#the amount of conditional support his fans have

[jlf23tumble]

jen what do you think about these holivia kissing pics on release day? and how long do you think they’ll keep pushing this? curious to hear your thoughts on the whole situation!

I don't really think anything about it, actually? Like it's no big whoop to me, they're cute, the outfits are on point, closeted relationships gonna closet, truly the best part for me was doin' a quick lurk on the shittier blogs after I got this ask and seeing how "tired" and "exhausted" they are, so they're gonna take a lil break--buh bye, don't let the door hitcha where the good lord splitcha! (Oh, they'll be back, gotta get those sweet, sweet notes, the validation that can only come from stirring up anxiety about rich white guys generally by shitting on the ladies associated with them specifically--tougher to do it IRL, I'd imagine). I did see some really great takes (especially these tags and the tags plus op's tags, respectively), so that's kinda fun, too

[robsheridan]

[Update: Apocalypse in Pink part 2 is out now]

Before Barbenheimer, there was “Apocalypse in Pink,” the August 1983 theme of fashion/culture magazine SPECTAGORIA. The issue’s controversial imagery of Barbie-esque models attempting to stay gorgeous and glamorous amidst nuclear annihilation sought to, in the words of editor/photographer Sera Clairmont, “revel in the morbid absurdity of the new American condition,” an “anxiety vibrating underneath all our plastic smiles.”

“It’s The Hot Pink Cold War,” Clairmont wrote in her introduction. “It’s ‘Material Girl’ on the radio and ‘WarGames’ at the drive-in. It’s ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’ interrupted by the emergency broadcast signal. We’re told to look sexy, dress fashionable, make money, and spend money, but be sure we’re just the right amount of terrified about the bomb. Get that Malibu dream home, keep working on that perfect body, sip cocktails by the pool in your little pink bikini and watching the stocks go up — but STAY VIGILANT! and for God’s sake vote Republican, because that dream home could melt into a pink plastic inferno at any given moment. Just don’t stop smiling as the blast liquefies your skin into bubbling ooze like a Barbie doll in a microwave - it’s bad for the economy.”

***Continued in PART 2***

---------

NOTE: This is a work of fiction created by me. This alternate reality horror story is part of my NightmAIres narrative art series (visit that link for a lot more). NightmAIres are windows into other worlds and interconnected alternate histories, conceived/written by me and visualized with synthography and Photoshop.

If you enjoy my work, consider supporting me on Patreon for frequent exclusive hi-res wallpaper packs, behind-the-scenes features, downloads, events, contests, and an awesome fan community. Direct fan support is what keeps me going as an independent creator, and it means the world to me.

[ohnoitstbskyen]

re: Somerton

Not for nothing, but I think we should remember that James Somerton's fans and subscribers are normal people, just like you. They are people who received his output in good faith, and extended to him a normal amount of grace and benefit of the doubt, which he took advantage of.

I don't think it's helpful to respond to the exposé on Somerton with sentiments along the lines of "wow, how could anyone ever think THIS GUY'S videos were any good, ha ha ha, how did he ever get subscribers?" because 1) you have the substantial benefit of hindsight and a disengaged outsider perspective, and 2) it's a rhetoric that creates a divide between you (refined, savvy, smart, sophisticated) and Somerton's audience (gullible, unrefined, easily taken advantage of, terrible taste), which is a false divide, with a false sense of security.

Somerton's success happened because he stole good writing. He found interesting, insightful, in-depth work done by other people, applied the one skill he actually has which is marketing, and re-packaged it as his own. He targeted a market which is starving for the exact kind of writing he was stealing, and pushed his audience to disengage from sources that conflicted with him.

Hbomberguy makes this point in his exposé video: good queer writing is hard to find and incredibly easy to lose. The writers Somerton stole from were often poor or precarious, writing freelance work for small circles under shitty conditions, without the means or the reach or the privileges necessary to find bigger markets. And, as Hbomb demonstrated, when people did discover Somerton's plagiarism, he used his substantial audience to hound them away and dissuade anyone else from trying to hold him accountable.

He stole queer writing by marginalized people, about experiences and perspectives that people are desperate to hear more about, and even if his delivery and aesthetics were naff, his words resonated with people because the original writers who actually wrote them poured their goddamn hearts and souls into it.

Somerton also maintained a consistent narrative of persecution and marginalization about himself. He took the plain truth, which is that queer people and perspectives are discriminated against, and worked that into a story about himself as a lone, brave truth-teller, daring to voice an authentic queer perspective, constantly beset by bigots and adversaries who sought to tear him down. As @aranock, who works with some of the people he targeted, writes in this post, Somerton weaponized whatever casual bias and bigotry he could find in his audience to reinforce his me vs them narrative (usually misogyny and various forms of transphobia), which is what grifters do. They find a vulnerable thread in a community and pull on it. And while you may not have the particular vulnerability that he exploited, you do have vulnerabilities, and they can be exploited too.

People felt compelled to support him, even if his work was sometimes shoddy, because he presented himself as a vulnerable, marginalized person in need of help, he pulled on that vulnerable thread.

Again, he has a degree in marketing, and just like propaganda, nobody is immune to marketing.

YouTube as a system is set up to push for more, constantly more. More content, more videos, more output, more more more more, and part of Somerton and Illuminaughty's success was their ability to push out large amounts of content to the hungry algorithm, even if it was of inferior quality. The algorithm rewarded their volume of output with more eyeballs and attention, and therefore more opportunities to find people who were vulnerable to their grift.

It is a system which quite literally rewards the exact kind of plagiarism that they do, because watch-time and engagement are easily measurable metrics for a corporation, and academic rigor is not. There is pressure to deliver, and a lot of rewards to gain from cutting corners to do it.

Somerton and Illuminaughty and Internet Historian are extreme and very obvious cases, so blatant that you can make a four hour video essay exposing what they've done, but the vast majority of this kind of plagiarism isn't going to be obvious - sometimes it might not even be obvious to the people who are doing it. Casual plagiarism is endemic to the modern internet, and most people don't get educated on what the exact boundaries are between proper sourcing and quoting vs plagiarizing. We had an entire course module at my university aimed at teaching students the exact differences and definitions, and people still made good faith mistakes in their essays and papers that they had to learn to correct during their education.

All of this to say: it is extremely easy in hindsight to call Somerton's work shitty and shoddy, his aesthetics flat and uninspired, and to imagine that as a sophisticated person with good taste and critical faculties, you would never be taken in by this kind of grifter. It is extremely easy to distance yourself from the people he preyed on, and imagine that you will never have to worry about your fave doing your dirty like that.

But part of the point of Hbomberguy's video is that plagiarism is extremely easy to get away with, and often difficult for the average person to spot and call out, and with the rise of AI tools blurring the lines even further, it is not going to get any easier.

So I think we should resist the temptation to think of Somerton's audience as people with bad taste and poor faculties. We should resist the temptation to distance ourselves from the perfectly normal people he preyed on. Many times in your life, a modestly clever man with a marketing degree has fooled you too.

On a personal note, by the same token, I am resisting the temptation to assume that I am too good to be vulnerable to the systemic pressures that produced Somerton and Illuminaughty. No, I've never made a video by word-for-word reciting someone else's work, but I know for a fact that I could do a better job of double-checking my work and citing my sources. I feel the exact same pressure to get a video out as fast as possible, I have the exact same rewards dangled in front of me by YouTube as a platform, and I can't pretend it doesn't affect my work. To me, Hbomb's video felt like a wake-up call to do better.

[hyacinthsdiamonds]

Not liking a driver does not give you a free pass to bodyshame them, or to wish literal death and severe harm on them, or to be racist and/or xenophobic towards them. Not liking a team doesn't give you a right to do the above to those afflicted with the team either, or to be misogynistic towards the women involved with those teams. Not liking which team or driver someone supports, does not give you a right to do any of the above.

The drivers and the teams may never see the hate you spill but wait. We all know that they do;

Nicolas Latifi got such severe death threats he had to hire security

I'm not touching on the disgusting racist abuse faced by many of the drivers because there has been far too much to easily unpack but I do want to note that it got so bad last year that Alex for instance got such severe abuse last year his fans had to tell his family to go offline for a few days (not to forget the people who made up conspiracies about him and used his mother's past as a means to justify the abuse they were directing towards him).

I'll never forgot the amount of sexist hate directed at Hannah Schmitz, one of the few and one of the most recognizable women in the paddock who has lead red bulls strategy department the last couple of years, - because apparently women in motorsport are only valid if they're not under the red bull umbrella - which got so bad multiple of the drivers called it out publicly.

The multiple conspiracies created about and general racial discrimination faced by Yuki and Zhou which was and continues to be encouraged and spread by primarily the English speaking journalists and commentators

Let's not forget the sexist chants sung about Sophie Kumpen; Max's mother at Monza, or the literal death threats that were sent to his sister and young nephews.

The way some of you talk about Michael Schumacher, I don't have the words. The ski jokes has not once in the last decade been funny.

I could go on and on. I could literally do this all day.

Sure the drivers might never see it but that doesn't mean nobody will and we all see how conditional any form of your allyship is. "Racism is wrong unless it's about x, sexism is wrong unless it's about y, death threats are wrong unless it's about z, etc". Do better. You cannot claim the moral high ground, if you do any of the above, no matter how much higher you perceive yourself to be than the person you're directing the above towards.

As for death wishes or crash wishes, cop yourselves on to fuck. I would never wish what I've been through, what my family has been through, on my worst enemy, let alone some driver I'll probably never even meet. F1 is nowadays a safe enough sport but that has not always been the case and there is still no 100% guarantee of completely safety. The risk is still there even with all the advancements in safety. So many drivers have lost their lives or have had their lives altered forever as a result of a crash. Some of the drivers on the current grid are directly impacted or know those whose lives have been lost or altered because of a crash. Nearly everyone on that grid has a story. Some of you have their photos as your icons as you wish literal death and injury on their coworkers, their friends. They would be beyond disgusted by you. I can name far too many drivers who lost their lives in this sport, it shouldn't take naming them to make people realize that wishing for some to die like they did is a disgusting act. If it were to come true, would you celebrate? Would you cheer as the red flag came out? I don't think I want to know the answer, considering some of the things I've seen in the main tags over the last couple of years (see that one person who wanted to violently and literally stab and kill a driver or see that disgusting poll about which way would be best to literally kill another driver).

Don't start with but x did this or y fans did that, if they jumped off a cliff, would you? Why are you so eager to lower yourself to what you feel are their low standards or morals? And I don't blame a driver for the actions of someone who calls themselves a fan while doing anything that I've mentioned in this post, because they're not fans, they're people who use the driver they claim to back as a shield and as an excuse for their appalling behavior.

Also, if you have to say "I don't like driver x but I agree nobody deserves this type of abuse", get rid of everything before the but. You don't have to like someone to offer them basic respect or human decency.

[pokeblader3]

Honestly I want any anti-Huntlow person at this point who says the couple has no appeal or thematic value and is just a generic hetero ship with the attractive male love interest to look my disabled ass squarely in the eye (looking down, with your ability to stand.) and tell me that people who look like Hunter are considered "conventionally attractive", and that I've not gone to disability and autism support groups filled with people with face/body scarring and disfigurings that severe (often tied to disabilities),

and conditions that will never get better that had literally no friends outside the support groups because y'all treated them like freaks for having a misformed lip or not having full upright-ness of their body (I have a feeling Hunter's eye bags might never go away, like I feel the 24-hour eye bags I have had in real life for several years might never go away),

and that the choice to portray a love story between a disfigured, fundamentally different person in love with a healthy plus sized Asian girl who was bullied and given severe mental issues and now finds strength in his reassurance and literal help as one of the people who helps stabilize her so she can be a badass.... is conventional and what cishet white audiences want lmao.

We have 3 bisexual female characters, the two leads are given female and nonbinary love interests with more screentime, and the m/f bisexual couple is late-series and with a gender dynamic of a strong woman who fights to protect her friends and domestic-violence survivor partner, who now is being characterized primarily by his desire to be soft and domestic (sewing? gardening? wanting to just be seen as a human?) isn't still groundbreaking? There literally is no way it could be more fair and appealing of a concept to you.

Like. I'm starting to think maybe some of y'all have bad reasons for being vocally against the ship which is full of people who just want to be positive and left to themselves (and have much of the crew on their side as fans). Maybe if a ship like this is being put in your gay show, it's just as groundbreaking for different reasons you don't see.

Some of us cripples (including us queers) have partners who Hunter and Willow remind us of (especially with the amount of transgender grimwalker Hunter interpretations I've seen or fan concepts where Willow eventually starts using her plant magic to help stabilize Hunter's body in older age from Grimwalker decay as a partial root being), mostly people just like you, just more open-minded and willing to see us (and literally hear us, if you've seen none of this, somehow, yet) as people.

And I don't just speak for myself, I have a plus sized South Asian bisexual girl friend who says Hunter and Willow's gender dynamic was one of the few times she ever saw herself in television and loves it equally as me.

[seasurfacefullofclouds1]

When his tour was postponed by the Covid 19 pandemic in 2020, Louis offered a refund to everyone who wanted their money back. His disappointment at having his best moment in a solo career postponed (again) didn’t exceed his sense of fairness and empathy toward his fans.

When he could, Louis organized the Live From London livestream for fans, took every precaution against infection in order to protect his band and crew, and gave a most memorable concert for fans during the pandemic. In doing so, he broke a Guinness World Records for ticket sales.

Did he keep the money for himself ? No. He donated all of the proceeds, including revenue from merch sales.

Louis has never used dynamic pricing. He has never charged for a solo Meet and Greet. He has never sold VIP packages. He has held many listening parties and events, sometimes with snacks, for free.

Of all the One Direction ex-members, Louis is the only one to hold a free music festival for 10,000 fans on his own dime, in London, as soon as he could and as safely as he could. He paid for the support acts himself.

Louis never cancelled a single concert on LTWT 2022 due to illness. He and his team planned strategic substitutions of the band members so that the tour concerts could continue as safely as possible, under Covid conditions. He played many concerts when he wasn’t feeling great, because he didn’t want to disappoint the fans.

Louis has stopped many concerts out of concern for fans in the audience— including on the FITFWT 2023. In 2022, he decided to provide water at his own cost to fans, some of whom then took this amenity for granted, when it was far from the industry standard.

In all of these instances, Louis has shown, over and over, his continuous concern for the fans, his desire to share his work with fans at a fair and affordable price point, his commitment toward caring for band members and crew (and everyone who works with him), and his generosity.

He puts up with an incredible amount of fandom nonsense at his concerts, asking fans to observe rules so no one gets hurt— not to throw things on stage, not to push against each other. He’s listened to chants of No Control and WMYB despite being on his second solo world tour. He is patiently educating fans on good concert etiquette, many of whom are going to the first concerts of their lives.

Louis could have used his fame and wealth to make a lot more money from the people who admire and love him, as some of his ex-bandmates have done. He could have told his team to strategize his career for maximum exposure and profit. He could have turned bitter from the setbacks he’s suffered and lashed out. He could have buckled from the strain of endless, unfair media coverage and criticism, industry blacklisting etc. He could take advantage of personal tragedies to cast pity on himself, but he never has. He has never mocked or criticized the career of an ex-bandmate, and his crew does not either.

As always with Louis Tomlinson, he perseveres. He is patient. His kindness is demonstrated in action, not only in words and trademarked slogans (btw marketing a code of ethics for money is the basest form of fandom manipulation, but also the most transparent and unironic demonstration of greed). He never sold Covid-themed merchandise. He never used the Black Lives Matter campaign to enrich himself. He has never sold merch claiming to support women and then sing explicit lyrics objectifying women as sexual body parts. He will never turn a social tragedy into a marketing opportunity.

This is Louis. He will always feel grateful for fandom’s support. His humility is not an act. His generosity is not a slogan. He will try his best; he will persevere. When knocked down, he will get back up. He is a singular type of star; there is no one quite like him. In supporting him for all these years, I feel proud of Louis and Louies for our humanity and love for each other. No matter the numbers, in his solo career Louis has distilled the best of One Direction into the utmost caring, fun, and creative excellence. He will continue to thrive, and Louies will continue to grow in numbers, and we will keep caring for each other.

[lev1hei1chou]

Fun fluffy animes that I loved

This is basically a list of animes that helps get over or deal with the trauma inflicted by various animes. At the moment, I guess fellow JJK fans might need this, and prolly AOT fans on November 5. Have fun watching

Haikyuu

Short Synopsis: Determined to be like the volleyball championship's star player nicknamed "the small giant", Shoyo joins his school's volleyball club.

Episodes: 85 + 5 OVA

The worst thing that can possibly happen is either the 3rd year students graduating or you being unable to support a specific team (nah cuz bro how do you pick and root for one? I end up being happy for the team that won and depressed for the team that lost)

Two movies are coming up soon

Highschool Babysitters

Synopsis: After the sudden death of their parents on a plane crash, two young brothers named Ryūichi Kashima (a freshman in high school) and his younger brother Kotarō (a preschooler) are left orphaned and having no place to call home. The chairwoman of the prestigious Morinomiya Academy offers to take the boys into her care, giving them a new house and free tuition, on the condition that Ryuichi helps out with the school's daycare center while also attending normal classes during school hours.

Episodes: 12 + 1 OVA

Note: Plane crash seems sad but trust me, its only mentioned in the first episode, and the rest 11 is just fluffy goodness. Nothing can prepare you for the cuteness.

Cells At Work

Synopsis: One newcomer red blood cell just wants to do her job. Between bacteria incursions and meeting a certain white blood cell, she's got a lot to learn.

Episodes: 31 + 7

A good mix of science and entertainment. The episodes dont have to be watched in any specific order.

Mr. Osomatsu

Synopsis: The everyday lives of identical sextuplets who cause mischief.

Episodes: 75 + special eps + movies

Has a good amount of 18+ jokes, but its not too overwhelming. It doesnt necessarily follow a plot, and each episode is usually two different stories combined. So, skipping episodes should be fine. Also, it features very popular voice actors for the sextuplets (Geto's VA, Gojo's VA, Levi's VA, Koro sensei's VA, Erwin's VA and Haku/ Sugawara's VA), Iyami (Obanai Iguro's VA), Totoko (Shoko's VA)

The Vampire Dies in No Time

Synopsis: The story follows the famed vampire hunter, Ronaldo, who receives a job to destroy the supposedly invincible vampire lord Draluc and rescue a human boy he allegedly kidnapped.

Episodes: 24

Note: Its a hit or miss, the running gag is used constantly and gets tiring at times, but the overall anime is a good watch. I personally loved John the Armadillo

Buddy Daddies

Synopsis: Assassins Kazuki Kurusu and Rei Suwa meet Miri, a girl looking for her father on Christmas Day. Kazuki, Rei, and Miri unexpectedly end up living together.

Episodes: 12

May get dark at times, so I wont guarantee that itll be a smooth sail, but we get a wholesome conclusion so you can count on that! Otherwise VERY fluffy

Blue Lock

Synopsis: High school soccer players from across Japan gather for a controversial project designed to create the best and most egoistic striker in the world.

Episodes: 24

Isnt exactly true football, but yeah. The anime is pretty fine. It doesnt exactly go under the fluffy anime like i mentioned in the title, but you can check it out if you want.

Free!!

Synopsis: The story is centered on high school student Haruka Nanase, a gifted swimmer. After encountering his childhood rival, Rin Matsuoka from Samezuka Academy, he and his friends revitalize Iwatobi High School's swim team.

Episodes: 37 + specials and movies

This anime to me, personally is what haikyuu is. A great comfort anime which knows how to make the viewer connect with the characters. I dislike it when the whole anime gets reduced to just fanservice, like guys lets look beyond that and actually enjoy the plot.

Life Lessons With Uramichi Oniisan

Synopsis: From smoking and exercising to nihilistic outbursts, everyone's big brother Uramichi always brings up the not-so-moral side to his life lessons

Episodes: 13

This one is very real and relatable in many levels. Theres a lot of screenshots and panels available online, so you can check a few out before watching!

Obey Me

Synopsis: Brothers Lucifer, Mammon, Leviathan, Satan, Asmodeus, Beelzebub, and Belphegor are among the most powerful demons in the Devildom, serving as officers on the student council at the Royal Academy of Diavolo (RAD). However, being avatars of the seven deadly sins, their behaviors often tend toward the extreme. Their everyday antics belie their high status and fearsome reputations among others of their kind. When viewed behind the scenes, the members of this family are more lovable—and laughable—than they first seem!

Episodes: 24 + 1

It's based on a popular otome game, and can be watched as it is even if you havent played the game. The basic idea is that theyre based on the 7 sins, so their personalities are really amusing. As for the plot, its pretty wholesome.

Play It Cool Guys

Synopsis: Despite their distinctive personalities, Souma Shiki, Hayate Ichikura, Shun Futami, and Takayuki Mima all have one thing in common: though naturally clumsy, the four disguise their embarrassment from tiny slip-ups by maintaining a composed demeanor. However, it is actually the guys' airheaded natures that makes the girls' hearts throb. No matter what happens in their daily lives, the boys do their best not to lose their cool!

Episodes: 24

Each episode is barely 10-13 minutes, so it just doesnt feel enough lol. Most of their slip ups are relatable and could get a chuckle from the viewer. The art style is a little different but its good. Definitely worth watching, once or even multiple times.

Tanaka Kun is Always Listless

Synopsis: For high school student Tanaka, the act of being listless is a way of life. Known for his inattentiveness and ability to fall asleep anywhere, Tanaka prays that each day will be as uneventful as the last, seeking to preserve his lazy lifestyle however he can by avoiding situations that require him to exert himself. Along with his dependable friend Oota who helps him with tasks he is unable to accomplish, the lethargic teenager constantly deals with events that prevent him from experiencing the quiet and peaceful days he longs for.

Episodes: 13 + specials

Not gonna lie, Ive wanted to act like Tanaka. The characters are lovable and the anime is worth giving a try. An underrated gem. I personally loved the school festival episode.

@satoruukisser hope this helps!

[doumadono]

Hey. I’d been putting off making an emergency rq in the hopes that things would get better, but unfortunately they have not. I’m feeling very unhappy and bored, like I’m not going anywhere. I’m content and restless at the same time and it’s incredibly frustrating. I also require large amounts of stimulation to not feel bored which I am having difficulty finding.I hate it and idk what to do so yea. Also not helping is the fact that my skin condition gets worse in summer (it causes my feet to get v sore from walking, standing, and overall doing stuff and causes difficulty walking without a limp).

With this in mind, I’d like to ask for some headcanons of douma doing something stimulating (rock climbing, ice skating, etc) with reader bc they’ve been unhappy and bored for a couple weeks. Thank you <3

Douma & bored s/o - headcanons

A/N: Hi, darling, I'm really sorry to hear that things have been tough lately. It sounds like you're dealing with a lot, and I can understand how frustrating and challenging it must be. Finding ways to cope with boredom and restlessness can be a real struggle, especially when facing other physical challenges too. If you're open to it, exploring new activities or hobbies that align with your interests might help alleviate some of the boredom! ♥

MASTERLIST

When Douma notices your unhappiness, he decides to surprise you with a magical ice skating experience. Using his Blood Demon Art, he creates a private ice rink in a serene, moonlit clearing. Hand in hand, you glide across the ice. He takes extra care to ensure you feel safe and supported as you twirl and laugh together. "You're doing great, darling!"

To help lift your spirits, Douma suggests you engage in ice sculpting. He provides you with tools that make shaping the ice easier and guides you through the process. As you work side by side, he listens attentively to your thoughts and shares stories about his past experiences, fostering a deeper connection between you.

He suggests an outdoor activity to clear your mind. He takes you on a hiking trail through a picturesque forest, the moonlight filtering through the trees in dappled patterns.

To lift you spirits, Douma arranges a dance workshop in a secluded room within his quarters. He leads you through various dance styles, from traditional to modern, encouraging you to let loose and have fun. "Life is full of surprises, my dear. Let the music guide your movements, Y/N!"

Observing your desire for something new, Douma suggests an intriguing skill to master: Tessenjutsu, the art of using the Japanese war fan in combat. "It's a graceful yet formidable art."

Despite his lack of personal experience with human food (he ate it hundreds of years ago), Douma decides to embark on a culinary adventure by offering to teach you how to cook. "Cooking? I'm excited to learn, but aren't you a demon?" You remark. "Indeed, but I have observed many human activities over the years. Let's explore the realm of flavors together!"

Inspired by a desire to share a piece of artistic world, Douma introduces you to a biwa, a traditional Japanese musical instrument. Douma provides you with a beautifully crafted biwa and patiently explains its strings, frets, and techniques.

[zvaigzdelasas]

[Teamster.org is IBT's official website]

Today, Teamsters voted by an overwhelming 86.3 percent to ratify the most historic collective bargaining agreement in the history of UPS. The five-year contract protects and rewards more than 340,000 UPS Teamsters nationwide, raising wages for full- and part-time workers, creating more full-time jobs, and securing important workplace protections, including air conditioning. The agreement passed by the highest vote for a contract in the history of the Teamsters at UPS. All supplemental agreements were ratified as well, except for the Local 769 LAI supplement which covers 174 members in Florida. The national master agreement will go into effect as soon as this supplement is renegotiated and ratified. [...] “Our members just ratified the most lucrative agreement the Teamsters have ever negotiated at UPS. This contract will improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of workers,” said Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien. “Teamsters have set a new standard and raised the bar for pay, benefits, and working conditions in the package delivery industry. This is the template for how workers should be paid and protected nationwide, and nonunion companies like Amazon better pay attention.” “This is the richest national contract I’ve seen in my more than 40 years of representing Teamsters at UPS,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman. “There are more gains in this contract than in any other UPS agreement and with no givebacks to the company. But the hard work doesn’t end here. We will continue to fight like hell to enforce this contract and make sure UPS lives up to every word of it over the next five years.” Highlights of the tentative 2023-2028 UPS Teamsters National Master Agreement include: Historic wage increases. Existing full- and part-time UPS Teamsters will get $2.75 more per hour in 2023. Over the length of the contract, wage increases will total $7.50 per hour.

Existing part-timers will be raised to no less than $21 per hour immediately, and part-time seniority workers earning more under a market rate adjustment will still receive all new general wage increases.

General wage increases for part-time workers will be double the amount obtained in the previous UPS Teamsters contract — and existing part-time workers will receive a 48 percent average total wage increase over the next five years.

Wage increases for full-timers will keep UPS Teamsters the highest paid delivery drivers in the nation, improving their average top rate to $49 per hour.

Current UPS Teamsters working part-time will receive longevity wage increases of up to $1.50 per hour on top of new hourly raises, compounding their earnings.

New part-time hires at UPS will start at $21 per hour and advance to $23 per hour.

All UPS Teamster drivers classified as 22.4s will be reclassified immediately to Regular Package Car Drivers and placed into seniority, ending the unfair two-tier wage system at UPS.

Safety and health protections, including vehicle air conditioning and cargo ventilation. UPS will equip in-cab A/C in all larger delivery vehicles, sprinter vans, and package cars purchased after Jan. 1, 2024. Two fans, heat exhaust shields, and air induction vents in the cargo compartments will be retrofitted into all cars.

All UPS Teamsters will receive Martin Luther King Day as a full holiday for the first time.

No more forced overtime on Teamster drivers’ days off. Drivers will keep one of two workweek schedules and cannot be forced into overtime on scheduled off-days.

UPS Teamster part-timers will have priority to perform all seasonal support work using their own vehicles with a locked-in eight-hour guarantee. For the first time, seasonal work will be contained to five weeks only from November-December.

The creation of 7,500 new full-time Teamster jobs at UPS and the fulfillment of 22,500 open positions, establishing more opportunities through the life of the agreement for part-timers to transition to full-time work.

More than 60 total changes and improvements to the National Master Agreement — more than any other time in Teamsters history — and zero concessions from the rank-and-file.

Last month, the UPS Teamsters National Negotiating Committee, as well as representatives of UPS Teamster locals in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, unanimously endorsed the agreement. UPS Teamsters voted electronically between August 3-22

22 Aug 23

[ashessonfire]

Hiiiii!!! I love your dating Kaz with a chronic illness but can you do one with Jesper? I can’t find any and I love your writing so much! Thank you :)))

Jesper Fahey x (Chronically ill) Reader - Headcanons <3

Pairing : Jesper Fahey x Chronically ill! Reader

A/N - Here are my headcanons for Jesper with a chronically ill reader!! Much like with the Nina post, I hope I have done him justice since it's my first time writing for him. Please keep in mind my requests are open, so send any ideas through and I will get round to writing it when i can !! <3

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Unlike Kaz, who understands chronic illness and pain first hand, or Nina who has the ability to ease symptoms, Jesper has neither advantage

Panic was all he could process as you explained your condition to him for the first time, traces of fear deepening with each symptom you explained

Throughout the first few flare ups, Jesper would be completely distraught, fussing over your every pain, whilst trying to uphold some sense of calm on his features

However, Jesper is extremely enduring, and would slowly find his footing and discover his own ways of assisting you

Almost as natural as his own breathing, humour would likely be his first call in trying to distract you from your pains and troubles

Ludicrous jokes would spill out of his mouth, as your aches become overwhelmed by laughter, sweeping away your exhausted thoughts

"Come on, even I didn't think that one was that funny?" - he would tease as your mood lightens with the laughter he brings

The sharpshooter would literally do anything to brighten your features with the smile he adores, and humour is definitely what comes to him the easiest

However, sometimes your symptoms make even Jesper's golden jokes seem dull, and he has to push even harder to be rewarded with your melodious laughter

So, I can vividly picture Jesper dragging Inej, Wylan, and Nina into the room, dressed in costumes wilder than imagination itself

"I present to you, the Dreg's production of... uhmm, I can't actually remember what we decided to call it in the end."

Throwing on a similarly garish costume, Jesper would join the crows in performing a slight variation of one of the Barrel's most popular shows

The laughter these performances would bubble out of you would cause all sorts of new pains, your stomach cramping from the amount of laughter drawn out of you

(Even Kaz would not be able to contain a smirk at the sight of it)

The musical varients of these shows would be the absolute best

Jesper would definitely have draws full of notes on which shows he could do next, and how to modify them to exactly what you enjoy most <3

Although Jesper's charm can also distract you from some of your symptoms, he discovered fairly early on that he could use his allurement to help you

Travelling to the most respectable parts of the Barrel, Jesper would charm every doctor he could find into giving him the best advice possible to soothe your condition

After leaving with a flirtatious wink, he would race to gather the medicine they recommend, noting down every shard of information he receives in order to support you

However, I think the easiest form of comfort Jesper can almost always supply, is love

No matter how bad your symptoms are, his arms will always race out to warm you, lips settling gently on your forehead, words wrapping around your being and showering you in flecks of comfort

Despite his initial hesitation, Jesper is a fast learner, and whatever you ask for he will always, always do it for you <3

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P.S : As a chronically ill person myself, I just wanted to say that my requests will always be open for ideas like this, and my private messages are open for anything. If anyone is experiencing any form of chronic illness and needs someone to talk to, I am here for you!! It can be super isolating and difficult, especially when those around you cannot understand your struggles. Hopefully this post can find all my spoonie crow fans!! <333

[wonjns]

holy shit yes but i feel like jake is a strong contender too i mean the amount of gay shit he has done is too much to count

he'd probably ogle when he sees a pretty/hot fanboy

° Enhypen Hyung Line Reaction to a Fanboy

notes; PLEASE BECAUSE YOU LITERALLY READ MY MIND ABOUT JAKE. i wrote this while traveling w/o any wifi before i even saw your reply so i feel like that says a lot about jakejdhdhh. ur asks literally inspired me last minute to make it a reaction for hl and it’s lowkey pretty soft 🥺 but i’m ngl i resisted a bunch from going a wild route bc thinking about jay and sunghoon was really doing me in LMAOO. i rlly didn’t mean for them to be so long tho

heeseung ; ♛

• he had to stifle a huge smile from growing on his face when he saw you. actually noticed you in his peripherals when you were a couple stops away, having your time with another member

• so naturally, his excitement and nervousness grew because he was anticipating your turn. he didn’t expect to see any boys at their fansign since it was such a rare occurrence, especially ones as cute as you

• when you were finally face to face, he couldn’t help but return your shy smile and showing his beautiful pearly whites

• he would intentionally listen to you as you told him your name and little facts about yourself while you fumbled around with your album. you would tell him how much you admired him as a performer and person, how often you watched his livestreams, etc.

• heeseung blushed at your compliments. he thanked you while signing your album and poster cards, and included his gratitude for you dealing with the mass of screaming girls and continuing to support him despite there not many other males in the crowds.

• you were surprised at how many questions he had for you, though.

• he asked you what your favorite song/album/mv was, how long you’ve been a fan, and was genuinely just interested in you. he blushed even harder and couldn’t stop giggling when you told him you actually learned one of their dances from his fancam.

• “hopefully you can show me one day” HELP&:$! he’d be so corny but so sweet.

• your were fidgeting so much with the merchandise as you spoke that heeseung acted on impulse - taking your hands into his larger and warmer ones. they were so soft,, you couldn’t believe it and could’ve sworn you grew dizzy for a moment

• you didn’t wanna leave, but when staff signaled that it was time to move on, heeseung thanked you again before you got up to move. he couldn’t bring himself to break the gaze he had on you until you were out of sight, forcing him to snap back to reality.

jay ; ♤

• his behavior would completely depend on the day.

• despite his cool, unbothered, “swagger” exterior, jay could also become quite timid in the rare occurrence of a fanboy greeting him excitedly.

• he usually gives very strong “no homo, bro” vibes, but coming face to face with you practically threw that demeanor out the window.

• an initial shock played across his face, but unluckily for you, every ounce of his boldness took over once he saw how head over heels for him you were.

• when you were enthusiastically waving as a greeting, he immediately jumped at the opportunity to close the space between your hands and took them in his.

• he did the Jay Smirk™ when he noticed your condition quickly swap from hyper to speechless; eyes glued to how his smooth, tan hands gently ran over yours.

• he asked you short-worded questions, examining you while you enthusiastically babbled drawn out answers, trying to disguise your sudden nervousness. he hadn’t even touched your album yet lmfao.

• however, what you never saw coming was his reaction when you had answered his question of who your favorite member was.

• “w-well.... you of course, hyung.”

• God his eyes almost rolled back from the boost of satisfaction he felt from hearing the nickname. this was affecting him all too much.

• jay flexed his jaw, trying to suppress his shyness from resurfacing.

• when he finally started signing your merch, you told him you watched all of his videos often, hoping to be as cool as him someday. he cocked an eyebrow at you, asking which was your favorite fancam of his. he offered a dorky smile while averting his eyes back down to signing your things when you told him your answer, him remembering he was wearing a sleeveless shirt that stage. it’s like he was getting off on your praise and adoration.

• “yeah, that is a pretty good one, isn it.”

• after you got home, you looked through your poster and noticed it read: ‘you’re already pretty cool, but keep watching my videos ;)’ . you felt feint.

jake ; ♞

• pls,, why was he more excited than you were.

• this man is so giddy you would’ve thought he was at your fan meeting.

• like his eyes were literally sparkling with amazement. you looked like the most adorable thing in your oversized enhypen hoodie. definitely the prettiest boy he’d seen in a long time, and that’s saying a lot with people like sunghoon in his group.

• you barely had time to sit down before this golden retriever excitedly grabbed your hands. you lightly blushed, but the happiness was easily reciprocated as you exchanged bright smiles during a long pause (which could’ve easily been an awkward moment, had you two not been giggling at each other the whole time.)

• “we don’t get to see many of our guy fans, are you enjoying yourself today?” he sincerely asked, hoping you didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.

• you put his worries to ease when you explained how much fun you were having, and how every effort was worth it now that you got to meet him in person.

• he continued to make small talk with you, complimenting you everywhere from your features to your clothes while his eager thumbs traced shapes into the back of your hands.

• this caused you to chuckle even more, the sound of your voice sending him into the clouds. you had to have been the cutest thing he saw that day, and he had to fight his primal instincts of just reaching across the table and placing you in his lap to smother you with affection.

• jake reluctantly pulled his hands away from yours to grab a sharpie and sign your merchandise.

• he signed it: “To: Y/N-ie”, shamelessly scribbling hearts all around your name & drawing winky faces anywhere he found necessary. you wondered how he felt so comfortable showing no form of restraint whatsoever.

sunghoon ; ♢

• FLIRTTT. flirt.

• he flirts.

• hoon would be so insufferable oh my god. he knows his power and abuses it.

• from the minute you shyly sat down infront of him, he knew he was your favorite. he could probably tell from the way you were gawking at him and sparing awkward glances around the room - but could anyone blame you?? he’s gorgeous.

• the way the light was hitting his platinum hair, the valleys of his ever-growing biceps, his gorgeous dark eyes twinkling at you with expectation.... you were practically putty. he already looked stunning on your phone screen, but in person it was like he unlocked a whole new level of fine.

• he smirked while greeting you, being the first to speak up (something he usually didn’t have to do, but the sight of you immediately put him into a teasing mood).

• “i always say all engene are pretty, but it’s nice to know we have such handsome fan boys, too.”

• you almost melted on the spot. when you finally managed to lock and maintain eye contact with him, he slowly ran his fingers through his hair. he even seemed to “casually” flex his new found muscles while doing so. what a dick.

• he cocked his head to the side knowingly when you began stuttering because of the sight before you, playing with your own fingers in order to make yourself concentrate.

• sunghoon chuckled before reaching out and gently nudging your fiddling hands away from your album, pulling it towards him to sign. you could feel his fleeting touch linger on your hands even long after he retracted them.

• afterwards, he encased both of your hands in his, asking you if had anything to eat that day. his sharp canines only became more visible when he grinned after you explained you skipped lunch to get there as early as possible.

• “i hope you come see me again,” he commented lowly with a wink whenever it was time to move on, making an undisguisable blush creep on your face.

• he was reveling in how flustered you were, loving that he had this effect on more than just girls.

sunoo ; ♡

• boyyyy he was so relieved, and his aura even seemed immediately relaxed when you sat down. the atmosphere suddenly shifted from fan-meeting-idol to two buddies just getting together for a lunch date.

• he smiled brightly at you with his adorable puffy cheeks, enamored with your style right away - not wasting a second in complimenting you.

• he was talking to you so casually pls, his facial expressions fluctuating all sorts of ways as he spoke. he really did just need a gossip buddy. he even covered his mouth whispering as he made certain comments, being hyper-aware of the cameras that were surely recording him that very moment.

• “i love all our fans ofc, but some of them can just be so extra sometimes.”

• please he’s so shadyhfhdhdg

• you know this vid of seohyun and hyoyeon? yea that’s y’all.

• sunoo finds it pretty rare when he sees another boy that rivals his cuteness, so it’s no wonder he took a liking to you immediately.

• when you would talk about your favorite songs or members, he would hum along but wouldn’t hesitate for a second to sassily disagree with you on certain topics.

• “really, that was your favorite stage? i don’t know, i feel like niki was trying too hard. and i hated our styling.” before you mutually erupted in endless giggles

• ugh truly just best friend vibes like you guys would be kekeing so much (probably talking shit about everyone else in the room) within those few short minutes.

• “you think i’m the funniest member? i’m glad i found someone that finally agrees”.

[jlawbenn]

50 things about me / intro challenge that I’m currently making up as I go along anyway welcome to my blog! Now how do I pin this post

1. My name is Jordanah, preferred pronunciation is Ordanah and my most common nicknames are Danah and Jordan

2. My pronouns are she/her/hers, the gender I was assigned with at birth.

3. I’m in my mid twenties and have an insane amount of kids a number so peculiar it always blows people’s minds!!!

4. I was born in Texas US but my mother was Croatian Yugoslavian born and raised and I spent most of my childhood living between Croatia, Scotland and Germany. My father was a Slovene-Jew, and my mother’s side somehow also have Lebanese roots.

4. My mother had her first child at age 14 and I had mine at 15!

5. I’ve been married and divorced more than once 😬

6. This list started off exciting and now I’m depressed

7. @fazcinatingblog is my bestttt friend and it’s only through Alex Fasolo and Jordan Roughead that we met!!!

8. I am a massive Carlton fan with a 6 or 7 year membership and have attempted to raise my children Carlton (and failed.) Any family members of mine that came over from Europe (my brother’s family namely) are Bulldog supporters. However I also hold a Collingwood membership, Geelong membership and Essendon membership for my children.

9. Teams my crazy kids’ support are Geelong, Collingwood, Carlton, St Kilda/Hawthorn (he’s v confused), Melbourne/Norf Melbourne (guess his fav city), and Essendon.

10. I am always carrying some sort of injury and it’s always usually done in the most stupid of ways. My most recent injuries are; broken ribs at Collingwood premiership, broken rib, finger and concussion at opening round in Sydney, sore shoulder from tripping down a step and banging into the ladder.

11. I have a diploma in hairdressing, a certificate in business, a certificate in youth work (with a v keen interest towards social/case work), enrolled in a diploma of education and am really interested in becoming a teacher one day when my kids are a bit older!

12. I have tattoos

13. I have piercings but I never wear them anymore so do I really have piercings?

14. I was loving this list but now I’m over it

15. I go for the Proteas / South Africa in test cricket and Melbourne Renegades in BBL.

16. My NBA team is probably the Dallas Mavericks

17. I love Taylor Swift, The Beatles, 5sos, Doja Cat and Little Mix just to name a few

18. I’m hungry

19. I have this condition where I can make any bone in my body loudly crack and I’m double jointed, I freak a lot of people out. I can be sitting and put my foot over my head behind my neck! Yeah I probably have that Ehlers Danlos Syndrome

20. I hate airports, like passionately, and I will become an absolute ratbag in them

21. I have really severe ADHD combined and I cannot. Sit. Still. And I’m super impatient and just don’t have the ability to wait.

22. I have a severe math’s disability called dyscalculia. I can hardly do basic addition and the rest may as well be in Irish

23. My favourite AFL players are Charlie Curnow, Jack Carroll, Jordan Boyd, Tom De Koning, but right now I’m in a bit of a personal depression slump so that’s it, I just don’t feel much enjoyment around the footy lately.

24. I will jump on my best friend when my team wins if I’m at the game

25. I’m perfectly fine with Irish people, but I feel like none of them like me? There’s been several instances. I’ll name two. I was at the pub with my best friend watching the footy last year and the Irish group at the table just started attacking me for sitting there and even blocked off my seat, but they were fine to my friend? And neither of us had said anything to them? And on the other occasion I was dropping my daughter off at school and an Irish teacher yelled at me because she thought I was a high school student and wanted me to get to campus. I mean. Honestly.

26. I have an older brother who is 1. an idiot and 2. Has worked at many different AFL clubs in Victoria doing physiological stuff and worked at the HFC shop (and hated it)

27. I am really partial with the weather - if it’s freezing I absolutely love it but if its anything over 17 degrees I hate it and will complain non stop

28. I have had my gallbladder and spleen removed, and now my abdomen is not only covered in a horrid cesarean scar but surgery scars.

29. I had a massive Linkin Park obsession and dyed my naturally blonde hair black and in contrast to my blonde eyebrows I looked like I had none.

30. I’ve had cancer and so have my daughters.

31. My kids’ favourite footballers are Sam De Koning, Darcy Moore, Charlie Curnow, Jordan De Goey (we’ll sort her out), Jack Ginnivan, Luke Uniake Davies I think, Josh Dunkley

32. I have a G Flip song stuck in my head and it’s not even my favourite one

33. I’ve met G Flip!!! Laura and I sat in a corporate suite with her last year for Hawthorn V Collingwood and bloody hawthorn won

34. I attended the 2023 grand final at 9 months pregnant (technically overdue, I’m nuts honestly) and nearly killed myself

35. I have video footage of me nearly falling to my death at said game

36. I’m absolutely terrified of feathers, birds, metal spoons, lightning, dogs (including the western kind), adelaide football club and anything bigger than me that can crush me to death. And escalators

37. I’ve done my ACL before and it was really stupid

38. I wish the new season of Stranger Things would hurry TF up because it’s my fav show

39. I absolutely cannot stand Dale Thomas and accidentally started an online war once because I voiced my opinion

40. Not trying to compare anyone here but my favourite AFL wags are Natalie Docherty, Annalise Dalins, Chloe Geraerts, Bella Rendell and Demi Duncan.

41. My brother’s best mate is someone on the Collingwood AFLM’s team. We see them very often.

42. I love writing, I write really long, tedious, painful shit fanfics on Wattpad just for the fun of it and Laura always tells me off for putting the characters in death defying situations. My fanfics all base mainly around a main character and not so much the sportsmen. My username is the same as it is on here!

43. I think I’m a really terrible artist and that my 9 year old is the best but everyone says I can draw Darcy Moore really well.

44. I could not speak one word of English until the age of 9 and even then it was very broken

45. In school I passed Italian with A+’s and several high distinctions. I failed English with F’s and D’s constantly.

46. I hated high school and once, the sickbay nurse screwed up my file with another student’s and I had a massive allergic reaction to the pill they’d given me (I told them I didn’t take pills) lol that’s how they found out I had anaphylaxis

47. I went to primary school with a former Hawthorn player and he’s an asshole lol, he’s at another team now and my daughter isn’t happy about it

48. My favourite food is margerita pizza with no basil. My favourite drink is Shiraz.

49. I’m happy because there’s only one more thing!

50. Free Palestine 🇵🇸

51. Bonus fact, I love the F1 and Max Verstappen is my favourite driver, then George Russel. Don’t even get me started on Ferrari because I cannot stand them.

[paint-it-red-and-black]

i was tagged by lovely @loveyougoodbi to do an F1 wrapped. so, here are my results!

i want to elaborate a bit. it was damn hard to do these tops, especially the drivers one. i literally battled with myself for every position ._.

DRIVERS:

1. Charles Leclerc

i adore him as a pilot and as a person. his driving style is exciting and desperate, always on the limit. his fearlessness, his passion for the sport, his loyalty. on the track Charles Leclerc is literally the embodiment of fire and red. i dream of seeing him in a decent car and in my opinion Charles' WDC is only a matter of time.

2. Max Verstappen

Max is perfect on the track. his mistakes are minimal, his calculation and calmness are amazing. i admire his eternal straightforwardness and honest expression of his opinions. i love his dry and sarcastic humour. he is a very strong man who in no way deserves to be booed for his victories.

3. Lando Norris

this boy is a ray of sunshine. protect him and take care of him. and please, for fuck's sake, let 2024 bring him his first victory... as soon as mclaren picked up the pace in the second part of the season, it became immediately apparent what a serious opponent Lando could be on the track. one of the reasons why i have Mexico in my top races is because of his magnificent breakthrough from P19 to P5.

4. Fernando Alonso

is it even necessary to write anything here? how can you not like Alonso? he's even got the best fucking tiktok acc i've ever seen!!!

5. Alex Albon

this man is too fast for Williams. i'm sorry he's spending these years not in a top team, i hope to see him in positions higher up. Alex always makes the most of the car, pulls it in the points and continues to stay positive. he gives off so much warmth that it can't help but make me happy c:

RACES:

1. Las Vegas

everything about it was ✨beautiful✨. from the absolutely awful beginning to the fabulous end. last lap overtake from Charles made me scream. the chaotic start and the amount of overtaking and fighting – oh fuck yes, i honestly didn't expect that. (and sphere was a big plus lmao)

2. Singapore

the only race where RBR had problems led to the fact that we saw a battle for first place from four (4!) cars at once. Carlos took over as Ferrari's strategist and i was honestly very happy to see Carlando on the podium and their genuine embrace c:

3. Zandvoort

chaos? chaos. 186 overtakes. every fucking weather condition. cheering fans. positions changing at the speed of light. liam lawson – what? fernando alonso – WHAT?! and yeah, Max Verstappen still wins the gran prix.

4. Mexico

red bull gives wings right at the first corner. it was great to see both Charles and Lewis on the podium after being disqualified at the previous race. i already mentioned Lando's breakthrough but DAN RICCARDO. he tore everyone and everything. dramatic race i'd say.

5. Monza

it was nice to see ferrari leading the race in Monza. even if only for 15 laps. in 2023, that's a lot for someone who isn't Max. but of course the main highlight is how i almost ended up with heart attack because of the fight between Carlos and Charles in the last laps. but that's what formula 1 should look like. and it was great.

TEAM:

i wrote that it's Red Bull, but i feel a need to mention that because my favourite drivers are all from different teams, it's hard for me to pick just one. when i first started watching formula 1, i would claim to be a Ferrari fan (well i still am...), but the further i got, the more pain and disappointment i got supporting this team and more and more of my respect red bull started to gain. they have a reliable car and strategies. quick pitstops, absolute precision and coordination. they are a team and they deserve every their win this season. now I truly admire RBR.

okay thank you for reading! tagging some people that came to my mind, i'm sorry if you've already done that and i just haven't seen it 😭

no pressure! ignore if you don't feel like it c:

@little-racing-driver @nico-di-genova @tsarinablogs @aduckinpain

link to make an F1 wrapped

[rotisseries]

not a fan of how ellie's agency is being talked about in this situation. obligatory disclaimer that everyone involved takes away her agency and that DOES include the fireflies and I DON'T support what they did either, because I obviously am a supporter of informed consent, and also from an emotional standpoint I am on joel's side because I do not want ellie dead and I wouldn't want him to make a different decision. but I will still probably talk about joel's decision more because that's the one that had a larger emotional effect on ellie.

anyway. baseline facts we need to establish here are that BOTH parties did. not. care. about ellie's agency. the fireflies do not ask her if she'd like to die for the cure, because they don't care what the answer is, they plan on getting that cure either way. joel ALSO does not care about ellie's agency in this situation. I've seen people say that he wasn't doing that because the fireflies "started it" or whatever, and that he was simply rescuing her from the inability to make that decision. and this is not entirely true, because he argues with marlene a fair amount, and if that mattered to him he probably would've tried to insist that marlene wake ellie up and ask her, but more importantly, even if ellie had been awake and said yes, he still would've taken her out of there, because she's his daughter, and he's not gonna let anyone take his daughter again. in that moment, for joel, it is very much about him and about how he does not want to lose another daughter. so both parties took away ellie's agency in this situation. the fireflies didn't give her an option to say no, and joel would not have let her say yes, so ellie had no agency here due to BOTH. PARTY'S. ACTIONS.

moving on, I've seen a fair amount of talk about how joel is in the right because as a parent he's the only one who should be able to make that decision. I've seen things about how ellie is 14 and traumatized, and so she could not truly consent. and it's not that I disagree entirely with those points, ellie IS traumatized, and a large part of her desire to give her life for a cure comes from her survivors guilt. I also generally wouldn't want to put the fate of the world on a 14 year old's shoulders. where I'm having the problem though, is that in this situation, to me, even with those points, ellie is STILL the only one qualified to make these decisions about her life. not marlene. not joel. just ellie.

first of all, I feel like this is a situation in which no one, no matter age or trauma level, could truly consent. "die for this or doom the world" is an inherently coercive situation, so true consent just can't be reached honestly. but with that established, I don't see why ellie isn't equally as capable of consenting as anyone else. there's no saying she doesn't truly get the gravity of this situation, she gets it probably better than most, she's seen lots of death. and we also can't hold a 14 year old in the apocalypse to the standards of a 14 year old in our world. ellie should not have gone through the things she's been through, she shouldn't have the world on her shoulders, but she's in this situation regardless, what difference does another 4 years make here? and I think it's incorrect to say this makes her incapable of deciding what happens with her life. "she's traumatized and has survivors guilt" what if this was joel? joel has canonically suffered survivor's guilt, and he tried to kill himself. if he was the one who was immune, could he truly consent? or would he not be in the right mental space for it? if this were a 14 year old in our world with a medical condition of some sort that put them in a situation where they had to decide whether they wanted to live or not, I would still want that 14 year old to have the autonomy to decide. I wouldn't want that decision to be just up to their parents, it's not the parent's life!!

and most critically, who other than ellie should even be allowed to make this decision? if you think a parent should be allowed that agency over their kids life, that's fair, but joel, as much as he loves her, is not her parent. they care about each other a lot, but he is still just a man she's traveled with for a year. she's been alone her entire life, and now, when it matters most, should decisions about herself, and her life, go to someone else?

[fruitzbat]

There is this bizarre mischaracterization problem with Kingsley in the CR fandom that I think shows a certain level of contempt for the character himself — and honestly, I think it’s really revealing about a troubling hallmark of conditional support of nonbinary people in real life, which I find beyond hypocritical given…well, let’s get into it.

For starters, I'm not bothering with leaving a disclaimer about how not all fans do xyz or why I think that anyone should listen to me over anyone else. We’re adults here, we should know that things are nuanced by now. I also think talking about my own qualifications here is silly and masturbatory given that this is fandom and I'm very much doing it for free along with almost everyone else, so I'm not gonna waste the space.

Getting into the exceptions and such is well beyond the scope of this post, and I frankly don't think anything I say in this will convince anyone of anything — I just need to get it out there. If any of does change your mind, great! Icing on the cake.

*eyes glowing* anyway,

Given the admittedly considerable amount of work I do relating to his character, I wade through Kingsley's character tag a lot, and in many different places. On here, on Twitter, on AO3, his tag is full to the gills of bits of people writing stories in which he steals up to a certain member of the Nein and showers them with gifts and forehead kisses and...for lack of a better term, 'Mollyisms', and lays there enraptured while they talk about their relationship with Molly — who, obviously, is him. He's called "circus man" and is unbothered by it; it's testimony to the fact that this person and Kingsley have a history that transcends silly things like death.

Thus, the general depiction of Kingsley within the fandom is one that is not unlike Molly's, if not a 1:1 replica: a fun-loving, carefree libertine whose sun often rises at a certain other member of the Nein's forehead and sets are their toenails. He's curious about his past lives, but sees minimal distinction between them and himself.

And that's utter motherfucking hogwash.

The thing is, Kingsley's not an act II of Molly. He’s arguably a very different person from Molly, and the drift in Molly’s canon and fanon depiction is an essay on its own (not to mention the shift in perception in-universe, also brilliant and fascinating in its own right).

And I sincerely want us to think about that oversight in the same vein as if there were a considerable amount of Critters making content about, say, Beauregard Lionett falling in love with a man when she's explicitly a lesbian. Like, to me, it is that dire. And I will explain why that is momentarily: once I finish talking about who he actually is, and one of the principal culprits that I blame for this schism.

"But fruitzbat," some people might cry. "But fruitzbat, we have so little to go on. He's hardly shown himself on stream and he does, in the end, come from Molly!"

To that I would reply "skill issue," because Kingsley very much has distinguished himself from his siblings. Fandoms have extrapolated way more about a character with far less in the past. I didn't live through Superwholock on this website for anyone to tell me that they can't pull a fully-fledged character out of one episode of something. With all due respect, git gud.

Kingsley is a hustler and a cutthroat. He's driven, micro-managey — like, PAINFULLY Type-A, and interested in staying alive and making a name for himself; but in contradiction with this sense of self-preservation, he’s also ready to impulsively give himself up for a greater good and/or "make new mistakes", which can be read as altruistic at its best and unhealthy and self-deprecating at its worst (a trait which he definitely shares with Molly). In commenting on his new outfit, I’ve shitposted in the past that Kingsley is frum, but it's really not that far off. He doesn't like to leave things to chance, and also strongly believes in taking care of his own — he notably takes excellent care of the Nein Heroez’s crew. He doesn't suffer fools, he's snarky (too many examples to list them all, but have a few of my favorites), and also thoughtful and analytical and a skeptic. And most of all, he’s eager to learn and curious — not just about Molly and Lucien, but in general.

He jokes about being Lucien at one point, but makes it very clear that it's not him when people in his life make that slip-up. He's also been making the point that he’s not either of them as early as the campaign finale. And within the special, too, it’s pretty unambiguous. And then there’s Taliesin himself, also making it very clear that he’s a separate animal and on top of that, that he’s an absolute fucking badass.

And as mentioned, it's true that there's overlap with some of Molly's business — he's theatrical and loves fashion, for instance. But honestly, this character has far more in common with Lucien than he does with Molly. Lucien, who spoke multiple languages and lead a mercenary group into Aeor and back multiple times. Lucien, who even the mere prospect of him being resurrected was enough to reassemble the Tombtakers. If that’s not the makings of a Plank King, I’m not sure what would be.

And here's another thing: "Kingsley came from Molly" in and of itself is a misnomer. Based on both the stream and the addendum from the Lucien novel, Kingsley is mostly the reforged soul of Lucien — Molly's soul fragment was reintegrated into the rest of Lucien's. Kingsley is what was born from that fusion. When interceding on the failed Raise Dead spell, Caduceus said "put it back...whoever it was." There's just as much potential to say that it was Lucien's soul returned to that purple body by Melora as it was Molly's.

In all candor, I think it has a good deal to do with how many vocal Molly fans wanted Widomauk to be canon or somehow endgame.

The inherent tragedy of the dynamic between Caleb and Molly is that there is a constant specter of what could have been. Neither encountered each other when they were at a point to pursue their attraction, and Molly was dead before anything could come to pass. As a passive observer, I think that this what could have been has bled into the fanon interpretation of all kinds of purple tiefling content, mostly because there's so little to analyze otherwise. One only has to glance at the tags for the Lucien novel or the Molly origin comic to see what I mean. And I think that this has also significantly impacted the fanon depiction of Kingsley.

I find that this fandom in particular has a huge problem with sacrificing characterization in the name of fanon archetypes and tropes, but due to the distinct nature of Kingsley’s character this can veer into…I mean, pretty ugly territory.

People love the reincarnated lovers trope, and I see that applied here the most, to which I always want to remind people that Kingsley is probably more like a joined Trill. He has these past lives and memories, but just like Ezri isn’t quite Jadzia isn’t quite Kurzon Dax, Kingsley isn’t Molly isn’t Lucien. Ezri didn’t hop up and get busy with Worf, even when Jadzia had been his wife. Far from it, actually. Similarly, Jadzia had an entire exploratory episode dedicated to encountering Kurzon’s spouse and deciding that she (regretfully for lesbians everywhere) felt differently.

It’s true that it’s not completely baseless; I’m genuinely not saying that. It’s true that one of the first things King did was flirt with Caleb when he woke up. And then when he’d come more into his own, there was all that wild talk they had during the…

Oh wait, that’s right. They didn’t speak one on one even once during the reunion. So the argument could easily be made that in the chunk of the stream that showed us the most about who King was as a person, he didn’t touch Caleb with a thirty-nine and a half foot pole. Meaning that at this point in time, the basis of the ship is predominately Caleb’s relationship to his elder siblings.

I don't have time and ultimately have no interest in unpacking that in terms of it being solid foundations for a romantic relationship — we all can read, baruch hashem — and will also assume that there’s content about that dynamic that explores that weirdness with all the complexity that it deserves. But my central point here is that I’m seeing vanishingly little of it, and far more of it being used in a way that denies Kingsley his own identity. The point isn't hating on a ship. Widoking in and of itself is fine, the point is that people aren't actually shipping Kingsley with Caleb. They're shipping him with someone wearing the skin of his dead older brother.

Which brings me to my next point...

I find this aspect to be incredible given the extraordinary way that this campaign explores trans identity and narrative. Plenty of other folks have written about the extent that campaign 2’s focus on identity as a theme has resulted In one of the most comprehensive studies of several different types of trans stories. Like, VETH?!?

BEAU?!?! Not to mention FJORD’S UNRELENTING T-BOY SWAG?!?!?!

And yet.

And, yes, it is that deep. Let me explain.

Molly and Lucien are canonically genderfluid. Kingsley hasn't come out as anything yet, so the jury is still out... though many people, myself included, headcanon that he's some flavor of not cis.

For me, this is because Kingsley’s narrative is arguably more a traditional trans one than Lucien or Molly's: being born with the expectation that he would be one thing, then coming to his family — who hold that expectation quite dearly — and asserting that he is someone and something else completely different from that. Lucien and Molly are trans characters, no doubt, but their stories are not about being transgender. And there is an intrinsic quality to King's that definitely is.

The notion of "trans narrative" is also something applied to someone like Nott/Veth, even in a world where transness is not stigmatized. So while transphobia is not a thing as we understand it in Exandria, that doesn't change that Kingsley “came out” and transitioned in a more recognizable way to us than Lucien or Molly ever had to — in the same light as Veth arguably struggling with her self-image in a way that many trans viewers find exceedingly familiar.

If we can apply the queer critical lens and think of Fjord being a trans guy deconstructing toxic ideas of masculinity, or of Beau being a trans girl dealing with transphobic parents that wanted a son, got one, and cast her aside, we can also use that same level of discernment when it comes to Kingsley. There's precedent.

I don’t mean to get personal here, but the flat out dismissal of Kingsley's identity as an individual and not as the sum of other parts reminds me so much of my own experience of having come out as non-binary and then telling people that I was going to start HRT. The support dried up almost immediately the minute I made it clear I wanted to switch pronouns again and pursue medical transition, though I still conceived of myself as effectively genderless.

So long as you’re fun and funky and trans in a way that isn’t obtrusive, it’s fine. Well, “fine” isn’t the right word, but people are so fucking terrified of you becoming one of “those” trans people and taking the scary hormones and changing your body and getting the surgeries. It's the cousin of that perennial TERF talking point of "why can't you just be a tomboy/effeminate gay guy". As if being a tomboy/fem guy is somehow easier, too!! But I digress. To a lot of folks, Kingsley can be whatever he wants..........so long as he doesn't reject Molly as a foundational part of him, if not the, and heaven help him if he diverges from the mold Molly left for him.

For this reason (and for other transgender reasons that I don't want to get into), that has made engaging with a lot of this faux-Kingsley content difficult. Because Kingsley came out! Kingsley has told everyone who he is and what he's about, and folks are ignoring that in favor of an interpretation that centers a different person's existence entirely. And with this coming from a group of fans that tends to trend towards being trans, too, that's quite the bitter pill.

Creatively, I firmly believe that people can do whatever they want forever. And everyone has the right to make content where their Barbies scissor. I, for one, also am 100% guilty of it in other contexts. That doesn't bother me.

What does bother me is a collective delusion where a significant chunk of the fandom, in missing their tragically dead non-binary character, effectively stuff a separate one that resembles him back into the closet without noticing the cruelty of doing so. In fact, relishing in it.

And while these people are fictional and aren't real and can't feel pain aside from what we inflict on them narratively, it gives me pause about the way this trend mirrors common transphobic behavior I have experienced as a non-binary person myself. Thus, I cannot possibly watch it happen and not feel compelled to say something about it.

In essence, Kingsley has told us time and time again who he is and what he's about. If we say as fans that we respect the narrative integrity of Campaign 2, I think it's important that we listen and honor that.

[mythriteshah]

The Regalia's Magnum Opus - Mingled with Darkness

"Whomever fights monsters should see to it that in the process they do not become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you."

The mysterious Thirteenth Shard - the world known commonly as the Void - is a major point of contention for many scholars, adventurers, and researchers alike. Its citizens are not unlike that of the ones on Etheirys, but with the great distinction of becoming the physical manifestation of their deepest desires and excesses, left unchecked and wanton due to their inability to truly perish from the primordial Darkness which permeates their realm.

And while this boasts true for the rank-and-file among their hierarchy, there exists an upper echelon of these beings - these "Voidsent" - wherein they are considered and classified as nobility. These beings hold considerable power in the world of darkness, and some are even said to have crossed the boundary between their world and ours, making a more permanent - albeit dangerous - home for themselves. The aforementioned nobles have become the focal point for the Higuri Regalia's latest clothing line.

Created from the genius of the Diamond Sultan, this new collection of exclusive attire blends the aesthetic of the Void with that of the Near East. The inspiration from this coming from the fact that Radz-at-Han was founded atop a now-closed void fissure, this fusion of Thavnairian and Voidal culture has resulted in a beautiful marriage of alluringly tenebral proportions. Armed with such knowledge, the guilds of Radz-at-Han were eager to rekindle their alliance with the Higuri Regalia to fashion together - pun intended - another selection of masterful works.

Welcome... to the Abyssal Gala.

Thanks to his Mhachi heritage, Lord Thiji Higuri was able to easily create such masterpieces using void matter as the precious resource of choice to make these unique designs possible. But not without some help. For the first time ever, the Regalia has taken under its wing a beloved fan of the business, whom has aspired to become an apprentice for some time now.

Opening the catalogue’s contents, you would find a picture of the Diamond Sultan and his promising apprentice on the very first page, and a foreword on the other, undoubtedly by the aforementioned merchant-lord of fashion… (Credit and thanks to @minstrels-ink and https://twitter.com/CluoraStefany for the pictures!)

“Greetings, reader.  I am Thiji sor Higuri, Diamond Sultan of the Higuri Regalia.   Beyond this page lies the Power in Beauty Catalogue’s Abyssal Gala - invented through what we now know of the Void.  If you have the drive and the will to achieve new heights of fashion, we humbly welcome you to browse.  However, per protocol, I must warn all new customers who catch wind of this of an important detail:

Due to the amount of passion and dedication put into this extensive  catalogue, we of the Regalia have implemented a special deal to cater to  those who are less favorable towards hostile conditions.  While the outfits and accessories themselves are set at prices that could potentially make the Syndicate’s coffers shudder, a generous discount is offered to those who choose to commission these with an Anti-Glamour enchantment.  This ensures the garments are unmarred and ultimately broken beyond repair - Sisters forbid - as numerous people are so insistent on charging into battle wearing the most impractical of  outfits…”

"With that out of the way, I am pleased to announce that the Higuri Regalia has now begun taking in talented individuals looking to make their mark on the realm of high fashion. These 'Mythrite Apprentices' are fully sanctioned and supported by our company, and will be granted leave to contribute to future lines with their own approved creations. One of such is the lovely Hannish native you see to my left known as Izayoi T. Keer, or Izzy Sapphira. She has shown much promise in recent moons, and it has culminated in her genius being showcased for the first time in this new line. Specially marked pages within this line denote outfits invented by Miss Izayoi; we pray you are pleased with what she has made."

“As always, you may send all commission requests to either myself, Treasurer Susuna, Baroness von Suna, or any of my Head Secretaries if you are interested in receiving enlightenment.”

“Now, seeker of fashion - when you are prepared, you may turn this page, and learn why the Regalia’s motto is ‘Where There is Power in Beauty.’“  -Thiji Higuri

(Starting the day after this post, and every several days thereafter, a new set of attire or accessories will be showcased.  This will simulate the turning of a page whilst giving each piece ample time to be appreciated.)