social media (by which I mean tumblr posts), and Trevor Noah's Daily Show.

I am an outsider looking in.

Which is really rather appropriate, since the Cullens are too.

The Cullens go to high school and college, Carlisle works, they pay taxes, they own real estate, and submerge themselves in American culture. Esme, Edward, Rosalie, Emmett, and Bella are young enough that this is in many ways their world, and apart from timeouts they've more or less spent their entire lives, human and vampire, integrated into American society.

Not fully integrated, mind you, they do what they need to to fit in and get to school or, in Carlisle’s case, to work. They go no further. No extra-curriculars for the kids, no book clubs for Esme, no game nights for Carlisle. They walk parallel to humans, not among us.

In addition to this they're obscenely rich, which puts them another thousand miles from the experiences of your average American. They won't deal with the health system, which means healthcare is a non-issue, they're not going to need welfare or other social programs, unemployment is another non-issue. Name your issue, and the Cullens don't have personal stake in it. Even the climate crisis won't be a problem for them the way it will for us.

What I'm trying to say is, American political issues are a concept to them, not a lived reality. Just like they are for me. So hey, you made a great choice of blog to ask.

I'll also add here that you say the Volturi are too old to care, and I agree- from an ancient's point of view, racism is a matter of "which ethnicity are we hating today?", and it all looks rather arbitrary after a while. Same with every other issue - after a while it all just blends together into "what are the humans fighting over today? Which Christian denomination is the correct one? Huh. Good for them, I guess."

I can't put it any better than this post did, really. The Volturi are real people, humans are nerds and tumblr having Loki discourse. Aro thinks it's delightful and knows entirely too much about Watergate (and let's be real, Loki discourse as well), but the point I wanted to get at is that politics really don't matter to vampires.

And I don't think they matter to the Cullens either.

So, moving on to the next point while regretting I didn't put headlines in this post, I'll just state that I don't think vampires' minds are frozen. Their brains are unable to develop further, and they can never forget anything, but... well, this isn't the post for that, but in order for this to be true of vampires they would barely be sentient. They would not be able to process new impressions, to learn new things, nor to have an independent thought process. Yes, we see vampires in-universe (namely, Edward, who romanticizes himself and vampires) believe they're frozen and can never change, but there is no indication that this is a widespread belief, or even true. Quite the contrary - Carlisle went from a preacher's son who wanted to burn all the demons to living in Demon Capital for decades and then becoming a doctor and making a whole family of demons. Clearly, the guy has had a change in attitude over the years. Jasper, in his years as a newborn army general, slowly grew disenchanted with his life and developed depression. James initially meant to kill Victoria and hunted her across the earth, then became fascinated and changed his mind about it.

Had these people been incapable of change, Carlisle would still be hating demons, Jasper would be in Maria's army, and James would still be hunting Victoria.

It goes to follow, then, that they are able to adapt to new things.

The question is, would they?

Here I finally answer your question.

So, we have these people who don't really have any kind of stake in politics, who keep up to date all the same (or are forcibly kept up to date because high school) and are generally opinionated people.

Where do they then fall, politically?

(And this is where you might want to stop reading, anon, because I'm about to eviscerate these people.)

Alice votes for whoever's gonna win. She also makes a fortune off of betting each election. Trump's 1 to 10 victory in 2016 was a great day to be Alice. MAGA!

The actual policies involved are completely irrelevant, she does this because it's fun. Election means she gets to throw parties. Color coded parties for the Republican and Democratic primaries, and US-themed parties for Election Night! (Foreigner moment right here: I at first wrote "Election wake" before realizing that's not what y'all murricans call it.)

Alice loves politics. Doesn't know the issues, but she sure loves politics.

Bella votes Democrat. She actually knows about the issues, and cares about them. This girl is a Democrat through and through.

Carlisle doesn't vote. I can't imagine it feels right. Outside of faked papers he's not a US citizen, this is meddling in human affairs that he knows don't concern him.

More, this guy has never lived in a democracy.

In life, Carlisle lived under an absolute monarchy that, upon civil war, became an absolute theocracy. From there he learned that vampires live under a total dictatorship.

For the first 150 years of his life, democracy was that funky thing the Athenians did in history books thousands of years ago, no more relevant to him than the Ancient Egyptian monarchy is to me. Then the Americans, and later other European countries started doing this.

Good for them.

There's this mistake often made by those who view history from a... for lack of a better term, a solipsistic standpoint. A belief that the present day is the culmination of all of history. “My society is the best society, the most reasonable society; all the others had it backwards. Thank god we’re living in this enlightened age!”

The faith in our current system of government is one such belief. We (pardon me if this doesn’t apply to everybody reading this post) have grown up in democracies, being told this is the ultimate form of rule, and perhaps that is true - but remember the kings who have told their subjects they had were divine and the best possible ruler based on that. Remember also that most modern democracies haven’t actually been democracies for very long at all, America is the longest standing at some 230 years (not long at all in the grand scope of things) and they have a fracturing two-party system to show for it.

Every society, ever, has been told they’re the greatest, and their system of government the most just. Democracy is only the latest hit.

This is relevant to Carlisle because he’s immortal and decidedly not modern. Democracy has not been installed in him the way it was the rest of the Cullens, Jasper included. To him- well, it’s just not his world. He has no stakes in our human politics, and as he is older than every current democracy and has seen quite a few of them fall, he’s not going to internalize the democratic form of rule the way a modern human has.

I think the concept of voting is foreign to him.

It requires a level of participation in human society that he’s simply not at. He does the bare minimum to appear human so he do the work he loves, but nothing more, and I find that telling.

As it is I think he'd be iffy about his family doing it. He won’t stop them, but in voting they’re... well it’s kind of cheating. They’re not really citizens, none of this will affect them, and by voting they’re drowning out the votes of real human voters. He does not approve.

Edward votes Democrat. He's... well he’s the kind of guy who will oil a girl’s bedroom window so he can more easily watch her sleep without being discovered, justifying it to himself as being okay because if she were to tell him to get lost he’d stop immediately. Same guy is so sure that he’d leave and never return again if she wanted him to, except this is the man who returned to Forks to hang around his singer, knowing there was a significant chance he might kill her. To say nothing of his Madonna/Whore complex, or of the fact that he tried to pimp out his wife twice, and was willing to forcibly abort her child.

This guy is very much in love with chivalry, with being an enlightened and feminist man who supports and respects women, while not understanding the entire point of feminism, which is female liberation.

He votes Democrat because he’s such an enlightened feminist who cares about women’s rights.

Emmett doesn’t care to vote, but if he has to he votes Republican. The guy is from the 1930′s, and has major would-be-the-uncle-who-cracks-racist-jokes-if-he-was-older vibes.

Esme doesn’t vote, that would require getting out of the house.

More, I just... can’t see it. I can’t see her being one to read up on politics and The Issues, period, but if she has to then I doubt she’d be able to decide.

Jasper doesn’t vote. Alice can have her fun, he does not care.

There’s also the whole can of worms regarding the last time he went to bat for American politics.

I imagine he stays out of this.

Renesmée doesn't vote. She has no stock in the human affairs. Who would she vote for, on what grounds? When Bella tries to pull her to the urns, she points out that she's three years old.

Rosalie, guys, I’m sorry, but that girl is definitely gonna vote Republican. Perhaps not right now as it’s become the Trump party of insanity, but the Mitt Romney type of Republicans? Oh yes.

And for the record, yes I imagine she does vote. To step back from politics would be another way she was relinquishing her humanity, and that’s not allowed to happen. So, yes, she goes to the urns, less for the sake of the politics involved and more because like this, she’s still a part of society in some way.

Now, onto why I think she’s Republican, I think it’s both fiscal and social.

This girl was the daughter of a banker who somehow profited off of the Depression, and who then became part of a family with no material needs that would soon become billionaires thanks to Alice. Poverty to Rosalie is a non-issue, as it is I imagine she views it as a much lesser issue than what she’s had to deal with. The humans can pull themselves up by their bootstraps, Rosalie’s infertility is forever.

Rosalie’s empathy is strongest when she’s able to project onto others, and she won’t be able to project onto the less fortunate at all.

Then there’s the fact that the Republican party is all about traditional family values, and pro-life.

Rosalie, a woman from the 1930′s who idolizes her human life and who‘d love nothing more than to get to live out this fantasy, is down for that. And as of Breaking Dawn she’s vocally pro-life, so there’s that.

This all being said I don’t think Rosalie cares to sit down and fully understand these politics she’s voting for, the possible impact they’ll have- that’s not important. What’s important is what voting does for her.

TL;DR: I bet anon regrets asking.