#GWEN HATERS I HOPE YOU KNOW I HATE YOU

[papaiyatree]

literally going to fucking kill and bite and maim i wish i could get off atsv tiktok but the edits.... the edits......

[bitterlemonade-1]

I HAVE NO FRIENDS SO HEAR ME RAMBLE ABOUT MY 80S TDI AU

so like im bored and i have like 0 people to talk about my au about to. so im just gonna write this and let yall who are interested in my au to read about it. but anyway today im gonna talk about trent and justin, there my favorite so i have to, duh. and its 1987 and the fisrt part takes place in California where trent lives and the second half is Hawaii where justin is living.

so trent is having a VERY hard time getting over his break up with gwen. ( in my au gwen was an awful gf, only cause i HATE gwen.... hehe gwen hater 4 life). realizing all she did was ridicule, make fun of, shame him, and telling him his ocd is wrong. so she cheats and breaks up with trent. he pretty much starts losing hope in himself. not thinking hes worthy of anyone love or anything again. one day his work send him off to a work project in hawaii. he remembered an old friend of his lived there (it was justin) . he deiced to stop by his house to maybe open there friendship again after the few years thats passes. to his surprise justin was bit of a celeb there for his modeling. so pretty much justin take trent around hawaii showing him around, and trent works on his project for his work for a few days. the entire time trent keeps eyeing justin, but always feeling horrible cause hes still dealing with his breakup.

justin fr takes trent to a gay club one night, trent not knowing justin was gay. he paniced and fled the club. cause trent himself was bi but not ready to come out. justin runs after him, apologizing to trent for all that. but like trent just went for it kissing justin. that same night they F U C K E D. well ya know trent then remembers he has only a few days of his trips left, feeling scared again. being alone again after finding someone who makes him feel so much lighter and doesn't harass him about his traits. so he decided to tell justin everything about gwen and his ocd. bla bla nothing to interesting just justin comforting a depressed trent.

on trents last night in hawaii, hes takes justin to a hill that justin showed him days earlier. trent asks justin if he could star gaze with him, something him and gwen did that always made him feel free. the two laid in the grass staring into the night sky looking at the stars together, holding each other. and well......... thats all you get of the story MWAHAHA really thought you where gonna get the whole story?!?!? NO NOT YET. anyway look out for the art for the story!!! coming soon

[kurtmustdie]

i have a lot of unorganized miguel headcanons that float around my brain at times but since i usually think of them at night and forget about them the next morning im just going to continuously update this post probably? anyway here are the ones that i do remember

i will either leave this in my drafts and update it when i want to or ill just edit/reblog with new stuff idk

edit after i stopped typing:

ok its time

fuck you

posts

identity headcanons first, because idk getting those out of the way feel free to get pissed off about these ill just block you 💖

trans man. he/him pronouns. probbably doesnt care if you use gender neutral terms for him because like... why would he, he has a multiverse to stare at

asexual, can't really figure out of i see him as being aromantic as well, i personally just think he's too busy to think about it atm but i dont think hes incapable of it. maybe arospec, like demiro or greyro or smth idk, i just know this mf is asexual.

he is autistic (and probably undiagnosed?) i will die on this hill as if i was a warrior cat defending the sunningrocks i will commit an oakheart fight me on this and i will throw rocks at you and then promptly get crushed by rocks as well (is that warrior cats spoilers um oops sorry)

now to the rest- that i remember- i have not read the comics yet so if some of these are like.. actually canon lmk because that would be really funny

this one might be a hot take but he does not hate miles. he wants to look out for him and definitely either currently regrets or is going to regret what happened in that chase scene. i genuinely doubt he hates any of the spider-gang hes just very, very worried about the multiverse. in his head thats the only way. (i am hoping and pleading that miguel and miles make up somehow, maybe miles doesnt forgive miguel and that totally understandable and would make sense but pLEASE writers i would die if you kept them as being rivals i genuinely would)

he hates Audrey Hepburn, fangoria, harry houdini, AND croquet. he CAN swim, he CAN dance, and he DOES know Karate. he still wont make it though. sorry man.

since hes from the future i dont think he'd be terribly confused by current slang/terms, hed more look at it like we see terms from like... the 80-90s or anything before that as "oh wow people used to say that? huh. interesting."

im going back on a headcanon ive had since i saw the movie im SoRRYYY but he cant curse. from what ive seen from the comics he uses replacements like "shock" and "bithead", thats it. maybe he says fuck on accident or in spanish (he technically kind of does depending on how you see "Ay Coño" being said but thats beside the point).

probably a blue eyes hater idk he just gives me the vibe of saying "jesus christ your eyes are way too blue, get contacts please im begging you stop looking at me" which is probably why him and gwen have so much beef.

i dont give a shit about what the movie says his fangs are not retractable fuck you. (he still has crooked teeth though i will never forget about those <3 )

autism be damned my guy can work a grill 🔥🔥🔥🔥

a lot of people cant really tell if hes pissed or not by his tone sometimes. is this projection? yeah, next question.

he hardly ever sleeps but when he does its like hes dead (at least when its dead quiet, which again, isnt often so he hardly ever gets a good nights sleep). you'd have to use a fucking blowtorch to the face to wake him up.

i also see him as not only having hypersensitive vision but also having elevated senses period. hearing, smell, touch, etc. probably the main reason he sits in the dark with no other noise.

branching off of that he frequently gets migraines of things get to stressful or too loud or if anything is very off about his schedule.

arachnophobe. ha.

cat person.

cat person as in he likes cats not like hes a catboy.. i shouldnt specify that actually that just makes it worse but i will anyway because tumblr hellsite will be tumblr hellsite

he partially likes lego peter because his daughter really liked lego.

ok but like think about it he'd probably be really good at taking legos apart with those claws. like imagine. it'd be nothing for him.

hasnt spoken to gabriel in years. he cant bring himself to reach out and when gabriel does he just doesnt have the energy to try and respond. he has no idea how to, especially now.

this is very specific but he stims a lot with his claws. like extend and retract over and over absentmindedly (mainly because thats what i'd do if i had claws imagine how fun that would be)

he usually bottles up all the emotions that he has, including anger. kind of explains why he lost it in the chase scene in my head because he reached a boiling point. he hates talking to people about his problems.

empanadas are his safe food, also theyre just easy to eat when your mouth is a little funky (i would know i have some fucked up braces theyre great for that 10/10), its mostly just easier on his fangs.

definitely horrible at the whole self are thing. he just forgets, all the time. would forget to breathe if it wasnt involuntary

if you say anything he doesnt particularly like (eg "hey bro are you okay do you wanna talk") he'll just stare at you with his rat eyes like 👁️👁️ until you stopped idk what im saying.

he is a bit touch starved, depending on his mood he'll let people touch him in a friendly (emphasis on friendly. friendly friendly friendly dont take it any other way :/) way.

OH I almost forgot about this one: he hisses. some spiders hiss. so does he. vampire furry energy

he also gets pissed when people call him a vampire so uh... im counting my days oops.

will go out and sit in the rain. (wait would it still rain in the future? is the climate still fucked in his timeline or nah)

like "ah, its water time" and goes out to sit like this:

Man if only there was a rain filter

that is all i have for now maybe if something else comes up ill reblog with new stuff >:)

[lightningsprotienpowder]

LITTLE INTRODUCTION (this will be a bit long, sorry for that)

Omg hi! Tysm for taking a look ive my tumblr, if you know me already, im loveable lamebrain (aka heathers broken nail file) from tiktok!

If you dont know me and just have discovered me for the first time, hi! Im loveable lamebrain, i go by she/they pronouns and my accounts have been on total drama! (This used to be a sims tumblr, or simblr as they call it) but now its an account for anyone who wants to follow me on here ig lol, I probably wont post much on here but if i do, its most likely gonna be smt random lol

Anways, onto my interaction list thing

FEEL FREE TO INTERACT WITH ME!

-if your a chr!s mclean, d*ncan, al3jandro, sierra, sugar, skye, dave and dawn antis/haters

-if you stan almost the entire s1 cast lol

-if you stan lightning, jo and scott (aswell as most of the other tdroti contestants)

-if ur between 11-16 years old

-if you ship heathney, gweather, aleheather, scottney, lyler, ozzy, iva and gwoey

-if your a duncney, gwuncan and chref hater/anti

-and ofc, if u love total drama!

(Idm if u dont like the things i like, just as long as ur kind to everyone. It doesnt matter)

THIN ICE

- if you ship gwourtney/gwencney (both the same ship, just a different name) duncney, chref and zoke

- if youre a heather, owen, scott, lightning and jo anit/hater (this goes for if u hate most of s1 characters)

-if youre a d*ncan, alejandro, sugar, skye, dave, dawn, and sierra stan (as long u dont support their actions)

-if youre a bridgette and blainely/mildred stan

-if your in the miraculous ladybug fandom (im sorry, but that is so cringe 😭)

DNI

- if youre a chr!s mclean or s!erra stan (and u support/dont care abt their actions)

-tox!c courtney, gwen and chr!s stans

-if you ship lindsay x chr!s, cody x sierra, cameron x sierra, chef x izzy, lightning x cameron and gwen x cameron (i hate to say this, but u should probably get help if u like any of the ships ive listed here)

-obvi, if ur racist or homophobic/transphobic

Okay, thats it for intreactions list! Tysm for reading this, there will be a picture of my profile so yk what it looks like and ill post a link below the cut, anyways, i hope ure having a good day/night and i hope u stay safe if u never see me again.

_________________________________________________

My profile:

My profile link:

https://tiktok.com/@loveable_lamebrain

[tiny-tigers]

Gossip anon is always here just doesn’t log on for months at a time😳🙋‍♀️ good to know I’m remembered!

Unfortunately I have very little gossip nowadays because I moved to Australia for 18 months🐨 but I do now have plenty of NRL gossip - just as fun to keep up with I would recommend🤣

The very little I can offer is boring and just about Owen Farrell’s younger brother looking like a prodigy … which with his family is no shock really🤷‍♀️

I also know a few girls who are friends with Freddie Steward’s girlfriend & by all counts she sounds lovely🩷

Maybe now I’m back in Manchester it will pick up again😅

Omg we love you 😍 gossip anon !! I am so glad you are back I thought I had lost you !!!

I am also glad you are not part of the haters of me that left me with questions unanswered and blame. I had a lot of banana peels thrown at me for liking Jack the way I do and I still remember one message I received 😔😩💔that made me cry a lot. Deep down I knew you were not part of that but I was receiving a lot of hate at one point that I began to mistrust everyone.

Oh so you now have gossips about LRZ ??? How was Australia ??? You have seen some creatures (my phobia is frogs so I might never go there)

No real problems with rich girl Maddie she looks a bit vain from outside and like any influencer really capitalizing on fame and business but with her family holding on Everton it is not a surprise ??? 🫣 just my impression, maybe my opinion will change with the Netflix doc 😂 she appears a lot apparently.. I am not used to old money so I may have some prejudices and hold some grudges. I have never watched the videos of Lydia but I might to learn more about her ( I am fan of Gwen tho… She looks perfect for Ollie but it sounds weird to me that the same group of friends are dating the same group of players friends imagine the drama 🎭 !!!)

I think they are all settled now so not a lot going on I am just hoping on DK leaving!!!

So Welcome back sweetie pie , unfortunately fredanon left she was sorry to do it but it wasn’t bringing her any good to be so involved with Fred and wished me to detach too but so far I am still the same 💔we will see what 2025 will bring me in terms of peace of mind

[ourpickwickclub]

What are your thoughts on B future SM specifically twitter neither him or G posted anything on twitter about the wedding it kinda surprised me only because they both posted about the engagement. However twitter is a evil area sometimes for as many nice things people say there are twice as many aholes so I wonder if that was the reason. IG does have some that can’t be nice but more then not I think IG followers are more supportive. Blake has a love hate relationship with SM an I bet he would love to fill his IG with pics of G and the wedding just like G does but I feel like he just doesn’t want to give haters a platform. I can’t wait to see if they both or just G change their pic on the profiles I don’t doubt G will but you never know with B. Unfortunately I don’t think B will ever post about the boys publicly that should be a part of his life he can share if he wants as a step dad but with GR being such a DB it will make B uncomfortable for years. We will have to hope G will share a little more and say FU to GR her and Blake are now married and they are all an official family.

Ok. For me, as far as the lack of social media postings from Blake, I think the days leading up to the wedding and the week after he has been unplugged from social media, he says that he often unloads Twitter and doesn’t post for awhile and let’s his team post, I think this is one of those times. He may have done it because of the haters but they have been dealing with haters throughout their whole relationship, he knows they’re out there, if he didn’t want to ever post because of haters she never would receive any birthday greetings from him via social media and he wouldn’t have announced their engagement on there. I think he just has really been soaking in this time, knowing that they are already getting loads of attention so he will sit back and wait for it to die down a bit. For years Blake has had a picture of Gwen as his profile picture, I wouldn’t be surprised if he changes it to one from the wedding. I also think that soon Blake will (when he posts, which is hardly ever now) will be fine saying something about the boys

-L

[blueagia]

last minute last season predictions so i can look like a genius later maybe

DnD have said that their ending will be “exactly the same” as GRRM’s. This is not in fact possible with all the numerous characters they have cut from the storyline, the other characters they have changed until they are unrecognizable, the OTHER other characters who got killed in the place of characters who got cut, there’s not even a Night’s King in asoiaf for crying out loud what are they even talking about.

I think they mean that the White Walkers will be defeated.

Also, the method of defeating them will be the same

Probably some kind of magic ritual involving a sacrifice

the fate of the Iron Throne will be the same

“For the Throne! For the Throne! For the Throne!” they are giant trolls it’s going to blow up

The government will be the same. I think this means all the kingdoms split up. The people left in charge of each kingdom, will be the same, except maybe Dorne as they made such a fuck up of it.

Sansa probably in control of the North, although some kind of Narnia-like co-rulership between the surviving Starklings would also be keen.

Sansa is gonna be really awesome during the battle for Winterfell, she will go out in her armor and rally troops, maybe give a speech, it will be great, fuck the haters

Arya and Sansa survive. This is the one thing I am 100% sure of in the books since GRRM’s wife has threatened divorce if he kills either. If one of them dies (in such a way as it isn’t obvious they will drink some milk of the poppy and be fine next episode) it means we have gone off the rails and are in no man’s land where all bets are off, also i will throw this ps4 controller is2g

Sam and Gilly will survive, Gilly is almost the last pure soul left alive (I don’t have all that high hopes for Missandei) and Sam is clearly being set up to take over the Reach.

Theon will die. I don’t think he is supposed to die in the books. I have read all of GRRM’s novels and many of his short stories and redemption by death doesn’t appear to be something he believes in. “It is men’s lives that matter, not their deaths” yeah but we are going to need to kill some major characters this season and we are running out because of all the ones who were cut earlier and DnD aren’t all that great at avoiding cliches sooooooooo...

on the other hand... everyone expects him to die. This would be a great chance to shock people by NOT killing off someone for a change. Also, there is some book foreshadowing that he will get the Seastone Chair. If that’s the case, and book endgame rulers=show endgame rulers, then there may be hope yet

If he dies, Yara will live, and vice versa

in general, expect the worst and hope for the best will be my motto

The best would be Theonsa. They will never end up together in the books but a girl can dream...

If Sansa has an endgame romance, it will be Tyrion. San*san has fallen too far by the wayside to be show endgame. Podsa would be cute but won’t happen. The Sansa/Tyrion reunion is something sweet to look forward to even if it’s not romantic.

Arya and Gendry: Together again! @ dnd please try not to screw this one up like you did j0nerys im begging you anyway she’s not going off to be a faceless man she’s found her home she’s staying there

Jaime and Brienne are going to bang like mad rabbits. Nik and Gwen are so good together I don’t think DnD could bungle this one even if they try

pol!jon is not going to happen for the reason that it is a crack theory invented by people who want Jon and Dany to break up but for some mysterious and, I’m sure, 100% non shipping related reason, do not want it to be because Jon is grossed out by incest

j0nerys is endgame. Either they will rule together or die together saving the world

at this point i am rooting for the latter because, as I said, DnD are going to want some dead characters and if they get to knock off a couple of REALLY big names like Jon and Dany they are going to be less likely to turn their sights on, say, a certain problematic squid boy who everyone expects to croak anyway. Sorry, Jon and Dany fans, I just love my own fave more.

Dark!Dany is not going to happen. In this house we recognize only one Mad Queen and her name is Cersei Lannister, first of her name, Lady of the Dumpster Wildfire, my beautiful golden trash monarch, my heart and soul. She is going to outlive the Night’s King and when they come for her throne she is going to blow it right out of the reach of all your faves and i will be overtaken by transports of joy

otoh there is every possibility that i will have to endure a Euron/Cersei sex scene brb preparing the eye bleach

Dany is the YMBQ. Possibly this has been changed?  I’m still hoping it will be Arianne in the books

Who snuffs out the glorious flame in my heart by killing Cersei? Welllll... it’s pretty much got to be Jaime, right? I don’t like thinking about this, the more I think about it the more I hate the whole valonquar business. Don’t want it to be Jaime, don’t want it to be Tyrion, kind of dumb if it’s just some random anyone’s younger sibling. Unless GRRM has something insanely clever planned that NO ONE has yet theorized I’m pretty much guaranteed to be disappointed. If DnD want to change this (and they already skipped the valonquar part of the prophecy) they have my blessing. But if they have to do it, I hate the Jaime possibility the least, although I honestly have no idea where he is going to find the time what with all the furious banging he and Brienne are going to be doing.

the rest of the “bad guy” characters, Euron, Qyburn, the Mountain, all dead.

Cersei is pregnant, and will miscarry.

Dany is pregnant, and will not. This really doesn’t thrill me as j0nerys is most palatable if there are no incest babies, but the foreshadowing is not subtle here. Also if Fire and Blood has taught me anything it’s that GRRM just fucking loves killing his female characters in childbirth. God I hate it.

Dragons all die. Not sure about the direwolves but it seems likely.

No more Night’s Watch, as there are no more white walkers or wall

Bran stops being a robot when the NK goes down. Pretty please?

Everyone stops wearing black all the time and we get some nice pretty colorful costumes

I know I said Theon dies but listen

what if he didn’t

what if he got on a boat and sailed west

crossing that sea is possible Elissa Farman did it

but she never returned home

she stayed in Yi Ti or wherever

but Theon

he could be the first one

he could return home

how about THAT for an ending?

[andrewdburton]

Everyone hates a winner: How to cope with haters

A couple of years ago, the CBC published an article about how Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung got rich and retired by not joining the home ownership ‘cult’.

The couple, who blog about travel and early retirement at Millennial Revolution “managed to save $500,000 by working hard and living modestly,” writes Sophia Harris. “The couple was ready to spend it on a down payment — until they saw what was on offer. They scoped out dilapidated houses selling for half a million dollars.”

Instead of buying a home, they invested their savings…and got lucky. Their portfolio doubled in four years. (Even without the good fortune, they were well on their way to financial freedom.) Today “they live on $30,000 to $40,000 a year, money that largely comes from dividend payments generated from their stock portfolio.”

This young couple made some out-of-the-box choices. Those decisions paid off. Sure, they enjoyed good fortune with their investment results, but so did many of us from 2010 to 2014. If you ignored the relentless negative news stories about stocks, your total market index fund jumped 90% over those four years. This couple’s story ought not be unique; it ought to have been the norm for personal investors during that time span.

To me — and to most of you, I hope — this is a success story. It’s something to celebrate.

But many CBC readers thought Kristy and Bryce were phonies. They were scammers. They were trust-fund babies who got a lucky break. They did nothing to deserve their financial success. Commenters were certain that they were going to squander their riches…and soon! (Newsflash: Kristy and Bryce are doing just fine — despite the haters.)

I wish I could say the responses to this article were unusual. They’re not. In fact, they’re the norm when major news outlets feature stories about early retirees (or others who make unconventional choices with money). When people are brave enough to share their story in public, the public usually tears them to shreds.

But why?

America’s Love-Hate Relationship with Wealth

People in general (and Americans in particular) have a complex love-hate relationship with wealth. We want to be rich — but we’re suspicious of those who already are.

Nearly everyone who achieves financial success believes they’ve done so through justifiable means. They believe they’ve earned their money (or deserve it), and they don’t feel guilty for having it. Too, we’re generally supportive and appreciative of our friends who make it big. (I can think of a handful of folks I know who have managed to acquire wealth, and I’m proud of each of them.) But when it comes to strangers who get rich? Then our attitudes change.

Most of us want to be rich, yet we resent it when other people manage to achieve their financial goals. We complain that they had advantages that we didn’t, or that they cheated, or that they don’t deserve the money. But what if the same thing happened to us? What if we became rich? How would we feel about such judgment and criticism?

Take my father, for instance. He was a serial entrepreneur, and managed to build two successful businesses during his short lifetime. He worked hard and dreamed big. He wanted to be rich so that he could provide his family everything they wanted.

At the same time, Dad bemoaned other people’s success. He didn’t resent everyone who made it big, but he often complained that this fellow was successful because he’d caught a lucky break or that gal earned her fortune because she knew the right people.

There’s no question that some people have lucked into wealth. I have a friend whose family owned a large manufacturing business; as a result, she’s benefited from a huge annual stipend from her trust. This has turned her into a slacker and layabout. She’s frequently out of work, and makes all sorts of excuses about why she can’t find a job. It’s difficult to be around her.

But at the same time, I know folks who have worked like dogs to accumulate their wealth. I know others who have scrimped and saved for decades to build their savings. Do I begrudge these folks for having a million dollars? Or three million? Hell, no. They’ve earned it. They deserve it.

The media demagogues would have you believe that this rush to judgment is a partisan thing. That’s nonsense. Being a Democrat doesn’t necessarily mean you hate the rich, and being Republican doesn’t mean you’re all for the wealthy. My grandmother was the most conservative person I’ve ever known, and she hated the rich. I have a good friend who is as liberal as you’ll ever meet, and he’s pro-business, pro-capitalism, pro-money to the core.

But if this love-hate relationship with wealth isn’t political, what is it? Is it a part of our Puritan heritage? I don’t know. For myself, I’ve decided to suspend judgment when I hear about the wealth of others. I exercise financial empathy. There’s just too much I do not (and cannot) know. I’d rather assume the best than assume the worst.

Everyone Hates a Winner

After Kristy and Bryce were profiled by the CBC, we connected by email. Kristy’s first question was about how to handle criticism. “How do you deal with the haters?” she asked. “We’ve been getting a ton of them since our article went live, and even though I expected it, it’s getting a bit exhausting.”

Great question — and not just for money bloggers. Here’s what I wrote back:

Your best bet is simply to ignore the financial trolls. You know what you’ve done and you know how you did it. You know it works. These fools know nothing about you. Their opinions don’t matter. Let them live their blissful lives of ignorance funded by debt and fifty years of working for The Man.

You can’t reach everyone. In fact, you’re only going to be able to help a handful of people. That’s okay. Those few are your peeps — and you’re their peeps. Ignore the haters and focus on the fans.

It took me a l-o-n-g time to learn this, but the realization changed my life. It gave me a lot of peace.

The thing is, it doesn’t matter how a person achieves financial independence — whether it’s by cutting costs, boosting income, or both — commenters on major news sites will rip them to shreds. I’ve been watching this happen for a decade. It’s what I expect when I read any sort of financial success story.

If the story emphasizes that the subject met their financial goals by cutting costs, by living on less than, say, $20,000 per year, then the commenters will rail about how miserable the subject must be. “What’s the point in retiring early if you have to eat cat food,” they’ll write. “Fine for them, but I want to live in a house and not a hovel.”

On the other hand, if the story profiles somebody who succeeded because they worked hard at a high-paying career, then the commenters will grouse about how anyone can get rich if they earn big bucks. (Not true, by the way.)

And if you’re somebody like me, someone who made the leap to full financial independence because of a windfall? Well, we’re the worst kind of people. We didn’t earn it! Our wealth was handed to us! (Never mind the stats on how most people squander windfalls.)

When I read comments from folks who think this can’t be done, comments ripping on folks who have done it, I don’t think less of the subjects. I think less of the commenters. I see them projecting their own inadequacies and insecurities on people who have managed to make things happen.

Anonymity on the internet brings out the worst in people. They do and say things that they’d never do and say in person. You can’t control what people think of you, and you can’t prevent them from attacking you in a space you do not control, such as the CBC website.

Here’s a recent example of people hating on success. My friend Gwen from Fiery Millennials was recently featured in a MarketWatch article about people retiring early. Gwen is only 27, but she’s been saving aggressively for years in order to achieve financial independence.

Commenters on the article wrote things like:

“Sorry, but you can’t retire at 27, unless you want to live like a pauper.”

“This talk of people retiring at 27 is just stupid. Nothing I read in the example given will allow these people to retire at that age and have enough of money for their lifetimes. That is just Facebook hype.”

“This is such a silly article. Retiring at 27? Unless you inherited millions of dollars or won the lottery this is a stupid idea. The bottom line is that a lot of these Millenials jusr dont want to pay their dues.”

It doesn’t matter what the story is. There’s always somebody out there ready to hate.

Shake It Off

It’s not just financial independence that brings out the trolls. It’s any sort of financial behavior that seems outside the norm. Decide to become a car-less family and you’re going to get flak. Decide to downsize from a 3000-square-foot home to a tiny house and people are going to think you’re nuts. Tell your co-workers that you buy your clothes at thrift stores and they’ll rant about how gross that is.

I believe we need to be celebrating success stories, not denigrating them.

I don’t care whether you achieved early retirement by having a $300,000 income or by spending just $12,000 a year. I don’t care if you won the lottery. However you did it, good for you. Bravo!

I don’t care if you paid off your student loans by working three jobs. I don’t care if you cut housing costs by moving in with your parents. And you know what? I don’t care if you didn’t go on a vacation for five years so that you could save up for a new sports car either. If you set a money goal, made a plan, then achieved that goal — well then, I celebrate your accomplishment!

If you do what’s right and you do your best, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Stay focused on your own life, your own goals. Ignore the haters. Shake it off.

Sidenote: Yes, it’s true. I’m a Taylor Swift fan. Deal with it!

The post Everyone hates a winner: How to cope with haters appeared first on Get Rich Slowly.

from Finance https://www.getrichslowly.org/coping-with-haters/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[foursprout-blog]

Everyone hates a winner: How to cope with haters

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/wealth/everyone-hates-a-winner-how-to-cope-with-haters/

Everyone hates a winner: How to cope with haters

A couple of years ago, the CBC published an article about how Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung got rich and retired by not joining the home ownership ‘cult’.

The couple, who blog about travel and early retirement at Millennial Revolution “managed to save $500,000 by working hard and living modestly,” writes Sophia Harris. “The couple was ready to spend it on a down payment — until they saw what was on offer. They scoped out dilapidated houses selling for half a million dollars.”

Instead of buying a home, they invested their savings…and got lucky. Their portfolio doubled in four years. (Even without the good fortune, they were well on their way to financial freedom.) Today “they live on $30,000 to $40,000 a year, money that largely comes from dividend payments generated from their stock portfolio.”

This young couple made some out-of-the-box choices. Those decisions paid off. Sure, they enjoyed good fortune with their investment results, but so did many of us from 2010 to 2014. If you ignored the relentless negative news stories about stocks, your total market index fund jumped 90% over those four years. This couple’s story ought not be unique; it ought to have been the norm for personal investors during that time span.

To me — and to most of you, I hope — this is a success story. It’s something to celebrate.

But many CBC readers thought Kristy and Bryce were phonies. They were scammers. They were trust-fund babies who got a lucky break. They did nothing to deserve their financial success. Commenters were certain that they were going to squander their riches…and soon! (Newsflash: Kristy and Bryce are doing just fine — despite the haters.)

I wish I could say the responses to this article were unusual. They’re not. In fact, they’re the norm when major news outlets feature stories about early retirees (or others who make unconventional choices with money). When people are brave enough to share their story in public, the public usually tears them to shreds.

But why?

America’s Love-Hate Relationship with Wealth

People in general (and Americans in particular) have a complex love-hate relationship with wealth. We want to be rich — but we’re suspicious of those who already are.

Nearly everyone who achieves financial success believes they’ve done so through justifiable means. They believe they’ve earned their money (or deserve it), and they don’t feel guilty for having it. Too, we’re generally supportive and appreciative of our friends who make it big. (I can think of a handful of folks I know who have managed to acquire wealth, and I’m proud of each of them.) But when it comes to strangers who get rich? Then our attitudes change.

Most of us want to be rich, yet we resent it when other people manage to achieve their financial goals. We complain that they had advantages that we didn’t, or that they cheated, or that they don’t deserve the money. But what if the same thing happened to us? What if we became rich? How would we feel about such judgment and criticism?

Take my father, for instance. He was a serial entrepreneur, and managed to build two successful businesses during his short lifetime. He worked hard and dreamed big. He wanted to be rich so that he could provide his family everything they wanted.

At the same time, Dad bemoaned other people’s success. He didn’t resent everyone who made it big, but he often complained that this fellow was successful because he’d caught a lucky break or that gal earned her fortune because she knew the right people.

There’s no question that some people have lucked into wealth. I have a friend whose family owned a large manufacturing business; as a result, she’s benefited from a huge annual stipend from her trust. This has turned her into a slacker and layabout. She’s frequently out of work, and makes all sorts of excuses about why she can’t find a job. It’s difficult to be around her.

But at the same time, I know folks who have worked like dogs to accumulate their wealth. I know others who have scrimped and saved for decades to build their savings. Do I begrudge these folks for having a million dollars? Or three million? Hell, no. They’ve earned it. They deserve it.

The media demagogues would have you believe that this rush to judgment is a partisan thing. That’s nonsense. Being a Democrat doesn’t necessarily mean you hate the rich, and being Republican doesn’t mean you’re all for the wealthy. My grandmother was the most conservative person I’ve ever known, and she hated the rich. I have a good friend who is as liberal as you’ll ever meet, and he’s pro-business, pro-capitalism, pro-money to the core.

But if this love-hate relationship with wealth isn’t political, what is it? Is it a part of our Puritan heritage? I don’t know. For myself, I’ve decided to suspend judgment when I hear about the wealth of others. I exercise financial empathy. There’s just too much I do not (and cannot) know. I’d rather assume the best than assume the worst.

Everyone Hates a Winner

After Kristy and Bryce were profiled by the CBC, we connected by email. Kristy’s first question was about how to handle criticism. “How do you deal with the haters?” she asked. “We’ve been getting a ton of them since our article went live, and even though I expected it, it’s getting a bit exhausting.”

Great question — and not just for money bloggers. Here’s what I wrote back:

Your best bet is simply to ignore the financial trolls. You know what you’ve done and you know how you did it. You know it works. These fools know nothing about you. Their opinions don’t matter. Let them live their blissful lives of ignorance funded by debt and fifty years of working for The Man.

You can’t reach everyone. In fact, you’re only going to be able to help a handful of people. That’s okay. Those few are your peeps — and you’re their peeps. Ignore the haters and focus on the fans.

It took me a l-o-n-g time to learn this, but the realization changed my life. It gave me a lot of peace.

The thing is, it doesn’t matter how a person achieves financial independence — whether it’s by cutting costs, boosting income, or both — commenters on major news sites will rip them to shreds. I’ve been watching this happen for a decade. It’s what I expect when I read any sort of financial success story.

If the story emphasizes that the subject met their financial goals by cutting costs, by living on less than, say, $20,000 per year, then the commenters will rail about how miserable the subject must be. “What’s the point in retiring early if you have to eat cat food,” they’ll write. “Fine for them, but I want to live in a house and not a hovel.”

On the other hand, if the story profiles somebody who succeeded because they worked hard at a high-paying career, then the commenters will grouse about how anyone can get rich if they earn big bucks. (Not true, by the way.)

And if you’re somebody like me, someone who made the leap to full financial independence because of a windfall? Well, we’re the worst kind of people. We didn’t earn it! Our wealth was handed to us! (Never mind the stats on how most people squander windfalls.)

When I read comments from folks who think this can’t be done, comments ripping on folks who have done it, I don’t think less of the subjects. I think less of the commenters. I see them projecting their own inadequacies and insecurities on people who have managed to make things happen.

Anonymity on the internet brings out the worst in people. They do and say things that they’d never do and say in person. You can’t control what people think of you, and you can’t prevent them from attacking you in a space you do not control, such as the CBC website.

Here’s a recent example of people hating on success. My friend Gwen from Fiery Millennials was recently featured in a MarketWatch article about people retiring early. Gwen is only 27, but she’s been saving aggressively for years in order to achieve financial independence.

Commenters on the article wrote things like:

“Sorry, but you can’t retire at 27, unless you want to live like a pauper.”

“This talk of people retiring at 27 is just stupid. Nothing I read in the example given will allow these people to retire at that age and have enough of money for their lifetimes. That is just Facebook hype.”

“This is such a silly article. Retiring at 27? Unless you inherited millions of dollars or won the lottery this is a stupid idea. The bottom line is that a lot of these Millenials jusr dont want to pay their dues.”

It doesn’t matter what the story is. There’s always somebody out there ready to hate.

Shake It Off

It’s not just financial independence that brings out the trolls. It’s any sort of financial behavior that seems outside the norm. Decide to become a car-less family and you’re going to get flak. Decide to downsize from a 3000-square-foot home to a tiny house and people are going to think you’re nuts. Tell your co-workers that you buy your clothes at thrift stores and they’ll rant about how gross that is.

I believe we need to be celebrating success stories, not denigrating them.

I don’t care whether you achieved early retirement by having a $300,000 income or by spending just $12,000 a year. I don’t care if you won the lottery. However you did it, good for you. Bravo!

I don’t care if you paid off your student loans by working three jobs. I don’t care if you cut housing costs by moving in with your parents. And you know what? I don’t care if you didn’t go on a vacation for five years so that you could save up for a new sports car either. If you set a money goal, made a plan, then achieved that goal — well then, I celebrate your accomplishment!

If you do what’s right and you do your best, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Stay focused on your own life, your own goals. Ignore the haters. Shake it off.

Sidenote: Yes, it’s true. I’m a Taylor Swift fan. Deal with it!

The post Everyone hates a winner: How to cope with haters appeared first on Get Rich Slowly.

[lifejustgotawkward]

365 Day Movie Challenge (2017) - #73: Spider-Man 3 (2007) - dir. Sam Raimi

Spider-Man 3 is notorious for being such a lackluster misfire that it put a stop to Sam Raimi’s involvement in the Spider-Man franchise and it sort of spelled the beginning of the end for Tobey Maguire as one of Hollywood’s brightest young stars. (I usually think of 1999’s The Cider House Rules as Maguire’s first important lead role prior to the first Spider-Man installment in 2002.) It’s true that Raimi overstuffed SM3 with too many subplots and an overabundance of CGI, but if nothing else, SM3 succeeds at exploring the complicated dynamics of Spider-Man/Peter Parker’s romantic relationship with Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst). Mary Jane was always more than a damsel in distress in the previous Spidey flicks, but in the third film she gets to express the frustrations of being a career woman who experiences profound disappointment over the failings in her personal and professional lives. MJ wants to be autonomous and it is easy to understand why she is so upset when Peter constantly says or does the wrong thing, like when he insists that she knows what she’s going through when she gets bad reviews for her new Broadway show (his experience with the “haters gonna hate” concept applied to Spider-Man). If nothing else, Raimi is effective in expressing how important it is for a love interest in a superhero film to be seen as a human being with thoughts and desires separate from those of her significant other.

But where to start with the flaws in Spider-Man 3? The first concern that Spidey/Peter faces is the appearance of some mysterious black goo, sort of like a mass of sentient licorice, which crashes on Earth inside a meteorite and just happens to land next to where Peter and MJ are enjoying a romantic rendezvous inside of a spiderweb hammock. Somehow the presence of this alien symbiote eludes Peter’s Spidey sense, and the creature gloms itself onto the back of his bike, riding home with him and eventually attaching itself to Peter’s body, creating an “evil” Spider-Man suit for our hero to wear. (You have to ignore the backwards logic; Peter’s powers have always been internal and are not supposed to change depending on his choice of costume, but I guess we’re supposed to conveniently forget that detail.) As Peter’s relationship with MJ suffers - most of all when “bad” Peter results in emo hair, a passion for random street dancing à la Saturday Night Fever and an impromptu dance number which is both Fosse-esque and spiteful - he must also contend with a panoply of underwritten villains, including Flint Marko/Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), frenemy Harry Osborn (James Franco), who first deals with a nasty bout of amnesia then (upon remembering his past) decides he needs to avenge the death of his father (Norman Osborn/Green Goblin - Willem Dafoe, killed off in the first film back in 2002, returns to the role in a cameo) by becoming “New Goblin,” and lastly Eddie Brock/Venom (Topher Grace, sporting the worst frosted tips this side of Justin Timberlake). Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard) also appears in the film for no real reason except to require rescue by Spider-Man and to cause “tension” between “Dark” Peter and MJ.

Sam Raimi gives us two genuinely incredible scenes: first, when Flint Marko, an escaped criminal who we’re supposed to believe isn’t actually a bad person because he literally says “I'm not a bad person“ when we’re introduced to the character, falls into a particle accelerator, survives the ordeal and transforms into the molecularly unstable Sandman; second, the scene when Peter hopes to propose to MJ, a moment ruined by his own ineptitude but, from a cinematic standpoint, saved by the comic genius of Bruce Campbell as a French maître d' who is a little too eager to help Peter pop the question. If only Raimi had cut out the turgid melodramas and focused on the interactions between Spider-Man and his foes (and removed one or two of those antagonists, for that matter), the film might have been a nice morsel of popcorn entertainment instead of the flop that dismantled Marvel’s franchise until Andrew Garfield came along for the reboot. Oh, and the fact that Venom’s downfall is caused by his being trapped in an enclosure made of steel beams, which essentially act as giant tuning forks - has there ever been a sillier form of destruction?

[andrewdburton]

Everyone hates a winner: How to cope with haters

A couple of years ago, the CBC published an article about how Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung got rich and retired by not joining the home ownership ‘cult’.

The couple, who blog about travel and early retirement at Millennial Revolution “managed to save $500,000 by working hard and living modestly,” writes Sophia Harris. “The couple was ready to spend it on a down payment — until they saw what was on offer. They scoped out dilapidated houses selling for half a million dollars.”

Instead of buying a home, they invested their savings…and got lucky. Their portfolio doubled in four years. (Even without the good fortune, they were well on their way to financial freedom.) Today “they live on $30,000 to $40,000 a year, money that largely comes from dividend payments generated from their stock portfolio.”

This young couple made some out-of-the-box choices. Those decisions paid off. Sure, they enjoyed good fortune with their investment results, but so did many of us from 2010 to 2014. If you ignored the relentless negative news stories about stocks, your total market index fund jumped 90% over those four years. This couple’s story ought not be unique; it ought to have been the norm for personal investors during that time span.

To me — and to most of you, I hope — this is a success story. It’s something to celebrate.

But many CBC readers thought Kristy and Bryce were phonies. They were scammers. They were trust-fund babies who got a lucky break. They did nothing to deserve their financial success. Commenters were certain that they were going to squander their riches…and soon! (Newsflash: Kristy and Bryce are doing just fine — despite the haters.)

I wish I could say the responses to this article were unusual. They’re not. In fact, they’re the norm when major news outlets feature stories about early retirees (or others who make unconventional choices with money). When people are brave enough to share their story in public, the public usually tears them to shreds.

But why?

America’s Love-Hate Relationship with Wealth

People in general (and Americans in particular) have a complex love-hate relationship with wealth. We want to be rich — but we’re suspicious of those who already are.

Nearly everyone who achieves financial success believes they’ve done so through justifiable means. They believe they’ve earned their money (or deserve it), and they don’t feel guilty for having it. Too, we’re generally supportive and appreciative of our friends who make it big. (I can think of a handful of folks I know who have managed to acquire wealth, and I’m proud of each of them.) But when it comes to strangers who get rich? Then our attitudes change.

Most of us want to be rich, yet we resent it when other people manage to achieve their financial goals. We complain that they had advantages that we didn’t, or that they cheated, or that they don’t deserve the money. But what if the same thing happened to us? What if we became rich? How would we feel about such judgment and criticism?

Take my father, for instance. He was a serial entrepreneur, and managed to build two successful businesses during his short lifetime. He worked hard and dreamed big. He wanted to be rich so that he could provide his family everything they wanted.

At the same time, Dad bemoaned other people’s success. He didn’t resent everyone who made it big, but he often complained that this fellow was successful because he’d caught a lucky break or that gal earned her fortune because she knew the right people.

There’s no question that some people have lucked into wealth. I have a friend whose family owned a large manufacturing business; as a result, she’s benefited from a huge annual stipend from her trust. This has turned her into a slacker and layabout. She’s frequently out of work, and makes all sorts of excuses about why she can’t find a job. It’s difficult to be around her.

But at the same time, I know folks who have worked like dogs to accumulate their wealth. I know others who have scrimped and saved for decades to build their savings. Do I begrudge these folks for having a million dollars? Or three million? Hell, no. They’ve earned it. They deserve it.

The media demagogues would have you believe that this rush to judgment is a partisan thing. That’s nonsense. Being a Democrat doesn’t necessarily mean you hate the rich, and being Republican doesn’t mean you’re all for the wealthy. My grandmother was the most conservative person I’ve ever known, and she hated the rich. I have a good friend who is as liberal as you’ll ever meet, and he’s pro-business, pro-capitalism, pro-money to the core.

But if this love-hate relationship with wealth isn’t political, what is it? Is it a part of our Puritan heritage? I don’t know. For myself, I’ve decided to suspend judgment when I hear about the wealth of others. I exercise financial empathy. There’s just too much I do not (and cannot) know. I’d rather assume the best than assume the worst.

Everyone Hates a Winner

After Kristy and Bryce were profiled by the CBC, we connected by email. Kristy’s first question was about how to handle criticism. “How do you deal with the haters?” she asked. “We’ve been getting a ton of them since our article went live, and even though I expected it, it’s getting a bit exhausting.”

Great question — and not just for money bloggers. Here’s what I wrote back:

Your best bet is simply to ignore the financial trolls. You know what you’ve done and you know how you did it. You know it works. These fools know nothing about you. Their opinions don’t matter. Let them live their blissful lives of ignorance funded by debt and fifty years of working for The Man.

You can’t reach everyone. In fact, you’re only going to be able to help a handful of people. That’s okay. Those few are your peeps — and you’re their peeps. Ignore the haters and focus on the fans.

It took me a l-o-n-g time to learn this, but the realization changed my life. It gave me a lot of peace.

The thing is, it doesn’t matter how a person achieves financial independence — whether it’s by cutting costs, boosting income, or both — commenters on major news sites will rip them to shreds. I’ve been watching this happen for a decade. It’s what I expect when I read any sort of financial success story.

If the story emphasizes that the subject met their financial goals by cutting costs, by living on less than, say, $20,000 per year, then the commenters will rail about how miserable the subject must be. “What’s the point in retiring early if you have to eat cat food,” they’ll write. “Fine for them, but I want to live in a house and not a hovel.”

On the other hand, if the story profiles somebody who succeeded because they worked hard at a high-paying career, then the commenters will grouse about how anyone can get rich if they earn big bucks. (Not true, by the way.)

And if you’re somebody like me, someone who made the leap to full financial independence because of a windfall? Well, we’re the worst kind of people. We didn’t earn it! Our wealth was handed to us! (Never mind the stats on how most people squander windfalls.)

When I read comments from folks who think this can’t be done, comments ripping on folks who have done it, I don’t think less of the subjects. I think less of the commenters. I see them projecting their own inadequacies and insecurities on people who have managed to make things happen.

Anonymity on the internet brings out the worst in people. They do and say things that they’d never do and say in person. You can’t control what people think of you, and you can’t prevent them from attacking you in a space you do not control, such as the CBC website.

Here’s a recent example of people hating on success. My friend Gwen from Fiery Millennials was recently featured in a MarketWatch article about people retiring early. Gwen is only 27, but she’s been saving aggressively for years in order to achieve financial independence.

Commenters on the article wrote things like:

“Sorry, but you can’t retire at 27, unless you want to live like a pauper.”

“This talk of people retiring at 27 is just stupid. Nothing I read in the example given will allow these people to retire at that age and have enough of money for their lifetimes. That is just Facebook hype.”

“This is such a silly article. Retiring at 27? Unless you inherited millions of dollars or won the lottery this is a stupid idea. The bottom line is that a lot of these Millenials jusr dont want to pay their dues.”

It doesn’t matter what the story is. There’s always somebody out there ready to hate.

Shake It Off

It’s not just financial independence that brings out the trolls. It’s any sort of financial behavior that seems outside the norm. Decide to become a car-less family and you’re going to get flak. Decide to downsize from a 3000-square-foot home to a tiny house and people are going to think you’re nuts. Tell your co-workers that you buy your clothes at thrift stores and they’ll rant about how gross that is.

I believe we need to be celebrating success stories, not denigrating them.

I don’t care whether you achieved early retirement by having a $300,000 income or by spending just $12,000 a year. I don’t care if you won the lottery. However you did it, good for you. Bravo!

I don’t care if you paid off your student loans by working three jobs. I don’t care if you cut housing costs by moving in with your parents. And you know what? I don’t care if you didn’t go on a vacation for five years so that you could save up for a new sports car either. If you set a money goal, made a plan, then achieved that goal — well then, I celebrate your accomplishment!

If you do what’s right and you do your best, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. Stay focused on your own life, your own goals. Ignore the haters. Shake it off.

Sidenote: Yes, it’s true. I’m a Taylor Swift fan. Deal with it!

The post Everyone hates a winner: How to cope with haters appeared first on Get Rich Slowly.

from Finance http://www.getrichslowly.org/2018/02/26/coping-with-haters/ via http://www.rssmix.com/