#and everyone online gets mad at you if you say that they’re different

[chibishortdeath]

I keep seeing posts with people talking super positively about the Belmonts and whatever and getting excited to rant about character designs and stories and Simon in particular, but then I scroll down and see the tags and am reminded against my will that Nocturne exists and that’s what they’re talking about.

[eomayas]

all the rumors are true • bbh

pairing: idol!baekhyun x f!idol!reader

genre: fluff & angst

synopsis: your secret relationship with baekhyun getting revealed, and what comes after.

warnings: none!

a/n: very self indulgent lmao i had this thought a few days ago and needed to get it out! the ending is a bit choppy i ran out of thoughts. heavily unedited and not proof read 🫣

“yes, i take care of all of them,” you laugh, nodding at the radio show hosts question about if it’s hard being a leader to a group of 4, including yourself. “especially our youngest.” you say, glancing over at sunny, the baby of your group.

“what’s the age difference between you and her?” the host asks.

“six years,” you say, making the host gasp.

“ah, so you’re 28… that means she was 16 when you debuted?” the host looks between you and sunny, both of you nodding. “wow, so you probably have had no time for dating since even before debut!”

you laugh, though it’s 90% true, which sucks. “yes, because she was so young when we were trainees—we all were—i was always with them to make sure they stayed out of trouble and weren’t around strange people,” you say, your eyes sliding over all of your members. “so, no, there hasn’t been a lot of time to date. but i’m not mad at that because i was taking care of my babies.” everyone chuckles at the last bit and mingwa puts her head on your shoulder.

“y/n needs somebody to take care of her!” heejin, the second to youngest member shouts. you smile and shake your head at her words, though they’re unbelievably true. if only the public knew that you were, though. that instead of laying your head on a soft pillow every night, you lied down on a hard chest and let strong arms hold you tight, while soft kisses on the top of your head lulled you to sleep.

“girl, i’m your candy,” sunny sings quietly. you don’t cut your eyes at her immediately, but the panic bubbles in your chest. nobody mentions her singing, or sings along, but sunny and mingwa share a quick look that freaks you out, makes you paranoid that in a few hours when the video recording of this session is posted, speculations will start.

you glance at sunny, hoping to catch her eye, but she’s engrossed in what the host is talking about. you can barely hear above your heartbeat in your ears, the blood rushing through so quickly it’s starting to give you a headache. you try to discreetly regulate your breathing, trying to remember those videos talking about square breathing that you found online. nobody seems to notice, except mingwa who taps your forearm and looks at you with concern that you brush off.

you manage to make it through the rest of the interview as normal as possible. you start talking a lot less, letting your members share more about themselves and the group, and nobody except for mingwa clocks that you were mentally somewhere else.

saying your goodbyes, the four of you get up and shuffle out of the radio station and into the outside world where dozens of cameras await. the shutters fly at rapid pace, and the flash on some of them are nearly blinding, but you and your group smile and pose, despite the chaos happening.

shuffling into the car, you let the three others get inside first. you take the last seat in the sprinter van and buckle yourself in, resting your head against the headrest. “y/n, are you alright?” mingwa asks, concern clear and evident in her voice. you let out a breath and sit up, turning around to look at sunny.

“why did you start singing ‘candy’, soojin?” you ask, using her full name. she looks at you with wide eyes at her government being called and holds her hands up in surrender. “do you know what people are going to say?”

“sorry, mom,” she shoots back, giving you an incredulous look. “all they’re going to say is that i’m acting exactly like how the youngest person is supposed to be acting—interrupting you and singing over everybody. nobody is going to say anything about you and baekhyun.” you press your lips together, stumped because she’s most likely right, even though you have an inkling in the back of your brain that somebody is going to take notice, and make something out if it.

“well, you don’t really want people thinking you go around interrupting everybody,” you chastise. sunny rolls her eyes at you and sighs dramatically.

“we are quite literally the perfect group—i don’t know why you are so worried about our image all the time,” she says. you decide that the conversation is over, and sit facing forward again. sunny doesn’t understand that everything, at the end of the day, falls on you. people look at you like you birthed these girls and raised them up yourself. if one of them screw up, it falls on the entire group but rests on your shoulders to clean up. your image is so important to uphold, because there has only ever been one scandal to your groups name at the beginning of your careers that you did everything possible to stop the public from shaming you and the girls. it’s not easy to do that.

the ride is silent, save for their nails tapping against their phone screens. you sit with your eyes closed and your head leaned back, ready to dive into bed and maybe call baekhyun. maybe.

“would it really be that bad if everybody knew about you and baekhyun?” sunny asks, cutting into the silence. you open your eyes, but don’t turn around. the hair on your arms stands up at his name being mentioned so loudly, somewhere that isn’t the safety of your dorms.

“yes,” you reply. you think about the uproar it would cause, and what it would do to your career. his would be fine, of course, because the dismissal is never the same for men as it is for women. your group would probably have to disband, or you’d have to leave. it would look terrible, especially since you are the leader, if this was public news. “it would be awful, sunny. i cant lose my career over a man.” and while a nasty pang of guilt rips through your chest, it’s the truth.

“but… you told me you think that you love him. that’s not enough?” when she says these words, it’s like she’s 16 again, asking you why the world was mad at your group for a rumor about heejin. her voice is small, naive almost, and it reminds you how far apart you two really are.

you can’t help that your eyes start to water. “soojin, can we talk about this later?” you ask, blinking back the tears. you swallow thickly and pull your headphones out of your pocket, turning up your music loudly to block out any thoughts of you and baekhyun, and the public finding out.

getting back to the dorms, you head straight for your room. you close the door behind you and pull out your headphones and sigh, your head pounding. flopping onto the bed, you bury your face in the pillows and close your eyes.

you’re disrupted by a knock only moments later, and you let out a breath before telling whoever it is to come in. “y/n?” sunny’s voice calls from the doorway.

“yeah?” you roll over and sit up on your elbows to look at her. she gives you a sheepish smile and comes over to your bed, crawling in bed next to you like she used when you guys were trainees and she kissed her family.

scooting over, you make space for her to rest her head on your shoulder, your arm wrapping around her. “sorry for earlier. i guess i’m just trying to see the positive side to it,” sunny says.

“it’s fine,” you sigh. “i’m just super paranoid.”

“is baekhyun?” she asks.

you shake your head above her. it’s amazing to you that he seems to have no qualms or fears about your relationship becoming public. he’s fine with it being a secret or being news, and it makes you feel like shit, like it looks like you’re afraid of being seen with him. though it’s far from that. “no, and i guess that’s what makes me more stressed out. because he’s too chill about it, and doesn’t seem to be worried.”

“he’s old,” sunny snorts and you chuckle. there’s only four years between you and him, so she’s technically calling you old too, but you don’t say anything. “are you gonna tell him you love him?” she asks after a beat of silence. you still against her and she lifts her head to look at you.

it’s a sensitive subject—you and baekhyun haven’t said it yet. you won’t say it, because you’re afraid it’ll open a dam of bad things starting to happen. like once it’s out in the open, the worst possible thing could happen to your relationship. “maybe. i don’t know. probably not,” you ramble.

sunny gives you a sad look and squeezes you into a hug. she doesn’t say anything, and neither do you, but enough passes between the two of you. i’m here for you, she says. i know, you say back.

baekhyuns hands are on your ribs, holding you firmly and pressing you flush against the side of his car as he takes you into a nice, soft kiss. your arms snake around his neck, your fingers playing with the ends of his hair at his neck.

his lips move slowly against yours, his tongue slipping into your mouth with ease. your chest burns with adoration and want, and him tugging you closer to him only makes you throb. pulling away, his mouth chases yours and you let him kiss you again, this time letting him tilt your head back so you’re practically lying against the car.

it’s risky to be out in the open like this, but the parking garage is secluded and for residents of his apartment only. you would see and hear anybody coming through, but so far you haven’t in the last seven minutes.

you pull away from him again, and stop his advances by gently pressing your fingers to his lips. “baekhyun,” you say softly. he kisses your fingertips and then your cheek.

“yes?” he says, looking into your eyes with an intensity that makes your knees weak, so much so that you rest your weight against the car.

“can we go inside?” you ask, your fingers dancing on his cheek. he nods and kisses your palm before grabbing it and taking you to the elevators. baekhyun wraps an arm around your shoulders and pulls you into his side, kissing your temple for a long time, all the way until the doors open, and then pulling you down the hallway to his apartment.

he helps you out of your coat and hangs it up. “what do you want to eat?” he asks as you step out of your shoes.

“bold of you to assume i’m hungry,” you tease, but you’re always hungry around him, and you are hungry right now. baekhyun rolls his eyes at you and repeats his question. “i don’t know. chicken? ramen? rice? whatever you want.” you say, kissing his lips. he holds you close for a beat before letting you go so he can get something started for the two of you.

you bound to the living room and sprawl out on his large couch, turning the tv onto one of the many shows you two have started watching together. you get comfortable and pull a blanket over you, snuggling into the cushions while he busies himself with the task of making dinner.

baekhyun comes into the living room with two bowls of food a few minutes later. you sit up and thank him as you accept the dish, crossing your legs and resting the bowl in your lap. “what did i miss?” he asks, and you catch him up on the show in between bites.

you two eat in a close and comfortable silence. he’d probably have his arm around you if it wasn’t uncomfortable while you two were eating. the close proximity is enough though, your knees touching and his right arm lightly bumping into your left.

you set your bowl on the table, ready to get up to get a drink but baekhyun gets up quicker than you, already knowing what you want. he goes into the kitchen and comes back with two glasses of water. it feels like the world is slipping beneath your feet, and you could cry because of him.

this is the taking care of that heejin said you needed. you finally have it—he’s always like this with you, feeding you, making sure you’re well rested and fed and just okay. he takes whatever worries you have and throws them on his back and just lets you be.

after dinner, you and baekhyun retreat to his bedroom. you lie on his bare chest, a hand resting on his stomach and your ear against his heart. baekhyun mindlessy plays with your hair, his fingers digging into your scalp soothingly. your eyes can’t help but flutter close—there’s no point in trying to fight sleep. you’ll wake up with him tomorrow.

the speculations didn’t start the next day. no, everybody thought it was so cute and funny that sunny blurts out random things while her older members are talking. there were compilations made from your groups content; interviews, your group vlogs, and more. it was funny, honestly, that they adored her disruptiveness.

the speculations started four days later. and when the news broke, the internet nearly stopped working because there were pictures and videos. so many pictures and videos, that it felt like somebody may have been stalking you. there were pictures of you and baekhyun kissing against his car, of you two in his car, of you two getting out of his car, of you two going for a late night walk near the han river.

and then there were videos—albeit, mostly can made—that served as proof that you two really are dating. there’s the longing looks shared at award shows, zoomed in videos of you two standing next to each other on stages, hands brushing. the other videos are just more reasons to believe that you two are dating; heejin saying you need to be taken care of, and then clips of baekhyun taking care of his own members. videos of you talking about your ideal type, and clips proving that you must have been referring to baekhyun, or jaír got really lucky that you found him.

it’s overwhelming.

when the pictures surfaced, you and mingwa were in the practice room dancing to your debut songs. the alert popped up on your phones at the same time, but mingwa grabbed hers first. you heard her gasp and ran over, thinking she might’ve twisted her ankle, but instead were met with her guilty eyes and her perfectly fine ankle.

you didn’t know what to do when you saw the photos. your heart stopped and your felt sick. your head started pounding, and it felt like a rug was being pulled from underneath your feet. you didn’t know what to do, so you started crying, falling to the floor in a heap. you weren’t sobbing, but your were audibly crying, and mingwa wasn’t sure what to do. you managed to get yourself together, and excused yourself to your room, avoiding any staff members on your way.

and now you’re on the phone with baekhyun, trying not to burst into tears as he keeps telling you everything will be ok. “baekhyun, this was such a bad idea!” you cry, pressing your forehead into your hand.

“what was? dating me?” he asks, slight offense in his voice.

“yes!” you shout, but you don’t even believe yourself. “w-we shouldn’t have gotten involved.” you’re adding fuel to the fire, hoping he’ll just break up with you so you can say those photos aren’t real, and that you’re not longer dating so everybody can leave you alone.

“you don’t mean that,” baekhyun says, his voice soft on the other line. it makes you feel like shit. “do you?”

you shake your head, though he can’t see you. “no,” you say meekly. “but we- y/n, you knew this could happen even before we started dating.” he interrupts, shutting you up. you press your mouth into a thin line. “don’t try to push me away now, y/n.” the overuse of your first name makes you feel like you’re being scolded by an elder.

“okay, i’m sorry,” you say, sighing. baekhyun parrots you and you press your body into your mattress. now would be the ideal time to tell him you love him, but it feels like it would be a poor bandaid to apologizing for saying that you should have never agreed to date him. “i don’t know what to do.” you mumble.

“let our companies handle it. you just get some sleep,” he says. you chew on your bottom lip, wishing that he was here with you.

“okay. goodnight, baekhyun,” you say. i love you, you want to add.

“goodnight, y/n.”

when you wake the next morning, your group, managers, and baekhyuns team are all in the dorm lounge. you freeze when you see him, ready to jump out of the nearest window because you know exactly what is about to happen. “we need to release a statement,” your manager says, beckoning you over to everybody.

gingerly, you walk over to your girls, sitting next to heejin at the end of the sofa, the furthest you can get away from your boyfriend. “so, i assume it’s true? the rumors about you dating? you can say no, but i’ve seen the pictures,” baekhyuns manager says, looking over at you. you nod, and when everyone keeps staring at you, you pipe up and say “yes”, your voice hoarse.

“great. how long has it been?”

“seven months,” baekhyun says, his eyes flicking to you. heejin gasps beside you, grabbing everybody’s attention.

“oh, sorry!” she says, waving everybody off. “liar!” she whispers. you told her that it’s only been four months.

both of your guys’ managers read from what looks like a checklist of things, asking you questions and scribbling down answers so they can formulate each of your statements.

“are you happy?” your manager asks, not looking up from the sheet. it’s an easy questions, and you both answer ‘yes’ with ease. “are you in love?” the question lodges your heart in your throat, and the room gets eerily silent, so silent that you could hear a pin drop in the next room.

you don’t know what to say. you don’t want to lie, and look terrible, but you don’t want to tell the truth and further complicate your relationship.

you glance over at bakehyun, and find him already looking at you. you know what you’re going to say the moment your eyes meet, and you feel your stomach flip on it’s side. your heart melts like goo in your chest as you say, “yes”, admitting after many long months the one thing that’s been clawing at you in the back of your mind.

your manager scribbles down your answer and turns to baekhyun. “baekhyun?” he asks. his eyes never leave yours, and it feels like you’re the only two people in the room, despite the fact that there’s about 10 feet of distance between you two.

“of course,” he says it so sincerely that you drop your gaze to your lap, your face turning red and a smile overtaking your lips. your group members giggle and elbow you in your side, equally as happy to hear the news.

you feel over the moon, and your past paranoia is put away and shoved into a box that you choose to ignore for a moment. both of your teams curate statements, and they’re sent out less than an hour later. you and baekhyun take the rest of the day for yourselves, driving out far to the beach and hanging there all day until it gets dark, and your teeth start clattering because of the weather. and when you get in the car, he kisses you and you quite literally feel the love has for you, and your brain goes fuzzy to the point where all you can remember is his name, everything else being put to shame.

the responses you get to your relationship are much more positive than you expect, and of course there are negative comments, but not nearly as many as there are of the positive comments. people cnat help but gush at how you found your person, and are finally getting to get taken care of.

but, of course, cameras are on you more heavily than in the past. and now, when you go on variety shows solo, they want to know about your personal life before knowing about the group. you learn to get used to it, giving way to basically nothing, and sometimes sharing more than people expect, when you want to.

like, when you go on a variety show alone with a bunch of other idols, the same show baekhyun had been on in the past, they bring up an interview moment where baekhyun says that you’re the better dresser of the two of you. you’re asked the same question, and you answer baekhyun, and follow up with admitting that you’re wearing his clothes at that very moment. that makes the internet go crazy, searching high and low for pictures of baekhyun wearing the same item, comparing how it’s massive on you but fits him snugly.

or, when you attend the end of the year award shows and exo performs, the camera is on your group more often than you’d like to admit. there are fancams dedicated to your reaction of his groups performances, everybody focused on how you react to baekhyun specifically. of course, the same thing happens to him with you, and he’s a lot more shameless about his support of you.

you group responds well to your now public relationship. you’re able to get all five of you together more often, and they look at him like a bigger brother. sunny often tags along on your dates and asks about baekhyun and genuinely treats him like her uncle. she makes a lot of jokes about the two of you, mainly on camera. like, when you’re filming content for you groups vlog, she asks how baekhyun asked you out, and then sings the bridge of ‘blooming days’ by CBX, and does the dance too. the internet eats that up, constantly sharing the clip because it truly was funny.

despite the public news of your relationship, though, you and baekhyun manage to keep it private. besides what you choose to share, you can easily dodge questions about your private lives and keep the mystery alive. it does help your relationship now that more people know—there’s no threat of getting caught, or the constant feeling of breaking the rules. it’s easier now, and better than ever.

[agentgrange]

I saw this post and couldn't stop thinking about it, so here is the answer I gave after some consideration-- I'll tell you when I find out. Sometimes it really feels like it depends on your Agents, and what they're accustomed to. I have two groups that I play with, one is mostly serious with a handful of gallows humor quips while the other one is absolutely clown-shoes-goof-goof-times. You could lovingly craft a deeply unsettling body-horror scene or run a tried-and-true encounter straight out of an established campaign and your mileage will greatly vary depending on your audience. That's not *necessarily* a bad thing, a handlers job is to guide a narrative in a way that's first and foremost fun for the players. If they want to take it seriously and buy into the horror they will, but if they want a bit of levity then there's nothing wrong with playing to the crowd. But I do really, really empathize with struggling to convey the awesome and terrible might of some cosmic horror with nothing but your words in a group of people that (hopefully) instinctively feel at ease and jovial while fooling around playing games with their buddies. Here's a few practical pieces of advice I can give you.

Try to cultivate an unsettling environment for your players. This one seems obvious but is actually really hard to get down right, especially when people mostly play online these days. But you’d be surprised how much regularly providing good visual aids, a Discord bot playing ambient music, and a good playlist can really set the tone for your session. Don’t just provide visual aids for the money shots of alien greys and deep ones either, running a campaign based on The Conspiracy era gives you ample opportunity to post a ton of weird, liminal 90s photographs to set the vibe for everyone even during otherwise mundane scenes.

Make a point of explaining to your players the difference between what they are experiencing and what their characters are experiencing. Yes, facing off against a 8ft tall fish man with a crossbow is inherently ridiculous as a fictional abstract. Its an entirely different experiencing actually being there, face to face under an incredible amount of stress seeing something that should not exist. In a lot of ways your players aren’t their characters so much as they are mad gods guiding their characters’ fates. THEY can laugh from the safety of this higher dimension we all exist in, that’s part of the fun. Hell their characters might even have a passing thought or two about how absurd the situation might be—but that entire time they’re fighting their lizard-brained instincts just to stop from mentally imploding. Let them laugh, but then tell them how their characters' hands might be shaking, or how any clever quip they wanted to say just comes out as a mumble as their body betrays whatever thoughts their rational mind tries to convey.

Know the rules of comedy. Comedy usually needs a straight-man, so if your players are goofing around don’t be afraid to give them a straight-man NPC to react to their antics in a way that makes it feel like you’re in on the bit but keeps the narrative going. Better yet, try to get ahead of it. Set up designated low-stakes areas in your story that are designed to add a bit of levity. They say comedy comes in threes, so you should structure these segments to let your agents to do some dumb shit about three times before they get all the sillies out and are ready to move on. And the emotional highs during these side quests will just make the crushing lows in the main plot feel that much more horrifying.

Building off that last one I have one more secret, forbidden technique. Buyer beware on this one honestly, but I cannot overstress just how much. Players. Love. Silly. Characters. And as David Lynch has proven, you can have silly characters that are still deeply unsettling. Try adding a few characters in that flip the script on your players and make *them*  want to play the role of the straight-man reacting to what your NPCs are doing every once in a while. If done right, it can kind of trick them into taking things seriously or feel like the eerie out of place comedy is at their character’s expense even if the players are in on it.

I hope some of this was at least partially useful. Good luck out there.

[danmeiconfession]

This is just an opinion.

I’m sorry, but I can’t support a protagonist like Shen Yuan if he can’t respect the body of the person he’s taken over. The transmigration trope in many of these novels often leads to the erasure of the original soul, which makes me feel sad for them. While I understand why many fans like his character, I can’t root for him anymore. There’s a sort of horror in knowing that he and the rest of the readers pushed for such a bleak ending for Shen Jiu. An omnipotent being forces him to be a scum villain, and the person who condemned him has now taken over his body, his name, and married his abuser, his torturer. Imagine how horrified he’d be to learn he’s married to his own disciple—it’s disgusting. Someone who is just like all the men in his life takes away his autonomy and the name he earned; Shen Qingqiu is literally ripped away from him.

I remember someone mentioning that Shen Jiu follows the formula of MXTX's shou protagonists, and they’re right. The only difference is that he’s not allowed to gain a second chance. When Wei Wuxian tried to save the Wens, it cost him everything, similar to how Shen Jiu’s attempt to save his martial brother set off a domino effect of tragedy.

There’s a difference between Shen Jiu and Shen Yuan. Unlike Shen Yuan, whose path is clear and predictable, Shen Jiu’s very rare but kind actions often lead to dire consequences. Each time he tries to do something good, the world retaliates harshly. That’s why I like Shen Jiu more. I don’t mind a character’s misdeeds if they reveal something profound about them. Shen Jiu’s attempts to do good, even when they backfire, show his sincerity. Shen Yuan’s choices, on the other hand, seem easy and don’t require much moral struggle.

What saddens me is that a rich, lazy millennial is thrust into the body of a traumatized orphan and somehow gets the happy ending. Even if he didn’t ask for it, there’s a moral duty to respect the original character he's inhabited now because without Shen Jiu’s body, Shen Yuan would have no purpose is that even a lie because what goals or aspirations did he even have? We truly have nilch to go off what he's like without he's online persona but frankly he's a bad person to me if he harasses an author and makes no effort to even get himself to express his emotions especially his apathy like the fuck bro what going on here bro?? How do you just not give a shit about anything besides your beloved LBG like he's cuckoo up in the head like a few bolts and screws were lost in the making of his birth.

It actually made me mad, to be honest. I wish the author had never created Shen Jiu as a character because it spoiled my enjoyment of the book that I took as fun entertainment. SVSSS was the first transmigration story I read that gave the original soul such an important role. Other stories often use these bodies as self-insert devices, but knowing Shen Jiu is an actual character made me see him differently.

I also find it unsettling that Shen Yuan has to live as another person for the rest of his life. Sometimes, silence speaks louder than words. If the author isn’t going to do an identity reveal in an MXTX story, what does that say about Shen Yuan’s relationship with everyone else and the ML included? Wouldn’t everything fall apart? Doesn't that mean something is off lol???

This omission to me kinda undermines the foundation of his relationships, especially with the main love interest. Living a lie means that Shen Yuan’s connections are based on a false premise. If those around him, including the main love interest, don’t know who he truly is, their interactions and feelings might be based on their own misconceptions. In essence, the story hinges on Shen Jiu because his life and identity are the foundation upon which Shen Yuan builds his new existence and I find SY careless and disregard of that to be unappealing for a protagonist to follow .

I can see how the System's role in "SVSSS" can be interpreted as a form of horror, especially considering the implications for Shen Jiu. Here's an expanded take on your guys idea a theory of sorts:

The System's reasoning for booting Shen Jiu out and replacing him with Shen Yuan could be seen as a chillingly calculated move. Shen Jiu’s unwillingness to follow the predetermined outline and his resistance to the System's goals could have led to his removal. The System’s primary objective seems to be the satisfaction and happiness of Luo Binghe, the protagonist. Given the tragic nature of "PIDW" (Proud Immortal Demon Way), the System might have sought a more compliant individual to ensure a more favorable outcome for Luo Binghe.

If the protagonist, Luo Binghe, obsessively desires companionship and affection from Shen Qingqiu, and the original Shen Jiu isn't reciprocating, the System might decide to alter the course of the world. This new beginning involves replacing Shen Jiu with someone who not only understands the narrative but is also deeply invested in Luo Binghe's happiness—someone like Shen Yuan. As a form of punishment for Shen Jiu’s disobedience, the System forces him to take a backseat, helplessly watching as events unfold with Shen Yuan in control of his body.

This scenario adds a layer of horror, as it portrays the System as an omnipotent force capable of rewriting lives and fates to suit its goals. Shen Jiu’s autonomy is completely stripped away, and he’s forced to witness his own life being manipulated and his identity being overridden. By replacing Shen Jiu with Shen Yuan, the System ensures that Luo Binghe’s desires are met, but at the cost of Shen Jiu’s existence.

.

[run2min]

SYNOPSIS! Have you ever spoken to Sunghoon? No. Will you ever muster up the courage to speak to him? Probably not. But that’s not going to stop you from admiring him from afar is it? Unknowingly to you, Sunghoon has been admiring you too, will you ever talk to him? That’s for you to find out ;)

GENRE! Basketball player!hoon x artist fem!reader, collage au, strangers to lovers, Sunghoon is so down bad

CAUTION! inappropriate jokes, cursing, a little suggestive, more to be added

TAGLIST! @nyfwyeonjun @sincerelyrki @woninluv

₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹♡₊˚⊹ PROFILES TWO || grave robbers -Yuj because she’s on a ‘social media detox’ 🤢🙅‍♂️🙅‍♀️

y/n

@/ynnieandrenjun || an art and literature student at deciles college, has an unhealthy obsession with nct dream and AESPA (…you get it?), her friends say they’re sick of her but THEY ARE they love her really!!

@/yizhouyn || where yn lets out her AESPA and Renjun love 😜 (where Sunghoon can’t see and think she’s mad (she is mad)), rants about the was Sunghoon looked at her in the corridor and gets told she’s dellulu by her no.1 hater very good friend sunoo.

niki || jungwon

@/rizzmasterriki || …. niki. he’s…. well….. he’s niki.

@/yangarden || the absolute cutest person ever but likes to say he hates everyone, definitely has a soft spot for you though, always lets you do whatever you want TT

sunoo || yunjin

@/sunkkoo || ynsung no.1 hater, likes to bully niki, everyone loves him, is obsessed with the word coquette, called his inhaler coquette the other day…

@/huhitsyunjin || sunoo’s partner in crime, they go everywhere together, secretly supports ynsung, makes hating men her entire personality (she’s so real for that though honestly)

eunchae || yujin

@/eunlols || her bio doesn’t lie…. her and Niki are the same person in different bodies, chronically online, uses the phrase ‘i gyatt something in my eye’ more than acceptable

@/jinyu || cannot make it through a conversation without mentioning the ‘minatozaki stare’, genuinely in love with sana, knows twice’s entire discography, on a social media detox… (aka tired of her friends shit), boys are always messaging her but she’s with yujin on the whole hating men front, swears she’s straight tho!!!

wonyoung || rei

@/wonyoungism || head of the photography club, a lot of people try to date her but she’s very independent in that sense, on the other hand she cannot go anywhere without rei TT, one of the nicest people ever.

@/reisin || opposite to wonyoung in the way that she’s a haterrr, finds everything funny, bullies android users on roblox voice chat with eunchae and niki

previous | masterlist | next

[goldfades]

Okay, so I’ve actually been thinking about this non-stop, but I’m no writer, so you’ll have to bear with me: Manager y/n, who is doing ‘research’ for the Paige edits, gets super into TikTok for like a week before they have to cut themselves off.

And during this week, they’re not just watching videos – no, they’re posting them. I’m talking like 5 a day MINIMUM. It all starts when they see the “who’s afraid of little old me” sound is trending and promptly post a slideshow, beginning with a soft, smile-filled picture of them with the team before “you should be” is sung out, and it cuts to a like 10-second compilation they had seen of them and the team screaming at refs or just looking super pissed off on the sidelines (as others have mentioned, the rbf is no joke).

Fans, of course, go crazy because, omg they’re posting on their account now? (It’s chalked up to KK’s influence.) And when their first video blows up, Manager y/n is officially hooked.

After seeing Paige’s Tru Fru video, they use the song to make an edit of them and the team using mostly unseen pictures and videos from the Europe trip to “I was over love and I’d had enough ‘till I found you”. It’s just so painfully sweet and a little bit sappy; people love it.

Things take a dramatic turn, though, when they discover thirst traps. NOW, they only post one, but one is enough to send people spiraling. “That’s my playpen, borderline thinking like Barbie.”

Lives are lost that day.

And the team’s reaction? Let's just say they've never hit the repost button faster. Paige has it saved and favorited in her camera roll, but you didn’t hear that from me.

“Now I’m down bad, crying at the gym” is posted to a video from when they tried to do the team’s conditioning day with them, and things didn’t go well. Manager y/n is strong, but this is a whole other level; they don’t even make it past the first hour before tears are shed. The whole team finds it hilarious (and it is).

KK gets them into dances too; there’s at least three posted to “Get it sexyy” before the day is done. And there’s soooo much more. “There must have been an angel by my side” is posted with Ice and Azzi. A “You know how to ball, I know Aristotle” ‘fit check with Paige goes triple platinum on the platform. And there are a perhaps unreasonable number of videos posted to “make her disappear just like poof, then she’s gone, addicted don’t know what the fuck I’m on” from a particularly fun night out (they had to take frantically down half of them when they woke up, but we won’t talk about that).

But perhaps the true pièce de résistance is ‘Man eater’. It was supposed to just be a ‘fit check after they got particularly dressed up for a team dinner/fundraiser but simply put, the people couldn’t take it. It took less than an hour for edits to start rolling in, and when some multiple people in their classes the next day (INCLUDING THEIR FAVORITE PROFESSOR) tells them they saw it , Manager y/n decided to take a step back (they can handle online attention, but in person is a whole different ball game).

After all, “we can’t have too many celebrities on this team.”

Last notes: This brief deep dive does dramatically affect the quality of the edits they make though; there was just so much inspiration to be taken (for research purposes only of course). 2 weeks after they stop posting on their personal account, a Paige and Nika hype edit to ‘Carnival’ is posted on the UConn page. They almost get in trouble for it, but they gain a couple of thousand followers and it quickly becomes the most liked video on their page. And who’s going to get mad at someone for what turns out to be a stroke of marketing genius (explicit lyrics be damned)?

THIS IS NOW MY FAV THING EVERTRR CUS YOURE SO SO SO RIGHT, i love the way u think nonnie

absolutely, and i feel like after the week is over she’s on the same level as paige — there are fan edits EVERYWHERE and manager is getting so much attention from everyone (ofc she doesn’t mind tho)

when she stops posting as much as she used to i can def see everyone begging for scraps 😭😭 they reuse the same 10 clips they have and the scraps they can find up until queen y/n posts again 😭😭

pls send more thoughts this was so much reading through it!

[fandoms--fluff]

Perfect Just The Way You Are

Female reader x Danielle Rose Russell

Summary: Danielle feels really self conscious after she reads hate comments and you comfort her and reassure her how pretty and amazing she is. 

Warnings: talk of self consciousness, but other than that just FLUFF

A/n: decided to do something a bit different and write an actress to see if anyone likes it

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As you walk into the living room, you hear your girlfriend sigh. She has a disappointed and sad look on her face. You go over behind where she’s sitting on the couch, and look over at her phone screen. Your eyebrows furrow for a moment as you start reading what it says. 

Quickly, you take the phone out of Danielle’s hand. “Hey!” she says, noticing your presence by that action. 

“What have we talked about reading those idiot’s comments or any articles. Baby, you are so beautiful.” She looks up at you with tears in her eyes. 

“But what if they’re right, I-I’ve never looked like all the other girls at school and-” you cut her off, “Of course you haven’t, you are way more gorgeous, and shouldn’t believe what everyone writes. It’s your body, not theirs. Trust me, if it wasn’t illegal they’d all be gone by now” you smirk, making her chuckles at your last sentence. 

You sit down beside her, and bring her into your arms. Immediately she melts into your embrace. “You’re the most beautiful, drop dead gorgeous, amazing, cute girl in the universe” you say as you plant small kisses on the top of her head after each word. 

“Then why do they say that stuff, and they’re not wrong, even a person without their glasses can tell how different I look next to everybody on screen” she whispers, voice cracking as she goes down the rabbit hole again of her self consciousness. 

“They say that stuff because they’re projected all their self consciousness onto you. And don’t say that about yourself, you look amazing in every tv show and movie and anything you’ve ever done or posted online, even better than everyone else.” you kiss her on the lips. 

“People were mad that I got the role of Hope. I couldn’t figure it out until I found comments on some behind the scene pictures I posted. Maybe I should loose some weight before starting Legacies” she says. 

“Hey, I’m with you for whatever you decide you want to do with your body, but please promise me that whatever you may or may not do, is not because of what some jackass stranger says about you” you tighten your arms around her torso. 

“I promise.”

It’s been ten minutes and you’ve both been cuddled together in a calm silence. 

“Thank you for helping me with that, and with everything you’ve ever been with or helped me with. I don’t know why people I don’t even know, get to me so much and why I let them so easily. I love my body, and always have.” Danielle tells you. 

“Of course, I’m always here for you, Dani, I love you so much.”

“I love you too, you’re the best girlfriend ever” she nuzzles her head into your warm chest, loving the warmth radiating off of you as it storms outside. 

[phillesterlover]

Kinda scared to post this on Twitter but when will people realize that qrting and talking about something you don’t like brings more attention to it than just simply ignoring something you don’t like/blocking a user who makes you uncomfy. People are gonna act every kind of way it is what it is and everyone has a different opinion about rpf and sexual content/jokes. If you don’t agree with what someone’s doing or you’re worried DnP might see it and be uncomfortable…just ignore it. That’s the best way to make something go away. Any time I’ve seen explicit sexual content about dnp on my Twitter tl it has always been through a qrt or indirect. Seems like you’re inadvertently becoming the problem you’d like to stop.

Also - Dan and Phil have been doing this for a long, long time y’all. While it doesn’t say anything about whether it’s ethically right or not, they’ve been exposed to sexual content about themselves online for over a decade. They’ve sought out and read/viewed some of these things as entertainment. I think that there are lines that they definitely don’t want crossed, which to me is invasion/inclusion of their families/friends who are not content creators, privated/deleted videos/posts being reposted. Other than that, I think they’re grown, internet savvy and can accept the fact that people write smutty fanfic about them. The same people I’ve seen mad about this situation also have several tweets referencing their formspring posts, which I imagine make them more uncomfy than a tweet about them having sex in 2024.

Now if you don’t like accepting sexual content about real people, THAT IS OKAY AND VALID. Just ignore it. It would be different if DnP were to come out and say “hey, this thing actually makes us super uncomfortable and we’d like you to stop doing it.” THEN we can all become internet warriors defending their honor. But if anything they’ve been pretty clear that they don’t care. So I wouldn’t worry about it on behalf of them.

Now about the minors situation, even if an account is not a private account, if someone has “Minors DNI” or “18+” in their bio/username then that to me is an automatic warning that explicit/nsfw content is possible. And even then, as much as I don’t want minors exposed to sexual content, let’s all be real here. Most of us were 15-17 reading mature fics on AO3 unfazed. We watched DnP start the skinfic and knew EXACTLY where it was headed. You can put all the safeguards in place and minors will STILL be able to access explicit content if they look for it. We can’t make it fully safeguarded, so the only thing we can do is just be responsible about the content we put out there and hope that it’s tagged properly.

Sorry about the rant, it’s just getting so annoying seeing this drama continuously pop up. See something you don’t like? Ignore it. DnP don’t need you to be their internet police for them. Writing something explicit? Include 18+ in your bio, tag your fic appropriately. Also, have a mutual/friend who posted something you don’t like- you could always DM them and have a convo before deciding to put them on blast and create a hate campaign against them. This is just my opinion though, so if you disagree, feel free to reply/message to let me know your take.

[cleolinda]

Weekend links, March 24, 2024

My posts

Good news: We haven’t had a third Trespasser Incident. Bad news: There was a fuckin’ coyote staring my dog down from the driveway across the street last night. I won’t lie to you, there have been aggressive coyotes spotted in people’s yards around here, but not in my neighborhood before this, and also, I live in THE SUBURBS. 

Worse news: I had a migraine so bad that I was hungover for two days. In fact, I’m having a hard time thinking straight even now. Apparently a ton of people had migraines around the middle of last week? I have no idea. 

Meanwhile, I will be in the dentist’s chair for a few hours tomorrow. For half of that I’ll be staring at the ceiling waiting for the dentist to come back from some mysterious task, except that I won’t because I’ll be glued to the Hot Vintage Lady Polls: Round 2, starting tomorrow (3/25). Currently going: The Shadow Bracket, to see which fortunate souls get to escape. (I have filed this under “My posts,” but these are not my posts at all; they’re simply the reblogs I’m going to inflict on you, every single one.)

The point of my addition here is that there’s a wider culture war in the U.S., it’s all connected, and the KOSA bill is merely the online expression of that.

Reblogs of interest

A much quieter week since I wasn’t reblogging polls around the clock and also, I had a migraine:

New Hozier songs! And the one that’s charting is--light and fun and catchy, to the amazement of all. I mean, in context it’s still about going to hell, but you wouldn’t know that if someone didn’t tell you, and damnation just adds a little spice. 

This post is nominally a link to “I’ve found the key to making everyone mad in Sea of Thieves,” but please read the second article, “Everyone hates my big stupid horse in Red Dead Online,” as well. You will regret nothing. 

This is a good post about the difference between couture and haute couture, but honestly, I reblogged it for the last line.

I would say “tag yourself,” but everyone would choose Lady Page Turner

The imaginary Barbie Dream Sandworm smells like cinnamon. I can’t. 

“Is Fox Mulder the most comically-brutalized protagonist in television history?”

I can tell you that this is a pressed flower collage of a comet moth and you will not believe me

Also unbelievable: art made in Microsoft Office applications

Honestly I hope we just keep talking about fairies and walruses forever

Video

One fear: Chocolate Guy

More sounds from the pallas cat

I played this bird singing a cookie song like 15 times in a row while I was stressed, and it helped.

The sacred texts

None this week.

Personal tag of the week

I’m not sure how I had two entire posts celebrating “cringe”/freedom of expression, but here we are.

[ridiasfangirlings]

can you show off your K collection?

The whole collection, you say :D I have a lot, so under the cut so as not to clutter up everyone’s dash.

First: figures. The large military figures are from Alter and the slightly smaller Fushimi one is from Union Creative. The Alter ones are better quality but honestly I like the more dynamic pose of the UC figure better, there’s a matching Yata that I don’t own largely due to lack of space that’s very cool (however the UC Fushimi also has a truly terrifying alternate face…). The larger chibi figures are lottery prizes, I bought them separately in order to be sure I got what I wanted. I like the winter ones best, someday I need to get the Munakata from that set. The smaller figures are a Niitengo Deluxe set, I actually have a couple duplicates from this because I bought two sets. The ‘regular’ set had Mikoto and then there was a special set — I think it was an Animate exclusive? — that had Munakata along with alternate Fushimi and Yata figures. Then I have the teeny Shiro, Fushimi and Hisui which are keychains, I picked those up at a con (they didn’t have Yata which is why I ended up with Shiro and Hisui in there). 

Also on the figure end I have these little guys: K nendoroids! Wait, you may be wondering, I don’t remember any K nendoroids. That’s because we have no official ones (still mad about that!) so I had no choice but to make my own by modifying parts of existing nendoroids. The clothes were purchased from various places online.

Next is my full set of K nuis. It took a while to get all these, because when they released the ‘clansmen’ sets I only bought the Blue clan and then regretted it. And no, they didn’t make an official Niki nui, since I had extras I modified them. Hidaka, Benzai, Niki and Douhan are my own customs.

More plushies. I believe the larger ones were Sega prizes? I found Munakata and Fushimi being sold as a set online and then hunted down Yata later. The chubby birds are from the Chun Colle line, and of course I had to buy them their own (love) nest. The Saru cat had the clothes sold separately, I think the original listing showed them with a white cat but the black was all AmiAmi had at the time so I have black cat Saru. The Sarumi nuis are from the second release around ROK airing, they’re a bit different than the first release — a little less chubby with more scruffy hair. I have Munakata too, as you can see he’s…busy on top of my desk. 

Standees, because everyone needs a little anime boy on their desk. As you may notice, one of these things is not like the other. That’s right: Yata’s wearing bunny ears! Also Kuroh is there. At the time I bought the little Fushimi with the drink the cheapest one on sale had both Fushimi and Kuroh being sold as a set, so he’s here too. 

Speaking of standees, here’s a few more along with other lotto prizes. These were all from the specific Fan Clan lotteries, you had to be a member to draw. The big Fushimi picture and the water bottle were both grand prizes that I managed to win, so I got to choose my character for those (…don’t  ask how much I spent….). The Fushimi picture has hardware in the back that you can use to stand it up but it’s mostly hanging out hidden by my drawers because I don’t have space to display it right now. 

A few miscellaneous things. The Sarumi plate is official goods, the Akiben cup is a fan made product. The glass has Fushimi on one side and Munakata on the other though it’s hard to see, this was I believe also a lotto prize but I got it as a free gift from a shopping service. The pillows are also both official, the one on the left is the Kotobukiya dream cushion and yes I did buy the whole pillow just to use the Fushimi cover. The incredibly gay pillow featuring Fushimi touching himself while looking at a photo of Yata he’s pinned to his pillow is also, amazingly, 100% official merchandise.

Jumping around to some more official stuff, these are all my physical media. Missing Kings is actually the Japanese release, which has subtitles but no dub. It released before the US version even had a release date on the books so I bought the Japanese version instead (I don’t dislike the dub but dubs are also not something that’s a dealbreaker for me). I also have three stage plays — fun fact, the US and Japan are in the same region for blu ray — these are not subtitled. 

Novels (and a couple CDs). From the top left, we have the All Memories book, Case Files vol 2, Lost Small World, Idol K, the little short story booklet that came with the pre-MK S4 drama CD (with the glasses drama on it), the three anime adaptation books, the aforementioned drama CD and the Idol K CD. 

Next, manga. The top left corner is the K Poe Backs book, which has a bunch of mini first person comics of the cast seducing ‘you’ the reader. The top right is the K Maniacs book which is an official doujinshi book, it has no pairings but a lot of older Sarumi doujinshi artists are involved and Fushimi and Yata definitely dominate the book. I have the special Animate of editions of Gakuen K volume 3 and Missing Kings, because I liked the covers. The LSW books are all the special editions as well, the little booklet on the bottom right came with the final volume. The booklet between the two volumes of Days of Blue also came with that second volume and has the special Cherry Blossom Viewing chapter. (Meanwhile I just realized I don’t have Return of Kings….I need to buy that, I like the art.)

Some more random goods. The purse, hat and watch are all from Super Groupies collabs. I have the Super Groupies S4 wallet as well but it felt weird to take a picture of my own wallet (incidentally, if anyone sees the Super Groupies S4 earrings let me know, I didn’t have my ears pierced when they came out so I didn’t buy them and I want them now). The necklace was for Fushimi’s birthday, there’s a couple Yata ones that were made as well and another Fushimi one that’s blue but this is the only one I bought, it has a tiny S4 logo. The two tins are official teas that were made, the Homra one is my favorite of the two and is a pretty red. 

Some more clothes. I skipped most of the Super Groupies collab clothes for sizing reasons but these all fit and again, all are official. The shirts are from a collab with the brand Avail, they did shirts based off Shiro, Kuroh, Mikoto, Yata, Munakata and Fushimi. I have the Yata, Munakata and Fushimi ones, the puzzle piece S4 logo that’s Munakata’s is my favorite.

My wall o’ keychains. I actually have a lot of keychains on various purses so this is not all of them (I may have mentioned before that I’m also into lolita fashion so I have lots of purses, forgive me for not digging up all of them for keychain pics). The wall is missing a lot of Fushimi keychains though because they’re on my Fushimi ita bag. 

I’ll probably redo this at some point (I don’t really like backpacks so this doesn’t get worn much) but here’s a lot of my Fushimis that aren’t on other purses. I also have some new Sarumi ones I just bought, these are for the Sarumi ita bag I have in progress. This covers most of my collection, I also have a lot of posters and some magazines that aren’t convenient to get pictures of. This doesn’t count my, uh, extensive doujinshi collection either, just know that the bottom shelf and a half of my bookshelves is 90% Fushimi-centric doujinshi. I may be ever so slightly obsessed. 

[myobsessionsspace]

This whole goddamn taekook vs jikook 💿🐎 is so exhausting. Honestly.

Was I a bit saddened when Jeongguk didn't mention Jimin? Yeah. But for the wrong reasons because my brain was hard wired into thinking "taekookers are gonna run a mile with it".

It's fucked up. But more importantly, it's not Jeongguk's fault - it's purely a me/army problem.

The fact that everyone in army has some kind of version of the members that's mostly fabricated, isn't something they can control.

They are most likely aware of all the hate they get online, especially if it gets really bad. That it gets really bad for Jimin a whole lot, from within army even, can't be unknown to them. But it's not on Jeongguk to change himself on the off-chance it's gonna reduce hate. Most likely that wouldn't work either. Tkkers, akgaes and Solos will hate on BTS every chance they get.

BTS are whole people, individuals that think differently and experience things differently. To reduce them down to their interactions with others is insanely harmful, but it has been normalised. From what I've seen, a lot of shippers (both taekookers and jikookers) reduce the maknae line to what they do and with whom. I did it too, when I immediately thought sadly about the letter when it's the first proper sign of life we've gotten from our golden maknae in ages.

So, as much as I'm f.e. looking forward to the travel show, I'd also advise shippers in particular to watch actual uncut ot7 content. ITS, BV, concerts and behind the scenes - there's a decade worth of videos. Yes, everyone believes in hybe having a narrative to push, so I don't expect people to actually do this honestly, but it might decode some of the army-internal brainwashing.

Hi lovely,

First of allllll

I’m here for what you are throwing down!

It’s not a THEM (the members) problem it’s an US problem.

How does it make sense that ‘fans’ be it solos, shippers, whatever, get mad when people we’ve never met talk about a member who they’ve ate, slept, breathed, played and worked with for 10+ years? How does it make sense to be angry over them interacting, touching, mentioning each other because of what the shippers will say? You damn right it’s exhausting😪.

⬆️An example 😓 They literally had phones in their faces from all sides and so many think pieces about their interactions VS ⬇️

I can’t point the finger without three pointing back at me, cos like you said I too have had moments when I’m like ‘those mf’s are gonna have a field day with this…’ as my first thought?! What’s wrong with me??? I get it when real OT7 say shippers & solos (when talking about those that actually are and not the ones they like to label to dismiss valid thoughts) ruin everything, cos as soon as content and good news drops there’s always gotta be some bullshit alongside it, from any subsection 😪

They HAVE to be aware but kudos to them, they keep it moving, they’re so strong to have millions of strangers on multiple platforms speaking on them like they know them, but still have so much love in their hearts to continue engaging because they know the some isn’t the all.

With every drama and battle online it actually deepens my love and awe of these regular guys, with talent hard worked for, still trying hard to show their goodness to their supporters, not throwing in the towel for their peace. They’re everything 😍

I’m glad people like you are making it your mission to not reduce them to their duos, ships and solo fandoms, but still supporting them as TALENTED INDIVIDUALS. I’m trying too💪. I want to be conscious in appreciating them for them, their talents, their individuality AND their bonds, ALL OF THEIR BONDS.

Obviously I bias some bonds more than others, it’s human nature🙈

We definitely need to keep pushing about original content, we need to keep pushing about original sources not just clips and cuts and edits, we definitely need to keep pushing about doing our googles!

We need to not close our eyes to the other interactions, it’s not scary! It helps us appreciate Jikook’s bond more and appreciate them as members, friends & brothers of the others.

Because no matter what people believe those 7 MEN love each other down.

It helps us be able to filter the bullshit when we do come across misinformation and defamation of character. It helps our confidence in knowing we’re stanning and supporting the right ones.

I’m super geeked for the show coming from Jikook too…whenever it comes 😩 Heck we’re starved, so I’ll start small, I’m desperate for a ‘keep warm, don’t catch a cold’ message from Jiminie even though he’s doing his best in keeping in contact, why are we so thirsty 😅

Thank you for writing in and speaking my heart! 😉

💜

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Nellie Bowles

→ Hard right goes White Genocide: The right-wing brand of antisemitism is people saying something to the effect of: Jews hate white people. And we’re seeing that a lot right now, all of a sudden, in very mainstream places. 

Let’s start with The Daily Wire: Candace Owens, a charismatic black conservative, has been harshly critical of Israel. Daily Wire co-founder Ben Shapiro, an observant Jew, was recorded at a private event saying her rhetoric was “absolutely disgraceful.” Candace Owens then posted: “You cannot serve both God and money. Christ is King.” Okay. Random time to bring that up, but okay? 

Then Candace went on former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson’s new online show. And there, things got weirder. Here’s Tucker Carlson admonishing the Jewish philanthropists who are now refusing to donate to Ivy League schools. Those donors are put off by the woke antisemitism, but Carlson is mad they supported the modern Ivy League to begin with.

“I get why donors are mad. I have no problem with that at all. However, then I thought, well, wait a second, if the biggest donors at, say, Harvard, have decided well, we’re gonna shut it down now, where were you the last ten years when they were calling for white genocide? You were allowing this. And then I found myself really hating those people, actually. You’re okay with that? On what grounds were you okay with that? You were paying for it, actually. As you were calling my children immoral for their skin color. You paid for that. So why shouldn’t I be mad at you? I don’t understand.”

Candace Owens replies: “And obviously, you have a ton of white people that are asking that question, and they’re being called antisemitic, and I think that’s wrong. I think these are meaningful questions that deserve to be answered.” 

Adding to the chorus now is Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter/X. First, a random Twitter user responded to a prompt about what Hitler got right (I wish I was kidding) and wrote the following: “Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them. I���m deeply disinterested in giving the tiniest shit now about western Jewish populations coming to the disturbing realization that those hordes of minorities that support flooding their country don’t exactly like them too much.” Then Elon Musk himself responded to that random user, writing simply: “You have said the actual truth.” 

And then here’s Charlie Kirk, founder of conservative youth group Turning Point USA, defending Musk: “It is true that some of the largest financiers of left-wing antiwhite causes have been Jewish Americans.” It’s not news that American Jews tend to be liberal. What’s being implied now (and in some cases said quite out loud) is something different, a deep and old conspiracy. And everyone toying with it knows that.

America: we’ve got it all. We’ve got Soviet antisemitism against Israel and Jewish particularity; we’ve got right-wing antisemitism around the question of do Jews want to kill white people and also are they white or what? The gang’s back together. And Jews are screwed.

→ Recess jihad: A Brooklyn parent group has been organizing students to protest the war. The teachers are on board. And so we have scenes out of Brooklyn this week of 700 students from some 100 schools marching, yelling pro-peace slogans like “Fuck the Jews.” Or there’s this great call and response the kids were doing as they marched. Call: Takbir! Response: Allahu Akbar! The kids stopped by some Jewish-owned businesses and did their chants. It was organized by the official parent advisory board, which is funded by taxpayers. I used to think “children are the future” was a hopeful phrase. . . anyway. Takbir! 

→ This man was almost the UK’s prime minister: This week, longtime Labor Party star Jeremy Corbyn refused to call Hamas a terror group, even as a very assertive Piers Morgan pushed him. It’s fun TV to watch because Morgan asked and asked (14 times!) and Corbyn refused, got mad, and eventually just crossed his arms and rolled his eyes. 

But we already know the answer. Here’s Jeremy Corbyn in 2009: “Tomorrow evening it will be my pleasure and my honor to host an event in Parliament where our friends from Hezbollah will be speaking. I’ve also invited friends from Hamas to come and speak as well. . . . the idea that an organization that is dedicated towards the good of the Palestinian people and bringing about long-term peace and social justice and political justice in the whole region should be labeled as a terrorist organization by the British government is really a big, big historical mistake.” 

Kumbahezbollah. 

And this week Corbyn’s brother, former politician Piers Corbyn, called October 7 a “false flag” operation. “The whole thing, whatever happened, was done with the connivance of the government of Israel or they used what happened as a pretext, it was a prepared thing. . . . It was a false flag operation. . . . A bit like Pearl Harbor.” Just like Pearl Harbor. Looks like brother Corbyn has been watching a little too much TikTok. 

In America, presidential candidate and professor Cornel West said this week that the Hamas terrorists were love warriors: “We dish out love warriors and freedom fighters every generation, which means that we stand in solidarity with anybody who’s occupied.” 

[princesscatherinemiddleton]

Hi, I don’t know if you’re comfortable answering this but I was wondering what your perspective is as a British person about all the non British people making so many crazy (even delusional) accusations about the UK, monarchy, and the royal family when they clearly have no idea what they’re talking about. I see the ridiculous things they say and the assumptions they make (particularly on TikTok) and even as an American it makes me mad because it’s so obvious they’re speaking without bothering to do any research. I’m curious how British people in general are feeling about this because social media is not always a great representation of the entire population. I know British people have their own opinions about the monarchy but it’s different when people from other countries are speaking about it and spreading outright lies about the UK.

I can never answer anything normally so I have multiple strands to this answer:

I hate people talking about something like they know what they are talking about but they are blatantly wrong - I had to do an assembly at school on Guy Fawkes the week after we did our Bonfire Night podcast episode and the effort I put in to not correcting my partner teacher was indescribable

I think it is almost impossible to fully understand another culture, even if you've lived there a really long time, especially if you don't live there - living in the UK, I've been bombarded with US images, politics, TV, literature, sport, etc but I don't understand what it's like to be American. I would never explain to someone how the American legal system works or the American political system. I feel the same about Wales and Ireland as individual countries (rather than as part of the UK) and my parents are quite literally Welsh and Irish

The more completely out there stuff I can laugh off but the almost believable but not quite stuff gets to me more. Also, explicitly cruel things I struggle with - I'm thinking the person I saw on TikTok the other day who said that Kate is actually dead or the person on Tumblr who said that Meghan was abusing her children. I can't even think about it and I have to just block and log off

Part of the reason I love doing the podcast so much is because it is time to provide facts. We joke about doing research but we really do a lot of research and if we don't know something, we say that or just don't talk about it at all

As for the other part of your message, "I’m curious how British people in general are feeling about this because social media is not always a great representation of the entire population. I know British people have their own opinions about the monarchy but it’s different when people from other countries are speaking about it and spreading outright lies about the UK":

I've said this before but I cannot get across how much most people in Britain do not care about the royal family however people in Britain also don't like to be told something about them is weird or wrong - I'm thinking about things like how British people reacted when people said beans on toast was weird

Social media algorithms means lots of people in the UK haven't seen what people are saying about the BRF online (I am cultivating a lovely online experience where I very rarely come across the BRF by accident and I talk about them a lot!) and not everyone in the UK has social media either

I think the best thing to do is not engage with anything online that upsets you. That's not to say you should end up in a social media bubble - you should definitely expose yourself to thoughts, opinions and cultures you wouldn't normally come across - but if you are finding yourself getting upset or angry or frustrated with the same kind of content, just block, mute and move on.

[3typical3]

My thoughts on Lore Olympus after a 2 day binge of the whole story

Very new to this fandom and obviously I don’t know the full history of it or of the author, so if you disagree with me feel free to share why, I’m welcome to hearing dif povs. Idk I was a little surprised to see so many antis after going online and seeing what different people thought of the series, majority positive but a lot of dedicated hate pages. This is just some of my thoughts in an unorganized shit post at 1 am so you can like or not like the series at the end of the day it’s rlly not that deep

I just finished Lore Olympus after binging it non stop for two days and I quite honestly loved it, ig what I didn’t know is that there was so many antis lmao. As always with any work there are valid critics. But I’m mainly going to talk abt what are arguments I disagree with. Obviously, everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I agree with the comments about better size inclusivity and the occasional sloppy / cringe dialogue and the lack of LBTQ+ characters/ poor writing of them.

One main argument I’ve seen people be pressed about that I honestly don’t get is that people are mad that Rachel didn’t follow the exact stories or characterizations of the god based on their original stories in mythology. Honestly I thought it was pretty clear that myths are the main source of inspiration for the characters, Greek mythology and the Greek pantheon as a whole is more a vessel or inspiration from which is used to tell the story through a modernish lens that can resonate more with the audience of today. For example Thor in marvel isn’t Thor in mythology. Same goes for the character Apollo. He SUCKS in LO, but the character of Apollo in PJO is great. You can hate one and love the other because they are separate entities and characters, you can also love Apollo from mythology because guess what he isn’t Apollo from LO. They’re all separate and different characters and you’re welcome to think differently about all of them..

Another argument I’ve seen is cultural appropriation. Quite honestly, and I am not Greek or from Greece, but a. I think that argument is kinda ludicrous and b. Greek culture is no longer defined by myths told over a millennia ago. That’s like saying the culture in Egypt is defined by the pantheon they had over a millennia ago, it’s no all mummies and Pharohs. I get the story has a more western lense and doesn’t use much Greek culture. But idk take PJO as an example of using Greek myths and putting them in a western perspective, like Olympus is on top of the fucking Empire State Building and everything most of the time takes place in the US. Would usage of more Greek culture be enriching in both LO and PHO? Yes. But there are many instance of people taking stories from different cultures, stories that have been around for centuries, and adapting them to tell their own stories and putting their own creative spin to address what ever they want. Because at the end of the fucking day LO is just a webcomic inspired by Greek mythology and its pantheon.

Lastly and I won’t dedicate too much time to this argument because I’m just writing this as my brain goes with it but like why the fuck are people Minthe apologists. Like she’s complex and Hades was not perfect in that relationship either but y’all she verbally berated that man bringing up every insecurity and slapped him, both of them in general brought out the worst in each other, BUT IMAGINE if the roles were reversed. There’s a bunch of context prior to that event where it’s valid for her to be pressed at Hades but that the actions she took are not ok in any circumstances. I get that she was suffering herself and needed help but it’s still not ok to use other people as an outlet for your pain and to then try and Sabotage and destroy their lives post breakup.

At then end of the day you are all entitled to your opinions, I don’t have the inherently “right” one and reminder I read this series in two days so I’m new to the discussions and critics and am open to hearing others thoughts on why they disagree. This is a comic that to my understanding started as Rachel’s passion project and spiraled into something bigger and I honestly think that’s very impressive. There are plenty of critics of it and there always will be of not just LO but any body of work. I think the themes of sexual agency, mental health, navigating new, complicated and changing relationships with yourself, a partner, and your parents were honestly executed well, again nothing is perfect but from an amateur story teller I found it Ernest, human, and relatable.

But yeah this is just my 1 am brain rot thoughts bc LO is all I’ve been thinking about for the past 2-3 days lol. Sound off share your opinions I’m welcome hearing a different perspective as I just joined this fandom.

[meangirlsautism]

MEAN GIRLS FORTNITE HEADCANONS

to preface this… realistically do i see any of the plastics playing fortnite? no. do i think it’s funny as hell though? yes. so i’m just going to pretend here, bear with me

in regards to any of the 2004 mean girls characters, i say they wouldn't play. since obv fortnite wasn’t out yet, but i also think that they, esp the plastics, would think they’re too cool for it

2018 / broadway versions though…

made this all the way back in 2019. don’t remember the context at all. but yeah. it fits. broadway janis would play fortnite, sure

broadway plastics MIGHT play it too. since if regina plays the sims just to create people and kill them? sure, she can play fortnite too, why not. and ofc gretchen and karen would play along w/ her. and like.. pretty sure fortnite was still pretty hot in 2018 so. yeah! hell yeah!

the 2024 versions… began to think abt these headcanons BC of the 2024 versions. they originated the idea i guess. even if i more realistically see the broadway versions playing it? well. no. bc the bway plastics r still the popular mean girls. the 2024 guys felt like.. a different breed of popular mean girl. hence why i see them playing fortnite. i suppose? man i don’t know don’t look at me

WHATEVER . just pretend they’d play the game ok. with that out of the way:

regina

such an asshole

def loves snipers and shotguns.. probably the heftier guns

even though she’s rly good at using them all / typically has no preference

but if there’s a sniper or shotgun… she WILL be taking it

i know the current season doesn’t have snipers, i’ll just talk abt the guns in a broad sense i suppose

i could go more in depth as to which guns of each category they’d like but. i’ll only do so if asked i guess (i only started playing in august of 2023. so chapter 4 season 4. meaning i have very limited knowledge on different guns and such)

ANYWHO. she’s such an asshole in this game

will absolutely chase you down if you choose to run

(you wont get far)

and she’s like… such a dick w/ the sniper as well

a pretty decent player. is not humble whatsoever

def buys shit. mainly skins and such

she likes some of the icon emotes, but isn’t absolutely crazy abt them

doesn’t get to level 200 just to get everything in the battlepass. she does it to show off and brag

despite that, she probably still buys the battlepass. bc she can

very good aim!

def a toxic gamer. she gets mad a lot

gretchen

trying her best

mainly there bc regina is playing it and wants the plastics all to play w/ her

is a normal person and likes like. assault rifles and such

def the guns w/ the medium bullets

maybe a tactical assault rifle if she feels like it

isn’t insanely picky though

right in the middle.. not too heavy not too light

not the greatest player

once again, she’s trying her best

regina often berates her over the stuff she should’ve done differently

HATES being the last one alive on her team

if regina and karen (and sometimes cady) are down, she FREAKS out

(doesn’t happen much, but it happens)

she haaaates the pressure of it

esp when regina is just gonna get mad at her when she fails

HOWEVER she does get good kills every once in a while

regina compliments her on it, and gretchen feels like all the times she’s fucked up was worth it

(it’s not)

but regardless, it puts her in a good mood

absolutely LOVES the emotes i think

especially the icon emotes

def does the synced emotes w/ karen a ton

(to regina’s annoyance) (she’s just trying to play the game)

gets the battlepass bc everyone else is doing it

tries to get everything she can

mediocre aim, once again, she is trying

karen

carries

im dead serious

saw someone recently say that she’d be surprisingly GOOD at the game and like… you know what? you’re right

but unlike regina, she is very humble abt it

it fits her character i think. plus the thought of the “dumb” character actually WRECKING others in an online shooter video game is soooo funny to me

so yes, she carries

LOOOOVES THE EMOTES

absolutely one of her favorite things about the game

she WILL emote any chance she gets

she’s not trying to be rude, she just loves making her character do silly dances

karen: [emotes after killing a whole team]

gretchen: karen… that’s not—

karen: what?

gretchen: that’s not nice

karen: but i’m happy :)

gretchen: i know… that’s just— no…

on the other hand, regina emotes (IF she even emotes) to be malicious 100%

anyway. likes the lighter weapons. w/ the light bullets and such

like pistols and smgs

thinks the characters are cute and fun

enjoys leveling up the battlepass and getting everything

shockingly good aim

cady

debated on whether she’d be rly good or rly bad

and i think she’d be rly bad😭

but like… endearingly bad

maybe after a while of adapting and playing and shit she gets better

but at the beginning… she sucks so bad

and yet regina INSISTS on letting her play w/ them

makes gretchen a bit… sad

since gretchen is constantly being called out by regina whenever she messes up, but when CADY does something bad, regina is usually silent. or says something mildly encouraging

has absolutely no idea what’s going on

like. regina gretchen and karen could be engaging w/ a team and cady will just be like :)? what? where are they?

they are right in front of you

her aim is pretty much nonexistent

at the beginning at least

after a bit, i DO see her getting a lot better

but at the beginning? she is ASS

maybe janis and damian help her out a bit

doesn’t rly? care about the skins or emotes much

think the animal skins are cute though

however. she still has a bunch of shit bc regina buys stuff for her

cady: oh.. that skin / emote looks cute—

regina, already getting out her wallet: done

cady: what? oh, i didn’t mean—

regina: done

and she gifts it to cady

also gifts her the battlepass probably

even if cady does jack shit with it

she’s just there to have fun, so the leveling up and getting the stuff doesn’t rly mean much to her

and then she’s like… conditioned to do this shit. probably by janis

she plays w/ the plastics one day and suddenly she’s like… good

and has a bunch of new shit and like 😭😭😭😭 HUH

not as great as, say, regina or karen, but. she’s still pretty decent

unsure what guns she’d like, probably no preference

probably goes w/ a certain gun depending on who she’s playing with LMAO

janis

likes to say she’s REALLY good but really she’s just.. good. you know

she plays a lot though

likes getting the cool looking skins and such

def gets the battlepass i feel

also gets to level 200. also to show off. but to get everything too (even if she doesn’t admit it)

ALSO likes snipers and shotguns.. bc she’s an asshole

and she’s also pretty decent w/ them

her aim is okay, not the best, but its playable

doesn’t rly care abt the emotes. ESP not the icon emotes

thinks they’re cheesy or whatever

def gets the dumb, goofy ones though

like. the ones that arent dances probably

plays with cady and damian

likes to try and teach cady her ways (she is a toxic gamer)

gets angry real easily. esp when players use the seasons obligatory unfair item for like 10th time

MAYBE emotes after she gets a good play

and it’d be one of those emotes that REALLY piss you off if someone were to use it against you

damian

LOOOOOVES the emotes. like so much

ESP the icon ones

probably better than janis. and janis knows this. but neither of them say anything

(he is a good friend)

unsure what guns hed prefer tbh…

i think he’d like shotguns. and maybe like ? pistols and smgs and such

is def more help to cady than janis

he translates janis’ toxicity into like.. actual terms for cady

and cady just goes like. ohhhhhh

every single time it happens

don’t have much to say abt aaron and kevin sorry aaron and kevin. however. kevin has def played fortnite since it came out in 2017 for sure. its basically canon. aaron probably wouldn’t gaf much but for cady and regina… maybe he’ll play a bit. he IS a teenage boy so ,.. maybe he plays it? but i think he doesn't rly care for video games that much

may add more onto this... since i only wrote these out like 2 days ago. we shall see

[little-red-fool]

hey red i was just wondering if you have an opinion on revolver ocelot's sexuality? i wont share my opinion but i keep being exposed to strong disagreements about it. people get mad no matter what. personally i do think some people are being shall we say silly,, but i want to hear how you see it

To be honest I don’t really have any strong opinions on Ocelot’s sexuality, I personally headcanon him as a gay man but I’d also understand if other people headcanon him as something else because everyone’s going to interpret the source material differently. I only really view him that way because of the way I’ve interpreted what I’ve been exposed to of the source material, but it’s also mostly just what feels fitting for me, the same way I headcanon Big Boss as a trans man—I have no proof for it but I feel like it fits, and it’s how I interpret his character. At the end of the day headcanons are headcanons and as long as you’re not hurting any real person due to them then whatever others think doesn’t really matter—what matters is if people are being dicks about their interpretations and berating and harassing other people for their opinions. I’ve found that a lot of the time in fandom spaces, or just online spaces in general, people have this idea that if they see something they don’t like or that they disagree with then it just shouldn’t exist, and then they start attacking people due to it, where instead they should realise that they aren’t the target audience for that thing and then scroll on, and it extends to headcanons, but don’t let those people get to you, they want a reaction and a lot of the time they’re fishing for arguments so my best advice would be to block and move on if they’re harassing you. As I said I have no strong opinions about Ocelot’s sexuality, I personally interpret him as a gay man but it’s also understandable if people interpret him differently.