#we might all know they're fake and curated

[crplpunkklavier]

obsessed with how klavier's canon timeline just fully makes no sense.

his trial against phoenix is his first, right. at this point, the gavinners are already famous enough to perform expensive concerts, due to their debut single hitting platinum overnight. we don't know when this happened, just that it had to be before the gramarye trial, because klavier talks about it there. ok.

when kristoph talks to him before the trial, in the flashback, we briefly see klavier's office, that already seems to have guitars all over the wall. that's not necessarily an inconsistency, it just means that even before he ever went to court, klavier had that office, and enough money to cram it full of guitars, which also suggests they aren't necessarily like a carefully curated collection, but were in fact just some 16~17 year old guy who just got a lot of money and bought 50 guitars at once in some sort of teenage frenzy.

we also don't know when exactly he took the bar exam, only that he took it in europe. obviously, it was before that first trial, so he might have even been younger than 17, but we don't know.

my favorite part, though, is that he says that daryan was the first detective he'd ever worked with, which can also mean a number of really weird things. clearly, the gavinners existed before klavier started prosecuting, so,

either he knew daryan before daryan was a detective, and they started the band together and then both also started into their law enforcement lives, in which case its hilariously strange of klavier to say that he was the first detective he ever worked with. like, i guess, but you also knew him when you were in high school.

or the gavinners existed without daryan for a short time, which seems unlikely, but would also be really funny given they had a platinum hit without this dude then. and then klavier starts working with a detective and is like hey you should join my glam rock band. yeah youve heard of us

or klavier worked with him on a case he just didnt prosecute, either because it didnt go to trial, or maybe he worked on it for school or something, which then implies that either daryan somehow made detective before he hit 20, or daryan is SEVERAL years older than klavier. which, according to canon ages, he is not. they're the same age. but maybe daryan pretends to be 5 years younger or something. wouldn't put it past him. or he pretended to be older with a fake ID so they'd let him into the force (also hilarious). because we know daryan didn't study abroad, since he canonically has never left the country.

and then lastly there's the fact that it is heavily implied that klavier just.... stopped prosecuting after the gramarye trial. or at least the judge hadn't seen him around in a while, and klavier doesn't deny that he was absent, allegedly because his band got so big. we're made to believe that he only returns once he hears of apollo, and yet his office looks the exact same, as far as we can see in pictures. which once again leaves us with two possibilities: klavier's office was left completely untouched for 7 years, or he moved out of there after one trial, and then came back 7 years later and decided, yep, i should put my guitars up again the exact same way i did when i was 17.

there's also a thousand other ways of reading all this really. i honestly think this was all just the writers sort of winging it, and it's not like the mason system doesn't fully fuck up the timeline in that game anyway, so i don't think any of these are any more or less canon than others. they're just fun theories to play around with. what the fuck was this guy doing.

[joons]

there is a certain type of elvis fan — or elvis author — who makes it a mark of personal pride that they will read anything and everything written about him. the assumption, i'm sure, is that in reading widely, from the perspectives of multiple people believed to have known or met him, that they will naturally sort out the truth between them all and come to a more accurate picture of who he was. this might take them toward obscure sources whose motives and factual bases are much harder to determine than those of the better-documented friends and family members who spent time with him. some of these obscure sources cannot be verified by anyone and can sometimes contradict absolutely sure facts about elvis' life, such as what city he was in on a certain day, or they are conveniently lacking in any evidentiary value.

despite the problems with these sources, there is a tendency among more indiscriminate readers to hold themselves above other fans who stick to a stricter "canon" of books that can be verified. there is some sense that because they are more adventurous in their sourcing that they are getting to the "true" story, that anyone who doubts some of these little-known accounts are clinging to a whitewash. when confronted with questions about these sources, they accuse other fans of being "naive" about elvis' drug use, infidelities, or spiritual beliefs, or whatever the source purports to reveal, and thus they can categorize any pushback as an attempt by the "naive" fan to preserve an idealized/idolized version of elvis that doesn't exist (never mind that this is rarely the case; "beloved" or "defended" are not synonyms for "idolized").

but whatever naivete they may ascribe to more discerning fans, surely it takes more naivete to ignore the fog of puerile, absurd narrative-making that has surrounded elvis since the start of his career (earlier, if we take school bullying into account). this is someone who was believed to be possessed by the devil, to have faked his own death, to have drug-fueled orgies and 20 unknown lovechildren and an incestuous relationship with his own mother. and yet, in spite of all these obviously false narratives that have taken hold, these fans and authors still seem to find it completely inconceivable that many, many people lie about elvis and their involvement in his life. it is absolutely "naive" to believe that anyone putting pen to paper is basically truthful, especially when it comes to someone who is arguably the most famous american figure in popular culture. these fans have no trouble believing books about secret affairs that conflict with elvis' known whereabouts (or, on the side of elvis critics: believing rumors of racism that were found decades ago to have been invented wholecloth) just because they are a touch less outlandish than claims of cloning or secret siblings. the standards are on the floor, and yet some fans keep picking them up and dusting them off like they're (cr)edible.

uncritically accepting every source obscures the man so much that "reading widely" hits a point of diminishing returns, distorting him in the way he most feared. and, for some reason, i see it rationalized as a needed counter to a perfect elvis strawman, as if some fans' love or credibility is stronger because they "acknowledge" invented faults.

even memoirs from people we know absolutely spent lots of time with elvis are frequently self-serving and outright misleading, and those are the best ones. other narrators seem willing to contradict themselves and leverage their access to speak with authority they don't have. that alone takes an enormous amount of care and study to ensure that elvis' story is being told accurately and respectfully. but beneath that, there are accounts from people never known to have spent any time with him that are given the same weight as elvis' closest friends. while this might "suit" tabloid journalism just fine, it has no place in published works or curated fan pages that value the truth.

at the heart of every fictionalized elvis account, positive or negative, bigger-than-life or oddly intimate, is the same impulse for the storyteller to weave themselves into his life, by claiming they were the only one who loved him, the only one who saw through him, the one he kept a secret, someone who found their identity and worth in believing they're his child or confidante or drug dealer. and there is nothing, nothing, grounding any of them in reality. if there is any truth there worth seeing, it is in how he affects people so much that they want to leave their mark on him, to leverage their fleeting glimpses of him into something bigger, something meaningful and worthy of notice. while that is an understandable impulse, it cannot come by clawing at someone else's life and filling in the spaces with whatever you hope to find.

and that's something we as fans have to avoid as well. it's just as true that today's historians, writers, and fans must avoid assuming that they know him best just because of their willingness to dive into material that continues to exploit him and create funhouse mirrors that reflect whatever we want to see in him. studying his life and career will always be subjective and interpretive, so it is all the more necessary to stick to credible accounts and verifiable facts, instead of relying on the One Neat Trick of believing the real elvis presley is buried at the bottom of all the sludge.

[alarrytale]

There are some Larries with an air of superiority and they say that Larries are self centered and think everything is about them when in reality Harry and Louis are never thinking of Larries. So when Harry was papped while stunting with Ol*via and had HL written on his shoes they said that he was coding to Louis and not Larries. But why would Louis be keeping track of what Harry does in the media when he can call him up or visit him, or might even be there with him. So that doesn't make sense to me. They're coding in hopes that the other one is reading the DM or twitter? These Larries also say that Harry is just living his life and so when he is papped with the Ritzs and JC it is him hanging out with his friends. That he doesn't arrange pap walks, he just goes out with his friends and doesn't mind if he is papped. So does Harry only have 3 friends then because we only ever see him with JC and Ritz brothers. Whenever we see him out he's a walking billboard for the Ritzs and Azoffs, so is this part of his usual attire? They said that the Emr*ta stunt was Harry being drunk and making out with Em*ly for a laugh. So he didn't notice the camera in his face? They said that Br*d is a good friend of Harry's and them getting papped together was them just hanging out in London and not caring if they were papped. We all said that Br*d was another X*nder and using Harry's name to meet girls. We were called delusional and that Harry and Br*d are actually besties. Then it turned out we were right. Br*d was using his connection to Harry to pull hot models on IG. They were thanking him for free Harry tickets on his IG. We are always called delusional when we are repeatedly right. I'm certain that if HL CO tomorrow that people would attack Larries for being invasive. They're never going to admit to being wrong.

Hi, anon!

These fans you're describing don't seem like larries to me. You can’t think Harry was making out with emr*ta for a laugh and call yourself a larrie. There is no need for Harry to signal to Louis either. He could just pick up the phone lol.

I think there is a lot of naivete among fans in this fandom, especially among the youngest and the one's who's just joined. They don't know how the industry works, the symbiotic relationship between a celebrity and the paparazzi, and they don't know about coattailriders and fake friends. They also don't know how closeting works and how far labels and management are willing to go to protect their million dollar golden goose. Is a big money business. Everything is carefully curated and controlled. Everything has meaning or serves a purpose. Very little is coincidental.

We've been called delusional since 2012 (thanks Elean*r...). It's nothing new. They just need to be educated and learn by experience. Let them be, they'll learn eventually.

[laurentlemonke]

I don't think I have tourettes, but I've had tics since I was like 6. However, I've never been diagnosed with anything that could explain why. And it's not like they went unnoticed. No, I had very severe tics as a child. I never really experienced vocal tics, apart from coughing and clearing my throat repeatedly, but I did have complex motor tics that everyone was aware of.

My teachers, my classmates, my parents knew about them but they just didn't care I guess. I was made fun of for them by teachers and other kids though. I was told I was disruptive and bothering the class. Bro as if my tics weren't bothering me as well. But yeah, apart from telling me I was annoying, nobody really gave a shit lol.

They got better with age though. From the age of 12 or so my tics became less frequent and less severe than they were before. I still have them, but I can go days or even weeks without ticcing now, whereas it was a daily occurrence back in primary school.

Now that I'm older and my tics have lessened in intensity, I don't really feel the need to get a diagnosis. Sure, it'd be cool to know why the fuck this is happening. But given the point of a diagnosis is mostly to get access to treatment or accommodations, I don't really feel like I need one, since my tics are pretty manageable these days. I don't think people even notice I have them nowadays. It's mostly just my muscles tensing up, not something others would pick up on.

The reason I'm saying all of this is because an argument I've seen thrown around online as a way to discredit people with tourette or tic disorders is "I've seen videos where you don't tic at all but now you're ticcing every two seconds" or something along those lines.

And yeah, that's how tics work actually. They tend to vary in intensity. Even now that my tics are better, I still get days where they're more frequent. Some tics can go away completely over time. New tics can appear out of seemingly nowhere too. They can also change as you age. For some of us, we had really bad tics during our childhood, but now they've become less prominent. While for some others it might be the opposite, they developed tics later on in life.

This can go for basically any illness/disorder/disability btw, but we aren't a monolith. Which is why it's important to listen to as many stories as possible to get a better understanding of how a condition works. Everyone is different, so every condition is gonna present differently depending on the person.

Of course, diagnostic criteria is a thing, that's how you know someone suffers from a certain condition. But not everyone is gonna experience said symptoms the same exact way. As I've said before, I barely if ever, experience vocal tics. Doesn't mean nobody experiences them, or that if someone does they're faking. I'm just one person who exhibits one presentation of any given symptom.

Remember that medical professionals can't diagnose or undiagnose anyone from a social media post. They're straight up not allowed to, because social media isn't a 1:1 reflection of reality. We choose what we show online, things are curated. Which gives fakeclaimers even less credibility. Bro you're just some rando with a reddit account, go outside.

I didn't think this post would be so long. Shit's a goddamn novela. I'm pretty passionate about the topic, I just don't understand how weirdos online can claim to know more about someone than the person themselves. People change and so do disorders, doesn't mean it's fake.

Edit: omg forgot to mention! Just because someone isn't diagnosed doesn't mean they're faking their symptoms! You don't suddenly gain them once you're formally diagnosed.

[oh-my-damn]

Is Chris Pine anon okay? I understand that celebrities all curate an image and we don’t know who’s genuine from who isn’t but it’s getting weird. What did Chris Pine do to you anon? I’ve never heard of Pine faking allyship. I could be wrong.

LMAO

No nonnie, I don't think they're okay.

I'm not sure whether it's because they hate CP, support CE to a ridiculous amount or just hate that I no longer support CE and is turning to CP instead.

Either way it's weird and they should go outside, some fresh air might help lmao

[nokingsonlyfooles]

If ChatGPT knows it, you can just look it up!

If ChatGPT knows it, you can just look it up!

If ChatGPT knows it, you can just look it up!

ChatGPT is not capable of innovation or thought, it predicts what words come after other words based on a prompt and search data. If it can pass an exam or produce a paper that you can't immediately identify as AI created, the assignment requires nothing but repeating things we already know. And, ya know what, if a teacher can't tell the difference between mindless repetition and human thought, ChatGPT can grade the assignments too!

In fact, yes, there are AI detecting apps that teachers and students are using to make sure their writing looks human enough - as graded by a computer! (No! The apps can't tell the difference between mindless repetition and human thought with much accuracy either!)

We already know a student can memorize something well enough to pass an exam, and within a semester or so, everything that they're not using will be gone. If they need it, all they have to know how to do is recognize that they need it, and have the critical thinking skills to find accurate information when they look it up.

Real life will not gauge your efficacy based on whether you memorized something or not. We're decades past being able to access basic information on demand - and we do remember what we need on a daily basis, such as whatever the hell we're using to do our jobs.

What is college for? We need to stop vacillating about what college is for. It's very good at sorting people by their privileges, and not very good at teaching them information that they use and retain. So what are we trying to do with these expensive institutions of higher learning?

Teachers are trying to fix the AI problem by requiring handwritten answers - meaning your grade depends on navigating an artificial situation where you have to answer a question with no research tools in a short time, in a curated space that may not be very accessible. This is ableist! If you have poor fine motor skills or difficulty reading or spelling (like me!) or if you need a friendlier space, you will not do as well with a pencil, a bluebook, a tiny desk in a lecture hall, and a stopwatch. (I sure as heck didn't!) And, of course, if you dare to assert that you need accommodation, you're going to have to prove you're not faking it to cheat.

College is already very difficult to navigate with a disability, are we cool with making it even harder? If college is a place for sorting people by their privileges, the answer is yes!

The very first colleges were student run. They got together and decided they wanted to learn a thing, and they hired a guy. They graded him (Yeah, probably not many women and minorities with education privileges at the time, so "him") based on the quality of the information and teaching ability. If the students felt they weren't learning something of value, the teacher didn't get paid.

That wasn't an ideal situation either - it's steeped in the privilege of having enough leisure time and money to pay for an education from someone privileged enough to be known for their skill. But we have come to a place where the students are jumping through hoops to prove themselves worthy of a piece of paper they might be able to trade for enough money to live, and it makes no difference at all whether they retain any of the information they're required to memorize. That is not even peripherally about learning a thing. Why not let an AI do it for them, so they can go learn something of value? (Even if it's just how to make a bong out of a soda can. I mean, that has social and practical utility.)

So are we going to make that even worse, or fix it? Article says: MAKE IT WORSE! YAY!

[greyeyedmonster-18]

Hey Dr. Grey. Do you have any tips for coping with anxiety in fandom spaces please? I would really value your advice.

oh, hello, anon.

i am...going to respond to this but i am first going to say its felt like the past few days my asks have gotten a bit nosy in regards to my...personal boundaries with fandom/who i talk to in fandom/why i do, why i don't etc etc etc etc. and that is fine, but will respond in a way that maybe is perceived to be more on the rude side. i am likely to be way more personable in DM's and asks i can respond privately to. this admittedly feels like its fishing for information and i'm not sure why? but, we shall respond.

--i don't know what...part of the fandom is bringing you anxiety, sweet anon, and i am sorry it is. fandom should be fun. i repeat, fandom should be fun. but sometimes it just straight up isn't, and im sorry. i'm...going to address this generically? because i honestly need more information about...the anxiety source to provide any sort of tips.

i am also going to be disclaimer this as: i'm generally not a person who gives to fucks what other people think of me. like if someone wants to talk? okay, have a nice day, so glad i gave you something to talk about. and i care....very little what a group of internet strangers, who are just here to read about gay wizards, think about me based on what i post. but here are...some tips that i use for having a better...online experience?

uhm...first tip is curate your experience. if there are people here causing you stress and anxiety (it might be people you follow, people who don't follow but see on your dash, certain ships, certain groups? idk) filtering and blocking. im very liberal with the block button, and i have no qualms about it. if someone is stressing you out/making you anxious and you're not sure why-- block them. if someone cares that i have blocked them, i have never gotten feedback about it so uh...i think people can move on, ya know?

*the rest is below the cut to avoid dash spam

second, "people aren't thinking about you the way that you're thinking about you"-- so here's the deal. im not going to sit here and be like "yah fandoms don't talk shit about other people in the fandom!" because that would be a lie.

we absolutely do. in our own separate little discord servers, but the thing is its usually about fandoms that don't...interact. example: i talk shit about the Pro-Snape fandom all the time! I don't get them! Ship and Let Ship but also what the fuck was hot snape summer. (and im not going into their asks and their pages, and being like WHAT THE FUCK), i am just ???? in my own little crew. and they're probably over in their crew being like "have you seen Grey's page, they don't even write snape ever." and its HORRIFYNG to them, but like....whatever? I don't care what they think.

but, people aren't thinking about you and your works and your blog the way that you're thinking about it. another wolfstar writer or page is someone we cheer on. we're all too wrapped up in our own unfinished WIP'S and silly little headcanons and lives to be concerned with what someone else is doing. if someone is shitting on my wolfstar or moonchaser or whatever in their own private little servers, good for them. again, so glad i gave them something to bond over! i'm building community through hate and i love that! but i love my wolfstar. and my 11 friends do too (or if they hate it, they're not telling me to my face, which is alright by me). that's all i can care about.

third, i love a good boundary. i really and truly do. and i know there is a pressure on tumblr and in the fandom communities to be like WARM AND INVITING AND CHATTING WITH EVERYBODY AND GETTING TO KNOW EVERYBODY all the time, but like...that's fake. you don't have to do it, if you don't want to! have two friends, have 8000 friends, whatever you want. if the people and the pressure and the NOISE is whats bringing you anxiety....tone it down.

you don't have to talk to everyone. you don't have to update every week. you don't have to respond to all your comments. you don't have to write a novel in the authors notes. you literally don't have to do anything you don't want to do. it is your space. you make your home however you want to make it. fandom is supposed to be fun.

make it fun again anon.

(also, i will reiterate that if you DM me, I will not bite. and can respond to this more appropriately.)

[beautifulpersonpeach]

Hii Bpp !!

I read your post on jimin 💜 and wanted to ask your thoughts on taehyung too ?

I am a baby army from last year stumbling my way into their contents and with there individual ig Accounts I got the impression that tae is very aware of his image ? Kind of like jimin too but like he’s a lot more open and carefree about it ? What are your thoughts on him ??

Thank uuuu !!!

Anon 2: Hi BPP! Could you share some of your thoughts on Tae? He's the member I feel like I understand the least, and get some contradicting? vibes from, so I would love to hear your thoughts on his personality, performance, anything.

**

Hi Anon(s),

I had a PSA on my old blog about how I speculate about the members, but for new followers, please note I write all I do about the boys knowing I could be way off base and completely wrong about them, but ultimately, I try to respect them as artists. With that out of the way, here goes:

*

Performance and personality were specifically asked for so let's start there. :)

Tae used to get a bit of a bad rep for being weird and a bit alien-like in their earlier years... I mean, didn’t Yoongi at some point say in the beginning Tae was the member he understood the least? So Anon, you're not alone and you're not the only person who gets contradicting vibes from Tae.

He's a very simple guy. I think his fans consider him to be mysterious, reserved, unique and all that but I think Tae is possibly the member who acts most like a typical Korean man in his 20s. I think Taehyung, and to a lesser degree Namjoon, are the most 'Korean guys' in the group i.e. the guys who most act like many Korean men I know. The way he says things, the way he asserts himself... in the West, Tae would be a Chad who idolizes his dad and who spent summer breaks at his grandparents' cottage where he developed a love for jazz. He loves his dad and wants to be like him, said at one point that he wants five kids, he posts thirst traps as though he's aiming to get those five kids as soon as possible.

*

Which brings me to anon's point of him being aware of his image. I agree. People might wonder why I say this given he's the guy who seems to care the least about showing facial hair, he often speaks and writes in a deadpan tone and is quick to tell off ARMYs/fans. He also seems to give the least fucks about what the company wants. All of these things are true and I think all of these things are qualities he's meticulously curated into his idol identity. When we add the fact he's the most conventionally handsome guy in the group, and that he's reminded of this as often as in every Bangtan Bomb, one can't blame him for also playing into that.

In terms of positives, something I like about Tae is how casually candid he is - he's not the type to fake it for long. Example: BTS Festa 2016 (timestamp: 21:03 - 25:00)

(The way Joon looks at Tae here gets me every. single. time. He was like "Tsk, this messy mf.")

Jimin stands out. Let's be frank. Festa 2016 was filmed sometime in the spring of 2016, BTS had done their Perfect Man cover with orange-haired Jimin the previous December. It was the '3:33 man in Fire MV' era. BTS were about to begin preparing for Blood, Sweat & Tears and the Wings comeback later that Fall. Jikook were jikooking like crazy in 2016. Jimin was preparing for Lie.

It was 2016 and Jimin stood out. All the members saw it, I think all the members felt it, but Tae was the one who actually voiced it (in an arguably petty/bratty/passive aggressive way but yeah). Btw, the way they all navigated this instance is one of the things that back then made me think they'd go far. But bringing it back to Tae, over the years he's become more refined in his delivery, but he still just says and does what he wants and rarely holds back. They're all a bit like this, but Tae really takes it lol. I like how simple Tae is in that way. He's probably the most predictable person in the Maknae Line.

*

Musically, I've come to really appreciate Tae's vocals. They've developed beautifully and I enjoy listening to his verses. His solo music debut is going to be a real force, I'm nearly certain.

On his dancing, I've said before that I think Yoongi is as good a dancer as Tae is, if not better, and that in my opinion Tae seems to do more dancing with his face than his body. I still think all of this is true, but I also think it seems to work for him. He's already a pretty good dancer but because he's a bit ambitious, I think he's preparing to showcase himself in a difficult choreography for his solo releases. Maybe he'll put aside his trademark 'laidback' dancing for something more intense.

We'll see. :)

[charlotteswebbbbb]

What's the vibe? #55

News:

When you search for Sora OpenAI on google one of the results is the webpage “Sora could ruin people’s lives” which is a forum discussion from the official OpenAI Developer forum.

The original poster Soup.er Nova notes:

“You guys are going to end so many careers for people. Photographers, artists, animators, filmmakers, and possibly even actors. Being in these industry’s is hard already, and now with this people might not have jobs anymore.

The technology is interesting and very unique, and it’s amazing to see how far it’s come but I wish AI would advance in other careers than ones that people are passionate about. And not just this, what if people Create videos of others doing crimes that they did not commit. Will we be able to tell the difference between AI and reality? Will there be laws put in place? Will the world fall apart because of this?”

And if a 16 year old is worried about the ethics of it all, I think we should too. I do think this will take away from illustrators who have had their artwork used in the training process. In terms of moving image makers, I think this is a bit more of a complex but also not too complex idea. Low key I feel like people who want to create these kinds of things have a lack of discipline, a fear of failure and overall reflects this sort of culture where you must be able to have everything. I definitely feel like artists should look into haveibeentrained.com as you can remove your work from the data set.

I don’t think people who make individual work should be too worried - I think if Hollywood bosses love it we should be worried but I don’t know if I’d feel comfortable reading or being at the cinema watching a fake actor. It’s the humanity of it all, that’s why people have favourite actors, singers etc.

There are currently people out there making hours of music within minutes but why should we listen to music like that that has been made into a McDonalds-esque commodity? I don’t think the same people listening or creating this would be the same people attending the shows of the English National Opera, London Contemporary Orchestra of the Philharmonics of the world. This is its own new subculture of people who want to live in the synthetic.

What people do have to be worried about is that the UK Film and TV industry is a very unsustainable career to work in even though its production spend was £4.23 billion over the past year.

To the surprise of no one with pockets, the UK is in a recession.

Birmingham Council is also bankrupt. The effects are staggering…

Birmingham City Council has confirmed it will raise council tax by 21% over the next two years as part of £300m budget savings. Street lights are to be dimmed, waste collections are to become fortnightly, while burial costs will increase.

DJ Sherelle (BBC /NTS/Hooversound) will curate a week at 180 Strand. move/003 is a free audiovisual installation themed around a night out, exploring "moments" such as colour, nostalgia and solitude.

Shein shoppers are much older and wealthier than I thought according to a UBS Securities report.

"The average Shein customer is female, 34.7 years old earns $65,300 in annual income, and reported spending $100 per month on women's clothing. That's 60% higher than the average US woman, UBS reported." It may be similar in the UK and Europe, how can sustainable brands get people to shop with them instead? How can you change someone's shopping habits?

What do tweens want? American tweens have something to say and it’s “we see your interests, let us in!”

Snax based matchmaking:

40 years of London Fashion Week, thank you very much:

Also Joanna Lumley is doing a lot of fashion appearances this month. A new angle for her during this time ? Burberry and at Completed Works?

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Chet Lo

Sinead O'Dwyer -

"This season, the designer will also be collaborating with the Hair and Care Project – a non-profit that trains blind and partially sighted people in hairstyling – on a tactile tour of the collection and audio descriptions, which is surely a first for London Fashion Week. Of course, O’Dwyer – for whom inclusion is such a given that she makes no mention of these practices in any of her press releases – left that detail under the radar." - Vogue Business

Olly Shinder

JW Anderson

Srvc on a Bus?

Burberry - hm, feels like Daniels last chance post report. Attended by Skepta, Joanna Lumley, Lila Moss, Loyle Corner. Playing Back To Black by Amy Winehouse for the last walk is a bit ominous isn't it? It's the end of a relationship song? A farewell perhaps?

Edward Crutchley (and his cowboyssssss)

Dilara Findikoglu

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Simone Rocha

Reading List?

[hoghtastic]

So, so, sooooo many red flag and poor weakass Alex just continues to be her bitch boy and now Momma is jumping on board. All so toxic and now Joho skankanna is super silent and not reposting the pics Alex posted of her (unusual for her) or constant promos for her cheesy play. Did the pressure finally hit her or is there actually backlash from her gross behaviors! I wonder if they are both trolling the Fandom since they definitely coordinate posting in past. We may not see or hear a peep until Valentines and then get some gross love fest. Maybe a proposal. It like watching a cheap soap opera. Alex has fallen so far from the image he worked so hard to portray. But maybe we just have to accept that he isn't much better than her and that they're actually a match. He is an actor and maybe all this bulshit is the real Alex just like the character she portrayed to get him in the first place. They don't even know who they are or what they want .

I think you might be right, anon. 😊 The truth is we only get to know them through social media, so everything they share is almost always calculated, and may not be 100% who they really are, but a public persona they created. However, while Alex has seemingly curated an almost perfect image of himself for the past few years, Johanne has done the complete opposite. Maybe she's really trying to create an interesting persona, with all her aesthetic posts and so on, but she's only coming off as fake and calculating, so in all her thirst for fame and recognition, she's not even playing her cards right, in my opinion. 😅

[ectonurites]

my biggest fear rn, personally, is dc trying to sell us that kon thinks he's straight. like, the dude was born a teenager with an undercut! and then the first thing he did was put on tights and a leather jacket!!! i refuse to believe he's not/doesn't know he's queer! if he doesn't react to tim and/or jon coming out by saying 'welcome to the club' we riot at dawn

gfdhgfhsd i understand like. i understand.

But honestly in my genuine reading of Kon based on his canon content, I see him as queer but not in a way he is even remotely aware of until maybe while he's stuck on Gemworld. Like, I could see his time on Gemworld as when he figured it out, but any earlier than that absolutely not, and not even then as a sure thing.

Kon's life has been all about expectations (his own and others') for who he would be as a clone of Superman, his perceived image (particularly 'coolness') in the eyes of others, fear of the future and being too defined by who the people he's created from are (the 'will I be like Lex or Clark' stuff), etc. So much so that like... he has not been able to dedicate brainspace to the type of self-reflection it might take for him to realize 'hey I don't need to be straight, is that really what I am?'

90's and early early 2000's Kon is so entirely about his image, he's a teen celebrity at this time, the way he's perceived by others as cool and desirable (and worthy of the respect necessary to one day be Superman) is so incredibly important to him. He isn't... thinking about himself as an individual all that much in a lot of ways, he's not thinking about ways he might identify outside of what's expected/accepted if he actually analyzed his personal sense of self. Superboy #83 is a whole issue about him going to this girl who had rejected him and learning how to be 'cool' again, building a whole new personality around that- so much of him here is superficial not in a "agh he's so fake 🙄" way but in a "he's so worried about how he'll be perceived that he needs his self-image to be so heavily curated" way. He's afraid of being anything but what he thinks he's supposed to be, based on what's cool and what people expect.

Superboy #92, the Alice in Wonderland dream issue, is to me this big instance of "Oh, he's attracted to a boy [Bart] and doesn't know how to process it because it is outside of what the projected/curated version of who he thinks he needs to be is- so he's entirely writing it off like a joke." I've talked about before here

After the YJ era when we get into Teen Titans stuff, Kon has this whole other piece of an identity puzzle thrown at him- all the Lex shit. So because he's having personal identity crises on a more existential 'am I inherently evil? do I have a soul?' level... he's really not going to be questioning the few things he does feel a bit more solid on because they're norms he's already made sure were part of his curated self. And frankly I'd even say he pushes extra hard on trying to solidify those things without analyzing them in this timeframe! Like that time he complains about holding Tim's hand while flying or the whole 'grow a hormone' situation on that one mission with Tim. He's over-projecting the things he thinks he knows about himself (stereotypical masculinity & heterosexuality) because his sense of self and identity is so fragile at that time. And like it kinda sticks out to me he's especially doing this kind of thing around Tim- the only person who knows exactly what he's struggling with at the time.

The identity problems just get worse and worse until ya know, Lex takes control, and then not all that long after we get to Infinite Crisis and all that. But again, these are issues mainly about his identity in terms of genetics rather than personal identities he's chosen. When he comes back after dying, he's also still... dealing with that! Boy of Steel is all about that "Will I be Lex or Clark?" stuff again, and it's not until he reaches a point where he's more okay on that front (by the end of Boy of Steel when he throws the journal in the fire) that he can start to move on to any other self-reflection.

Superboy Vol. 5 is a lot of him looking to figure out his place in the world, his place in Smallville, thinking about the concept of 'normality' and how abnormal his whole life has been, etc. And finally by the end of that run reaching a point of acceptance about himself- about how he doesn't need to be anything specific anyone else might want him to be or expect him to be, he's not 'normal' and that's okay- nobody's really normal anyways, he doesn't need to be or act like he is some specific thing.

(Superboy Vol. 5 #11)

That's the mindset he absolutely had to reach first before he could even start to question his sexuality, this assumed thing about himself he'd been rolling with all this time since first leaving the cloning tube and having implanted ideas about the world and who he should be- an inherent piece of his curated self he projected because he was afraid of being perceived as anything else. This timeframe is where I see him just finally... stop being afraid of how he's perceived. This is kinda that breaking point, and the flashback we get to this era right before he's yeeted to Gemworld I think also solidifies that idea, he's breaking out of the "these are things I need to be/rules I need to follow because it's what's expected" idea entirely

(Young Justice (2019) #3)

With this kind of mindset... I think he could then think back to how he felt about Bart, how he maybe felt about Tim too (I like... I have a lot of thoughts about timkon from the perspective of Kon, I have probably at least 5 half written essay-length responses to asks on this subject that I just have never gotten around to finishing because organizing my thoughts on it is more difficult than it is from Tim's perspective, because it definitely relies on a lot more small details rather than big kinda obvious things like 'trying to clone ur dead friend' LMAO) and start to really think about and analyze all of it, what he really thinks and feels beyond the 'expected, likable, and cool' curated persona he'd constantly put forward.

But when he hits that place? He gets sent to Gemworld and the reboot happens.

So again to circle back to what I said at the start- Gemworld could totally have been a place he thought about things and realized 'Oh hey, I don't have to be straight,' but I could also absolutely see the whole situation of him being stranded far away like that making him just too... preoccupied with wanting to be home to really do all that much self-analysis.

So yeah... yeah. Sorry that was a lot of word dump, idk if all of that was like, coherent. But I just very much so think there is stuff to tap into for making Kon queer in canon, I think it's something that could be picked up on and explored, but I don't particularly think it's something he'd already inherently be aware of.... if that makes sense?

[olderthannetfic]

also idk man, I actually find the fact that minors (as in like, teens) can find "mature" content if they so choose a good thing? I don't think porn really shows up on google images anymore, at least so long as you have safe search on, but a lot of the stuff ppl get their panties in a twist about kids seeing is like... tits or dick. Which isn't that traumatizing for most people (though there are exceptions). Once again, it shouldn't be shoved in anyone's face, let alone teens or tweens, but it's normal for teens to want to check it out. God knows I did. Ao3 is an adult space in the same way a library is, the bad stuff isn't being shoved in your face but it's still there. It's accessible. A lot of it is labelled better. And I think that's a good thing.

Also we know what else often gets lumped in with not safe for kids and I want that stuff accessible for anyone who needs it as well, regardless of age. Sex education, content with mature themes, controversial speech, ect ect. If the internet as a whole is more restrictive on the basis of minors maybe seeing some stuff then we also potentially sacrifice a lot of the internet's use of sharing lots of information and experiences. We do need more kid-only spaces, both on the internet and in real life tbh, and the loss of carefully curated online spaces for minors in favour of 5 sanitized no boobs but not nazis free websites for all of us it a travesty, but if some 13 yr old wants to read really kinky porn... im more concerned if they also aren't getting the necessary sex education to temper their fantasies and curiosity, not that they're reading intense erotica. Idc if they're listening in on the adults talk like adults either so long as they aren't getting involved directly.

Not to say I wouldn't keep an eye on a kid if they were in my general online vicinity but scary fictional content existing online in general doesn't, in my experience, really traumatize kids that often. If it's real life footage of somehow getting beheaded for sure, or if they're forced to interact with the content or if it triggers trauma from something else maybe, but someone's noncon incest pwp isn't traumatizing kids by existing where their hands might be able to reach it. Also if a kid is purposefully seeking out content that does traumatized them that might also be its own problem.

--

Agreed. I was a kinky little perv at 13 and actively sought out all kinds of horrible stuff. I have no clue why I liked violent snuff erotica so much. Nothing was wrong. I just liked weird shit. It was just fake stories people posted to usenet, not videos of real life atrocities, and it wasn't a symptom of anything, so I was fine. Trying to keep me out of the nasty stuff would not have been successful.

If some teenager reads my kinky fic because it interests them, more power to them. Passively consuming content while you figure yourself out is one of the safer ways to explore.

[rainbowsky]

Anonymous asked:

Hi Rainbowsky! I'm a newbie turtle and I love your tumblr and I love both of them equally. I came across some posts on YT and TWT that [redacted]. Are you familiar with this issue? Any details or clarification you can share please? Thank you ^_^

Hi, Anon, glad you're enjoying my blog!

What you've managed to stumble across are some very nasty anti accounts. Welcome to the fandom, this is part of what you're going to encounter - that, and much worse. There is a reason GG and DD are always embroiled in lawsuits against toxic people. Haters and antis will say just about anything to turn people against GG and DD.

In the international fandom this type of activity is especially widespread on Twitter and YT. This particular one is so badly Photoshopped that if you have actually ever gone on Weibo you'll immediately realize it's fake.

There are some incredibly hateful rumors and lies out there about GG and DD, often including photoshopped 'evidence' and the like. Do not be fooled. If you see or hear something that tends to make GG or DD look bad, that's likely exactly what it was created to do.

My advice is always the same: block and ignore (and report where appropriate). Do not engage, do not argue, do not spread these posts around. That's exactly what these people want you to do.

Here are just a few really good reasons to avoid these people and to avoid their posts, and to encourage others to do the same:

Discussing and sharing these posts with others - even as a 'shock and anger' sort of discussion - means unwittingly spreading the lies to more people for viewing. Even if you aren't fooled by what's being said, others might not be as capable of critical thinking as you are, and they might get sucked into believing it. It's not worth the risk.

Viewing those posts and watching those videos helps to line the pockets of the antis who made them, and helps to give them clicks and clout.

These lies are designed to have a cumulative effect. You might not believe one of them, you might not believe two or three of them, but if you immerse yourself in enough of this garbage, eventually it will sway your opinion and you might become an anti yourself.

Even if you are devoted to GG and DD and will never turn against them, exposing yourself to this type of disturbing, evil, hateful garbage WILL have an impact on your mental and emotional health. Please take care of yourself and curate your experience of fandom so that you are not exposing yourself to things that hurt you or negatively impact your well-being.

Reading/viewing anti messaging has an incredibly distorting effect on how fans perceive GG and DD's popularity and how well they're doing in the industry. Such fans eventually become almost completely incapable of celebrating and enjoying GG and DD's accomplishments or acknowledging their massive success because they're too caught up in the perception that GG and DD are hated and that everyone is out to get them.

There is one last thing I really want to emphasize, because it's a misconception a lot of new fans have, or even sometimes pick up from antis:

You do not need to know what hateful things are being said about GGDD in order to be a 'good fan'.

Some people will tell you that 'if you really cared' about them you'd inform yourself about all the hate. That's utter BS.

The best way for us to support GG and DD is to not give airtime to haters, not give them clicks, views or clout, not let their lies get any oxygen in the fandom. Shut them out. They don't deserve real estate in your brain.

EDIT: I will add that everything I said in this post also applies to hateful things being said about turtles. The more airtime we give those things and the more we spread them around through discussion, the more we help to give antis clicks and clout, and the more risk we take that someone along the way will be infected with those ideas. The more we read and discuss those things, the more harm we do to ourselves and each other, and the more distorted our view of turtledom becomes. Best to just block and ignore (and report where appropriate).

Here are a few related posts you might find helpful:

How I manage to keep from getting angry about antis

How what we focus on shapes who we become

Toxic fans and staying in your own lane

Why so much hate from solos?

“I heard on Twitter that BXG don’t really care about GG”

Why fan wars/arguing online is such a bad idea

Why it’s so important for our fandom to behave well online

Dealing with Antis On Tumblr

Fandom Survival Guide

[alarrytale]

marte, I have been a fan of larry and 1D since 2011, but I have to say L and H both have turned into people I don't like or vibe with anymore. I can see myself losing interest in them. Do you or your followers ever feel this way?

I know they’re older now, but they are SO 100% diffetent than they used to .....

Hi, anon!

There are plenty of people like you. So many fans have left the fandom or taken a step back. We who are still here still feel like the good times outweighs the bad and have managed to find a way to still be a fan of them, despite everything. You have to curate your fandom experience, find your boundaries, don't blindly idolise them, and celebrate the good times when they come. Focus on the things that make your fandom experience worth it for you.

I think realising that celebrities aren’t perfect is harder for people who entered the fandom young and grew a strong bond and connection to their fake portrayed images. It must feel so hard having those blinds ripped off of your eyes. They aren’t who you thought they were. But they're not as bad as portrayed, but not as innocent either. They mess up and not all their decisions is for the good of their fans or fandom. We have to learn to live with that.

It's totally okay to lose interest in them, our interest might change as we grow and gain new experience. Find things that make you happy. If this doesn’t make you happy anymore then seek out other things that do.

[terrence-silver]

What if beloved also wore masks in front of people? Not for the same reason terry does more to make sure everyone likes them. also what if beloved started to alter how they looked and acted to try to turn into what they think terry's ideal partner would be?

Depends what we imagine Terry's ideal to be in the first place.

I don't think he has an ideal, per se.

Ironically, he might think he does (because it is easier to box in your preferences into a neatly curated box such as a 'type' than let your feelings go unhinged and unchecked, he realizes), a notion he was raised with, expanded upon by his own class and what he felt he was looking for was embedded in him by default (namely, rich, accomplished, successful, all that jazz --- the classics) but I don't think Terry has an ideal partner. He's sampled everything. Tried everyone. Yet, he cares for people who he gets emotionally attached to, whether in a good or a bad sense. Who leave him indebted, or who he feels indebted to. Who he develops devotion towards. Who are meaningful to him for various reasons. Who he forged a deep bond with through extreme circumstances. He might actually have some traces of Demiromantic qualities to himself in that regard (someone who doesn't develop romantic feelings for someone without an emotional connection). That's by default, the ideal partner, friend, companion, you name it. But, beloved would realize this is a futile task, trying to become Terry's ideal partner, because there's no such thing. Not really.

As for wearing masks --- well, he might not mind that as much as one might think.

He knows who they are and all that they are belongs to him, so whatever perception outsiders have of his beloved is absolutely irrelevant, because he has all of his beloved anyway, behind closed doors, where it matters most. They're his --- body, mind and soul. He might even instruct them how to wear masks and how to detach themselves emotionally. How to fabricate personalities so they can play this game together, as a couple. How to appear a certain way while being something completely different on the inside. He might even be keen on this arrangement because beloved's actual character is relegated for him only and whatever fake image they broadcast for the world is a facade. That way, if anyone develops a liking, affection, desire or even interest for his darling, they'll be developing it over a nonexistent mask and not his actual partner.

[kimseokjinn]

hello!! i have been struggling w how i view bts and i wanted to talk to someone about it! but also if you don’t want to respond to this message, please don’t feel like you have to! i saw these discussions between another user and their anons about how so much of bts’ personality is carefully curated and presented to the public. the anon(s) listed specific examples of each member having red flags/being assholes/cocky etc etc (1/4)

and mentioned that even though members have made donations to charities and such, it's probably just for show. this discussion made me super sad because i’ve been a fan since 2017 (the serendipity trailer really got me) and i've always loved and supported them and viewed them as great role models for how hardworking and kind-hearted they are (amongst other great qualities). but i guess viewing those asks/discussions made me realize that at the end of the day, we really don't know them (2/4)

at all? but through all of the things they show us, they seem so great and i guess i can't make sense of how all of that can be fake. like i understand that we only see maybe like 10% of their lives (not even) but how can they show us all the behind-the-scenes footage from rehearsals and such and be acting?? anyways, i just wanted to see what you think!! i love bts so much and (3/4)

i don't want to believe that they are shitty people irl. but maybe i'm just being naive. sorry this was so rambly! (4/4)

I mean, yeah, perhaps there are aspects of their personalities that are curated specifically for our viewing pleasure. We don't really know them after all. We see what they want us to see basically. I don't necessarily feel like they are 100% fake. To me, it's a blend of both where they are comfortable enough with fans to share small parts of their real selves ,while still maintaining that boundary between fan and celebrity. Compared to a lot of other groups, they are given more freedom, i think, in how they share their image.

Even with rehearsals and behind the scenes footage, are they truly being authentic? After all, they are being filmed, they are working to promote this idea we might have of them. I'd say moments like those might be a great deal of both real and kpop idol bts.

Say that their donations are for show - who cares? I mean, I would hope it's done from a place of genuineness. Thats something that is between them and their conscience, isn't it? But consider that a lot of the time, the donations are revealed until much later. Jin quietly donated to UNICEF and kept it that way until he was personally thanked. Other people might've boasted about the fact. I'd like to think that they donate because they know hardship and want to use their good fortune to help those less fortunate.

You can also take into account random encounters various people have had with the members. They are always called respectful, kind, polite. That could be their true selves.

I guess we can both be naive, Anon. Do I think they're always authentic? No, but then who really is? The me I present on this website is different than the me I present to colleagues, to strangers ect.

I will say that, to me personally, their little interviews that they have on dvds, feel like they're sharing a little bit more of their authentic selves.

i don’t believe it’s all faked, but like you said, we don’t know them. we see what they share with us and that includes moments of realness. i wouldn’t let that person ruin your experience as a fan of bts because as long as you recognize that at times, they do have an image to promote, their authenticity is still present in terms of lyrics, and those small, private moments that they feel that they can share with us.

I am curious about what red flags this person is talking about, though