#and essentially make me feel worthless for not having a job!

[thedesiretodestroy]

It's 6 o clock in the morning and I'm having an anxiety attack!!

[flying-cat]

"why don't you ever do the dishes" (standing on my hurt feet after working all day and it's 6pm) well why the fuck didn't YOU do the dishes during the EIGHT FUCKING HOURS i was at work instead of sitting on your ass in your shit stained tighty whities you OLD FUCK

[raeathnos]

.

[is-this-yuri]

once upon a time i worked for a total of three and a half (3.5 entire) weeks at a metalworking facility where i used power tools to carve away at giant metal pieces. the metal pieces in question were pipes and plumbing of various types, to be used in sewer and water systems. so, for threeish weeks, i was part of the reason someone had running water and sewage. this is generally considered unskilled labor for some reason

anyway, the place didn't provide me the right sized gloves. i have freakishly small hands, so like, i didn't expect them to have a good pair for me right away, but they refused to get me a pair in the right size. so, since i didn't feel comfortable with my fingertips flopping all over the place, and they didnt just let not wear the gloves, i got my own.

i got vibration resistant gloves because i noticed even within the first day that my hand was getting numb in places from holding the tools. the gloves seemed to work great, but they quickly wore out and i had to take them home for difficult repairs every week.

i STILL got raynaud's syndrome. just working there for less than a month! with special gloves designed to help prevent it! i didn't realize until the next winter i spent homeless and my fingers went numb and turned white, so i never thought to pursue any compensation.

on top of this, the OSHA guidelines for average dust particles in the air was up on a board for me to read, but when i read it i wondered if they'd considered the fact that every single employee stops their work and sweeps their station at the same time every day, kicking up a visible cloud of metal dust particles. my boogers were constantly, always pitch black for the brief time i worked there. i have some pictures of me in that place and i literally look like a coal miner. no masks or respirators provided, i also bought my own of those.

this was also a teamsters company, and i was really excited to hear that at first because it was my first time working under a union. and most likely the union has made excellent progress in making that workplace safer than it otherwise would be, but i personally still didn't feel like my health was a priority.

so yeah, three weeks at that place was enough to know it wasnt for me. i didnt even mention the macho work culture i didnt fit into, which is also common at factories and warehouses. this wasn't my only attempt at this kind of job, but it was the shortest, because at that point i had enough self respect to leave when i knew it was bad.

the sad thing is, every job is like that in some way. your health is never a priority. the unions have gotten us to a point, but it's essentially bare minimum. and thats if you can even get unionized. you're going to have to reach into your own pocket to accomodate your needs at work, a pocket your boss's hand is already deep into.

so if youre feeling guilty, or lazy, or worthless because you can't stand your job, just know that almost no job is a hospitable enviornment.

[farm-lesbian]

long angry rant post about boring shit incoming

had one of the most demoralizing work weeks in a while and then to top it off, i read an absolutely awful article from a top industry publication today that essentially ignores/totally delegitimizes the value of early career employees. it also said that AI could take a huge chunk of the “grunt work” from junior staff. the author didn’t even examine this bold statement or offer a counterpoint to consider.

if the “grunt workers” disappeared tomorrow from my industry, it would be catastrophic. and AI is not in a place to pick up that slack yet. it never will be, not fully! At this point AI has become a buzzy promise that arouses shareholders who don’t understand how much truly advanced AI technology actually costs.

but while AI can’t actually “take my job”, if shareholders want to see a better bottom line and mistakenly think AI could replace “grunt work” en masse, i have no doubt they’d support the layoffs of myself and my peers.

a group with this much output for dirt cheap should at least be considered an important part of the industry, and not a vestigial limb.

and no i’m not doing a lot of “high level” work right now. ideally, that’s what investment in upskilling and professional development is for. BUT that’s not what my industry is investing in. it’s actually mindboggling to see industry experts being so short sighted.

i know too many senior executives who should have the ~big ideas~ they’re being paid the big bucks for, but they consistently come in with lukewarm ideas. AND they don’t know how to use powerpoint or excel. no, i don’t have the skills right now to operate as a strategic project leader, but i can at least use microsoft office suite. what can you really do? i have SO many stories of jaw dropping ineptitude from senior execs. to paint this group as 100% integral to businesses while wholly ignoring the contributions of younger staff simply because of experience is kind of wild!

and yes i’m insecure. i hate feeling like im doing grunt work without any opportunities to take on new responsibilities. it makes me feel worthless!

but beyond my personal insecurities, it truly does bewilder me to see industry leaders pretending they won’t need a new generation of leaders in 20 years. where will effective leaders come from if you roll up the ladder behind you?

and i want to say all of this in a letter to the editor or as a reply to the article on linkedin, but i’ve been trained for years that my opinion doesn’t have any value whatsoever!

final cherry on top: i looked at the reposts of this article and one of these esteemed senior industry leaders reposted the article with: “yep, if you want [xyz] you can make due (his spelling error not mine) with a middle manager or even junior staff. but if you want growth and impact, you need a true expert with the confidence, command, and autonomy to sail that ship.”

hmm maybe you need some junior staff to proofread your linkedin shitposts, jackass. or you can use AI — i don’t really care. but clearly you’re unable to sail that ship by yourself. don’t you want to look buttoned-up and intelligent for your professional network? 🫶

[mpreg-nouveau]

Turn of the century omegaverse thoughts

Cause I'm a huge fucking history nerd and I was thinking about, what would omegaverse look like at different points in history/how would it effect history, and given the motif of this blog I thought I'd share some from 1900s-1910s.

Note, this is not me romanticising these concepts, just thinking about potential plotlines or ideas that COULD result from omegaverse being part of this point in the human time line, both good, bad, and just weird:

–omega sufferage movement along side women's sufferage

–the overlap between women’s rights movement and the issues of A/B/O hierarchies creating a lot of fuss and questions during the time, especially with news print and communication getting more and more wide spread.

–ex, it being considered ok for an alpha female to dress in men's clothing and do work as the primary breadwinner when her husband or wife is an omega, but what happens when she is with an alpha male who is socially EXPECTED to be the primary bread winner at the time? Is the woman supposed to quit her job and become a house wife upon marriage? She certainly doesn't think so and neither does her husband.

–i feel like the American hierarchy at the time is alpha male>alpha female=beta male>beta female=omega male=omega female.

–omegas using labor unions to fight for equal treatment and pay in new industrial settings.

--factories are hesitant to hire them because fearing their workers will go on heat regularly and slow down production. People having to hide that they are omegas to get work as a result. This was the time period where you could get fired for a work place injury after all.

–people coming to the States for the first time with different cultural expectations for the a/b/o dynamics and getting some culture shock from American life, whether american standards are stricter, less strict, or entirely flipped from their home perspectives.

–along with with the Gibson girl there's also the Gibson boy representing the dainty stereotype of omegas. 

–the new middle class and upper middle class suddenly being targeted by mass production industrial giants advertising new, useless creature comforts to build extravagant and gorgeous nests and dens

–patent medicines that are utterly worthless but advertise to act as heat suppressants, rut control, and to make your scent more appealing to others

–in order to pander to ideals of modernization and “civility” american upper crusts comparing their a/b/o status to various dog breeds instead of wolves. There's essentially a horoscope of sorts they've come up with to align themselves with specific dog breeds and the stereotypes there off.

– ex: “my father was an alpha bulldog type, and my mother a beta beagle designation, and because I was born on the 3rd Sunday in August as an omega, I am a jack Russell terrier designation.

–people keep harassing Arthur Conan Doyle for Watson and Sherlock’s canonic designation. This is what causes the poor man to lose it and start believing in fairies. 

–omega heat cars on trains for single individuals to hang out in and avoid perverts. Its meant as a kind gesture but instead just ends up playing into puritan culture surrounding omega bodies. 

–as electricity is being installed in more and more homes there's an irrational worry that the electrical circuits in the walls will mess with the cycles of heat and rut among some. 

–its completely unfounded but causes people to resist the switch anyways

–meanwhile there IS evidence that gas based light fixtures DO have negative effects on the body but everyone grew up with them “and I turned out ok so it must be fine”

–advent of widespread vaccines and better standards of sanitation means that entire litters of pups are surviving childhood now

–families that worried to name pups after they were born, as back in their home land it was rare for more than one per litter to survive, suddenly are having miracle litters. Every single pup is ending up getting spoiled by these families who expected the worst.

–new ridiculous electric inventions come out catering to beautification and a/b/o fertility care. One is a body massage device that supposedly increases the chances of having a healthy and fruitful pregnancy….it's essentially a hand held belly rub machine. 

– most of the US was still rural and isolated from the cities at this time. Few had ventured 20 miles from their home town. Rural parents worrying about their omega children marrying people from the city…because of a genuine yet misguided fear of their kids getting so overwhelmed by all the new scents  in the city that they will immediately have a seizure and die. 

–during the turn of the century it was already fairly common for kids to wear gender neutral, play safe clothing like gowns all the way up to 8 years old, so gender neutral clothing being common until a kid presents for the first time.

–classes getting divided into alphas, omegas, and betas in some puritanical schools in order to “protect the children” as the new US mandatory  public school system is getting hammered out

–packs becoming a looser term for more wide social circles rather than relatives or clans due to migration of people both into the nation and throughout. 

–Ex: woman forming packs based on sharing supplies in a new city with each other, or packs surrounding shared interest in activities like sewing or books

–the Boston Red Sox declare themselves a pack one day.

–I feel like a lot of politicians pretend to be alphas for status

–teddy Roosevelt secretly being an omega but nobody realizes this cause he's constantly covered in wood ash and various funk from his game hunting and overtly manly activities. Everyone just assumes he's an alpha between that and his personality.

(Edit: clarification on the last one, this is a joke about how the guy had horrible asthma and other chronic health issues especially while young, which for most people at the time would mean a very short life span, but no one knew because the dude compensated with so much exercise and other extreme health stuff you could do at the time you could not tell. Dude even took a bullet to the chest midway through a speech and then finished said speech. Dude basically made himself a stereotype of an "alpha male")

[lilithsterrarium]

Oh, the maid thing is such a cute idea!

 

I’m gonna rent a Micro maid for the express purpose of hand-washing my dirty underwear.

Finding it hard to stifle a degrading laugh as I usher my trembling hire towards a simple washbasin—one infinitely larger than herself—full of hot, soapy water and several pairs of ‘well-loved’ panties. Maybe I rest a claw upon her back when she inevitably reels back at the introduction of my heavy musk, reminding her that it surely can’t be as bad as what others have asked of her. She’ll be fine so long as she does her job well.

 

Sat on the cool linoleum, hovering well above my shivering prey as she scrubs as hard as she can, working to get the lovingly caked precum from the crotch. The idea of my scent inadvertently sticking to her body while she works pleases me. To mark one’s victim with their scent should be a privilege, especially for something so pathetic. I coo demeaningly if she slows, with a subtle comment on how easy it’d be to simply replace her—laughing raucously when my ill-intentioned pep talk takes effect and she speeds up. She’s so good with her tools after all; why not push her to work at her fullest potential?

 

Of course, a maid’s job is never done. When she’s finally finished washing my delicates, collapsing upon the tiles in an undoubtedly exhausted heap, I make my move. To me, my movements are gentle, subtle little shifts that position my unmentionables above her. Though to someone as inconsequential as herself, the world might as well be ending. The deafening rush of air is enough to blow her over, a sweet little Micro, staring in unadulterated terror as I casually yank the fabric of my sweaty shorts aside. All that earthy musk spilling out to suffocate her at such close proximity. My dripping, stifling pussy looms just above her.

 

“My turn now—”

 

She doesn’t get to scream; I don’t give her the courtesy. My fur-covered cunt meets her and the bathroom tiles with an all-encompassing 'squelch'. I yawn and itch my stomach. She’s definitely squirming. I rock my hips for good measure, really feeling her out as I essentially mould my drooling sex around her worthless body.

 

Lifting myself back up with all the grace of a beached whale, I bring her with me, sandwiched hopelessly within my labia. The poor girl makes burbled whining sounds while I let out a relaxed sigh. With all the sweating and general scent of a beargirl’s musk, it must stink pretty bad for such a pitiful thing. The shorts are pulled back over my sopping pussy, and I relish the wriggling within—dialling the maid service number on my phone as deft, clawed fingers stroke against my cunt through the fabric. She’s certainly lively in there, although I don’t particularly think she likes her new home.

 

However, speaking to the operator only cements my desire to keep her. It seems when she hears the voice of someone familiar, it’s the slightest sliver of hope that she might escape and that’s enough to motivate her. My thighs tighten when her desperate writhing ramps up. Stupid Micro, she’s just getting me riled up. I barely manage to sputter through my little ‘problem’; lying doesn’t actually matter to these people, but no one likes to admit that they’d rather fuck the Micro than return it.

 

The tired, all-too-aware voice on the end of the phone asks for my card details when I explain how I ‘lost’ her, explaining that they need to deduct a fine from my account, not that it matters much. These hopeless little things cost a dime a dozen. The maid’s muffled screaming vibrates pleasantly against my clit, and I wonder if I should invest in a couple more of the little things. A girl needs to keep clean, after all, and what’s nicer than a few new ‘companions’ to pass the time with?

 

— 🐻

AdjfZJVNVCCJ. NCCC...

GGOSH I. HHOPE IM RENTED NEXT >/////<

Her whimpers as she obeys, nodding hastilly before scurrying to grab at your used garments... her hands trembling as she struggles to drag them, assuring you that she has it handled, blushing as you watch her feverishly scrub away at stains... your little threat, accidental or not, only makes her more desperate to serve...

Just IMAGINING your voice booming in her little ears, how loud it must be, how TERRIFYING it must be... hearing you go on and on with someone on the phone about needing to pay for her dissapearance, knowing full well that she'll never be seeing her employers again... between the sudsy water she was scrubbing with and the deep depths of your pussy, I doubt she'll be getting much fresh air...

All the maids still wait anxiously, recieving news that yet another one isn't coming back, almost all terrified...

... only making me more eager to be rented 😵‍💫

[docholligay]

Doc with today's educational environment, how long would you last as a college professor?

Ah, you must have been in the Piranesi book club, where I talked about how I was a failed Lit professor and honestly I feel like that was the best thing that ever happened to me.

You know, I am a particular sort of person, and one of those things that I think made me who i am is that for a number of years I, I guess I'll say, "worked without a net." And so, you know, when i left academia I had no fucking clue what I was going to do with the rest of my life. My peers who were continuing on to the graduate level were like, "I mean, I think I'm going to be miserable too, but if I just stop with a bachelor's, I'm not going to be able to get a job, or worse, I'll only be able to get a job that a high school graduate could get and that will make my degree worthless. What are you going to do?" and my response was essentially, "I don't know! Not this! Tend bar for awhile, maybe." But I didn't consider my education a waste (I DO consider the degree a waste. Who the fuck cares? I wish i could have gotten the knowledge cheaper without a degree. My degree has only ever been proof that I had good enough credit to make it through the system. I know a ton of fucking idiots with degrees, and intelligent people without them.)

Anyway, I am very interested in talking about books, and I love helping people get better and looking for what lies beneath the text and engaging with it, and learning about lenses, and stuff like that. I adore the teaching aspect of teaching. But I am not interested in strip mining a classic novel while invoking the dark sainthood of the critical schools of thought, praying for the absolution of a tenure that will never come. I am not interested in the auto-da-fé of student evaluations and peer review, coming year after year while wizened old men weigh the annoyance of me versus my diversity credentials versus how low they can keep my salary. I am not interested in engaging with the thousand tiny cuts of nineteen year olds telling me all the reasons they can't do something. I am not interested having to pan every single essay paper like its a mountain stream in 1849, only to find myself wondering if this is ChatGPT or the student really did turn in the literary equivalent of overcooked chicken breast, because they don't want to be here, they don't want to learn, and they would be happier getting a stamp saying, "My parents have access to forty thousand dollars, you may hire me."

I wouldn't last because you could offer me a position teaching courses *I* came up, and i would not take it. I would not teach Literature of the American West, because I do not want to teach in a formal setting, literally ever. I would not get beyond the offer email. If I wrote the next Great American Novel, and fuckin...Harvard, i guess, was like, "hey do you want to teach a class here?" No. I said, "You can't fire me, i quit," fifteen years ago, and I stand by it.

[sybaritick]

The thing about posts like this, which are so ridiculous that they're indistinguishable from parody, is that they are basically what I sincerely thought about relationships my whole childhood/as a teenager and very frequently stil struggle with to this day.

Like, I am doing OK financially and all, I happily rent my one-bedroom apartment and have a car and a job. Still, at least a few times a month, I feel such an impulse to immediately start full-scale job hunting to return to web dev work partially because I owe it to my partner and they could clearly "do better" (ie, be dating someone who makes more money).

It's sexism obviously, but it's also a clear admission that you believe the main reason a person would date you is money (that you have nothing else to offer), and if they find someone wealthier, they'll leave you for them. You believe there cannot be genuine interest in you as a person and there cannot be loyalty. Essentially, the only romantic or sexual relationship you can imagine yourself in is markedly transactional.

The oil-and-water unmixable cynicism and optimism I had about it was strange. When I was 15 I assumed I would one day be dating someone I was attracted to because I'd be financially successful and they can benefit from tying themselves to me. Which requires the interesting combination of "utter conviction that I'll make good money" and "complete lack of faith that anyone might date me for any other reason."

I considered this essentially the only relationship model available. If not trading on money, relationships were trading on connections, or on the promise or chance of future money-- this explained high school dating, in my eyes. (Permit me to joke "see, you shouldn't marry your high school sweetheart for the same reason 99% of people shouldn't mess around with futures trading. Just invest in an index fund.")

It took patience with myself and a lot of trust to accept that it is possible for both people to pursue a romantic relationship mostly for its own sake, because you enjoy one another's company.

But it takes a lot to unlearn ingrained beliefs, and alone in my car picking up groceries, I do catch myself thinking-- I might convince someone to buy these calls, but if they're still OTM in a year a rational actor would probably cut their losses and sell before letting them expire worthless. There is only so much time.

[tenderhooked]

Sid,, I am so curious about the Roy Keeley break up in the season 3 fix-it if you ever want to share I am all ears

DO I WANT TO SHARE...... yes. I Am Become An English Major and apparently tonight i'm in the mood to write essays that you're all gonna be subjected to. SORRY.

so, like. i want to approach the roy/keeley break up from a mutual standpoint. HOWEVER the two of them each want to break up for different reasons, and these reasons factor into their individual storylines for the season. i've kept roy's reason the same (leaving things before they leave him, etc., etc.) but keeley's reason is going to be more practical, where she's like. i'm starting a new job and me and roy are already on shaky ground, and i don't want him to feel like i can't give him the attention he needs so i'm just going to amicably break it off and that'll be that! 😃👍

unfortunately for everybody involved, that'll not be that.

after they have their It's Not Me It's You conversation, roy's feelings of, like. not being good enough and being abandoned are only exacerbated, because from HIS perspective keeley is prioritizing her career over him (Get Over It Dude dot png). meanwhile keeley's fear of abandonment comes to the surface because from HER perspective roy is essentially saying that he just. doesn't want to put in the work to date her anymore. MISCOMMUNICATION LOVERS RISE. (me who hates miscommunication).

basically. BASICALLY!! i think having their break up be mutual, and understandable to both of them but NOT understandable to the other person (if that makes sense lmao), adds a lot of depth to roy's sense of worthlessness, not being good enough, etc., that were present during season 3 but not examined nearly enough, AND adds a lot of depth to keeley's... storyline. because she had none. ANYWAYS.

[harrison-abbott]

To Bail From Home

My mother had died. She was 93 when it happened so that was quite a fine age. My sisters, all three of them, invited me up north for the funeral. I had moved down south a long, long time ago, and had spent little time with my sisters, or mother, ever since then. Honestly, I was sad that my parent had passed; but can admit that a large part of the reason why I moved and stayed south was not to be near them.

What about the father? I have no recollection of him … and thus grew up with a perfectly feminine environment. I was a mistake child and my mother bore me at the age of 39. My father perished in a car crash when I was two. The trio of sisters were in the car with him when it happened and it would go on to explain why they were horrible and sadistic for the rest of their days. Not that you can sum up three people in two words; but you are free to make observations as well.

I believe they were angry that I wasn’t in the vehicle with them when the mini bus driver got complacent and smashed into the top corner of the car. Or perhaps they wished they hadn’t been killed in that instant, either: because they had to live with the memory.

And mother, after it occurred. She’d always been an emotional hurricane anyway and with the husband dead it horrified her irrevocably. Moreover, she told the daughters, on several occasions, “It should’ve been you that got taken in that crash! You vermin! You worthless rats!" I remember her saying this line at drunken tempo on sickeningly hot or icily cold nights, way into my adolescence.

With me, her favourite line was, “You’re the worst natural disaster I’ve ever seen, Gumbo.”

Gumbo was my nickname. My real name was/is Gary but they all called me Gumbo. My eldest sister Emma coined it … and I can’t recall where it came from; but it glued in from there.

So, yes – I could go on about the period from eleven years to eighteen years in that household with those four women. All sisters were far older than me, by the way; the next one up being five years my age. But, I don’t feel the need to moan. It was just a mass of intense bullying with lines that would be tricky to invent in big TV shows where all the characters get by by being mean.

I couldn’t not go to mother’s funeral. So I took the train up north, crossing the borders, as the climate got colder and hillier. Super cold, also, as this was in January.

It was odd going back to the homeland and even stranger heading back to the boyhood neighbourhood on the east side of the city. Mother had never moved away from the big house where she raised us; and I had to reimburse that fact: that she brought me up. Not an angel, was she. But – I knew I was a good man myself and some of this was down to the fact that she essentially made me.

There was the small, half-pretty church near the house with the depressed spent priest. And my sisters were all there already with their husbands.

They smiled and waved when they saw me and I felt this huge sense of despair when I saw them, because I didn’t think they’d be in any way glad I was there … Because all train ride up there I’d feared that they would still be mucked off with me that I had left them, oh … thirty years ago thereabouts. And hadn’t turned up to Christmas invitations or come to their birthday parties, etc.

But they were genuine.

They had kids, too. Nephews and nieces – who I barely knew.

And I realised that I hardly knew any of my siblings now. None of their descriptions, now, were particularly remarkable. Each of them overweight, and their husbands too; they worked in dull jobs with average incomes; they had no artistic streak and weren’t quite intrigued in artsy matters.

^ But, see? Here was me being judgemental again when I wasn’t familiar with them. And as we stood there making tiny talk in the windy graveyard waiting for my mother’s coffin to be brought in a big black car, I cursed myself with shame, for being so unforgiving across all these decades … Maybe you take words and insults and sibling stuff far more harshly when you’re young? And especially if you were the smallest of the children then it was far worse for you?

(I wasn’t the smallest physically for that long, though. When I was around fifteen I was around young-man size in terms of physical build, which I’d inherited from ghostly Pop. And there was one time when Emma slapped me – again – over some trivial blah blah argument in the kitchen. Emma hit me like that countless times across childhood, out of habit, often without thinking, and I was forever flinching or ducking her. But, when I was 15 I was the same size of her. So I just walloped her back. Which sent the room silent and left this red new imprint on the rest of her whitened face.)

Mother’s coffin arrived.

As I say – the wind was strong and intense and it blew the leaves all around the kirkyard in a movie’s browns and copper reds. Her coffin was lifted out of the back of the car and we followed it into the church … and I remembered when my old cat passed away back when I was little, at the old house. He was kinda my cat because I was closest too him and a lot of that, or so I liked to feel, was due to us being the two lone males in the household.

He was sick for a long time and then he didn’t wake up or move one morning so we buried him in the back garden under the birch tree and I cried the entire time and all the lady sisters and Mum were there and for once they didn’t make fun of me for crying and they didn’t say anything or intervene and only let me weep.

This was what I thought about when I went into the church’s airy interior and it began to make my eyes vinegary and I knew that now wasn’t the right time for tears. Not yet. I couldn’t cry in front of my sisters like I did back then … even though they weren’t going to mock me for it. I simply couldn’t do it.

[loralee-frickfrackao3]

Why Geto Could Have Been His Own Villain: Dismantling the Body-snatching

Right off the bat I'll go ahead and say that my main theory about Kenjaku existing is because Gege wanted to reuse Geto's design and power without bringing the character back. By virtue of being "all knowing" and essentially the mastermind behind the plot, Kenjaku is extremely convenient to use that way. This sort of works against the overall story though, I feel. I'll go into more detail on that a bit later.

First, let's discuss JJK's publishing:

From what I've gathered through different interviews, the high school setting was not Gege's original vision (which I'm willing to believe as that gets scrapped as fast as possible), and JJK0 had already been a compromise of the original idea, to make something a bit more marketable. I personally think 0 could have been left as a prototype and marked as non-canon when published, but I also get that it helps establish the world and several characters that the series hinges on. I understand why it was left as a prequel, especially when the main story was probably going to be scrapped but I think it being canon actually handicaps the main story.

I'll go beat by beat.

JJK0 reads well enough as a complete and standalone story because it at least sets up a goal, a villain, a stake, and resolves all of them by the end. Whether it's the most competent at doing that is not the point, but it accomplishes what it wants.

That said, Geto is a bad foil for Yuuta in the way the story plays out. Not that there's no basis for them to be good foils for each other, only that Yuuta's goal and Geto's goal don't stand in opposition to each other. Yuuta's involvement is based on his own morals, which again, isn't a plot hole or worthless as a concept, but in a narrative sense, there could be More.

It's easy for me to judge the creative decisions made throughout JJK's publishing in hindsight but I must give Gege grace in several aspects:

Writing comics is a difficult craft. Even more so planning an entire long-term series for a very demanding weekly publishing schedule. With how notoriously cutthroat Shounen Jump has been described, most new authors can't rely that their series won't be axed at some point. Neither can you be sure which of your ideas your editor(s) will deem as the one with most potential and that you'll be asked to develop or work on.

You can make a manuscript for a story that is very far removed from your original idea and have that end up being really lucrative without you having seriously developed the world enough in your head to do something too huge with it

You will make decisions in the story to get a finished draft that you will later figure out better alternatives for but may be unable to retcon as the story has now taken a different direction

JJK may be extremely successful but I understand fully that the job of planning and drawing a complete series with multiple plotlines and characters can be very daunting.

That all said, the overall writing in the series feels really half-baked and aimless even if things are constantly happening and moving. Especially with the ending, there ends up being very little semblance of an actual meaning or satisfying conclusion where it feels like character arcs were completed. So I will be critical and hopefully it makes sense.

Now, my main point here will be that Kenjaku and Geto are a huge thorn in the story because they're not a huge part of it but they result in a lot of impact. They are also extremely different personalities and goals that result in really different villain expectations and stakes. Actually, Kenjaku may be a bit too large-scale as a villain for the story JJK ends up being, especially when most of the plot is dedicated to Sukuna.

I will also say that Geto is relatively appropriate as the villain in JJK0, though, again, due to the fact that his goals are not set on Yuuta and Yuuta's are not set on stopping Geto, he feels more like the main villain of another story that Yuuta just happened to be in.

But Geto is not bad as a villain on his own, he's actually really effective, because:

He has ties to Gojo as a very pivotal part of his past that still haunts him (so this sets up the younger students surpassing Gojo as they defeat what he couldn't)

He has a lot of drive and conviction for what his goal is (regardless of how feasible his plans are, him being set on those goals makes him a proactive and emotional villain which is healthy for a battle shounen narrative)

His power is very high-level and versatile, he has experience and resources, which puts him well enough out of reach and makes him a challenge (even if Yuuta defeats him really fast, that's mostly a necessity for pacing's sake)

Most importantly, the things that make Geto a villain are actively opposed to what our main cast, and especially Yuuji, stand for. His supremacy ideals are uncomfortable but the fact that they're close to home means they elicit a lot of emotion. He has very human emotions tied to his arc/downfall and that can work really well if the end-all meaning of the series is 'every life is valuable'

In this sense, him dying in JJK0 really limits his potential as a character. From that point on, all we see of him are flashbacks or outright hallucinations/fantasies from other characters' point of view. The conclusion of Gojo killing him is not a bad nor a meaningless one. I can't fault Gege too much for going that route because hinting at his past with Gojo in the 0 volume adds more mystique to Gojo and the worldbuilding. I do wish, in hindsight, that his death didn't happen in JJK0, both so he could actually be present as himself in the main storyline, and because it's kind of lame that JJK0 is Yuuta's story yet Gojo is the one finishing the job. Again, Geto isn't Yuuta's villain and that weakens the overall impact of decisions and moments that are not bad on their own.

So, okay, JJK0 is completed and it's decided that with a little more work it can make it as a mainline WSJ series. And it's actually... not doing so hot at the start. I'm going to go a little Pepe Silvia here with my speculations about how things go down using my own experiences with creative work and what I've found from tidbits of interviews and Jump ratings over the years (which you can also view here).

The story dips in popularity relatively fast, which I would say is probably normal for a new series without a regular readership. Rankings are based on reader surveys where I believe you write down your top 3 series each week. In 2018, when JJK debuted there were a lot of established series with high-impact arcs going on at the time. Excluding One Piece, which will always take the top ranks, Demon Slayer, The Promised Neverland, Haikyuu!!, Boku no Hero Academia, and DR. STONE were all already established, extremely popular, and would all be taking up most of the top positions. Hunter X Hunter was also running for a few months at the time, from what I remember after a relatively short hiatus too, and it stuck around for a decent chunk of chapters. So the pressure on new serializations to succeed was high, I would imagine.

I don't have a source for this, though I've read a few statements that Yuuji's death would have been permanent when it happens early on. If this is true, whoever was the editor at the time was an angel for stopping that decision lol. If we take this to be true for real though, that would imply that Gege had plans for the plot to go in a very different direction only 10 chapters in. Which leads me to believe that the plot as it happens in reality was really not thought through in full detail but rather cobbled together by different plot-points that Gege wanted to make, as well as things that would create reader engagement. I am indeed implying that a lot of revelations and cliff-hangers are only there for shock-value, as it seems to have increased JJK's weekly ratings somewhat consistently.

This leads us to a tough spot very early on in a series' life cycle. And to be frank, the series starts incredibly fast. We get our hook with Sukuna immediately but then pull away to get Yuuji into the school and introduce Nobara. We get this in the span of about 7 chapters. Then, our still very fragile trio with very little in the way of an established dynamic is thrown in a mission that outclasses them greatly, ends with Sukuna taking over and Yuuji dying. That then leads us to Sukuna and Yuuji's binding vow (which I understand the setup for but actually matters very little, so it feels like a waste). The ratings at this point show a huge dip and then we're introduced to a new group of villains who seem to be in cahoots with Sukuna. The ratings spike drastically when the Jogo vs Gojo fight happens and Gojo reveals his face, power, and domain.

What I believed happened was that Gege was encouraged to add additional stakes aside from Sukuna as outside influence, and to reveal something interesting in a fight. I imagine Gojo had already been popular in the early chapters but it seems his Domain Expansion really cements his staying power. Unfortunately, this also means the story kind of gets a power cap. We don't yet have solid relationships in place between anybody (save for Gojo and Yuuji who act friendly and goof off so they have the most chemistry on screen) but we've established main antagonists as an immediate threat, and have revealed the ultimate power-up before even getting to Volume 2 of the manga. Technically, yes, the main villain is pretty much always established early, for example Shigaraki Tomura and his gang ambush the students really early in the series, but they're a manageable threat for the students. The threat is such where you feel tension because the students are inexperienced and still don't know each other well and it ends up being a good arc to establish a lot all at once - power dynamics, battle strategies, character introductions, etc. Shigaraki is hinted at in Chapter 10 but the League of Villains show up in Chapter 13. So even if the pace is fast, this is ample time for set ups.

Aside from the power creep, cap and ceiling that JJK is saddled with way too early for its own good, my next speculation is that Kenjaku wasn't fully planned to show up this early or possibly to even be in Geto's body. I could be completely wrong, of course. Perhaps Kenjaku was intended to be everything they end up being before even the first chapter was published. But I feel like Kenjaku is more of a utility rather than a real character.

Mostly because, Kenjaku is just... very convenient to use as a cop-out for any mystery or intrigue. They've been alive for 1000 years so they "planned" X, Y and Z years in advance; that sort of thing. Down to the fact that Kenjaku uses Geto's body is because Geto's power is just really convenient - even the story says it directly.

So now we have this moment where in the main story, a villain like Geto would have been a really good stepping stone, not only because of his past with Gojo but especially because of his power. There are never any limits established, you can pull out literally any kind of obstacle that you want from him and the audience will buy it. Unfortunately, he is "confirmed dead", so the next best option is apparently to retool him into a different character who will take over his body and be even more convenient. I don't at all hate the bodysnatching plot, mind you, I like the reveal quite a lot and it's sensible enough.

But I feel like, a lot of headaches could have been saved if it had turned out Geto had been spared in JJK0 so now he's back with a new plan. This doesn't negate Kenjaku existing either. My point is actually that Kenjaku and Sukuna are already extremely powerful and out of the main cast's league right from the beginning. Geto being alive and potentially being their ally would balance out the scales. Kenjaku could exist side by side with Geto even. As a shady advisor or informant.

I keep looking back at JJK and trying to reverse engineer where things went wrong, essentially. It's a favorite hobby of mine, apparently! I hate to say that it was planned poorly from the beginning because I'm a mere rando on the internet but my heart screams that there were so many things that could have been done to change things around. Because every arc is a mess that comes way too early.

Ideally, the story needed at least one arc before Yuuji was killed and resurrected, then another arc before we get to Mahito, and a training arc after Gojo is unsealed. A bare minimum of three additional arcs to add breathing room in the story. If not more.

So, let's talk about Kenjaku and why their role in the story saddens me. From the perspective of someone who actually really likes Kenjaku.

For starters, them being semi-main villain material but being killed before Sukuna deeply wastes their potential. I understand using Kenjaku as the more overwhelming, calculated and long-term evil compared to Sukuna's devastating but momentary in-your-face evil. Sukuna is the brawn but Kenjaku is the brains. I think it also makes sense metaphorically as Sukuna is likened to a calamity: he is completely uncontrollable and unpredictable but there are ways to recover and adapt around him. Kenjaku is like corruption - they're essentially immortal, unknowable, working from the shadows for centuries and hatching alliances with people to do their bidding. The issue that pokes a big ole' hole in this is that Kenjaku doesn't really have an end goal. Or rather, if the end goal is 'something interesting to happen' their actions throughout the plot don't really work cohesively. Regardless though, Kenjaku as a more eldritch villain that is actually the bigger threat makes sense. But also feels misplaced.

Before, when I talked about Yuuta and Geto not being good foils of each other - I think the same applies to Yuuji and Kenjaku. That's not even very apt as Yuuji actually has no contact with Kenjaku to consider them his own villain. Sukuna being Yuuji's villain is completely sensible and works really well, they are each other's foils. But Kenjaku is nobody's foil, basically. If you think about it, Kenjaku is more apt as a foil for Gojo: Gojo's actual main goal is nurturing his students to change the system from the inside, Kenjaku is in essence the one that can create and manipulate the system. In practice that's not really what Kenjaku represents at all, but I think it's an easy connection to make. Realistically, Kenjaku ought to have eyes and ears everywhere, they could even have spies and cohorts in the main clans and within the higher-ups. Adding allies to Kenjaku gives them credibility as a threat and mastermind, as otherwise they just know things because they know things, because they've been alive for a long time, and they win through asspulls instead of strategies and stalemates that add narrative tension.

That aside, Kenjaku is also Choso's foil, which also gets very little breathing room. But to that end, Yuuji and Kenjaku should be more tied together. Not only because of the plot relevant reasons. Not only because Yuuji is the main protagonist. But because at their core their values are in opposition. Kenjaku discards all life as a plaything, Yuuji cherishes life. It's right there, just out of reach!

Do you know who else is in direct opposition to Yuuji's ideals? Geto.

Geto is actually a perfect foil for Yuuji. I attest to this potential dynamic because despite them never meeting in canon, Geto/Yuuji is an extremely popular ship in Japan, people clocked it and ran with it. Shipping aside as not everyone cares for it (though I believe it's a very useful metric for analyzing fandom engagement), Geto actually embodies the perfect villain for Yuuji:

Their powers are very similar in their execution - absorbing curses. The shared experience of knowing what curses taste like.

The feeling of being 'trapped' as a sorcerer and being used for your power and what that means to both characters. Yuuji accepts his role as a cog in the machine, he sacrifices himself time and time again. Geto struggles against working in service to others he deems lesser. This could open up questions such as 'what if Yuuji chose to side with Sukuna?', 'what if Yuuji decided that Geto has a point?', 'what would a conversation between these two be when it comes to their positions as sorcerers?'

Geto is only second to Sukuna in the actual aggression he feels for humanity. In fact, Sukuna doesn't even hate humans, he just loves carnage, he just wants to let loose and establish control. Geto fancies himself a philosopher, in a way, he has very specific goals he wants to achieve. And Geto's goals align with Sukuna quite a lot, contrasting Yuuji even more. In fact, Yuuji would probably be capable of sympathizing with Geto to some degree, or to understand where his initial pain comes from. The fact that Yuuji starts the series incapable of using cursed energy but grows his power consciously and with effort makes him an interesting possibility for Geto's plans. He pivots to mass murder very fast, but his initial goal is inspired by the idea of figuring out how to lessen curses. If Yuuji was able to go from 'a curseless monkey' to a sorcerer, then wouldn't it be possible to replicate this with other non-sorcerers? There's a lot of potential in that

I hope with this I can convince someone else of my own agenda that there could have been a timeline where JJK had Geto and Kenjaku as separate people in separate bodies and still be entertaining. I might just be saddened by the fact that now since it's over, I know for certain that no further closure will be achieved. Which is kind of sadder than just the fact that it ended.

I will rant more in the future because I'm simply never done talking about Geto and how I wish there was More but at least I got this out of my head lol

ALSO extremely sad we never got a Kenjaku flashback, I wish we got more about their previous lives and actions, that is the biggest missed opportunity for me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[chibipandaao3]

Unrelated to fandom or writing — just a vent, ramble, something or other

I’m not someone who gets triggered. Like, essentially nothing one might encounter day to day triggers me in any fashion.

But job hunting/searching is one of the easiest ways for me to spiral…within minutes of simply looking at a job list and I’m completely lost… I just spiral.

I’m not qualified for anything — this is both true and untrue. I’ve got 2 bachelors, a sub focus, and a master’s. I’ve had my current job for nearly five years and my previous I held for 3. But my degrees are worthless (in my head anyway), I’m over educated and don’t qualify for anything… my job(s) offer no experience, or it feels that way, so I have to limit myself to entry level positions but those don’t pay anything…

Which leads me to the only other trigger I have… the knowledge that I owe so much money and will never be free of that debt… I can’t take the only jobs I qualify for because I need to make enough money to pay my student loans…but I can’t get anywhere with the jobs I am qualified for…

My friend says this is from cptsd…but I don’t know.

It doesn’t matter anyway because I can’t be evaluated for that or anything else. Because I can’t be that honest with a therapist… I tried once but don’t think I can be honest about those things. I’m not even someone who discusses this stuff with my closest friends or family.

I need to start looking for jobs. I do… I know that… and I tried today but couldn’t get through a single page… and I wasn’t even applying (I’m not qualified for any of them anyway).

I’m good at avoiding the above topics. Blocking them out until I’m confronted by them and then suddenly I’m spiraling into a blubbering mess 😅 which is what I’m going to do now… avoid all of that and pretend none of it happened.

[playermagic23]

Kriti Sanon discusses the significance of meaningful connections, stating, "You want people who contribute positively to your life."

Despite speculation that she is dating UK-based entrepreneur Kabir Bahia, National Award-winning actor Kriti Sanon recently spoke out about the importance of creating lasting relationships in life, particularly for those who work in the film industry, where connections are fleeting. Sanon also talked about what the ideal relationship could bring to her life.

In an interview with Filmfare, Kriti Sanon stated, "You want people who add value to your life." You thrive in their company because they encourage and inspire you to grow. They are there for you when you need them the most. You want a companion who will be there for you when you get home, sharing both good and sad times. Even if you accomplish great success in life, it feels worthless until you share it with someone. She went on to say, "In our job, loneliness can be profound because there are so few consistent ties. You move from one film shoot to another, building ties that feel like family. You eat, drink, and spend all day with these folks. However, after three months, they are gone. Then we go on to the next film and another household. Everything feels fleeting, therefore having constants in your life is essential."

Kriti also stated that she is a huge romantic at heart and passionately believes in love. "It's something that grounds you and makes you feel whole," she informed me. When asked about her notion of love, she stated, "Love is about feeling something for someone unconditionally." It's embracing people for who they are, rather than attempting to shape them into your ideal image."

She continued, "Love should encourage growth and personal evolution, inspiring you to be the best version of yourself. It should contribute to your happiness rather than merely causing it; you should already be happy within yourself. "To me, love means maintaining your individuality while feeling like the best version of yourself."

On the job front, Kriti is currently prepping for the release of Do Patti, which also features Kajol in her first role as a cop. Do Patti marks Kriti's debut in the thriller genre. Kanika Dhillon, who co-produces Do Patti with Sanon, wrote the film's story, script, and language. It is directed by Shashank Chaturvedi.

[cryptometaphor]

I'll tell ya what goes on in my head as people claim crypto is gambling. Certainly shitcoin buyers more resemble classic gamblers, circling around a campfire discussing non-credible meme coins that are a passing trend. But Bitcoin is as impactful as the dollar or yen because it represents technology itself. This is why JP Morgan and Black Rock are getting into it while they let Elon Musk make an ass out of himself with Doge. Musk appeals to the reddit brains who deserve their lot in life.

But even a shitcoin isn't real gambling. You go in with the knowledge to make a profit either later or much later. Timing the market vs time in the market. Bitcoin is more like when boomers stock up on gold or rice.

Even gambling itself has levels. A casual gambler with a burst of hope playing the lottery is just a misguided investor. A guy who plays the same ticket weekly is basically a financial Christian waiting for his Rapture. Real gamblers do it for the dopamine. That's why they spend so much. Whales do what they do because they like doing it. It was never about the money. Big wins make them feel important.

I like winning. We all like winning. I like gaming the system. It's not even so much I want to win but no I maximized how and when too. Boomers will gravitate toward poker and Blackjack tables with this mindset and can lose a lot of money too. But what I do is I rummage through my pocket and think ok I have five dollars. I have several options now.

1: Just put it in a corner somewhere to accumulate over time. That's what the change jar is for. Money too small to use but don't want to part with.

2: Monster energy. I'm only gonna drink one at a time so this still doesn't answer the question.

3: Scratch offs. I know I'm not gonna win. But if I do that'd be great. Not to mention I get a code to use online to maybe win again. So essentially it's adult pokemon cards. It's a booster pack. Any competitive player would tell you never open boosters unless you're a pack opening channel or buying boxes. But this is a sealed format kinda card game so every scratch off is a booster.

I mean now I have a fourth option as my fiance is always on my mind. But most likely that gift was thought out prior. If I do win, that covers a gift too. Cause like even those dollar scratchers can go up to like 200 grand or earn you a week hotel stay at Las Vegas. If I could surprise my honey with a week vacation or a motorcycle she can ride on the back of with me, that's a W. I'm just really fucking smart what can I say? lol. I wasn't born into anything, but I can pretend by circumstances and if circumstances throw cool trips and motorcycles my way, noone else is gonna know otherwise and just think that guy must be like Elon Musk only not a jackass.

Now I can just use my big brain for someone else. Love it. It's my favorite thing in the world. I gambled for years, decades on dating apps and social media looking for someone like her. Gambling my time, my patience, my sanity, my feelings on a lot of worthless tickets. Women's biggest lie in the dating scene is this notion about being on friendly terms with an ex. Not once has there ever been a put this code on the phone-app and have a good friend who helps you find a job and listens to your problems. I should sue their ass for fraud. Lawsuits are a kind of gamble too. Russian roulette is not the same without a gun. Can't beat my poker face.

[musicarenagh]

Scotland's Own Sunstinger Shines Bright with 'Endless June ne.” Their latest comeback single ‘Dead for you’ from last year was a huge success and here they go already enchancing our senses once more. In “Endless June” the band represents its signature shoegaze-inspired style in a sound richness and euphoric listening. With glistening textures, ethereal soundscapes, and interwoven vocals the track features Linea Aperta’s ability to create anthem-worthy sonic landscapes. Despite a more calmer Sunstinger than the norm for these past months, ‘Endless June’ shows that this band are brimming with alot of new and intriguing ideas. The song is then concerned with the concept of finding solace in one's own misery rather than accepting someone else's definition for happiness, Taylor Wright narrates elsewhere. Originally from Dunfermline, Scotland, Sunstinger has made a mark for itself through its distinctive post-shoegaze sound that produces stunning singles and the band’s debut EP titled “Beyond the Frame” in 2021. With the beginning of 2024, with "Endless June", which serves as a layer to their new EP titled “Worthless”, Sunstinger is set to charm its listeners again, however under his own unique take on guitar-driven music. So, keep watching for an intriguing journey into the world of the Sunstinger’s celestial soundscape. Listen to Endless June below https://open.spotify.com/track/5Shu2nXtBmAel3cxrceIhV?si=a24de7ecce334a17 Follow Sunstinger on Twitter Spotify Bandcamp Instagram   Is there a story behind your stage name? Theres no exciting story behind the band name unfortunately. Taylor (lead vocal/guitar) suggested it at one of our first rehearsals and it’s been with us ever since. Where do you find inspiration? As a band, we’re into a massive variety of music and I think that comes through in our songwriting and production. Most recently we’ve found inspiration in a new wave of American post-shoegaze bands. What was the role of music in the early years of your life? I remember hearing the Beatles when I was really young and being mesmerised by it, it took me another 10 years to pick up an instrument but that feeling of hearing something new for the first time and connecting with it instantly has never gone away. Are you from a musical or artistic family? Not particularly, none of my immediate family play any instruments or anything like that. Who inspired you to be a part of the music industry? When I was a teenager it was a desire to avoid getting a real job. Now that I’m a bit older I’ve realised that having some sort of creative output is essential in keeping me happy and sane. How did you learn to sing/write/to play? Mostly by ear, listening to songs that I found interesting and figuring them out. Sometimes a bit of a slow, painful process but seems to have worked out ok. What was the first concert that you ever went to and who did you see perform? I think it was Blink-182 in Glasgow when I was about 14. Funnily enough every memeber of Sunstinger is going to see them again this year in the venue next door. How could you describe your music? Atmospheric, honest, very loud. Describe your creative process. Songs come from a variety of places, either someone coming in with an idea or something coming out of us messing about when we’re rehearsing. Once the ideas fleshed out and everyone’s happy with it we’ll record a demo and fine tune everything, then on to record it in the studio. We try and demo a few songs a month. Some make it , some don’t. [caption id="attachment_53843" align="alignnone" width="1162"] Songs come from a variety of places, either someone coming in with an idea or something coming out of us messing about when we’re rehearsing.[/caption] What musician do you admire most and why? This one’s probably really obvious, but Paul McCartney has to be up there. Amazing songwriter and some of the most perfect bass lines ever written. Did your style evolve since the beginning of your career? In the early

days Sunstinger were heavily influenced by post punk, which progressed into a sound that was a little closer to Shoegaze bands from the 80s and 90s. Our next EP definitely fits into the current Shoegaze revival, but I think some of our earlier influences have carried through everything we’ve released to some extent. Dave McCulloch baca me a member of Sunstinger just over a year ago. He comes from a hardcore background. He has a certain way of writing that has really influenced the new material. It’s a merge of a few different genres. Who do you see as your main competitor? I don’t, art isn’t a competition. Everyone has different influences, goals, opportunities and responsibilities, comparing yourself against other people in vaguely similar situations to yourself isn’t healthy. In my mind, this is true in both art and real life. What are your interests outside of music? Clothes, music… that’s all we’ve got. If it wasn't a music career, what would you be doing? As we’re unsigned and fully self funded we’re all in full time careers. I won’t bore you with the details of what we all do outside of music, but we’d all much rather be making music full time. What is the biggest problem you have encountered in the journey of music? I think in the begging it was pretty difficult not being from one of the big city’s. I reckon if we were from Glasgow things would have been easier for us in the early days. Because we are from a small city we need to work a little bit harder to get our name out there. If you could change one thing in the music industry, what would it be? Music streaming platforms, they’ve been great for democratising music and helping artists reach audiences they otherwise wouldn’t have, but the amount of money artists make from streams is offensive. https://open.spotify.com/artist/2a1FqdJNVULxU7WumjssVG?si=W05jOfmURaa0PzBdx7S3eA Why did you chose this as the title of your music project? The song was was titled ‘End of June’ as we put the demo down at the end of June last year. It kind of just stuck as the title. Taylor suggested changing it to ‘Endless June’ confident it sounded pretty cool. The lyrics were then written around the title of the song about three days before the actual recording. I’m pretty sure he was still writing them while doing the actual vocal takes. Sometimes it just works out that way… What are your plans for the coming months? We’ve just released Endless June, the first single from our second EP, which is called Worthless. We’ll be releasing another single from the EP shortly, then the full release of the EP after that. What message would you like to give to your fans? Thanks for always supporting us, coming to shows, buying merch. It all plays a part in allowing us to continue doing this.