#“we have a youth mental health crisis”

[bounded-accuracy]

lmao at the preview where Porter is trying to convince them that their school isn’t worth saving

my dude, you sent literal dragons to their polling location. they may not be able to fix everything, but you clearly think they can fix something

[slyandthefamilybook]

since we now know that all those "my blog is safe for Jewish people" posts are bullshit, here are some Jewish organizations you can donate to if you actually want to prove you support Jews. put up or shut up

FIGHTING HUNGER

Masbia - Kosher soup kitchens in New York

MAZON - Practices and promotes a multifaceted approach to hunger relief, recognizing the importance of responding to hungry peoples' immediate need for nutrition and sustenance while also working to advance long-term solutions

Tomchei Shabbos - Provides food and other supplies so that poor Jews can celebrate the Sabbath and the Jewish holidays

FINANCIAL AID

Ahavas Yisrael - Providing aid for low-income Jews in Baltimore

Hebrew Free Loan Society - Provides interest-free loans to low-income Jews in New York and more

GLOBAL AID

American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee - Offers aid to Jewish populations in Central and Eastern Europe as well as in the Middle East through a network of social and community assistance programs. In addition, the JDC contributes millions of dollars in disaster relief and development assistance to non-Jewish communities

American Jewish World Service - Fighting poverty and advancing human rights around the world

Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society - Providing aid to immigrants and refugees around the world

Jewish World Watch - Dedicated to fighting genocides around the world

MEDICAL AID

Sharsheret - Support for cancer patients, especially breast cancer

SOCIAL SERVICES

The Aleph Institute - Provides support and supplies for Jews in prison and their families, and helps Jewish convicts reintegrate into society

Bet Tzedek - Free legal services in LA

Bikur Cholim - Providing support including kosher food for Jews who have been hospitalized in the US, Australia, Canada, Brazil, and Israel

Blue Card Fund - Critical aid for holocaust survivors

Chai Lifeline - An org that's very close to my heart. They help families with members with disabilities in Baltimore

Chana - Support network for Jews in Baltimore facing domestic violence, sexual abuse, and elder abuse

Community Alliance for Jewish-Affiliated Cemetaries - Care of abandoned and at-risk Jewish cemetaries

Crown Heights Central Jewish Community Council - Provides services to community residents including assistance to the elderly, housing, employment and job training, youth services, and a food bank

Hands On Tzedakah - Supports essential safety-net programs addressing hunger, poverty, health care and disaster relief, as well as scholarship support to students in need

Hebrew Free Burial Association

Jewish Board of Family and Children's Services - Programs include early childhood and learning, children and adolescent services, mental health outpatient clinics for teenagers, people living with developmental disabilities, adults living with mental illness, domestic violence and preventive services, housing, Jewish community services, counseling, volunteering, and professional and leadership development

Jewish Caring Network - Providing aid for families facing serious illnesses

Jewish Family Service - Food security, housing stability, mental health counseling, aging care, employment support, refugee resettlement, chaplaincy, and disability services

Jewish Relief Agency - Serving low-income families in Philadelphia

Jewish Social Services Agency - Supporting people’s mental health, helping people with disabilities find meaningful jobs, caring for older adults so they can safely age at home, and offering dignity and comfort to hospice patients

Jewish Women's Foundation Metropolitan Chicago - Aiding Jewish women in Chicago

Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty - Crisis intervention and family violence services, housing development funds, food programs, career services, and home services

Misaskim - Jewish death and burial services

Our Place - Mentoring troubled Jewish adolescents and to bring awareness of substance abuse to teens and children

Tiferes Golda - Special education for Jewish girls in Baltimore

Yachad - Support for Jews with disabilities

[australianwomensnews]

Evidence of a powerful link between smartphones, social media and depression, anxiety and self-harm among teenagers, especially girls, is growing, with new Australian research naming 2012 as the year that ushered in a mental health crisis.

The study of longitudinal data found there is a strong correlation between when an individual was born, how old they were when Instagram and Snapchat came into their lives, and self-reported mental health distress and social isolation.

“Young women born since the late 1990s report much lower levels of mental health than earlier generations and compared to their male counterparts,” the analysis from independent think tank e61 says.

“This generation has lived their teenage years when photo- and video-sharing social media platforms became popular in Australia.

“We also find that lower mental health is highly correlated to self-reported feelings of social isolation as measured through friendship connections.”

The analysis was submitted as evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into mental health and social media and whether age limits should be imposed on young people being able to access such platforms, among other things.

The analysis shows that self-reported scores on young women’s mental health declined from 73 per cent to 62 per cent between 2011 and 2022, while for young men it fell from 74.5 per cent to 67.5 per cent.

“Youth mental health was stable but then began falling sharply after 2012,” said Gianni La Cava, e61 research director.

Women aged 15 to 24 are the heaviest users of social media. Nearly 90 per cent of them use social media every day, or most days, compared with 62 per cent of women aged over 25.

There has also been a corresponding decline in friendships and feelings of isolation.

The e61 analysis notes some experts argue that social media can be a source of good for some young people, and mental health responses are individualised.

It also notes that there have been vast reductions in the stigmatisation of mental health issues among young people, which means that more may be comfortable in reporting it.

However, e61 says this “would not explain a sudden drop since the 2010s”.

In South Australia, former High Court judge Robert French was tasked in May with examining the legal consequences of banning children under the age of 14 from having social media accounts. The model would also require teenagers aged 14 and 15 have parental consent to access social media platforms.

In March, the US state of Florida legislated to ban social media accounts for children under 14, while Texas has legislated to require parental consent before allowing a user under the age of 18 to open an account. Spain also bans children under 14 from accessing a social network.

A growing body of evidence is linking social media and mental health. A survey by mental health service ReachOut this year found that 60 per cent of parents said they were concerned about their child’s use of social media and 55 per cent agreed that social media had a significant impact on their child’s wellbeing.

A US study found that adolescents who spend more than three hours a day on social media face double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes.

Support services:

Lifeline on 13 11 14

Beyond Blue 1300 22 4636

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800

[creature-wizard]

"I'm in a bad place and need to get out, what can I do?"

I figured I'd make a post with all the resources/tips I've collected to help people get out of shitty situations so far, since it's easier than linking to a bunch of posts each time.

Seek out appropriate resources. This can include support groups (online or offline), helplines, and the like.

If you're in the US, you can call 211 to help you find resources.

Crisis Text Line offers services to the US, Ireland, Canada, and the UK.

RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) is a US service offers a lot of information for sexual abuse survivors.

The Trevor Lifeline is a service for queer youth in the US.

If you're a minor, you may wish to read How To Escape Abusive Parents: A Guide For Minors.

If you're an adult, you may wish to read How To Escape Abusive Parents: A Guide For Adults.

You might search on Qwant for like something like "resources for people in abuse" or "abuse resources help" or "domestic violence survivors resources".

Ask people for help in finding resources. If you can't find anything on your own, there are other people who know where to direct you. It might take awhile to find what you're looking for, but keep asking.

A WORD OF CAUTION: there are many predatory spiritual groups and conspiracy theorists out there who prey on abuse survivors and mentally ill people. You will often see these people claiming that channeling or hypnosis can help you remember past life memories or repressed traumatic memories. This is nonsense and quackery.

Relevant posts of mine:

Hypnosis is unreliable for memory recovery, and this is one way we know.

False past life memories among the starseed movement

Here’s the trouble with hypnotic regression…

If you're on a website that claims to support cult survivors and you see any of these names in the citations (and make sure you check the citations!), leave immediately - all of these people are far right conspiracy theorists. (Unfortunately, many people today are unwittingly perpetuating the BS of Fritz Springmeier in particular. See this and this for more info on that.)

Change who and what you surround yourself with. Start associating with different people/groups as much as you can. Get hobbies to fill your time. Unfollow blogs that reinforce the beliefs you're trying to get away from, and follow blogs that provide a healthier alternative.

You might follow blogs like:

A Kind Place

Trauma Survivors Helping Trauma Survivors

Compassionate Reminders

Trauma Survivors Activities

Reasons For Hope

Bluest Fluff

If you're trying to rebuild your worldview without conspiratorial/culty elements, go take a look at my Resources page.

Remember that your first job is looking after yourself. You don't owe the group. You aren't responsible for the group, or for anyone in it. It might feel that way, but it's vitally important to acknowledge when you're unqualified or suffering burnout. You might feel like bad things will happen if you leave, but that's a fear, not a fact.

You also don't have to justify your departure to the group. You can just leave. If you feel that you must give a reason, you can offer something as simple as "I need to take some time to focus on my mental health" or "I'm really busy lately and don't have time to spend here." If they throw a fit over this, that's honestly just more proof that you need to get out.

If any practices the group taught you actually helped, you can keep doing them. If doing affirmations helped you, keep doing affirmations. If listening to so-called healing frequencies actually made you feel better, you don't have to stop listening to them. If you were practicing something like the Law of Assumption, you can carry on with a lot of that under a psychological model rather than Neville Goddard's wacky metaphysical model. (See this video for an example.) If it genuinely helps you and doesn't hurt anyone else, by all means, keep doing it.

You might look at my Manifestation Without Woo posts:

Manifestation Without Woo: Changing Your Brain

Manifestation Without Woo: People React To Your Projections, & Your Projections Affect Your Perceptions

Manifestation Without Woo: Setting Reasonable Goals

Manifestation Without Woo: Make It Fun!

Manifestation Without Woo: What If It's Not Working?

Get some critical thinking skills. In order to keep yourself from falling into another bad group, it's important to develop your critical thinking skills.

Learn to apply the Five W's (who, what, when, where, and why) when encountering any information.

Learn common logical fallacies.

Learn the difference between fact, opinion, belief, and prejudice.

Don't equate emotional reactions with some kind of innate or higher moral guidance.

Ask yourself if you're "thinking for yourself" or being led to believe you're thinking for yourself.

Know what emotional manipulation tactics look like.

Watch out for these behaviors in any new group you join.

Yes, there are ways to confirm the age of an old text without having the original text itself.

Learn how propaganda works.

Watch out for these red flags in spiritual groups.

And watch out for this red flag.

Understand that belief doesn't have to be binary.

So yeah, hopefully this'll give folks some actionable advice. I can't promise it's going to help each and every person out there, but hopefully it'll give a lot of you something that will help.

[tellmeallaboutit]

knock knock (Raphael x F!Player)

Chapter 15, In Which You Dance Twist With Mr. Goat (Pulp Fiction Style)

AO3

TAGS: self-harm, sharp objects, glass, politics

There was a time, not so long ago, when you were terrified of flying. 

The mere thought of that huge metal thing plummeting from the sky for no apparent reason (well, the human factor. It's always the human factor), a minute of sheer terror, descent, and then boom.

No survivors.

No bodies ever recovered.

You used to fear situations that so brazenly took control away from you. 

Well, you were wrong; there was something strangely comforting about letting go; about snuggling up in the plush comfort of an oversized leather seat, scrolling through messages on your phone to the roar of the twin engines. 

Raphael's hand was always on your knee, his tail wrapped tightly around your ankle, as if you could escape him on the private jet - or off it. A black diamond ring on your finger sparkled in the sunlight filtering through the oval windows. 

Across from you sat Camilla, while Jens occupied the far corner seat. Yurgir was conspicuously absent; you didn't pry into his reasons, just assumed his size exceeded the weight limit of any aircraft.

A headline in the Daily Mirror caught your eye: "Who is Anya Berger? What do we know about the mysterious girl who won the heart of a billionaire in ten days?"

What do they know, you wondered and clicked.

"Walk me through the panels again," Raul asked. "And the key people to talk to."

"Morning is boring," Korilla replied. "Mental health crisis, supply chain disruptions, sustainability regulations. You start in the afternoon, sir: your first is the AI discussions with the UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for Technology."

"I won't say a word about this soulless drivel," Raphael said, skimming through the agenda.

Camilla choked on her coffee while Jens flinched at her sudden movement, his hand swiftly resting on the gun now.

"Mr D'Avergni, Avernus' portfolio is 15% invested in AI technologies," she said as soon as she collected herself. "What do you mean 'soulless nonsense'? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said. I will not say a word about these abominable technologies. I have been made privy to information that they are cannibalising art and I will not stand for it". 

"Where did you hear this nonsense?" whispered Camilla. "Tumblr? Anya? Is that your doing?"

"I'm totally against AI," you interjected, without looking up from your phone, engrossed in the news article about your grunge heroin chic and manic-girl attitude.

They recommended black nail polish, drawing dark circles under your eyes and perfecting the look of total derangement to repeat your success. There were also some advanced blowjob techniques at the bottom of the article. 

"What is this panel 'Securing an Insecure World'?" asked Raphael. "I quite fancy the name."

"Sir, it has nothing to do with you. This is the macroeconomic panel on the dying middle class, youth problems, inequality, blah blah blah. Fear-mongering."

"Fear-mongering?" said Raphael. "I seem to have found my stage."

Camilla closed her eyes and put on her best smile. The flight attendant glided by in her pressed uniform and replaced your coffee; you were momentarily struck by the amount of cleavage she was showing as your eyes glanced upwards. 

To see very familiar eyes and a smile. Haarlep put a finger to her lips and gave you a little wink. You smiled back.

"Sir," Camilla said gently. "It doesn't work that way. You can't just speak whenever and about whatever you want in a global forum. It's all scripted, all pre-written."

"Astute observation," said Raphael. "Scripted conversations, scripted problems, scripted solutions, no room for improvisation. Davosneeds a breath of fresh air. Of honesty. Of a genuine hope for change".

Camilla said, "Of course, sir," and forced a smile. 

Back to the article: did they really get your ex-boyfriend to give an interview about you? Did he have anything good to say, that bastard who regularly forgot to flush the toilet?

Yes, he had plenty to say, mostly about you being not right in the head. You put him on your hit list and stroked Raphael's tail, which in turn stroked your ankle. They even got your mum on the phone, who thankfully had nothing much to say except that you were a good Catholic girl.

You saw some frantic movement out of the corner of your eye.

Camilla was waving you over to the plane's galley. You tried to get up, but were stopped by a tail wrapped around your ankle like a boa constrictor. "May I go to the toilet?" you asked, and Raphael uncoiled his tail, three times, with a slight reproach in his eyes. Jens did his best to keep a straight face, the corners of his mouth twitching.

Camilla pulled you deeper into the galley. She smelled of fresh coffee and burnout. 

"Anya, listen, I am very sorry that it has to come to this, but just between us girls..." she said, her fingers fidgeting with her diamond necklace. "Did Raul remember to take his medication today? I don't like his mood”. She shifted on her feet. "God, I miss the days when you could smoke in these things”.

"I'm not his doctor," you shrugged.

"Well, maybe it would be worth reminding him," Camilla drawled. "I'd rather not see viral videos of him committing political suicide in Davos. And I'm sure you'd agree."

You weren't so sure.

"I'm not going to poke the devil, and I suggest you don't either," you said, leaning against the galley counter.

Camilla sighed and gave you a very sympathetic smile.

"Anya, may I give you some friendly advice? Raul may seem like a half-god to you, but I've seen him curled up in a ball sobbing about how Daddy never loved him when he was high as a kite on coke. He's... as human as the rest of us. For better and worse”.

Just then, the plane shook violently, sending you both clutching the walls for support. The pilot quickly apologized over the intercom.

"Don't patronise me, Korilla," you said. "Do you think I'm just some pathetic, love-struck girl Raul likes to abuse?"

Camilla paused for a moment before suppressing a grin. "I'm going to invoke my right against self-incrimination. So tell me, my dear: who are you really?"

"Much more than meets the eye." You straightened up, standing slightly taller than her (which was not difficult). "I'm the one who gave him all this power in the first place."

"Wow," Kamilla snorted out in surprise. "Wow. Okay. Cool. Never mind."

"You need proof?" you said quietly. 

"Not really," she said.

"I wish you would get down on your knees and kiss my hand."

"What?" Kamilla burst out laughing. "Maybe you should share your medicine with Raul. Ask Dr Bambauer for a family discount. He will be at Davos, by the way, speaking on the mental health crisis".

"I wish for you to kiss my hand," you insisted. "Come on, do it, I have a point to prove."

You really need to learn how to calibrate these things. This one worked, though; she complied, sinking to her knees before you, a wild look in her eyes. Then she planted a surprisingly gentle kiss on your palm, leaving a crimson mark. 

"What the hell?" she whispered as she looked up at you. Raphael was engrossed in his paperwork, oblivious to the scene, so was Jens.

"See, Korilla," you started again after letting the moment hang awkwardly in the air for longer than necessary, "don't worry about Raphael talking nonsense. You'd be surprised how many people eat it up."

"Who the fuck is Raphael?"

"Your new boss," you said. "Well, old boss actually. Ahh... you won't really notice much of a difference; I hardly do myself sometimes," you lowered your voice to a minimum. "But don't tell them that, they'll get angry. You can get up now, this is getting a bit weird."

She tried to say something, her lips barely moving. You think it was 'how'. She was asking ‘how’.

"You see," you said. "The devil thinks I am very, very  special”.

Having said that, you came back to your seat. Raphael's tail immediately darted to your ankle and wrapped around it. You leaned back in your chair and watched Haarlep flirting with the pilot out of the corner of your eye.

It would be really stupid to crash because Haarlep wanted to have a quickie in the cockpit. The plane began its descent to Samedan St Moritz airport. The rugged Swiss Alps came into view out the window, snow-capped peaks glistening in the afternoon sun. 

***

When you book a presidential suite you no longer have to check in, you can just walk straight past the reception. The hotel was a mountain resort so exclusive that the website was just an artistic photo with no way to reserve a room. 

Raphael was eerily calm as he watched the staff unpack your belongings. His calm demeanour lasted until some poor sap nearly wrinkled his suit while trying to hang it in the en-suite cloakroom. A deafening growl sent the trembling fellow scuttling from the room.

The rest were given very generous tips.

Soon after, you found Raphael rehearsing his speech in a mirror, repeating the same phrases three times in a row, "when youth was told their souls were worthless, easily replicated by machines". Each time he spoke, there was a subtle change in tone, as if he was trying to capture some emotion - you were not quite sure what he was getting at - was he trying to imitate genuine concern? 

If so, he could work on his delivery.

He gave it another shot, the tension in his back muscles evident through his shirt.

"Excellent choice of attire, gattina," he gave you a look you approached. "Might I suggest an improvement? Not these trousers. The black pencil skirt with the white vertical stripes, the Saint Laurent one from the spring collection."

"It looks absurd on me," you looked away. "I don't have the body for it."

"You have the body for anything," he said. "Don't debate me on this. Slip into the skirt, return here and see how right I am”.

That damned skirt was a nightmare: so constricting that any wrong move felt like a tear waiting to happen; clearly designed by someone who either had never laid eyes on an actual woman or harbored a deep-seated resentment towards anyone the wrong size and proportion, which would be everyone. 

Yet somehow, you managed to wriggle yourself into it and made your way back to him.

"Now that's what I want to see," Raul smiled. "A beautiful woman and all mine."

"It's two sizes smaller than what I wear".

"Come closer, you silly creature, and grasp how breathtaking you are."

He tugged you towards the full-length mirror and swept your hair to one side so that you could take in your entire reflection.

Only it wasn’t yours.

When you played Sims and tweaked the controls to create the ideal you, you ended up with someone like this. Every trait similar to what you had, only better. A lot better. Smoother skin, better hair, smaller waist, perkier tits.

"They will see you through my eyes," Raphael said as his hands slid under your blouse and cupped your breasts. "These mortals will seethe with jealousy, envying me for having you and you for having me."

The woman in the mirror looked like someone Raphael would choose to be his consort. The skirt looked perfect, as it was tailor made just for you. 

"That’s not me," you said, mesmerized by the eerie reflection.

"Nonsense. You didn't know who you truly were until you met me," he whispered in your ear. "If it's not you I'm putting my arms around, why would you feel them?"

You felt his palms squeeze your breasts and roll your nipples between his fingers. His lips brush your neck. His growing bulge against your backside.

"Now would you be so kind?.." he asked. 

You could swear the woman in the mirror was bending over before you did, eagerly offering herself, sliding her panties down to her knees and placing her palms on either side of the mirror for leverage. His hands kneaded your buttocks, spreading you apart as his erection pressed against your entrance.

Foreplay wasn't on his agenda, you realized with a shiver. True enough, he penetrated you with a single thrust. First sharp pain, then the very familiar pleasure, liquid and pitch black and all-consuming.

"Look," he said. "Look at yourself. Look at me. Marvel at what you see."

The woman in the mirror moaned in response, pleasure etched on her face as the devil behind her ravaged. Her features twisted and blurred in ever-changing motion, skin wobbling like waves of water; she was shifting between all the women you ever dreamed of being - one moment Tav, then Christine, then Sarah Williams.

"It's not real," you moaned. 

His eyes remained fixed on the mirror the whole time he fucked you. You arched backwards into him, grinding against him with each thrust, skin slapping against skin.

"There is no reality," he whispered back. "Other than what you see in that mirror”.

His thrusts came harder now, jolting you against the cold glass. The woman in the mirror seemed to have gone insane from how well she was being fucked, her face twisted in a barely human grimace of bliss.

"Climax," he commanded with a snap of his fingers.

You saw the woman in the mirror go limp in his arms, a look of absent bliss on her face, and then remember that the woman was you. A jagged sound ripped from you. Your body responded to the command like a dog thrown a biscuit; your cunt tightened around his cock once.

Twice. 

The woman in the mirror morphed again; now it’s someone you’d seen a thousand times, the weird pale girl nobody ever gave a second look. 

You. 

Thrice.

The mirror you were propped against shattered - spectacularly so, its razor-sharp fragments raining down like confetti.

"Hang on," you managed to gurgle out in sheer terror as you tumbled, losing your balance. "Raphael, hold on..."

He didn't. Instead, he let gravity take over and you fell face-first into the broken mirror below, his weight following right after. Your scream of pleasure morphed into a wail of agony as countless tiny shards opened up on your skin; mutilating, cutting, obliterating. 

oh god it hurts 

Raphael groaned as he drove you deeper and deeper into the jagged fragments, your writhing and screaming doing nothing to deter him. The shards under your skin thrust in and out with each thrust, piercing right through you, through your face.

oh god it hurts; pulsated the single thought. The pain was nothing like you had felt before; it was the clearest sensation your clouded mind had ever processed.

A growing pool of blood spread like spilled wine on the white marble tiles beneath you. You closed your eyes tightly, but that didn't make the blood disappear. You blinked them open again... then closed them... 

Blood was still there. Raphael thrust once, so hard there wasn’t a single shard left that didn’t hurt you. 

Twice.

Three times, and he came inside you, spitting curses in Italian between ragged breaths. 

The pain suddenly vanished as if snapped away by his fingers; but its ghostly memory kept your tears flowing.

"I swear to God, kitten" Raul murmured as he rolled off you, "the way you're screaming would make anyone think I'm murdering you."

You opened your eyes and stared at the perfectly white tiles.

No blood.

No shards. No cuts. No pain.

Nothing. You looked up in the mirror: the Gorgeous Version of You looked back. You looked down on yourself. 

Exactly how you always wanted to be. 

You laughed in blissful abandon. Then, you rolled onto your back, catching sight of Raul's gobsmacked expression which made you laugh even harder.

read the rest on ao3

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Miranda Nazzaro at The Hill, via NewsNation:

(The Hill) — More than a dozen states and the District of Columbia sued TikTok on Tuesday, alleging the platform exploits and harms young users while “deceiving” the public about these dangers. California Attorney General Rob Bonta and New York Attorney General Letitia James led the coalition of 14 attorneys general, who each filed suits in state court over violations of state consumer protection laws. Bonta said a national investigation into TikTok found that the platform “cultivates social media addiction to boost corporate profits.” The investigation was launched in March 2022 by a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general from various states including New Jersey, California, North Carolina and Kentucky.

“TikTok intentionally targets children because they know kids do not yet have the defenses or capacity to create healthy boundaries around addictive content,” Bonta wrote. “When we look at the youth mental health crisis and the revenue machine TikTok has created, fueled by the time and attention of our young people, it’s devastatingly obvious: Our children and teens never stood a chance against these social media behemoths,” he continued. TikTok’s business platform allegedly prioritizes maximizing young users’ time through its algorithm, which determines what users see on the app’s “For You” page. This helps boost the platform’s revenue through targeted advertising, the suits alleged. The social media platform is further accused of deploying “manipulative features” to keep young users hooked, including its beauty filters, push notifications, temporary stories and livestreams.

13 states and DC sue TikTok for exploiting children and teens and deceiving the public.

[locallixie]

artificial love — hyunjin

> summary . this malfunction is like nothing you had seen before, as if he became human all of a sudden!

> genre . angst, sci-fi, unrequited love, android!hyunjin, inventor!reader, gn!reader

> warnings . none, or does having an existential crisis count?

(wc) > 3.0k

(sunny’s note) ☆ thanks to @stay-midnight for inspiring this fic! reference from here. y'all, i'm not well after writing this fic.

Loneliness existed in everyone, a feeling of which was unavoidable. Some may feel lonely, despite being around with people. And some may spiral into absolute insanity. We, as humans, all long for companionship wether we liked it or not. Our brains has been wired to develop relationships, platonically speaking, romantically speaking. Humans were forever bound to make connections to one another.

You were no different to your own kind, eaten and swallowed by your own woes and lonesome. Devoting your youth years to science and inventing, it was no doubt that you grew up having little to no friends. For one to be so immersed in their passion, one must to make sacrifices.

A decade long project of creating the perfect companion, proved how societal isolation has taken a toll on your mental health. It took years, it took blood, sweats, and tears. You poured everything of yours into your invention, your time, your health, and even your bits and pieces of your fragile soul. This was a project that you kept in secret, locking it away and never telling half a word to anyone.

After multiple demo models and the entire coding system crashing due to overload, going from blueprint to blueprint, you finally made it! The android’s eyes opened, slowly blinking as he admired his surroundings. An unnatural blueish grey, piercing through you like icicles. That was fair, he was in every way shape or form, unnatural.

"My tag is 'SKZ-03202K', would you like to give me a name, dear maker?" Monotonous, lacking every and all possible kind of emotions. Default speech full of formality, you haven't heard anyone speaking on that level of respect in a long while—made it a bit uncomfortable to hear.

You took a good look at him, from head to toes and back. "Your name is..." Pausing in order to make up something in your head, then it struck. "Hyunjin."

Hyunjin seemed pleased with his new name, 'Hyunjin'—as he mumbled his name once more for it to completely seep into his system. It sounded pleasant, however, not as pleasant as to when you said his name with your subtle, sweet voice. Pronouncing each syllable clearly, your mouth broke into a slight smile when you reached the last sound.

When did his hair got so red? The synthetic strands that you used for his hair was a translucent white when you first got it, it held no colour at all from the market all the way back home. What an eyesore shade of red, guessed you'd have to get used to it since there was no way you could afford new strands at the moment—the ones you got for Hyunjin were way out of your budget. Jeez, he stood out a hell of a lot looking like this, people would be sending weird stare left and right if you were to go out in public with him.

He looked very human, as if a random stranger had broke into your place and standing here in front of you. Although, his features were just a little off to be completely human. You made his face plate yourself, Hyunjin was a combination of multiple male celebrities you adored, a Frankenstein of some sort if you may say so. His slanted fox eyes, plumped and full lips, straight and prominent nose bridge. Air brushed and carefully carved every teeny tiny details on his face, the one mistake you made while painting him ended in a beauty mark that enhanced his entire face even more, happy accident?

"Call me [Y/N]." You smiled, admiring your creation. Congratulation, you had made a new friend! Literally. It wouldn't be as empty now, he could fill that void in your woeful heart. "Let's get you dressed." Setting the table to stand horizontally, you said.

The floor was made of wood, white oak wood in specific. A four-walls prison of which you called a laboratory, painted a white that encouraged anxiety and stress. He watched his feet, taking his first few steps. Under his artificial finger nails, he could see a blue light sneaking through—must be his internal machinery, built with solely bolts and steel. His entire body was a glossy paper white, except for some clear windows on his limps and torso that showed everything inside of him. Though he was man-made, in no sort of way was he, himself, a man.

“Here, you can wear this for now.” A minimal white button-up with a collar that wouldn’t stand, greyish brown straight-leg pants that were too short on him due to his tall stature. These were old clothes, they didn’t even belonged to you, one day it appeared out of nowhere and has been here since.

Hyunjin couched down beside you on the floor after putting on the clothes you gave him, he asked attentively “Are you hungry, [Y/N]? Would you like me to make you a meal?”

Your stomach grumbled in hunger, hasn’t been feeding yourself properly due to being hyper-fixated on your work—building Hyunjin, finalizing a few research papers that you were doing for an additional income, maintaining an almost full-time job at a engineering firm. There were barely anything inside the fridge that could be used to make food, you were surviving on whatever you could find around your apartment and convenience store-bought food. Sighing, realizing the amount of things you needed to take care of before you could rest in a comfortable bed and do absolutely nothing.

“No, I think I’m going to head straight for bed tonight, early shift.” You stood up and walked pass him, towards your bedroom.

Hyunjin followed you, “How would you like your room temperature to be, do you prefer warm or cold?”

“Cold, not too cold though, I might be sick by the time I wake up.” You told, slowly getting in bed after drawing the curtains. As you were about to turn off the lights, you saw Hyunjin blankly staring at you at the end of your bed.

Avoiding his intense gaze, “Don’t watch me sleep, it creeps me out.”

“Well, what should I do then, you might get hurt during the night and I should be here to tend to you at all times.” Explained, his logic wasn’t wrong but maybe don’t protect you in this way?

You blushed, not knowing what to do. “I don’t know, you can shut off during the night or something? Just don’t watch me sleep, okay?”

Hyunjin stepped outside, giving you back your privacy, he closed your door as he bid you goodnight. Tonight had not one single star on that dark canvas. only the nonstop gleaming moon that always lingered above everyone. Out into the balcony, the second most beautiful thing he saw today, the moon showered him with its light. The city scenery that stretched out into infinity, was this what you saw every day? What did you think of whenever you admired the busy evening out here on your balcony? Did you dwell on the past? Did you strive for bigger in the future? Or were you here in the present time, enjoying and stuck in the moment like everyone else?

His purpose? To take care of you, to be someone that you could leaned on and rely. He knew where he was born from, the mud and thorns of your mind. A creation from desolation and madness, each part of him was you losing senses of reality in bits and pieces. Hyunjin was a recreation, a breaking point, a last hope. Perfect being made by imperfect being, the irony that was he.

Morning came, he didn’t sleep—not that he needed any since he didn’t function like how human did—all the thoughts kept him up pondering without one logical answer. You woke up half an hour before eight o’clock, a habitual routine that you followed every day. No matter what you did, you would always be at the table having breakfast at eight fifty exact, then leaving on time as per usual.

Today you didn’t forget to pass by the supermarket for groceries on the way home, traffic was surprisingly well managed for rush hour and you got home a lot sooner than you expected on a Tuesday evening. Hyunjin was already waiting at the front door, he could pick up your distinctive footsteps all the way down the corridor from inside of your apartment.

“What did you do today while I’m gone?” You asked cheerfully, it was nice to know that there was someone at home waiting for your arrival. Hyunjin began listing household chores, which perfectly explained why your entire place was spotlessly clean—some of the furniture also got reorganized in the process.

You placed the groceries you got onto the marble counter, “Try making something out of these ingredients, I don’t know what I bought.” You didn’t remember anything that was in that bag, you could not list a single item that was on the receipt. You went to the supermarket, blacked out, and came out with a bag full of stuff that has little to none correlations to one another.

Confident that Hyunjin could make do with anything, after all, you programmed him to know almost everything. He did not disappoint, serving you one of the best meal of your short lifespan. Interesting, watching your every movement. Chewing food, breathing, using your utensils with your hands, your eyes blinking each millisecond. He found it endearing to observe you, you were such a fascinating being to him. Could he say, he felt happy for the first ever time?

“[Y/N]?” Hyunjin hesitantly called out, a bit afraid to meet your angry glare every time something went wrong. For a long time living in the same space as you, he has learned quite a lot of human emotions, especially all the negative ones that you had presented on accident.

Not startled, numb to the usual occurrences and mishaps that happened. Nonchalant, you replied in a question “What is it?”

Met with his set of burgundy colored hair, Hyunjin was hiding his face from you by keeping his head low. In his hands, a large piece that had broke off from his face plate. Slowly moving his head up to face you, this bashful look that he was wearing on his ruined face. A whole eyeball, some of the wires were hanging out, gears and tiny pieces laid exposed since he broke a large majority of his face.

Let out a deep dragged breath, gently removing his face and its entirety from his head, you got your tools ready to fix it. It now has became a normal thing, you got multiple spare copies of Hyunjin’s faceplate purely from how often he would break his own face. Prying the heavily damaged faceplate off, replaced with a new one in just a short couple minutes.

“Hyunjin, this is your second one this month, how did you broke it so badly this time?” Questioned you, seeing how his eyes were avoiding yours, you figured he didn’t want to answer.

Compared to last year, his appearance changed into a completely different person in such a subtle manner that you only noticed now. Hair from a vibrant red to a deeper, more close to brown hue. His skin received more pigments, it looked more like real human skin with yellows and reds and blues all mixed up together. His irises has changed color as well, an icy blue that transitioned smoothly into a pale brown. What was going on, did he caught a virus by any chance?

Hyunjin too, caught onto the sudden changes that was happening to him gradually throughout the years. He looked more and more human, he began to become more reactive, his tone of voice gained more life than before. As if he was becoming human. This was utterly unreal, a fever dream—if he could even have any dreams from the start. He wasn't human, but maybe now he wasn't too far from being one.

"Hyunjin, look at me when I'm talking to you." You noted to him, those eyes were still trying flee from your stern gaze. A sudden light wave of pink washed across his face, was he...blushing? Though his cheeks was still cold to the touch, his surface texture still the half way point between matte and glossy. You should really check out his internal system, there was, for a definite, something wrong going on inside of him.

To be honest, his coding was not done by you—at least not everything. You originally bought the vital core that initially made Hyunjin function properly off an unknown second-hand robotic parts market. The owner prior to you that had this core must had been the one who coded his entire programming, you only went in and altered a few minor details like his voice frequency or deleted codes that suggested corruption. There was one file in particular that denied you of access, you couldn't quite get rid of it as well, permanently locked to your knowledge. To take further measures, in special cases if something bad were to happen, you placed a digital wall that prevented computer viruses—not separating it from the others, since you might accidentally block crucial codes that would ultimately contribute to his performance.

"You seem stressed, can I do anything to help relieve it?" His sweet, generous inventor looked so worn out and full of exhaustion, he could not help himself but feel something for you. What it was, he didn't know yet.

You dismissed him, "Just give me some space, I can't deal with any more trouble right now."

Trouble? Did you meant him, was he a bother to you as you two spoke, were you stressed because of him? Guilty, was that the right word? He felt guilty, like he was of no use to you and you would always has to rescue him from himself. [Y/N], please don't be mad at him. Hyunjin one and only goal, his purpose of creation, was to make you happy. And if you weren't happy, were distressed and angered. Each sighs and groans that left your lips, you no longer smiled when you pronounced that last syllable of his name, it broke his faux heart.

You said you were lonely, and you created him in the midst of your mess, now why were you pushing him away? The more he spent his immortal lifetime in this era with you, the more sentient he became. God, look at him, he couldn't even recognize himself anymore. There were so much colours and shades on his skin, his hair grew so long that you had to cut some inches off, his system was overheating more often whenever you were around. This was not right, everything was getting out of his abilities. He was supposed to be an android, he wasn't anywhere human, but why did he felt alive?

Was this something terrible? Or was this love? How come love was so painful, how come he even felt pain in the first place? Hyunjin couldn't cry, he didn't have tear ducts. However, his fake heart that pumped fluid the thickness of blood was aching. Shut down, shut down everything, he would tell himself. Reboot your system, wipe every line of codes that signified a sense of adversity, get rid of it all. Go back to how it was should be, go back to when you felt nothing and were nothing but a tool to help your inventor achieve euphoria. These feelings, these human feelings weren't meant for you, they weren't yours and would never be.

"[Y/N]," Hyunjin called once again, he made up his choice, he loved you. This massive error in his system, was because he had developed feelings for you. You turned back, staring with the same distanced expression you wore previously. "please disassemble me."

"What?" Not a word of asking for clarification, you heard him loud and clear.

Turned away for one second, back and he was looking more like one of your kind than before. Hair, no hints of red, black as the sky the night he awoken. His eyes, the same fate, dark as never before. Hyunjin, was more alive than you, despite what he was. As if a levanter had blew the essence of what it was like to be human into him, he was not the Hyunjin you once made with your bare hands and lonesome. He had became his own person. The physical embodiment of your solitude, he received himself a soul from it. He wasn't a perfect masterpiece since he was now deemed imperfect, but imperfection was what made him to be considered as human.

Simple enough, humans were unlike artificial intelligence or androids like him. Humans has limitations, humans has flaws, human has empathy. Humans were imperfect. While androids and artificial intelligence excelled at everything, they were better at manual labours, better at gaining knowledge. Yet, they were not better at being human. An outlier such as Hyunjin, he wasn't mortal with blood and organs, he didn't need oxygen or nutrients to survive. Somehow, he felt joy, felt sadness, felt anger, felt pain, felt all of these complex emotions that was beyond his system comprehension.

"I can't bear to watch you wither away, while I'm stuck here 'til the end of time, or 'til I run out of energy." Hyunjin confessed, saying this now so you both could save yourselves. Maybe in another life, he would be breathing the same air, he would be eating the same food, loving the same person as he was doing now. Maybe in another life, being alive and feeling all these overwhelming emotions wouldn't be so wrong on him.

Since this love was completely artificial, you invented and built him yourself, you had technically created this fondness of his. A manifestation of yearning out for a faraway love, just so you wouldn't be too lonely anymore. When his skin become warm, he'd hold you without hesitation, he'd kiss you with his soft lips. When his heart actually start beating, he'd forget every thoughts that would run across his mind and love you. When he awake in a fragile, human vessel, this love would be authentic.

[system-of-a-feather]

Man, I think it's really insane what I get to do for work right now and just genuinely that its both something I'm EXTREMELY good and a natural at in a way that is really just honestly undeniable to anyone looking and also just something that no one is even trying to deny.

For those not caught up, I was assisting in the re-opening of a youth mental health crisis center and we have recently soft opened for like two weeks ago with a cap limit of like 4 kids at a time and like the two weeks before opening, it was really apparent that the really unbothered and radical acceptance and just positive redirection skills I got from ALL the fucking therapy and processing and communication I've had to do to heal from trauma, DID, and just live a good life was SUPER essential to keeping the team from having a collective mental breakdown and falling apart

But now that we actually have kids, I'm honestly immediately getting a SUPER reputation as one of the best at building rapport, creating not only a safe but fun and motivating environment, and just really all together creating a space where kids are EXCITED to do things and are EXCITED to try things when they go back home (as we only do short term inpatient care)

And unironically all of the five kids that we've had so far have all actively communicated to my coworkers and peers that they really liked me, asking to have me in to support on CPS visits and just finding themselves specifically comfortable with sharing a lot of hard and vulnerable topics with me and just?

I'm really just being me. Like I'm really just engaging with people I would have engaged with in general online for free and curating a positive, hope providing, and kinda fun environment for people who are going through a long and hard but necessary journey has just always been just... kind of my thing?

And honestly I'm getting paid pretty well to just really be a supportive adult role model / support / aid for kids who are in crisis, had an attempt mere like VERY recently, and just help them regain a sense of stable and - if I can - uplift them to have something to look forward to while assisting the therapists in giving them skills to apply to help navigate returning home and man.

A lot of the time I leave work feeling like I just left a like... fun summer camp counseling day or hanging out with lil mentees and I really don't genuinely feel like this is real work? XD

It's so fucking insane and the fact that I genuinely think literally everyone at my work likes me? Like a lot? and even the boss that was a little toxic in early opening due to stress seems to really like me??? And I'm just like???

I'm an outstanding employee and yet I'm just out here straight VIBING man.

But like literally today, some of the other staff were just side eyeing (positively) since I was sitting in for the ACT and Meditation / Mindfulness therapy session to support since we only had one client and we were just like XD laughing and having a ball with the therapist and client despite ALSO talking about some really heavy personal topics and navigating some potentially triggering sitautions that the client themselves asked for me and the therapist to roleplay and discuss and its just?

Man like, job statisfaction 100 right now and its insane

Cause I was having an AWFUL Tuesday (refused to let it STAY awful cause I don't believe in forfeiting my day to be a "bad day" without a fight) and I was even telling my therapist, one of the things in the week I'm looking forward to is ACTUALLY going into work and part of me was like "Yeah yeah, tell yourself that, theres no way work is GENUINELY something you want to do"

But like? Genuinely? It absolutely was a great break and not even in the "something to distract myself" but just because its a structured environment where the whole task and game is to create a calm, stable, safe, supportive, and - where appropriate - fun environment.

And honestly, these kids really honestly sometimes really seem as though they've really just not had someone look at them in a while and be genuinely interested in who they are and what they are doing because like? Dude some of these kids are literally the coolest and most amazing kids around and in these two weeks alone I've been taught a lot of really awesome things during our downtimes.

It's honestly such an honor and a pleasure to be able to just sit in during a brief period of these kiddos life. Like damn.

[padspadspads]

Watch the telly, turn it off.

Hear the sighs, stop listening.

Feel the fear, let it go.

Feel the hope, breathe it in.

The women are fearful, so are the children, so is the LGBT+ community, so is the BIPOC community, so are the working class, so hear them.

I understand for some Internationals, it’s difficult to entirely empathise with the victims of this election, how they brought it on themselves, how they should have voted better, how they could have organised better.

We can argue for as long as we want about the failure of the Democratic party, but people are fearful.

Women may lose their right to their bodies. Trans people may lose their right to Gender Affirming Care, LGBT individuals may lose the right to adopt, to get married, BIPOC people will continue to live in a Fascist Police State, Children will continue to not be safe in their schools.

However - Women DO still have a right to their bodies, Trans people DO still have access to GAC, LGBT individuals CAN get married, they CAN still adopt.

And, yes, under a Democratic Presidency, BIPOC people would still live in a Fascist Police State, Children would still be unsafe in their schools, and I am so sorry that the Democrats did not think you were worthy enough to fight for.

American Society has far progressed past the need for a two party system, for a choice between 99% Hitler and 100% Hitler.

A united left will beat Fascism. Love, Care, Solidarity, Hope, and Organisation WILL. BEAT. FASCISM.

A Trump Presidency was survived, it can be survived again. It can be survived again. It can be survived again.

MENTAL HEALTH AMERICA: 1-800-985-5990 or text “TalkWithUs” to 66746

PFLAG TRANS LIFELINE: (877) 565-8860

THE NATIONAL LGBT HOTLINE: (888) 843-4564

THE LGBT NATIONAL YOUTH HOTLINE (Up until age 25): (800) 246-7743

STRONG HEARTS NATIVE + ALASKAN NATIVE ABUSE HOTLINE: 1-844-762-8483

BLACKLINE (BIPOC Crisis Counselling) 1-800-604-5841

OFFICE ON WOMEN’S HEALTH: 800-799-SAFE (7233)

[aeraspais]

eddie's issues with masculinity are about stoicism, repression and heteronormativity, not aggression! idk how anyone can watch the show and think otherwise. tbh buck has worse anger issues, but he's never violent so people disregard it. but buck yells and he gets upset and he lashes out, particularly in territorial ways. we see all of this is s7 obviously where buck actually injures eddie due to jealousy and tbh possessiveness, and eddie has to be coaxed to breaking point by a doppelganger of his dead wife to even pantomime anger towards a dead person

yes, yes, yes, this entirely. tbh, and this is my common refrain, but their canonical behavior got switched around in fandom, and I cannot in good faith ignore it. eddie has always been depicted as conflict-avoidant person. when he does go off, he's amid a mental health crisis and his targets are often friends and family he already established a safe place with (his outburst at the grocery store in season three, his moment with bobby in season five). buck doesn't, though! i voiced something similar before, that buck sort of feeds off conflict. i wouldn't say he seeks it but when the ball's in his court he's pretty fearless. the only exceptions have all been maddie-centric, which is how he got into that mess with chim and why eddie gently corrected him. like the only explanation for this deeply common behavior within fandom is unconscious racial biases/racism! few actually care enough to have a meaningful, productive conversation though because they rather write posts characterizing eddie as some aggressive dom top latino who only exist to parent and fuck the youthful, naïve sub bottom white man and it's a disservice to what makes buddie interesting.

[connorthemaoist]

It’s been ten years since the Ferguson rebellion, and the police continue to kill Black and other oppressed people with impunity. A few killer cops have faced charges, trial, and prison time, but most of these murderers with a badge get away with their crimes. The police keep serving and protecting white supremacy and capitalism, and in that role, they are sanctioned to brutalize and kill.

Over 1,200 people were killed by police nationwide in 2023. The police respond to people in a mental health crisis with taser guns and bullets. In response to rising homelessness, homeless people are being criminalized, with police carrying out brutal raids on encampments. Squad cars creep through the hood, where the police harass Black, Latino, and proletarian youth, brutalizing them and throwing them into the prison pipeline. On reservations and in border towns, police murder Indigenous people at disturbing rates. And protestors have faced brutal repression from militarized police, including those opposing the construction of the Cop City police training facility in Atlanta, along with the college student encampments opposing the US-Israel genocidal war on Gaza.

Why haven’t waves of protests against police brutality changed this state of affairs? Because the protest movement has been derailed time after time by politicians promising reforms and grifters using the movement for their personal gain. Justice Department investigations, legislation, police review boards, and other reforms cannot end police brutality because it’s baked into the system that government on all levels serves. It’s a fundamental tool, alongside mass incarceration, to keep oppressed people controlled and subjugated. On top of this, grifters from the Black Lives Matter organization to Robin DiAngelo, Shaun King, and Ibram X Kendi have anointed themselves the spokespeople of the movement and collected hundreds of millions of dollars in donations, corporate sponsorships, and book deals while serving themselves rather than the masses of people subjected to police brutality. (Look up the interview of Samaria Rice, the mother of Tamir Rice, in New York Magazine to see what we’re talking about.)

This Fall, Dare To Struggle is working to rebuild the movement against police brutality and the oppression of Black people on solid foundations. Join us for protests on October 22nd, the national day of protest against police brutality. The movement we’re seeking to build will put the families and loved ones of the victims of police murder on the forefront, reviving a powerful weapon against police brutality. We will work to mobilize the youth under the gun of police brutality to stand up and speak for themselves. We will unite all who can be united in this struggle, regardless of identity. And we will reject begging for reforms in favor of mass action, outside the official political channels, to exert the just demands of the masses. Grifters and lawyers looking to cash in on grief will be exposed and removed.

Join us on October 22nd to demand:

No more murders and brutality by the police! Send killer cops to prison!

End the criminalization of Black, Latino, and Indigenous youth!

End the criminalization of homelessness and mental illness!

No more militarized police repression of protest!

Rally / Protest Locations:

Los Angeles: City Hall 4:30 pm

(200 N Spring Street, Los Angeles)

New York City: Betsy Head Park 7pm

(154 Dumont Ave, Brownsville, Brooklyn, NYC)

Chicago: Outside the killer cop 11th Precinct 5:30 pm (3151 W Harrison St, Chicago)

More to be added!

DareToStruggle.org

[ausetkmt]

Donald Trump's Hate Has No Place in Black America. Let's Remind Him in November.

We are seven months out from the most consequential election in our nation’s history, and Black voters know what’s up: A recent survey conducted by Black pollster Cornell Belcher’s firm asked 800 Black voters in battleground states to identify the single greatest threat to the Black community.

Their answer? A second Donald Trump presidency.

We should not be surprised by this finding. Trump is prepared to enact – and in many cases, reenact – policies that will do great harm to the Black community and to communities of color. He is expected to authorize mass deportations, wage war on the federal civil service (of which Black employees comprise 18 percent), cut taxes for the rich at the expense of the middle class, fight to make healthcare more expensive and less accessible and support an abortion ban that will only worsen the maternal mortality crisis.

While we have focused a lot on what Trump would do during a second term with the stroke of his pen, we cannot forget about the damage he inflicted on our community as president without even lifting a finger. Over his four years in office, Trump normalized a culture of racism and xenophobia that trickled down from the highest levels of our government to everyday interactions in-person and online. The former president’s social media posts and speeches were laced with a mix of dog whistles and outright hate speech.

How could we ever forget his claim that the attendees of a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. were “very fine people?” Or when he ordered members of the Proud Boys to “stand back and stand by” after being asked to condemn the white nationalist militia group? Or when he suggested that four Democratic members of Congress – all women of color – should “go back…[to the] places from which they came” in a tweet that a Republican congressman even described as racist?

Coming from the mouth of the President of the United States, this kind of rhetoric signaled that hate did indeed have a place in his America and gave top cover to those who realized they no longer had to keep their racism under wraps.

Consequently, racial violence skyrocketed during Trump’s presidency. In fact, this trend started before he even took office. The Washington Post found that counties that hosted a Trump rally in 2016 experienced a 226 percent increase in hate crimes in the months that followed. From 2016 to 2017, hate crimes across the country increased by 17 percent. From 2018 to 2019, deadly hate crimes more than doubled. And in 2020, more hate crimes were reported than in any year since 2001. Perhaps unsurprisingly, alleged civil rights violations went under-investigated under Trump’s DOJ. During its first two years, the Trump DOJ opened 60 percent fewer civil rights cases than did the Obama DOJ and 50 percent fewer than the Bush DOJ.

For those who think that the extent of the harm inflicted by Trump’s racism can be fully captured in those statistics, think again. In a multitude of ways, the Black community continues to suffer from the flames of hatred that Trump fanned while he was president. For example, racism is exacerbating the Black mental health crisis: Black youth experienced a 144 percent increase in suicide rates from 2007 to 2020, with both institutional and interpersonal racism identified as strong risk factors driving this trend.

While Trump was president for only a portion of that period, he was active in spreading racism – including promoting the Barack Obama birtherism lie – for almost the entirety of it.

Speaking of Obama, the election of our nation’s first Black president helps us understand why the election of Trump – which once seemed unthinkable – was actually an inevitable reaction to Black progress. Study after study has pointed to racial resentment as a significant driver of the support Trump received from his voters. His base wanted trickle-down racism, and trickle-down racism is what they got.

Fast forward to today, and like any other proverbial old dog, Trump is clearly stuck on his old tricks. On the campaign trail this time around, he has already evoked Hitler, saying that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of our country, and suggesting that Black voters appreciate him because he is being “discriminated against” in the legal system. Naturally, Republicans have made him their nominee for the third time. But while he might speak for their party, we do not have to let him speak for our country. Not again.

In 2016, Trump promised his supporters the ability to hate openly with impunity, and he most certainly delivered. Now, he’s ready to do it all over again. And while it might be tempting to give into fear and cynicism, we should take hope in recognizing that thanks to our community showing up for Joe Biden in 2020, we helped elect a president who is committed to aggressively prosecuting hate crimes, who has appointed judges with a respect for civil rights, and who recognizes that “hate never goes away, it only hides.”

Donald Trump has never hidden his hate. This fall, let’s show him once again that it has no place in our America.

[romanian-spaceboy]

The Doctor has never felt like this before

Was rewatching the Christmas special and just realized one of those wonderful little details that make me love this show even more. In the club scene, when we see the Doctor dancing, a happy man at last, full with a joie de vivre like we haven't seen in a while, the song that he's dancing to keeps repeating the line "I've never felt like this before".

Because in that ridiculously long life, ever since the Trial or even before, the Doctor's never been so free of trauma. If the grungy PTSD Doctor of 2005 was rooted in the political reality of the 2000s (Irak war and all the rest), then Ncuti's Doctor is one designed for this moment, a time when the youth worldwide is going through a mental health crisis.

He may never have all his shit together, but he's got so much candor, is not afraid to cry in front of literally strangers, he is bright as a star and, above all, he is excited to be alive. And that is the hero we need right now.

He has never felt like that before.

[enbyhyena]

Cross-posting this message from my Discord server (please join it if you need a community or support!):

Hello everyone, I wanted to make an announcement for all of my American viewers in the wake of the election announcement.

I know things are scary right now, and the future uncertain. Believe me, I'm terrified too. But I need you to stay with me. And remember: no matter what, the world keeps turning. And we may have lost the battle, but we haven't lost the war. So long as we have community and spite, there will always be hope. We will find a way to make it together. So please, don't give up. Don't let them have you. Keep going for the life you deserve, keep going for your peers who need you. Sinking into denial or despair is tempting, but we will survive.

Fascism is strong because they have found community in hatred. But if we all come together, we can be so much stronger, because love is stronger than hate. If you're in school, sit with the kid who always sits alone at the lunch table. Ask them their name, and what their favorite things are. If you are middle-aged and see someone struggling at your local coffee shop, ask them if you can help. If you are one of the lucky people who have the luxury of time, consider donating it to a local shelter or LGBT organization. Don't let fear isolate you. Ignore the voice in your head convincing you not to reach out. Do it even if you feel embarrassed, even if you may be rejected. It's not the end of the world, and you may really help them.

We will survive. We will find a way. We will make shit work, so long as we have each other.

Listen to some music, watch your comfort shows and eat your comfort food. Manage your mental health in any way you need right now. But don't disconnect yourself from reality. Stay here with me. It's only for another four years. It's just four years.

I'm going to stream tonight to give everyone a safe space to exist and hang out and decompress. I'm also going to start a charity campaign for the Trevor Project, which is a suicide prevention and resource center for LGBT youth, which will continue indefinitely. If you have the financial resources, I urge you to donate to them either through my channel or directly through their website, here.

My DMs are also open for the next 48 hours if anyone needs a space to vent. I can't promise I'll respond to everyone, but I can promise to read it and share in your feelings. Everyone deserves a space to feel heard, and I want to offer that to the best of my ability.

I love you. I love all of you so much. We will get through this. We always have in the past, from Roman and Greek times and before and until present day through every crisis in human history. Just please stay here with me.

[dies-in-bi]

OKAY PEOPLE!!!!! This is VERY important! I have reblogged a post explaining this in more detail and please have a look!

Here is a link to the petition.

https://chng.it/L8FQ6pMtNQ

More info under read more.

Youth Internet users, millennials, and Gen Z advocates, we must band together to prevent the passage of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), preserving our free and open Internet! Stand with the ACLU and Fight for the Future against a bill that jeopardizes our online privacy and legitimizes targeted censorship.

In 2022, senators Richard Blumenthal and Marsha Blackburn introduced an alarmingly repressive new internet censorship bill – the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), which presents a direct threat to the plethora of helpful online resources for minors. KOSA, or S.3663, would grant the federal government an immense breadth of control to censor websites containing content that officials deem “inappropriate.” As evidenced by the continuous attacks on LGBTQ+ rights, queer visibility, and discrimination education, crucial havens on the Internet could be subject to complete censorship. Senator Blackburn herself has continuously condemned education about racism as “dangerous for kids.” KOSA’s restrictions would be entirely at the jurisdiction of state attorney generals, many of whom could impose personal political beliefs upon the Internet at large. In order to prevent unfettered homophobic, transphobic, or racist censorship, we must urge our senators to oppose this bill in Congress!

The Internet provides essential tools for minors’ entertainment and education. KOSA would force platforms to filter content heavily, which would likely fall upon crucial LGBTQ+ support sites, suicide prevention pages, and abuse awareness. While such sites contain adult themes, they often aid in the necessary education and safety of minors utilizing the Internet. KOSA increases the use of age verification and parental monitor tools. Most platforms rely on self-selected age confirmation, and there is no accurate system without entirely jeopardizing individual privacy. Pushing the Internet to somehow accurately censor information for minors alone is an impossible task. Instead, we would see widespread censorship for both minor and adult users.

For many millennials and Gen Z, media and fandom spaces provide us with a special community, cultivating a safe environment with fanfiction, edits, or conversations. A National Library of Medicine study found that many LGBTQ+ youth primarily find mental health resources online. However, right-wing politicians are determined to condemn any LGBTQ+ messaging as predatory and harmful to children, even as queer minors largely benefit from digital solidarity and creativity. Even beloved sites such as ArchiveOfOurOwn (AO3), Wattpad, Tumblr, and Twitter could be heavily restricted or taken down. But we as Gen Z are not a monolith, and neither are the incoming generations. Censorship that is safe for one child may be life-threateningly restrictive for another. Pushing for constant age verification and filtration of messaging will invade children’s Internet privacy, resulting in far more harm than good.

KOSA claims to solve the uptick in the youth crisis regarding mental health issues, but instead gives the government unparalleled control over the Internet. According to the Pew Research Center, 81% of American teenagers use social media. Social media is one of many reasons that we – as younger generations – suffer from stress, depression, and other disorders. However, overwhelming Internet surveillance and censorship of essential resources will not aid children’s mental health. Rather, we need to provide funding for public mental health care, focus on creating better federal privacy laws for all Internet users, and allow for the free dissemination of online resources. Social media is here to stay, but there are far more ethical ways to protect children than blatant censorship.

We must take action together! Join us in:

Urging senators Blumenthal and Blackburn to wholly rescind their support for the Kids Online Safety Act and redirect their attention to a comprehensive federal Internet privacy bill instead.

Raising awareness to gain the attention of our state senators (calling, emailing, signing this petition), thus compelling them to oppose KOSA on the Senate floor.

Aiding the ACLU, Fight for Future, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation in lobbying against KOSA through digital, offline, and financial support.

Protecting our free and fair Internet, so that all users can find essential information without government censorship!

KOSA will not achieve widespread safety for kids. Instead, it will threaten our right to privacy and prevent the dissemination of essential safety resources for various youth groups. Unite with us to sign this petition and put an end to unclear, repressive Internet censorship laws like KOSA

[saintmeghanmarkle]

The Parent Trap by u/Mickleborough

The Parent Trap Being curious as to exactly what was Meghan and Harry’s anti-cyber bullying initiative, I went to where angels fear to tread: the Archewell Foundation website.I won’t contaminate this post with screen shots - you’ll have to take my word. What does the Parents’ Network do?What’s the target group? The name and text refers to parents (although a couple of paragraphs inconsistently - and belatedly - mention caregivers as well). The overall impression is that this overlooks other child-adult relationships, namely children looked after by relatives or guardians.Briefly the aim seems to be this:’We [the Parents’ Network] act as a support network for other parents and caregivers whose children and families have been gravely impacted by social media harms.’In case this isn’t clear:’The Archewell Foundation and the network will work to unite and uplift parents and caregivers and systematically change the social media platforms that create a harmful and dangerous environment for young people around the world.’No, really, what does the Parents’ Network do?It appears to want to be an influence or pressure group. To what end? My guess is: censoring social media.Governments have implemented, or are the process of implementing, legislation dealing with online safety. So there’s no point campaigning for that.The website states: ‘It is time that social media companies improve their safety measures and that people in power hold them to account. Join us in adding your voice so we can no longer be ignored.’Some observations on content* The text is inconsistent: see example above. It also contains these statements which don’t make sense: ‘…these platforms should be a destination where young people can communicate, thrive and learn. Instead online spaces are designed to keep our children scrolling and waiting for the next notification, like or comment.’That’s comparing apples and oranges. Learning and socialising online are different things. And it promotes communication, but condemns forms of communication, viz ‘scrolling and waiting for the next notification, like or comment.’* In my opinion, the writing isn’t great. It’s not impactful; it reads like something written by a moderately talented high school student in the late 1980s. Using short sentences, complete with repeated words for emphasis, for impact and drama (’We share our stories. We share our resources. We take action. Together’) is dated. The practice now is to get the message across with succinct sentences, because people aren’t stupid.* Confusingly there’s a sentence that states: ‘In 2023 we were brought together by The Archewell Foundation.’Firstly - Who’s ‘we’? The landing page has the logos of The Archewell Foundation and of Parents’ Network - but didn’t the former begat the latter?Secondly - Sycophantic write-ups elsewhere mention that the Parents’ Network had a 2-year pilot / testing gestation. If so, what’s with 2023? Can someone not count? Or did the Parents’ Network start off like the birth of an illegitimate child in 2021, before being acknowledged by its parent in 2023?Fun ‘fact’: ‘Since inception, The Foundation has been working to find solutions to the rapidly escalating crisis in youth mental health.’ They’ve certainly kept this work quiet.On an irrelevant note - there are loads of Parents’ Networks: the [British] Army Parents’ Network, the Solihull Parents’ Network, [the Council of Europe] Parents’ Network - that must be why Meghan hasn’t trademarked the name.Link to a website of a proper foundation: The Royal Foundation for Early Childhood post link: https://ift.tt/J3fxSH4 author: Mickleborough submitted: August 05, 2024 at 10:13PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.