#which ok - you're entitled to your wrong opinion

[majorbaby]

i was always immune to "you can skip the first 3 seasons of mash" because it sounded suspiciously similar to "you can skip the ninth doctor" as though the continued success doctor who has enjoyed would be at all possible without chris eccleston's bare bones ninth doctor, his raw talent and understanding of the character and his chemistry with the equally committed billie piper. also his sincere, not-played-for-laughs, gay, on-screen kiss with john barrowman, which aired on television in 2005.

[nexysworld]

Dead Dove, Content Entitlement, and Fandoms

There's been no end of posts clogging up popular fandom tags with arguments and opinions on dark content, dead dove, and related things. While I've seen some decent posts that go over media literacy and dark content, I personally feel like none fully encompass my entire feelings on this nor provide all the points that I feel are important.

I know people have strong feelings on this subject, and I'm not expecting to immediately change anyone's minds. But I hope maybe I can toss some food for thought out there, or provide further context from both a victim of SA as well as a content creator. This has been bothering me for a while now to the point where it has been making me no longer want to write or engage in fandoms on Tumblr, and so I needed to get this out there with my stance. I've also had people in my inbox stating that my dark content is somehow morally better than other writer's dark content. TW: Mentions of dark content including discussions of noncon/dubcon, harassment, SA, etc.

Addressing Common Points

If you write or consume [INSERT CONTENT], you're romanticizing and endorsing it and that makes you a bad person. Or, you're weird/wrong/gross for it. I see this brought up primarily with dubcon/noncon topics. It should go without saying, but fiction is fantasy, it's separate from real life. Adults who consume this type of content understand that these things are NOT ok in real life. But to take it a step further, I want to stress that having noncon fantasies is actually INCREDIBLY common. In studies regarding these fantasies, nearly 50% or more of people who participated admitted to having fantasies that align with these topics the majority of which are women. Not only that but these kinds of fantasies are even more common in people who have been victims of these crimes. This isn't some niche thing only liked by a minority of people. If you don't believe me here's an example of ONE study, but there's plenty of easily accessible information out there. By conflating consuming/writing this content with someone's moral character stigmatizes these feelings further and does more harm than good. And I know what you're thinking though. But why? Why would someone who's gone through something like that fantasize about something so awful? Why is this appealing to anyone, victims or not? Fiction creates a safe space to explore topics. In fiction there are no real victims, no one is actually getting hurt, it's all fake. The characters aren't real and if at any point as the reader you are too uncomfortable to continue, you can stop and exit. You can like the idea of a fictional person tossing you around, while also feeling uncomfortable if a real life man tried to pick you up a the bar or didn't take no for an answer. There's also "normal" things you can fantasize about, but not want to participate in IRL.

Hypocrisy and what is considered dark content? This won't apply to everyone, but I've seen a number of people who claim to be anti-dark content but reblog things that are non consensual, perhaps without realizing it. And this is especially true for those who are younger on here. Please understand that noncon/dubcon does not inherently need to be violent or gory. Any situation in which there's a lack of consent or a power imbalance is inappropriate. Somno fics? If it's not explicitly stated that it was agreed upon prior in the fic, that is still non consensual even if it's written to be "sweet.", even if it's a pre-established relationship. Professor x student fics? There's power imbalance there. There's a reason you cannot have a relationship with your teachers in real life. Hybrid fics? Most people write hybrids as completely sentient people who are treated as sex slaves. They have little choice or are "following instinct." You cannot consent to someone who literally OWNS you after adopting you. You get the gist. There's far more to consent than physically manhandling someone. Yet because these things are written in a way that contextualizes them as being "sweet" and "normal", they aren't considered dark content by many people. If you're ok with the above, you have to understand that these ARE forms of dubcon/noncon. I would even argue that these are more romanticizing of these topics than stuff that's far more explicit in nature. If you would be pissed if your IRL partner tried to feel you up in your sleep, but enjoy somno fics, or enjoy the Taboo of Professor Leon, but wouldn't fuck your actual college professor - then that is the EXACT way in which people who enjoy even "darker" content can enjoy the fiction whilst not partaking in real life.

It sets a bad example for younger people on the website/"protect the children." Children shouldn't be looking at smut in general, dark content, vanilla content, etc. I don't know what else to tell you. It is NOT the job of content creators to try and police what teenagers do on the internet, that's between them and their parents. The majority of creators who make 18+ content explicitly state MDNI and block those younger than 18 if we discover them trying to interact with us. That is the most that we can and should be expected to do.

[INSERT CHARACTER] would NEVER act like that, it irritates me when people write them as OOC. Fanfiction is by definition NON canon. The only people who truly know how a character is supposed to act are the people who created those characters. But I want to add on to this, there are plenty of times in which a character acts entirely OOC even in fluffy or vanilla fanfiction. Every writer is going to have a different interpretation of how a character acts or thinks - and yet it's only really complained about when it's dark content. These characters are not real. Leon cannot be upset or hurt by people writing dark content about him, because he doesn't exist. Part of the fun of fanfiction, at least in my opinion as well, is justifying certain things within the context. Many dark content writers will and do explain why the character became how they are or why they think that way using canon as context - not that I think it's required because fanfiction can be whatever you want it to. The point is, dark content or not, not everyone will be on the same wavelength as you about your favorite character.

Even if you're a victim of SA or other crimes, you should get professional help, not read dark content. This is a very bad take in my opinion. Mental health care can be incredibly hard to get. Reading fanfiction is free, it's harmless. But genuinely, imagine you're a victim of a heinous crime, and you're already struggling with feelings regarding it - to then be mobbed by people online telling you that you're weird and wrong for having the feelings that you do? This is also in league with my first point, but having these feelings are actually VERY normal. This is a healthy way to process the emotions in a safe environment where no real person gets hurt, where you can leave whenever you want. Stigmatizing these things does hurt real people though.

You're hurting other people who're victims of these things. Look, if a fic is not properly TW then I fully understand. Every victim will have a different experience, and while some may be ok with dark content, others won't. So if you open a fic expecting it to be one thing and it's another, that's shitty. But tags are there for a reason. If you see something marked Noncon, and that's triggering for you, no one is expecting you to read it. And here's the thing with tags/tw's as well, everyone's trauma is different. Something that one person might not consider dark content, or is generally considered innocuous might trigger someone else. If you are one of those people who think even seeing the trigger warning could be harmful to people, then that's a prime example of WHY you must curate your own experience online. Block certain words, tags, and phrases to make sure you don't see them. But that's on YOU to do, not people who create content. Their only responsibility is to warn you about the contents of the content they've made, their responsibility stops beyond that point. You know what DOES affect real people besides the stigmatization of their feelings or kinks? Harassing them. Leaving hate comments, telling people to unalive themselves. These affect the mental health of the real people behind the content that you don't like. I've seen death and rape threats SENT to dark content writers.

Dark content in other forms of media. It's interesting to me that the majority of discussion around dark content comes from people criticizing fanfiction specifically. Take horror movies for example. The Saw Franchise, we'll say. Do you think the creators of that series want to enact those horrible things onto other people? Do you think they want to be the victims of Jigsaw themselves? What about people who watch content like that? You probably don't think that they do. There's TONS of movies, music videos, even horror novels that have incredibly, and I mean INCREDIBLY dark dead dove content - and yet most people understand that the appeal is in the taboo. That it's fiction. That people who consume THOSE forms of media don't want to participate in those things but do enjoy consuming that content. But when it's fanfiction it somehow becomes a problem.

Entitlement and demand of fandom content. In addition to all of the above, there is a major uptick in people complaining about the content within fandoms some not even relating to dark content. "There's too many stories where reader acts like X." "I hate how so many people characterize this person because that's now how they would act!" "Why is there so much smut? Why can't there be more of {insert what I want}". This is FREE content made by people who do this stuff as a hobby. No one owes you content, and no one HAS to write the way you want them too. If there's tons of content like that, then it's because it's popular. Perhaps your version of a character is in the minority opinion, and that's completely ok!

What's the solution to all of this discourse?

Be the change you want to see! If you feel like there's too many x reader fics where the reader doesn't act how you want - then write it the way you want. Do you have head canons about a series or character that you haven't seen discussed before? Make that post yourself! If you don't feel there's enough fluff in the fandom - then create some! And if you don't want to make content yourself - request it, commission it. Interact with your favorite writers! Encourage them, don't demand. Talk with them about their work, leave comments, and reblog, reblog, reblog!! Being a part of the discussion and interaction is the BEST way to help the community thrive. Surround yourself with the content that YOU want, curate YOUR experience. Block every dark content writer you see if it helps. Go into your Tumblr settings, block words, block tags. Don't set yourself up to be upset or bothered by the content you're getting. Even if you read the above and you still think every dark content writer is a horrendous, awful person - the best thing to do is still block them. Block their content. Harassing them and complaining on it will NOT stop that content from existing. But you will continue to upset yourself by not curating your own experience.

~~~~~~~~

If you made it through all that, thank you for reading. I want to add that my blog WILL continue in the future to have a mix of both dead dove and regular content. I also interact with other dark content blogs, so if you're someone who followed me because of my "regular" fics and want to unfollow/block me, I'm ok with that. <3

[bixels]

If it's not too much trouble would you mind sharing more on your thoughts about AJ? Esp the line she shouted at Rarity and her "struggle with sexual identity" I'm kind of new so I would like to hear more! Does Rarity also struggle with sexual identity and fearing AJ would leave? I love the family oriented person A and the business inclined and impressed by shiny new things person B trope

Ok, this is gonna get into head canons and personal opinions.

The writing in Rollercoaster of Friendship (and EQG as a whole) is much simpler and more stripped down in comparison to FiM (most likely to appeal to a younger audience; don't want to seem like I'm dissing the writers), but that one confrontation made me sit up in my seat because it carries the entire special.

More under the cut cuz I don't want MLP analyses clogging up my blog.

For one, we've seen AJ get frustrated and angry about the same exact conflict over a girl in FiM (Rara), establishing a pattern. And even though she's right (her friend really is being manipulated), I read both cases as her acting out in jealousy too. Here's this girl who she's felt a unique attachment to being "taken away" and changed by someone new. This is most apparent in RoF; the moment Vignette introduces herself, kisses Rarity on both cheeks, and establishes herself as Rarity's "new best friend," AJ immediately reacts with shock, betrayal, and boldfaced jealousy (made even worse when Rarity forgets her during introductions). Although AJ acts independent, she's actually very emotionally dependent on certain people in her life.

If we come into this with the assumption that AJ has romantic feelings for Rarity –– which is a normal assumption given the director/writer confirmed the special was written as a romantic drama between the two –– AJ's line is all the more heartbreaking. If I may slip into fictional speculation: your crush is no longer listening or paying attention to you, even though you know something is wrong and that she's getting hurt. Your frustration at her lack of awareness is really your anger at her lack of care –– she doesn't care about you anymore. So in a fit of rage, in your big, dramatic confrontation, just to make her look at you, react at you, feel how she's been making you feel all day –– unwanted and unspecial –– you hurt her back. AJ yells, "You're not special!" and Rarity cries.

And what really gets me is that AJ lies. In this moment, she lies that Rarity's not special when (again, assumption of romance) she's the most special person in the world to her. So special that she's placed all her feelings of self-assurance and security on their relationship. So special that the moment their relationship is shaken and she doesn't know to recover it –– recover herself –– she lashes out, acts against her character, and says something dishonest just to hurt the girl she loves.

(Honestly, rewatching this special, AJ is so insecure and attention-needy. The way she pouts and slouches and lags behind the group and says, "Never mind. It's nothing," when asked what's wrong is textbook "please pay attention to me and ask me what's wrong because i need a reason to be honest about feelings i know i should be ashamed of" behavior.)

I think AJ's insecurities (which could be tied to her lack of experience with romantic relationships) reveal how she has a tendency to misattribute and redirect anger onto the person she cares most about (see Simple Ways as well, where she's caught on the opposite end of a jealousy spat). This could easily become a very toxic trait, but AJ grows past it. Near the end of RoF, the two come together and apologize. AJ recognizes her entitlement and confesses her insecurities about their relationship. She felt hurt and attacked when her status as Rarity's best friend/girlfriend was threatened because it's a role she uses to self-identify –– if Rarity isn't hers, she loses part of her identity. And she admits that she thought her motivation was to protect Rarity, but really she was just being selfish and protecting herself. Rarity was busy and stressed and needed someone to lean on just as much AJ needed her. She isn't AJ's emotional support girlfriend, and it wasn't right to expect her to be one.

(Which is why Rarijack is peak because throughout both series, they repeatedly show just how important honesty, open communication, and trust is in maintaining, supporting, and growing a romantic relationship.)

[knichii]

OK. does anyone else feel irritated that eng dub seems to be favoured in mha? in edits, in fics, it's clear most people watched dub and idk it's been rlly grinding my gears.

okay, to get this out the way, I don't like mha's eng dub. I don't like any of them. half don't fit their characters, 75% of the time the tone lands forced and awkward, and its literally just unbearable for me to watch I'm sorry. I have this issue with a lot of anime and cartoons so this isn't solely a my hero problem, but this is definitely the most severely I've disliked a dub. and yet I cannot escape it.

one of my biggest issues is the nuance that's lost in translation. anyone with any familiarity with the Japanese language will know what I mean. list of examples:

HONORIFICS

1. iida refers to class 1-A with '-kun'

2. yaoyorozu refers to class 1-A with '-san'

3. asui refers to class 1-A with '-chan'

3. deku with '-kun' (m) & '-san' (f)

that says SO MUCH about their characters, how they view their relationships, how they view themselves,, but in dub?? all of that's lost. ESP the significance of deku still calling bkg 'kacchan'. [simplified, '-chan' is used for cute/endearing things. it stemmed from children mispronouncing '-san', and became a childish, cutesy way of calling someone, usually someone you're VERY familiar with. it implies a shocking ammount of intimacy] thru years of bullying, all the rocks and straight up non existent road of their relationship, deku STILL calls him 'kacchan', the ONLY one allowed to do so ("but kaminari--" NEENAWNEENAWNEENAW).

in eng dub it gets reduced to a mere nickname, lacking all of its weight.

another thing is bakugou sub vs dub (...)

URGGGGGGHHHH

the most recent example is when bkg says "of course you pulled it off, Icyhot." (I forgot the context tho) in sub, he says "of course you pulled it off, TODOROKI".

THATS SUCH A NICHE, SUBTLE WAY OF SHOWING HIS DEVELOPMENT THATS TOSSED STRAIGHT OUT THE WINDOW. translation (manga) also has him calling his seniors 'senpai' which is... not what he says in sub????? 'senpai' indicates respect for someone your senior,,,, which. bkg would never show. (or only in EXTREMELY rare cases, MAYBE)

there's also my peeve abt names. this may be an only me issue, but I don't like it when japanese names are written in western format (e.g Izuku Midoriya)... ("this guy cannot be fr rn" unfortunately yes I am). I don't have a reason for this, and I'm aware it's niche and irrational, but I always cringe a little when I'm reading a fic, that's SET IN JAPAN, and their names are written Given Name, Family Name. emphasis on SET IN JAPAN. THEY ARE JAPANESE. THEY ARE NOT AMERICAN.

bkg's hero name. his og one which was translated to King Explosion Murder, losing all of the wit and cleverness in the jp original. this post goes into more detail and is very cool check it out

slightly irrelevant but bkg's jp va, Okamoto Nobuhiko, like. wow. the bkdk fight? the voice cracks? the ANGUISH?? the softness in his voice when bkg was abt to die (the hallucination w all might) ??? like,, wow. the emotion is so much more raw than it's conveyed in eng

I've gotten off point. point is I WISH MORE PEOPLE APPRECIATED AND WATCHED IN JP SUB. IM SCREAMING INTO THE VOID AND MY OWN VOICE IS ECHOING BACK I CANT DO THIS ANYMORE.

(note: jjk was my first anime fandom so I'm probably spoiled. over there, sub seems to be favoured, barring a few iconic lines [ray chase lwk served as sukuna in the shibuya arc] and the fics, like 70% of the ones I read, used japanese honorifics and culture. in comparison, mha was a bit of a shock. the side of the fandom I washed up on is so... American??? maybe I'm in the wrong place idk. everything's just extremely white and slightly uncomfortable.)

this was a bit of a vent post,, obviously ik people are entitled to opinions (even if they're wrong), I js wanted tk if anyone else felt the same way

reading this back, I'm aware of how chronically online I am. yeah. still tho

[lynaferns]

I feel like people who insist and celebrate too much that "their fanfics and AUs" are now "canonically accurate" because they played Sun as passive aggressive from the beginning, are starting to drive a wedge in the community with their comments, especially when These are important figures in the fandom.

I've already seen someone "famous" mention that "I used to consider Sun basic and boring for just being the eager good guy" and wow, that disappointed me a little. If anything, Moon falls into the same "basic" category by being just "the bad guy," canonically speaking. But they are not pleasant things to read, are they?

I personally think that if Sun hadn't seemed so anxious, vulnerable and partially open/friendly in the beginning, he wouldn't be so many people's comfort character today. Because I highly doubt that his attitude in HW2 would have made so many people feel comfortable, not to mention that it would have surely stung them in one or another possible trauma.

I've been trying so hard not to insult anyone because I believe that good communication comes from respect and good manners but some people are pissing me off. (Not you anon)

Listen, those people can go fuck themselves with their stupid comments and their entitled opinions.

I'm also a follower of canon acurated and I see no reason in mocking people who don't follow canon. It makes me so mad reading comments laughing at people whose interpretation has been contradicted by canon.

If they are taking pleasure from seeing how some in the community are reacting to HW2 with sadness (which is a VERY understandable reaction and should NOT be made fun of) they are not worth your attention, they aren't worth ANYONES attention. If it makes you feel better block them and move on because you will be happier this way.

And those who say "I tHOuGhT sUn WaS bAsIc AnD bOrInG" clearly they didn't see through the characters. You could say exactly the same about any of the other characters. You could say exactly the same about ANY CHARACTER EVER MADE.

People are so fast at taking one single trait of a character and make it their whole personality like it's the only and true thing about them and if you thing otherwise you're wrong. "Oh but we have this other behavior of him shown before, this may just be another aspect of their personality-" "nope, I don't see that, that doesn't exist, this is the truth about your comfort character, suck it" fucking bullshit.

Kellen makes a great job at interpreting Sun's character, if you stop to hear all the voice lines you can see a lot of aspects of him, just paying attention to his voice. Everyone jumped so fast to the "Sun is a sassy mean bitch" train forgetting that: he was originally in theater, he takes care of kids, he tries to be nice to kids, he probably gets criticized daily by parents and employees so there's no reason for him to be constantly nice to everyone, he is tired, like seriously, if you listen to his voice lines half of them sounds tired and trying to smile trough it but at the verge of exploding.

We don't even know how Sun and Moon are when they are alone.

I personally don't think the interactions in HW2 are canon events in the lore, it wouldn't make sense.

I'm so sorry that y'all are going through this. Don't let people's shitty comments get to you, ok? Go read your comfort fic or reblog that old piece of fanart that made you giggle and kick your feet the first time you saw it.

(EDIT: read the reblogs)

[longeyelashedtragedy]

Frank James Lampard OBE 👀

ougughgh, you whipped out the order of the british empire? 🫡 😳 maybe i was wrong to judge them teaboos back in the superwholock days (that's a JOKE)

@protect-daniel-james i'll respond here but i might use your ask to post some more Photos cause i'm not sure how to pick just one photo of the Long Eyelashed Tragedy

favorite thing about them: uhhh...so much? he gets me right in the FEELS, man. he tells on himself constantly and seems to be completely unaware. sadboi footballer with pretty dead eyes who loves to Read and took a little notebook with him on the team bus. the intersection of having it easy/privileged childhood & traumatic things that shouldn't have happened--i relate. exhilarating to watch his old performances and he seems like he'd be fun to have a conversation with. fascinating to analyze, this all feels sort of reductive...i'm very Fond of him and some of it is hard to put into words, but i feel very "what's not to love?" about him lol. and he has such a Narrative. he's very easy to write about though it probably doesn't turn out well at all (sounds great and deep in my head though)

also i find a lot of footballers hot but don't really experience significant attraction to them but he is an exception you know what i'm just going to end this here

least favorite thing about them: he lost weight after everton BOO HISS

favorite line: omg, frank james lampard OBE is funny because he's often so intelligent and articulate and then just whips out the WEIRDEST/most cringe thing out of nowhere. some examples:

-his "fight" with klopp on the touchline

THIS wtfery:

these BANGERS:

this classic example of childhood trauma "too old when you're young and too young when you're old" (what some ppl would call "entitled male athlete" but like..i know better than that lol). it's also just patently RIDICULOUS he was like 36...bolding is mine for the classic lines

But it was while on a night out in Manchester during pre-season that the ex-West Hamer star showed his new American team-mates exactly how ex-Premier League stars like to party.

Columbus Crew centre-back Josh Williams was with NYCFC at the time and he told the story to the Athletic.

...“This place is packed, multiple levels. And as soon as we walk in, you could see everybody recognise Frank. And it’s just me, my teammate and Frank and all the energy is just on him.

"He picks up a bottle, this huge bottle of Grey Goose, picks it up, opens it, just starts downing it. Passes it to me and goes, ‘Boys, we’re not putting this down until it’s fucking gone.’”

The trio passed the bottle around three times when the rest of NYCFC showed up.

After about an hour in the club, Lampard approached Williams and asked him about 'that game you Americans play where you throw the little balls — he’s talking about beer pong.'

ok let's see...

brotp: random one but i recently learned that he and ian wright are friends? and i just love that so much both as a gooner and a person. wrighty complements him well and is very...respectful lol. if we consider lamperry to be only one-sided romantic, then definitely lamperry

notp: franko x steven gerrard...there's only One situation in which i've enjoyed that ship (and it was an au). it does nothing for me normally, and i personally don't find stevie g attractive, so! again, it's like an "ew get it away from me" notp, it's just not my vibe.

otp: i mean...lamperry requited. franko x cousin jamie jamie jamie ....maybe someday they can give romeo and juliet their happy ending. and of course, frank and mason...i just really like this ship so much and it keeps my brain so entertained...even though it's not "healthy" and doesn't end well. these ships are all SO good!!!

random headcanon: oh gosh idk...i don't think i have any "headcanons" because everything he says and does in public just kind of tracks. bet he's done coke lol. idk

unpopular opinion: HOO BOY!!! here we go!!! i am aware that i have a wooby nature, but i actually like that about myself. i'd rather approach someone--anyone with softness and then tone it down when i decide they're a dick, than be uncharitable for no reason. that's my way and that's how it's gonna be! so that said...franko gets accusations of "arrogance" and i...i don't see it at all. it might come from his disingenous press conferences at chelsea and everton, but i see that as a man who has horrid self-esteem, was used to being treated by media and fans like a Starboy, and once he started doing badly, had no idea how to handle professional failure--not one single idea. remember on "diary of a ceo" over the summer when he said his first chelsea sacking was the first time he's ever failed professionally? that's insane. Like, imagine making it to age FORTY-TWO and not having a legitimate school or career disaster. that's insane to me. so he just put up a front and got cranky and defensive and funky about where he placed the blame (and to be honest--he has not done a good job as a manager, but he also wound up in some pretty dismal positions. taking chelsea caretaker manager was really shooting himself in the foot because that season just needed to be put out of its misery lol). i'm not saying he's a bastion of humility, or some misunderstood coaching genius, but i don't see him as any more or less arrogant than someone else. idk--i see a weird level of contempt for him that doesn't really feel deserved? he's just a sad sack. sort of a hubris tale in a sense, but also a tale of a man who is still stuck as a kid in some ways...i need to stop before i write a really bad dissertation lol

uh that said...

song i associate with them:

finally a footballer i can give a good answer to this for!!!

name me a better combination than me x lamps x pink floyd x this summer! comfortably numb, shine on you crazy diamond (all of it, but particularly sections vi-ix), wish you were here...

(i know this sounds basic...i know there are more i'm not remembering)

"money" in some ways because i listened to it while writing "visited upon the sons" (it hit me afterward that the fic and the song are structured in the same way...the chicken or the egg?)

from the oooold first days of the lampardverse:

behind blue eyes/a well respected man

also! wouldn't it be nice kind of reminds me of him and cousin jamie loool

favorite picture of them:

dude idk! i really love looking at photos of him! this is granit levels of difficulty...i Cannot choose so let's go with this sad sack from the blessed everton days:

[themoodyestj]

I'm actually friends with a married couple, they've been together for a while, and they are adorable. one time I heard her call him a retarded pig, and I thought "wow, rude" but, you know how he responded? he started making pig noises on her face, and she freaking melted at that. he jokingly calls her an evil dictator and whenever she asks his opinion he always replies first with "I don't know, you are the dictator here, tell me what to do" I've heard her say things to him that are way meaner than anything Danneel has ever said about Jensen, but whenever anyone points out to them that she's too mean to him, he's like " oh yeah she treats me like trash, please help me" in a melodramatic voice. please note that I'm talking about adults here, older than 30. point is some couples are like that but that doesn't mean they don't love each other and even if they are my friends, I'm not entitled to poke my nose onto their business.

Ok, first of all, if you're the same anon from before, thank you for reading my reply and for using critical thinking while interpreting it. It makes you a far smarter anon than the ones I have been talking to this week. It is actually a pleasure to talk to someone who actually tries to consider a different opinion even if they disagree. You have my full respect.

Also, thank you for your anecdote about your friends, it actually helps me make my point. People have weird dynamics, right? We can be easy on making a wrong judgement, and even though I have a very strong opinion about this, I don't assume I know everything. But let me show you why i feel your friend's case is actually different: one time I heard her call him a retarded pig, and I thought "wow, rude" but, you know how he responded? he started making pig noises on her face, and she freaking melted at that. he jokingly calls her an evil dictator Here's the difference between laughing at and laughing with: he clapped back. It's an established dynamic between them, they both give as good as it gets but they know what the other means. In J and D's case, it's only her doing the talking, and he's taking it. Most often than not, he's praising her, but im yet to hear her say something nice about Jensen. It's not balanced, it's not a game with the same rules for both. Even the setting is different: would your friend call her spouse a retarded pig in front of his boss, or in a setting where he needs to look professional and presentable? D does it in interviews, where Jensen is trying to establish his image. Of course couples will have a weird dynamic in more private environments. But when a spouse refuses to adapt to the environment for the couple's needs (because his needs are the couple's needs) and uses said environment as a platform for veiled verbal abuse as a way to become relevant... that screams disrespect. Especially because he's making the money to feed her children, but even if he wasn't. whenever she asks his opinion he always replies first with "I don't know, you are the dictator here, tell me what to do" She asked his opinion! She considered his feelings! J, at some point in time, expressed his wish to take a break and live a bit more with the kids. He even expressed his joy for simple things, like spreading peanut butter in his kids' toast. He was away for months on end while shooting, he wanted to enjoy his family, and what does she tell him (which the AAs surely supported): "Get a job." Never once he said (to my knowledge) that they sat and discussed things. She mocked him for wanting to stay at home, and told him to get a job, even though she has none. I bet even though your friend's husband calls her a dictator, he deep down knows that if he expressed his opinion, it would be considered. I know other couples have different dynamics, different love languages, and they may not all make sense to me, but there will always be something that tells me they're in love with each other.If it's not words, it's actions. It's a mutual touch. A mutual understanding with their eyes. Something that tells me wihout telling me they are in the same team. Something that needs no words, but it's still there. I'm yet to figure out what Danneel's love language is. I've never seen an ounce of love in her. Not even self love, to be honest.

[mushroomminded]

actually answering the discussion questions before I give my opinion so you don't have a stroke

1. Where is this information from (in universe?) Might the source have underlying motives in propagating this message?

good point. We don't know where the info comes from, so it could be inkfish or Grizzco propaganda depicting the salmonid as having "savage" or "uncivilized" traditions in order to raise anger among other species.

2. Does it really matter whether or not this is true? Why or why not? What other acts deemed as "immoral" would be made moral under consent of the receiver?

again, you're right, issues such as s*x offenses between an adult and a consenting minor are NOT ok, among other things where "consent" is given because the receiver doesn't have full knowledge of the immorality of the action.

3. Would you argue that respecting traditions is more important than pursuing human (ha. human) rights for all? How do you determine exceptions?

Which brings me to the final point. They're not human. Despite whatever human desire crystals they have leaked in their system, /they're still sea creatures/. A robot coded with human values would still have a different background and needs than humans. An alien would have different societies. Just because white supremacy is a "tradition" in the United States doesn't mean it's okay. It's horrible. There shouldn't be exceptions. But inkfish and salmonid aren't fully human.

I agree, inkfish exploiting salmonid for profit and committing mass genocide is bad. This is inherently wrong. Whether or not they eat salmon isn't the largest issue here? In a different time, centuries in the past, I'm sure eating war spoils [see: bodies] would have been very widespread. A modern aquatic culture would have moved past the need for that. There's not much difference between unevolved salmon and salmonid meat than the fact that one of them was once sapient. Which, is an issue. You shouldn't eat people. the difference is in moral value.

Is it like someone donating their body to science? They're not subject to typical funeral rights, they've submitted their body for study and experimentation after death. You can't ask a dead person if what you're doing is ok, so receiving consent in life is how they do it.

Eating someone would be different. We don't really have a proper equivalent to this, since we're the only species on earth with sapience and regularly farm unintelligent animals for food. It's similar to cannibalism, I guess?

I see your interpretation of inkfish society as very human, which is fair, and you're entitled to that. It's just... Splatoon isn't fully human. They're still fish. However, they're very good at being extremely racist and divisive like humans, interesting to see /that / as one of the human traits passed on.

I'm sure you're very pissed from all the asks you're receiving about this but I just felt like writing a bunch of paragraphs about inkadian/splatlandian society. Sorry for the uncodly long ask

I'm not following your logic because I don't understand how you can say "inkfish exploiting salmonid for profit and committing mass genocide is bad. This is inherently wrong." and then make a case for situations in which eating salmonid might be morally okay. Where does the meat come from to make it ethically sourced then? If the only means of acquiring a meat is by murdering an intelligent species then uh, yeah! its still wrong to eat people!

And okay, say eating other intelligent beings is okay in fish society as a whole. Why don't inkfish eat each other? (This is "my interpretation" specific, but even eating their own hair is taboo!) Why does this logic apply to salmonids but not to themselves?

You can tell me inkfish aren't human, and they aren't, literally speaking, of the human species. But to speak of being "human" in a greater sense, yknow, intelligence, culture, spirituality, yeah, yeah they are. And so are Salmonids.

[radfemsiren]

Hi! I really like your page so I hope you don’t mind if I bitch and moan to you real quick. I’m kind of tired of being put in the same situation every time I meet a guy. It’s always “Oh great! A new friend!” because I guess I’m a really naive person and I can never read the room. Ends up; they always want to date me and I have to end up rejecting them. #1: I’m a lesbian and #2: I’m at a point in my life where I just don’t wanna be in a relationship right now. It’s always this whole thing where I spiral back into self-hatred “Why do I have to like women? Why can’t I be attracted to him so I don’t have to hurt him?” that kinda thing. And then I feel even more guilty for worrying about my own emotions more than I worry about the guy I just rejected. Then afterwards if we stay friends….they always talk about how hard it is for guys in the dating pool, and how they’ll never find a partner. I just kinda feel like they’re indirectly talking to me every time they talk like that. Even though they never mention me….there’s always this pit in my stomach whenever the topic is brought up. I try to lift their spirits by telling them that it’s way too early for them to give up on dating, but they tell me that I wouldn’t know what it’s like for guys out there. Maybe I’m complaining about nothing? Maybe I should be happy that people actually want me when some guys don’t even get that? I feel like I don’t have a right to complain but I just feel more and more shitty the more I try to put myself out there and meet more friends. Accounts like yours are the only ones who have made me feel better about this whole situation. I just wanted to get that off my chest; and it’d be nice to know your opinion on it if you actually read this whole thing LOL!

Lol I did read the whole thing and I completely understand! I have this problem too which is why I've completely given up having any friendships with men. A lot of people accuse feminists of being bitter and only into women's rights because we "failed" to get male attention. This could not be further from the truth. I receive a lot of male attention and 90% of the time, its unwanted and just gives me a jumble of anxiety and irritation, and a negative thought pattern just like the one you described. So many women feel this, where its like "Ok, now how do I go about this problem? :/"

What I recommend is 2 things. First, understand that men have entitlement issues because of male socialization. Male socialization is basically society at large conceding to every whim and tantrum men throw in order to get their way, creating overgrown toddlers who feel like they deserve everything their sight touches. Understand that even the nicest of male friends have this issue to some degree, and you won't have these guilty feelings because you accept that they would never feel the same way about a girl they're not attracted to bothering them. Many men actually feel pride and excitement at the chance of turning a woman down, or at best, downright indifference. It's very rare to meet a guy that feels real guilt and shame if he's being put in the situation you're in. Because women are socialized to feel shame and guilt, even when they are not doing anything wrong.

Secondly, its important to understand that being "fuckzoned" is a million times worse than being "friendzoned." So many women every day get fuckzoned, which means only their body and potential for giving pleasure is seen as important. Meanwhile, friendzoning happens to men, which means their personality, laughter, thoughts and feelings are the priority. Which sounds better? Which problem sounds more humanizing? So when they feel bad, or keep complaining about their dating life to you (which is definitely directed at you, don't think you are imagining the hints, trust your gut) just remember that you are overhumanizing them, while they are underhumanizing you.

[boiling-potato]

Warning: possible stalking

Characters: Y/n, Madison Cortwell and Salem Whitlock

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Creator's note: huh it's been a while since I've written something. This also had been sitting in my draft for a while now and it's just now I tried to finish it... I just gave up in the last part but anyway hope you guys still like it!! ^^

Also here Ace! Come get your man! (⁠ ⁠ꈍ^ꈍ⁠)🫴✨

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Salem Whitlock (my oc) x Y/n

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Late night study session

"Jesus... h... Christ.."

You mumbled, starring at the stack of papers that your supposed to finish overnight. Being in a private school can really be a pain in the ass since you have to live up in everyone's expectations being in a school full of destined to success people, not to mention you also really need to join the student council because your parents are pressuring you thinking that it will higher the chance of you being the top and the most respectable student in your class. 'why can't they just give you a break?' you thought to yourself sighing.

"Is this all of it?" You ask. "No, it's just the half. I don't want to give it all to you and expect to finish it overnight so I'll just give the rest to you tomorrow afternoon. You are dismiss." Said the blonde girl in front of you. Madison Cortwell, the student council president and the daughter of the man who owns this school. Though she's very smart and had a great skill in leadership, she wasn't really the easiest person to get along with. She always points out unnecessary mistakes and gives you unwanted advice and opinions, not to mention the fact that she's very demanding and sassy whenever you're talking to her. 'God help these entitled narcissist' you thought while putting the papers in your bag standing up and heading to door. You walk through the hallway passing classrooms heading towards the front of the school.

You collapse on your bed after a long relaxing hot/cold shower, just what you needed before you pull an all nighter. Finally After preparing yourself for it you grabbed your bag and pull out the paperworks.

Finally! After 4 hours you finally finished, stretching you looked at the clock on your nightstand at the side on your bed. 1:00 am, you sigh relief that you still have time to do your homeworks. You then grabbed your bag and reach in to grab your homeworks. 'Oh no, no, no, no, no, no no..' you frantically rummage through your bad trying to find it. "Fuck.." you said out loud. Trying so hard not to slap yourself for being so forgetful.. You sat there for a few minutes thinking..... which one would you rather do: go back in school and do your homeworks on the school library or be humiliated tomorrow by your strict professor........

You grumbled walking on the sidewalk while trying to warm your hands by rubbing your hands together. Yeah you hate that professor, he will not take any excuse when a student didn't do their homework and will literally spend half of the class's time to lecture them... Ugh that's a private school for you... Yeah no you'd rather loose sleep rather than dealing with that. Luckily (not really) though, the gates of the school are not always locked because is full of all nighter teacher and maybe even students.... ok maybe not full but there's always three-five teachers or students who's always stays at school to do homework and paperworks and unfortunately you have to be one of them..

Finally reaching the school you showed your ID to the nightguard and explain them your situation and finally send you on your way. You entered the library sitting down on the nearest desk and setting down your homeworks and start suffering. After a while you looked at the clock in the wall, 2:00 am, yeah your pretty exhausted and you're definitely not going to get back home anytime soon... But maybe you could just take a nap here? You're still not finished but it feels like you're going to collapse at any moment now. You need a rest.. you then close your eyes and started dozing off....

"Your answer to number 17 is wrong."

"Fuck!" You hissed, jumping at the sudden voice behind you, you then turn around looking at the tall stranger in front of you.

"Oops..."

You looked at him, too shocked to reply. He looked like his about your age, maybe even older? And judging by the uniform he was wearing you assume that he's one of the few students who stays in the school for reasons like what you have right now. He has a shaggy pink hair, yellow piercing eyes that looks like he could see right through your soul and looks... Incredibly pale, he also has bags under his eyes supporting your theory. He was hovering over you like a wolf ready to have his meal. Even though he wears a small smile and looks like he has no bad intentions, you still got the creeps and can't help but feel... Unease...

"U-umm what..?" You ask, trying not to sound scared or shaky. "..... The answer to number 17, it's wrong, the great depression didn't start around that time, it's too early. It started around 1929 and ended around 1939.." he said eyeing your homeworks. You looked at your homeworks looking at the thing he's pointing out. "Oh.." you said "umm.. thanks...?" You said looking back at him, not knowing what to say next. "Are you ok? You look like your really tired.... Do you want me to help you?" "Umm.." if you're being honest.. you really don't need (want) this guy's help since he gives you the creeps and you really just want to get this over with and go home, you immediately brainstorm of an excuse on why you don't need it but you don't have to worry! it doesn't matter! Since he already took a sit next to you...

You sighed

'this is going to be a long night..'

It's been 30 minutes since he's been helping you with your homeworks.... well you didn't really do much since he was the only one answering the questions and explaining to you why that's the right answer so throughout the time you literally just nod and agree while trying so hard not to doze off. You don't even know why he's doing this.. Is it really just the fact that he wants to help you or is it the fact that he's bored and just wants to play teacher with a lonely student who's in the library at 2 in the morning.. Not to mention you don't even know his name.. yeah.. who is this guy anyway?

"Umm Would you mind if I ask you a few questions?" You asked ".. Not at all, ask away." He said not looking up from your homework. "... What's your name?" He stopped and looked at you confused "oh.. I.. haven't told you my name yet?" "Umm no? I don't think so.." you said. "Oh.. sorry about that I.. forgot.. my name's Salem, Salem Whitlock." "Oh I see well my name is- " before you can even say your name he interrupted you "y/n, y/n l/n. I know.." you looked at him stunned, he must've noticed it because he lift your textbook were you saw your full name there.

"Oh.."

He smiled and got back on finishing your homework. You looked at him thinking of what you can ask him next... then it clicked "what are you even doing here so late?" He pause, he looks like he's thinking of something to say and after that he looks at you and smiled "same reason as you, I have homeworks to do.. I just finished early." "Oh I see, but why do it here? Can't you just do it in your house?" You asked. "Ah yeah... I could but..." He paused "Umm.. I just... Really like the school when it's night.. it's.. quiet... And very empty.. Unlike the daytime.... it's perfect.." he said without breaking eye contact while smiling. You looked back at him unsure of what to say back. What he said does make sense, a lot of people enjoy the creepy environment that the school gives during nighttime but.. there's something about how he said it made you unease.... maybe it's the fact that the way he pause whenever he says a word? Or the fact that he didn't break eye contact while telling you this.

"Does anyone have ever told you that you look very pleasant to look at?" He then said out of the blue. You looked at him confused. "Umm... thank you?" You said Also not breaking eye contact. You then hear a loud thud-like sound that made you flinch and looked at Salem's hand, the sound is coming from your textbook being slammed shut "anyway, I'm finished! Here." He said handing you your homework. You took it from his hand and examined it. They all seemed correct and the explanation throughout the whole question sounds like it's really coming from an encyclopedia down to every single detail. You looked at the clock in the wall 2:56 am which means this random guy just finished most of your homework in the span of almost an hour. 'ok maybe he's not so bad after all..' you thought looking at him

"thank you. This is a really big help for me." You said giving him a small smile "your welcome.. so does this means we're friends?" He said standing up "sure!" you said putting your homework in your bag "Hmm good, well I better get going then." He said walking towards the library door, but before he leaves he stopped and turned around looking at you "oh right, one last thing before I go. Be careful on your way to (Street name) I heard there's a lot of crimes being committed there so be sure to carry something to defend yourself while walking there."

You smiled pulling out your pocket knife from your bag showing him. "Don't worry I always have something to defend myself whenever I'm out." He smiled nodding and finally leaving. You put your knife on your pockets and finally headed out.

You got home at 3:20 am so you still have 4 hours to sleep. You dropped your bag on the floor and threw yourself on your bed thinking about your encounter with Salem. You started dozing off while recalling your conversation with him but then stood up remembering something that made your heart dropped.

How... How did he know your street address?

[musette22]

Just saw your answer to the anon who asked you about Sebastian speaking on body issues and saw his IG post. And it made me dive in into his instagram and wow he was so open with people. I don’t know it made me think of two things specifically, there’s a post that’s gaining some traction on twitter and it’s a video of Sebastian running to hug fans at film festival/red carpet of some sort, and the tweet says “he used to love us so much” “how did we lose so bad”, and also in the Hot Wings interview, Sean mentions something to him and Seb replied “Do I talk about this things publicly?”.

Point is that sometimes I wonder if he regrets having built that kind of closeness with fans, or being that open himself. But I also think that Sebastian never thought he would end up getting this kind of famous, you know? It just makes me sad for him in a way, but also it makes me proud to see him making the choice to take a step back and protecting his peace and quite frankly everyone around him, partner, friends and family.

Also I know it’s wrong to group people but some fans also need to accept responsibility in their actions. Because in Seb’s case, this is not only on the hater’s, everyone has some fault in it.

Hello! Thank you for your message <3 I've discussed this quite a bit in the past, and I kind of feel like I've said most of what I have to say on the subject, but since you may well not have been follow me for the previous discussions, I'll just sort of summarize my thoughts, if that's ok!

You're absolutely right that Sebastian used to be way more open with his fans (he even called them 'friends' at some point), and that in recent years he's had to take a huge step back, on account of his growing fame and some 'fans' growing entitlement/insanity. He's talked about how it affected his life and mental health, so even though I miss his social media presence, I'm really glad he's looking after himself and doing what he needs to do to keep things manageable and live a happy and content life!

I couldn't tell you whether or not he regrets being so open with his fans in earlier years, but I kind of feel like he doesn't, and probably just regrets that it turned out to be impossible to maintain that kind of closeness in later years (and that some people treated him they way they did, and still do). He seems to really enjoy interacting with nice fans, even now, after a rough few years. It's just a shame not everyone is nice, or deserving of his kindness and attention.

So I agree with most of your message, except for the last bit. Yes, it was a a combination of circumstances which led to Sebastian taking a step back, but within those circumstances, I don't think anybody was at fault for anything, except for the people who were rude, entitled and often acted borderline insane. In my opinion, Sebastian wanting to interact with fans wasn't wrong (he's just a friendly guy and he enjoys talking to people), and fans wanting to interact with Sebastian wasn't necessarily wrong either (it makes sense to be excited about your fave interacting with you). But they should have observed and respected certain obvious boundaries, and some of them didn't (and still don't) and in fact started habitually and deliberately crossing them, and that was wrong.

So yeah, those are my thoughts on the situation, roughly! In any case, as much as I miss him, I'm so glad to see he seems to be doing so well now, and I can't wait to see him again once he starts promoting his new movies this year!! <3

[jarpadswalker]

Ok guys, i see what your problem is: you seem to think that you're entitled to judge other people.

Allow me to explain, see the thing is, unless you are a perfect inmaculate being who has never done any wrong to the world, you are not entitled to judge other people.

Specially people you don't know, like Jensen or any other celebrity.

Choosing not to judge someone (specially over stuff like theories, rumours and other's biased opinions) does not equal blind worshiping, it just means you're being a mature, healthy human being, and that you recognize your own flaws.

Well Anon...I think you never saw the real world which is why all you got is a text book definition of mature.

1) Pointing out someone's flaws is not judging

In real world, you are mature when you learn to see the facts that is presented instead of just believing what your fave is saying. Real maturity comes when you accept the fact that your fave is flawed. When you stop believing that your fave is an angel, God or 100 other superlatives.

You become mature when you accept your fave as human and acknowledge his mistake/negative instead of seeing other way and saying I will only see his positives, I wont judge. Selective hearing/viewing is not a sign of good mature person.

And everyone got flaws no one is perfect so it doesn't mean that if you got flaws you can't call out other on theirs. Acknowledging the flaws is first step towards improvement and by that I don't mean you accepting just your own flaws but the flaws of your idol/fave as well...It teaches you what not to do.

[tim-hoe-wan]

In your honest opinion, why do so many people dislike Meghan Markle? I'm not even talking about the disgusting far right and the monarchist, just in general a lot of people find her unlikeable. Even my friends who I think are pretty level headed don't hate her but did say they don't exactly like her.

There's not one single all encompassing answer to this question. She doesn't deserve the level of hatred and vitriol she receives, but she's completely harmless. Even if you do have valid reasons to dislike her, it isn't worth it to dwell on it. I also can't believe she gets the vitriol and Harry barely gets any considering how genuinely stupid and entitled he is. That said from what I can observe here are some reasons:

Misogyny and racism. Internalized misogyny is real. But what's even worst is misogynoir. God forbid a black woman ever tries to step up or defend herself, cause people will be unforgiving, just take a look at Meg. Even if you have valid reasons to dislike her, you can't deny she is a victim of relentless bullying and misogynoir.

She's an enemy of the royal family but not the monarch itself. This is genuinely one of my gripes about them. They are obviously monarchist and have no issues with the royals who treated them nicely. Like ok, so you are willing to criticize the monarch now but let's save Lizzie cause she's nice to you? You still want your kids to have titles?

Lying or plain ignorance? From the Oprah interview onwards, there's just a lot of things easily debunked that you don't know anymore if these two are liars. Why their children won't get the titles, Charles supporting them, the Mandela comment etc. I mean, surely at least Harry knows these things could easily be explained or debunked, but it really doesn't help to give them sympathy.

The Cut Interview. This was actually the one that made me annoyed with them cause she chose the journalist, there was nothing wrong with the interview, yet Meghan threw the journalist under the bus for some reason. Same goes with the netflic doc. Even before it was released, they threw the creators they handpicked under the bus. These two seem to want all praise and everything about them glowing cause The Cut interview was handpicked and was a very good piece.

Those two are truly lacking in self-awareness and have a high opinion of themselves. In this era you'd find it very hard to sympathize with rich people. Especially when these two complain about things that make them sound plain entitled. Just get a regular job Harry. My dad also mentioned recently that Harry's gripes kinda remind him of Andrew trying to assert him and his children as part of the royal budget.

Speaking of which, those two or maybe just Harry, are close to Andrew. By default of course a lot of people would find that an issue. They're willing to talk against Willy, but nothing on Lizzie and Andrew? Come on Harry if William was the one who made a racist comment just say it. You'd look less ridiculous.

Tax payers money. My grandparents favorite gripe. Again you just don't know if they're lying or ignorant. Of course the people don't want to pay for your security if you're no longer "working" royals. Not even giving your children titles will save you as exhibited by Lizzie's less favored children and grandchildren.

She really is an ugly American. You know how everyone hated Emily's attitude in Emily in Paris? Like how Americans act like they're better? Like how Americans can find other culture and other people's rules as ridiculous? Yeah Meghan is like that. Even if I don't mind her disrespecting royal protocol, I mean sometimes her response come off as she has some messiah complex meant to change to system and it does seem she really believes that. But again, we don't want to change the system. We want to abolish it altogether.

My friends really love mocking how she still signs herself as the Duchess of Sussex. From my British friends, it's ironic and hypocritical and just shows in the end they're not your allies. From my American friends, it's ridiculous cause Hamilton is right there to remind you George Washington kicked them out so we don't have to care about these titles anymore.

It's a play of narrative. A lot of their words and actions seem to be they're the protagonist and Willy and Kate, not Lizzie or Charles, are the antagonist. I have no doubt the royal family is an antagonist. I just don't think Meghan and Harry are worthy protagonist at all. Sometimes I'm just waiting for Harry to say he should be heir instead.

Those are what I can think off. In the end I think it's valid to dislike or get annoyed with any person or celebrity. But I do not think Meghan has done anything to receive the level of vitriol and hatred that she is receiving in the daily. They're so easy to ignore and overall way too harmless that if you spend time getting so riled up at Meghan (not Harry, I won't defend his ass), I personally think that's a you problem.

[supercool-here]

Ok so I was watching videos on the web like the chronically online person I am, and I came across this video of some people, from the Students against EACOP movement, spraying orange paint on a lightened facade (huge glass windows) of a building, and then holding a banner in front of it and etc, and THEN a man comes out with a pressure hose (don't think that's the actual name for it though) and starts washing off the paint, while the movement people are still there, and THEN some of the alleged students that are against the EACOP just, started sitting down in front of the sprayed windows (it wasn't spray paint though, it was some special devise for delivering a larger amount of paint, and that's the best explanation I can give) as to stop the man from washing them. The video stopped there, but it didn't seem like their taking a stance there would stop the man from doing his job. Now, I know this man was probably annoyed and did what he did on purpose, but I want to assume he was just doing his job, because while he did not look like a janitor, he also didn't seem interested in engaging with them in an argument or any other interaction to let them know they were a pester, which is something I think an affected office worker would want to do. I also think that a random office worker would have no business taking it all so personal and being annoyed and leaving whatever work they were doing just to wash off the paint and make them feel unimportant, I bet they all have better things to do other than, be bothered. So I assume this person was asked to wash off the paint, and just followed instructions. Now, this is just my personal opinion, but what I SAW from the VERY SHORT video, was that these kids/young adults seemed entitled. They just got their fancy painting devices, sprayed some of their orange paint on a fancy facade of a big building, held their banner in front of it and started delivering their speech to be recorded and uploaded to social media to receive attention and look important. Nothing wrong with that, to this point, and I could still be wrong! Don't think I'm sure they are just entitled kids, maybe they are genuinely against EACOP and they genuinely care, and they are just using social media in the only way they are to be used, to spread the word and hopefully create awareness. The possibility of their entitlement is not what I'm outraged about. They were rude. Even in the best of all cases (they genuinely care) they had no reason to sit down in front of the painted windows. That's just a pose, and rude. I get it, they didn't want to get their paint washed, but why? Because it would make your video look lame? Because of course, it doesn't look good if in the middle or your speech someone comes and washes off your awesome orange background. But let's see it as an opportunity! If we sit in front of it, we'll look daredevil and string and brave! We'll be standing up to them, like "no! You don't get to wash off this paint! This is the sign of the shame we put on you! You don't get to rid yourself from it!" Well, it's not actually that heroic. And to me it really seems like they just did it to save their video from being lame. It resembles the act of chaining yourself to a tree to save if from being cut down, except it's not a tree (a living being, an important, and very pretty one too) you're protecting, it's just orange painting over a facade! Ok ok, but that's not what has me writing this unimportant post, it's the rudeness. Because, under the worst circumstances (which are the circumstances one must consider when making decisions; for example, when calculating the shit out of a bridge to design it and build it, you'd have to consider the possibility of it having to hold 50 40-tons-trucks, just a silly example) this man is just in charge of the maintenance of the building, and since it's a fancy building, they don't want the fancy glass facades to be imperfect, therefore they are, without fail, always to make sure the facades are impeccable, that's what they're hired and payed for.

Had to start another block because I surpassed the limit of characters. As you can tell, I'm ranting. Anyway, the point is, there is a possibility that this man is just doing his job, and doesn't even give a dime about their movement, all he knows is that there is a huge splatter of orange paint on the facade and his job is to wash it off. So he goes and does that. I won't even address the possibility of this being an obstacle to his happiness that day because one may argue that I'm just overthinking. But they could've considered the possibility of him just doing his job, not even caring about THEM. And they took it personal (personal as in against their cause) and decided they had to do something stop him. From doing his job. And that's the best case for them. But what if they were indeed entitled needy kids wanting attention and protecting their opportunity to look cool? Either way, I just thought it was rude, and UNNECESSARY, and wanted to talk about that.

But then again, I noticed that their banner read "#students against EACOP" and looked up what EACOP is and understood why someone could object to it, then I read an article on the Total energies website about why the EACOP project is actually good and I'm not saying I believe them because I know companies can tell lies right, but is anyone willing to explain the whole thing to le please? I want to know what's going on

[mid-weast]

Will you keep it down? | Jeon Jungkook

Summary: You and Jungkook attend the same university and have been neighbors for 3 months now. It drives you crazy that he plays loud music at 2AM, and it drives him crazy that you barely acknowledge his presence.

Pairing: Jungkook x Female!Reader; Black!Reader

Words: 2.6K

Genre: enemies to lovers, student!jungkook, student!reader, fluff, mention of smut, angst? (in the form of bickering back and forth).

Authors note: Hi hi! This is the first fic I’ve ever written so if it’s bad I’m sorry. Also it is unedited so if there's grammar / spelling mistakes I'm sorry again! Also this is catered toward the reader being Black but I hope it can be enjoyed by everyone. Thank you for reading! Feedback is appreciated ok love u bye!

“Y/N? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??!? Open this door RIGHT NOW!”

Even though you were studying in your room, his knocks were so loud you nearly jumped out of your skin. You had expected a reaction, but not a full-on explosion.

You and Jungkook have been apartment neighbors for about three months now, and a constant problem is that he blares his music hella loud late at night. Of course he’s a music major so he listens to music a lot, but at this point you don’t care. It doesn’t even seem like he’s working on composition homework anyway, just being an asshole with no regard for his neighbors peace. Now don’t get yourself wrong, you're not just some uptight bitch who complains about everything. Well, you do have several pet peeves but over the years of going to school in Korea you’ve picked and chosen your battles very wisely. In most cases you let things slide. You wouldn’t care at all about someone playing the music loudly, but it is 2 AM, and while you’re up studying you know a lot of your other neighbors are trying to sleep.

You tiptoe toward your front door and twist the knob slowly. You only open the door wide enough to be able to see his face. It’s not that you’re scared that you’re in danger or anything, and you rarely back down from people giving you a hard time. But you were tired, wearing a big ass t- shirt and short shorts (your regular sleep attire), and it was late at night. So if anything was going to pop off you felt pretty vulnerable. Even though you’re the same age, he towers over you and you find his size kinda intimidating.

As usual, you have to crane your neck to see his face, and your view of him is limited by the narrowness in which

you opened the door.

“Can I help you, lil boy?”

From what you can see of him, right away you can tell that he is pissed. Dawning his usual attire of a black sweatshirt with the hood up, black sweats, and stomp a hoe boots, he stood extremely close to your apartment door with his arms crossed. His usually wide, puppy dog eyes are now pressed in narrow slits. His normally pouty lips are formed in a hard line, and his jaw is so clenched you could carve an ice sculpture with his jawline.

"Who the hell do you think you are? You called the cops on me? Are you INSANE???" Jungkook shouts.

Obviously he's mad, and despite the amount of times you've gone back and forth he's never raised your voice at you. The old you would have screamed back at him, but over time you've tried to respond to anger with calmness. Also, you were a little scared because this mf is kind of big.

"I already told you if you keep blaring your music at 2AM, I was going to do something about it!" You respond in a hushed whisper, slightly concerned that your elderly neighbors will be even more disturbed by the noise. "I've told you this a million times, and you barely do anything about it. If anything, it's gotten worse like you're doing it on purpose. People are trying to sleep and I'm trying to study, why is this so hard for you to understand?"

He sucks his teeth. "You're such a little snitch. And I've already told YOU that YOU can't tell me what to do."

"I know I can't...but they can," you nod toward the exit, referring to the police officers that most likely just left out that way with a tiny smirk growing on your face.

If it was possible, he clenched his jaw even harder and you think that he's going to pop a blood vessel. He pushes his way into your apartment, which sends you stumbling back and you grab the door handle to regain your balance. This causes you to close the door shut.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're-"

He steps right up to you and leans down into your face.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, seriously??? Why are you such an annoying little brat? Just because you're a nerd with no friends who gets no play doesn't mean you can take your bitterness out on me.”

You have to laugh in his face at this point because hello??? First of all, who is he talking to? Second of all, you have told him a BUNCH of times to turn his music down late at night. You didn't think that was too much to ask. As far as you were concerned, being aware of your noise level when you live in an apartment is the universal bare minimum for being a human being.

"ME? Who do you think YOU are? Actually let me tell you. You're an entitled little rich boy who thinks he runs the world. I don't give a fuck about how popular you are on campus, how many people fall at your feet to be around you, and how many hoes you have, you cant talk to ME like that. And how are you going to try and tell me about myself when it's too much of a task for you to be a decent neighbor? I've never done anything to blatantly bother you, so why can you just.." You started to panic because usually when you raise your voice out of anger, your voice cracks and tears threaten to pool out of your eyes, but you tried to get a grip and not back down..."why can you just be nice to me so we can live in peace? Is that too hard for you???"

He looked kind of taken aback by your question. Being nice to you? It never crossed his mind. Also, you kind of had a point. When the semester started and you both moved in on the same day, you would shoot him a small, friendly smile in passing but you never seemed interested in getting to know him. He always wondered why that was. It's not that he had a problem talking with girls, since all he had to do was breathe and girls would come flocking around him, but you would flat out ignore him. Even at all the major parties at the beginning of the year and on Thursday nights when students take over the clubs in the city, you'd barely even acknowledge him. He KNEW that you had seen him too, since you would make eye contact, but you acted like he was just another guy at the club.

And he'd be lying if he said you weren't fine. You had thick thighs, a beautiful face, nice curves, and always wore outfits that hugged you in the right places. He always wondered what it would feel like to wrap his arms around your body and press it against his own. He would constantly sneak peaks of you throughout the night at the club, but something stirred in him when he saw that you were chatting up other guys. Was he...jealous? Jealous that you were so eager to pay attention to these dudes who, in his opinion, were decent looking but they were nowhere near his level, and you never even gave him a second thought? One night he even saw you leaving with a man he knew through mutual friends, and he had to physically stop himself from breaking the glass he was holding, because that guy, while objectively handsome, was nothing compared to him. Jungkook wasn't blatantly cocky, but he let his talent, charm, and looks speak for themselves. He was THEE Jeon Jungkook, and nothing ever really bothered him....except you.

Was he....interested in you? Nah, that can't be it. You were some random chick who happened to be his neighbor, who also is one of the only girls he's met that doesn't give two fucks about even having small talk with him, and that infuriated him for some reason. So the first time you came knocking on his door in an adorable pink satin pajama set with a matching bonnet complaining about his loud music, he knew the game he had to play.

He's still standing over you, centimeters away from you face, but you notice that his eyes soften a little and so does his jaw. He unclenches the fists he was holding crossed against his chest

You continue, “I don't care what you do, and I'm DEFINITELY trying to run your messy ass life. Believe me," you scoff, "you don't have enough money to pay me to do that. But when your dickhole behavior fucks with MY life is when it's a problem. And it's BEEN a problem."

He rolls his eyes. "Whatever, little girl, maybe I should call you little mouse now, since now I know that you'll go squeaking to the cops now, don't fuck with me or my music again.”

Without moving your head you look him up and down with a confused expression. "Am I supposed to be scared of you? No seriously, you look like you cry during Disney movies while wearing footie pajamas, and now here you are throwing a fit because I forced you to stop bothering the entire wing with your music?"

Girl...what are you saying??? This man just barged into YOUR place, is in your face, and is strong enough to pick you up and throw you, and you’re insulting him? But you figured if he's going to be rude, you'll throw it right back because you're tired of his bullshit.

Whatever softness he was feeling for a fleeting moment immediately left, and annoyance once again washed over. He straightens up a bit and puts on that annoying confident smirk he wears when he thinks he's won arguments between you two.

"You should be nicer to me, all it will take is for me to tweet one thing about you, and you'll be the most hated person on campus."

At this point, any suspicions that you had about him annoying you on purpose were confirmed. You've concluded that this mf is a bully and you, small and shy but not one to take mess, will put him in his place to-motherfucking-night.

You take a step toward him, now crossing your arms tightly against your chest, but he doesn't even move a hair backwards.

"Clearly you need a rude awakening so here it is. I don't know what type of people you've dealt with all your life, always saying yes to you, letting you boss them around and taking whatever bullshit you dish out, but let me tell you I am not the one. Never have been and never will be. Unlike the other fools around here who cream their pants at the mention of your name, I don't care about who you are. You'll respect ME and MY peace as long as we're neighbors, you get me?"

Now y/n, you have never so boldly stood up to someone, where did that come from, babes? You've tried to not let this entitled little boy get to you this whole time, but with him standing in front of you in the middle of your apartment with that extremely annoying, yet handsome, smirk on his face, and after all the crap he's said tonight, he had you all the way fucked up.

After you said that, he just laughed and looked away. Now you’re standing there fuming and confused...was there a joke you missed? You were being dead serious!

"Something funny?" you ask, narrowing your eyes.

"Nothing, just thinking about how I want to face fuck that annoying little mouth of yours so you finally shut up.”

Your jaw almost dropped to the floor. You've never had a guy say something so blatantly rude and vulgar literally inches away from your face. But again, you weren't going to back down.

"Oh really?" Scoffing and tilting your head to the side a bit while narrowing your eyes even more, "I'd very much like to do the same. Maybe then you'll learn your place."

"Oh please, princess, you probably blanch when someone around you even mentions the word sex." He chuckles and leans down close toward your face again and cocks his head to the side, scrunching his nose and in a pouty voice said, "you're fooling no one, but keep trying, maybe you'll get there.”

You're even more annoyed than you were before, if that was even possible. But if he wanted to play this game, you might as well go there with him. It's true, you were a bit more prudent than more, but it pissed you off that he could tell. Regardless, you do know some things to say that could have him leaving with his tail between his legs.

You pouted your lips and in a babying tone said, “Aww sweetheart you have no idea. You think you're big and bad but like I said, you probably cry watching Disney movies. The same way you'd be crying, begging me to let you cum down my throat as I mercilessly toy with your cock for hours.”

Now it's his turn to go pale. Y/n, his stuck up neighbor who has barely even spared him five seconds of her time just threatened to edge him into submission? He has to pinch himself because he must be dreaming....

“Well I-“

“But I don't even think we’d make it that far, hun” you continue, “because in order to humble your egotistical, disrespectful ass, I'm gonna have to ride your face until you suffocate. And when the paramedics come and I have to explain how you died, I won't even hesitate to tell them that you were a punk ass loser who LITERALLY drowned in my pussy!”

You don’t know who this person speaking is, but it is not you. All of the pent up hostility you’ve held towards him just flooded out of you and you couldn’t stop the words from coming out. To be honest you shocked yourself, but you still stood there with your arms crossed and your face unfaltering, just waiting for him to say something smart back.

He stared at you silently, eyes wider than you’ve seen before and his mouth hung slightly open. He wasn’t expecting you to respond with so much fire, but now he wouldn’t be able to sleep until the image you painted came true. His brain said fuck it, and his lips crashed down onto yours. The kiss is sloppy but passionate, and you swore you heard him quietly whimper.

When he feels you starting to kiss back, he smirks into the kiss. Your lips are moving against each other in tandem, and all thoughts about how much you despise the prick fades away. As you uncrossed your arms and placed them on his chest, you could feel his heart beating wildly. Was he as nervous as you were this whole time? You wonder. You knew he was a player, so he was experienced. But the thought that you made him nervous gave you a tiny confidence boost. His hands slowly slide up the sides of your body to sneak behind your back, to pull you further into his chest. As much as your brain was telling you to resist him and push him away, you couldn't help but fall victim to how soft his lips felt against yours. Suddenly you feel airborne as he swiftly reaches down behind your thighs and picks you up. You instinctively gasp but he doesn’t miss a beat, simply biting your lower lip and locking your lips together again.

“Maybe we should test that scenario of yours, and if it comes true, that wouldn’t be the worst way for me to go” he says, doing that annoying but soul-crushingly handsome smirk he likes to wear as he carries you off to your bedroom.

[screeching-0wl]

Back in time - a journey into past lives

Introduction

Since I started doing Tarot on my blog the amount of requests for past life readings I received has been positively overwhelming; close to the number of requests for deity readings, if it has not surpassed it already, which was a bit of a shocker for me, actually.

So, I thought I could cover this topic more thoroughly. By no means do I consider myself an expert on this but I will happily share my experience and what I've learnt so far.

My practice

Past life work has become an integral part of my practice. I felt drawn to these topics even as a child and from what I heard from my relatives I said some odd things about "whom I used to be".

Past lives kept popping up throughout my life here and then.

It wasn't until about 1.5 years ago that I took a deeper dive into past lives.

Through different methods, which I will talk about later, I was able to uncover some of my past lives and learn more about myself, even about my current life.

Along my way, I was met with plenty of questions and many arose in my head; questions which I will try to answer here paired with some things to be aware of and nifty tips and tricks on how you could navigate your own journey with past lives.

What are past lives and reincarnation?

Past lives are the lives you've lived and died in, the lives you've experienced. Some may be more relevant to your current life and show up more, some less.

Reincarnation is the belief that one's soul, after biological death, begins a new life in a new body which may be human, animal or spiritual, often depending on the moral quality of the previous life's actions.

This belief can be found in different religions and cultures over different time periods. For example, in Hellenic Polytheism, Lethe (Ληθη), the underworld river of oblivion, also known as Ameles Potamos, can be associated with reincarnation. It is believed that the shades of the dead may drink of its waters to forget their mortal lives and be reincarnated. We can see it being mentioned by Virgil in Aeneid (VI.703-751).

Dharmic religions could serve as another example (namely Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism). Here we can also see the emphasis on virtuous practices and karma as necessary for liberation and what influences future rebirth.

A few more words on beliefs...

"But what if I don't believe in past lives?"

Not everyone believes in reincarnation, whether it be for religious, philosophical or personal reasons. It's OK! You're completely entitled to have your own belief system or lack thereof.

"What if I'm sceptical but still want to see if I had a past life?"

There's nothing wrong with scepticism.

Here's the thing, I can't tell you what to believe, so it's just my take, specifically for this instance.

If you still feel like getting a past life regression done even if you're sceptical or don't believe in it, I don't see anything wrong with that.

The way I personally do regressions is I try to "translate" the information I receive through Tarot, visions, etc. and tell this past life almost like a story so it is easy to digest and conveys the essence of this life along with some possible lessons to take away. I cannot force you to believe it's true, nor would I ever want to.

My general advice here would be to simply treat it as a "tale".

Ever heard of Snow White or any other legend, read any books? The answer would probably be yes! Perhaps you may think there's some truth in these stories, perhaps not, but regardless of that, they can teach you something. We read trying to find ourselves among the pages or attempting to see how the story may apply to certain things, ideals and morals, etc.

To summarise, in my opinion, regardless of your belief, there still could be something to learn and take away. It just depends on attitude and approach.

Souls and the number of lives lived

Many religions and belief systems feature the idea that we as living, breathing things have souls. This coincides with the idea of reincarnation.

Some souls can be very old, some new. For some people, this could be their 50th life and for others their first. Each soul has been around for a different amount of time and gone through different things.

To me, the sole number of lives lived does not play much of a role but it's rather about the experiences.

"How do I know the "age" of my soul?"

This one can be tricky and time-consuming. I consider myself quite lucky since for me this came up in meditation and later I was able to confirm it with my guides.

If that's what interests you, you can try to use some clues to piece things together. This would be more about general time. Pay attention to things you can see in past life regressions, such as architecture, clothing, people, even fauna and flora.

If you don't want to mingle with any memories you could look for some clues among things you feel drawn to, such as time periods, cultures, etc.

Uncovering past lives

There are plenty of different methods and ways to approach this. Some might work for you, some quite the opposite. Don't be afraid to try out different options. Just see what suits and works for you.

1.  Interests

An easy way to search for any potential information about past lives is to look at your interest, that is if you're being drawn to:

a certain culture,

time period,

location,

civilization,

people (someone you may have known in one of your lives)

or even picking up a skill easily.

Do you love Ancient Egypt and can't stop reading about it? Perhaps that could be a clue!

2. Meditation

There are plenty of guided meditations online that could be helpful, although I know this method may not be for everybody, e.g. neurodivergent people or anyone who may have trouble with focus and meditation. Don't worry! There are other options that could help as well.

However, if you do want to try this method I recommend this particular guided meditation: https://youtu.be/sIcd5jlarqk

Find a comfortable spot to sit or lay down. I'd also recommend using headphones and trying to write down anything you saw after the meditation to analyse it.

3. Divination

You could try using Tarot, oracle cards or a pendulum to ask questions about your past life. This may not exactly, or at least not always, bring back memories but it can give you some basic information. Interpreting such readings can be tricky and rather complicated at first. It takes practice. Don't get discouraged right away and trust your intuition. If there are any feelings or images that come to you, they could be relevant, too!

I'd also recommend taking notes and/or pictures of the cards as that can also be useful sometimes.

Here's a Tarot spread I made and use for readings:

4. Dreams

Past lives can sometimes show up in our dreams. Some indications of this could be:

a dream as someone else; so, you look different, sound different, perhaps are in another country, time period, speaking another language and having a different set of skills.

reoccurring dreams

dreams that seem very "real", where you feel alive and present almost as if it was happening to you while awake.

remembering a dream in unusually great detail or knowing certain things that weren't explicitly mentioned in the dream or even at all.

Beyond this, you could try dream work, magic or asking your guides for a dream regarding your past lives.

5. Consulting your guides, deities or higher self

Often our guides know of our past lives and sometimes they could've been a part of them. Asking them questions through divination could also be helpful.

Past life trauma

Past life work can be both very fascinating and challenging. It's not all sunshine and rainbows.

Encountering past life trauma is the very first thing to remember when you're getting into this, especially when attempting to recover memories.

You might see some things that aren't particularly pleasant to the eye. Been a knight or a soldier? Might see some blood and guts. Our lives are not always pretty; you need to keep in mind that you could see some horrifying things.

If you do happen to run into some terrifying event, I recommend you take a break. It's not easy. You need to be patient with yourself. Take all the time you need to process and come to terms with what you learnt or saw.

Then, there are things that may have carried onto the current life, some repeating patterns that would be good to let go of, "a mess to clean up". Essentially, it's similar to shadow work.

I myself am still working on trauma from a life I lived about 3300 years ago because it carried on for several lives up until now.

Don't get me wrong; I'm not saying this because I want to discourage anybody, but to warn you so you can prepare for what you may encounter if you choose to get into this stuff.

Listen to yourself, pay attention to your needs, make sure to take breaks, think about it, and really, stop if you need to!! And don't force yourself to do anything you feel you can't do, don't want to do or don't feel comfortable with!

Why bother?

The main advantage of past life work is the knowledge you acquire along your way. You can learn an awful lot, not just about yourself but about history, cultures, traditions, the world and people as you get to explore them and almost "relive" these experiences.

It's about learning, and hopefully, growing.

In the end, whatever you wish to use this knowledge for is only up to you. I, for instance, among other things, use some of my past life experiences as inspiration for writing poetry or painting.

The end.

I hope you found this informative and that I didn't bore you too much. If you have any thoughts or experiences with past lives, I'd love to hear about them. 💛