#public-school level bullshit

[freepassbound]

Merry Christmas to you 🎄🎁😊

30+38 :)

30: What I hate the most about work/school

There is far more administrative busywork at this school than there ever was at my school - stuff that does not contribute to the teaching of children (which is kind of the point). It drags on me.

38: My childhood career choice

I don't know that I ever really had anything beyond the cliché dreams of being a professional athlete (baseball first, I would think, segueing into basketball) as an actual child... by teenage years, I was leaning toward architecture or something with computers.

[qqueenofhades]

It's definitely a refusal to engage with or truly understand politics. I'm 24, I was in middle school during Obama's second term and 17 in 2016, and I feel like a lot of my peers just continue to be appalled at how bad things have gotten with the Republicans and why Democrats can't do anything to stop it. What's missing from their understanding is how long it took for the Republicans to get here. It didn't start in 2016. They worked for decades to do all the nightmarish shit they're doing now, and Democrats just haven't been able to do the same (because people refuse to vote consistently and give them the power to do those things). I feel like that's where the "both sides are the same" bullshit comes from - the idea that if the Dems wanted to stop the GOP, they would. It's a fundamental misunderstanding of how anything works, and often relies on downplaying how bad the Republicans actually are in order to support their 'Dems are just as bad' stance.

Things did get catastrophically worse when Trump was elected, and he broke things way more than they ever had been, but he doesn't exist in a vacuum and it took the Republicans a lot of fucking work for him to do what he did. The only way the Dems can counteract that is by having a party of people willing to put in a similar level of work, and that requires understanding our structures and how things work (executive orders are only temporary fixes and actual legislation takes time, compromise, and work), and a lot of these people just aren't willing to do it.

The thing is, yes, I absolutely do get the feeling that everything is terrible and we are doomed. I went through it when GWB was re-elected in 2004 and then again in 2008, worrying about whether Obama would get elected and end that particular run of Republican-induced misery (when John McCain looks like a fucking saint compared to the GOP candidates we are being offered now), and obviously plumbed the depths of despair in 2016 with Trump. But I don't remember ever thinking that I should just give up trying, stop voting, or any of that, and I don't think it was because I was some kind of special person who was just so tenacious. I obviously have not been a teenager in the present era and yes, that means I have different views on things from the next generation, but also: this has always happened. Moments of total political despair and feeling that everything is fucked are also not a new thing. We are going through it with Trumpism, the previous generation went through it with Reagan/Thatcher, the previous previous generation went through it with Nixon/Vietnam, the previous etc generation went through it with the Cold War, the previous etc. etc. generation went through it with World War II -- and so forth. There has never been any one point when everything was great and there was no work left to be done, because, y'know. That is not how either history or human nature works.

Hence, that is why I'm trying to figure out what in the fuck is going on right now, and whether it's just social media that have made things so bad (entirely possible). Critical thinking is a shambles, yes, but that's not necessarily something young people have chosen for themselves. The current world is a late-stage capitalist dystopia run by four or five trillionaire oligarch cartels and corporations, and obviously public education, basic civic responsibility, the teaching of any "controversial" history, and everything else that might threaten that setup has been systematically and methodically dismantled, politicized, or so infiltrated with false information that it's basically useless. That in itself is not young people's fault. They have genuinely been dealt a terrible hand in many ways, and I don't blame them for being angry about it. I too am angry about it! I do question, however, when the overwhelming sentiment became "well we should just give up and let the bad guys win, either because it's too much work to change it or because that will spark the Great Revolution and that's the only way to fix things ever, and doing anything else at all in the meantime is wrong."

Once again: I do not blame young people for being angry at the shitty situation they are currently facing. I do not blame young people for being disillusioned with the system and thinking that it can't solve everything at once. But yet again: there has never been any government, country, or organization in the history of ever anything everywhere that was able to do that, and the ones that tried, or insisted that they could do it, were infamously murderous bloodbaths, because breaking society (even with all its flaws) into a thousand pieces and thinking this will make My Preferred Ideological Utopia Now Appear is probably the deadliest belief in all of time and space. The world is flawed and has been for all time because humans are flawed and probably will be for all time. Being a grownup requires coming to an understanding of that fact and seeing what you can do in spite of that. People in every era have had gaps and biases and blind spots and other things that hobbled their understanding or made their efforts for change less perfect or complete than they would have wanted in an ideal world, and they have had to move past those anyway. The current generation is no different. Not to sound like a boomer, but even despite the mess they've been faced with, they need to figure out how to engage with it anyway and not just completely absolve responsibility because they can't fix it all at once. Which I don't think most young people do! There are plenty of them who really do get it and are engaged and idealistic and working for good change, and that's great! It's just the other part that worries me, and which is not as small as we would like to think.

And yes, part of this is just flat-out bad information and the stubborn lack of any desire to change it if it conflicts with pre-existing beliefs. (This is by no means exclusive to young people of this current generation, as it's another bad habit of humanity, but yes.) In the aforementioned "you're driving young leftists away :(" ask I got yesterday, there were also plenty of dubious and just-flat-wrong claims, such as that Democrats keep moving to the right "especially economically." That is just not true. In the last four years, the Democrats have moved the most economically leftward in all of American history and have finally and flatly rejected the Great Reagonomics Myth. Just because Clinton did Reagonomics-lite in the '90s (when most of the current generation of Online Leftists weren't even born), that is thirty years ago and in wildly different circumstances. These things are not difficult to look up. Do it. Try to educate yourself, even if the system doesn't want to do it. You can't just throw up your hands and insist that nobody taught you, so how could you know??? Put that "instant access to all of human history and knowledge" to use, even just a little. It'll be good for you!

Likewise, there was also the anon's befuddling insistence that I was "patronizing" or "shaming" anyone "further left than Biden," which reflects their apparent feeling that telling people to vote for Biden is a "personal attack" on their cherished beliefs, or whatever. I'm unsure how many times we have to keep repeating that voting for a candidate does not mean you are canonizing all their beliefs exactly as your own, and that it's just one tool to do the bare minimum to not live in a fucking fascist theocratic dictatorship, but yeah. I can guarantee you that I personally am well left of Biden. I can guarantee you that most people on Tumblr voting for Biden are probably well left of him as well. That does not negate the fact that Biden is the most progressive president America has ever had, regardless of how much Online Leftists shriek otherwise. It also does not negate the fact that this is by no means true of America as a whole (witness the large faction that still thinks Biden is a godless far-left evil socialist). It does not negate the many complex historical, political, social, cultural, religious, racial, etc reasons that have collided to produce the America where this is the case. Therefore, if I do not want to live in a society ruled by Trump and his orange Nazi minions, which is the case due to how badly the last 10 years have been fucked up, I will use the tool of voting for Biden! He can be successfully pressured to create positive change in the direction that I would like! Trump cannot and will not under any circumstances, regardless of the wild fantasies that suddenly he will transform into a perfect progressive on Gaza or whatever other issue! THIS IS NOT THAT FUCKING DIFFICULT!!!!!!!

Anyway. All of this is obviously complicated. Obviously things are bad and frightening and we want a solution that fixes all of it at once, instead of slowly, badly, and piecemeal. But as I said: that has never, not once, been the case in all of history, and we know what happens when people and/or governments with delusions of psychopathic grandeur try to do it. We do not want the "Final Solution" (which is infamous as what Hitler literally called the Holocaust). We do, in fact, want the careful step by step, we want things to get better and not just explode in a mountain of nihilistic doom, and that does take work, from everyone. So unfortunately, there is no real choice except to do it.

[thatfrenchacademic]

OK so about this "34, unmarried and childless" article about Taylor Swift. Let me tell you about Scam Academia.

TL;DR: some mediocre dude had a half baked opinio nabout Taylor Swift that everyone hated, but like Mother Nature I let nothing go to waste.

Here is the take you have not heard yet, about this opinion: this guy is actually a good case study on how to develop your academic literacy, aka how to recognize a true academic from a scammer who presents themselves as an academic, but is just a crook. In a world of pseudoscience and pretend experts that have enough resources to organize their flat earth conference, let me walk you through the world of Scam Academic, where for a few thousand dollars, you too can claim to be a researcher with a doctorate! Follow me down a rabbit hole that I hate with my whole heart!

Preamble: I have zero skin in the TS game. I don't get the hype, the lore, the obsession with those 2000s bracelet or dissecting every single line or every single song.

But then. Some guy had to write an op-ed stating Taylor Swift was not a good role model for girls ("in the US and beyond"), and it is a terrible take on so many level, but here is the thing. Whiny conservative think-pieces about highly successful women who should get back to the kitchen and think of the children are nothing new. But this one is different.

This one is fucking terribly written. It's just an abysmally written blog post. Genuinely one of the worst thing I have ever read, and I read hundreds of undergrad essays every year for a living. It contradicts its own arguments in every paragraph. It over-explains concepts like it's a high school essay and he's trying to meet the word count. It says "this is a valid question worth asking" but does not actually explain why it is worth asking. It is so, so, so bad.

Conservative writers are usually more the "high brow, drowning you in grandstanding" kind of writers. They are, usually, good technical writers - it's the one thing that helps make their talking point sound legit and palatable. So an abysmally bad conservative writer? Ok, I am intrigued.

The author is one John Mac Ghlionn. I look up the guy on Google and...

Oh.

Oh no, John.

Spewing conservative bullshit at women AND a researcher? You're in my turf now, John. You could have continued to cover UFC Pillow Fight Championships, or alien technology and other riveting subjects, but you had try to connect two brain cells to argue a thing, and slap "researcher" on top of it. Now I'm offended, as a researcher.

1. I am sorry, researcher WHERE?

Ok so if one is a "researcher", it means one conduct "research". and contrary to what backyard conspiracy theorists think, "researcher" is an actual job. It is an actual professional occupation. You get an actual contract, and you are paid actual money. By an actual employer: public (University), private (Think tank, private company), or a mix of both (at Unviersity, but on a privately funded project, for example).

So where does our John Mc Ghlionn work?

Well. Nowhere, as far as I can tell.

John does not list any affiliation. Usually, when they write, academics will state their exact position (Researcher, Doctoral Researcher, Associate Professor, Chief Engineer, Head of Department, Research Director...) and where they work. For example:

That's what it is supposed to look like.

But John? Nope, no affiliation anywhere, on anything he ever published. That's a pretty massive read flag. Research takes ressources: at the very least, time and access to database and documentation, even in social sciences in humanities. You may not need a lab, but you sure as hell need money and full access to JStore at least.

So I thought he was just one of these "I google therefore I research" kind of dude. But then, out of nowhere:

I am sorry. He has a WHAT.

2. I am sorry, a Doctorate from WHERE?

So. One thing to claim to be a researcher when you are just a professional yapper. Another to claim a DIPLOMA.

And not any diploma. A doctorate.

Let's pause. "Doctorate" is actually a really broad umbrella term of all doctoral-level degrees. The most famous (and most prestigious, for better and worse) is the PhD, but a PhD is technically just one of many Research Doctorate of, theoretically, the same level (cue this helpful reddit post). A second category of doctorates are the Applied Doctorates, and while there is Discourse on where they sit vis-a-vis PhD, the easiest is to consider that they are not research-oriented. They are hands-on, practice-oriented degrees. For example: you can practice medicine with an MD. You don't need a PhD. You can still call yourself a doctor, though.

Alright, so which of these does our friend Johnnie has? Or is currently enrolled in? And in which University?

You will notice that John does not go by "John Mac Ghlionn PhD" or even "Dr John Mac Ghlionn", when you just KNOW he is the sort of person that would but that shit everywhere. And no shade here, because I, for one, do put that shit everywhere. Maybe he is just currently enrolled in a program and has not graduated. Fair.

Since John does not list affiliation, I had to switch from academic to internet sleuth, and dig out this article:

But we learn that in 2021, John was a "PhD Scholar" in "Parkmore Institute". "PhD Scholar" is not a title I am sued to, but it's also not raising any red flag: ongoing PhD researchers can be "PhD students", "PhD fellows", "PhD researchers"... It varies from country to country and from institution to institution, so why not "PhD Scholar".

Let's check out the Parkmore Institute.

Ok, they are not a traditional university, but they appear to be more of a postgraduate institution: offering only higher level degrees, not undergrad courses. Once again, not necessarily a red flag. They are usually very heavily research focused, and embrace the "research" side of academia more than the "teaching" side. In Germany, the Max Planck Institutes are research-only institutions who deliver PhDs. They conduct cutting edge research, in part because their researchers rarely have to spend time teaching.

But that is NOT the Parkmore Institute. First of all, let's see what programs they offer:

None of them are legit.

And I mean, none of them are recognize as even Applied/Professional Doctorate by the National Science Foundation (US based). And while a PhD in Human sexuality would be perfectly valid, but I'm going to on a limb and say I have some serious doubts about "Bodymind Healing" as an academic field.

These are not legit academic degrees.

What they are, is an excellent money-making opportunity for anyone working at the Parkmore institute. Students will pay, at the very least:

And 60% of this goes to their " faculty mentor". The Parkmore institute provides no research fund, no desk or office space (they are entirely digital), no access to any resources or library, not even a Zoom account. There is also no mention of any timeline: how long a PhD take to complete? Who knows. 6 months ? A year ? 5 years? What are the requirements to graduate ? Who knows ! And I would need to pay $200 to get in touch with them, so I sure as fuck won't know any time soon!

But let's get back to our friend John. Remember that he stated, in that 2021 publication, he was a "PhD Scholar" at Parkmore ? Well that's a shame because Parkmore does not deliver PhDs. Ain't that a bitch.

ALSO. Parkmore helpfully has page with all their Doctoral Recipients! And guess who is NOT HERE ! That's right, our Johnnie !

How can this be ? Well, three possibilities:

John is still not done with a PhD. After 4 years ? In a crank university where I am pretty sure I can submit the first draft of a litt review and graduate ? Nah

John never completed the thing. Boo, that would mean that John is lying, when he says he has a doctorate. Bad, bad.

John did graduate, and obtained his doctorate in [scrolls back to check] psychosocial studies, and then was not put on the website or was withdrawn some time before today, as Parkmore institute ended their affiliation with him, as per this bit in their application form

A shame, really. If John had been affiliated with the Parkmore Institute, it would give a shred of legitimacy to anything he writes to anyone just skimming.

Now, I would love to get in touch with the Parkmore Institute and ask to see John's doctoral work, which they DO have, since the application for also has this very interesting section:

(definitely very legit, very normal).

But I am not sure how I would even phrase that request without transparently going

"hey, would love to see what bullshit research is being done over there, since one of your graduate decided to go all Handmaid's tale for the last 2 years".

If anyone feels like sending that email, I am begging you to keep me in the loop.

3. Back up, back up, what's up with that article?

Remember the article where he was listed as a "PhD Fellow"?

Well, about that... No. Welcome to the world of predatory publishing, one more cog in the Bullshit Academic ecosystem.

First: not at article. It's a "commentary". Could be worth something ia good journal, but still would not be a piece of research. But that is the least of its sins.

Its sins are being published in a journal called "Sociology and Criminology-Open Access", by a publisher called "Longdom". Longdom publishing has a bunch of journals on a lot o different fields, with the particularly of being predatory; they will publish absolutely anything you send them, as long as you pay their Article Processing Charges:

There are entire lists of Predatory journals on the web, you can find on here and another here , Longdom Publishing is in both.

This is how John can publish this last minute, Redbull-and-weed-induced essay in an actual journal, with an abstract that, I kid you not, finishes with "Please find the paper attached." He slapped together a shitty essay about people in India are poorer and therefore more likely to exhibit psychopathic traits and therefore engage in corruption, purely base on vibes. It does not even deserve be given any consideration, not even to be debunked. There is nothing to be debunked. This would be a failing grade for a 1st year intro class.

CONCLUSION

On the surface, John Mac Ghlionn is the poster boy of failed edgelords who really wish they were Jordan Peterson, but unfortunately are just Doug, the guy for 10th grade who failed the Literature class and decided it was because litterature was too woke today anyway.

Beneath the surface, John is a case study in Scam Academia, and the proof that no matter how bad actual academia is, Scam Academia can always get worse.

A quick checklist to go through whenever someone claims be a researcher, an academic, a fellow, a doctor, a PhD or anything of the sort:

What is their affiliation? Is this a legitimate organization?

Do they have a PhD? Another doctorate degree? From where?

Have they published ? Where is it published?

[st-just]

🔥 Youth Rights

one of those subjects where hot takes in general and on tumblr are, like, diametrically opposed.

Anyway hard to talk about without unbundling - the amount of care and oversight a 5-year-old needs would be and is horrifyingly oppressive for a 16-year-old, and talking in generalities is not super helpful, probably.

The treatment of small children is generally a moral horror. Unfortunatally is has also been a moral horror across time and space. Improvements on the margins are easy, coming up with a vision of childrearing that's, like, acceptable (and isn't just 'After The Revolution everyone will overflow with goodwill and benevolence towards all'), harder.

It's important for teenagers to have slightly stifling and obviously bullshit rules so they can learn to ignore and break them in a safe environment.

Mandatory public schooling to instill a baseline level of literacy/numeracy/civic knowledge/socialization is such an overwhelming social good that the state/society has a legitimate interest ensuring children attend.

[ladyloveandjustice]

2023 Anime Overview: SHY and Migi & Dali

SHY

Premise: In a world where every country has a superhero, 14 year old Teru is Japan's. Her hero name is Shy, and that's exactly what she is-- she's a bit of shrinking violet at times and deals with social anxiety, which makes the public part of being a hero a struggle for her. But with a mysterious boy going around and turning people's hearts and pain against them to make them into dark, painful threats, she and the other heroes are going to have to step things up.

SHY is very much a magical girl show with am American-style-superhero coat of paint, and that's really what draws me to the series. Powers are based on your heart and emotions, the heroes friends and loved ones have their pain and despair manifest as terrible powers when induced by an outside force and then our heroes having to reach out to these people with love and compassion...it is so magical girl core. There's even a magical battle where mother and daughter must reach out to each other!

Also very distinctly magical girl-esque is how a lot of the series is focused on Teru and her cute girl bff having yuri undertones. Said friend calling out her name even activates Teru's "heart" and her powers truly awaken. IDK Teru that's pretty gay.

It does some things that are cool to see in a superhero show- like centering female characters and featuring a disabled superhero. This Anifem article also has an interesting take on one of the fights.

It's also not overly fanservicey so far either, though Teru mentions once that her leotard is skimpier than she's comfortable with (apparently magic assigns them their clothes) which sucks, (and it highlights her rear more than I'm comfortable at times considering her age). Let her have pants! But hey, after dealing with MHA's bullshit, I'll count my blessings that it's a regular leotard.

SHY is often a little silly-- the fact that apparently every country getting a superhero ended ALL WAR somehow is so ridic it wraps around to being endearing. It's also engages in some national stereotypes --for instance the Russian superhero who is Shy's mentor whole schtick being that she's always drunk (but you see it's okay because her alcoholism is based in her childhood love for her parent and she's fine and). There's a weird moment where an adult acts like she's going to kiss a teenager as a prank, and the pacing is a little uneven.

But when it hits, it really hits, and you really root for Teru. Seeing a superheroic take on struggling with social anxiety is fun, and Teru's passion and strength shines through. I'm excited to see more of her adventures, and fortunately a second season is confirmed!

Migi & Dali

Premise: Orphaned twins Migi and Dali perform an amazing con to get adopted by a couple (who mention preferring to adopt only one child)-- they decide to pretend to be only one person, a boy named Hitori, with one of them always just out of sight as school or at home. They go to absurd levels to keep this up because they have an important goal-- their mother was murdered in this town, and they're going to do all they can to find her killer. But what mysteries does this suburban town hold?

It's hard to put Migi & Dali into words, but I'll do my best. It starts out as an utterly absurd show that plays it's "spookiness" so ridiculously that it becomes comedy (Mother's Basement compared it to the potato chip scene from Death Note, and I think that's apt, though it's very much intentional with this show). Seeing the ridiculous lengths the twins go to in order to keep up their con is amazing. Situations like them assuming their foster mother must be scalping children because they don't understand what a wig is or one twin throwing on a wig on so the other twin (who should know what he looks like because he can LOOK IN THE MIRROR) doesn't recognize him are hilarious.

But then the show also becomes a tightly plotted and genuinely tense murder mystery that is incredibly moving at times? WHAT? All while keeping up it's signature brand of goofiness and absurdity! Side characters I did not expect to care about go through great development, Migi and Dali have some great character arcs, there's some genuine commentary on abuse, the damage you can do to children by forcing perfection on them, the struggle of being a foster kid, grief and recovery and more.

There are some things to warn for--parental abuse, rape through deception (def framed as bad, but yep. that happens), general harm to children, a very uncomfortable strip search of a child that involved ass-grabbing, and the weird bits where teen characters are kidnapped and forced to dress up and act like a baby (which turns out to be very thematically important and follows an interesting arc of being played partly for comedy at first then becoming deadly serious later) and of course the murder and stuff you'd expect from a murder mystery. (There's also some stuff involving infertility I think is fraught, but I can't really get into it without spoiling).

I know that's a huge list, but the show is definitely very rewarding--entertaining and full of more incredible twists and turns that one show has any right to be. Including the greatest housekeeper of all time, i would follow her into hell.

I can't get into more without spoiling, but yes, if you can handle this weird, wild ride, you should absolutely go on it. Sano Nami was a true talent.

[gemini-sensei]

Prompt for hawk ‘ LaRusso!reader 😤

Reader brings lunch to the dojo for her sister but runs directly into hawks cock

Oh absolutely!

Hawk Moskowitz x Chubby!LaRusso!Reader

I could write this duo forever 😍 thank you for the request.

CW: enemies to lovers, rough and unprotected sex, risky sex, semi public sex. (unedited)

"Watch where your going," a low, raspy voice huffed.

Reader glared at Hawk as she kept a tight grip on the bag in her hand, gritting her teeth before she seethed at Hawk. The last think she needed to do was get into another dumb argument with him over nothing, as seemed to be the norm between them. However, instead of taking a deep and calming breath, she shot back with fire.

"My bad, I forgot this was your dojo and not my dad's," she said, then rolled her eyes. "I'll have to remember to be more mindful when I come by, especially to avoid you."

He scoffed, shaking his head before smirking. "Like you're trying hard. I think you come around here more to see me than anyone else."

"And why would I do that?" She held up her hand to tell him to not bother answering. "Never mind that, because it's a load of bullshit. I'm here to see Sam. So if you don't mind, you're in my way."

He was standing in the doorway, blocking her from the yard. She had stopped inside the dojo to grab some cold waters, thinking about how Sam and her dad had been training harder with everyone more recently,so some fresh water wouldn't hurt. Unfortunately, it lead her to running eight into Hawk as she slid the door open and they walked into each other.

"Your sister's not here," he told her with a smirk. "She left her lunch at home, so she and your dad went to pick up something quick."

Reader frowned, deflating as she realized her little surprise was ruined. She pouted, "But I brought her lunch. I even made it fresh."

"Lucky me," he said, then swiped the bag from her hand. It was a little pink lunchbag with hearts all over it. Cute.

"Give that back!"

As he opened it and started rifling through the goods, she tried to get it back from him. He held it out of her reach, then held it over his head. She tried to push herself onto her tiptoes for it, but he kept moving and being impossible. She jumped for it and he laughed, watching her perform all the tricks she could think of before finding an even better thing to tease her for.

"If you wanted to be all over me, you could have just asked," he chided.

It was at that moment she realized she was practically rubbing herself agains him, chest to chest as if they didn't have at the room in the world. They were alone in the dojo, everyone else enjoying their lunch break outside in the sun, chatting with friends. Meanwhile, she was having a petty, grade school level fight with Hawk.

She stepped away from him, flustered. "In your dreams!"

He dropped the lunchbag, leaving it abandoned on the floor as he stepped closer to her. She backed up instinctively until her back hit the wall, unfocused and unaware of her surroundings. He came as close as they had been before, closer even, and she could smell the mint on his breath.

He smirked down at her. "I think you dream about it too."

"If you don't back up-"

"What? You'll kick my ass? We both know if you didn't want me this close to you, you would have already done that."

His deep voice sends shivers down her spine, but she stays still and glares at him. She wasn't going to let him see that she was effected by him. Hell, she didn't even want to admit to herself that her panties were getting wet.

"Why are you still talking?"

"End of discussion."

He smashed his lips against hers and grabbed her waist, pulling her close as their tongues swirled and shoved against each other. They fought with their wet, needy tongues as their hands wandered each other's bodies, Hawk's hands groping Reader's rolls as they made their way down to her ass whilst she grabbed his face and buried a hand in his hair. She tugged on a few loose strands of his mohawk and he groaned, squeezing her ass hard. He pulled her into a roll of his hips, grinding his hard on against her hip.

As they pulled out of the kiss, she bit his lip and tugged on it. He grunted, looking at her with half lidded eyes, still gripping her tight. "Fuck, you're annoying."

"Not as much as you," she countered.

"Do you want me as much as I want you?"

"I'll never admit it to another living soul, but yes."

"Where do you wanna go?"

She looked around, then slipped out of his grasp and grabbed him by the shirt. "This way."

Reader led him to the tiny bathroom of the dojo, brining him in behind her before turning to him. He shut and locked the door, then looked at her, watching as she undid the button on her shorts. He rushed her and kissed her again, shoving his tongue into her mouth and making her let out a pitched moan. He ate it up and she pressed herself against him, except he had other ideas in mind.

He quickly parted their lips and turned her around, pressing his crotch into her ass. He groaned lowly as she gasped.

"Fuck, you're big," she spat with surprise.

He chuckled, draging his lips up to her ear. He looked at her as they stood in front of a mirror and he smirked, watching her face. Then he whispered, "Waist until I'm inside you."

She shuddered again and pressed her as back into him, grinding slowly. His hands moved down her body until he met her shorts and started pushing them down. They fell down and pooled around her ankles, letting his fingers toy with her panties and plush thighs. He pulled her panties away from her body and let the elastic snap back, making her jump and gasp some more.

"You make pretty little noises," he grunted into her ear. She watched him in the mirror, hot all over as he played with her pudgy, curvy body. She was so soft, so squeezable. He quite liked it. "You're fucking loving this."

She whined and wiggled her hips against him, smirking as he groaned. However, he retaliated by showing her panties aside and running two finger through her wet folds.

"God, you're fucking soaked." She clamped her legs shut and tried to make him stop, the teasing too much. It only spurred him on and he used his other hand to pull one of her legs up and rest it on the sink in front of them, which opened her up and his fingers came to play with her hole. "So fucking wet for me."

"Hawk, please," she whimpered, meeting his eye in the mirror's reflection. "Please don't tease me."

"Need me that bad?"

She bit her lip and nodded, which made him smirk. He dipped the tip of one finger into her cunt and she moaned, clenching around it. He didn't put much more than an inch in, but she was wiggling on it and trying her best to sink down on it. Then he pulled it out and backed up, keeping a hand on her to hold her steady.

"Fine, but only because we have to make this quick," he said, a little upset that he didn't get to tease her more. However, he knew their time was limited. There were a ton of people outside, including Sensei Lawrence, and Mr. LaRusso would be back with Sam at any moment. If he and Readwr were going to do anything fun, it needed to be now. "Stay just like that, okay."

She leaned into the sink and grabbed ahold of it, using it for stability as he pulled his away away and untied the strong of his workout shorts. He shoved them down with his boxers and they fell to the floor, which he didn't bother to step out of them and shuffled forward to stand directly behind Reader and her fat, on full display cunt.

Her panties had slipped back into place, which annoyed him, so he took them into his hands and ripped the fine lace off o her, breaking the threads the held it together. Reader gasped as she listened to the tearing, but couldn't help the way her cunt gushed with arousal at the act.

Hawk made quick to gather up her juices and use them to lube up his cock, then positioned the head at her spread open pussy. He waisted no time pushing into her, but did it slow because she had little to no prep. She groaned as he sank into her his hands coming to rest on her hips and grip them tight.

"Oh! Oh my god," she let out, tensing up as he stretched her out over his cock. She was right, he was big, but he was also right in that he felt bigger in her tight little cunt. Her thighs shook as he bottomed out, his tip rubbing against her cervix. "So fucking deep. How are you that deep?"

He bent low to drag his lips along the shell of her ear. "I'm just that good, princess."

The nickname had her clenching around him and he chuckled, the simple event boosting his ego. He stayed still, narrow hips pressed into her soft ass, as she got used to his girth. It wasn't until her body relaxed that she gave him the all clear to continue by swiveling her hips.

He groaned and pulled out some, quickly snapping his hips back into her. The pace was rough and hard and fast from that point forward lewd and loud squelched noises filling the air with low grunts and strangled moans. She tried cantting her hips back into his thrusts, but it was haphazardous and useless, ultimately leading him to hold her hips in an iron grip and make her stay still.

"Even getting fucked, you're hard to work with," he grunted in her ear. He caught her ear lobe between his teeth and pulled on it. "I'm gonna put you in your place."

"Oh really?"

"Hell yeah."

He pulled her up so she could see herself in the reflection against. Her flustered expression was a sight to behold, surely, but he also quick to distract her. He shoved his hands up her shirt, pulled it up with her bra and made her tits fall out. Everything rested on her chest as her tits hung free, making her moan as they were bounced and jostled with his rough treatment. He watched them in the mirror's reflection for a moment before grabbing them and squeezing them hard. He tugged and pulled and played with them roughly, making her throw her head back on his shoulder.

"Fuck, these are nice. You're pussy's pretty nice too," he groaned, feeling her arousal leak down his shaft and balls. It was sliding down her thighs and making a mess of the two of them. Hell, it was likely all over the floor under them. "If only you didn't have such a smart mouth."

"Shut up," she huffed, looking up at him with a glare. "As if my mouth doesn't turn you on."

He looked at her, then her lips. "In your dreams."

Then pushed her face to turn it further and dove down to capture her lips against. They moaned into each other's mouths, the room simmering in their lust. She ran her tongue over thebroof of his mouth and it made him slam into her harder before he regained control of himself, pulling away from her and adding saliva to the list of miscellaneous fluids they were getting all over each other.

He felt his balls tighten up and he groaned loudly, trying to muffle himself against her lips. "I'm gonna come soon."

Her cunt squeezed around him as the heat in her belly was growing too hot. She was ready to snap at any moment, she just needed a little more to get her to the end. "Just come inside me."

"Are you sure."

"Yes. I don't care. Just need to feel you-"

She let out a small scream as he wrapped his arms around her hips and pulled her off the sink roughly. He started pounding into her, barely pulling out as he battered the head of his cock against her cervix. It was enough to send her over the edge and she had to slap her hands oclver her mouth to keep herself quiet. She was on her toes, legs shaking as she came on his cock, thick cream leaking out as he fucked her through the bliss. Her eyes rolled up as she chanted his name into her hands.

"Fuck, I'm gonna fill your fat little cunt up. Gonna come in this tight pussy. Fill you up to the brim," he babbled, almost incoherent as he spoke on half sentences and wants. He barely heard himself over the nasty, dirty noise of her wet cunt getting slammed into and her muffled moaning. "Gonna walk outta here with my cum deep in your cunt. Fuck fuck fuck, take it! Take my cum like the little slut you are. My slut. Hate me but you want my cum in your raw pussym oh fuck!"

He came hard, body wracked with shudders and pleasure as he let out big, hot spurts of cum into her sensitive, fucked out body. Her gummy cunt walls were milking him for every last drop as he hugged her to him so that he was balls deep, holding her hips tight.

She tilted her head back lazily, staring at him for a while before he realized she was doing so. He looked at her and she leaned into him, bringing their lips together in a lazy and exhausted make out, silently agreeing with each other that was the best fuck either of them had ever had. She reached behind her and put her hands on the back of his neck, daring not to change their position whatsoever.

"I hate you," she mumbled against his himself.

He smirked against hers. "I hate you too."

They made out a little longer, letting the dust settle before they pulled apart. He gripped her hips in each hand and pulled out slowly, then spreading her ass to watch the cum drip out of her. Only none did and he bit his lip, waiting a moment longer but still nothing.

"Are you safe?" he asked as they pulled up their shorts and fastened them again.

She didn't say anything as she fixed her clothed, then turned to him. Looking him dead in the eyes, she calmly answered, "No."

Hawk felt heat rush thought him again and he smirked. "You naughty girl. You like it risky, huh?"

He grabbed her and pulled her close her hands braced on his chest.

She looked up st him, licked then bit her lip. "I guess so... that was the first time I ever let someone do that."

His cock twitched and she felt it, taking it at her turn to smirk. She reached down and cupped his crotch, lightly palming him. He groaned and glared at her, but it wasn't with as much disdain as before.

[talisidekick]

u should post more about being trans

Sure. And I have a recent life story so here it goes:

If you've spent any amount of time scrolling down my blog, you know that from my 800+ posts I've dropped quite a bit about myself. Namely that my parents emotionally and physically abused me and manipulated me to act a very specific way to adhere to a "look" that agreed with my birth mothers families expectations. They wanted a daughter and got my sister first try, and only had me to teach her to share. Their treatment of me my entire life and how they admitted to it and talked about me let me know I was just a show-piece for their perfect cult christian/catholic/mormon nuclear family vibe.

As such, I can say that I have never once experienced what parental love actually feels like. What it's like to be loved unconditionally by a parent who cares. That wasn't my life.

At least ... that was true up until yesterday.

If you're unaware of what's been happening up in Canada in the last week (from 18th September 2023 to 22nd September 2023), the transphobes up here held a "1 Million March for Children" protest about public schools being gender inclusive, teaching topics on gender identity and gender expression, and allowing kids to give preferred names and pronouns that teachers abide by without parental involvement. If you're unfamiliar with Canada's laws, Canada has ratified the "rights of the child" set forth by the United Nations and children under the age of 18 up here have civil rights including the right to privacy and safety. These protests attempt to say a parent has the right to know everything going on with their kid, and there is some degree of agreement on that, but a child also has the right to privacy and safety. This group is pushing for policy changes in public schools that would require the schools take actions that can be argued would infringe on the rights of the 2SLGBTQIA+ children regarding their privacy and safety. As such, this transphobic group met opposition that vastly outnumbered their protest numbers in the form of counter protests involving students, teachers, parents, allies, and 2SLGBTQIA+ adults who passed through a less-than-accepting school system in their time.

I unfortunately missed the organized protest in my city yesterday. I was entirely unaware myself that any of this was happening. I'm now working on being more active and informed in my community because now that this bullshit is firmly on my doorstep, I'm not about to let it gain another inch by being oblivious.

When I came out, I was 27. I waited until I was on hormones just because I needed to be 1000% certain I was finally doing this before letting anyone in my workspace know. I was met immediately with transphobia from my team lead/manager. I was honestly stuck with what to do because it wasn't like she (my manager) was being overtly terrible, it was just a bunch of small things that were actively impeding my ability to do my job, and even move departments. It became more apparent as time went on that she was actively preventing me from reaching my normal level of production by throwing harder and harder work my way with much higher expectations than ever before. I reached out to another co-worker who was in a higher position than I at the time and she went to bat for me. She caught a lot of it first hand, agreed I was being treated unfairly, and got me in contact with HR. With her help, I was able to move to the IT department and begin using my software and computer architecture degree for something. She remarked that my parents must be proud I was finally in my chosen field of study and ... I had to let her know that my parents weren't in my life, and that they treated me terribly, and don't approve of me. She took that statement and without missing a beat she said: "well, guess that makes me your mom now", which I just took as a "if they won't love you for who you are and what you achieve, I will" symbolic gesture. She's called me her kid in casual conversation, and I have called her mom, but she has biological children around my age so it felt symbolic. I'm a 29 year old adult now, I was 27 at the time this started and I didn't think much of it because I kind of just accepted I was a person who'll never have parents who care. Like, I'm not a kid anymore, what's the point of having parents? That was my mentality.

Until yesterday. The day of the counter protest I didn't know was happening. My adopted mom showed up in force. Why? Take a look:

Some context for the following messages: when an iPhone user hearts a message, and android receiver gets the "Loved "<First 50 characters of the message reacted to> ..." message.

[Start ID: Screenshots of a text message conversation between @talisidekick and her mother who adopted her at 27. Conversation spans over Sunday and Monday. First photo reads: (8:12 PM Sunday) Mom: ... me about it. It was due to something that happened Wednesday. This was all put together in a matter of days. I have a trans child so I wanted to be there (7:00 AM Monday) Talisidekick: Just confirming, is the "trans child" me or is one of your other kids trans? (7:00 AM Monday) Talisidekick: 'Cause I still call you mom. (7:18 AM Monday) Mom: No it's you (8:10 AM Monday) Talisidekick: I uh ... don't know why the fact you showed up for me made me smile so wide... (8:10 AM Monday) Mom: Loved "I uh ... don't know why the fact you showed up for..." (8:10 AM Monday) Mom: Because you know I've got your back my luv

Second photo reads:

(8:11 AM Monday) Talisidekick: ... I really wish you were my mom when I was growing up. You're honestly the best. (8:12 AM Monday) Mom: Loved "... I really wish you were my mom when I was growi..." (8:12 AM Monday) Mom: I wish I was too! You would have been accepted for who you are the entire time (8:13 AM Monday) Mom: But you got me now! (8:13 AM Monday) Talisidekick: I do, and that matters loads. (8:13 AM Monday) Mom: Loved "I do, and that matters loads."

/end ID]

I'm in tears because she wasn't being symbolic. She sees me as her kid. She saw a problem, recognized that I'd lived through worse because we've talked how many times I was almost killed by my peers at school or left to die by teacher staff because where I grew up was conservative and we didn't have anything in the books supporting queer children in schools, and showed up to be part of the solution.

For reference from those who don't know: someone made a cruel remark that I was gay via a slur when I was in grade 3 and that was enough to mark me for abuse, and almost kill me for the entirety of grade school. There was more than one active attempt by members of the student body to kill me, at least one in front of a teacher who did nothing because of that damn rumour. And trying to kill me wasn't the worst thing they did. They didn't care I was actually transgender, in fact, them not knowing that probably saved me from them trying harder. I couldn't bring any of this to my parents because they were worse.

No child deserves to live any fraction of what I went through. It was horrible, and these assholes want to force kids to feel just as isolated as I did growing up. I barely survived and almost took my own life several times because of all this.

Mom, if you happen to read this, thank you for showing me I matter. I wish I'd met you sooner.

Trans rights are human rights. Transgender kids deserve safety too because every damn child matters.

[geekgirles]

Disclaimer: I am well aware of the content of the Bible Leaks. However, I will not be addressing them. If you are reading this and have read the leaks as well, please, refrain from pointing out any spoilers from them out of respect to fellow fans that chose not to spoil themselves.

With that out of the way...

Um...could we please take a moment to talk about what just happened, whatever the fuck that is, please?

If you've known me enough, then you must surely know I despise Lila Rossi. As a character, as a villain, if she were a real person I might literally bite her head off... I wholeheartedly believe she is the source of about 75% of the salt in this fandom, given most salt takes on other characters are a direct result of their actions whenever she's around.

Just her mere presence in an episode is enough to sour somewhat my viewing experience.

And even I think her character deserved better than the bullshit they're trying to pull.

Can we please agree that the whole Three Mothers and Three Identities thing is some major ass-pull????

Where the fuck does that even come from?!?!

It makes no sense, it comes completely out of the blue, and it all just comes off as some poorly woven plot to make a literal 14-year-old look worse than a grown ass abusive father terrorising a city and its inhabitants.

And you might say, "Well, Geeks. It doesn't come exactly out of the blue... There was the whole Other Mum from Risk and Different Room in Perfection thing. That's gotta count as foreshadowing."

And though I admire your efforts, I'm afraid I must insist that if that is supposed to be foreshadowing, then it's bad foreshadowing.

This doesn't feel like foreshadowing, but like some hastily added details they had to include like, "Oh, damn! That's right; we're supposed to be trying to go somewhere with this girl! I know, let's just give her a different mum and room in different episodes. That'll do it."

By the way, this also contradicts some key aspects which ultimately undermines the whole thing. Such as the fact that Lila Rossi is part of the Agreste Brand, so it makes absolutely no sense as to why someone who is clearly not Mrs. Rossi would take her to the train station. Because as evidenced by the Illusion father-teacher conference, Mrs. Rossi is indeed the woman that appeared in Heroes’ Day.

(Also, Lila was introduced as Gabriel's muse in Ladybug by Alec, though now I'm not sure if she's ever been addressed as Lila Rossi on public appearances such as Risk, but it still feels contradictory) (I don't know, maybe I'm being too nitpicky with this, but it' just feels so contradicting. I swear, I have a point and I will elaborate on it in the future)

But in the end, the reason why this fails to be proper foreshadowing is that Lila is too much of an absent character for it to properly work. Seeing as, out of 4 seasons before the current point in time, she's only really been in the spotlight/relevant in, what, 6 episodes????

It doesn't feel like a twist we should have seen coming, but as a rushed, groundless subplot that has nothing to do with her previous appearances nor does it tie itself with any of her previously shown traits other than her being a liar.

Which instead of expanding on her character, ultimately reduces it to one-dimensional levels.

I discussed this in a different post forever ago, but in my honest opinion, proper foreshadowing or, at least, character placement, would have been if Lila had shown signs of knowing Alya is Rena Rouge. Why? You may ask. 

Simple.

Because Lila has been shown in two different episodes, in different seasons, to have been paying attention closely and jealously to the things going on around her home. Namely, Ms Bustier’s class doing things together at the park which is right below her window while she was stuck at home because, for some reason, she refused to go back to school. 

As we all know, Alya first transformed into Rena Rouge in the park. It would have been the perfect explanation as to why Lila never once tried taking glory for Rena’s actions under the guise of being Ladybug’s best friend—because of course she would entrust her best friend with a miraculous! Just like it would have been the perfect chance for her to try to get closer to Adrien once more by claiming something along the lines of, “Though Ladybug overreacted, she has a tendency of doing that because we can’t forget the backhanded comments, we agreed to change my superhero identity into one that would be safer from Hawk Moth!”

Instead, by having Lila somehow pull off the triple identity con without a single warning in six years, what they are doing is robbing her of a believable reason for the way she acts!

Let’s take Chloé, for instance. 

Chloé’s actions are not excusable. Regardless of how terrible Audrey is, or how badly she neglected her before hopping on to the Enabling Train alongside André, that is never reason enough to be a bully and a total brat to absolutely everyone around you. 

However, Chloé’s reason for the way she acts makes perfect sense within context. She is not just your typical rich spoiled brat. She is a rich spoiled brat whose father is in a position of power and whom she has completely under her thumb, which results in André’s power over Paris becoming Chloé’s. And thus, whenever someone confronts her on her terrible behaviour, as long as they are not in equal footing with her (like Adrien or Kagami), she can just have her dad take care of the situation and potentially have that person or their parents/relatives’ lives ruined. 

Essentially, Chloé’s character amounts to a spoiled brat in a position of power who’s constantly throwing temper tantrums. And yet, this aspect of her personality has gradually been explored over the seasons. 

What’s scary about this is that this is a real-life issue. There are people all over the world getting away with their actions (regardless of how severe they are) because their families have money, power, connections...

Lila, par contrast, gets her character simplified each passing episode she’s featured in. 

We’ve gone from all the possibilities we were offered back in Volpina—Lila indeed just being a new girl trying to make friends but being afraid of rejection, her hating Ladybug while liking Marinette, a possible redemption, her becoming a legitimate villain in her own right rather than the narrative bending over backwards to try convince us she is not a threat even though she is barely featured at all...— to a character whose entire schtick is “Oh, look at me! I’m evil and a liar!”

As I said earlier, one-dimensional levels of character depth. 

The funny thing, though, is that Lila actually had a believable reason for the way she acted, and they are choosing to completely negate that and refuse to give their character any depth in favour of making her as malevolent as possible!

As I said with Chloé, please remember that reason does not mean excuse.

With that out of the way, let's remember how early seasons and especially Oni-Chan went out of their way to establish, or at the very least, hint at Lila being someone who most likely started lying to make herself feel special and make up for the lack of attention she was receiving at home. 

Unfortunately, as time went by, her desire to be the centre of attention and liked, never mind if she never actually put the effort to deserve any of that, far outweighed any original good will and desire for friendship and genuine connections. While the implications that her mother giving her everything she wanted in hopes of making up for her absence further soured her personality until she became the lying, petty, attention-seeking spoiled brat we know today. 

This, coupled with her desperation to be seemed and, more important, feel more special than she actually is gave us a legitimate reason as to why some petty liar would go as far as to ally herself with a terrorist.

Is it troubling behaviour? Undoubtedly. But Lila's never been shown to be a very stable individual. If the early running gag of her throwing things around when angered is any indication.

...

Um...

...esto...

...what exactly is she missing if she’s suddenly been conning three different, completely unrelated women into thinking she’s their daughter? A good psychiatrist?!?!

(I apologise for talking about a minor’s state of sanity, but you’ll have to agree with me that the writers are the first ones portraying kids as literal monsters here). 

And you might say, “You might be overthinking this, Geeks. After all, it’s a superhero show; you can’t expect it to be realistic.”

And once again you would raise a very valid point. Hell, God knows I wouldn’t watch half the things I do if they were realistic. However, it is imperative that we make a distinction: 

Fiction doesn’t have to be realistic, but it must be convincing.

And there is nothing convincing about a 14-year-old having three different identities because of how good a liar and manipulator she supposedly is. 

Marinette pulls off impressive, crazy feats every single day? That is convincing because we see repeatedly how Marinette has both a complexity addiction due to a need to control things to calm her anxiety, and the fact that what ultimately saves the day is her natural quick-thinking and creativity, not to mention the fact that she has superpowers.

Chloé gets to expel people just by threatening to call her dad, the Mayor? Again, it is convincing, and probably even realistic, because she is in a position of power and, unlike Lila, her actions are appropriate in the sense that they are outlandishly cartoonish.

Lila...she doesn’t have that. 

Maybe it's just me, but I just can't seem to buy the excuse that any responsible mother would be okay with their underaged daughter "going to Africa to deal with poachers" all by herself, especially in the middle of the school year. Just like I have the feeling many parents would at least be apprehensive at the idea of their teenage daughter becoming such a public figure as both a model and the face of the Alliance rings.

But hey, maybe those are just signs of me having the potential to become an overprotective mother in the future. Instead of, you know, one of the most atrocious cases of the Adults Are Useless trope I've ever seen.

Nevertheless, as of right now Lila doesn’t even have much depth. And I’m not saying she needs some sob story that will make us feel sorry for her, no. You don’t need to make a villain sympathetic for them to be a good villain. After all, Frollo from the Hunchback of Notre Dame has no sympathetic traits nor does he have a sad backstory whatsoever and he is still one of the best Disney villlains ever. 

So what am I supposed to do with Lila? What, do I have to wait until season 6 comes around and retrospectively reveals she’s not a teenage girl at all but some sort of ancient witch who lures people in with her syren song and feeds off of their adoration for her?

At this point it just feels like the writers are so desperate for adding shock value, that they forget to add anything of value.

[bengiyo]

Cooking Crush Ep 11 Stray Thoughts

Last week was one of my favorite episodes of the season, because it focused on the drama between the friend trio. We delved into how important they are to each other, and their boyfriends (or soon to be (hopefully) boyfriends) supported them. I'm still thinking about the narrative of their dish. Ten got clarity from Prem after punching Chang Ma's nasty ass out, and Fire has promised to come out publicly when Dy wins.

Pang is a real one for recognizing a double date and getting out of the way.

"Put some meat in." Fire, he absolutely will.

Hell yeah, Ten! Show off your boyfriend.

Get you a squad that will cheer for your happiness like this.

Dish 11: Or...The Three Must-Eat-eers Will Only Be a Name

I love Dynamite so much. He said, "Girl, dish," and then immediately got jealous of the PDA and ran for his boyfriend. Some people think it's annoying to have a partner tell you exactly how to please them. Could never be me.

Oh no. The Internet is clowning them. Don't read the comments, boys!

Look at Ten. He got worried about a piece of information he found. He asked for clarity immediately. He got it. He moved on. He is the best man we've ever had.

I'm loving Boyfriends Era for them.

Wait why are they in the school kitchen? Didn't we get into trouble for being here before?

Nevermind. There's the security guard. This got so silly.

In the school kitchen??? Boys!

"It has to happen sooner or later," is the exact energy I expected from Dy.

He kicked my boy across the room!! I see the mom will be our final boss for them, because staying in the closet physically injured Dy there.

Now, Ten, don't leave that sticky note at your house like that!

Of course the bullies posted the punch on socials. Hateful.

Terrible, Ten's dad was right that Ten caused problems for Prem.

Dynamite and Fire are so fun to watch at this point. "Fy, I got slammed hard. I need to be hugged."

Oh, I like this A-B framing of the doc separate from the rest of the group.

Gun is beautiful, and we should have him smile with the whole squad backing him more often.

I love Dynamite so much. "Learn from them, Fy." "Of course."

This producer is like Masks Off and called them lame! Hold the fuck up! There are multiple posts picking at the dad scene but we don't want to cut her for this rude behavior? Priorities!

I'm actually enjoying the drama of this for Ten and Prem. Prem needs to be able to stand up to criticism if he's going to be a popular chef, and Ten needs to reckon with his own stubbornness if he's going to be a good doctor and partner. He gets all riled up about his dad, but he thinks he knows best about everything.

Oh no, Gun is crying. My weakness.

I like that Changma and Ten praised Prem for the same things. That's a good use of a second lead.

Hey, I like Changma also publicly owning his complicity in this bullshit.

I love these three so much as a friend group. I'm glad we have a good baseline for the rest of the year.

Goddamn this practice is not going great, guys.

For a second I hoped that Metha would show up to help Samsee.

Look at my boys go!!

The staff at this place is so bad at keeping the audience out of the show. You'd think they'd have done that after Ten interrupted the first time. Still, I love my boy Fire going public on TV like this.

Just gonna point out that the show remembered the dad laid hands on Ten earlier.

I really like the end of this episode. Yes, let's face that problem immediately;

Wow, we didn't have an episode 11 breakup. This was excellent. Ten and Prem tackled multiple crises this episode with open communication and mutual support. Dynamite and Fire are thriving and taking cues from their friends. Both friend groups are starting to blend. Our boys came together in the face of public scrutiny and pushed themselves to a new level. I'm having a great time. I love that we have three clear final hurdles: The Bully Gang Food War, Ten's Dad and the Scamming, Fire's Overbearing Mother. I'm so ready! The squad is together and we can take on anything!

Regarding the discussion around the dad that @lurkingshan has continued, I think we're fixating on a single moment in a single scene way too much. The show is aware of the dad's hypocrisy, and is using it to force Ten to reckon with himself. He does not care about his dad like that. They didn't forget that he struck Ten, because they brought it up as they set him up as one of our final problems to overcome. I won't be moralizing over that anymore. It's good drama inline with what we should be used to.

[samuraipussy]

Growing up I always felt like my trans identity was a direct erasure/undoing of all the fighting and suffering I went through growing up as a girl in a non-western society to gain my autonomy, freedom and safety. The fact that I started crossdressing in middle school to be able to have relationships with girls in public and not get killed while I nurtured an internal secret pride in my girlhood and fought tooth and nail for girls rights in my country meant that to "become" a man was a betrayal of everything I endured.

So to come to Tumblr and see a bunch of westerners with a tumblr-level understanding of gender regurgitate the same bullshit that held me back from exploring my own identity in a misguided attempt to protect and uplift women in repressive societies is kind of hilarious if not really fucking tragic.

Literally just talk to trans people and listen to us for once in your life. You're not right about everything. You don't understand shit about what we live through outside of the west, even if you are not a westerner yourself, because there is hardly ANY information out there about us. I don't go around policing other people's identities and experiences because at least I have the good sense to know I don't know shit about other people's lives and struggles. How about you try that for one day?

[jiangwanyinscatmom]

Here's hoping thus doesn't disappear into the void.

What are your thoughts on how MXTX essentially fetishizes M/M relationship in MDZS as well as glorifies rape in its portrayal of Wangxian's relationship?

I've seen takes on how their sexual relationship is unhealthy but I feel like I'm missing a puzzle piece here?

You know, anon, I doubt this is in good faith given what I just posted. And you also harassed me with two other similarly worded anons. But fine, I'l answer.

Let me reiterate, this argument is bullshit as well as infantilizing adult queers. As if those of us that had lived within the actual space when we weren't allowed to breath the words gay or lesbian in a serious space. Because well minded people aren't gay, it's shameful. Further more, gay people even having SEX and KINKS while out, was debased. The only good queers were the ones that were celibate and their sex lives are none existent, because it was shameful to say you were interested in sex.

How dare a work explore a man's self-understanding. How dare Wei Wuxian be ignorant of gay relationships in a predominantly heterosexual world. How dare a gay man, in a heavily misogynistic world realize this, play into this, and be compulsive heterosexual for his own safety.

A good gay can't like roleplay non-consent, because that's buying into the patriarchy of men. Kink, is bad, because we're told to be ashamed of being sexually explorative with like minded gays, because it's "bad". Because we're not mature enough to actually understand what's for our own good. Like Wei Wuxian, we can't be individualistic. BDSM or in that scope of sexual exploration is dirty and bad for our health actually. Because I am uncomfortable, with a sexual kink, that is a common part of actual sexual marriage play, it's bad. If you are both willing to explore that kink, it's still bad, because you are now buying into the stereotypes of what's expected of us. Having a dirty dream about a school day turned to sex, is actually non-consensual now, because there isn't a script to follow like we've been told by other well-meaning queers who have told us what sex is ACTUALLY like. Reminds you of all that porn exploitation we're supposed to achieve a level of prowess to, but also, condemn that because we're actually better than that heterosexual sex we are forced to see casually in media. We're more enlightened! If I'm supposed to not be an individualistic gay, I have to worry about what others think of my sexuality that is meant to be private! I can't explore it comfortably with a significant other, because good god, what will the public think if they knew what I did in my marriage?

How dare a woman, write for men, in our world were cisgender heterosexual men are already the expectation of achievement, and be so non-traditional, obviously, this is just fetishized and glorification. We are not allowed to explore deeper sex consensually ever, because what would people think about me if I enjoy that?

[jkl-fff]

You are ruler of your country for a day! You can enact one law and it will still be in effect after you leave. What do you do?

Only one? Well, in typical USA fashion, I'm going to get around that by drafting one law (a bill) with a fuck ton of riders that are considered part of that one law (yep, even if they have nothing to do with the primary purpose of the bill and are actually something many legislators would oppose) (yet one more thing that's fucked up about this government). AND I'm going to go a step above that to guarantee these all remian in effect by declaring their enactment is as Constitutional Amendments.

Henceforth, all elected positions (presidents, governors, mayors, senators, representatives, etc.) are to be held for a term of four years, with a strict limit of two terms per person. Anyone who will turn 75 during the coming term will be deemed ineligible for office.

ALL judicial positions will be subject to a strict code of ethics (ESPECIALLY the fucking SUPREME COURT gods above, how is this already not a thing), and those who are accused of violating it will be subject to a trial with a jury of 12 judges. If found guilty of violating this code by at least 7 of the 12, they will be cast out of office ... and into prison. Also, judges can only serve at a given level for 16 years (no more of this lifetime terms bullshit).

No elected official may be reimbursed for their service at a rate higher than their state's minimum wage. Nor may they receive government benefits (like health insurance) above what the average citizen is entitled to receive. If they want more, they'd better improve the lives of their poorest citizens.

Their is a wealth cap at $500 million in private or corporate assets. Everything after that is confiscated for the public good. Anyone found guilty of trying to dodge that will lose everything and go to jail for the rest of their life (anyone with more than $10 million must be audited annually to ensure no tax fraud is being committed).

Corporate personhood will be acknowledged, but so will a corporate death penalty. If a company is found to have violated laws protecting the environment or public to a degree greater than $10 million in damages, then the company will be disbanded, and *all* assets of the executives will be seized while *half* of all middle management will be seized. (This way, rank and file workers will be incentivized to keep their company honest so they don't lose a job, management and executives will be incentivized because they stand to lose 50% or 100% of their wealth).

In a similar vein, all punitive fines are to be scaled according to the wealth of the offender. Like, a speeding ticket is $250 for a poor person, $25,000 for a millionaire.

The military can only receive as much funding as the Department of Education, which will disperse its funds to the poorest schools in a district first. But charter and religious schools are prohibited from receiving federal and state funds (if they want to be private, that's fine ... but they gotta pay for everything themselves while still being subject to federal regulations).

Business subsidies can not surpass welfare funding throughout a state. Also, if a business makes a profit one year, they are ineligible to receive subsidies the next.

Election Day is now on a Sunday, and all non essential services are to close so people can go vote. Tiered voting is to be instituted, too.

Convicted felons cannot be president even after serving their time (c'mon, people, seriously). Though they can vote again once released.

I could add others, but this has gone on long enough, and these already would be huge improvements. Thanks!

[the1975attheirverybest]

Halla what's going on with the uni student in us?? Are they sleeping in there? It's the police arresting most of them?

(don't get me wrong I'm so proud of them, wish more countries would be doing the same)

-💕

yes! If you’re familiar with the student protests of the Vietnam war and Cambodia this is the same thing. students across campuses in NYC, Texas, and California are peacefully protesting by occupying public spaces on their campus and forming “encampments.” Where they pitch tents and live out of them the way that Palestinians are doing in Gaza.

they are demanding that their university stop their relationship to Israeli companies and investments that pay for Israel’s genocide, for admin to speak up about what’s happening, and for the school to start showing full transparency on where their money is going. And they’ve promised not to leave their encampments until this happens. So they’ve set up spaces where students make signs, march in protest, carry flags, pass out educational materials and posters etc.

the universities obviously don’t love this because the Israeli companies that give these universities money are like “bro your own students are against us if you don’t stop them we won’t give you money.” Basically. So universities are starting to use police forces to remove the students. In Texas they shut them down so fast and arrested many. In NYC it got violent, police are beating students, tasing them, pushing their faces against the ground. At the University of Southern California, I think huge arrests were made yesterday. The school has canceled all classes for the rest of the semester. At UCLA the protests continue to be peaceful it seems. They’ve been very mature and not engaging with the pro-Israel counter-protestors who show up to harass them so they’ve been able to keep going. They said they’ll be there all weekend and longer if the university doesn’t agree to their demands. so every school is different with the level of violence and police involvement but basically yeah over many campuses students are being prevented from peacefully protesting what their university is doing and something like 93 students were arrested in one place. 64 in another place. Columbia University in NYC is especially bad. They have a history of doing this with protestors of many different causes so that’s the most insane case for right now. There’s also a huge Zionist population there among their professors who keep going on the news yelling that students make them feel “unsafe” which is bullshit. These kids are literally just sitting on the grass. Lmao.

[cugareal]

on some level i think it is our duty to acquaint ourselves with literature, academic and non-academic, surrounding the things we are interested in. i know "corroborate from multiple sources" is a middle school level take but one of the worst bits about all this youtube plagiarism stuff is that you have a whole bunch of ppl who are completely reliant on one person for all their info about a certain topic. actually make an effort to seek out experts. go on google scholar or something and just do a search. look in publications with actual whole ass editors. look at reviews and critiques of those pieces and publications from other publications. etc. acquaint yourself with the prior art. recognizing bullshit will not be a certainty but it will at least be slightly easier

[schizopositivity]

throwback to my AP psych class in highschool where my teacher always said "im a little bit ocd" and our first assignment was to "study" a student from another class and then make assumptions about their life based on their behavoir, then he taught us The Four Types of Schizophrenia and he said "no one knows why catatonic schizophrenics are like that no one knows whats going on in their brain" and then we watched a video of someone publically having a psychotic episode, and then we watched the movies Stand By Me and The Breakfast Club and had to write a paper where we diagnosed each character with a different mental illness

now lemme tell you why all of that was complete bullshit:

you cant be "a little bit ocd" (he said cause he liked things organized was why) because its a mental disorder characterized by obsessions and compulsions, simply being tidy doesnt make you a little ocd, either you have the disorder or you dont

i felt so creepy having to watch and write about a student i didnt know in another class, this is just such a weird thing to do, and not anything a psych profesional would actually do so i have no idea why we did it, and then for the rest of my time at school i was paranoid that someone was studying me which as an undiagnosed schizophrenic was horrible for me

the four types of schizophrenia is outdated, it was when i was in the class, its now known to be a spectrum where people can have mulitple or even all of the symptoms of the four types

yes you can easily find out whats going through a catatonic persons brain if you just ask (once they are no longer catatonic), ive been catatonic multiple times and ill tell you any day

do not watch videos of people publically having a psychotic episode, they didnt consent to filming or uploading the video, they probably didnt want one of their most terrifying and emberassing moments posted publically so a room full of teenagers could gauk at it, it is extremley disrespectful to the person in the video and their humanity is more important than any education you could bring on by the video

you cant diagnose people you dont know, even with the proper training, an hour worth of content is not enough to make a diagnosis from, i seriously dont know why we were encouraged to diagnose anyone, especially characters in a movie, i dont know what we learned from this other than thinking we had the power to diagnose people we didnt know

this was an AP psych class so that means it was college level, i hope this isnt what theyre teaching in college and i just had a particularly uneducated teacher

[minerwarfare-suzuya]

I'm not done.

Miles ownership drama timeline, part 6

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

After that whole altercation with Miles went down. Things went quiet since he blocked me on two of his accounts on here. The Moboxcritique and Kevonica would go on the topics of Blurry and Faces of Nothing for the time being while I was recovering my account after it got reported for pretending to be someone else and I was in the works of making my FNAF Affinity remake on my new blog.

Until I received a message from Cagney about the current situation with Mobox87 making statements that she has an irl stalker because of the Moboxcritique blog's publicity gaining the attention from her stalker which she requested that the blog should be taken down. More on that topic some other time. . .

So, word has it that Mobox87 is supporting a groomer.

Now you're probably thinking to yourself.

Yeah we know that, the Moboxcritique blog spoke up about how she downplayed Mandopony's grooming behavior.

Well this time it's different. When I was told about this info from Cagney I took the time to get some details out of them.

Apparently, Miles has openly spoken to Kevonica about having a crush on a 16 year old which may I remind you that he is 21 years old. Then he goes off to say that where he lives has the age of consent as 16.

Here are the screenshots I was given from Kev when I asked her about it a week after Cagney told me.

Like I understand that the age of consent is different in many countries and I'm aware that the US has some states where being 16 years old is consensual for sexual activity but there is a boundary between this person he's interested in and him.

Like my brother in Christ you are literally an adult trying to get with a teenager that's in school.

So!

Going back to the situation where Miles called me a "pedo" for drawing an ahegao face on Vinsnake before he changed his age as a comeback against me.

I was thinking to myself with my friends.

Like why did he call me a pedo for? He never announced the character was 16 til I made that drawing of Vinsnake.

Yet he wants to support Mobox87 who's made actual child porn in her art. So call her a pedo!

But your ass is a fucken hypocrite since you admit wanting to engage with a 16 year old.

One more thing to mention is that he goes to say he's an "ace" and I'm thinking to myself.

Like what does that even matter? You're still trying get with a 16 year old! They have a different maturity level compared to you!

Then you go off still calling me a pedo over the drawing of Vinsnake still while excusing yourself for wanting to be with a 16 year old because you say you're a "little space".

Mother fucker you is a pedophile! Quit acting like you dating someone in highschool isn't pedophilia.

You literally made it clear that you're self aware that people in other states would consider it pedophilia but you contradict yourself to thinking that it's okay because you consider yourself as a child.

Make it make sense!

Again, Mobox87 knows about this and she defends him which is no surprise since Miles is Mobox87's top buyer that gives her enough money for her hustle.

I'm so done with Miles Bullshit! He's a man child and an entitled asshole!

I apologize for doing this but someone's gotta stand up to this jerk and not tolerate his toxic behavior.

Kevonica and Cagney didn't want me to share this publicly because they both don't wanna deal with Miles.

I don't expect forgiveness with over sharing this information but just know that-

I had to do it to em.

Aftermath