#and i might respect more Christians if they thought like this dude

[belladonnaprice]

https://youtu.be/Blph_2RSBno?si=wcFdfUOgsFRl4LSg

[nonbinarymichaelafton]

finally sharing my nibbly devotee grace/nibbly and grace duo propaganda

i've always thought that grace, post-npmd would work with + harness the power of nibbly more than the other lords in black, and i need other people to understand why

devouring souls:

nibbly and grace both specifically talk about devouring souls. in 'dirty dudes must die' grace starts by saying "this spell lets me devour your soul" + throughout 'the summoning' nibbly talks about wanting to eat/swallow max's soul. I thought this was very interesting because it's mentioned before that nibbly is the only lord who eats souls/eats his victims, so grace using that phrasing was an immediate link.

parallels/symbolism:

grace's main story arc throughout npmd is about her lust and desires. her name is literally just 'chastity' with one letter removed, and she's obviously fighting against having or showing any sort of desire. now, this might not SEEM like it has anything to do with nibbly, but hunger and lust are very symbolically linked, especially in christianity. roman murray mentions (in 'honey queen') that nibbly prefers sacrifices of people who were hungry, not for food, but for anything. power, fame, love, sex, respect, etc. i imagine his disciples and devotees would have a similar hunger, and grace is obviously hungry. nibbly being basically a creature of pure desire also is a perfect opposite to grace being a symbol for chastity, but grace working with nibbly would be a good representation of her giving in to her desire through her story arc.

also i think they would be a fun duo and grace already wears a lot of pink :) thank u for reading

[vxn3lla]

https://www.tumblr.com/creature-wizard/761018683964424192/the-law-of-assumption-isnt-a-cult-mmm-are-you?source=share

Hm? I supposed it depends on who in the community you interact with.

Me personally I don't see there being a founder. All forms of manifestation are connected in a way, the only difference being terminology and way of applying the knowledge. People in the community have a tendency to act like Neville Goddard is some all powerful being when he's just a dude who wrote about his experiences

The original post linked an article about "demystifying the double slit experiment": personally I've never heard of it or seen it be connected to manifestation. I've seen things about quantum physics yes...but not that, I've also seen things based on neuroscience.

Noble Prize winners

The Reticular Activating System (RAS):

The Reticular Activating System, a network of neurons in our brainstem, plays a vital role in filtering information and directing our attention. When we set clear intentions and consistently focus on our goals, we activate the RAS. This mechanism helps us notice opportunities and information related to our desires that we might otherwise overlook (Psychology Today) (Psychology Today).

The Influence of Belief:

Our beliefs have a profound impact on our reality. When we have faith in our ability to achieve something, our brains release neurotransmitters like dopamine, which boost our motivation and confidence. Conversely, negative beliefs can trigger stress responses that hinder our progress. Manifesting encourages individuals to cultivate positive beliefs and reshape their thought patterns to support their aspirations (Live Your Best Life Now)(Dr. Kinga Mnich).

(There's plenty more science)

I'm not sure about the religious aspect, but from what I've seen, it's more similar to Gnosticism, which the original poster probably wasn't talking about and probably referred to modern-day Christianity. Yeah, I just read one of their other posts, and they seem to be very "Christianity is only this way," saying Neville Goddard's misinterpreting the Bible and lying. However, there are over 3,000 versions of the Bible.

"The beliefs and practices can supposedly never fail the followers; followers can only fail the beliefs and practices." I personally don't think failure exists, it's just that people give up

Followers are told to suppress their doubt and their critical thinking skills. People who ask critical questions are shamed and invalidated.

Not once have I seen this on any social media platform (I don't have twitter or tiktok) critical questions should get legit and helpful answers...and no one said to "suppress critical thinking skills" CRITICAL THINKING IS IMPORTANT

Evidence - why would someone be shamed for asking for evidence? And "all evidence" being faked or a coincidence is possible but not all.

Dehumanization. Everyone Is You Pushed Out effectively claims that other people lack true agency and interiority, and are essentially mere puppets you can control however you please.

THIS IS SO WRONG WHO TF SAID THIS?! EIYPO JUST MEANS THE PEOPLE THAT SHOW UP IN YOUR LIFE ARE A REFLECTION OF YOUR ASSUMPTIONS OF THEM

NONE OF THE PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY I HAVE INTERACTED WITH BELIEVE WHAT OP SAID AND CALL IT "STUPID TIKTOK BULLSHIT" also mentioned an sp youtube but not gonna name names.

ok so now for the people being "shamed, harrassed, victim blamed" um sure there might be toxic people in the community but that goes for anything. However, me and plenty of other people I've seen put links for those in need or crisis hotline numbers. This actually happened recently. Not once did anyone victim blame.

The original poster of course only put evidence supporting their idea that Law of Assumption is bad, however most things have a good and bad side and I've seen, and experienced more good than bad.

They also only talk about the good side of Christianity, which seems like the "Christianity is the only true religion but we "respect" other beliefs, also only THIS Christianity is real"

They also blame people for their results being a coincidence or fake or random...so can literally any religion but they don't say that about Christianity.

Claimed to know the "real history of the bible/Christianity" but with how many versions there are and how much it could've been altered and mistranslated that's nearly impossible. Also only put one scientific article supporting their claim however that was only one experiment, usually multiple experiments are done resulting in the same result and making sure to have variables and a control group.

"The double-slit experiment has not been disproven; it remains a cornerstone of quantum mechanics, demonstrating the wave-particle duality of light and matter, where particles can exhibit wave-like behavior under certain conditions, and is considered a fundamental experiment that has been repeatedly verified through various iterations and variations." is it possible for it to be proven or disproven in the future? Of course,

People are free to their own beliefs but if you're gonna use double standards to make your beliefs "better" and only show people what you want them to see then you aren't really "open minded"

(I am and have always been Catholic with my great-grandmother working in her local church and with Christian relatives and friends. Literally none of them shame or judge other people's beliefs except for one)

All I'll say in the conclusion is believe and apply in LOA or don't, it's your life and no one is forcing you but don't be a hypocrite and have evidence as to why loa is fake but not anything about Christianity or any other religion.

ok so op believes in magic and is Pagan, but while believing in magic believes alien and other space related sci-fi esque beliefs are bad and believing them make you a n@zi...just another example of double standards and hypocrisy imo

NO ONE SHOULD FORCE THEIR BELIEFS OF SOMETHING BEING GOOD OR BAD DOWN YOUR THROAT

AND IF YOU NEED SERIOUS HELP CALL THE HOTLINE NUMBER FOR THE SITUATION IN YOUR COUNTRY

[wonderlandleighleigh]

So its early but I'm on Tumblr, and like.

You know. Saw a post. Like you do.

And it's about appropriating Jewish mythology and symbols and terms. And there is so much "DON'T DO THAT" in the post.

But I think the post gets it a lil wrong. What we're really looking for is respect. Respect our things. Our culture. Or symbols. They're not Happy Meal toys. Make some effort.

I saw a lot of comments on the post saying that people had never met a Jewish person, and that we are "professional victims."

Well hello. I'm a Jewish person, and we've been run out of more countries than you've had hot dinners, so we're more like professionals at getting the fuck out of places where people want us dead.

Let's do an edit!

Golems: if you're going to use them in your fantasy, please treat them with respect. They're a mythological creature borne out of the desperation of a people constantly on the run from assholes trying to burn down their lives, and thought of as protective. Don't use them as a weird monster. It's easy to find the lore. Read up.

Kabbalah: is so much stranger than you know, and worth doing research on. Please be respectful if you intend to use it in a story, or even try to practice it.

If it's Hebrew and it doesn't have anything to do with Judaism...man that is a weird one. Cuz it's our religious language but also people who aren't Jewish live in Israel and speak Hebrew but this one feels funny.

The Star of David: it's not a pentagram. It's not a generic symbol. It's pretty specifically Jewish. Sometimes it gets worn by people who want us dead? Uncomfortable.

Goy: isn't considered polite but is more polite than "fuckin goy" which I sometimes use when some goy is being a terrible asshole.

Lenny Bruce had a whole bit on this one:

Gentile: less rude. You non jews are just gentiles.

Antisemitism: that funny feeling in your bones when you know someone either doesn't like you because you are Jewish (those fuckers who wear the "6 million was not enough" shirts. IE; Hitler shoulda kilt more Jews), or when someone says shit like "you guys control the banks so I bet you'll get all 7 days of Passover off soon enough." We don't control the banks. I fucking promise. We don't control shit. Whatever power white Jewish people might have is allowed by the white gentile power structure and can be easily taken away.

When the big orange goy was president, and employed Steven Miller (Jewish. A piece of shit) I used to tell people that "we'll all wind up in the same train car anyway. He's no safer from the hate than the rest of us." I'm still right.

The word Jew: context matters. "The Jews" is an easy shorthand. The Jewish People takes longer to say. One time in a bar, in Mississippi, the director of another department from work pointed at me and yelled "JEW!!!" and that felt.

Bad.

It felt bad you guys.

1. Being singled out for what you are feels bad.

2. Mississippi feels like a place you don't want to be singled out for being Jewish.

3. "Jew" often gets bent into "jewy" which is derogatory. Women were sometimes called "jewesses" which was a little like being called a witch they wanted to burn at the stake.

Probably safe bet to just say Jewish People.

We've been around a long time, but there aren't a whole of us left. But we also come in all different types. A bunch of us are white, but some of us are Black or Latinx or Asian or Middle Eastern. We don't agree on any one way of doing things and we have a lot of opinions and sometimes some dude wanders around The Rockaways in New York with a machete looking for the closest synagogue because Kanye told him we're all evil.

We are constantly on the lookout for people who don't like us because WE KEEP FINDING THEM. Like sometimes you think somebody's cool, but it turns out they think we have horns and eat white Christian baby blood.

For the record, white Christians don't season their food, so that shit is too bland. Not enough dill. We'll pass.

But yeah. Just some thoughts on my culture. Thanks for reading.

[deanwinchesterswitch]

The Girlfriend Who Remade Christmas

Part One: A Bad Banana

Square: Advent Calendar ~ @spnchristmasbingo

Song: You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch ~ Pentatonix

Pairing: Dean x Nicole {Nico/Nic} OFC

Summary: Nic is not happy about Dean’s Grinchy behavior.

Warnings: Flangst, canon divergence

Word Count: 1,497

Beta: @princessmisery666 I'd be lost without you.

Credit: @talesmaniac89 made the gorgeous title card and divider

Series Master Post

“Dean Rupert Winchester!”

“What’d you do?” Sam chuckles, glancing at a confused-looking Dean sitting across from him.

“N- Nothing,” Dean scoffs, heart rate fluttering in wary fear.

“Dude, she made up a middle name for you. She doesn’t do that unless she’s super pissed.” Closing his laptop, Sam begins to stand. “I think I’ll just-”

“Yeah, me too.” Dean drops his feet to the floor and pushes up from his seat.

Both men freeze at the roar of her voice, “SIT!” and drop back into their respective chairs.

“Why?” she snaps, eyes narrowed and fixed on Dean like daggers pinning him in place.

Not sure what he’s done to provoke her ire, Dean attempts a little bravado even as he squirms in the chair. Giving her a cheeky grin, he jests, “Why does shower sex have to be so complicated? Why does Sam refuse to cut his hair? Why do I love you so much? Gonna need a little more clarification there, Nico.”

The resounding whack of the large booklet that lands on the table in front of him makes him jolt. She leans over, palms flat on the polished wood, bringing herself to eye-level with him. “Why was that in the garbage? Why are ALL of the windows open? Why is all of the candy gone?” Each staccato syllable is pronounced with fierce precision. 

“It’s an Advent calendar,” he sneers. “Christianity …the coming of …Chuck. I’m not celebrating that douchebag’s birth.”

“Well, remember, it’s probably not his real birthday; it’s actually the winter sols-” Sam cuts himself off when Nic puffs her cheeks and expels a heavy sigh.

“It’s a Christmas countdown.” She softens her tone. “It’s meant to create excitement and anticipation for the upcoming celebration.”

“What’s to celebrate?” Before she can respond, Dean adds, “Don’t get any ideas about decorating or exchanging gifts either,” and flatly states, “There’s nothing special about it. It’s just another day. We don’t do Christmas. Right, Sammy?” 

Sam smartly doesn’t reply, clearing his throat and tucking his chin. Dean frowns, giving his brother the stink eye for not backing him up.

“You agreed to help cut down a tree and decorate the bunker.”

“I did no such thing.”

“You did.” 

The cute smile that curls her lips momentarily distracts him, and he shakes his head to dislodge thoughts of where those pouty lips were last night and shoves the calendar back across the table in frustration. 

Lifting her fingers just enough to stop the book’s forward motion, her eyes remain locked on Dean. 

“A couple of months back. When Donna and Jody came by for game night, we started playing that drinking game that you were surprisingly awful at, and Donna kicked your ass. Sam,” she tilts her chin toward the bent head of her friend, “ended up completely wasted.” 

Dean smirks when Sam shifts in his seat but continues to avoid eye contact with either of them. Clearly, his traitor of a brother is going to be of no help with the situation. “I remember, but what’s that-”

“I mentioned I wanted to go all-out for Christmas this year,” she cuts him off, “real tree, garland, lights, gifts, the whole shebang. Sam started whining about the hassle, pine needles, the environment, blah, blah, blah. You,” the Cheshire cat grin warns him that she’s going in for the kill, “agreed to everything I wanted to do. I’m pretty sure it was just to annoy Sam, but I have witnesses to your compliance.”

“Well,” he shrugs, “I changed my mind.” He knows he might be pushing back a bit too hard. The low growl she emits gives away her growing frustration. He also knows that he’s being unfair. The night in question, he’d been mesmerized listening to her explain how she wanted to transform the bunker into a winter wonderland. Excitement and hope had started to weave their way into his heart, and he began to believe they could have something normal or, at least, something close to it. Maybe he could have the apple pie life he’d always wished for but never believed he’d get.

In the days following, though, that hope started to dim. Sam seemed content with completing his goal of cataloging every single artifact in the bunker, digitizing all the paper files, and doing less hunting. Dean figured he’d found a new girl, too, as Sam’s thinly veiled excuses of three-day ‘healthy lifestyle’ seminars and serial killer movie theater marathons were lame. Now that Nic had more time to devote to jewelry making, her business had taken off, and she’d been occupied with creating pieces and running her online store.

Which meant Dean had a lot of empty time on his hands. Time to think about what he wanted to do with his life …the life he never thought he deserved or would get to live. What is his purpose now?

It left him feeling unsettled and lost—angry at himself. He doesn’t want to burden Nic with his issues. She’s dealt with them enough over the years, and now that things are going well for her, he doesn’t want to damper her happiness. Yet, here he is doing just that, and he can’t seem to stop himself or keep the anger in check.

“You were so excited when Mrs. Butters manifested Santa’s workshop in here. I thought that you might want to see the bunker decked out like that again.”

“Yeah, well, you know how that almost ended. So, no, I don’t want any reminders of it.”

Narrowing her eyes, she taps her fingers on the calendar as she straightens. A shift in her features indicates she’s going to try a different approach. “What about the beauty of the holiday? The wonder and excitement of it all.” Her smile is sweet and soft. “The spirit of giving. People coming together, helping one another.”

“They should do that every day,” he scoffs, taking a large gulp of his drink. “Not just one day a year.”

“I don’t disagree with that,” she nods, “but I thought that since this is our first year without an apoco-”

“Don’t say it!” he warns, pointing a finger. It’s probably a silly superstition, but it just doesn’t need to be put out there for the universe to hear. 

She holds her hands up in surrender, “Okay, not saying it! I just thought we could make something of the holiday for a change.” 

“Do what you want, but I won’t be participating.”

Nic jolts at the near-defiant stare Dean aims at her, anger rising to meet his. “You-” she huffs, chest heaving and hands clenching into fists, “you’re a- a …bad banana.” 

“A what, now?” Dean asks, brows knitted together, and lips pursed.

“You know,” she sweeps a hand in the air between them, “a greasy black peel …heart an empty hole …seasick crocodile ...“

Sam snorts, and Dean swears the temperature in the room drops ten degrees as she turns a cold glare to his brother. “Are you calling him a Grinch?” Sam’s smirk is large until he raises his head to face her. Happy to have her anger diverted from him, if only briefly, Dean chokes down the laugh bubbling in his throat as Sam’s eyes widen and fear creeps into his features.

“You think this is funny? I’m trying to bring a little joy back into our lives.”

“Uh, well …it was kind of … “ Sam finally shuts up under the intensity of her stare.

Dean draws her attention, clearing his throat. “Remember the year you got poison ivy from that Christmas tree farm while tracking a pack of werewolves? Or the year you bought that cheap mangled tree hoping to liven up the crappy motel we were stuck in and it ended up being full of stick bugs? Or what about the year that Sam and I were almost ritualistically sacrificed? Nothing good happens for us at Christmas.”

Narrowing her eyes, Nic forcefully shoves the calendar back in his direction and declares, “We’ll see about that!” briskly walking away and leaving Dean to choose between saving his drink from being spilled or letting the book slide off the table. He chooses his drink, cringing when a stiff cardboard corner pokes him in the gut.

A distant door slams a few moments later, and Sam gives a low whistle. “You should go after her.”

“Nope. I learned my lesson a few years back. She needs time to cool down. You know that.”

“Would it really be so bad to have some kind of celebration? You know how much she loves this time of year,” Sam attempts to initiate a concession.

“You want to participate in all that commercialized crap? Go ahead, but the two of you can leave me out of it.” Dean snatches the half-empty bottle of whiskey and his glass from the table as he stands, letting the countdown calendar fall to the floor without a glance as he storms out of the room.

Next

Love Me Some Pie tag list:

@akshi8278 // @asgoodasdancingqueen // @calaofnoldor // @compresshischest09 // @deanwanddamons // @flamencodiva // @idreamofplaid // @jerkbitchidjitassbutt // @justrealizedimmascifygurl // @michellethetvaddict // @mvdeanw // @shawnie74 // @siospins2 // @thinkinghardhardlythinking // @thoughts-and-funnies // @waynes-multiverse // @wayward-and-worn // @waywardbaby // @weepingwillowphoenix

[panemsfakenews]

My favourite headcanon that I have for The Hunger Games is that while well known and established religions (i.e., Christianity) possibly no longer exists in Panem, new age and joke religions somehow managed to persist and flourish into legitimate faiths.

I’m sure religion still exists in Panem, but it’s probably not that mainstream, Christianity probably even less so since there’s not much that ever alludes to it in text. The closest indicator we get that Christianity might still be a thing is when Katniss and Peeta and co. are in (I believe) District 11 and there’s a mural or something in the justice building of what Katniss describes as (and I’m paraphrasing here) “fat babies with wings.” To most readers it’s probably obvious that these fat, winged babies are cherubs. But Katniss doesn’t seem to know that. This suggests that either A.) Religions, especially Christianity which currently dominates North America, no longer exist and this building is old as fuck, or B.) Religions do still exist but Christianity no longer dominates, but may still be popular in D11, but also since districts are cut off from each other it may be much more underground or even nonexistent in other districts such as D12.

My headcanon aligns with option B.

Now, since I’ve established my thinking, just imagine it.

Two tributes are allies in the arena, one ally is killed but the other survives. The survivor looks down at their fallen ally and gives a slight bow. “May the Force be with you,”* they say before sadly walking away.

Once a year in District 4, near early fall, everyone dons a special hat, a sacred spaghetti strainer,** and greets their neighbours with a cheerful “ahoy, matey!”***

Or even a young Tigris, bogged down and exhausted from working so hard to keep food on the table and having to keep the Snows’ poverty a secret, turns to a lesser known and relatively unpopular religion within the Capitol in seek of some sort of comfort. “The dude abides,”**** she says quietly to herself as Fabrica gives her another undignified task to complete.

Like sure, God is dead but the Flying Spaghetti Monster lives on.

* Enough people in different commonwealth countries once listed their religion as Jedi on their country’s official census, thus making “Jediism” a legal religion.

** Pasta strainers are “religious headwear” for Pastafarians. Pastafarianism is a mock religion that “worships” the Flying Spaghetti Monster.

*** Additionally, Pastafarians see pirates as “divine beings” and celebrate International Talk Like a Pirate Day which occurs annually on September 19. I thought this was fitting for D4 since they’re the fishing district and on the ocean.

**** This is a quote from the film The Big Lebowski, which inspired the mock religion Dudeism. Dudeism’s philosophy is basically “go with the flow, take a chill pill.”

***** All information can be found on each religion’s respective Wikipedia site.

[laf-outloud]

I hope it's okay to vent here for a second.

I was just watching the clip of him and JDM where they were talking about what they want to accomplish this year or whatever. And Jensen talks about wanting to do films, something outside the box. JDM makes the joke that he doesn't care what Jensen is in as long as he's sexy, Jensen responds with "Yeah, I don't think I'm going to do, like, The Whale. Well done, Brendan, but man, I don't think that's for me." JDM says no way and Jensen laughs and agrees, saying "No way!" Then he tries to soften it by saying he put his body through enough getting ready for Soldier Boy and he doesn't know how people Christian Bale can lose all of that weight and Brendan Fraser can gain all of that weight, it's so hard. JDM says yeah it's hard on your body as you get older and then Jensen makes a joke about how hard it is for him to fit into his jeans now.

Is he serious? That is not what you were thinking of, Jensen, and you realized you said something you shouldn't have because you immediately went about to explain (really justify) it. A lot of people are unhappy with the film, calling it fatphobic, but regardless it's still about someone who suffers from obesity and an eating disorder. Why the fuck would that be the first thing you would say when JDM made that joke about you being sexy?

This right here tells me all I need to know about him. How many people does he meet at these cons or see on the streets that are obese? Or who may be suffering from an eating disorder, obese or not? Everyone talks about how Jensen might have felt seeing that sign Alyssa made him hold up in her photo op, but people should be talking about how fucked up this "joke" was. If the film was about an obese woman with an eating disorder, I wonder if his fans would still laugh as hard as they did? If JDM would still laugh?

It's one thing to make a joke but when the film you're referencing (which earned Brendan an Academy Award for Best Actor by the way, something Jensen should respect if he can't scrounge up any ounce of compassion or empathy) is about something serious like this, don't be an asshole and don't make that joke. He's said some questionable things this past year and a half but wow, this takes the cake.

I got so disgusted after that and his "explanation" that I immediately closed out the clip. All I kept saying to myself is "what a fucking asshole". Like dude, while it's your body and you do whatever you want, no shame, you're getting botox and possibly fillers in your face. You're drinking alcohol nonstop and it's showing in your face. And you make that kind of comment? To impress JDM and your fans? All you did was make yourself look like an asshole. He and Danneel deserve each other and no wonder he and Misha get along so well. Let all three of them continue to work on whatever this alleged project is so it can crash and burn that much faster. Bullies, all of them. And they think they're better than everyone else and apparently better looking than everyone else, too. Newsflash...not so much. JDM is more attractive to me and he's older and not my type at all lol.

Jensen really shouldn't do cons without Jared anymore. Something tells me that joke wouldn't have been made if Jared was there or Jared would have somehow made it better because he always provides the compassion and empathy when it comes to the two of them, gold panel or main panel. And Jensen, JDM didn't laugh that hard, either. Even if he thought it was beyond hysterical, he knows not to show that publicly. Perhaps you should take some tips from him before you say something way worse at these cons to impress your fans who see you as nothing more than a sex object and get yourself cancelled. Stop being an asshole.

Thank you for letting me get that out. I hope you enjoy the rest of your night.

For reference, this happens in the Gold Panel starting at about 11:20.

Vent away, anon. It sounds like Jensen immediately thought of the most unsexy role he could think of, and came up with the Whale. And this is where Jensen will always fall short of the excellence that AAs expect from him. He's not willing to go the extra mile for a role. In fact, he even mentioned his ideal job would be a half-hour multi-cam because you only work about 8 hours a week with three weeks on, one week off because it's easy money. At least JDM mentioned his ideal jobs are anything with great writing.

In looking for this clip, I saw parts of the main panel, and then the Gold panel, and it just felt like a bunch of frat boy behavior from guys who are old enough to be past all that, from talking about what you mentioned, to laughing about how Jensen and Danneel got together (by cheating on their SO's), how it's best they stay away from home, their joking about drugs, and just the general vibe of the panels. It wasn't entertaining, it was watching grown men revel in being assholes.

Jensen tends to mirror whoever it is he has a panel with, which is why panels with Jared are so much more entertaining and heartwarming. Jared elevates the people around him, whereas Jensen, without Jared, tends to devolve.

[anjumbai]

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis – Thoughts

“… and though I can hide my cold gaze and you can shake my hand and feel flesh gripping yours and maybe you can even sense our lifestyles are probably comparable: I simply am not there.”

First of all, this is one huge book. I was skeptical of whether I should really even pick this up, will this put me in another reading slump and yada yada. Surprisingly, I managed to finish it in a very short time. The narration style and dialogues are something I found to be absolutely hilarious. Bret Easton is very crafty with the dialogues he constructs and I don’t understand how he comes up with such elaborate and funny conversations. Honestly, I’d research a little bit more about the book and the writer but there is no network in my country as I’m writing this. So yeah, giving it to you raw.

Can I talk about the movie first? I’ll talk about the movie first. I love Christian Bale. He’s one of my favorite actors, a master at his craft and worthy of respect for his diverse set of roles. His dedication to play a role is unmatched. He starred as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho and I’m glad I watched the movie first. The book is written in first person narrated by our P&P executive, working in murders and executions, Patrick Bateman. And every time I imagine a scenery with this guy, pop, it’s Christian Bale’s goofy ass acting popping up in my head and I absolutely love it. Somebody said while working with Bale that during the shoot of the film, he thought that Bale was deliberately acting horrible. He couldn’t understand why and when the movie came out, his doubts were gone. He seemed like the perfect sociopath, trying his best to fit in while being absolutely horrible at it. His deliberate bad acting just made the character Bateman come to life. It was bad acting to the point it was amazing acting. I don’t know, 10/10 for Christian Bale.

Let’s start off with the contents of the book. The book is a series of narration of the events happening in Bateman’s life and his mind by Bateman himself. There are often whole chapters dedicated to Bateman naming designer and luxury brands, describing popular music bands and their history and what their songs mean, there was even a whole chapter dedicated to his panic attacks; considering he is always high on Xanax, Velium or some other drug. Pages and pages worth of creative and witty dialogue, callbacks or just the total unhinged way of how Patrick treats everyone else when he is on bloodthirst mode. So much to highlight. So much to highlight, cause all of it is just so funny. Something like- “What is this continuing inability you have to evaluate this situation rationally?” when Patrick is being harassed by his fellow gay co-worker(who thinks Patrick loves him cause that one time he was trying to strangle him but dude thought wow Patricks in love with me) is just comedic. Or something like – “Patrick, why aren’t you looking at me?” “I’m ignoring you, Luis.” Just makes me laugh out loud. And of course, the movie. Lines from the movie written out in the book and you’re just sitting there Leonardo DiCaprio-ing all over. “He said the thing.”

All jokes aside, it was also a very clever critique of the free market. All the characters are extremely self-centered to the point of obsessive narcissism, where Pat just takes it up a notch. I don’t need to describe some of the scenes from the movie or the book because I can’t. It’s just not possible, the things Bret writes in the book, to put in a review. If you do wanna see an uncensored review, do pull up your Platinum AmEx card and sign up for my patron, where you’ll find exclusive content. Seriously, if you don’t have a Platinum AmEx card you might as well just be gutter garbage. Did I tell you that Patrick just gave me a face care routine that’ll set me back thousands of dollars but it’ll make me feel, quote, “I feel like shit but look great”?

Overall, my thoughts are all over the place and there’s nothing in particular I want to say about this book. It’s just the day to day life of a psychopath who commits heinous and gorey acts of crime, murder and what not. The book is basically him trying to fit in society while also maintaining his bloodlust. The lines “My nightly bloodlust overflowed into my days and I had to leave the city. My mask of sanity was a victim of impending slippage” sums up the book pretty well. He doesn’t necessarily leave the city all the time but rather he leaves his “I work in finance” façade behind and goes full on Ted Bundy all over the city. Graphic and gorey descriptions of his murder, torture, assault is just horrifying to even imagine. The very fact that someone thought all of this and put it in a book is gut-wrenching alone but let’s just say that the book tries to put some heartfelt moments too. Sentences like “I just want to be loved” are spoken out loud by Patrick after he, pretty graphically, cooks a part of a human body for his dinner. Words are written but not said out loud when Patrick feels love from someone. Genuine, heartfelt love that doesn’t want fame or money or anything else from Patrick, unlike every other girl he has slept with. “yet she weakens me, it’s almost as if she’s making the decision about who I am, and in my own stubborn, willful way I can admit to feeling a pang, something tightening inside, and before I can stop it I find myself almost dazzled and moved that I might have the capacity to accept, though not return, her love.” A slight attempt at humanizing a monster, I’d say. Not very successful. And I found it funny that even until the end of the book, I couldn’t tell most characters apart from one another. Just like in the movie, and I think the movie captured that essence pretty well.

Most of what you can know about the story is summed up pretty well in the movie, except that the book delves into much more comedy and, of course, gore. The movie ends at a better note in my opinion, simply because the part where the movie ends is just one of the few final chapters of the book. The movie couldn’t have done well with what the book offered as its ending and well done to the script writers for that. The book is hilarious, graphic and just a really funny mockery of materialism. It’s definitely worth a read but it does drag on without a proper goal or anything. But did I still enjoy it a lot? Yes, I did. 8/10. Hilarious and witty.

Now you know what to do when life is getting you down. Just tell yourself “You’ve got a negative attitude. That’s what’s stopping you. You need to get your act together.” Wise words, honestly.

Big ideas, guy stuff, boy meets the world, boy gets it.

[rulers-of-hungary-tournament]

ROUND 2, MATCH 5

Admin's commentary: Yes I know those pictures look way too similar, don't blame me, blame the guy who made pictures for the Johannes Turocz chronicle. And I think it's actually quite poetic, to have guys with such similar pics battle.

***

WHAT MY PROFESSOR OF MEDIEVAL HISTORY SAID ABOUT THEM

II.András (Ondrej II.) 1205-1235

on his backstory see entries for Imre and III.László, allegedly ascended the throne with the ambitions to build a "new order" - which he did, if by "new order" you mean "seeds of feudal anarchy" (buckle up kids, this one is going to be a long one, basically this dude did a lot of things and none of them well)

tried to gain support of the nobility by giving away royal land (he later came to his senses and tried to gain back at least some of it, but it was too late), and then compensated for the lost income by a series of questionable orders (special taxation, customs fees - which hurt Hungarian trade, devaluation of the coinage); all of this empowered his closest circles while also being a Bad Time for everyone else, lower nobility (or its closest equivalent in medieval Hungary) eventually got fed up with his sheneningans and forced him to issues the Golden Bull of Andrew II., a document entrenching the privileges of all nobility regardless of wealth (freedom from taxation, right to rise up against the king if he doesn't respect their rights etc.), many consider this the real beginings of nobility in Hungary (privileged classes of course existed before, but only the Golden Bull unified them under one label)

the three aims of his foreign policy were keeping good relations with the Byzantines (which he doesn't seem to have failed particullarly badly in), gain the throne of Galicia (which he did get part of in an agreement with Leszek, duke of Poland - don't know which one exactly) and go on a crusade to the Holy Land (which was an unmitigated disaster, basically he left for a while and when he returned, the country was in shambles)

he also settled the Teutonic Order in Hungary and gave them various privileges, hoping to use them to protect the country against Cuman raids, but then they started causing trouble and act as a state within the state, so in the end he was also the one who kicked them away

he did a couple of good things too, like settle more Saxons in Hungary, welcome mendicant orders into the country and so on, but honestly these things pale in comparison with his numerous fuckups

IV.László (Ladislav IV.) 1272-1290

during his reign the start of oligarchy - basically, the nobles do whatever the fuck they want and the king can't do anything about it, @rulers-of-poland-tournament might find this situation familiar; not really his fault, at least at first, since he was a kid at the time of his ascencion to the throne, but the guy died at 27, so you'd think he would at least try to do something about it

that "something" being befriending Cumans (nomadic non-christian people from the steppes), to the point that he's literally called "The Cuman"

boy really thought he had something there, huh. that he'll use these steppe warriors against the nobility. even if he pissed off the pope for consorting with the Cumans. instead the pissed off pope put a pressure on him to either christianise the Cumans or kick them out. and then he was murdered when drinking with his favourite steppe people (whether BY said steppe people is not clear from my notes).

also there was a second, lesser-known Mongol invasion of Hungary during his reign, honestly it was kind of a shitshow

[meganwasbored]

The Dragon Prince Thoughts Season 3 Episodes 3 and 4

Episode 3

-I’m sorry I know what Rayla’s parents did is probably a huge deal in Xadia but she had the audacity to say that she wishes her parents were dead when the boys are literally orphans now

-woah Callum that’s cultural appropriation cancelled

-“have you had a change of heart”

“No, but there’s something I want to tell you that might change your heart”

You see to me this came off as a burn but then you remember it’s Ezran and he’s probably being sincere

-Ezran being half Prince Kasef’s height is funny but also Kasef is a jerk and I want him to either go home or die because I can’t stand his attitude anymore

-who’s this dude and what’s he up to

-cuties

-I was literally smiling and giggling at my phone like a 6th grade girl because of how cute that scene was but now it’s ruined because apparently she’s a ghost???

-“Soren could’ve died!”

“That doesn’t matter!”

I’d say what I think of you but as a Christian woman I don’t even feel comfortable typing the words that are in my head right now

-we’re gonna ask Runaan? Is he not the one that is inside a coin as we speak?

-well that was sad, but I saw it coming

-we already knew Amaya had guts but dangggg

-also the fire elf lady almost looked like she felt bad that the queen is going to kill Amaya

-“he’s gone because you abandoned them” she’s a CHILD what the heck was she supposed to do that the other assassins couldn’t do

-“Claudia, did you really think I would ask him to do such a thing? Surely you know your brother is… easily confused” it’s the gaslighting for me

-he’ll really take any opportunity to insult Soren that he can get

-I swear if one more person makes Soren feel stupid

-oh this dude again

-he addressed Viren with respect and called him High Mage so obviously he’s in on all this

-“my heart goes out with this one”

“I promise I will return your heart to you”

imagine your otp

-if the literal fire elves can’t look at the light how is she supposed to

-we’re just gonna ignore the fact that it is humanly impossible for her to still be able to see at all ever again after that

-runaan’s flower isn’t all the way down which means they have to be freeing him from the coin eventually, I’m holding them to that

Episode 4

-bruh it literally just started and I already had to watch the pretty message bird die (ik it’s not actually alive but it screeched in pain when it was hit and that hurt me)

-big feelings time, that’s freaking adorable but also I’d rather die than unload my thoughts on someone else that’s what tumblr is for

-Zym: “uh oh mom and dad are fighting”

Look at his FACE

-bro literally what’s stopping you from going to war on Xadia without Katolis he never tried to stop you he just said that Katolis would not be a part of it you have three armies why would you waste valuable time and resources fighting with us

-also what does that have to do with Viren

-WHAT THE ACTUAL HECK

-there isn’t any connection I just wanted to point out that Nyx is the ancient goddess and personification of night in Greek mythology

-it’s giving “hey little girl I’m your mom’s friend just get in this car and I’ll take you to her *wink wink*”

-obviously we don’t want people to die but just as many, probably more, people will die if we do what the Prince Kasef wants but then it will be doing something that we don’t even believe in, he brought other armies into your kingdom without permission and they all want to attack you right now why can’t we just attack them now?

-I just reread that and realized it makes no sense but it’s 1 am and I can’t think of another way to word it so good luck ig

-just want to acknowledge how pretty this giant giraffe/camel is

-this poor kid is going through the biggest ethical dilemma of his life because one man with the attitude of a toddler didn’t like being told no

-literally who even is this dude and what game is he playing

-I’m probably supposed to remember what the boomerang has to do with this but I’m drawing a blank

-why can’t we just let Bait be happy

-everything here is just so pretty all the time

-#1 rayllum shipper at the moment

-so like he’s still trapped in the mirror…but not? Even if this this is like a ghost of his body and the real one is still in the mirror, if his brain or soul or whatever you want to call it can go outside of the mirror, is he really trapped at all?

-now the question is, is she making this face because she thinks they’re cute, or because she’s about to do something shifty and is glad that they’re leaving

(edit: that was sarcasm but i just realized that that isn’t clear at all over text, obviously i know she’s up to something)

-y’all stop being so ominous and tell me what you’re going to do

-UHHHHHHHH

-WHAT THE HECK DID HE DO

-ARE THEY REALLY PUTTING A CHILD IN JAIL BECAUSE HE DIDNT WANT PEOPLE TO DIE

-VIREN IS JUST MAGICALLY NOT GUILTY NOW???

-IM SLOW I ACTUALLY DONT GET IT WHY ARE THEY PUTTING HIM IN JAIL

-OH GREAT NOW IM ABOUT TO GET A RAYLLUM SCENE BUT I CANT EVEN ENJOY IT BECAUSE EZRAN IS IN FREAKING PRISON FOR NO REASON???

-he really just went on a whole rant to a girl about how incredible she is and got surprised when she kissed him

-Callum you’re a freaking idiot

-you see I should be giggling at my phone like a 6th grade girl again rn but there’ll be time for that later because Ezran is in JAIL for NO REASON

-Nyx kidnapped Zym didn’t she, I feel like she’s someone who would do that

-WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO ME

[changlingrune]

I had that time to thankfully explore my sexuality relatively safely my friends. my pearents at first where a complete other story but they grew to except me for who I am … mostly.

when I was younger I thought I might be bisexual because I didn’t have a preference I was like eh I must be this. I dated both a guy and girl during this time but it felt meh.

Then I heard about pansexual and thought huh maybe I’m this.

But when I dated further I felt no sexual drive no romantic drive (I didn’t know the terms at the time) I honestly thought I was broken for some reason. I had many friends who were in relationships and were love dovey kissing making out and I’m just like ehhhh??

My last relationship was with a lovely dude in college he was my first snog and I felt mildly disgusted afterwards and okay it probably would have been better if I didn’t get a mouth of his spit in my mouth but it had highlighted the fact i didn’t like anything sexual.

I was 17 when I first found the word asexual and all I could think was I’m not broken and then while searching that I came across aromantic and went yes this is me! Turns out I’m on the border of sex neutral/sex repulsed

I finally figured out what I was and turns out my two of my other friends were ace as well which was wonderful intill i tried to tell my parents.

Now my parents had excepted my “attraction to other genders” after a while my dad being Christian and very set in his views and my mum very old fashioned it took a while but they got there but when I told them I was ace and aromantic I don’t think they understood my mum tells me it’s a phase and that I just need to find the right man or woman for me hell she’s more accepting if I was trans more then being ace and aro it’s kinda funny cause I’ve come out as Agender and she doesn’t get it actually and I’m just ehhhhh.

But yeah I’m really glossing over most of the stuff but what I’m trying to say is yeah even some other people I’ve worked with and other people I’ve known for years have turned around and gone that’s not a real thing you can’t not be attracted to people and try to catch me out.

Like do you think this persons hot and I’m like sure they are aesthetically pleasing and their like ha caught u out and I’m like no because it’s the same thing at looking at a painting and going oh it’s beautiful.

Or the fact I’ve had people ask me quite readily what do I do sex wise and ask if I get horny and I’m like *sigh* yes I have a high libido I get horny and they started asking intrusive questions about it and what do I do about it (this conversation happened at work but I work at a large bar and they did this just after the dinner rush so there were a few people in and they were loud so I got a lot of stares )

It two of the regulars they had originally asked for just definitions of all the types of sexuality but then asked about mine so trying to spread ace and aro knowledge let them ask and then it got very pointed they are two older mean one I know as is pervert but generally okay the other one is usually realy nice but it was the perverted one who respecters my boundaries telling the other one to shut up when he got intrusive. it got to the point I had to ask one of them to leave for the night as he was starting to get really intrusive and personal and I was getting really uncomfortable.

But yeah shits real fucked up

Its so fucked up that the ace community experienced so much (and I don't use this lightly) trauma at the hands of other lgbt people and no one fucking addresses it

[0thsense]

8/8/2023

It's my birthday tomorrow. Everybody has left the south bay now. Martin, Reggie, Alex are all gone. I guess Steve is still here but he doesn't really hang out with us, or rather me anymore. I don't really know what to type here, as I haven't been thinking too intensely about too many things. The times when I'm doing worse are the times I'm more intensely in thought, so I guess I fail at thinking positively.

Anyways, I'll be 28 American years old tomorrow. My 27th year was better than my 26th year I guess. Definitely still in my bottom 5 years overall but hey its the first upward year in a long time. Maybe since college. I've managed to keep up gym and I've even started running which is slightly surprising. It's good because who knows what may have happened if I wasn't able to keep up gym. I'm planning to run my first 5 miler tomorrow. I have to wake up in the morning because I'll be eating with my family in the evening up in SF, mostly out of a feeling of obligation. I wonder if they know. I'm letting the fact that I'm not being lazy on my birthday feel symbolic.

One thing I've been telling myself is that I'm god's strongest soldier. Obviously that's not actually true, but motivationally it helps. It's one of those things that there's no harm in believing in the moment, and it brings me joy. Speaking of another thing that brings me joy, Lily and I agreed to go climbing sometime soon. She's willing to come down from SF for me, and seems genuinely interested in hanging out with me. I need to keep my mindset that I'm just trying to be there for her, though it seems I overestimated how depressed she was. Well, better safe than sorry.

I visited Yan a couple weeks ago along with Gerald. It was a spur of the moment thing, and the flight was expensive as a result. I honestly felt a little pressured into going. We did a lot of activities involving physical exertion and also hung out with his church buddies a lot. Yan is super into the culture there it seems. His lifestyle as a chad in NC honestly bothered me a little bit. He has more pride and ego than I remember and also some strong ideals about what it means to be a man, which I don't really agree with. I may be making judgments too hastily but I was disappointed at his treatment of Jeremy, a dude in his small group who seemed a little autistic. I wasn't able to express this to him. At the same time I'm glad he's obviously doing well for himself out there. According to society, I probably have no authority to judge someone who's found a lifestyle that works for them.

My next step should almost certainly be to make my sleep schedule really consistent. I'd like to sleep at 1-2am every day. The deadline for working on the game is fast approaching. I have less than 4 months left, and I've told too many people about the new york deadline. Sigh... I certainly have some mental block about coding. When I open the IDE my mood instantly sinks. I had the strange idea of treating coding like working out, doing reps of opening the IDE lmao.

Wow I thought this post would be short because I didn't feel like I had much to write about but here we are. I went to Ralph's wedding last weekend. It made me realize I've made a mistake, choosing the jolly group over Ralph's group. I just respect Ralph's close circle so much more these days than the people in jolly. They are more considerate and more secure, and jolly isn't even dank anymore. At the end of the day jolly has now devolved into a bunch of individuals who are either troubled or successful but unkind people. Obviously this is a bit of a generalization. Maybe I wasn't good enough to join Ralph's group anyways, or maybe the grass is always greener on the other side. I might as well try though, since jolly in the south bay is pretty much dead.

Finally there's the issue of getting more involved with Austin's church. Unfortunately my experiences visiting Yan have turned me off even more from Christianity, but I really haven't given Austin's church a fair chance. The demographics are obviously very different so maybe it'll be a better fit, though so far my instinct tells me it's only a small chance. It'll give me something to do I guess.

[mrbigbrother]

A word of encouragement to Lindsay Ellis

good evening Lindsey Ellis, I hope this letter finds you in good health. I am the opposite of everything you likely ever believed in. I lean right from the center, i don't like anything or anybody, I'm not a published author, my youtube channel is small and it sucks.

I am unfunny, not good looking,have a cringe sense of humor, not exceptionally good at a certain skill, not relatable, and take myself way too seriously.

But here i am writing you this public letter. And it's something that I would like to do more of because there are a few youtubers that i have some condolences to give over the death of what was, and a word of encouragement to what can still be, and still is. so let's get into it.

Lindsey Ellis, even if the likelihood of you actually taking time to read this in its entirety is slim, it will still be here. it has been one hell of a ride huh? I remember your time on that website that we do not talk about anymore and should not be named but it rhymes with Flannel Possum. Those were the days huh! at least before the dark times. of course for some, those were the dark times. But this isn't about rehashing the past. No, it's about moving forward. I just wanted to make clear that I have followed your content from the very beginning. I was an angsty teenager who could recite whole George Carlin stand ups from memory in those days, and it was kind of nice hearing others echoing the same sort of "i wasn't born with enough middle fingers" kind of attitude that got me through those times. I feel very much the same still. Yet more humble. the post-cvid world feels like it's 100 years away from the year 2019, when i had stumbled upon Lindsey's channel and recognized her as "hey it's the Nostalg…"

sorry.

It was a good feeling after the whole #changethechannel. I was gearing up to try and start pursuing writing, and I found the publishing videos you made to be among my favorites that i often still refer to when navigating that labyrinth.

Addressing the bullshit: I mean, i liked the Hobbit movies. I don't think Jk Rowling is a bad person. (she just wrote bad books that I don't understand why adults read them.) So there are plenty of times that I would disagree with you, even strongly on various matters. But you don't have to agree with every opinion someone might have. King Diamond once said that even Christians and Satanists can be just as good of friends if they wanted. And that's what i live by. I'll always hear you out and try to see it from your perspective. And at the very least show respect for it. that is the complete opposite of the current age of discourse.

You were bullied off of the internet for no discernibly good reason. There isn't a good enough reason to do that. Not over an opinion. At this point, Twitter is the fucking Antichrist. It did just like an antichrist would: it connected us all. Now we're receiving the mark of the beast, and the world nears catastrophic doom as we march toward the canyon looking down at our digital tombs, plunging us deeper into the comforts of a new dark age…people need to get off of the internet and just live fucking life.

And Lindsey, I will always, always, respect your decision to do just that. Because this shit is really ruining lives dude. Goddamn, the best thing we ever created is now killing us. Who'da thought right?

The bullshit that you were put through happened and there is no undoing it. There is no need to undo it. You just need to embrace the haters that come from all directions. from the angry incels that stalk your channel, to all of the other angry left wing incels that turned on you the minute they smelled blood in the water, because that's all these self righteous people are: They are the kind that don't get laid and have lots of anger and resentment that ultimately leads to them eating each other, and even eating at themselves. (insert clip of orson welles shark monologue from Lady From Shanghai.)

And i am sorry Lindsey. I mourn with you. It wasn't your fault. Twitter is a lot like The Lottery by Shirley Jackson: It was just your turn fam. Everyone who watches your channel (your real audience), all know what your convictions are and how much they mean to you. But the wounded animal that you tried to help, can and will only bite and maw you to shreds if it can. Its brutal. It's not fair. and it's the truth.

so, where does that leave us, as in you and the audience that I speak for…it leaves us in the same place we are always going to be found at: at our desks and work benches, typing our lives away and shaking our heads at the melodrama in the same damn spirit of George Carlin, Harlan Ellison (and for me) my grandmother who too held her middle fingers up to this world before she died. Only if we are up to it.

the world doesn't get better. you get better.

And Lindsey, from one Tennessee borne to another: I might not be saying this with the right words so forgive me, I'm just a stranger who gets a kick out of your work on my beloved YouTube, that i have had to watch fall into the same spammy soulless content it always does. But your career is an interesting one. Youtube is a lot more interesting, with you in it.

But hey, What do i know. I'm just another late twenties asshole that will linger around who ever will have me until i'm told to fuck off. And the people who dogpiled on you with their unearned moral superiority, just like they have so many others…well you sure told them to fuck off, and that takes a big pair of proverbial balls. That's what I respect. And my word of encouragement to you, is that I genuinely miss your channel and i am not the only one; There's a lot more people who miss you too.

I'm not asking you to come back. But if and when I see you at it again, it will put a smile on my face. (thanos vibe)

From a Fan, and a friend, I wish you well Lindsey Ellis.

coughnostalgiachickcough

Ta Ta - Jake

[samevans-wmu]

Sam's feeling all kinds of good now he's back within Frannie's orbit. It's not like he can't go on without living whenever they're apart but he did really, really like whenever they were together. He dreaded her move out but got the reasons behind it. Encouraged it even because her future and image are very important things, the kind he respects. They could fool themselves and say they'll be good Christians who don't mess around but....who are they kidding? Even standing here Sam's itching to slide a hand underneath Frannie's oversized sweater to feel at the smooth skin on her hip. And if he brought her in close enough he might even smell whatever lotion she used after her evening shower.

All those happy thoughts were dashed to the ground at the Slender Man mention. There's a noticeable chill and Sam said, "Fran. That's one of those dudes I never, ever, ever want to cross paths with. He scares the shit out of me." He's serious, too. Yeah, yeah, it was a creepypasta meme and not real but fuck. You just don't know! It took a moment for Sam to see Frannie's smile and realized she's toying with him. Sam leant in and gave her a little tickle on the side. "You had me going there." he laughed and kissed her cheek again. It felt nice to have this with someone. To be open with it, too.

Back to the blankets Sam quieted his brain long enough to follow Frannie's instructions. Her hands moved his and he tried to focus on the task and not at the way her hair moved over her shoulder whenever she did any sort of movement. How does she get her hair that soft? He snapped out of it and returned to the blanket and attempted to fold one the way she showed. It...it didn't turn out exactly like hers and you can tell which was hers and which was his. Sam shook it out and tried again. "I think you're gonna be the blanket folder. And if a fitted sheet ever crosses my path I hope you don't die from how I just ball it up and toss it into the closet." He warned before laughing. Sam tried the blanket once more while Frannie surveyed the clipboard. His 4th attempt at the blanket looked better than the last 3 and Sam placed it into the box.

"Yeah? Then lets get out of the way. I can unload it and repack it, too. I've been rummaging around in it and things are kinda sticking into my back whenever I wear it around." He admitted. After Frannie did a final clipboard check he took her hand and guided her to a corner. "For real though, now it's just you and me for the most part. How you holding up with all of this?"

Being so publicly affectionate was definitely...new, and Frannie couldn't help the soft smile that rested upon her lips as the two of them pulled away from the embrace. It was a refreshingly new feeling, and the kind of feeling that released a nervous flurry of butterflies in her stomach. And his response to her statement made Frannie chuckle for the first time in what must have been hours. "Yes, actually." She responded, grinning, nodding along to Sam's make-believe story equally as dramatically. "You're all alone in your dorm. There could be so many possibilities of what could've happened to you. Have you even heard of SlenderMan before? He thrives upon the darkness. I'm sure the minute he spotted your muscles, he'd absolutely want to gobble you up." Although her words were spoken with an air of drama to them, Frannie's grin hopefully gave away that she was absolutely kidding. Her gaze flew down to where Sam's hands were now joining with hers, forming a new rhythm and flow of organising the blankets, and she couldn't help feel grateful for the support. Even if Sam's folding of the blankets wasn't totally the right way she had been previously folding them. It still meant a lot to her. What could she say? She's a perfectionist.

"Here, let me show you." Frannie reached out to gently take the blanket from Sam's hands, letting her fingers lace with his momentarily before removing them with the blanket, too. "Usually I try to fold them as small as possible so that we can fit as many as we can inside of the boxes." She explained, folding the blanket slowly for Sam to see before giving a small smile. "I'm a little bit of a perfectionist. I'm sorry in advance." Leaning over, she gave Sam a small peck on the cheek as an apology - she was well aware that she could be...a little particular, at times. Handing Sam the blanket back again, she turned to the side, glancing down at the clipboard to her side and taking a pencil out of the side of her ear. "You know, I think we've actually got most things sorted. And I'm now incredibly curious about this survival pack. I'd love to see what you've brought with you."

[eruverse]

A bit of family history, but one reason I ship Kazakhstan and Mongolia is that my own great-grandparents were Buddhist-Muslim combo and I'm a Muslim who's pretty sentimental abt Buddhism. Might be from the ancient Chinese dramas I watched as a kid tho. Not that I think Mongolia is strictly Buddhist -- dude looks like a Mongol person who readily adopts Buddhist influences and respects the religion, but isn't strictly one himself? Or a syncretic form of faith? (Gotta research more, my own monotheistic glasses prob are still a bit confused lol. But syncretic form of faiths are most common everywhere).

Funnily none of my great-grandparents' descendants went on to be Buddhist. Most are Muslims, some became Christian and Hindu, but none Buddhist lol. My great-grandpa himself was a Chinese-Javanese, and I think the Buddhism he practiced was brought from mainland China some way or another. Once upon a time, I honestly thought Buddhism was from China, lol.

[karanoid]

about top joe discord

LET ME ADDRESS A FEW POINTS:

There has been many fear and anxiety regardless the top!joe discord I made. I understand how it gives my discord a bad reputation. Somebody has kindly reached out to me to ask me addressing several points, which I’m now gonna clarify:

1. I am racist, I asked why, and they said mostly because of my dismissive behavior to people who called me out for drawing yusuf adorned in gold jewelry which made their friends feel unsafe. So, I am a muslim and was raised in a muslim household and community. I am fucking brown.

I didn’t say it because you don’t need to know that about me. What bothers me is how some people feel the need to come to my inbox informing me “maam yusuf is a religious muslim who prays 5 times a day and do all the supplementary prayers all while he drinks alcohol and fuck nicky in the dailies, he wouldnt be wearing gold maam no maam.” as if I didn’t know any better. so please, now don’t do that. If you care so much about the littlest details like wearing gold then you’ll also call out yusuf because he draws living beings and drinks champagne. yes it’s true muslim men are forbidden from wearing gold AND silk but let’s not forget, nothing in the comic and movies imply yusuf has ever been religious. It’s easier to see nicolo as religious because he was a fucking priest. Yusuf was a fucking merchant, it’s easy to see that he’d be less faithful because he would have been travelling and seen many kind of people to broaden his horizons and not contained to a little bubble of hyper religious community. However, let me remind you: whether yusuf AND nicolo are religious or not is entirely UP TO THE AUTHOR/ARTIST. It’s totally fine to make him religious and if you can respect it THATS GREAT, I ALSO LIKE HIM THAT WAY, but please remember it’s not even canon and hey sometimes I just draw things because I like the aesthetics. Also please, do not harass writers for getting a thing or two incorrect, even white people cannot get christianity correct, even between two muslims could be a disagreement whether this fic’s yusuf is problematic or not. I wouldn’t even expect anything more and THAT’S OKAY. Just don’t be an ass to muslims of color in real life and don’t fall into the believe that it’s a religion of violence. you can say that greg made him that way bc he knew nothing better but hey, I have no problem with that. again, it’s fine to make him religious, I’d be delighted but it’s ALSO fine to make him not religious.

2. I think that people only write Top!Nicky out of political correctness. OKAY. I apologize for this. I thought like this because I have accounts telling me that they were pressured into writing top!nicky or they wanted more readerships so I make a BIG assumption. I realized this is only a small part of switch and top!nicky fics and the big bulk of this must be out of genuine care. So yeah, I apologize for thinking that people only write top!nicky out of political correctness. I think writers should be allowed to write whatever they want. Yes this includes top!Nicky. And in whatever kinks they want it. However, this still doesn’t change that the discourses do scare people away from writing top!joe. Write top!nicky however you want, but stop vague-blogging about top!joe. racism isn’t inherent to top!joe and you can always remind people to be mindful with their writings but discouraging people from writing top!joe is not the solution. 

3. Top!joe is racist and people in the discord are racist. Okay, I am gonna touch several aspects why top!joe discord is considered racist: (1) because I don’t like to switch them, therefore I am racist. Sorry that’s not how it works. I have a clear preference and that’s just how I roll. Besides, a lot of people in the discord (including me) think either they switch (because they are 900 yo) or joe just doesn’t like bottoming. I’m not the kind of people who refers to reality for fiction I consume but people who prefer to top or to bottom exist (2) i want to be away from accountability and responsibility. Nope. The reason I made it is because I wanted to gather people with same interest as mine. 

4. I paint Yusuf as aggressive and the whole discord like him being an aggressive top. I think this is the only reason why the discord is seen in a negative light. Because wow what a coincidence that someone vagueblogged my discord at the day I celebrated about Nicky suggesting 20 years and wrote a post about how Joe is allowed to be angry. And beside someone made the WRONG assumption that we are focusing on Joe’s anger and violence (what). Okay, I don’t know how to break this down. But I will try. First, yes I was overjoyed at the news. Because I’m one of the people that do not like feral!nicky headcanon. I liked it at first bc it was funny but then it was twisted into Nicky being cold. So I don’t like it (lol), I still like it though but like I don’t seriously think that way. However, I never liked the idea that Nicky suggested higher than Joe. Because then his character just doesn’t click with me, there was a cognitive dissonance for me because joe clearly says nicky’s heart overflows kindness, you can see nicky as a medic in the credit montage. Also, from their body language and from the way the movie set em up, I think Joe is the one who suggested higher and I am glad to be proven right. Second, I did write a post about how Joe is allowed to be angry at Booker. People agreed with me, so I was not alone. But the reason I wrote that post is not because I wanted to paint yusuf as aggressive, but because I’m tired at people who think Joe shouldn’t display any negative emotions. I think it’s out of character. I do NOT think Joe is aggressive. That is NOT his wholeass personality. If you looked at my tog art tag, never once I portrayed Joe as anything aggressive. If I do, please show me. Third, people are conflating this with my post where I reblogged with a comment that implies aggressive Joe isn’t racism. Okay in this, the context is IN BED. It’s Joe being aggressive in BED. It’s literally BED ROLES AND FANTASY. I don’t even have a particular scenario in my head when I reblogged that, the original post clearly refers to bed roles with manhandling and kinks etc. like, why would you spank someone in public? Lastly, about the discord, NOPE, most people in the discord agree that Joe is either a GENTLE DOM or SERVICE TOP. But in my opinion, if someone likes Joe as an aggressive top (again, bed roles baby) I really don’t think it’s racism. It’s just... projection? 

anyway, back to joe’s emotions, these are posts from a moroccan man (paragraph #7) and a brown woman whose posts I agree with. Let’s be real, people of color are expected to shut up in favor of white people’s fragile feelings.

Now, about racism in fandom. I understand the concern because muslim men are painted as violent and aggressive. You know what I will never forgive those radicals for taking away innocents lives and to leave a lasting damage in how muslims are perceived in the west. However, you have to keep in mind, Joe in the movie is far from being stereotyped. I mean, Gina and Marwan practically greenlit him? Now, you might have concerns that writers are gonna turn him into a walking stereotype which is... okay, I understand that concern. But the solution is to communicate this ‘hey I think you make him too stereotypical in this etc etc’ not “write more top!nicky AND shame top!joe” because again, top!joe is not inherently racist.

also some people mentioned that they hope I recognize racial bias in the ship. dude, that goes without saying, all aspects of your life will be influenced by racial biases. however, this kind of thing is not specific to fandom/shipping. Like I said I’m fucking brown, friends and families with facial features that cater to white expectation are treated better. I did say at the bottom of this post, yeah I did notice why it’s always a brown character who’s always openly mad. And that’s in itself a form of racial bias. Racial biases affect everyone, white or POC, it doesn’t matter. But I got an issue with how people think this is racism. like how convenient, if by falling to racial biases mean you are a racist then what about those white people who created this racial biases in the first place? and I noticed the persons who got the audacity to cry about everything in this fandom is white?? I mean okay, they don’t know what I am, but not everyone is comfortable with sharing their private information like ethnic group, faith, etc. what if they really don’t want to share it? Because like you said, racial bias, whether good or bad will affect me. Now, I don’t know what white people are feeling, I’m not white. However, based on my interactions with them. We’re all just people sharing same interest, it could be they fall into racial biases, but all we shared about are just regular HCs. Even people making a conscious effort to combat racial bias still in essence fall for racial bias. You just cannot escape it.

According to this post, fandom assumes that the bottom is the proxy of writers, I don’t think this is applicable to everyone but let’s just say it’s true and people tend to write about their projection better so I’m gonna assume the racism part comes from the fact that..yeah I do think the bottom usually gets more fleshed out as a result of them being the writers proxy, so somebody posted this in the discord which I agree because yes I do think there’s a lack about yusuf’s background especially when it comes to crusade era:

but since I know most writers aren’t muslims, to me it’s not so much about racism but they simply know nothing about it, and not always out of ignorance either but in this climate, if you get a thing or two wrong you’d get harassed. so *shrugs* I understand the reluctancy. But here’s the thing, this is not about top/bottom issue but because most of the fandom are white so they have more freedom in writing the white character. Anyway, plenty of people have projected themselves into yusuf already, the whole “top/bottom” thing in this fandom is not even a thing. Yes, some writers project on the bottom so if you prefer bottom!joe that’s fine, somebody in the discord is doing a research and it turned out top!joe wasn’t even a CLEAR majority in JULY. So clearly they got their share already?

so please, let’s stop with the vitriol. if people are preferring top!joe it’s clearly because of different preferences. it’s not that deep. it’s the same way with how some people are preferring top!nicky. But we’re being driven out based on a hypothetical scenarios? like what do you want? for us to cease existing??? don’t be ridiculous.

I know people won’t listen to me. So this is my suggestion: LETS JUST IGNORE THINGS YOU DON’T LIKE. LET’S ALL JUST AGREE TO DISAGREE.