#How to Tell if the Graph is Good News or Bad News

[thatsbelievable]

[creatingblackcharacters]

Black Character Design Poll: Event Rules

I am an avid lover of graphs. I like numbers, I like trends and the absence thereof. I like the mindsets that make people make decisions, I like recognizing the biases, both conscious and unconscious, in sampled populations. I like how you'll always gain some sort of answer, even if it's not the one you expected (it's the scientist in me)! Best of all, I like making people question themselves! So... Why not a poll?

This is going to be a TWO-PART event. The first portion is going to ask the First Question, starting Sunday April 13th and I will stop taking submissions Saturday April 19th. The second portion is going to ask the Second Question, starting Sunday April 20th, and I will stop taking submissions Saturday April 26th.

See below the cut to find out all the details!

The goal is:

To see how different groups feel about the same character design, specifically Black audiences

To make participants question how and why their own beliefs may be affected

When I tell you "consider your Black audience when you create Black characters", that's not me pointing you to an amorphous concept- I'm talking about real people who are looking at a work! And very often, we find out that a creator's intent, versus a particular audience's perception, are not on the same page. That's not always a bad thing, nor something we can always control. But sometimes, it can reveal some lack of understanding, or biases we aren't aware of. So let's test that out! Let's have that conversation!

Submissions:

You will be submitting characters! There are three things requested in an ASK format:

A good, clear picture of Black Character from the Source Material

Black Character's Name

Title of Black Character's Source Material

DASSIT! No, I don't want leading arguments or why you love them in the ask. I will delete it. Let people make their own conclusions!

Responses:

Your options will be "Peak", "Mid", and "Nah".

Answer honestly and instinctively! If you thought it was great, choose that! If you thought it was ass, choose that! Don't let a need to "look nonproblematic" or "to be nice" affect your answer. Just take the time to consider why your opinion may be different from others. This is an opportunity to consider something new!

That being said! I'm not arguing or doing discourse with y'all in the comments or tags- I'd have to keep up with far too many conversations. Think before you speak! That thought that you think might be racist- you do not have to say it!

I will be organizing responses into three groups of viewers: "White", "Nonblack POC", and "Black". One, so that the Black voters have a little more chance to be seen (and we're not like, 97-3 every time 😅) and two, because sometimes I think people of color assume they are immune to antiblackness. I want everybody to think!

Do not send me an ask or message telling me why you're uncomfortable and why you think I shouldn't ask these questions. It's meant to bring people out of their comfort zone. Considering that you may have a different perspective on the presentation of Blackness than an actual Black person is not a bad thing, and no, it's not causing racism to have a conversation about why that may be an issue. Just don't participate.

I will add the questions and rubric in a reblog- stay tuned!

[fatphobiabusters]

Hey, I wanted to ask if you maybe have any book recs about nutrition that aren't steeped in fatphobia? my friend is trying to learn more about nutrition and change her eating habits, and i want to give her a gift

We spoke separately on this, sorry for the late reply but I can now officially recommend a book for your friends next birthday!

Gentle Nutrition: A Non-Diet Approach to Healthy Eating

Absolutely 10/10 would recommend. It's from a registered dietician, has plenty of sources!

I can't summerize or even list all the topics covered. Here's just a sample:

Introducing intuitive eating, recognizing diet culture, the thinness obsession, the types of hunger we feel, what factors actually contribute to health, diet cycling, hunger cues, why BMI is BS, how to make small changes gradually, the effects of weight stigma and stress on the body.

And so much more.

It introduces so many concepts and issues we touch on here on the blog and questions people have about health and some fat issues. (Not every single issuse but it does tackle the health based fatphobic arguments just by the process of tearing down diet culture. Even mentions medical neglect/fatphobia. Other literature is out there on the full scope of fatphobia and its harms.)

I'm particularly interested in this section. I'm delighted by graphs and then the explanations for them!

Theres so much I want to directly beam into people. My primary complaint is I wish there was MORE advice for people with body cue reading problems. There is some advice but more would be nice.

I also appreciated this:

Im someone who has good textures and bad textures (mild compared to some) but ask me which ones and I'd be stumped because I tell you dishes I like but otherwise ??? So this helps me think.

While flipping through it I keep finding more things to gush about this really is such a good starting point because it will touch on so many weight and diet culture topics.

This is disjointed because this book covers so much I want to try and encourage peopleto check it out but my brain go Brrrr from excitement. It's not perfect, nothing can be but it's just so nice to have a book I can recommend that covers both what you want and doesn't shy away from the complex web of diet culture. It tries to met a new reader where they are and I just Brrrrr. You know?

-mod squirrel

[artificial-transmutations]

Going Green

"Microtransactions!"

Charles looked around the board members.

"Micro. Transactions. Have you ever heard of that? Anyone?"

Slowly, heads nodded.

"Oh, good! So, you *have* heard of them. Does anyone care to explain to me then why our games barely have any? In fact, I have yet to see *any* microtransaction revenue from our latest release."

"But Sir, 'Orcs and Morcs' is a single player game - and not for a mobile platform, too. It doesn't even have an online connection. It would be highly unusual."

Charles M. Anderson cut the engineer up with a gesture. He didn't even know the other man's name, which wasn't too unusual. Even though he was the CEO of GreenGames for six months now, he didn't bother to learn his subordinates names until they proved useful. And this unnamed engineer could be happy if he still had a job after this meeting.

"I don't care about your techno-babble. Microtransactions is where the money is, so I want them in our products. *All* our products. And make sure to make them mandatory for any progress, too."

Charles usually talked about "Releases" and "Products". To him, video games were just a product like any other. Of course *he* didn't play any of those silly games, games were for children and losers. He only cared for the numbers, the graphs and revenues.

"What about the backlash? I mean, I understand that you want to generate more revenue, but GreenGames is known for providing high quality games that *don't* try to rip their customers off."

"So?"

"So, this could be bad publicity for us. Really bad."

Charles looked around the table and noticed most of the other board members nodding.

"Listen up, everyone. I think there is some misunderstanding here. You think that I care about our customers. I really don't, as long as they continue to buy our products. There is no such thing as bad publicity. So, I don't tell you how to draw your silly ogres and you don't try to meddle in the business aspect of the company, okay?"

Even though the inflection suggested a question, it was perfectly clear that it was neither a question nor a request. Again, heads nodded and tried to avoid eye contact. Good. Respect was very important for a leader.

One woman spoke up. Charles suspected her to be some lead writer or something.

"It's orcs, Sir."

Charles blinked. "What are you trying to say?"

"You said ogres, but our games are about orcs. That is our thing, we make games about orcs."

"There is no difference between orcs, ogres, unicorns and all that whimsy stuff. Leave me alone with your fantasy crap."

"But there is another thing. You are responsible for the story of our products?"

The woman agreed with a careful: "Yes, Sir?"

Charles looked her straight in the eye. "It has come to my attention that there are certain woke elements in our products. As a story writer, I expect you to take care of that."

"What... do you mean by woke? And by taking care of that?"

Charles sighed. Why was everyone so incompetent?

"Apparently, there is same-sex smut in our products, some even have pronouns. That crap needs to disappear asap. It is 'go woke go broke', after all."

The writer woman looked at Charles incredulously. "But Sir! Same-Sex romances are a well-accepted part of the industry for *decades* now. And it's not like the player has to engage in that, too. It's just an option - an option we actually received much praise for in the past. And about the pronouns... It's just a setting that influences some dialogues on how the player character is referred to. Again, it is perfectly possible to play as a straight green cis male if that's what you want to do."

Charles shook his head, his voice now dangerously low. "One more word of that, miss, and you can start looking for a new job. 84% of our customer base is male, and male customers want to see boobs, that's a fact. I won't tolerate wasting company resources on pacifying some noisy minority and alienating our main audience."

"But sir!" the writer woman objected.

Charles' look silenced her.

"One more word and you're out. We'll find another writer. Someone who does the job and keeps their mouth shut. This meeting is over. I expect results end of next week."

Nobody dared to speak up when everybody left the meeting room, and Charles returned to his office. What a productive meeting.

Just as he turned to his computer to check today's KPIs, he noticed a new email.

From: Employee Council

To: Charles M. Anderson

Subject: Going Green

Body:

Dear Mr. Anderson,

we here at GreenGames would like to take the opportunity to point out some concerns about your leadership role.

We have noticed a disturbing development since your takeover and would like to remind you of the values we stand for at GreenGames. We like creating games, and we identify with the work we do. Our players are important to us, and we strife to be open and accessible for everyone. Just like the protagonists in our games, we have honor and use our strengths to better the world. You in particular should be the living embodiment of this ideal. Please take this chance to re-think your methods and decisions and "go green" for real.

Sincerely,

The Employee Council.

Charles was outraged. How dared those subordinates criticizing him? He reached for his phone, ready to phone his secretary to find out who this "Employee Council" was but was interrupted by a ripping sound.

The right arm of his expensive suit jacket had ripped at the shoulder, which was unusual. He would have to have a stern talk with the tailor. Charles stood up and took off his jacket - or at least, he tried to. It was like the piece of clothing was way too small all of a sudden. He finally managed to get out of it, but only with several more rips in the fabric. Charles loosened his tie. He was sweating like mad, and when he looked down on himself, he was in utter disarray. His shirt looked like it was several numbers too small and as he was watching, one button after the other flew off with an audible "pling", exposing his torso underneath.

But was it really his torso? Not only was it *bigger*, it also looked way *hairier*. Charles had never been a man with much body hair, but now, he looked down on a stomach that was showing visible abs covered with a dense treasure trail of dark hairs. They continued upwards where they met with a true forest of curly dark hair that covered the slabs of pecs that were still growing as Charles watched.

He had to loosen his tie again before taking it off entirely. All of his clothes felt constricting, so, he peeled himself out of his shirt, too. His expensive watch was interrupting his growth painfully, but Charles was too occupied to notice, let alone care. With a dull cracking noise, the leather strap broke, and the watch flew across the room, hitting the opposite wall.

As Charles continued to grow, the chair underneath him creaked, but, again, he had other things to worry about. His lower body was still covered by his dress pants and shoes, but that was getting tight, too. His shoes especially were getting painful, and it was a relief when the front broke, exposing large muscular feet and toes. His pants were filled to the brim with heavy, muscled legs now, but there was another region where the capacity had been reached. His groin formed an obscene bulge. That alone would have probably fit - barely - but it was accompanied by an unusual feeling. Charles didn't *mind* his extreme change. In fact, the hyper masculine body turned him on, even. He watched as a dick print became clearly visible outlined against his groin, as his cock grew hard. It pulsed, once, and Charles felt a spurt of precum soak into his boxer shorts. A wet patch became apparent as the liquid seeped through his pants - all from a single spurt. His dick pulsed again, and Charles' head began to swim. The air in the room was thick with sweat and testosterone by now, and Charles groaned from arousal. Man, what would he give for a nice firm manly ass right now, giving him a lap dance.

Wait, what? Manly ass?

But it was true! Every time, Charles tried to think about sexy girls, but all that came to mind were men. Burly, hairy men, twinkish shaved men, green-skinned ogre-man. No, not ogres, he corrected himself. Orcs.

As he thought this word, his dick pulsed again and made Charles almost cry out from arousal. He couldn't restrain himself anymore. He *ripped* apart his dress pants and lowered his boxer shorts that looked like a pair of briefs on his massive body now, releasing a gigantic stiff rod and a matching set of heavy balls - along with a whole cloud of manly, musky smell that made Charles even hornier than before.

He closed his gigantic hand around his shaft and moved it up and down, in a slow, barely constrained motion. He had almost come by that one stroke, so horny was his mind. Fascinatedly, he watched as his cock and balls took on a deep, green color. It looked almost like a cucumber, or the penis of the incredible hulk. Or... an orc. As he moved his strong hand up and down again, the green started to spread in all directions.

Yes! There was no doubt: He was becoming a big, strong, sexy orc! Charles let all restraints fall away and started pumping in earnest now. With each stroke, the green spread, until his entire torso was of a rich green color. His head felt a pressure as his facial structure reformed, and his ears grew long and pointy. His hair lost darkened and grew out into a wild mohawk-like hairstyle. At the same time, a black beard sprouted around his entire jaw, underlining his masculinity.

Meanwhile, the green had swept across his arms and legs, quickly eliminating any leftover pink spots. The green color looked incredibly hot under the coat of dense, manly hair, and Charles felt himself getting closer. He grunted with each stroke like an animal and where his muscular green body touched the furniture or his executive chair, it left a film of manly sweat. Finally, he felt a short bit of pain on his ears and nipples, as small metal piercings appeared there: Short studs in his ears and small rings in his nipples.

That sent him over the edge. With a final bellow, he came, mightily. His large green balls contracted and his massive cock spew cum everywhere: All over his stomach, his chest, his furniture, even his face!

Charr panted in the afterglow of his orgasm. He was the epitome of virility and although he had just cummed all over his office, his mind kept creeping back to sexy guys again. He would be able to go again, soon - but that had to wait a bit. He used the remains of his suit to clean up a bit (although it was still clearly visible and smellable what happened here), stuffed his mighty tool into the cum-stained underwear and reached for the phone.

"Please send the board to my office, I want to issue an honorable apology, and announce our new strategy." He rumbled with his new, low voice. After a moment of consideration, he added: "And please send someone to install our games on my PC."

He rubbed his hands. This would usher in a whole new era for GreenGames - with the greenest possible CEO.

I have the feeling that a lot of companies could benefit greatly from a bit of a greener leadership!

[sapphia]

The Right Are Engineering A Recession In NZ

tumblr isn't very good at local news, which is why i tend to get my nz politics information from elsewhere. so i can confidently tell you that aotearoa under national is totally, utterly fucked. like, not just in terms of all the social progress they plan to undo, though they do very much do plan to do all of that.

national+act+nzfirst have committed to a financial policy that makes zero fucking economic sense. you know how every time the economy is in bad shape, tories sieze the good economic opportunity to slash services or give tax cuts to the rich? imagine if that was happening for just no reason at all. there’s no crisis we’re facing this would even marginally help, but that's what nact+nzfs tax cut policy is anyway.

aotearoa is currently in a cost of living crisis, like much of the world, and our inflation is, to give it it's technical term, "sticky". This means that it's not still shooting up the graph like crazy, but it should have started to go down more by now according to predictions, but it hasn't, and is sitting at an unsustainably high level.

Inflation is bad because it eats away at the value of your money (not something you want generally) but this inflation is especially bad because it's inflation we created to ward off a recession back in 2020. NZ had the hardest and fastest lockdowns in the world, but at a huge cost -- our economy basically stopped overnight. Without goods and services being bought and sold, we would have been plunged into a financial crisis. But instead the government borrowed money to fund the wage subsidy and pay workers through the lockdowns, injecting money into and stimulating the economy.

This was a bill that was always going to come back to bite us, and for the past several years, the Labour government and the Reserve Bank had been playing a balacing game with our economy, steering us between a recession and a wage-price inflation spiral, with a recession definitely being the preferable one of the two. We actually had short soft one that we’ve come out of, exactly what Grant Robertson and Adrien Orr were aiming for.

Recessions can be small or big - inflation spirals are usually just big. We wanted to aim for a "soft" landing recession by hiking interests rates just enough to bring inflation back under control. The Reserve Bank uses it's tool - the Official Cash Rate, or the OCR, which basically sets the price of interest rates across the country, and the government also can use it's powers to create monetary policy to help the economy. A lot of the criticism Labour received before losing the election was about overspending in areas post-pandemic, as putting money into the economy through government spend by using debt to fund it genuinely causes inflation.

What a government should do during a time of inflation is remove money from the economy. For example, a right wing government would often issue an austerity policy, where the cut the amount of government spending through slashing programmes, benefits, staff, etc etc. A government could also increase taxes so people have less money to spend, could pay down government debt, could invest the money into a fund (e.g. NZ has a superannuation fund that's designed to be eventually self-funding set up by Labour that National have paused payments on when getting into government). It doesn't matter too much what, theoretically speaking -- the point is to get the money out of the economy.

What you definitely, definitely don't want to do during a period of high and sticky inflation is put more money into the economy. That would do the opposite of what you want. Labour were rightfully (at some points) criticised for their inflationary policies. So you'd think National would take their criticisms of Labour’s debt blowout and start paying it down to show how responsible they are, right? No, they’re cutting taxes for (mostly) the wealthy while offsetting this with austerity measures to make this “fiscally neutral”. They will make up for the inflationary effects of doling out money to landlords by cutting back essential government services, trying to frame it as a personnel and budget blowout (it’s not) and saying Labour mismanaged the books and we are in terrible financial shape (we are not; we have a triple A credit rating).

And further, it’s becoming increasingly hard to ignore our infrastructure crisis at nearly every level and every location. Our water systems needs billions of dollars of investment that our councils can’t afford to borrow, our rates are shooting up (and so will our rents), our ferries are old and broken down and Nicola Willis Minister of Finance just canned the “too expensive” deal that was needed to replace them — with most of the money going to into wharf upgrades that are desperately needed. There was a huge sunk cost; we’re not going to be able to to buy shit now. The ferries link the North and the South Island and are vital infrastructure; when they break down (which they did multiple times last year) it causes chaos and brings things to a standstill.

Why are they doing this? Land. It’s always about fucking land. All of National have divested in shares and have bought into land under the guise of this removing the “conflict of interest” that would exist if they had invested into specific companies. The usual alternative that solves this is a blind trust, but that’s not what most of the caucus has money in. Luxon alone sold about 12 million dollars worth of Air NZ shares and now has a property profile worth 20+ million. Oh, and he’s charging the taxpayer $50,000 a year to live in his own house. Thats 2.5 times what I get on the benefit that he’s cutting and putting sanctions on.

Nact don’t care if businesses go under and share prices crash; they’ll just sell their houses and buy stocks for cheaper. Their only concern is propping up the housing market ponzi scheme that they have all invested at the top of. This is why they’ve allowed councils to opt out of densification requirements and why they cut back the brightline test and are trying to boost the population with migrant workers; all of these things make house prices go up, make housing better for investors who make millions in untaxed capital gains.

NACT will not let the property market crash any further. Despite what they’re saying out loud, they actually want it to increase.

And they’re more than happy to wreck the economy to do it.

[storeecbrcod]

I need some more highly intuitive Soap. This man has so much shit going through his head constantly, but I can guarantee half of it is just his mind breaking down how things are made, what he could use from certain substances to make totally new products (that may or may not combust).

We, as a fandom, have established that as much as we make fun of Soap’s little quirky characterisations, that at the character’s heart, he is incredibly smart. Chemistry, technology, engineering, math… this man is a himbo in STEM. He might not be able to tell you what he ate for breakfast, but you know damn well that if a recruit asked him how soap works as a stupid joke, this guy would go on a whole rant about saponification and how fricken cool it is. The blank stares from the recruits don’t ever concern him.

He’s got all kinds of things flying through his little noggin. You know how when you or someone you know buys a new car, and suddenly you see that car everywhere around you? Soap experiences the same thing, except it’s just chemical and mathematical theories. He can’t just exist in the world, his mind is in constant hyperdrive to perceive.

That’s why he’s so good at his job (and pool). His constant heightened sense of awareness allows him to soak up information like a sponge when he finally manages to turn the constant perception off, like out field. Instead of the molecular structure of different plastics, or the force needed to crush a can theoretically, he is able to manage and monitor multiple things at once; his position, his team’s position, the enemy, the direction of bullets, and sometimes even how many seconds it takes for the cease of gunfire from one weapon on the opposite side of the grounds to start up again, notifying a reload.

Ghost made the mistake of opening one of Soap’s chemistry textbooks, once. Once. Soap found him practically tweaking, just staring at the hexagons and lines and graphs and abbreviations, all making his head throb. Soap simply sighed with a smile, plucking the book from skeleton gloves and placing it down, leading the Lieutenant away.

“Don’t hurt yerself, Lt.”

“Careful, Sergeant.”

“You’re tellin’ me, yer eye’s twitchin’ like you’ve been rummagin’ through the contraband stores.”

Extra Ghoap Bonus!

Sometimes, Soap gets so overwhelmingly exhausted from not being able to turn his mind off. (Un)Surprisingly, science is everywhere, and he can’t help but think about it. When he feels a migraine coming on, neck and jaw straining after trying to rein in his overactive brain, he goes straight to Ghost.

Something about Ghost’s dry humour and blunt conversation helps ground him; he doesn’t have to worry about subtext, or necessarily work-related chat. Just silly (read: flirty) banter and bad, clear-cut jokes. Ghost allows his mind to focus on one thing while he occupies his hands. A journal, playful taps on Ghost, a Rubix Cube, fiddling.

Eventually, he manages to calm his thoughts enough to doze off, lying haphazardly across couches, a mattress, on the bench seats of the cargo planes, or even on the floor. Many soldiers could attest to seeing Ghost gently cradling the man’s head, moving him into a comfortable position, even once or twice carrying him to his barracks. Could, if a certain skull-faced soldier didn’t pierce them with a very clear warning glare at the memory, as if he could tell they were thinking about it.

[alpaca-clouds]

What's up with all the plastic in the ocean?

Let me talk about one really sad thing - and one where the information out there is just really bad.

A lot of you will have heard about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. And about how you should not use plastic straws and have to recycle all the plastic you use and what not, because it is killing all the poor animals and what not.

I am here to tell you... it's all a lie. All of it.

Now, let me first say: Recycling is a scam. Because of capitalism. Yes, we could recycle at least some of the plastics we use (not all of them), but for the most part we do not do that, because it just is too expensive. So most of the plastics you and I put into recycling end up in landfills... Most likely in landfills in poor nations, where the stuff gets shipped off to. We do not really do anything good with the recycling stuff. Because making new plastics is cheaper. Simple as that. Capitalism prefers the cheap stuff. So, recycling is not happening.

But also... that plastic usually is still not the biggest problem when it comes to plastic in the ocean. Like, that landfil plastics are a problem and they should not be there. But they are not the reason for the plastics in the ocean.

Now, let me first talk microplastics, even though they are off course not that much of the plastic in volume. But where does that microplastic come from? Media wants you to believe that it is just not-recycled plastic that has somehow been made small by the ocean... But that's not it.

Instead most of the microplastics come from cars. It is abrasions from tires and breaks, that collect on the roads and then through rain get slowly transported into the oceans.

But as you can see from the graph above: Most plastics in the oceans are actually macroplastics and megaplastics. So big pieces of plastic. So, what are those?

Mostly... Fishing waste. So, fishing nets, fishing lines and stuff like that, that after use get just thrown into the oceans. This is because the fishing industry is among the industries least regulated - for the simple fact that most industries that work off the ocean are hard to regulate. And of course in the end people are very unintrested in regulating such industries.

Which is also the reason for other stuff. Overfishing. Bycatch. All those things. It just is not properly regulated - and even what regulations are there are hard to enforce because... well, who is gonna enforce them out there.

So... really. To save the oceans... we gotta eat less fish.

[midnight-drip]

my semester ended last week, so here's a list of strange/unhinged things my precalc teacher said throughout the course

you guys are the bread sandwiches of sandwiches! that's how classy you are.

it's like reading greek, in english...

we got a new president of america... maybe we'll have a new president of canada.... maybe it'll be the same person. it'd be tremendous.

we could have guns, and live free!

you can keep your quizzes, put them on the fridge. .. or put them IN the fridge, keep 'em fresh!

don't be cooked— be cooking!!

you know, my uncle invented the cartesian coordinate system.

you know that guy who eats cacti for a living? my uncle did that once.

do you call them quills on a cactus, or only for porcupines? because my uncle eats porcupines for a living too.

you're ruining this family, max (about a character in a word problem, not a real person)

they're all bad people. especially carl, and not just because he's bad at math (also about a word problem character)

I don't even want to think about carl. he's a disappointment not only to himself, but to his family and his community (same as above)

we're gonna talk to your dad, we're gonna tell him about how much shame you should be feeling.

I'm not lying to you. I do lie quite a bit, but I'm not lying now

we've already established that I enjoy lying.

"last year was 1963." correct!!

I'm just buying one extra so I look like I have loved ones. one for me, and one for my imaginary loved ones

you can change the question! you can do that in university, too. I changed so many questions on my physics tests.

stick a fork in it, cause this baby's done!

graphing comes from the same two places. it comes from the heart! ...and it comes from a table of values.

if you've gotten rid of snap, and you've replaced it with desmos graphing app, then you're on your way to becoming a good person.

counting is hard, guys.

I hate to— actually, no. I don't hate to be mean, I actually enjoy it! I thrive on it, it warms my heart up.

after the exam, we're gonna share our hopes and dreams with the class. and if they're not good enough, you fail! so think about your hopes and dreams!

I'm probably the most ninja-like teacher you know.

[edennill-archived]

Stupidly long Númenor Playlist:

plenty by aeseaes

in the land of plenty, we don't know what the word no means

a coronation, a beheading from the funeral to the wedding do you think they care where the crown goes?

we want violence, we want blood we want superhero love, we want all the answers you promised us we want laughter, we want pain, and everyone will know our name

did you know that no two missteps are the same?

the flood by aeseaes

and we'll live freely without ever getting old

beasts of the wild, eyes of a child this world is all that you know

much madness by aeseaes

we'll drag you out into the light, quiet like the vines what are you afraid of, if you really have nothing to hide?

Vague warning for creepy imagery, maybe especially when interpreting it in this context.

Rilke Song by aeseaes

How did we get here and what does it mean Who said it must be and when can we dream The world outside is cold and bright but when you take a breath You'll inhale the sunlight and exhale the rest

We're older than we used to be And closer to the ground beneath Maybe we've got all the time to grow Maybe we've got all the time and maybe we just don't know

In spite of our failures the lines twist and curve To regrow the branches the night has disturbed And when we wake we'll take the shape of something free and bold And rest in the shade where the new greets the old

I am cheating somewhat here because it is more strictly a "my Númenórean OCs" song lol. I am actually being very disciplined in not listing all of them here, especially as the link tends to be a vibe that I adore ("it is bad, but everything will be all right in the end") that's not even particularly present in Akallabeth xd.

Carl by aeseaes

this lonely light looms; in the cosmic night we fell in love and spilled our blood on the pale blue dot

kids and killers shed their bones on this, the only home we've known

Okay, it was one more.

Ready Aim Fire by Imagine Dragons (though honestly, I'm still looking for a good cover)

Off in the distance There is resistance Bubbling up and festering We don't have the choice to stay We'd rather die than Do it your way

With our backs to the wall The darkness will fall We never quite thought We could lose it all

Ready aim fire Ready aim fire An empire is falling In just one day You close your eyes And the glory fades Ready aim fire Ready aim fire away

The Tower by Flannel Graph

Got a neck so strong for the crown upon your head Don't think anyone will leave it when you're dead There's a throng of men mightier than you And they're waiting and they're watching till they fill your shoes

Speed the Collapse by Metric

And then the storm was overhead All the oceans boiled and rivers bled We auctioned off our memories In the absence of a breeze Scatter what remains Scatter what remains

Pushed away, I'm pulled toward A comedown of revolving doors Every warning we ignored Drifting in from distant shores

Eastward of Eden by Amelia Day (I listen to the acoustic version)

Eastward of Eden, where the clouds meet the dirt We left our poor mother and seeded the earth The gates, they were shuttered, the latches were locked Oh, Eastward of Eden, where men become Gods

Few though our people, we toiled as one The fruits of our labors thrived under the sun Our children, they spread to outnumber the stars Oh, Eastward of Eden, where day turns to dark

Leave it all, leave it all, leave it all behind

Our towers, they rose up and set with the sun Our sermons, they burnt us with fiery tongue We wrought our wings of metal, surprised when we fell Oh, Eastward of Eden, where Heaven's a Hell

Daniel in the Den by Bastille

And for every king that died Oh they would crown another

Providence by Poor Man's Poison

Count the lights on empty souls Quietly behind the doors Oh, bleeding us just for fun Men of power telling lies Shifty hands and thirsty eyes And they can smell your fear like blood

Oh, my weary soul We've met your kind before Set fire to us all And oh sweet providence Come save us from ourselves From Hell and consequence

Hero by Heather Dale

You think that if you set the price, they'll turn me in You think that when I'm up upon the pike, you'll win They'll say that I was fighting for the spirit of the law What will they say about you when I'm gone?

You murdered and you stole, you mocked the hope I gave Though I'd prefer a happy end, no man can cheat the grave I know what they'll remember in the words of every song What will they say about you when I'm gone?

They'll say: "We stared into the wind that tore away our breath We left behind a message that cannot be claimed by death"

No More Fear by LEAH

A storm is rolling in A chill is in the wind A silence hunches over The wake of our heroes

Nothing left undefeated No one to take away our peace We stood, we claimed our freedom We held on to our souls

Victory by LEAH

Waves rise up Dark crimson sky Sails in the distance Sounds of war Hunting you down For this resistance

Look to your fathers from days of old You feel their heart; you face the day Now summon your courage, worth more than gold You hear their song; you see the way

Święty Graal by Sanah

Był sobie król Od pokoju Wolał iść w bój Słychać łkanie zza siedmiu gór Oj kochał szmal Patrzeć na łzy królowej chciał Dwie korony chętnie by miał

Lol, those lyrics sound stupid on their own. But it's a good song a little in the style of an old-fashioned ballad, imo.

Madame Guillotine from The Scarlet Pimpernel

No, I have no excuse and it doesn't even connect. But — the Terror, you get it—

Warning for uh, definitely sexual and maybe at times noncon-related metaphorical imagery.

The Island by Skipinnish

Summer time, long years ago I always will remember Just a boy who didn't know That those days would never die

Oh, I recall the island girl Her heart was still unbroken And still I hear the pipers scream In the summer island sky

[white-poppie]

Cliché' get Closer

Synopsis: When the local 'bad boy' of your institution falls in love. There is a palpable tension that hangs tantalizingly amongst you. The universe plays its game to make the two of you, end up in compromising situations. Cliches that have your heart throbbing!

Characters: Hanma Shuji, Ran Haitani,

A/N: trying something new with multi-tenses

𝐑𝐀𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐈

You have no idea how you ended up like this. As far as you remember, it was supposed to be a study session for Ran who was failing miserably.

...

The teacher had suggested Ran take peer tuition from you. He had walked outside the classroom and looked at you. Your eyes meet. Amethyst pupils…Ran Haitani's eyes were the prettiest you had ever seen. He looked at you half liddlely, twirling his dual-coloured braids in his fingers.

The expression on his face was unreadable. You can feel your heart pounding in your chest. You couldn't help but be embarrassed, but you couldn't help but stare at the tall and broad-shouldered man in front of you. His eyes scanned you up and down and then he smiled, his intense gaze softening. You felt a warmth spread through your body as if the sun came out of behind the clouds.

"Y/N could you come here for a moment, I need to talk to you,” he had said to you and you nodded apprehensively at your friends before following your older classmate. He's bad news. Everyone knows that. They avoid him like the plague. It's just him and Rin.

"What is up?" you asked softly, your heart was beating out of your chest due to an expression you don't know.

Ran took a deep breath and rubbed the nape of his neck, “So uh I don’t know how to put this, but I am failing all my classes and our homeroom teacher recommended me to talk to you if you would be interested in giving me peer tuition...since you are smart and stuff.” He said awkwardly and looks at your reaction.

You bit your lip as you considered all the options. He's a delinquent, a violent person, a known bad boy and basically the kid your parents tell you to stray away from. But its studies. if anything goes wrong you can always tell the teacher, right? There is no harm in giving him a chance... that's what you had thought.

...

Ran Haitani was insufferable.

"Wait what- how did you do that?" he asks, keeping his head on the table, like a puppy and you almost get the urge to pet this murderous delinquent.

You sigh and explain for the 5th time, "See you can't apply y=mx+c here since the graph is clearly not a linear function. It's not a straight line, but a symmetric curve. What did I say it is?"

Ran looks at you blankly and then answers, "Cubic function...?"

You facepalm at his answer and then look back at him, "It's a Quadratic function. y= ax^2 + bx + c."

"Ohh, now I get it." Ran nods and quickly scribbles in his notebook.

You sigh and rest your head on your palm as you look at Ran. Whenever he writes, his dual-colored braids move slightly. His knuckles are bruised as if he punched someone, and there is a tiny mole just above his lips. The way his lashes flutter innocently when he reads the problems almost makes your heart race. You can't help but be drawn to him, even though you know you shouldn't be. He looks up and catches your eye, and you quickly look away, feeling embarrassed. You take a deep breath and try to focus on the paper in front of you.

"Done," he says enthusiastically and you take his notebook and scan through the equations, you then look up at him with a smile and nod, "All correct, good job."

Ran smiles proudly and leans back on the chair, "You are a good teacher." You smile at his words and lean back in your chair, observing him silently.

"Say, Y/N," he asks quietly, "do you have a boyfriend?" He spins the pen between his fingers with dexterity. You look at him for a moment, feeling a slight flush on your cheeks. You shake your head lightly, averting your gaze. "No," you say, your voice soft and airy, "I don't have a boyfriend."

His gaze lingers on you for a moment, his lips curling into a small smile. He nods his head ever so slightly and turns back to his work, spinning his pen in his fingers.

It's Ran Haitani, you have to remind yourself. The notorious delinquent of your school. You can't help but feel your heart flutter in your chest. He had always been a mysterious figure, never talking to anyone, but in that moment, he had seemed almost human. He wasn't the same person that everyone whispered about in the hallways, but someone more complex and intriguing.

"What are you thinking about?" he asks and rests his face on his palm. "Well anyways I think this unit is done." He says proudly.

You nod and pack up your things, "I guess that's it for today, I'll let you know if I'll continue the tuition by Monday. You say, ready to leave as he grabs your hand.

"Wait," he says gently, "let me walk you home." He wants to make sure you get home safely and is showing a kind gesture by offering to walk you home. He also might be trying to extend the conversation and see if you want to continue having tuitions in the future.

"Alright." You two leave the library and walk in silence for a while. Your tote bag with books slung over your shoulder.

The sidewalk is almost empty. The two of you stroll toward your house peacefully, but suddenly a rampant kid approaches with his bike out of control and you don't know what to do. At this point, he is incapable of controlling the bike due to its speed. "Move!" he shouts, unable to control the bike.

Ran panics as he thinks of a way to escape and does what seems the closest escapade. He pushes you and himself towards a wall on the right, his hand behind your head. Ran looks back at the kid, scowling at him and then he looks into your eyes as his breathing speeds up. He has you pinned to the wall. Your watery eyes peering up at him almost make him want to tilt his head and capture your lips in his.

He coughs and moves away, a faint blush adorning his face. "Let's go." He says as you two walk towards your house. There is silence again, but it is awkward.

He pauses as you two reach your house. You nod at him, about to enter in as he says.

"I look forward to our next tutoring session, Y/N. Maybe this time I could teach you a thing or two."

𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐌𝐀 𝐒𝐇𝐔𝐉𝐈

"I am regretting my life right now, Hanma Shuji," you whisper-shout as he unlocks the window of the library.

"Relax, sweetheart, I'll get ya' out safe and sound," he says and you feel warmth on your face at that term. You and Hnama had been paired up for an assignment and he had kept on delaying it until the end till the research for the final conclusion of the project was still left.

...

So there he was on the floor of your dorm room, the importance of the university assignment is finally hitting him.

“How do we get the research? Is the internet enough?” He had asked and you shook your head.

“It’s such an oddly specific topic that if can only be done by a few textbooks that are in the library. It would be closed by now! The deadline is tomorrow.” You said rubbing your finger on you temples.

Hanma sighs, his tongue rests on the corner of his lips,”Its my fault I get it, it was a two people project, you handled so much on your own while I was preoccupied with gang shenanigans.” He said, for once taking his education seriously because he knows this accounts to huge percentage of the aggregate and more importantly cause it’s you.

"Lets sneak into the library then," he said and you frowned.

"What? Its 11 PM right now, it must be closed." You huffed.

"Just trust me."

....

The lock opened with a click and he urged you to go in first. You bite your lips and climb into the low window with Hanma's help. His long fingers grip your waist as he easily hoists you up on the sill and the climbs up himself. His tall stature making it easy for him.

You both land on the library floor with a plop and Hanma whispers, "where is it?"

"Probably the left wing, lets go," you whisper back , standing up as you walk slowly to the set of shelves.

Hanma switches on the flash of his phone as he searches through the titles with you, checking the spines of the books, you look at the downward shelves while he checks the upper ones.

"Got it!" He exclaims and takes out the book and shows it to you. You nod in approval at his efficiency. You both switch off the flash and are about to leave when the guard's footsteps are heard.

Your eyes widen as you look at Hanma with a fear-struck expression. Hanma quickly grabs your hand and huddles at the back of the rack with you. He gazes behind the shelves and both of your heartbeats are pounding.

The guard flashes the torch around and leaves. You breathe a sigh of relief, but soon realise the way you are pressed against him. Hanms seemed unfazed, but you could tell that wasn't the case by his rapid breathing and heart thumping under your hand.

You could feel the tension between the two of you, the palpable heat radiating off Hanma's body as you pressed up against him. You both seemed spellbound at the moment, neither willing to break the gaze or the silence that hung in the air.

His hand shakily reaches your cheek to brush the strands of hair that fall on your face. His amber eyes, seemed to be searching for an answer in yours, as though he was trying to read your mind and uncover the secrets of your soul through your gaze alone. You could feel the intensity of the moment, each of you seemingly lost in the other in a way that felt both frightening and exhilarating at the same time.

" 'S pretty," he mumbles hoarsely like it's your name, his back against the side of the bookshelf. He whispers with a dulcet voice that kissed the air like the smell of a fresh blossom of Night Jasmine.

He did this cause he was guilty that has stressed you out more. You who makes an annoying softness in his heart light up, how he subconsciously bends a little while he talks to you, bites his tongue from using crude words…what have you done to him?

You were supposed to be just another student in his batch, when did he get addicted to your voice? When did he start noticing your perfume notes?

It's only an attraction he thinks. Only pure infatuation that comes with your expressive eyes and endearing demeanour...but it's not, it's so much more at it kills him.

He then snaps back into reality and helps you up on your feet, giving you no chance to question his words, "Let's finish the assignment first...we could go for coffee tomorrow."

Of Vengeance and Ashes” -> BUY NOW!!!! I am a 15-year-old author who needs support, I assure you it won't disappoint! It's okay if you don't buy, it would be enough to share the link with someone else who might be interested! I humbly request you support my career as a child author by purchasing my book. This would help me to write more books in future.

Also Check out: L'appel du vide (✔️) (Synopsis: Your husband, Hanma Shuji is dead! With no memories of what transpired two days before his death, you team up with Tachibana Naoto, Chifuyu Matsuno, Ryuguji Ken and Mitsuya Takashi, you go on a journey full of betrayals and twists. Can you find out what really happened to your husband? )

© white-poppie 2023. all rights reserved. do not repost, modify, or translate without permission. do not claim work or layout as yours.

— TOKYO REVENGERS - Fanfictions

TAGS: @akumicchi, @denkis111, @jazzylove, @lordmypantsaresocool, @futuristicallykawaiiturtle, @kristaline2dmensimp, @rintaroubby @nanaseishiro @cleaningfairylevi, @buttercupspotify

﹒ Taglist   (lmk in the comments in case you wanna be added and the link doesn't work!)

[blackgirlwrites125]

𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝟷, 𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟻

𝐌𝐚'𝐊𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐚

Word Count: 2179

𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐲.

As chief director of the marketing department, I have to hold a meeting to discuss the Christmas sale, which I don't like doing. Since I haven't come up with anything, the team has to help. I feel bad for dragging them out of their lunch breaks, this is the one time where the employees get to relax. Plus, I really don't want to spend too much time in this meeting. I gotta end this meeting fast, I still need to eat.

"So", I state, "what do we have so far?"

Someone raises his hand.

"Yes Max?"

"I was thinking we could give out an updated version of one of our products? Like those touch-screen computers we used to sell."

It sounds like a good idea, but there are some faults. "That's an idea, but there's a problem with that. We would need a lot of money and get a survey of people about what updates they would like."

"Right", Kylie agrees, "it's going to be pretty time consuming."

I nod. "I agree, any other ideas?"

Someone else raises her hand.

"Whatchu got?"

"Selling out our current products and maybe pitching an idea for a new one. How about it?"

"Yeah, but that's pretty basic, no offense."

"None taken. But! There's a catch. Plus it would be a nice thing to do."

I'm confused. What would it be? Wait, I know what she's talking about. "A fundraiser."

"Exactly!"

I like this idea. The company will gain some revenue and give a good Christmas to the poor. Considering the poverty population in New York, this is going to be great for the community.

"Do you know what charity we're going to donate to?"

"Robin Hood, it's the largest poverty-fighting charity in New York. My cousin works for them, so I can ask her if we could help this Christmas. Can you run by Gomez?"

"That sounds like a good idea", I tell them, "I'll run it by Ms. Gomez. Good work, y'all!"

Everyone claps and starts packing up to leave. It's good that we made progress this time, things have been dry around here lately. I glance at my watch to check the time. 12:49pm. I have about 41 minutes before I get back to my desk, and I need to find a place to eat that's not too far from here. I could go to Blair's cafe again, but I need a meal.

"Ma'Kayla", Kylie calls out, "there's someone waiting outside to talk to you."

"Who is it?" I ask her.

Kylie gives me a signal to look towards the door. I look, and there he is. I didn't expect to see him here. He has two cups in his hands, and a folder. Hopefully the cups have coffee in them.

As I pass by her, she whispers in my ear, "He likes you."

No he doesn't, he barely even knows me. To be honest, I'd never expect him to show up.

"Hakeem, hello!" I greet him. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something." He hands me a cup. "Here's some coffee."

I take a sip. This is really good coffee, it tastes like the coffee at Blair's place. Praise Jesus!

"Where'd you get this?"

"The coffee place we went to the other day."

I nod. I knew it. "Oh, thank you. This was nice of you."

We take a walk towards the elevators. "What did you want to talk to me about?" I ask him.

"Oh! I wanted to give you these."

Hakeem sets his cup on a nearby table and opens the folder that he was holding. It reveals papers with different kinds of graphs on it and spreadsheets. What is this for, and why is he showing me this?

"I made these on Sunday for the meeting tomorrow. I researched the companies that we might ask for their services, like catering, decor, etc."

Wow, this is pretty amazing. "Did Gomez tell you to make these?"

He nods. "Yeah. She spotted me at that cafe by the building, and told me to make this."

"Cool. This is some nice work. I can work on the decor. I'll ask marketing to help. Also, I have an idea for the gala."

"What is it?"

"It'd make more sense to make it into a fundraising gala. We can donate the money to assist in the poverty problem, I just have to see if Gomez is alright with it."

"I'm pretty sure she'll be ok with the idea, she's a philanthropist."

"I didn't know that, that's pretty interesting."

"Well, there's something new you learn every day."

He smiles at me, and time stops. I stare at his complexion in utter awe. The windows were open, and the sun shines down on his sepia skin. His bright face gleams brightly as a flash of light. In the light, Hakeem looks like an angel. The light, showing a halo on Hakeem's head, giving his kind smile to me. He looks beautiful.

"Ma'Kayla?"

I jump. I didn't even here him call my name. "Yeah?"

"I asked you if you had eaten yet? I can get something for you if you want."

I shake my head. "No, but I'll probably get something to eat later. But thank you though!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Despite my answer being 'yes', my stomach disagrees and makes a gurgle loud enough for both of us to hear. That's pretty embarrassing.

"I guess I'll eat something now."

I glance at the time on my watch. 1:10pm. I have about 20 minutes until I have to go back to my desk. Thankfully, I'm eating and I have a good idea of what I plan to do for this Christmas sale. Hakeem ended up getting me food since I hadn't eaten, which I'm very grateful for, but I still feel bad for making him do this.

Apparently, there's a barbeque place not too far from the office. It's a really nice place and the food is really good. I might eat from there again.

"Hakeem, thank you a lot for this. I'll pay you back la-"

"Ma'Kayla, you don't have to pay me. I already told you this, consider this a favor."

"Really?"

He nods. "Don't worry about it."

This guy is way too nice. I grab a napkin by my plate and wipe my hands. I take a sip of my water and get up to go wash my hands.

"Thank you, Hakeem. Thank you so much."

"No problem!"

I get up and leave. I gotta get back to work. Thank the Lord for men like him. I'm making my way back to my office when all of a sudden I hear someone whisper my name.

"Ma'Kayla!" Someone calls my name.

I look around to see who called me, but no one is there. But the voice is familiar.

"Ma'Kayla!"

"Who's calling me?" I say to myself. "Am I going crazy?"

I scan all around the room and I still find nothing. What is going on? That doesn't matter, I have to get back to work. I have to prepare for the Christmas ad and I have to find a decoration company for the gala. Then, I have to get groceries before I go home. That reminds me, I have to make a shopping list for that. There's way too much stuff to do in such a short amount of time. I have to make a to-do list.

I arrive at the grocery store and I take out my shopping list on my phone.

Chicken

Salmon

Vegetables

Fruits(grapes especially)

Crackers

Seasoning

Dog food

I walk to the fruits and vegetables section and I think for a moment.

Why aren't there any green grapes? They had some a few days ago. I keep walking and scanning the aisle looking for the grapes. I keep walking and vigorously looking for them, but no sign. That's pretty upsetting, I really like green grapes. I might as well move on to the next item on my list.

As I'm looking, I still hear someone saying my name, but now the person is yelling my name.

"Ma'Kayla! Help, please!"

It sounds like a man. But, who is he? I need to find out who this person is.

"Ma'Kayla! Ma'Kayla, please!"

I look around to see who's yelling my name, then my vision starts getting blurry. My head hurts and the room begins to spin. What's going on, why is my body acting like this? I blink for a moment, but all I see is a run-down park building. I look around and people are holding me back. I don't know what to do, I'm scared. I look ahead of me, and I see him. Covered in blood and bruises. My breathing starts to quicken and I'm losing my breath. I fall to my knees, weeping. I'm horrified, and I can't do anything to stop it. Then, suddenly, everything goes dark.

"Ma'Kayla?"

My eyes flutter open, everything looks white. I hear constant beeping sounds and talking amongst different people.

"Ma'Kayla!"

It's Kylie. "What's going on?"

"They said you fainted in the grocery store on Manhattan. What happened?"

I shrug my shoulders and sit up in the hospital bed. "I don't know, my head started hurting and I couldn't breathe. I don't know what happened."

"Well, I'm glad that you're alright."

A doctor opens the door with a clipboard in hand. "Hello, Ms. Wilson. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine."

"Good, can I ask you a couple of questions?"

I nod. "Sure."

"Do you know what caused you to faint?"

I think for a moment. I don't know. The last thing I remember is seeing him...could that be the reason? "The last thing I remember was that I saw someone covered in blood and somebody was yelling my name."

"Can you describe what was happening?"

"Ok, I was in the fruit section of the store looking for grapes, then I heard someone calling my name. I look around and my vision blurs and I get a huge headache. Then the store wasn't there anymore, all I saw was someone getting beaten up and me being held back. That's what I remember."

The doctor stares at me with intent. "Has something like this happened to you before?""

I nod. "Yeah. But it's been occurring more recently, but I've never fainted before. I would have these random flashbacks from years ago. But I don't remember them."

He nods and writes something down on his clipboard. "Do you remember the last few years of your life? What about high school?"

I think for a moment. I don't remember anything from a few years back. I don't know why though. "I remember some stuff from the last few years of my life. High school is kind of a blur. Whenever I try to remember something, it goes away. In college I had to remember stuff or else I wasn't going to pass."

"I can relate to that." The doctor replies. "But I'm going to have to recommend you to a therapist."

I'm confused. "Why? I'm not sad or anything."

"Based on what you've told me, you might have Dissociative Amnesia. "

"What's that?" Kylie asks the doctor.

"You don't remember specific details about your trauma, yet you have flashbacks and nightmares about them. I need more information to prove that theory, but in the meantime, I'm going to give you a list of therapists. I'll follow up with you in a few days."

"Can I go home though?"

He nods. "Yes. I'll have the discharge papers ready for you." He leaves the room.

Right now, I don't know what to feel. I don't even know how to feel at this point. I mean, I should feel some sense of relief since I know the answer to my symptoms. But, I don't. I have trauma that I don't even know about. That's terrifying. How do I even react to this?

"Ma'Kayla, are you ok?"

I turn to look at her. "No, not really. I just wanna go home."

I open my apartment door and set my stuff down. St. Roch comes running up to me, but I ignore him and head straight to my room. I open the door and flop on my bed.

My brain needs to take a break from life. Today has been a series of unfortunate events. I faint in the middle of a grocery store, I find out I might have dissociative amnesia, and I have trauma that I don't even know about, which is absolutely insane. Why did this happen?

St Roch walks into my room and jumps in my bed. I'm pretty sure he can tell something's wrong, because he's laying beside me with his head on my chest. I pet his head.

"Abba, I'm scared. What do I do? Normally, I would know what's going on, but right now, I haven't the faintest idea. Help me, please. Show me Your ways, teach me what to do."

Thanks for reading! Be sure to check my blog for more stuff!

Copyright © Imari Dupree. All Rights Reserved.

[bluisgayandmoregay]

I'm just gonna say it. Linus Media Group is just another shitty company owned by another shitty rich white guy. Maybe Linus is "nicer once you get to know him" or some other bullshit like that, but everything that has happened and has been happening with them is down right sad.

No one should ever be dismissed or told off or belittled or shamed for coming forward about assault in the workplace, hell anywhere, and Madison deserved much better when coming forward to higher-ups.

If LMG responds to Madison's allegations the same way they've been responding to all the inaccurate videos callouts and the whole Billet Labs controversy, then Terren should consider taking a long hard look at who he employes while he gets situated as CEO

On related topics, first my opinions about the "mandatory meeting" video from

this link (credit u/Nitazene-King-002 on Reddit. It was originally posted 6 months ago around when Madison left, however the comments on the original post are upsetting).

This is the most corporate bullshit response Linus could've given. I've heard some of these exact phrases a dozen times working for Big Corporate™ before.

The fact that barely anyone knew about an internal anonymous reporting feature is highly concerning as that implies no one told them either purposely or accidentally. And either way is shady.

James's "joke", while maybe funny to some of a certain inner circle, was very clearly poorly timed and disgusting given the circumstances of the meeting itself.

Second, my opinion about the Billet Labs waterblock prototype scandal.

In LTT's video addressing the data inaccuracies and "how the company will move forward from this"

(credit: Linus Tech Tips on YouTube)

They say that they simply misplaced and mislabeled the waterblock and auctioned it off at the LTX convention, and, after finding out that it was supposed to be sent back to Billet Labs, handled refunding the auction in a very unprofessional way.

Third, my opinions on the inaccurate graphs and lazy post production fact checking.

While LMG is certainly not the biggest tech company trying to give people data on products, they most certainly have the time, money, and effort to fact check everything in their videos, despite what Linus has said on both the LTT forums and the WAN show. While they do address and focus on this topic in the above YouTube video, it is once again filled with corporate copypasta phrases and empty feeling promises as they try to calm everyone down. The video feels half assed and like most of them aren't taking it seriously as they insert inside jokes to the script. (but that is just my opinion)

Fourth, my opinions on Madison's allegations.

A link to Madison's thread

(credit: @suuuoppp on Twitter. It's a long read and heartbreaking, but worth it if you still believe LMG is a good company)

explaining everything that happened to her while working for LMG, and exposing higher ups for how they dismissed and belittled her for feeling attacked by other coworkers.

In my opinion this thread alone should be enough to tell people that something is wrong at LMG. She did not deserve anything that was mentioned there, whoever dismissed her cries for help should be fired for putting an employee's mental health in danger.

I believe Madison without a doubt, the behavior of some of her coworkers is completely unacceptable.

All in all, I expected better from LMG. I feel bad for Terren for having to deal with this right as he joins, but perhaps he's going to be part of the problem later.

I hope some of the smaller teams in LMG like TechLinked/GameLinked and Mac Address come out ok. Maybe Riley takes the linked writers and an editor to make his own tech news channel, or Horst can do the same with Mac Address.

And I genuinely hope the best for Madison. She was a wonderful part of any video she was in and never deserved anything that wronged her during her time there.

(Small explanations for certain parts:

Remember that these are opinions about facts, while I do literally state that Linus "is another shitty rich white guy", that is my opinion. I've never met him nor anyone who I'm hating on in this post.

It is entirely possible that Madison is lying, but knowing what it's like to be a woman in the corporate tech industry. Right now I believe her 100%.

I am aware of and have seen Gamers Nexus's video calling out LMG about the inaccurate graphs and lazy fixes and the Billet scandal. This post is essentially in tandem and agreeing with their video, while also adding Madison's allegation.

And for those confused as to why James's joke "Are you gonna dance on that table, or just stand on it?" is bad. That line is a reference to someone performing in a place like a strip club, and the way it was said was (in my opinion) satire on the way people in a club might say it in a demeaning way to a performer. I'm not sure who he said it to or why he said it in the first place, but closing a meeting about discussing assault or harassment in the workplace with that line is very disgusting.)

And of course I don't know everything, I'm just putting my opinions on the Internet™. If I've missed anything you know about you can reply/reblog/send an ask and I'll edit/add it on. Same for if I've gotten anything wrong.

#tl;dr I think Linus Media Group sucks right now.

Love,

Brie

[kamil-a]

p2 v2

jojo is clearly influenced by a lot, the author has named american action movies and i got a real superhero comics feel out of it but im sure there are MANY japanese media influences im missing out on entirely. because it follows in the tradition of previous media, i think its hard to tell how much of the racism/nazi apologetics and misogyny in jojo (so far) are genuine beliefs of the author and what was inherited from its influence sources....

i hesitate to judge an author still writing today by stuff he wrote like forty years ago. if i was somehow reading this serially in the 80s i probably would've dropped jojo over "noooo this nazi was my friend, he was just a guy who loved his country and family" lol

BUT decades have gone by so im more calmly like "hm, thats probably not great!" and pinning it on a graph to come back to later. But again i just dont know how this sort of thing was handled in 80s media worldwide, ESPECIALLY in 80s japanese action movies

the same way like. i dont know if the author thinks of mexicans as ugly cartoon thugs in sombreros or if thats a reflection of other caricatures of the day. NOT THAT IT MAKES IT OKAY but it is Different depending on its origin.

I also assume the women stuff will get better because we're gonna have a girl protag eventually. but so far every woman in jojo is either Victim, Desired Object, or Mother, or some combo lol and the authors note is like I WAS SO PROGRESSIVE FOR WRITING LISA LISA which like yeah in the 80s shonen manga scene im sure it was groundbreaking!!!!! you still did have a character say explicitly "i dont sexualize her because i respect her like a mother" tho

and i do keep holding onto that "jojo=GOOD dio=EVIL, from BIRTH" thing because. well i dont have academic backup but to me in my heart i think believing a person can be born with positive/negative moral qualities is at the heart of much bigotry.

it doesnt HAVE to be, like, the war between good and evil is an ancient trope and not necessarily bigoted itself, but i think its a very easily poisoned seed of thought

ANYWAY this is not me hating i think part two is FUN and i plan to continue but i think it would be like...pretty bad to ignore noting these themes entirelyto sum up, for a part that begins with RACISM BAD!!!!!!!!!! yelled really loud it does not follow up on it good so far

now for the fun stuff: its just a very fun to read comic. im noticing the way jokes usually happen in like, 2-3 smaller panel sections which is cute, the BUBBLES is such a wacky idea, the whole oil pole climb was greatlisa lisa is a fun new character and granny erina remains, SO COOL

[placegrenette]

Source.

I think about this graph sometimes. Or, rather, I attempt to think about it, and find I can't wrap my head around it. What was it like to live in a world where parents routinely outlived their children? In the world. Until about a hundred years ago, the world where parents routinely outlived their children was the only world that had ever existed.

From Antonia Fraser's The Weaker Vessel, about life for women in 17th-century England:

William Brownlow kept a meticulous recording of [his wife's] child-bearing from 27 June 1626 when their first child Richard was born, who died in October of that year, down to the birth of their nineteenth child twenty-two years later... At one point, between 1638 and 1646, seven children, born at almost exactly yearly intervals, died in a row: Thomas, Francis, Benjamin, George, James, Maria, and Anne. William Brownlow's exclamations of grief as each new tragedy struck show some attempt at reconciliation to the workings of providence -- "Though my children die, the Lord liveth and they exchange but a temporal life for an eternal one" -- but absolutely no diminuition in grief. Little George, his fifteenth child, managed to live from October 1641 to 29 July of the following year; when he died, his father wrote, "I was at ease but Thou O God hast broken me asunder and shaken me to pieces."

Or take the case of Peter the Great, quite possibly the most powerful man on earth for much of his reign: of his fifteen legitimate children, eleven died before their fifth birthday and a twelfth only made it to age six and a half. The chart above has a more expansive definition of "child" (to age 15) and even by its count, Peter the Great and the Brownlows were particularly unlucky. But still.

The other day, at a book sale, I picked up the diaries of Martha Farnsworth, who grew up in Kansas in the 1870s; her only child was born in January 1892 and lived five months. You can read the entries yourselves: January 24th, "The dearest, sweetest little treasure ever a mother had"; April 15th, "I can't thank God enough, for sending this baby into my life"; May 23rd, "My little treasure, don't get sick, for it makes mother's heart ache and ache"; May 31st, "My heart aches with fear"; June 27th, "God sent the angels for her and her terrible suffering ended and mine commenced."

And then I put the book back and went to pick up my kids from school.

And I think now: Martha Farnsworth would trade places with me in a heartbeat. Two children, both of them well past the age of five. One of them missed school today with a cold. I'm not worried. If you zoom out far enough I am in a cohort of the luckiest parents who ever lived.

So why don't I feel my good fortune more?

Part of it, granted, is that constant grateful joy is not necessarily the most useful tool in the parent's toolbox. Sometimes you have to stop thanking God that your children are alive and start pointing out to them that if they're going to borrow your phone then they need to tell you when someone's trying to reach you (for example). But in theory one can correct them, or have activities separate from them, and still think, "Wow, I'm a lucky dog," all the time, because if your kid is alive and healthy and growing then you are a lucky dog all that time.

I want to make a larger sociological statement, about how "X doesn't make us happier," for whatever feature of the modern world X, maybe should have very little value as a criticism. The tenfold decline in child mortality has to be one of the most profound shifts in human history; if we can take that for granted, then there may be no limit to our ability to make lemons out of lemonade. But I can't criticize other people for failing to do what I seem very bad at doing myself.

[iamthecomet]

I always feel bad for coming in here and just ranting about my problems, cause I know yet aren’t that bad but I can’t really talk to anyone in person here about them and I just feel a little bit better talking here because I feel it’s actually genuine.

But have you ever had someone pray on your down fall, or unknowingly do it? If that makes sense… but I’ve had ppl say they truly didn’t think I’d make it this far, to my face, and weirdly enough I could handle it. I took that and pushed my way to get athletic and academic scholarships. But just now for a project we had in physics only one person in our group had to turn it in, which the professor didn’t say that so we were all working on it. But when we figured it out they called and told me cause I was still working on it but I had don’t all the graphs and formulas and sent it so I could help them out. I asked if they got them and they go “uhhh yeah imma be honest, they weren’t right…” UM HELLO. Thanks for telling me before I turned it in?!?

Like it won’t hurt my feelings if you tell me I’m wrong, give me some advice on how to do it right, but it DOES hurt knowing that your weren’t going to tell me and let me get a bad grade. Thanks. That right there made me lose all trust in those two girls. Girls that I’m taking multiple classes with and am also on the same team with.

I know you get a lot of ppl who like to talk and tell you what’s going on in life, and I think it’s because YOU are a TRUSTWORTHY person, a GENUINE person who wants what’s best for people. So thank you, and all the other online friends for being some of the few people who are like that, holy shit. I know I’m being dramatic but right now I can’t tell if I’m more pissed or sad that it all happened.

But PLEASE distract me tell me all the things in your life right now, good or bad, if you’d like. Tell me fun things that have happened or things you’re excited about!! I’d love to know if you’re doing amazing:)🖤🖤

Holy shit, Mo. In all genuine honesty, fuck those people. Like, seriously. I'm sorry that you have to do so much with them. I think people are so afraid of conflict that they unintentionally create it by being like this. Or maybe they just genuinely don't care--either way it's not a great way to live your life or communicate with other people. And it isn't a reflection on you it's a reflection on them. Ok, enough of that. My life? Christ, Mo. My life is BORING haha. Let's see, my library is planning a solar eclipse party for whatever day in October the partial Solar Eclipse is. We're BARELY getting any actual eclipse but we got sent five billion eclipse glasses and we love an excuse for programming. (And we're getting a full eclipse in April so this is our practice run). So that's going to be my fun work thing for the next couple of weeks! I saw one of my best friends over the weekend. I don't see her much anymore since she left her husband and moved in with her new boyfriend 2 1/2 hours away. But that's alright, she is SO MUCH happier. I made her a little dumpster fire crochet (she immediately named him Daniel). We judged the clueless out of staters for a few hours at a weird craft fair thing we went to, and then we went to the book store and got boba tea and it was just a really wonderful day. I'm in a writing group that's supposed to last from August-May and the end goal is to have a finished draft/self-published book by the end of it. So that is super exciting. I'm working on a story I've been trying to tell for YEARS. I'm just hoping to get it out of my head. It has nothing to do with fantasy, or smut, or ghouls. But I'm hoping it will help me process some shit. It's exciting, I am unmotivated, but I'll make it work haha. Everyone else in the writing group is like 10-40 years older than me so it is a WILD experience. I sort of feel out of place with all these "adults" who read their fancy literary books and I'm over here like "well...I...read books for fun so they have to be fun!" I feel like the dumb little kid in the room. Which I'm pretty used to at this point in my life. But I have faith in my own skill, and I've worked with the guy running it before in short story programs he's done and he has faith in my skill, so I am unbothered by being the weird young person in the room. I am worried that I'm going to get to May had have nothing to show for it--but eh, we'll see when we get there. Please never feel bad about coming to me to vent/talk. I'm glad you know that you can just come into my ask box and decompress from the bullshit. Everyone deserves a place like that. Sending you love and hugs if you want them. And, seriously, fuck those people.

[bishiglomper]

You know dad called me the other day to check up on us. Whenever he calls I keep reminiscing about the trip to New York 😗 (Also every time I get a low glucose. Because I'm always like "at least its not as bad as that time..")

And the latest fixation is. When we got back to the hotel for the night he suggested I go out drinking. Alone.

In New York.

And I panicked for a second like. I am fuckin' autistic man, I'm super dependant- I cannot be trusted to wander a city like New York and not fuckin die 8D I also get lost super easily. Even trying to find the hotel room by myself is anxiety inducing. I am just not fit to be released into the wild, okay? That's why I dragged him there in the first place.

But I have yet to tell him about being autistic because he is the type of person (autistic) that does extensive research on any and all topics and cites all his sources. Even if its just suggesting a vitamin for me.

And my self-diagnosis comes from a few years of crowd-sourced experiences I've related to and referenced to form my own diagnosis. I don't know of any articles that could sum that up specifically enough to convince him without further debate over it.

And I am not very good at organizing my thoughts enough to have that conversation 😐

I dont mind explaining my chronic illnesses because those can be in itemized lists and practically graphed but autism cannot. 😅 How I feel and react to things are not so easily categorized.

It's just. So frustrating.

And one of the things I know that frustrates him is my lack of motivation to do things. It's bugged him my whole life

And i have determined I never had/have any ambition because i lack the dopamine. Even the things I LIKE arent enough to give me the juice i need to push it further.

Like with my crafts, I could try to do those sculptures he wanted, clay used to be a decade long hyperfixation. I could look up and learn all the techniques i need to learn to get it done. ....but also, I dont want to. I've been wanting to do some clay. But not enough for all that. And it's frustrating for all parties involved when that happens. I was born with literally 0 fortitude and a shitty constitution

And I know I'm a whiny pissbaby over it, I admit I was definitely spoiled. But alas, still don't have the fucks to give to change it.

I wish I were just gay, that would be easier to explain. 😂 I already told him I was asexual. Maybe didnt use the label, but explained.

Btw his only response was a sad look and the comment "But you should have someone to rub your butt. D: "

I mean. That was a new one, at least. 🤔