#and yes: americans are loud and annoying about what happens in media and it's fine to be fed up with them

[freevoidman]

Not tge submissiin srender

I cant say i know of any police force or anything like it that doesn't have corruption. They are all prone to it.

But not all are as bad as in america. There are some places where the police in general are alot more trust worthy, and corruption and horrible people are dealt with better.

So in some places its not nearly as much of an issue because its not so out of control like it is in america. Its not seen as evil to become a police officer, and depending on the circumstances i guess they actually do their job properly and dont causebso much trouble.

Then theres the part where its just fantasy. Alot of people like reading about police actually being good people, whether its for the action and crime solving, or because its nice to pretend and think about how life would be if police were good. Americans take this as some sort of "pro-police propaganda" when all it is, is a fantasy.

Yeah, I'm not denying that some countries have less/handle corruption better than in America. But at the same time, making a blanket statement of "other countries don't have the same pesky problems with corruption" kind of undermines that entire point.

Like, I'm fully aware that other countries have better relationships with the police than in America. That doesn't mean that there are no other countries in which cops are not corrupt or violate human rights besides America. We see this all the time in Britain, France, and Hong Kong with their recent protests. I feel like this is a really boiled down argument of "America has some of the worst known racism in the world!" while other countries are just as racist, it's just that America is, arguably, the most vocal about said racism.

I think, no matter what media you watch, it's going to be colored by your personal experiences. That's a fundamental part of critical thinking when watching shows and discussing them with others. And unfortunately for others, a large (and very vocal) portion of most English-based social media websites are used by Americans, whose experiences are 1) they live in a country where cops regularly abuse their authority and 2) the media in their country depict human rights violations as a good thing, so long as a Good Cop is doing it. Even "fantasy" media in the US about "what if cops were fun and quirky" still has them depicting rights violations as a good thing (ie Brooklyn 99), so USAmericans are primed to watch any media with police involved and have a biased stance (which can be stupid, especially when they apply US-specific laws to non-US shows, that's something even I'm not cool with).

With all of that being said, I don't think that all media ever has to depict things "realistically." You can absolutely watch fun cops shows that indulge in that fantasy of "what if cops were Good, Actually" and separate that from reality. This isn't a perfect 1:1 match here, but I don't watch Tokyo Mew Mew and think Ichigo should sue Ryou and the Mew Project for altering her DNA without her permission, which is a massive violation of her autonomy because... it's a magical girl anime. Similarly, though I talk about RWBY and all the various crimes the main protagonists commit, I defend Ironwood and his military in that show because they actually do stuff right until the writers did a heel turn in V8 in order to make Ironwood look like he's insane and lost his mind. However, those ideas of Cops/Government Being Shitty still exist and can be discussed, though there wouldn't be much to gain from beating a dead horse.

Long, dumb rant aside, I think you can totally watch any country's version of a cop show and have fun with it. You can also complain about others taking media too seriously, so long as you aren't a massive asshole to others about it. My problem with the submitter's points were based on the premise "these things don't happen outside of America" which is just completely untrue, and it derails the entire argument as a result.

[hetawrite]

Hello how are you to day? Good, good. If you can could you do some hetalia headcanons for the main 8 (not including America or including him if you want to) as well as Prussia, Romano, Spain, and Canada that have a American S/O that uses a lot of Meme slang (like Yeet or Salty or Shook or Mood you get the picture) and the countries are just like 'WTF are they saying?!' and because of it they have to try and explain it, Key word TRY. Sorry if this is to long, thanks for read this have a good day.

My day is good, thanks. I think I quite enjoy writing headcanons like this. And no problem for a long ask. Just means you have something more specific in mind!

1p!England

"I am shooketh"

Pardon? You were drinking some hot chocolate, reading on your phone. He'd ask if you were alright. His mind would assume you’re scared, or got shivers from a ghost walking through you.

“Did you just have an Encounter?”

This man is high-strung so don’t laugh otherwise he’ll be offended and get rude. What an absolute brat. 

It’s meme slang, you tell him. “Love, I deal with enough slang on a regular basis. We don’t need any more.”

This guy is vaguely aware as he is exposed to America quite often and he himself is a London aware of changing tides, but he’s then he deems it ‘Improper’ and implores you not to use it too often.

1p!France

“He is being salty.”

He doesn’t know how to take this. That man on the TV is being irritating, but he can’t comprehend what you mean. 

This man is helpless with technology. If you show him the word meme, he will say “mee-mees”. He is uncultured in the ways of the internet.

You explain, and he just nods, but he doesn’t understand. He comprehend, but doesn’t understand. Barely ever.

This man basically embodies ‘old dogs can’t learn new tricks’.

1p!Canada

“You’re such a simp.”

“Only for you.” Awww, Canada, baby. 

Of course he knows. This boy is young in comparison to every other personification and he goes on the internet. 

He isn’t one for speaking in slang normally, only when someones being extra cringe or dissing someone. Boy is cultured but sassy.

He also has a folder of memes. Mostly saved from America, but now he knows you’ll understand them and won’t cringe at him, you will now get them when you’re apart. He wants to make you smile and if memes are the way to get deeper into your heart then so be it. America is literally supplying him with the hottest memes out there for free.

1p!Russia

“Cash me outside, how ‘bout that?”

He recognises it. It doesn’t click in his brain, but he remembers America shouting it at some point. Just like you’re doing because he inconvenienced you. Please don’t fight him.

You can show it to him, but he isn’t all that interested. Internet culture doesn’t interest him. He doesn’t follow trends and only got Facebook because America insisted on making him an account. The dude only has a laptop for work and his phone has basically no app. His highest used is Tetris.

He’ll recognise things you say, but will mostly just give you a judging stare. Or maybe chuckle if you make a fool of yourself.

1p!China

“Yeet!”

Calm down, you’re being way too energetic about throwing that into the bin. 

He deals with all of his siblings at home, and then America at Big Work Meetings. He does not want to have it from you.

This man needs chillness in his life, consistency. He hates hecticness. So you throwing shit and shouting will get on his nerves before he tells you to pack it in. 

Yeah, he’s too grouchy for this stuff.

1p!Italy

“Is this a bird?”

“That’s a butterfly...” He doesn’t get it. He has watched a few animes, that’s what happens when you’re friends with Japan. And America. And Prussia. And also Romano because it’s his guilty pleasure so he may catch on to what you’re saying.

He’ll also understand other memes you say, but he doesn’t find them themselves funny. He just actually enjoys watching your expressions to it and your enthusiasm. 

He works off other peoples happiness, so seeing that grin of yours whilst you imitate gives him the butterflies in his stomach. 

He will try though to pepper some in if you are a user of memes in your language. He wants to pick them up to make you smile. He’s such a cutie-pie UwU.

1p!Germany

“Ah yes, stonks.”

No, these are the finances, honey. They’re not-oh... now he’s slightly disappointed as he looks at you from over his glasses.

Prussia is energetic about his memes, and Germany will often be ‘gifted’ with them. Sometimes, he’ll read through them but often he’ll scroll through them all. His brother spams. Heavily.

You may get lucky sometimes if it’s an animal meme to make him smile, or exhale sharply through his nose, but Germany doesn’t often find them funny. 

Like Italy, he’ll smile if your positively thrilled with it.

1p!Japan

“That is a juicy boy.”

Oh, thank you, s/o. He’s happy you’re enjoying the meal he made you.

He knows memes. This man watches anime. He has every social media account on all platforms. He will smile, he will partake in some fine dining that is the dank meme section of the internet. 

They’re mostly the anime version of a meme. He doesn’t really enjoy edgy humour, and while a Danny DeVito meme about magnum dong is mildly humorous, it just isn’t his sip of tea.

He’ll say memes out-loud in the same room as you sometimes, in that deadpan voice of his, which always makes it ten times funnier. Even his commentary of anime that you’re watching a rerun of will have memes in it. And if you say you’re watching an anime and got to this specific episode, you bet he’ll pull up his neatly made folders on his phone for that anime and send it. He appreciates that you like that type of humour.

1p!Prussia

“That is a sweaty boi.”

Dat boi? Dat boi! Prussia is a people pleaser at heart and a goofball so of course he knows memes. This man has a large following on the internet, he makes a living off people enjoying his content!

As soon as you spill the proverbial bag of you liking memes, he will spam. His line of thinking is often, “Hahaha, this is hilarious. S/o may also find this funny. I will send it to them!” And if there’s one meme on that website with him scrolling hours at a time, you will get sent at least like 30 in an hour.

He will try his darnedest to make you laugh, so you will get a specific meme made about anyone you know too just to see you in tears over it.

“I have an army.” He sends you a picture of England. “We have a Germany.” Yeah, it’s that MCU meme of Loki and RDJ... Sometimes he’s not that funny, but A+ for effort!

1p!Romano

“One does not simply--”

Yeah, he knows what you;re going to say and rolls his eyes. If it’s anything too cringe, he will laugh at you and take the piss. But he will not hesitate to make an edgy or self deprecating meme.

Romano is ‘do as I say, not as I do’ type of person, and also never call him out for his hypocrisy. He will get snooty with you.

But he does enjoy them even though it doesn’t seem like it. He enjoys seeing you happy about them so as long as you’re shameless and don’t take his elbow digging to heart it’s all fine. 

Don’t call him out for laughing at whatever meme you say or send, as he will get defensive and annoyed with you. Imagine edgy teenager ‘I’m not like everyone else!’.

1p!Spain

“Pepe the frog.”

He partakes in a bit of memeing. He enjoys it. He’s got you.

But boy does he like the incomprehensible ones. Where the pictures highly saturated and has a couple of nonsense words put across it not lined up. He is cracking up at it.

Normal ones are fine too, but it’s either Facebook mum ones or weird incomprehensible. No in between. He doesn’t get that deep on the internet to understand the ones with context.

[dahvangogh]

EROS, LUDUS AND PRAGMA, chapter one | duncan shepherd

Author Note: don’t have much to say, i’m too awkward lmao. this is the first chapter of this fic, not very happy with how it came out but i hope you all enjoy it. i will also upload it to AO3 and maybe Wattpad (not sure about that one lmao). you can reblog, comment or leave a like, whatever you prefer. Also, i pictured Duncan wearing that amazing look he wore on episode 3 and my OC, even though i do describe it, wears this amazing look.

There is no right or wrong anymore, there is only being in or out. She knew that very well, after all her mother worked for the Madame President, a woman who all she cared about was to end up on top, no matter the consequences or who she had to bring down.

Being a reporterfor District of Columbia Post wasn’t something she had always wanted, even though she had been curious from a young age and wanted to learn everything about anything remotely interesting, she dreamed of being a famous painter. Unfortunately, growing up as a Latino American, even though it was one of the largest ethnic minorities in the US, had been hard in Washington D.C. The rich white families controlled everything, with money and connections they had the key to survival in that damned city, and she didn’t have that.

‘You better work hard, Isabella.’ her mother always told her. ‘Nothing in life is free, what you get is due to your effort.’ 

Victoria Aguilar wasn’t a weak woman. A single mother of two while also working a part-time job at a supermarket and getting her degree on International Relations at Elliott School of International Affairs. She had worked hard all her life, her very united family helping her raise her children while she studied her ass off and made a name for herself. She had been so good at her job that the one and only Claire Underwood asked her to be her personal secretary. Many years later when Claire became the Chief Executive Officer of Clean Water Initiative, her mother was there behind her. After the Underwood’s won more and more power, Victoria followed Claire wherever she went and lastly, when she became the first woman to serve as President of the United States, her mother still remained working faithfully for Claire.

So Isabella knew she needed to stop dreaming and become someone important, not to gain as much money as her mother but to earn herself a place in that city.

Isabella won many scholarships, always the first of her class and ready to help anyone in need, and ended up graduating with honors on Journalism and Mass Communication at The George Washington School of Media and Public Affairs. One of her teachers was so impressed with her hard work that he asked her to join his crew at the District of Columbia Post.Gladly she acceptedand the team worked hard to air one of the biggest scandals of 201: a Senator who had sexually assaulted three different women in the past and now participated in many orgies of different important business men. When they had found out that some of those sex workers where women from East Europe trying to earn their citizenship, women who had crossed the border of Mexico searching for a better life for them and even underage girls forced into participating in those private parties, they gathered everything they could and exposed him.

The scandal had made her an important asset to the company, her fearless journalism and diligent work gaining an excellent reputation with her coworkers, editors and boss. Now she had an small office and much support from the company.

Isabella had sleep through her alarm that Wednesday morning. Fortunately, her best friend Amanda called to remind her of their girls night out tonight and fifteen minutes later she was running out of her apartment while calling her boss. Old John just laughed at her, and being the best boss he was, he just reassured her that it was fine and to take her time to get to work.

When she stepped a foot on the elevator and clicked the sixth floor, Isabella finally felt like she could breath. Even though John had reassured her over the phone that it was fine and her other editors would probably just laugh at her for having overslept, she always felt like she couldn’t allow herself to make mistakes. The Aguilars always tried to be perfect, professional and personally.

She stared at the mirror, letting her hair down from that horrible ponytail she had done earlier and fixed her red lipstick quickly. Isabella examined her outfit, she had quickly chosen a camp-collared white blouse with short sleeves and buttoned front tucked inside a pair of high-waisted black suit pants, her favorite ankle strap black heels for work and a black blazer. At least I look good, she thought happily while adjusting her heavy working bag that hanged on her left shoulder.

Eventually the doors opened at her floor and when she crossed them, the singsong voice of her good friend made her grunt in embarrassment.

‘Morning, sleepyhead!’

Sarah Walker was a tall, blonde and athletic woman with the best humor in the world. The two girls had become close after working in many stories, they were quite close in age after all the blonde was only 4 years older, and then when they shared an office together their bond became even stronger.

Her friend sneaked an arm over her shoulders and together they walked to Isabella’s office.

‘It happens to all of us, you idiot.’ the wink the blonde gave her, exaggerated almost childlike, made her laugh out loud. ‘Remember when I had that marathon of Gossip Girl and that bottle of red wine? Lord knows how I even got to wake up before 11 am.’’

Isabella crossed her doors office and quickly sat down, resting her back on her comfortable chair and closing her eyes. Sarah smiled at the sigh that escaped her friends lips, then leaned on the table besides her and patted her shoulder.

‘Bad night, huh?’ which the brunette just nodded as an answer. ‘Elle, you know that if you need to talk about anything, even about the weather or how you took a shit this morning, I’m here. You know that, right?’’

The brunette laughed and nodded again, patting the hand of her friend as a thank you for the comfort. She rose from her chair, unbuttoned the blazer and walked to her coat stand beside the only window of the room.

‘Girl, your ass looks bomb on those pants!’ Sarah squealed cheekily making her blush instantly. ‘Between having those big tits and that ass, I’m about to start considering murdering you and illegally transplanting them to me.’

She laughed out loud at the craziness of the blond, sat on her chair again and then removed her laptop from her working bag, placing it on her desk and opening the lid.

‘Miss Frankenstein, please leave my office immediately or I will call the SWATS.’ the brunette signaled her door while funnily pursing her lips, voice mockingly stern.

‘Oh! Maybe those lips too!’ her friend answered while walking backwards to the door. ’So thick and big, Kyle Jenner wishes!’

‘Fuck off already!’

Their loud laughs always behind their words, Sarah bidded goodbye for now with a wink and then disappeared towards the left side of the hallway towards her own office. Then when she was alone, Isabella started her laptop and took her notes out of her bag, scattering them on her desk.

She started reading and typing quickly.

‘’You sure about that?’’ she asked to Chad on the phone while crossing the steps back to her office.

An hour and half from her arrival she couldn’t stand another second without caffeine, her sleepless night fucking her routine and making her almost fall asleep on her desk. So she rose from her chair, went to their office kitchen and made herself a big black cup of coffee.

Then Chad King, another journalist and good coworker, called her. While she carried her cup of coffee in one hand, the other was busy holding her phone to her ear. Their team was going after another Congressman, they did that a lot, who they suspected had committed tax fraud and was covering it with bribes.

‘I just talked with his ex-wife… she obviously wants to speak up for a good sum of money, you know how this housewives are but I think we can find other sources.’’

‘We have his former secretary and the testimonies of other employee, so I don’t think the ex-wife is necessary in this.’ She smiled at John when passing by his office, the old man smiling in return at her. ‘Now we have many information so we need to sort it out and build this in a…’

Isabella pushed her door open with her bum and when she turned around to get inside his office, the sight that greeted her made her stop on her tracks. A young handsome man, no older than thirty, was standing in the middle of her office as if he owned the goddamn place. It seemed he had been looking at the painting she had hanged over in the main wall, behind her big desk, with some sort of contemplation but when she stepped a foot inside the room his undivided attention was fully upon her.

She tried to not gasp when he fully turned around towards her, for he was of extraordinary beauty. Tall, much taller than her which wasn’t something unusual, with beautiful brown locks and a chiseled face covered in stubble.

Black leather jacket with black jeans and nice shoes, he reminded her of those heartthrobs she found extremely attractive in movies. Isabella was passionate about classical art and she could swear his face had been crafted by Michelangelo himself. That nose, neither big or small, with those gorgeous lips and that strong jaw. He was asymmetrically perfect, her finger tingled from the need to sketch his face

‘Isabella? Are you there?’ Chad voice never had sounded more annoying that in that moment over the phone. ‘Hello?’

She blinked and closed the gap between her desk and her, quickly resting her coffee near her laptop.

‘Yes, sorry Chad...’ hurriedly she answered his coworker. ‘Something came up here, I will call you later.’

‘Okay, I will get a coffee and review some of the files. Talk later!’

The conversation ended and she left her phone next to her coffee, awkwardly staying there looking at him. Funnily, he did the same. He was just staring at her with those gorgeous blue eyes while a small smirk graced his lips.

‘Starry Night Over the Rhone by Vincent Van Gogh, huh’ his deep voice broke the silence.

Isabella raised her eyebrows surprised and peeked at the painting behind her, a soft smile appearing then.

‘Unfortunately most people only know about the Starry Night and not this one, but I find it even more breathtaking than any he has done.’ her voice full of admiration for the artist. She joined her hands in a soft clap. ‘Anyways, what can I help you with Mr…?’

He stood proudly, his smirk grew bigger while his eyes shined.

‘Duncan Shepherd’ he extended his hand and she clasped it in greeting. She tried not to show a reaction to that surname, because thanks to her mother she had heard many things about the family, and just smiled kindly.

‘Isabella Aguilar’

‘I know. May I?’ he then gracefully signaled the chair in front of her desk, asking for permission to take a sit.

She raised one of her eyebrows surprised but quickly tried to mask her surprised as good as possible.

‘Please.’

He sat as she did the same on her chair, the desk a big barrier between them which made her feel less anxious about having a handsome stranger who embodied more confidence and grace than she would ever do in her life.

‘I’m here to talk about a column published this past Wednesday.’

The woman just pressed her full lips for a brief second before smiling awkwardly at him.

‘Well, I think you should have this conversation with one of the chief editors or maybe the CEO.’ she joined her hands in front of her. ‘Even though I’m an editor, I’m also a journalist and I don’t have any say about those matters. I could call my boss if you want and…’

‘That won’t be necessary, Miss Aguilar.’ he elegantly crossed his legs while also joining his hands around his right knee, his black jeans tightening around his thighs. She tried not to bit her lips at the sight. ‘I came to see you, your boss won’t be necessary in this conversation.’

Mierda, he is fucking handsome.

She just raised her eyebrows again and tried to appear as confident as possible, for Duncan was intimidating in the way he carried himself. His confidence, elegance and graciousness made him look like he owned the fucking place. And it was her office, she should be the one feeling confident and not him.

‘As I was saying, this past Wednesday a column of this newspaper talked about my family’s dealings with ex-congressman Andrew Bernard, I believe you know who he is.’ she nodded, a few months ago her colleagues and her had uncovered how that congressman had been committing tax fraud while also bribing people to cover many dealings he did with different cartels. ‘And as you can understand, those accusations might damage our image to the public. So I came here to suggest that you might consider telling your coworker to do another refuting that information.’

What in the…?

‘Again Mr. Shepherd, I believe there is a misunderstanding here.’ she couldn’t contain the smile that graced her lips while she leaned back on her chair. ‘If you want to talk about that then you should do it with whomever wrote it. I don’t have anything to do with it.’’

‘Oh, really?’ the sarcasm was clear on his voice.

She just nodded back.

‘That’s funny, you know?’ he leaned closer to the desk, licking his lips quickly. She tried not to stare at them. ‘Because I know who your mother is, who she works for and how much it would help her owner..’

Isabella briskly sat straight on her chair surprised at those nasty words, quickly interrupting the pompous asshole.

‘Her owner?’ she almost spat those words back, the color on her cheeks a bit more pink than before. ‘My mother doesn’t have an owner, she is not a pet, and I would kindly ask you to take those words back or…’

He had the nerve to look slightly surprised at her outburst.

‘Pardon my bluntness, but I’ve seen how she runs after the Madame president and she really is the perfect embodiment of a lapdog. ’ he now leaned back, clearly satisfied with his words, nonchalantly gesturing while speaking. ‘That’s why I’m sure that thatinformation was handed to you by her and then you did the same with the columnist. As you probably know already, Underwood is not on good terms with my family and would love to destroy our image.’

The brunette just laughed out loud at how surreal the situation was, quickly trying to cover her mouth with her right hand. Duncan just raised an eyebrow, not understanding what was funny in what he had said.

‘I’m sorry, it’s just… I’m…’ she tried to control her smile, positioning both her hands at the desk. ‘Duncan, rest assured that I have nothing to do with the column. I don’t work for my mother and she has never influenced any of my work, not now not ever.’

He opened his mouth to reply back but she raised her hand to stop him, a mockingly smile now gracing her lips, while she leaned as close to him as the desk allowed it.

‘But if your family doesn’t want to tarnish their lovely reputation, then they should stop doing dealings with those kinds of people.’ her smile grew even wider. ‘I’m not gonna lie, Duncan. I’ve heard many things about your family, and if some of them came out, the least of your problems would be the reputation bit. Right?’

Duncan leaned closer, his smile dangerously ferocious while his eyes shined with wonder. They both stared at each other, a clear battle of how-would-look-away-first and dominance. Isabella raised her eyebrows and he answered the gesture with a soft smile, making her take a peek at those full lips of his. She tried not to gasp at the sudden pang in her chest, or how her tummy felt weird.

Good Lord, why is he so fucking attractive?

Quickly she rose from her place as he leaned back on the chair. Isabella placed her hands at both sides of her hips and raised her chip up, she was sure she looked like the embodiment of a woman in control. She actually wasn’t. Her fingertips tingled with the need to draw him while she felt warmth bloom down there.

He just stared at her from where he sat, a weird look on his face that made her even more uneasy than she had been seconds ago. His face didn’t give anything away.

Why is he staring at me like that?

‘So, having set things straight, I will kindly ask you to leave for I have work to do.’ she tried sound nonchalant, voice clear without stuttering like a teenager with a new crush, and smiled politely. ‘I believe you know where the door is?’

Duncan tried to suppress a smile, quickly licking his lips while standing up, and reached for her cup of coffee that rested forgotten next to her laptop.

‘You should warm that up, it has ran cold.’ his smirk made her wiggle her toes, almost as if they had been hit with electricity, something she did when she was feeling nervous. Then leaned back with his hands placed behind his back.

He approached the door slowly, or so she thought, opening the door completely for it had been ajar since before when she had come inside the room. When he had set a foot on the threshold, he looked over his shoulder and stared at her.

‘It was a pleasure to meet you, Isabella.’

And with a nod, he just walked out of there.

The girl just stared at the empty space of the door where he had been standing seconds ago, almost dumbfounded or in a weird trance. She probably stood there like a fool for a few minutes until she blinked too many times and finally came back from it.

Isabella quickly went to the door and closed it, then turned around and went to her working bag, fishing out her sketch book and placing it in front of her on the desk. She should have went back to her work, calling Chad back and doing the outline of the headline they should submit to John later that morning.

She should have done all of that.

But she didn’t.

[theanatomyletter]

here is a perfectly sane response to the climate emergency

Right so like 3 days ago once everyone found out a couple weeks too late that the literal amazon rainforest is on fire I went into a sort of anxiety/depressive spiral and it was terrifying!!! I was scared and shocked out of doing anything and kept thinking of all the bad things that are happening and how we are all going 2 die and kept thinking of how to make more ppl understand that climate destruction is part of the same racist project as white imperialism and I’m !!! Stressed !! And I was scared and freaked out!!! I remember as a kid one of my favourite things ever was the book Journey To The River Sea by Eva Ibbotson and I s2g that book made me a person it taught me so many things about what it means to love a place and to be alive in the world and how to sustain a sense of self and community in meaningful connection with that it means to be alive and here and breathing and it’s a book about the rainforest and the river and so I’ve just been,, thinking of it a lot, little blue butterfly from the cover floating thru my brain and all that. It’s hard!!! I thought I was afraid of not saving/earning enough money to do a masters next year but I was actually afraid of the consequences of the climate emergency. Pay more attention to your emotions and honour them for what they are and figure out what is at stake for you, what does it make you feel that the world is in crisis. I think that’s important

Depressing chat aside after I panicked and felt radicalised (what does that even mean?) I found this twitter thread which was basically like these are all the terrible things that can happen and here is how we stop them and at first I felt SO SCARED because there’s NO WAY we can actually organise mass strikes at this scale!!!! We have never had to organise at this scale before, I panicked and got really scared and went on a rant about how we have to use existing structures to fix things because we don’t have the time or resources to organise at this scale but like. I now think we actually do, I found this resource for organising strikes globally from 20TH TO 27TH SEPTEMBER and like, we have the Internet and we have a month to plan and prepare and if you are able to strike you absolutely should !!!!!! There are people smarter than me speaking to the urgency of this, I’m just having some feelings and writing this on my phone notes, but like. Read about strikes in your area. If there aren’t any, find resources to help organise one. Text your friends your colleagues your family whatsapp group the people you went to school with, spread the word and organise how you will sustain your community in that time

As a side note after I went on panic rants all over my social media I think I realised that terrifying people into frenzied action won’t work because it’ll often just scare them into inaction (that’s what it did to me) and I felt better only once I found that resource for actual organisation, the mass general strike felt like an impossible project until I found out it’s already being planned. So like, don’t be helplessly scared, we have multiple years to fix things, and I think this is important: REMEMBER TO BE ALIVE AND HERE AND BREATHING, it’s important to actually feel the absolute miracle that is consciousness otherwise all of the saving the world will have been for nothing. Take photos of your friends and give hugs to your pets and get drunk and go dancing and remember that what matters is that feeling of being so achingly alive and aware of your existence in the world when you look at the sky and feel dizzy with how small you are and how yet the whole universe is inside of your brain, remember to breathe and feel glorious and loud and bright and reckless.

On that note, I was having a hard time giving a shit about much but I copped on a bit after I talked to my friend Naoise Dolan (buy her book it is out soon !!!) I felt like calmer and more like I was allowed to enjoy things and write things (that’s why I finally pulled it together enough to do this) and so I LISTENED TO THE NEW TAYLOR SWIFT ALBUM ON REPEAT and I’ve decided I love it, here is my ranking of all its songs from worst to best, I have so many thoughts, the lyrics are golden, I’m so happy to be alive in the world at a time we can make things better and listen to music like this that’s tailor made (sorry) for us to forget about any guilt we may feel from bopping to boardroom produced songs about corporate feminism

18. Miss Americana and whoever the fuck

Idk what this obsession is with high school motifs (shout out Mike Dolan for pointing this out) like it’s just weird for a 29 yr old to use school as a metaphor for her love life. The “you win stupid prizes” bit sounds nice though. It’s like a low-key creepy obsessive song like why is she doing that funny voice? Is it meant to sound vaguely haunted? What’s going on

I’m also just tired of “America” (the white kind) as a cultural construct and it being used as an expression of identity in popular culture like we get it you built a nationalism out of “gas stations” and “hallways” and “whatever” but you’re still racist, Stop. Like it’s just an inherently violent construct and nobody white is reckoning with it responsibly so at least maybe stop romanticising it or just shut up. Heck yea I’m reading too much into this. I do what I want

17. You Need to Calm Down

This song is bad. It’s so bad. The lyrics are pointless, the ohoHHHH is annoying, her voice is irritating, it’s also just gross and patronising and tries to do twelve things at once (are we leading a parade to pat ourselves on the back for telling homophobes to “take several seats” or are we saying we “all have crowns” wtv that means?)

This song is actually just gross and it doesnt even SOUND GOOD

16. ME

It’s less problematic than you need to calm down and that’s the only reason it’s slightly less bad. It’s a garbage song idk why it exists i’m so mad at it

15. Paper rings

IM SORRY tHe mOoN is HIGH like your friends were the night that we first met I’m sorry WHAT miss swift we get it you have been near drugs, Jesus CHRIST this song is a juvenile childish self important mess. The lyrics r awful and her voice is sneaky and weird and she does weird noises and the chorus is dumb like the “uhuh that’s right” makes me want to give CHITTAR. Also she says darling WAY too much in this album like we get it you’re dating a Brit. It’s not The Worst song because if you pay zero attention to the lyrics or her voice it’s kind of fine sounding? It’s so bad tho lol, I remember when she wrote Mine and the video came out I was like wow wild this is weird and adult and why are you pregnant but this one is even MORE weird. I also HATE every time she says dreary mondays and “baby boy” (GROSS) and I hate that she keeps repeating it lol. The I hate accidents line is kind of fine

14. I forgot that you existed

I hate the lyrics and I hate the premise (we get it you’re indifferent that’s why you wrote a whole song about it) BUT it’s such a bop, it’s very /this feels like a perfect night to make fun of our exes/ vibes and I would be LYING if I said I didn’t enjoy that. Yes we exists

We are pretending her fake laughter and starting to talk in the middle of songs things isn’t real though. It wasn’t cute in we are never ever etc and isn’t cute now

13. I think he knows

I love the 16th avenue bit, it fills me with giddy happiness, the rest of the song is shit, and also lazy. Also stop being obsessed with being 17, it was weird in starlight and is weird now

The bridge is also sort of nice but not nice enough to redeem the rest of it

12. London Boy

Im sorry I promise I know this song is bad. It is bad. I hope it’s ironic? But it’s bad. It’s a weird colonialism complex fetishisation of posh brit whiteness and its even more gross when it’s like “btw IM american, DOUBLE whiteness”, it’s icky and bad. It is a bad song. I apologise for enjoying it and I promise I am ashamed but also u know what, if you ignore the lyrics entirely and pretend you’re 15 and un-enlightened about the violence inherent to the fetishisation of an english identity……….maybe a fun tune. I know. I know. I am sorry. I promise I enjoy it only ironically

11. The man

Corporate white lady feminism? With the word HUSTLE in it? In this economy? Yes obviously

The lyrics are a bit ehhhh but some of them are quite clever and I think she’s quite honest in this song in a rare sort of way without trying to exaggerate it for shock value and it’s a very like, this is my life, here you go, sort of tune, it doesn’t do anything for women’s rights but I think it sounds nice and is probably fun to dance to, and “I’m so sick of running as fast as I can, wondering if I’d get there quicker if I was a man” and “if I were a man, I’d be the man” are fUN lines !!! Idk how wild this comparison is but like, I feel this song is trying to deal with similar things as I know places (a very privileged rant, if you will, without much self awareness) but I think The Man does it better because it’s less self important and has less ambition about it solving or expressing the world’s worst problems.

10. False God

Ok, so, what is it with the religious motifs in this album, i don’t get it, though it kinda works a lot in this song? I wanted to rank this higher but after a few listens it got slightly grating, the beginning is a bit unecessary too? Like it’s trying to create this weirdly artificial aura of glamour and sophistication, it’s quite an unnerving and haunting song and I quite like that about it and it makes me a bit surprised and startled. This thing she’s doing with like slow, building, repeating tunes i think has worked the best in this song (we might just, get away with this, religion’s in your lips e-,ven if its a False gOd) also, THE ALTAR’S IN MY HIPS, OOF, the chorus does the trick honestly and i love when she’s like slightly laughing but in a wry sort of way. Love it tbh, something about it just makes me a bit stressed though and not in an intentional way (i think)

9. It’s Nice To Have a Friend

Miss taylor who gave you the RIGHT, to shove your hand into my chest and grab my heart and step all over it. I love it and it makes me cry and it’s so soft and sweet. Zero complaints abt it it’s a beautiful song. There r just MULTIPLE EXTREMELY GOOD SONGS that’s why it’s not like my absolute fav and im confused too as to why it’s so low but like. Idk. it is a very soft and sweet song. I love it. If anything maybe it’s a bit uncreative n lazy but i think that’s slightly on purpose so doesn’t rlly constitute a criticism

8. Death by a thousand cuts

I like this song a lot a lot. The lyrics are SO GOOD IM SO HAPPY SHES DOING GOOD LYRICS AGAIN. I love the “one for the agEs” line and i’m generally a slut for any mention of chandeliers in music or poetry (dont ask), her voice is delicate but proud and wild and i’m a fan, honestly, cannot wait to bop to this. The My my my bit is annoying tho

7. The archer

I HATE the bit where she says CoMbAt but otherwise this song is soft and lovely and gentle and I love it !!!!! I love the lyrics and I love her gentle restraint of how she slowly unfurls them and then let’s go in “help me hold onto you”, there is such a commanding frankness to it, it’s an ask for collaboration, an ask for honesty, an ask for I want to do this with you

I think it’s one of the strongest tracks lyrically and she also shows like great skill vocally which has been annoyingly missing from so much of what she’s recently produced. I feel like there’s a bunch of annoying stylistic choices (the they see right thru me bit is grating) but like the song overall is lovely, I think you can feel in her voice she knows she’s created something good and it’s not the usually insufferable IM A GENIUS vibe. WHO COULD EVER LEAVE ME DARLING, BUT WHO COULD STAY !!!

6. Soon you’ll get better

Made me cry. We’re not talking about this one

5. Lover

This song is soft loving, slow whispers, careful realisations that you can build a life with whatever you like and love will save everything, I love it, I love it I love it I love it, “can I go where you go?” moves me to tEARS it is such a soft and gentle expression of care, it is such a kindness, it’s such surrendering, such reckless care, I love it so much, it’s so hopeful and also sure, it’s so frightful but also unafraid. I think this is one of Taylor’s most earnest songs ever and it does the thing of combining that earnestness with brazen daring that doesn’t turn into embarrassment only because she commands her lyrics with such certainty, and that’s rare and often I think that daring has ended badly for her (LOL most of reputation) but here it’s done so beautifully and w so much happiness and LOVE, this song is truly just a beautiful lil piece of art with so much happiness dripping thru it

4. Cornelia Street

This song. This SONG. It builds up so beautifully with this ever so slightly hesitant fascination with its own emotions, i’m so obsessed with it, the lyrics are lovely and perfect, i was expecting it to feel slightly forced and oddly specific because wtf is a cornelia street anyway, but it WORKS. I think it wants me to think of like a glowy streetlighty street and it DOES THAT, “filling in the blanks as we gooooo” sounds so gorgeous and does that thing with her voice which literally is just showing off that Yes She Does Know How To Sing and it’s so certain and sure and restrained and open and bare (again in “i thought you were leading me onnnnn”). Also, “the city screams your name” should be a tired cliche but its just an excited expression of abandon im,, in love. The song is so shaky and uncertain but completely confident and relaxed at the same time and it FEELS EXACTLY LIKE COMING TO TERMS WITH BEING IN LOVE AND WANTING IT TO LAST FOREVER, also like, when did she learn how to write good bridges again because yEs

3. Daylight

Solely for the lines “i’ll tell you the truth, but never goodbye // i don’t want to look at anything else now that i saw you” she deserves a grammy it actually pierces my emotions and makes me want 2 explode, this song is sooooo lovely and it has the vibe that makes me feel like i’ve already heard it years ago (but maybe thats because ive had the album on repeat 2 days straight) but it’s just,,, very good and it feels like sunset and glitter and i think is a perfect ending to a great album i love how it builds intensity and then strips it down and just,,, love it.

2. Afterglow

This is i think, one of the most beautiful things this woman has ever produced, one of the loveliest and most powerful songs ever made, i love it so very much. She finally learnt how to do autotune properly lol, this song is like, a crescendo of emotion, everything is falling down around it and it’s like a little haven of bare, frank honesty and complete surrender, of complete vulnerability, the whole song sounds like an act of care and an act of expressing pure emotion, it’s so gorgeous. It moves so softly and doubles in on itself and she’s sorry and sad but so proud of this love and so certain of its importance, “i’m the one who burnt us down”, it’s such a zooming in on a very specific emotion and it’s done so well, i love it

1. Cruel summer

I LOVE THIS SONG. I LOVE THIS SONG. The lyrics are flighty and exciting and shivery, WHAT DOESNT KILL ME MAKES ME WANT YOU MORE- plug that shit into my VEINS. This song makes me feel like it’s 2015 and nothing is real yet and I’m living inside a YA novel and my biggest problem is my crush being mean to me and I’m RELISHING in that freedom and indulging every last drop of emotion because being alive and paying attention to it is incredible and Extremely Cool Actually (I DONT WANT TO KEEP SECRETS JUST TO KEEP YOU, dead right gal)

That said. Organise for the climate strike. Read up on what’s going on so you can answer questions in your family whatsapp group. Field those conversation, DO THAT EMOTIONAL LABOUR (again, what even), spread the word. But take care of yourself !!!! Listen to Taylor swift and remember that we are an absolute joke of a species, we went to the MOON, we can do this, I love you

[viralhottopics]

Armando Iannucci on Donald Trump: ‘This is the best moment, isn’t it?’

An open letter to the new president, from the creator of Veep and The Thick of It

Even when silent, you sound loud. You are, in fact, an avalanche of contradictions: real and unreal, scary yet amusing, fact and fiction rolled into one like a little rubber Mount Rushmore blown up to actual size by the use of helium. You confuse us. We want to laugh at your stumbles, but are petrified by what those stumbles may lead to. You are the worst person ever; and yet not as bad as Mike Pence.

But you do have a definite sense of purpose. While Hillary Clinton hedged and played the game, you said it straight. Youve been very clear: deport, build, repeal, replace. Everywhere you go, you shatter ossified politics. You slice through frozen convention like an icebreaker: set on a steady forward direction, leaving a stinking slick of oil and dead fish parts in its wake.

It was worth it, though, because of where you are now. This is the best moment, isnt it? Just as youve taken the oath of office, but still not worn down by that office. Frozen in your moment of history. All those doubters, the mewling enemies and haters, are silenced now: you are the 45th president of the US. Thats a fact. Its true.

They used to tease you about your attitude to the truth, didnt they? All your post-reality fictoid-facts, like how global warming was a myth invented by the Chinese, how you respected all women without exception, except the greedy, grasping, ugly ones who were trying to suck you dry, how Obama wasnt born in America, and also how you put everyone right when you said he was.

And that rigged election: you had evidence the election was rigged against you and you were going to lose, and then, when you won it fair and square, you had proof you would have won it even more fairly and squarely had it not been rigged against you so you couldnt win so bigly. And now they say the Russians rigged the election, and you say the election wasnt rigged, it was never rigged, and youve been saying for months: it was never rigged.

Some screwball no-mark in some pointless department will end up saying the wrong thing about China. Photograph: Andrew Harnik/AP

Yes, you were mocked nightly by damp-souled liberals who joked you couldnt tell fact from fantasy. Well, guess what? If you now tweeted, I am the 45th president of the United States, not a single person would doubt you. Because its true. Youre the president. Fact! No scientist, no economist, no so-called expert can call you out. You are literally the most important man on Earth, in the solar system, maybe even the galaxy. Right now, everything in the universe revolves around you.

But then comes the hard bit. The bit after this week. The rest of the presidency. Thats the bit others say cant be controlled. Something will go wrong. Some screwball no-mark in some pointless department will answer a letter to an elector, and end up saying the wrong thing about China, or single moms, or car manufacturers, or dyslexia, thinking that theyre echoing your opinion. Then your enemies will report it, and then people will think it came from you. Then your press secretary will deny thats what you meant and blame the no-mark, and name her. Then the no-mark will complain about sexism or bullying or some such artificial crime. Then youll act big, go against expectations, and apologise to that person.

Then some other people, your enemies, will imply youre a pussy. Your staff who attacked her and defended you, will express annoyance that you are contradicting what theyre saying. Then the person you apologised to, well, shell get arrogant and say how upset she was by what happened, and then youll have to tweet what she was really like when you met her, how annoying she was, how shes just looking for a bigger job and a TV contract, and how youre going to ask Congress to look into that department she works for and find out whats going on.

But, even then, it wont go away, and therell be maybe a hundred other little, stupid stories like that which will never leave you alone, all because other people are fools and losers. And so one night, youll tweet something bad about China and single moms and car manufacturers and dyslexics, all in one tweet, and the whole cycle will start all over again, and take up so much time, itll look like that wall will never get built.

And so, for the next four years, youll try to do stuff. With luck, the next eight years. (If your plan comes right, the next 12, even 16 years, too.) But this crap will keep coming up, wont it? This not-smart, so-overrated nonsense from the false media, determined to undermine you. Theyll say youre mishandling foreign affairs, causing conflict and hardship, arousing enmity, bitterness and division. Its all designed to make people not like you, isnt it? But you can get round that. You will tell people, again and again, that they do like you. That everything else theyve heard isnt true. And it will work. It always works.

If a war breaks out, isnt it more efficient to persuade people that it isnt happening? Photograph: John Gurzinski/AFP/Getty Images

You will explain that the things that come from your mouth are not necessarily the things that come from your heart. You will remind people that things are true not when they are real but when you believe them. You will urge the media to concentrate on covering peoples fears and feelings, rather than the dull objects and information that clutter up their potentially beautiful lives.

Why dont crime reporters report that people feel a bit funny about Mexicans? Why dont economists measure how freaked out people are about what might happen to their jobs one day, especially if your enemies were in charge? Why dont the weather people point out, at the end of the show, just how everyone is feeling so much better because of the work youre doing, and how thats making them cope with whatever rain or cloud comes their way? Why dont newscasters show the graphs that prove that anyone who fires a gun in America might well be a Muslim?

Of course, the liberal media will have fun, wont they, doing their little crazy skits about how theres no need for reporters any more because we just have to say whatever it is we think sounds true. Over now to our Chief-Bad-Feeling-About-China correspondent; We join our crime correspondent live outside the home of a suspicious couple new to the neighbourhood who keep themselves to themselves; And thats all weve got time for. Join us tomorrow night at seven for another edition of What The Hells Going On? Unfunny. You havent seen these skits (they havent been written), but theyre just so lame, arent they?

No, how you govern will be so special, and so different from that pathetic portrayal. Youre going to bring into your administration a whole heap of talented people who will oversee a climate change in the way facts are considered. You will bring in financial experts who will reassure everyone that, no matter what the markets say, everyone is, in fact, fine. You will bring in law experts who will prove categorically that anyone who feels their civil liberties are being infringed are themselves infringing the civil liberties of the vast majority who voted to change them. And, above all, you will persuade everyone, especially those who tell you that you polled nearly three million votes fewer than Hillary, that you do have a mandate since you believe you do, and it feels like the vast majority of people believe you do, too. And thats evidence no money can buy.

Thats how you will govern. Properly, effectively. Why, if the economy goes bad, or promised laws arent passed, or a war breaks out, why spend time and money and precious energy dealing with those things? Isnt it more efficient to persuade people that they arent happening? Think what money that would save, putting dollars back in the pocket of every American. You will do a deal with the American people, a great big beautiful deal, the ultimate deal, and they will absolutely love it. What youve done is started a revolution, a movement. Youve taught people to believe not what is empirically true but what is emotionally true, which is a better truth. Youve set free the credulity of the people.

So here is another undeniable fact. Soon the consequences of what you are doing will spread throughout the world. And, once done, they cant be undone. Yes, you will be remembered for a very, very long time. Fact.

Read more: http://ift.tt/2iWnsvs

from Armando Iannucci on Donald Trump: ‘This is the best moment, isn’t it?’