#I'm a full on conspiracy theorist now

[hiraeth-doux]

the kate middleton thing is the most fun the internet has been since a bunch of rich people decided it was a good idea to visit the bottom of the ocean in a diy submarine built it someone's backyard

[vqlfstar]

a bit of a stretch but I don't think we need a book for that when we can look outside the window (north america is falling baby and the rest of the world's gonna follow soon or has already paved the way.)

but yeah I also yearn for this piece of information.

feels like desiring knowledge of a future that you have been informed of in the past (if that makes sense)

i don’t just want a book about each hunger games, i want to know the entire history of panem: the fall of north america and how it became panem, how long they existed as a capitol and thirteen districts, what led to the dark days, how panem changed in the time between the 10th and 74th games, if they have contact with other countries, what happened to the other countries, how far into the future this is

the brilliance of suzanne collins is that she created such a rich world where i’m genuinely interested in any sort of story set within panem, not just in context of the games but their entire history books

[arminsumi]

Satoru simping for you and Suguru telling him to give up (lol)

Note : this is just crack i found in the drafts lol enjoy??

Warnings : 🔞 mdni / suggestive

Satoru grits his teeth and makes a frustrated growl. "Fuck. She's hot." he mutters under his breath.

He looks away from you, like it was just too much to handle.

Satoru turns to Suguru, "Suguru."

"Yeah?"

"Should I ask her for her number?"

"Who — her? Nahhh, she's out of your league." Suguru says.

"What the hell! you're supposed to be my supportive best friend."

"No — I'm a cunt first and foremost before anything." he jokes.

"Can't your cunty mouth manage a little pep-talk?"

"It would be disingenuous. Satoru, I don't think you should be messing around with the principle's daughter."

Satoru makes another frustrated growl.

"Fuckin' bullshit..." he grumbles under his breath. He looks away and sinks his hands into his pockets.

"Besides," suguru adds, "she's got a boyfriend."

"—and you only tell me this now?! After I've been pining after her ass for how long!!" Satoru seethes.

Satoru looks at you annoyedly, but still admiringly. Like a doting puppy.

"Fuck it! Boyfriends are temporary!"

"Calm down, Satoru. No need to let your morals degrade over some girl."

"She's not just some girl, Suguru! Fuck, just look at her."

"Give it up, man."

"Maybe you're deterring me so you can take her all for yourself."

"Oh my god, Satoru. you sound as insane as a conspiracy theorist."

"Maybe she's into conspiracy theorists! Hey, I'll go up to her and whisper all sexy into her ear; "ooh, baby you know the moon landing didn't happen~"

Satoru looks around searching for a way to make his joke funny.

"—but I'll be landing on your craters tonight for sure."

"OH MY GOD. Satoru. stop."

Satoru continues his bullshit.

""Can I rocket into your pussy, babygirl?""

"Stop."

Satoru's laughing like a seal and going red in the face. He keeps annoying his best friend with examples of his wacky pickup lines.

"Wanna know why they call me Neil Armstrong, baby?"

"Satoru, I don't know why we're friends."

"Bitch you love me!"

"This is why she's out of your league. Because you're a nutter and she's a normal person."

"How do you know! She might be a nutter too. Shit, or at least I'll make her into one... yeah... I'll make her crazyyyy for me."

"... Satoru, don't drive her nuts."

"Okay, I won't drive her nuts. I'll just let her suck on my nuts."

"What the hell (lol)?"

"Yo, listennnnn, one look from her makes my balls feel tight and full." Satoru admits unashamedly.

"Ough! Too much information!" Suguru grimaces.

"SHE MAKES MY DICK HARD SUGURU!"

"LALALA NOT LISTENING!" Suguru plugs his ears and gets up and leaves the cafeteria.

[marzipanandminutiae]

the one thing I am full-bore conspiracy theorist about?

daily contact lenses

or, well, not their existence, period. they're a valid health option that is best for some people, medically. but the sheer aggressiveness with which they're being pushed nowadays

the last few times I went to the eye doctor for my annual check-up, she was HEAVILY on my case to switch to dailies. like, to the point of arrogance and condescension when I said I preferred to stick with monthlies (I've worn contacts since I was 12, for reference). I also posted about it on a forum and got massive negativity in response, as well as being talked down to by someone claiming to be an optometrist himself

now if this were like...anti-vaxxer sentiment I'd understand that reaction. but from what I've heard, while monthlies do carry a higher risk of eye infections and such, they're not medically unsound or unsafe across the board. I'm willing to accept that risk, and since science has not found that they're terrible and should immediately be discontinued, I feel like my wishes should be respected and not belittled

point two: plastic waste. they say it's somehow less than using monthlies, but frankly I just don't see how that's possible. 365 of those little eye chips- times two! -and their packaging, add up to less than a case and a bottle of solution every few months, plus 24 contacts and their packaging? it doesn't make sense to me, and it doesn't help that I mostly see contact lens websites repeating this "fact." of course all contacts produce plastic waste, and I'd be perfectly willing to accept this as one of those You Have To Consume; You Just Decide What Areas Of Your Life Are Optimal For Minimization of Waste And What Aren't things, if dailies weren't being pushed so hard

(also I found two studies showing that monthly-replacement soft lenses produce less plastic waste than daily disposables. which, like. yes, this should be obvious, but here we are. granted, that's only two, and both studies emphasize that dailies and their accoutrements can be recycled, but see below)

some big companies have "contact recycling programs" but like. who's to say that's not greenwashing? where's the oversight? where are the investigations into what these programs actually DO? god knows we've been there before with recycling and corporations trying to pull the nylon-poly-blend Vegan Wool(TM) over our eyes

they're also more expensive than monthlies, which like. does not lend a positive slant to optometrists pushing them so stridently

on top of that, I and some other monthly users have noted that our contacts aren't lasting as long as they used to. for me, it was 17-18 years of smooth sailing with barely any problems, and as of like a year ago my contacts barely last two weeks without clouding up, ripping, chipping at the edges, causing my vision to blur, becoming uncomfortable...my brand did change around that time, so I hope it's just that, and the sample size of other monthly users I've pooled is VERY small. but it sure seems interesting that they suddenly started pushing a product that doesn't last long enough for people to notice low quality, around the time that at least some users of the longer-lasting version start having problems

you're pooh-poohing all of my concerns- which are indeed backed up by science, it seems! -with a "fix" that relies on big companies being honest about recycling, to push me from a non-ideal but still medically sound option to another that makes you more money?

I'm normally a pretty grounded person but I'm full-on tinfoil hat about this one

[skylarsblue]

✦Incorrect C.O.D Quotes, since AO3 is down✦

Gaz: I wanna know what exactly your type is. Y/N: I'm not just gonna give you more fodder to throw at me- Gaz: I have an idea of it already, but I want details! Y/N: No! Gaz: Like- König! Would you- Y/N: Of fuckin’ course I wanna fuck König! He’s huge, he could LITERALLY snap me in half and my dad didn’t love me, of course I want him to fuck me! Soap: *does that weird inhale-choke-cough*

— (Dick mention + a woman’s experience of a dude making gross comments. It’s funny I swear-) Fem!medic!Y/N: most of the time, people are pretty nice and sometimes impressed when when I bring up I’m a medical professional. Other times…eh.. Soap: Eh? Y/N: Sometimes you get conspiracy theorists. Soap: Ohhhh… Y/N: Some evangelists, gross dudes. Gaz: Gross dudes? What’s the worst you’ve heard? Ghost, sipping a whiskey: This outta be good. Y/N: Uh, once I told this man hitting on me I was a field doctor? He said, and I quote. “Been awhile since my last check up, mind checking me for ball cancer.” And I- Gaz: WHAT Soap: YOU’RE KIDDING Y/N: I am not. I just- I walked away. Price: Fuckin’ hell. Y/N: It’s fine. He got shot in the dick next mission, ended up with a male doctor. Ghost: Karma at its best.

- Graves: Oh FUCK YOU Y/N: Tsk, oooo…you don’t have enough money for that. Soap: HAHA!

- Soap, drunk: Back Street’s back, alright! Do do do do- Gaz, drunk on Price’ shoulders: Dodooodo- Price: Simon, get your boy. Ghost: *picking Soap up by his belt, carrying him like a bag* Yes sir.

- Recruit: When you gonna stop giving me blue balls? Gaz: Whoa hey!- Y/N: Aight, I got my steel toes on. How bout we make’em black and blue? Recruit: I- Y/N: Shut the fuck up. I’ve already turned you down, get a hint. Word of advice? Rather than shoot for the stars, maybe shoot your shot in your lower bracket, yeah? Recruit: Gaz: Someone get a fire extinguisher, this dudes been burned. Soap: On it. *sprays recruit with fire extinguisher*

- Soap: Nice onesie, does it come in men’s? Gaz, in his pyjamas: I think you cum enough in men for the all of us. Soap: ACK- Ghost: *slides out of the room*

- Ghost: Have you ever considered, just once, using your brain first? Soap: Now why would I do that?

- (Insert random name I HC for Laswell’s wife) Kate, after being in a bad explosion and ending up in this hospital: My wife, she’ll get upset if she sees you rubbing me like that on my chest. Diana: I am your wife. Kate …. Diana: :) Heart rate monitor: BEEPBEEPBEEPBE- Kate Hi. Diana: Hehe, hi. Gaz, in the corner: Oh to be in love. Soap: This is disgusting, why can’t I have this? >:,( Gaz: Cause your type in men is awful. Soap: Hey!

- Y/N: *walks into common room* Hello, I am very upset. I feel a meltdown coming on and you are all buff men, so I would like to request being picked up and held like a baby for a short period of time, please. Soap: Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you? Y/N: Nope. König: ….*slowly approaches and picks Y/N up from under their arms* Y/N, clinging to him like a koala and hiding in his shoulder: Thank you, I appreciate you. König: *awkward back pat*

- König: :) Y/N: Bloopbloopbloopbloop- Horagi: Y/N! Y/N: What? Horagi: Tha-That is our colo-that is a dangerous man! Y/N: He’s not a dangerous man! Horagi: What are y- Y/N: We’re bloopin’! Bloopbloopbloop- König: -w-

- Price: Kid, I need you to- Gaz & Y/N: *dancing like they don’t have jobs to do* Gaz: Go stink! Y/N: Fuck it up! Gaz: Go stink! Y/N: Fuck it up! Gaz: Go stink! Y/N: That’s what’s up! Gaz: Go stink! Y/N: I’m in love! Price: AHEM Gaz: Oh shit- Y/N: HEEEYY captaaaaiinn, what’s uuupp ahaha… Price: *sigh*

- (Based on; Me if COD was real. Deadass. Full serious. I am not kidding) Gaz: So have you met the Captain yet? Y/N: No. Gaz: Are you nervous? Y/N: No no, I have a firm belief that they’re just people. Obviously I’ll respect him as a superior but that’s nnnnnnnnwho the hell is that? Y/N: *fucking breaking their neck* Gaz: Oh- Nope. No no, THAT is Captain. Don’t think about it. Y/N: I’m thinking about it. Gaz: That’s not allowed. Y/N: Ive done worse for less, if he asks I’m sucking it, you can’t stop me. Gaz: Jesus Bloody Christ- Y/N: Tell him to call me when he’s on leave. Gaz: Stop-

- König: *walks in* Ghost: ?? Soap: Oh, hey! Gaz: Y’a need somethi- König: *picks up Y/N under his arm while humming, leaving the room* König: I love stealing, I love taking things!~ Ghost: What the f-

- Colonel!König: I’m 42 so, I don’t- Y/N: YOU’RE 42?! Colonel!König: Yeah. Y/N: …it’s okay no one has to know babygirl~ König: NEIN! Nein, don’t call me babygirl!-

- (Based on this awful Gaz outfit I saw on Twitter) MILF!Y/N: *doing paperwork* Gaz: Would you date me? Y/N: Baby we couldn’t even get a drink together. You can’t buy me nothin. Gaz: What do you mean? :( Y/N: Look at your outfit! What are you wearing? Gaz: I think I look pretty fly. Y/N: For who, your mom? Gaz: :((

- Gaz: STOP DATING MY CAPTAIN Y/N: ….you know what, I’m gonna start dating him even harder. Gaz: What’s that supposed to mean? Y/N: You know what it means.

- MILF!Y/N: *shoving apple juice into a cart* They gon’ need nutrition. Laswell: How many kids do you have? MILF!Y/N: Eleven! Laswell: So I’m assuming your kids really like apple juice? MILF!Y/N: No but they looove orange juice but they’ve been bad this week. Laswell: What grade are your kids in? MILF!Y/N: Sixteenth grade. Laswell: PFFT Sixteenth- that’s not even a grade! So your kids graduated college? MILF!Y/N: No they, they- …where are my kids?

- (Her “kids” on the other side of the store) Price: Boys please- Gaz: I AM NOT LOSING! Soap, in a fuckin’ headlock with him: Yes you fuckin’ are!! Ghost: *slipping cookies under his mask, he did not pay for them* König: *looking for a fruity snack* Horagi: *grabbing as many packs of spicy chips as he can* Alejandro: This is a disgrace. *holding up frozen burritos* Rudy: These are worse. *motions to frozen tamales* Alex: Did you know you can use coke as rust remover? Farah: …and you want to drink it??

- Y/N: So. Kyle. Gaz, already afraid: …yes? Y/N: I found some of your old playlists… Gaz: Y/N: Gaz: Y/N: You an emo? Gaz: I was a SCENE as a teenager, get it right.

[thatfrenchacademic]

OK so about this "34, unmarried and childless" article about Taylor Swift. Let me tell you about Scam Academia.

TL;DR: some mediocre dude had a half baked opinio nabout Taylor Swift that everyone hated, but like Mother Nature I let nothing go to waste.

Here is the take you have not heard yet, about this opinion: this guy is actually a good case study on how to develop your academic literacy, aka how to recognize a true academic from a scammer who presents themselves as an academic, but is just a crook. In a world of pseudoscience and pretend experts that have enough resources to organize their flat earth conference, let me walk you through the world of Scam Academic, where for a few thousand dollars, you too can claim to be a researcher with a doctorate! Follow me down a rabbit hole that I hate with my whole heart!

Preamble: I have zero skin in the TS game. I don't get the hype, the lore, the obsession with those 2000s bracelet or dissecting every single line or every single song.

But then. Some guy had to write an op-ed stating Taylor Swift was not a good role model for girls ("in the US and beyond"), and it is a terrible take on so many level, but here is the thing. Whiny conservative think-pieces about highly successful women who should get back to the kitchen and think of the children are nothing new. But this one is different.

This one is fucking terribly written. It's just an abysmally written blog post. Genuinely one of the worst thing I have ever read, and I read hundreds of undergrad essays every year for a living. It contradicts its own arguments in every paragraph. It over-explains concepts like it's a high school essay and he's trying to meet the word count. It says "this is a valid question worth asking" but does not actually explain why it is worth asking. It is so, so, so bad.

Conservative writers are usually more the "high brow, drowning you in grandstanding" kind of writers. They are, usually, good technical writers - it's the one thing that helps make their talking point sound legit and palatable. So an abysmally bad conservative writer? Ok, I am intrigued.

The author is one John Mac Ghlionn. I look up the guy on Google and...

Oh.

Oh no, John.

Spewing conservative bullshit at women AND a researcher? You're in my turf now, John. You could have continued to cover UFC Pillow Fight Championships, or alien technology and other riveting subjects, but you had try to connect two brain cells to argue a thing, and slap "researcher" on top of it. Now I'm offended, as a researcher.

1. I am sorry, researcher WHERE?

Ok so if one is a "researcher", it means one conduct "research". and contrary to what backyard conspiracy theorists think, "researcher" is an actual job. It is an actual professional occupation. You get an actual contract, and you are paid actual money. By an actual employer: public (University), private (Think tank, private company), or a mix of both (at Unviersity, but on a privately funded project, for example).

So where does our John Mc Ghlionn work?

Well. Nowhere, as far as I can tell.

John does not list any affiliation. Usually, when they write, academics will state their exact position (Researcher, Doctoral Researcher, Associate Professor, Chief Engineer, Head of Department, Research Director...) and where they work. For example:

That's what it is supposed to look like.

But John? Nope, no affiliation anywhere, on anything he ever published. That's a pretty massive read flag. Research takes ressources: at the very least, time and access to database and documentation, even in social sciences in humanities. You may not need a lab, but you sure as hell need money and full access to JStore at least.

So I thought he was just one of these "I google therefore I research" kind of dude. But then, out of nowhere:

I am sorry. He has a WHAT.

2. I am sorry, a Doctorate from WHERE?

So. One thing to claim to be a researcher when you are just a professional yapper. Another to claim a DIPLOMA.

And not any diploma. A doctorate.

Let's pause. "Doctorate" is actually a really broad umbrella term of all doctoral-level degrees. The most famous (and most prestigious, for better and worse) is the PhD, but a PhD is technically just one of many Research Doctorate of, theoretically, the same level (cue this helpful reddit post). A second category of doctorates are the Applied Doctorates, and while there is Discourse on where they sit vis-a-vis PhD, the easiest is to consider that they are not research-oriented. They are hands-on, practice-oriented degrees. For example: you can practice medicine with an MD. You don't need a PhD. You can still call yourself a doctor, though.

Alright, so which of these does our friend Johnnie has? Or is currently enrolled in? And in which University?

You will notice that John does not go by "John Mac Ghlionn PhD" or even "Dr John Mac Ghlionn", when you just KNOW he is the sort of person that would but that shit everywhere. And no shade here, because I, for one, do put that shit everywhere. Maybe he is just currently enrolled in a program and has not graduated. Fair.

Since John does not list affiliation, I had to switch from academic to internet sleuth, and dig out this article:

But we learn that in 2021, John was a "PhD Scholar" in "Parkmore Institute". "PhD Scholar" is not a title I am sued to, but it's also not raising any red flag: ongoing PhD researchers can be "PhD students", "PhD fellows", "PhD researchers"... It varies from country to country and from institution to institution, so why not "PhD Scholar".

Let's check out the Parkmore Institute.

Ok, they are not a traditional university, but they appear to be more of a postgraduate institution: offering only higher level degrees, not undergrad courses. Once again, not necessarily a red flag. They are usually very heavily research focused, and embrace the "research" side of academia more than the "teaching" side. In Germany, the Max Planck Institutes are research-only institutions who deliver PhDs. They conduct cutting edge research, in part because their researchers rarely have to spend time teaching.

But that is NOT the Parkmore Institute. First of all, let's see what programs they offer:

None of them are legit.

And I mean, none of them are recognize as even Applied/Professional Doctorate by the National Science Foundation (US based). And while a PhD in Human sexuality would be perfectly valid, but I'm going to on a limb and say I have some serious doubts about "Bodymind Healing" as an academic field.

These are not legit academic degrees.

What they are, is an excellent money-making opportunity for anyone working at the Parkmore institute. Students will pay, at the very least:

And 60% of this goes to their " faculty mentor". The Parkmore institute provides no research fund, no desk or office space (they are entirely digital), no access to any resources or library, not even a Zoom account. There is also no mention of any timeline: how long a PhD take to complete? Who knows. 6 months ? A year ? 5 years? What are the requirements to graduate ? Who knows ! And I would need to pay $200 to get in touch with them, so I sure as fuck won't know any time soon!

But let's get back to our friend John. Remember that he stated, in that 2021 publication, he was a "PhD Scholar" at Parkmore ? Well that's a shame because Parkmore does not deliver PhDs. Ain't that a bitch.

ALSO. Parkmore helpfully has page with all their Doctoral Recipients! And guess who is NOT HERE ! That's right, our Johnnie !

How can this be ? Well, three possibilities:

John is still not done with a PhD. After 4 years ? In a crank university where I am pretty sure I can submit the first draft of a litt review and graduate ? Nah

John never completed the thing. Boo, that would mean that John is lying, when he says he has a doctorate. Bad, bad.

John did graduate, and obtained his doctorate in [scrolls back to check] psychosocial studies, and then was not put on the website or was withdrawn some time before today, as Parkmore institute ended their affiliation with him, as per this bit in their application form

A shame, really. If John had been affiliated with the Parkmore Institute, it would give a shred of legitimacy to anything he writes to anyone just skimming.

Now, I would love to get in touch with the Parkmore Institute and ask to see John's doctoral work, which they DO have, since the application for also has this very interesting section:

(definitely very legit, very normal).

But I am not sure how I would even phrase that request without transparently going

"hey, would love to see what bullshit research is being done over there, since one of your graduate decided to go all Handmaid's tale for the last 2 years".

If anyone feels like sending that email, I am begging you to keep me in the loop.

3. Back up, back up, what's up with that article?

Remember the article where he was listed as a "PhD Fellow"?

Well, about that... No. Welcome to the world of predatory publishing, one more cog in the Bullshit Academic ecosystem.

First: not at article. It's a "commentary". Could be worth something ia good journal, but still would not be a piece of research. But that is the least of its sins.

Its sins are being published in a journal called "Sociology and Criminology-Open Access", by a publisher called "Longdom". Longdom publishing has a bunch of journals on a lot o different fields, with the particularly of being predatory; they will publish absolutely anything you send them, as long as you pay their Article Processing Charges:

There are entire lists of Predatory journals on the web, you can find on here and another here , Longdom Publishing is in both.

This is how John can publish this last minute, Redbull-and-weed-induced essay in an actual journal, with an abstract that, I kid you not, finishes with "Please find the paper attached." He slapped together a shitty essay about people in India are poorer and therefore more likely to exhibit psychopathic traits and therefore engage in corruption, purely base on vibes. It does not even deserve be given any consideration, not even to be debunked. There is nothing to be debunked. This would be a failing grade for a 1st year intro class.

CONCLUSION

On the surface, John Mac Ghlionn is the poster boy of failed edgelords who really wish they were Jordan Peterson, but unfortunately are just Doug, the guy for 10th grade who failed the Literature class and decided it was because litterature was too woke today anyway.

Beneath the surface, John is a case study in Scam Academia, and the proof that no matter how bad actual academia is, Scam Academia can always get worse.

A quick checklist to go through whenever someone claims be a researcher, an academic, a fellow, a doctor, a PhD or anything of the sort:

What is their affiliation? Is this a legitimate organization?

Do they have a PhD? Another doctorate degree? From where?

Have they published ? Where is it published?

[reality-detective]

A recent History Lesson 👇

Bill Gates invested a whopping $55 MILLION in BioNTech that made the Pfizer mRNA injection.

You will never believe the date that this happened...

Is this just a coincidence?

You know, the company that partnered with Pfizer to make their mRNA covid vaccine and drove Pfizer's revenue to a record $100 billion in 2022.

Well, I had a look and found something very interesting indeed. When did Bill Gates invest this large sum of money?

Turns out that it was on the 4th of September 2019.

Covid was discovered just two months later in November 2019 (at least the first time we got to hear about it).

This turned out to be very profitable for Bill Gates, his investment increasing by 10 times. The original $55 million was worth over $550 million just a few years later.

"The collaboration will fund the identification of potential HIV and tuberculosis vaccines and immunotherapy candidates in their pre-clinical development. It will further enable BioNTech to build out its infectious disease infrastructure, including platform development" - it says in the press release from BioNTech.

Guess what?

Bill Gates has also donated some $20 million to the BBC.

Now it is being reported that the BBC misrepresented the risk of covid in order to boost public support for lockdown.

In other words, the mainstream media deliberately mislead the public and scared them into supporting draconian lockdown measures, and also probably scared people into rushing to get the brand new mRNA injections.

Meanwhile Bill Gates investment grew and grew...

"One example is that they gave the impression that hospitals were being overwhelmed during the first wave. Some (mainly in London) were, but overall hospital bed occupancy was at an all-time low during that period" Professor Mark Woolhouse said.

Remember when we were told that the hospitals were completely full and we had all the dancing nurses on TikTok? Remember how some people were labelled "conspiracy theorists" for questioning this?

Turns out that the so called "conspiracy theorists" were right once again. The hospitals were not full. We were being lied to. I visited two hospitals during that time and they were empty.

Surely it is just a coincidence that Bill Gates just happened to invest large amounts of money into BioNTech just two months before covid?

In fact there was a patent for the mRNA shot before Covid. They lied about everything including the use of masks to stop the spread of an unconfirmed invisible made up virus.

I'm sure this information has already been out there by other sources. I'm just giving a reminder, the information is still available and you are free to löök this up for yourself. 🤔

[valyrfia]

You know what i have kind of being afraid lately that charles and max becomes a bit more distant and cold, because of how much lestappen started to get talked. Because before it was just fans, but now even f1 media uses the lestappen thing a lot

Like that video where they asked max "it seems like you explain things to max a lot"

The RPF curse unfortunately, the more popular the thing becomes, the more it spreads to people who aren't as strict with boundaries about it as they should be (because it gets them engagement!) and the more likely it becomes that someone who should NOT know about the RPF finds out about it.

The comments underneath Max's latest instagram post left me feeling uneasy, to be honest. Far too much "omg Lestappen!" or something along those lines making jokes that I would almost believe were lifted straight from the tag on tumblr. It's disconcerting. All I can do is warn about how I've seen other popular RPF go south in my time which is that people either a. end up trying to play into that content so much that it gets noticed by the people involved or b. conspiracy theorist begin to be incredibly invasive in an attempt to 'prove' that they are into each other/the ship is real etc. etc.

The issue isn't tumblr, it's fandom culture which historically was concentrated on tumblr going mainstream and people who I'm sure ten years ago would've bullied our ilk on whatever playground suddenly using fandom terminology or speaking openly about ao3 and shipping or using ship names in spaces where it's not appropriate. I've seen the complaint with Lestappen that it's full of 'ex-larries trying to do the same shit' when in my experience, it couldn't really be further from the truth. All the people who watched Larry happen either from within the fandom or as an onlooker (as I was) know full well how south RPF can go if you don't put in place strong internal and external boundaries. As a result, we may have some ex-larries or similar among us on tumblr, but in my experience the 'trauma' (for lack of a better word) and hindsight enables us to set down boundaries quite well and keep the RPF on tumblr and ao3. The people who are pushing romantic Lestappen past boundaries are those who have NOT witnessed something like Larry in real time, and indeed may not have had any real fandom experience in their more formative years and as a result have no idea how to interact with fandom etiquette or fandom culture. This applies to fans, but also to social media and media teams as well, who come across fandom terminology, see that it gets interaction, and choose to use it. It is a massive problem, and I'm so afraid to say that at the rate we're going at it's a matter of when Max and Charles discover what we mean by Lestappen, not it.

[princeofmayonnaise]

okay so let me explain. so Neopets.com is run by Netdragon who has a CEO who is an AI and they recently deleted the accounts of Adam and Donna, the literal creators of neopets.com and long story short, the newbie chat on neopets.com has been the general discussion board for like 2 decades despite it being called 'the newbie chat' but one day I refresh the page and they have gentrified our home and it's called 'new to neopets' now and I'm like wat and TNT makes a post announcing there is now an official general chat which people (not me) have been asking for for years and a lot of people are so happy it's back and begin posting away on it but then a day later TNT makes up a brand new rule with no warning that we cannot dare talk about anything not directly neopets.com related on any of the boards anymore including non-neopian food and clothing (if you mention hats they MUST be hats that exist on neopets.com or ur account could literally die. this is an actual example given by a staff member in an email) and they began freezing and silencing people who had posted non neopets related things on a board called 'general discussion' which they never announced or explained the rules for whatsoever, and people only found out the rules because users began posting the warnings they received which actually explained the rules to them and people literally had to email staff to get the rules figured out and then post screenshots for everyone else to see because of course TNT couldn't do that for us themselves and then finally TNT makes an announcement that says no non-neopets talk is allowed on the general chat but then they they start freezing and warning people on the newbie chat too for posts that were made days before the rules changed and this is all because neopets wants to be 100% child friendly now except they are selling neopets.com wine glasses as merch and have held multiple events at bars you obviously have to be 21+ to go to and are encouraging players to go on Reddit, and they made a sorry mommy sorry meme tik tok of their neopets faerie characters on their official neopets.com tik tok oh and also the april fools day joke this year was about this child character from the early 2000s Nick Neopia who used to be this totally radical skater guy but is now a full grown thinly veiled Q-anon-esque conspiracy theorist who ranted about 'the globalist' which is an antisemitic dogwhistle and lets not forget the plot about staff members being brutally murdered either idc if it was years ago and so people are getting frozen and their pets obliterated for asking other players simple questions and yet there has been a board about BDSM up for literal hours while TNT is actively taking down other posts ALSO this was all after both the huge NFT and massive data leak scandals. does this make sense so far? are you following??

[vladdyissues]

I recently started thinking with some friends about Pompous Pep and the theme they have of son and father, which led me to think that maybe Vlad if he were to fall in love with Danny and he was just like Maddy and insisted on going out with Sam, Vlad would act THE SAME AS WITH MADDY, every desperate attempt for attention even manipulating him to end up with him alone (like he did with Maddy in "Maternal Instinct"), The only difference is that he wouldn't do it in the open way that he did with her that literally everyone knew about his crush except Jack...

With Danny he would surely be a damn cautious one, hugging Danny pretending that he still loves him as a son and in the privacy of his mansion / place where he is trying to keep him, would he try to... convince him to stay with him?, probably he wouldn't say from one moment to the next that he fell in love with him, I'm sure he would come up with a great plan where Danny had no choice but to stay and listen to Vlad's manipulations

I imagine: Maybe he subtly convinced Jack and Maddy that Danny needed a mental clearing from teenage fatigue and to make him more convincing, he would also invite Jazz to a "relaxation retreat", and probably on the way he would take Jazz away so he could be alone with Danny, Maybe to avoid attacks the place where they are is a closed place full of cameras, using manipulation of "If you do this everyone will see that you are a ghost Daniel... Don't think I'm not capable of uploading this to the internet and the news..."

Maybe he does that and even then he only tries to convince him to stay with him, I don't feel that he comes and says "I like you Daniel!" ... I highly doubt it, Vlad is a bastard ...

"You're trapped, Badger"

"We're both trapped... If you transform they will see you too"

"Whatever you say... But you're not leaving here"

"Now what the hell do you want!?"

"Listen to me...I just want-"

"I don't care if you want something!"

"DON'T INTERRUPT ME"

"..."

"I just want you to come with me Daniel, come on, we don't have to hate each other...I can give you everything that your parents couldn't give you even if they spent their whole lives hunting ghosts"

"No, fuck you"

I saw it so clearly:

The week-long "teen retreat" Vlad planned conveniently means dropping Jazz off at an American Psychological Association convention with ten thousand dollars in cash along the way, ensuring that he and Danny are alone the entire time. Danny is of course suspicious of how nice Vlad is being. He doesn't trust him at all, and when he continues to rebuff Vlad's increasingly "friendly" advances, Vlad has no choice but to give him the unpleasant news:

Jazz has been injected with nanobots that will kill her if Danny goes ghost. (They've been programmed to activate when triggered by an RFID signal on the same frequency as Danny's unique spectral signature.) Vlad is the only person who knows the code to deactivate the bots—which he will do once their little vacation is over.

See, I don't think Danny would respond to threats of being outed as a half-ghost. Video evidence could be written off as a hoax or a clever edit. Vlad would look like a half-baked conspiracy theorist. Nor do I think Danny would respond to threats made upon his person. But his family and friends... I believe Danny would endure some of the worst pain and torment to keep them safe.

So when his sister is threatened with death, Danny has no choice but to cooperate with Vlad.

Twist: After agreeing to Vlad's terms and basically signing over his entire life (and afterlife) to remain at Vlad's side in some kind of pseudo marriage contract, Danny plans to get out of his predicament by revealing evidence of Vlad's manipulation to the authorities and retrieve a sample of Jazz's blood to show the deactivated nanobots. Except—

The nanobots were never injected in the first place.

It was a ruse devised by Vlad that would give him exactly what he wants while also absolving him of any legal involvement. With no evidence of his extortion, he is essentially innocent. The lawsuit is over before it can begin.

And now Danny is truly fucked.

[stevethehairington]

i watched a movie last night about this couple that goes on a hiking/camping trip and on their way to the site they stop at this little roadside restaurant called "bigfoot's burger shack" and my brain immediately went omg but what if wayne and eddie owned a little diner off the side of the road on the way to a forest famous for "bigfoot sightings" and their restaurant was like totally cryptid themed. and then my brain spiralled...

it's dustin's birthday and he's in his cryptid era right now, so of course he is desperate to visit the forest best known for having the most bigfoot sightings.

robin is just as interested in cryptids as dutsin is (she's not a full blown conspiracy theorist or anything but she DOES get wildly entertained by them, and she loves to read up on them even if she doesn't necessarily believe/agree with some of them).

and because robin and dustin are so into it, steve gets roped along. although, is it getting roped along if you're the one that offers to drive and also plan the whole camping trip while you're at it? (plus, hey, steve's curious too.)

so steve robin and dustin head out to "bigfoot forest" or whatever fun name the locals and tourists alike have given it.

on the drive there they pass this little diner on the outskirts of the nearby town and decide to stop for a bite to eat before they finish the last stretch of the drive to the campsite. this place is one of those like cozy diner style places that's full of like locally handcarved furnishings and every square inch of the walls is covered in framed photographs and various signage and knick knacks of all kinds. except this place has fully capitalized on the nearby forest, because it's basically like a cryptid cafe - those photos on the wall are various "bigfoot sightings" and newspaper articles and clippings about bigfoot and other various cryptids. it's fun and it's very clearly a good business model lol.

this place, of course, is owned and operated by none other than wayne and eddie munson.

(i'm thinking the place is maybe called "benny's bigfoot buffet" and they took it over for benny hammond after he either died or mysteriously disappeared or just moved on.)

but anyways, steve robin and dustin stop there for lunch and they meet eddie and wayne and they all get to chatting and blah blah. eddie and wayne tell them plenty of stories of sightings - both ones they've heard from other people as well as their own (because of course they're believers).

eventually, steve robin and dustin have to leave because it's getting later and they want to make it to the campsite before it gets dark so they can set up.

blah blah blah. the first night is relatively normal, they hear some sounds and steve teases robin about it being bigfoot, and dustin gets excited about that. but they make it through the night. the next day they explore a bit. then when night falls, weird things happen. more sounds, only closer, louder, and they sound... like something. like an animal, like a creature. dustin and robin obviously go bigfoot but steve isn't so convinced. but then dustin runs out of the tent because he wants to try to get a photo or something and steve and robin chase after him and. and. annnnnnd.

he goes missing.

steve and robin comb the forest that night calling for dustin, searching for him. they don't find him though. but steve sees something. he sees bigfoot. (or what he is absolutely convinced is bigfoot now.)

they head to the munson's diner so they can use their phone to call the local police, and hopper callahan and powell roll up onto the scene and ask what happened and steve and robin tell them, and at first steve doesn't want to tell them about what he thinks he saw because he knows how that's going to play out. they're going to think he's crazy. but robin convinces him to maybe? or maybe she just tells them herself. but, as expected, they laugh at that. they tell them that bigfoot isn't real. blah blah.

of course, during all of this eddie and wayne were listening, they heard it all. and after hopper and co talk to them, eddie corners steve and is like tell me what you saw and there's something about him that makes steve feel like safe almost? like he can tell eddie and he won't laugh like the cops, he won't judge steve, he won't call him crazy. so he tells eddie and eddie looks spooked, but also excited and he tells steve yeah. that sounds like bigfoot.

and blah blah they end up taking things into their own hands and doing the investigating themselves, steve robin and eddie. (maybe they call in some reinforcements in the form of eddie's friends from town? local journalist nancy wheeler, photographer jonathan byers, max mayfield, fellow cryptid enthusiast)

and i literally have not thought of anything past this or what actually happened to dustin or how they find him or if bigfoot is actually real in this or if they end up unconvering some huge government conspiracy instead or something lmaoo. but yeahhhhhhh. oh and also ofc steddie happens along the way lol.

just. cryptids. bigfoot. spoooooooky. pacific northwest forest vibes. appalachian munsons. yeahhhhhh.

[canirove]

Friends, lovers… and an orange | Chapter 21

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Masterlist

“No! No, no and no!”

“Mase?” Adele murmured, moving her hand over the other side of the bed. It was empty. 

“I said no!” she heard again. 

“What the…” she said to herself, slowly opening her eyes and checking her phone. It was almost 1 p.m. She had definitely overslept, but with the night she and Mason had had, who could blame her? 

After their rendezvous on the rooftop they had gone back to the party, Rianne convincing them to have another round of shots. That had led them to the dancefloor again, where they had danced and sang with their friends until their throats hurt. 

Once back at their apartment, Adele and Mason had continued with what they had been doing on the rooftop. Clothes had started flying the moment they had crossed the door, and they hadn't been able to make it to their room. When they finally did and decided it was time to have some sleep, the first rays of sunlight were starting to be visible. 

“No means no! Do you hear me? No!” Mason shouted before throwing his phone on the couch.

“Mase, are you ok?” Adele asked, meeting him in the living room.

“Addie” he gasped. “Addie, I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?”

“Just a bit” she smiled.

“You look so cute right now” he chuckled, walking towards her.

“I'm slightly hungover and I feel like untangling my hair is gonna be a nightmare. How is that cute?”

“Because you are cute” he smiled, hugging her and kissing her forehead.

“I thought I was the hottest woman you had ever seen.”

“That too” he laughed.

“Mase… what happened?” she asked. “Who were you yelling at?”

“It's nothing, don't worry.”

“Mase… Mason. What happened?” Adele insisted, freeing herself from his embracement so she could look him in the eyes. “I thought that we could tell each other anything. That we trusted each other.”

“It's just… It's… My agency” he sighed, letting himself fall on the couch.

“What did they do now?” she said, sitting next to him.

“Turns out that yesterday's party wasn't as private and exclusive as we thought, there was someone taking photos of the guests, and our photos have made it to all the headlines this morning.”

“Our… photos?”

“Of us making out and being all over each other, dancing with our friends, drinking... They are saying we had a crazy and wild night full of excesses, from alcohol to sex, and maybe even drugs.”

“What?”

“Yeah” he sighed. “There are people saying that we left the party to go get high, but the insider who sold the photos says we left to do what we actually did.”

“That's, umm… Kind of them?” 

“I guess. But there is more.”

“More?”

“People believe you are pregnant, Addie. A pregnant woman doesn't do what you did yesterday. So you can imagine how crazy things are online, the fights people are having because of it. The believers say you weren't drinking alcohol, the non believers say you were. Then you have people hating on us because how dare we have sex and drink, that what an example we are for the young people who follow us, while others are telling them that good for us, that we should enjoy it while we can. And then there are conspiracy theorists analyzing all the photos to say it wasn't us or that we were faking everything, that couples don't kiss or touch like that. The usual with them.”

“So it is chaos.”

“Yeah” Mason sighed again while rubbing his temples. 

“And you were shouting at your agency because…”

“Because they… they…”

“C'mon, Mase” Adele said, taking his hand on hers and giving it an encouraging squeeze.

“They want to say that you had a miscarriage, Addie.”

“What?”

“That's how they want to explain what happened yesterday. That you had a miscarriage last month, and that partying was your way to deal with it.”

“That's… that's…”

“Sickening, I know. I told them that if they dared send that information to the press I was going to sue them, that I didn't care about the consequences. But they didn't want to listen to me. They kept insisting on this being the best option.”

“The best option? Oh, c'mon” Adele said, getting up from the sofa and starting to pace around the room. “Lying about something that serious is simply disgusting. Just coming with the idea is, to be honest. And if they think people will feel sorry about me, they are wrong. About you, most definitely, they are your fans. But me? They will blame me for what happened, say that I did something to lose the baby, that I was reckless. They will tear me to pieces, Mason.”

“I know” he said, also getting up. 

“And people at your agency aren't stupid. They keep up with all the comments and crazy theories, they know this will happen. But if they haven't cared about the hate I've gotten so far, why would they care now?” Adele said, not being able to contain her tears.

“Addie… Addie, hey” Mason said, walking towards her and cupping her face. “Addie, no one is gonna bully you. I'm not gonna let them.”

“But if they publish those lies…”

“They won't, I'm not going to allow it. No one is gonna hurt the woman I love, do you hear me? No one.”

“This is such a mess, Mason” she said, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“But we'll fix it, Addie. I promise you we will” he said while hugging her as tight as he could. 

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Miss Turlington? She will see you now.”

“Thank you.”

“Adele!” Mason's agent said when she walked into her office. “What a nice surprise. What brings you here?”

“We need to talk.”

“Oh, ok. Please have a seat” she said, gesturing towards the chair in front of her desk. “May I get you something to drink? Water? Coffee? Tea?”

“I'm fine.”

“Alright, then. What did you want to talk about?”

“I want you to stop the madness you and your agency have created.”

“What?” she laughed.

“It isn't funny, Mrs. Lautner.”

“Please call me Erin.”

“It isn't funny, Erin” Adele repeated. It had been a week since the photos of the party had been published, and things hadn't calmed down.

Online it still was chaos, threats and hate comments being thrown right and left between fans and towards her and Mason. And in the real world, it was like they had traveled back in time to the days where the paparazzis camped outside their houses to get a photo of them together. They had even had to cancel their romantic gateway to the château they had visited after the Dior show and go back to London, someone tipping the photographers about where they were staying.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry” Erin said. “But what do you want me to do?”

“Isn't it obvious?” Adele laughed. “I want you to release some kind of statement and tell the world that I am not pregnant and never have been.”

“But Adele…”

“No” she said, trying to channel her mother when she would get serious with her and Luca. “You are going to end this mess, and you are going to do it now.”

“That's not how things work and you know it.”

“You have two days. When Mason comes back from his work trip to Spain, I want this problem fixed.”

“Or what?” Erin said, arching an eyebrow.

“Or you will be losing an amazing deal that would benefit you and your agency, and that only I can get you.”

“What kind of deal?”

“Me shooting Mason for the cover of British Vogue’s March issue.”

“What?” she laughed. “That's almost impossible! Only big names get to be on the March issue, and it is always women the ones who do it. It is the most important issue besides the September one!”

“I know. But when you are Elizabeth Turlington’s daughter, and the current editor-in-chief of the magazine is your godfather…” Adele shrugged.

“He's… oh. That's… I'm listening” Erin said, moving forward on her chair.

“Well, we met in Paris during fashion week, and after seeing my photos for Dior, he asked me if anyone had suggested yet the idea of me shooting Mason.”

“It has happened more than once, and you've always said no. What has made you change your mind?”

“That this time I will be working for and with someone I trust and have known my whole life, and that I will have creative freedom, which is something that none of the other offers included.”

“Has Mason said yes?”

“He has. But on one condition” Adele said. “That you finally put an end to the pregnancy rumours by telling the truth: that I've never been pregnant, and that those photos were taken out of context.”

“It isn't going to be that easy, tho.”

“You and your team are very clever, Erin. I'm sure you will come up with something. But no more lies.”

“Ok, fine” she sighed. “We deny the pregnancy saying that you never were pregnant and it was all a mistake, and you shoot Mason for British Vogue. Is that the deal?”

“The base of it, yes” Adele said.

“The base?”

“We can add some extras. For example, if Mason and I are satisfied with the result of your explanation and the way you handle things after that, I can talk with my godfather and also get him an interview. Maybe video content, something like a behind the scenes of me shooting him and being all lovey-dovey. I'm sure fans would love that.”

“That would actually be amazing… Ok, fine” Erin said after a few seconds in silence. “We have a deal.”

“If we don't like what you do…”

“There will be no cover. I know” she said, offering Adele her hand. “Deal?”

“Deal” she said, shaking it. “Now let me call my lawyer so he can get the contract ready. He's waiting in the coffee shop next door.”

“What?” Erin chuckled. “There is no need for that, Adele.”

“I don't make deals without witnesses and with just a handshake, Mrs. Lautner. I'm my father's daughter and not an idiot, so I do things properly and, most importantly, legally. Leave it or take it.”

“I… Umm…”

“I have things to do, Mrs. Lautner. So if you could please make up your mind…”

“Fine, fine! Call your lawyer.”

“Thank you” Adele smiled. Her plan was already in motion, and the first part had been a success. 

[qqueenofhades]

Sure, Mitch McConnell is evil. But I think progressives thrilled about his demise aren't considering the fact that right now he's pretty much the only person keeping the Senate Republican conference from turning into the House Republican conference. Like, yeah, he's a piece of shit who stole a supreme court seat, but he can keep the rightest of right flanks mostly under control. I don't know if potential future GOP Leader John Thune could do the same.

Look, I'm not going to call it thrilled, at least for me. He's an old man, he presumably has people (uh, somewhere) who love him, and if he loved them back, or anything more than power, he might retire to be with them and/or do something more appropriate for an 81-year-old man who clearly is not well. But as it is, he has spent 30 years being one of the worst impediments to progress in this whole country, he stole not one but THREE SCOTUS seats (or at least maneuvered in very, very bad faith to get them) and managed to install the current nightmare court that is stripping protections for women, workers/labor rights, LGBTQ people, health care, immigrants, the environment, anyone who doesn't want to get murdered by a gun, democracy, etc. etc. left and right. I have no sympathy for him, I will not be pretending sympathy for him, I don't think anyone else should be obliged to either, and his overall public legacy is one of absolutely damning and devastating damage. Fuck him.

Nor am I a believer in the "we should accept this terrible person because the next terrible person might be worse!" McConnell might not be an open raving MAGA conspiracy theorist, but he has never, not once, done the right thing and put principle over power. He might have personally loathed Trump; he still took full advantage of him to pack the courts with far-right Federalist Society hacks who will likewise damage the judiciary for the duration of their lifetime. He vigorously condemned Trump for January 6 and then immediately voted not to convict him for it. McConnell seems "reasonable" only because he can stand in public and not spew insane QAnon election conspiracy batshit theocratic nonsense, but once again: nobody except for Trump did more than him to fuck this country up, and he was and is very good at it. I'm honestly fine with his demise leaving a power vacuum that will impel the Republicans to spend so much time fighting each other that they might for once actually break the rigid ideological lockstep that McConnell maintained over all of them. Which was, as noted, precisely in support of Trump all the time. Don't let the fact that McConnell is able to masquerade as an establishment politician fool you. He is possibly even more toxic than the Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz GOP losers of the Senate, who talk an endless stream of idiocy and do little. McConnell says relatively little and does the most evil things of all.

Anyway, yes. Fuck him, fuck the things he's done, fuck the Republicans, and let them fight. It will be another mess to appoint his successor, it will make them even more toxic and extreme to the general electorate, and since they need to be burned to the ground and salted in the ashes before we should even think about giving them power again (not that this will happen, because MURKA), frankly, in the end, this is exactly what McConnell deserves.

[jewish-vents]

Being ethnically Jewish, adopted by goyim, and only connecting to my heritage and my culture as an adult was hard enough considering I became an adult in 2016. Since then my dad has become a full-blown conspiracy theorist, Trump supporter, and rabid Islamophobe. He's gotten involved in this weird offshoot of Evangelicals who think nothing bad can happen to "the Jews" (he NEVER calls us Jewish people, or people at all) so according to him there is no rise in antisemitism. Things have been like this forever. There is no rise in hate crimes or hate speech. The CIA, FBI, NSA, NAACP, and Jews are all lying or mistaken because his conspiracy buddies say so.

I get called slurs and babykiller and pedophile every day when I go to work on campus. (Apparently goyim think we lick babies' private parts? Their kinks baffle me.) My coworkers make pointed remarks or talk about hoping Hamas wins and look at me just daring me to get offended or fight them or report them to the department head, who they and I both know would side with them. I am taking care of my disabled father and my newfound stray-who-chose-me dog, I have been repairing the attic and spare room because my sister and her daughter have to move in at the end of the month due to their rent being hiked up suddenly, and I am recovering from having a bleeding ulcer back in December, during which I lost over half the blood in my body.

And added onto all of this work, I can't even come home to peace and quiet. I come home to more and more conspiracy garbage. My adoptive dad was always emotionally abusive and has untreated Bipolar Disorder. He's never been kind to me. But now he's dehumanizing me, saying things like "the Jews and people" as if those are separate categories, rambling about "the mystery of the Jews" which appears to be how we survived if people actually hated us (which is apparently in question), and constantly, consistently, repeatedly talking about the Holocaust. I got up to get peanut butter for breakfast because I'm so busy that breakfast is two spoons of peanut butter and I couldn't even get that this morning without being told actually, it's Jewish people's fault for dying during the Holocaust because they knew it was coming and could've gotten out.

I'm a bad person.

I snapped. I just started screaming. Not words, not even syllables, just full-body, loud, long screams to drown out everything he said. I screamed until my voice gave out and then I clamped my hands over my ears, shut my eyes and waited until I had enough breath to bolt for my room, throw on non-pajama clothes, and went to work. I can't take it. I can't take this. I can't deal with this. I didn't apologize and I'm not going to because if I do I might have to hear more of it and it's too much. When I was a kid he used to get angry and refuse to talk to me for days, sometimes weeks. I am actively begging Hashem to let that happen because I just can't take this anymore.

I'm 24. I'm not even 30 yet and I feel ancient. Childhood feels like a half-remembered dream. I don't remember what it was like to feel safe anymore. I had a fine day at work because I've started... I don't think it's exactly dissociating? I imagine myself as a main character in a video game narrating the contents of a visual novel. 'Angry Coworker #2 is overly dramatic. You wonder how much of it is performance,' I narrate to myself in the second person, eating lunch, 'and how much, if any, of her emotion is genuine. She is giving a 2012 early YouTube caliber performance. Your smile should look appropriately strained so she thinks her attempt has succeeded, lest she escalate to full-on theatrics.'

This cannot be healthy. But the last therapist I had just taught me to feel guilty for thinking about the part or things I can't control because that means I have only myself to blame for feeling bad. The therapist before that I caught zoning out on me mid-session and totally not paying attention. The one before that kept telling me that the things that stress me out don't actually effect me and I was self-victimizing because the rest of the world doesn't "have" to effect me.

I am coming apart at the seams. I am consistently narrating my own life in the second person and not eating dinner because then I'd have to encounter my father and working on something because if I work I don't have to think. I don't know how long I can keep going like this. If I ever scream at work like I did at home, I'd be fired, and pretty rightfully so.

I'm so tired. I can't deal with everything. I can't kill myself because there's too much work to do, too many people depending on me. I can't keep patiently gritting my teeth and listening to another hot take on "the Jews" every morning. I just want to sleep. I just want to lay in bed and forget about everything. I can't do this anymore. I also have to.

.

[marzipanandminutiae]

speaking of the Radium Girls...god, that story is enough to make a conspiracy theorist out of one, if one's not careful to remain levelheaded and make judgments based on reliable, peer-reviewed science

because like. yeah, corporations DO cover up the health dangers of their products for years on end. that's like a known thing they're quite fond of doing

heavy-metal dyes. radium. tobacco products. PFAs. the indoor tanning industry is STILL trying to argue that tanning beds don't give you cancer- I've read newspaper articles theorizing a link between UV and melanoma as far back as the 1940s, though I'm not sure the lack of coverage was corporation-related since tanning beds didn't exist yet and big holiday resorts had other draws besides sunbathing

I'm not going to go full "5G IS SATAN!!" or anything. the evidence of that, to my mind, is lacking; the evidence against it substantial (also some chucklefucks are selling definitely radioactive "anti 5G devices" so uh. that makes it pretty clear which the rational side is in that debate)

but you have to wonder- what could it be right now, without us knowing? what's the next radium?

[autumnmobile12]

Felt like sharing some speculation today:

All right, so we know My Hero Academia has the something of the same premise as X-Men in the sense that select a group of humans were suddenly born with powers, the whole 'evolution leaps forward’ deal.

We see in My Hero how the First Generation of people with Quirks, especially the ones who appeared non-human or semi non-human, were originally ostracized like the mutants of X-Men are, but then more people were born with powers and then more people had powers until it became a widespread phenomenon and ‘normal’ people became the minority and society had to restructure itself to accommodate the new normal.

But have you read The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black?

The plot is a 19th century doctor who theorizes that mythical creatures like the minotaur, harpies, sirens, and the like all existed millions of years ago but slowly interbred with humanity and eventually died out altogether.  So he believed that when someone was born with extra fingers, limbs, a tail or otherwise didn’t have the typical human shape, it wasn’t so much a mistake in genetic coding as it was the extremely recessive genetics of those ancient creatures trying to reoccur in the modern day.

...

Definitely an interesting premise, so now I’m wondering if the My Hero world has a cult, conspiracy theorists, or even some scientists/historians that have similar views regarding mythology.

If this whole Quirk thing happened back in the Stone Age where no one had the benefit of science or awareness of DNA, anyone born with an otherworldly power would have been worshipped as a deity. Or the ones born with a non-human appearance would have been reviled as monsters.

So following the idea of The Resurrectionist, maybe the sudden appearance of superpowers did lead people to take a closer look at the old myths and consider the stories of the gods/goddesses of old were originally stories of people with 'Quirks' who rose to power.  Humans with meta-powers ruled the world for a few centuries, then those powers inexplicably died off. For a variety of reasons or maybe unknown reasons, humanity lost that history but remembered the old stories and chalked them up to just myth until the powers that made it possible began to reappear full force several millennia later.

Some myths began as historical events but in being handed down hundreds of generations, the multiple tellings and retellings exaggerated them into the realm of impossibility.

Lightning/electricity powers:  Zeus, Thor, Hinon

Fire powers:  Hephaistos, Surtr, Hestia, the phoenix

Foresight:  Any seer, prophet, or oracle that appears in any myth ever

Ice powers:  Yuki-onna, Skadi, Morana

Water powers:  Poseidon, Chalchiuhtlicue, Anuket, Tlaloc

Plant-related Quirks:  Demeter

Gigantification Quirks: Giants, titans, nephilim

Ryukyu:  Is a dragon.  ‘nuff said.

All Might:  Herakles

Tokoyami having a bird head but otherwise appearing human is pretty reminiscent of the old Egyptian gods.

Hawks:  Any winged creature; take your pick.  Personally, the one that comes to mind for me is Hermes.  He only had wings on his sandals, sure, but the trickster archetype resonates.

Tsuyu: Naiads, nymphs, rusalki, any kind of water fae

Momo: Sedna (created sea life from her finger bones), Ukemochi no Kami (produces food from her own body)

Best Jeanist: This one's a bit of a reach, but the fabric thread thing coupled with the long, spider-like limbs kinda brings to mind the story of Arachne the weaver.

We do get a nod to Ancient Greek mythology with the prison Tartarus.  What better place to lock away beings with god-like powers than the prison of the Titans itself?

Obviously an incomplete list, but you see my point.

Personally, I'm leaning toward cultist ideology with this one as I find it hard to believe every civilization would have forgotten about a previous appearance of Quirks. But civilizations die off, civilizations are overrun by others and their histories are suppressed, maybe this hypothetical 'previous Quirk phenomenon' wasn't as widespread as the current one and so fewer people were affected and therefore fewer people were alive to verify the truth of facts, maybe this hypothetical time was from an age of oral history and nothing was documented properly, so not impossible just really, really improbable.

Still, I love mythology and I find it an interesting headcanon to think about.