#blame my dodgy internet for this

[canonplag]

I JUST REALIZED I POSTED THE WHOLE THING TWICE. WHOOPSIE. BYE BYE DUPE POST

[unsentimentaltranslator]

“Wait, why are the edgelords right about the people who make ‘translation is loss’ posts?”

I don’t want any of the people I reblogged from under my old account, or any of the people I will undoubtedly reblog from under this account, to think I’m judging them for reblogging those posts. Those posts are the only point of view that non-translators on here tend to see, both because media translation is more interesting to the average non-translator than the majority of what we do and because while the tortured artist types are posting their laments on the internet, the rest of us are typically just getting on with our work. But “translation is sad because you can’t translate great literature in a way that fully replicates the experience enjoyed by those who speak the original language” is…not the best way to conceptualise translation for numerous reasons.

1. Most translators will never get to work on high-profile literature projects. You know that line in the song Don’t Be A Lawyer in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend where he says “Did you hope one day you’d find a way to spend four years working on a pharmaceutical company’s merger with another pharmaceutical company?” Yeah. And that’s not always a bad thing. “Translation is loss” is a romantic way of saying “if you work on prestigious literary projects, EVERYONE will have an opinion about the translation you did and many of those opinions will be the same kind of bitching that any high-profile creator has to deal with”. At most, I’d be willing to work on something like Marie Kondo’s books, where the audience is interested in the substance, not the style. Beyond that, forget it. I know what people are like.

2. Translation loss in prestigious literature is the kind that’s most talked about, but it’s one of the least actually consequential kinds. Not getting 100% of the original experience of reading a novel might be a bit of a bummer, but it’s not comparable to people dying because someone messed up a translation for an aircraft or a medical device or a bridge. It just isn’t. In my country, a dodgy translation of a treaty occupies the same place in our history as the smallpox-covered blankets in American history. That’s a tragedy. “We can be sad about both!” But you’re not.

3. Bridging the gaps between the two languages is OUR FUCKING JOB. If it was easy, we wouldn’t be hired in the first place. Academic study for translators is not supposed to be a fucking funeral for the source text (again, where would we be if translators in fields like aviation, medicine and construction did that?!); it is supposed to equip you with the analytical and problem-solving skills necessary to create the best target text possible. Which brings me to my final point:

4. If you’re a novice translator, the reason you find it so difficult to convey the source text in a way that is both accurate and natural is BECAUSE YOU ARE NEW TO THIS. You are going to need a lot of corrections at first. WE ALL DO. Some people never get good enough to translate professionally, just as not everyone is cut out to be a professional writer or artist or doctor or lawyer or teacher or pilot or athlete. That isn’t the profession’s fault. Every novice translator has to deal with a difficult learning curve and you can either blame it on the inherent nature of the profession or you can work on becoming the best translator you can be.

In closing:

 “ReAdEr i HaVe TaKeN LiBeRTiEs” NO FUCKING SHIT.

[nailsinwales]

Dodgy Nail Products with Industry Support in 2023

I was kindly given a free subscription to a magazine that I used to ensure religiously arrived to me each month to help my career in the beauty industry.

Glorious professional nail storage company Roo Beauty had closed its internet ordering doors for the final time in 2022, and their parting gift was the magazine I would usually receive whilst working the job I once loved.

It was sad to hear that Roo were closing, they had the only decent storage solutions and their nail polish bottle rolls were something that the majority of my clients wanted in their lives.. and not just mine and their fillings every few weeks or so.

I have received four editions of Scratch mag so far, and in the last few weeks about fifteen emails regarding Scratch Stars and their nail competition themes, lovely, but what I also received was an email promoting (insert gel Polish product name here) - a product which towards the end of my old business in 2018 was quickly becoming known amongst pro nail technician’s as something that was causing clients natural nail plate and natural nails to separate away from each other on a rapid scale.

People were mentioning it constantly so I decided to trial this product myself along with another popular gel that was circulating on social media as a gorgeous looking subscription box. The latter did come across as a non pro product, I mean it was sent with little packets of fizzer sweets and pom poms, the owner tried to rip me off photography fees and lied to a magazine about her paid advertisement, but the range meant that a way cheaper alternative could be offered to clients who fancied something from their social media feeds, more affordable, and well really, bin’able, since most colours were in tiny 7ml bottles, and some not always available. Trends are just that, they pass quickly. It was a bit like the Primark of Gel Polish, only really shit with dreadful end results.

Soon after my trial, I experienced exactly what others had been reporting with the nail separation between the nail bed and the natural nail plate on my toes. I was devastated. It took almost a year to recover from it and plenty of sunshine on my feet, even though I newly wanted to keep them covered from the world.

“These products are not professional products, and not supported by the industry as so”. - that is what I thought back then. I had faith that the popularity of these social media trending products would go on to cause so much damage in a short space of time that they would be banned.

Fast forward to 2023, a chance browsing of my old nails account in youtube had the algorithm throw me up a video showing what had been happening to peoples nails, multiple snap shots with damage after using the very same products, going a couple of years back to recently. That’s between 2018, and now, 2023.. and just a small section of people out of all of the potentials in the world.

The problem here is that in the Nail Technicians world, it is similar to other trades - a poor technician might blame her tools, although in this game there is space on the market for poor quality tools today, and there are tools that harm. What is supa bad about this is that clients will be blamed, and nail technicians will be blamed, when the thing that is actually at fault is the dodgy product. The product is not being held accountable for the harm done.

If there is one thing that I enjoyed most about my job it was explaining to clients how I have products in my nail case that were well known, had been fully tested for the market and had transparent MSDS with no unknown or untested ingredients in the mix. I paid premium for training and products, and passed these on to all of the lovely people who booked me. It gave me confidence in my work and that confidence was passed on to my clients, returning to me tenfold on repeat business and word of mouth bookings. It was a beautiful thing.

If today’s nail technician can be promoted towards such a poorly performing product through trusted sources like a professional nails magazine, products that will go on to harm a clients nails, trust in the industry, and potentially leave them for life with a nail allergy (and that bit is both client and tech), then what hope does the industry even have?

For years it has been argued that Nail Technicians in the UK should be regulated. At the moment, the industry has gone down a murky road where, based on their social media clout, the introduction of some fairly nasty products has clouded what was once a fairly easy product arena to manage.

God help everybody’s nails in future, except for me. I got away lightly and will never dip my toe into the dodgy nail gel side of things ever again. I hope that anyone reading this will consider that being a nail technician is one thing, but we should never be supplied products that harm people.

If you know a product has harmed others, either through your own use or by seeing other peoples reviews, think twice before providing it on your price list. It could take you down with it.

Sending love to all, Rachel @nailsinwales

Some (but not all) trusted nail brands,

EzFlow, OPI, CND, Mavala, INM, Essie, Crystal Nails, Nail Artists Academy, Mystic Nails,

[nekropsii]

Do you have any sources for your recent "Vriska did nothing wrong" post? All googling of the phrase seems to indicate it grew far more popular in recent times, rather than the 2000's-2010's time frame you specify in your post (I only found 10 results for the phrase between 2010-16 on Google). It's possible it grew popular on the back of "Thanos Did Nothing Wrong" from when Infinity War came out, in my opinion. If you have any sources showing the phrases' origins, such as a post that popularized the phrase, or posts from early HS fans talking about it having antisemitic origins from that 2010s time frame, it would be greatly appreciated!

[Re: This Post.]

..."Thanos Did Nothing Wrong" literally came from the same source as "Vriska Did Nothing Wrong". It means the same thing. They have the same exact origin. It's still a snowclone of "Hitler Did Nothing Wrong" either way. Apologies for using KnowYourMeme as a source, but they tend to be the most accessible source for these sorts of things.

It's difficult to find results from that time period, especially if you're searching for Tumblr posts, so the fact that you can't really find many results makes sense. Searches tend to prioritize recent results, and are pretty bad at archiving things properly. What doesn't help is the fact that a lot of Homestuck blogs- and blogs in general- have been deleted by now. I can say that I did see "Vriska Did Nothing Wrong" in the early-ish 2010s. "Hitler Did Nothing Wrong" was popularized as a meme around 2012. 2012-2014 was around the peak of Homestuck's popularity, and the peak of Vriscourse.

You can choose to not believe me about the time period in which this specific iteration of the phrase was coined and popularized, and that would be fair. Would not blame you. But that does not change its origins. Whether or not you choose to believe me about the time, the source is still the same. It's not great.

All I’m trying to do is have people at least be aware of where it comes from, really. There’s no way to get people to stop using a meme due to it having dodgy origins, that, famously, is not how the internet works. Notice that my original post wasn’t a rallying cry, nor a call to action. That’s a futile fight that I’m not here to pick. All I’m here to do is inform the people who might not want to associate with the phrase’s history where that saying came from.

[mariacallous]

You know what I would like a major manufacturer of tampons to do? Make tampons. You know what I wouldn’t like them to do? Make creepy sex jokes on Twitter. This is a not-so-subtle reference to Tampax, which caused large swathes of the internet to see red after an off-colour tweet last week. “You’re in their DMs,” Tampax tweeted. “We’re in them. We are not the same.”

I spend a good 60% of my waking hours on Twitter. Maybe you don’t. If we are not the same then you might have no idea what on earth Tampax was on about. (Good for you!) Essentially, its joke was a mashup of two popular memes. The plain English translation reads: “You’re flirting with them via direct message, I’m in their vagina. Ha ha, I’m better than you.”

If any brand has licence to make jokes about things being up vaginas, it’s Tampax. Sexualising tampons, however, is revolting. Still, the tweet had the intended effect, I suppose, which was to get people talking about Tampax. The gender-neutral language also sparked a heated argument about trans people because, hey, what doesn’t spark a heated argument about trans people these days? While I admit spending 60% of my life on Twitter isn’t healthy, it’s not as unhealthy as spending 99.99% of your waking hours obsessing over trans people’s right to exist, which is what a depressing number of people seem to do.

And as creepy as Tampax’s tweet was, it doesn’t win first prize in the November 2022 edition of The Worst Attempt to Be Edgy By a Major Brand Awards. Nope, that honour goes to Balenciaga. The luxury fashion brand is currently dealing with back-to-back controversies over two disturbing ad campaigns. The first showed toddlers clutching the brand’s “plush bear bags”, which are teddy bears clad in leather harnesses, ankle restraints and other accessories often associated with bondage. A separate campaign, for its $3,000 “hourglass bag”, showed a desk covered in documents which, eagle-eyed internet users discovered, were printouts from a 2008 US supreme court decision about the constitutionality of a conviction for child sexual abuse images. After understandable backlash, Balenciaga has now yanked the bondage bears campaign and is suing the producers of the “hourglass bag” ad. Meanwhile, Kim Kardashian has said she is “re-evaluating” her relationship with the label after the controversy.

When I worked in advertising, I once spent nine hours having a back-and-forth with a client about the shape of an ice cube in the vodka advert we were shooting. Which is to say: ads go through a lot of scrutiny before they see the light of day. It’s hard to believe nobody at Balenciaga looked at those campaigns and thought: “Hmmm, this looks dodgy, maybe we shouldn’t pair toddlers with bondage bears?” Obviously, I have no idea what was going on behind the scenes, but I presume someone messed up big time.

Anyway, you know what the moral to all this is? Brands need to stop trying to be edgy. I would blame social media for brands making bad decisions in a desperate attempt to be talked about, but brands were doing this long before Twitter. First prize for creepiest advertising campaign in living memory probably goes to Fiat. In 1994, the carmaker sent out anonymous love letters to 50,000 women in Spain in a misguided attempt to market a car. Each letter was personally addressed and contained lines such as: “We met again on the street yesterday and I noticed how you glanced with interest in my direction.” There was no indication this was a marketing campaign – that detail was meant to be revealed in a follow-up letter. Needless to say, a lot of women freaked out; some women were reportedly so scared they were being stalked that they locked themselves in their apartments.

So again, please, brands, stop trying to be edgy. Please stop trying to get people talking about you because you did something gross, and get people to talk about you by doing something like, I dunno, lowering your prices. Wouldn’t that be shocking?

[cospinol]

also, my internet is finally back so i finallyyyyy got to watch the kingdom episode, so it’s time for weekly kingdom post :D

First order of business: devastated that they cut gai mou’s stupid intro scene where he’s in bed with six women at once

On one hand I understand (there are more graphic pages that I also chose to omit from this post) but on the other hand, this is the anime staff that’s made us look at a sex scene involving ryo fui before. so no forgiveness

Second order of business though, gai mouuuu, omg…… i was pretty excited to see him in action because he’s definitely one of my top Big Guys in kingdom (up there with mou bu and ren pa) but omg, i absolutely did not anticipate just how much Fun he’d really be in the anime. cannot believe we got so lucky that they did actually cast akio otsuka for him, if I never manifest anything else for this show’s voice cast this will have been enough

also the anime staff is just making him very handsome. yk

also also I love a good comedy dynamic and his banter with jun sou is fun to listen too. fundamentally just some funny guys<3

Though ofc by the end of the episode we’re already into The Ten Plot, which I think is a little dodgy; I don’t think it perfectly balances out the leerier aspects with the actual solid core of the arc, but also I don’t know that I 100% agree with the premise even though I do like both the ten&gai mou interaction and the conclusions ten draws from it…

On the upside, tho, the part we actually got in this episode was mostly kyou kai & her failure to save ten & her guilt, which is probably the most interesting aspect of this plotline to me. I think the scene where shin blames her for losing ten works specifically because of how it centres her feelings of helplessness/failure, and because of the contrast in tone between his & her battlefield scenes earlier in the chapter; shin just kind of playing around with gai mou vs kyou kai’s desperate chase to actually rescue ten really works as a framework for their conflict, just as shin lashing out->being told off by everyone around him->acknowledging that he’s lashing out because he feels helpless(but not being able to acknowledge his feelings until kyou kai lashes out herself!) is nicely contrasted by kyou kai instinctively trying to leave to fix things alone and not raising her voice until she’s pushed, but then saying the exact same things as shin once she does get to that point. They both come off as intently on the same wavelength even at this low point, but we also get also the thematic weight of this plotline for kyou kai personally (the way we’re waiting for her to arrive at the beginning of the scene..), especially underlined by the knowledge that she does actually have the solution to this problem waiting in the wings…!

Also just in general. she 🥰

[randomficsandshit]

Jily Fic Rec Masterlist

*NONE OF THESE FICS ARE MINE*

Please do not forget. I have not written any of these. I’m simply recommending favorites of mine over the years. If you love something, send the author you love, not me :) and if any links don’t work, send me a message and I’ll see what I can do, this is a pretty old list

A Wizard Walks Into A Bar Word Count: 5k+ 

Contrary to popular belief, it's not always the man who does all the chasing.

Pepper Up, Peppermint Word Count: 3k+

Sixth year Lily is home, sick, at Christmas. Can a visit from her friends cheer her up?

Your Eyes Are Like Starlight Now Word Count: 1k+ “The first snow is magical, you can’t deny it,” and Lily grumbled, but she did have to agree. It was beautiful. Of course, that moment lasted exactly thirty seconds before James squashed a snowball into her face.

Sing A Reckless Serenade 

Word Count: 7k+

After an almost minute of silence, she finally relents, “I need you guys to help me with a work thing.” A hefty pause. And then- “What kind of work thing?” James asks, warily. Lily takes a breath. It seemed like a brilliant idea last night, when she was more than three drinks under, but now in the light of day it just seems… pathetic. Still though, she needs help, and needs it soon, so she finds herself blurting out: “I need you to fake date me for a week.”

Three Swipes, You're Out

Word Count: 4k+

Part 1 of Shiver Me Tinders series

Sports star James Potter tries to pick Lily up on tinder. Lily Evans, a dedicated not sports fan is offended by the idea that someone thinks she wouldn't recognize James Potter's face. She laughs about it with her friends at a bar, until James Potter, who also frequents that bar, comes over to clarify that nope, he's on tinder, and he's definitely hitting on her.

Making Spirits Bright

Word Count: 2k+ 

Part 2 (final part) of Shiver Me Tinders series 

She should have expected it to be hard, dating a celebrity, but somehow she and James make it work.

Air For Free

Word Count: 2k+

When you’re in the company of James Potter you almost forget about the world around you.

What Are You Doing On Christmas Eve?

Word Count: 13k+

"I kinda told them all I was already seeing someone." "Kinda?" Lily eyed him deceptively, "Who?" "You." Christmas, Fake Dating 

Rekindling 

Word Count: 7k+

He passes her the cardboard box and their fingers brush again only this time Lily doesn't pull away so quickly. This time Lily lingers, if only to be thrown back into another time when James was her everything. If he was willing, she'd let him be her everything again.

Isn’t It Obvious?

Word Count: 7k+

Rewrite of The Prince’s Tale except it’s James Potter 

Meet The Potter’s

Word Count: 8k+

"we're having a water fight but your white shirt is see through now and I'm distracted? oops?"

Early Morning Toast Brigade 

Word Count: 2k+

"Is that toast?" she said, catching sight of a plate of the stuff that sat on the floor, next to James's invisibility cloak, the wonders of which she had been introduced to the summer previous. "Nah," he replied. "It's regular bread, with a suntan." "What?" "A suntan," James repeated. "It's highly unlikely that you've ever experienced one first hand, being ginger and all, so I won't blame you if you don't know what it is." "Shut up. Where'd you get it?" "Oh, my skin is naturally sallow." "I'm talking about the toast, idiot." "Won it off Dumbledore in a duel." "James!"

Two Sides Of The Same Coin

Word Count: 8k+

There are those who claim that Lily Evans couldn't possibly love James Potter as much as he loves her - including, on occasion, James Potter himself - but they couldn't be more wrong if they claimed that the moon was made of cheese.

Mother Deer

Word Count: 7k+

Euphemia Potter is the unequivocal boss of everyone, including and most especially her son, and if the sweet, bright-eyed redhead who frequents her coffee shop doesn't know that yet, she's about to find out.

Hijacking

Word Count: 3k+

She isn't certain how it started, why it continues, or where her moral decency has gone, but sometime around February, James and Lily start hijacking each other's rounds in order to sneak off and shag in entirely inappropriate Hogwarts locales.

Elevator Love Song

Word Count: 15k+

James unexpectedly finds himself trapped in a dodgy apartment elevator with Lily Evans.

Try, Trial, and Try Again

Word Count: 6k+

Spell engineering has never been so complicated than when an afternoon of trying and trialing leaves James and Lily in an interesting position.

Questions And Answers

Word Count: 5k+

The simple question of whether or not they're dating doesn't exactly have a simple answer. Seventh Year Jily.

*Sunshine In My Eyes

Word Count: 93k+

Mr. and Mrs. Evans are killed when Lily's only a girl, and she's supposed to go to a home with her sister. Instead, a relative they didn't know they had comes to collect them, and introduces Lily to manners, magic, and a life that's just the slightest bit different from the life she was supposed to live. Or, an AU in which Minerva McGonagall raises Lily.

Key Limes

Word Count: 23k+

In which Academy Award winner Lily Evans discovers the periphery of internet fandom and the mysteries of Prince James’s gold star system.

Red Velvet Ribbon

Word Count: 7k+

Lily sighed and ran an agitated hand through her hair, all the while glancing up at the mistletoe in the doorway. Those spindly branches and little green leaves, all bundled up in a red velvet ribbon, so falsely innocent and romantically devious… Lily felt that old James Potter tingle shoot up her spine and – as custom would dictate – she couldn't shake it off. God damn Christmas.

Wishing You All A Good Evening

Word Count: 46k+

Despite his popularity on campus, James Potter has had a hard time getting the attention of one, Lily Evans. Lily's not impressed by him and his arrogance, but James is quite impressed with everything Lily does. After the blunder that was their first meeting, James is determined to change her mind and she's determined not to let him. College!AU

Meeting The Marauders

Word Count: 49k+

Or how Mr Evans was forced to spend Christmas with four raving lunatics, had his life turned upside down and was forced to make his precious daughter go on a date. (mostly like this one because I think it was clever doing the POV of Lily’s dad)

Another Damn Grocery Store Fic, Okay?

Word Count: 9k+

Lily runs her father's grocery store and the guy she remembers from her childhood moves back into town. Thanks to petals for the brilliant prompt -- "grocery store AU where Lily works the counter and he keeps buying things just to talk to her"

I Can’t Read Your Mind (Though I’m Trying All The Time) 

Word Count: 40k+

The one where Lily is just trying to be a good friend by offering to be James's fake girlfriend for a weekend at the Potter Family Extravaganza. Really. Only, James just so happens to be in love with her, so this can't be any good for his health, and Lily is oblivious to the fact that this might not be so platonic for her, either.

Fate, Automobiles & Other Disasters

Word Count: 15k+

Lily is quite content owning her little flower shop and feuding with next door neighbor Sirius Black and his errant parking skills, until his best mate, Oscar-winning actor James Potter, moves in.

The Incident In The Library

Word Count: 3k+

Lily Evans has been distracted lately…and it’s all because of James Potter and his stupid, unbuttoned shirt. Hardly any fluff, but plenty of shirtless James for everybody.

I Think It’s About Old Friends

Word Count: 7k+

James and Lily, and seven years of Christmas.

Petalpocalypse

Word Count: 20k+

What do you get when you combine two classroom enemies, only one chemistry book, the blizzard of the decade, and drinking games? The tropiest Jily fic of all time!

I Love You (ain’t that the worst thing you ever heard?)

Word Count: 21k+

He didn’t picture Lily wandering alone, he never imagined the dullness that seemed to overcome her usually vivacious eyes, never fantasized about the way she looked at him straight on and asked, “Want to do something stupid?”

He, apparently, was something stupid.

(Summer before seventh year, failed friends with benefits).

Quidditch Club

Word Count: 14k+

The first rule of Quidditch Club is 'no falling for a student's mum'. Jily AU. Single Mum AU. Smut if you squint.

[furiousmoneysuitcaseturtle]

honestly being a supportive parent is probably the single biggest protector against your kid being pulled into shady places on the internet.

I joined a bunch of dodgy discords where older adults were mean to me, which would never had happened if I'd had freedom to go to lgbt support groups irl. Hell I probably wouldn't even need a support group if my parents were decent to me.

TERFs and homophobes will scream about online LGBT spaces sometimes being dangerous and how it """proves""" that lgbt are degenerate, but completely ignore the familial neglect and abuse that it takes to make people seek these groups.

Some of the people in those groups probably aren't lgbt, they're just searching for people who they know don't have parental protection

Tired of lgbt people being blamed for problems that result entirely from their own oppression being reframed as moral failing

[space-------kid]

linger.

Anime/Manga: Kimetsu no Yaiba Pairing: Genya/fem!Reader Additional characters: mentions of Sanemi and the rest of the Shinazugawa family Warning: Is Genya being adorably shy and flustered considered as one? Additional tag: Modern day AU, adult!Genya and Reader (you’re both 20-something *wink* *wonk*) A/N: I should be working on my Garou/fem!Reader story + acad stuff but this one just won’t leave me be (and it’s been stuck in my head for days aaaaAAAAAHHHH)! It’s another dream-based fic - and it was really cute (to me, anyway *chuckles* *shrugs*)! Pls enjoy--

Summary:

She was always singing that one song from a particular band whenever he passes by. Maybe it was just coincidence; Genya really didn’t know. But two things were for certain: He would never stop tossing any spare change he had in his pocket on her guitar case, nor would he cease passing by this street she chose to play at.

Man, if only he was brave enough to ask for your name (and hopefully your number).

Alternatively,

You beat Genya to his goals, and he was more than shocked. Also exceedingly pleased (and flustered).

“but i'm in so deep    you know i'm such a fool for you       you've got me wrapped around your finger          do you have to let it linger?             do you have to,                 do you have to,                    do you have to let it linger?”

                                                         linger/the cranberries

       “But I'm in so deep        You know I'm such a fool for you        You've got me wrapped around your finger        Do you have to let it linger?        Do you have to, do you have to, do you have to let it linger?”

     Of course you were singing it again.

     Every single afternoon he would pass by Wisteria Avenue, Genya would find you standing in your little corner in front of a fountain, guitar in hand and its case on the pavement on your feet, a charming smile on your face while you serenade the passing crowd with your sweet, lilting voice. If he would be honest with himself, Genya would say that you were just one of the faces he had to ignore as he pushed his way past people, some street singer who was just trying to make a name for herself and wasn’t worth that much time listening to. But then he had to go and actually took just a little time to hear what made the crowd drop notes and coins in your guitar case, only to get absolutely floored by your talent he once so callously dismissed.

     It was shame for inwardly and thoughtlessly thinking a little low of you that made Genya shove a hand in his pockets and toss whatever amount of money he had in them, but more so out of awe at how lovely your voice were (you were also very good at playing your guitar, but could you blame him for being enthralled with your singing?).

     Guess he was really lucky that the fastest way to reach the apartment complex he lived in with Sanemi was Wisteria Avenue, huh?

     Because finally, after a long day at work and being annoyed by the throng of people he had to share the streets with, Genya found one good reason not to lose his temper whenever he had to reduce the speed of his usually swift pace because of slow walkers or - the most annoying of them all - couples getting all mushy together and walking as if they were traipsing on the surface of the moon.

     Genya wasn’t a fan of girl songs, but he made an exception for that one song you usually played and sang whenever he passed by - it was that song called “Linger” by The Cranberries (he listened to the lyrics and honest to god Googled what you were singing because he had no idea at the time). He wouldn’t go as far as to searching the internet what the song meant, but judging from what he heard he thought that it was about this one girl who fell in love with some jackass who wouldn’t even take her and their relationship seriously.

     What a jerk.

     But the way you sang it was just-

     Damn, he couldn’t even find a proper word to describe it. Was it nice? Was that the influence you had over the lyrics? That you make it sound so playful and innocent at the same time, as if it wasn’t about a hopeless girl and a dipshit who won’t take love seriously?

     Genya’s head hurt with how much he had thought about it, so he simply settled with listening to you sing and show his appreciation by giving you any spare change he could fish out from his pockets.

---

     Okay, this was increasingly becoming too dodgy to be considered an occurring coincidences.

     It was as if you were actively seeking him out from the hustle and bustle of people passing Wisteria Avenue, but Genya could swear that you would start playing “Linger” once you saw him so you would already be singing the chorus by the time he made it in front of you.

     Every afternoon the scenario would always be the same. And every afternoon he would be left feeling really shy and utterly flustered because you would smile sweetly at him while you sing - most especially on every chorus - and tilt your head to the side like an adorably cute puppy as thanks while he awkwardly searched his pockets for spare change to toss in your guitar case.

        “And I'm in so deep          You know I'm such a fool for you          You've got me wrapped around your finger          Do you have to let it linger?          Do you have to, do you have to, do you have to let it linger?”

     Oh, dear merciful god above. Why did you have to be so cute, so pretty, and so angelic while you sing? Why did your voice have to be so fucking beautiful it sent pleasant shivers down Genya’s spine whenever you made eye contact with him as your lips formed the words of the song?

     And why did it always have to be THAT song with him?

     You made Genya feel as if he’s the lovestruck, hopeless girl in the song, goddamn it!

     (Not that he saw you as the jerkface in the song, though, Please don’t get him wrong.)

     Face bright red he could almost hear his younger siblings calling him a tomato, Genya hurriedly grabbed some coins and three crumpled notes, pulled them out of his pockets, and nearly hurled them in your guitar case in his hasty attempt to leave before you could finish the song and before he could say anything stupid.

     Oh, god. Why hadn’t he outgrown this stupid nervousness around girls that he had developed when he hit puberty? He was in his twenty-something now, a freaking adult! Why, god, why?

     “Thank you~!”

     Fuck on a fucking stick. Even your normal speaking voice was too darn cute! Impossibly so!

     Genya only managed an awkwardly shy wave before he practically ran through the oncoming mass of pedestrians to cross the street and increase the distance between the two of you.

     Tomorrow. Tomorrow he won’t chicken out and ask your name. Maybe even get your number.

     Right.

     Maybe Sanemi could give him some tips on how to approach a girl.

     (Genya ditched the plan in getting his older brother’s help. Stupid ‘Nemi for laughing at him when he figured out judging from how red Genya’s face went before he could get a word in.)

---

     It’s official. Some of your usual listeners have already established that you would only sing “Linger” whenever that tall, muscular, mohawked guy with a scar on his face came within your field of vision.

    An elderly couple would look on knowingly as the young man seemed to shrink gingerly under your appreciative stare, his face red and filled with wonder and nervousness as he watched and listened to your performance. They had been on that awkward stage once, the elderly couple, and could instantly recognize something blooming between two people when they see one.

     A group of teenage girls, although intimidated by the height and facial features of the mohawked guy, couldn’t stop muffling their adoring giggles at how cute he looked as he watched you like a shy puppy. Disappointed ‘aawww’s would slip past their lips whenever mohawk guy hurriedly left the scene, sometimes not bothering to finish your song. The two of you have no idea that they have already began shipping the two of you. Hard.

     The rest of your listeners weren’t surprised at all that you would not play that one song whenever mohawk guy was absent for the day.

     None of them intervened between you and mohawk guy, however. But, man, they just wished that he would soon act on whatever his obvious intentions were. They knew for sure that he was getting - or already had - a crush on you.

     Might as well act on it, right? Before someone else could snag you-

---

     Alright. This afternoon, he would finally do it.

     Genya couldn’t believe how much he was stressing out with regards to asking your name (and number, fingers crossed). It was just simple, right? All he had to do was to be polite, be nice and most certainly not creepy nor intimidating towards you, and compliment you for your wonderful performances and ask for your name (and number!). What’s so difficult about it?

     Feeling uncharacteristically confident, Genya breezed past the crowd and smiled when he reached Wisteria Avenue. He immediately headed to your spot, only to stop on his tracks when he realized something.

     You weren’t playing his song.

     You were singing a different one.

     Genya’s brows furrowed with worry. Didn’t you see him approaching? Were you taking song requests now?

     He stopped behind the small crowd of your usual listeners, looking rather expectant. He unconsciously pursed and bit his lips when you looked at him and smiled, his face turning beet red faster than he could say ‘fuck’. Genya was unaware of the looks he had been receiving from the people as his attention remained focused at you and his not-song you were singing.

     Why weren’t you singing “Linger”? Did you change your playlist? Were you getting tired of it?

     Genya breathed a sigh of relief, mentally kicking himself for worrying too much and being a paranoid when you finished the song and began strumming the familiar introductory chords to The Cranberries’ song.

     Compliment her when she’s done, ask her name, and don’t forget her number, too, Genya told himself repeatedly as he watched you, trying to maintain his brain functions when you kept on looking and smiling at him while you sang. He couldn’t help but feel as if only the two of you existed in the avenue, the rest of the people reduced to nothing but cardboard cutouts that separated him from you. But he kept his ground, never wanting to disrupt your performance.

      Compliment her when she’s done, ask her name, and don’t forget her number, too.

      Compliment her when she’s done, ask her name, and don’t forget her number, too.

     Compliment her.

     Ask her name.

     Get her number-

     “Excuse me, what’s your name?”

     Genya had to snap himself back to awareness when he heard your question. He looked around, trying to find who made you stop halfway from singing to ask for their name, eyes widening in surprise when he saw the rest of the audience - all of them - were looking at him.

     He looked at you, dazed, and dumbly pointed a finger at himself to make sure if his hunch was right.

     You chuckled sweetly (Oh, mercy, mercy, god above!) at him and nodded your head.

     “Yeah, you, sweetheart. What’s your name?”

     If it was possible, Genya’s heart would be out of his chest right now with how fast and hard it was beating at the moment. You just called him sweetheart for fuck’s sake-

     “G-Genya,” he helplessly blurted out, face torn between despair and joy. He planned to ask you your name, not for you to ask his!

     With a grateful nod of your head, you repeated where you cut yourself off.

        “And I'm in so deep          You know I'm such a fool for you, Genya~          You've got me wrapped around your finger          Do you have to let it linger?          Do you have to, do you have to, do you have to let it linger?”

     For the love of all that was blessed and holy. Did you just insert his name seamlessly in the lyrics?

     What the fuck kind of a power move was that?!

        “You know I'm such a fool for you          You've got me wrapped around your finger, Genya~          Do you have to let it linger?          Do you have to, do you have to, do you have to let it linger?”

     That’s it. There’s possibly no way he’s not gonna be able to get your name and number now.

     And Genya was so glad that he did. Not only did you let him have your name and number, he even lucked out when he snagged a date with you.

     (Sanemi could only gape in disbelief at how his shy and nervous little brother managed to ask a girl out. Well, shit. Looked like he got to catch up.)

fin

[eeveelutionsforequality]

was on board with you guys til i read from you that pedophilia shipping is okay and "fictional child porn" (loli and shota) are apparently okay too. as someone who was groomed and sexually abused by someone who saw me as a loli, exposed me to loli/shota, and countless other things i can barely describe? that's really disgusting of you guys to think. its just child porn. shipping pedophilia is glorifying pedophilia. get a grip you guys.

This is, presumably, in response to this answer that I gave yesterday: http://eeveelutionsforequality.tumblr.com/post/184205417727/i-know-ive-seen-you-guys-post-about-how-shipping

Literally anything can be used to groom people - sweets, gifts, anything. I was groomed by being given drugs and alcohol until I was dependent on those people for those things, and thus had to give them what they wanted in exchange... and I'm still in favour of the legalisation of drugs and alcohol, because people have the right to choose to use those things responsibly, regardless of the fact that assholes also use them for nefarious reasons. I was groomed by people saying that I was "mature for my age". I was groomed with some stuff from the show Skins... I'm not rallying to ban that show, heck I still like that show. Lyrics from songs, them being a friend of a friend, them being a safe place to go to escape other abuse, some fuckin' gross internet drama about an underage girl, stories about their exs, them getting close to my parents, debates about age of consent laws, calling it "prostitution", and so on - people can and did manage to twist a whole host of seemingly benign shit into blackmail, manipulation, threats, coercion, or a way to convince you that it's normal or that nobody will care or that it's your fault... because that's what abusers do, they twist everything.

The first few years of being abused as a kid I didn't even need to be groomed, I was a literal tiny toddler with literally no knowledge of anything besides "I'm hungry and scared and in pain and I can't breathe." My entire childhood was abuse, with brief interludes of finding some toys in my therapist's office and immediately making them have sex, of drawing pictures of myself drowning, of suddenly crying when friends wanted me to play certain games and having no idea why that game scared me so much aside from a vague memory of a curved sofa and that game on pause. One time my father beat me with a kettle, and it took a while for me to not get anxious at the sound of a kettle boiling. My father took me out into the woods and tried to shoot me in the head, and I'm still pro-gun.

What I'm saying is that you've made this about your abuse, you've associated those things with your abuse because they were things that your abuser used, and that's pretty normal - we've all done that. What's not normal or okay is extrapolating that to say that, because people can use something for malicious purposes, the thing itself is inherently malicious or inherently will be used for those purposes - because that's incorrect.

Abusers can use anything to abuse, but those things can also be used for completely innocent reasons or even good reasons - the fact that you or I were groomed or abused using something is not proof of that thing being inherently bad, it's not reason to ban that thing... it's not reason to ban drugs, alcohol, Skins, kettles, guns, dodgy lyrics, safe places to go, friendship, talking to parents, internet drama, or games, and it's not reason to ban storytelling or art either.

I stand by my stance that anything is okay in fiction, because nobody is harmed in the creation of that fiction, and that we shouldn't ban words or drawings - we should prosecute people who do wrong, who abuse, not people who have just written a story or drawn a picture. Nobody is harmed in the making of that thing. Harm may come in the form of somebody not heeding the warnings and getting distressed reading it, or in the form of an asshole trying to use it to coerce somebody - both of those cases are not the fault of the author nor the story, they are the fault of other people being assholes. That abuser would've just used something else if the fic wasn't there, and if we just keep banning the next thing that they use and the next and the next, then I'm gonna need a license to buy a Twix by the end of the year - all in the name of blaming each random object instead of the person doing wrong. The abuser is the problem here, the abuser is the one causing harm, but no harm was done in the creation of the story or in the reading of it by a responsible viewer.

The same governments and systems and charities that rally against loli and fiction screw over victims of abuse all the time - I've seen it first-hand, I've seen it happen to friends, and I've seen it in newspapers and investigations - and banning this shit is nothing but virtue signaling to hide the fact that they can't do their damn jobs when it comes to actual people. Criminalising things that don't inherently cause harm themselves, but instead can only harm when utilised by malicious people, but then completely brushing under the rug some horrific things that malicious people have done... that's a depressing state of affairs.

I think that it's disgusting to want to put obscenity laws and thought crimes into place, AND I think that it's disgusting to use something to abuse somebody... and it's disgusting to blame that inanimate object for the abuse instead of the perpetrator.

I'm also sick to death of emotive asks that leverage abuse against you instead of any actual argument, then accuse you of basically being pro-child abuse despite you outright saying that you're against it... which leads to this awkward situation where I have to stoop to your level and divulge some of my own experiences of abuse just to prove that I'm not "talking over survivors" or pro-abuse, because straight up saying "abuse is wrong" isn't enough to prove that I actually hold that stance apparently.

Being a victim doesn't make you right and it isn't an argument, and you can draw incorrect conclusions from that experience. We all make associations as a result of trauma - that's kind of a key feature of how triggers and flashbacks and panic attacks work - but we should be able to recognise that just because we interpret something as bad or associated with our abuse, that doesn't mean that the thing is inherently bad or inherently tied to abuse in general.

Child porn harms children - like, it literally requires abusing children to make it. To call loli and shota by the same label, just because you find loli and shota "disgusting", is to dismiss all of that, to really belittle and devalue the weight of those two words. Child porn and child sexual exploitation materials are so horrific because somebody is abusing a child, an actual real child is being harmed right there. A drawing on a piece of paper of an anime character, a bunch of lines, is not on the same level as that, it's not even remotely in the same league of fucked up, and it should never be put on the same level as that - that's the most disgusting thing about your ask.

It's no more "glorifying pedophilia" to write a story than 1984 is glorifying communism, or Alice in Wonderland is glorifying drug use, or A Street Cat Named Bob is glorifying poverty, or Sherlock Holmes is glorifying murder.

People can write and draw whatever the hell they want, and if you sacrifice that principle just because something is uncomfortable for you, then I just can't agree with you. There's a lot of shit that makes me uncomfortable, but even if I don't agree with what somebody has to say, I'll defend to the death their right to say it... and that goes for art too, because it's important to maintain the freedom to speak and to create.

Feel free to unfollow me if you're uncomfortable, I can't force you to listen to opposing viewpoints or reconsider your position.

~ Vape

[lotstradamus]

I told this story to the group chat the other night and it went down a storm so I thought I’d bring it to a wider audience for shits and gigs. so. in the Year of Our Lord 2002, Avril Lavigne released her debut album, Let Go (which, incidentally, still bangs). to a little 10-going-on-11-year-old already showing warning signs of turning into a complete emo in 2006, Avril Lavigne was unbearably cool. she also, in retrospect, had bonkers masculine energy, which, to a little 10-going-on-11-year-old who would turn out to be really gay, was thrilling in new, weird ways! she had short black nails and wore her jeans so low! what did it mean! I did what any sexually intrigued kid would do: I listened to her album on repeat, I started dressing exactly like her, and I muscled my way onto my dad’s old desktop computer to search for pictures of Avril Lavigne... naked. ‘Avril Lavigne naked’ is what I searched for. I found no real pictures of Avril Lavigne naked, obviously, but a hell of a lot of manips of bodies with Avril Lavigne’s face 2002 photoshopped onto them in various... positions. I learned a lot that day. of course, being a little 10-going-on-11-year-old in 2002, I didn’t know about search histories or the fact that next time my dad typed ‘a’ into his search bar, AVRIL LAVIGNE NAKED was going to pop up and incriminate the fuck out of the Avril Lavigne Lite living in his house. which it did. my parents, being open-minded and understanding souls, gently brought up to me the fact that they’d seen I’d searched for ‘Avril Lavigne naked’, which I shouldn’t do because the internet is a dodgy place where you can see dodgy things, but did I want to talk about why I’d searched for that? was there anything I wanted to tell them? now, as a kid, in times of trouble (i.e. when my parents confronted me with evidence of wrongdoing), I would go completely zen. my brain would go crystal clear and supply me both with a) a feasible excuse and b) the perfect tone of voice to portray both sweet childlike innocence and a slightly judgemental ‘I can’t believe you thought of that, maybe you’re the weird ones’ vibe. I got away with so much shit because I was placid as still waters when challenged with my own bad deeds. but this was kind of hard to get out of. I’m an only child, and an out and proud Avril Lavigne fan to boot. I was still of an age where -- and in a time period when -- going on the computer was something you did when you needed to find something out. when my friends came round we played outside, or with stuff (?? idk) in my room. we didn’t surf the net. I couldn’t blame it on anyone else. it was, quite obviously, me. I was the one who searched for Avril Lavigne Naked. so how did I get out of it? how did I artfully sidestep my parents finding out I liked girls at the tender age of 10-going-on-11-years-old? how did they go on believing I was a strident heterosexual for another eight whole years? google ‘Avril Lavigne naked’. 

[gay-mychemicalromance-disaster]

@cheatingaddiction

BE WARY OF THIS BLOG. Dodgy pictures of a lot of women, and im unsure whether they are off the internet or if he is convincing women to send pictures of themselves. They attempted to contact me, and after saying i was nonbinary, the conversation took on a very different vibe. i then said i was a minor, and they tried to blame the contact on a girlfriend. Please be careful, and if this happens to you, report it. i cant coz my crazy anxiety wants to go through the roof when im about to do it.

[planet-magic-land]

putting personal vent under a keep reading bc maybe venting about it Somewhere will help (self harm suicide mention, probably delete later)

Mum has now declared that the "house has spyware in it" so now my Mum;

- is blaming my Dad for crappy adverts she's seeing when she's going on crummy sites, stating he's "hacked our internet" and is.. sending these ads to these sites she's visiting himself, so not allowed to have the internet on when she's home (((:

- she's decided that my brother's wife and predictably now my brother is also apparently in on all this too, she's completely cut communication off from them, but won't tell them what they've supposedly done wrong bc they "already know what they've done" and them literally sending her two letters asking why she's cut them off and in turn missed out on seeing their newest daughter grow up is just them "playing dumb to guilt trip her"

- she's decided that spam mail (you know, the stuff everybody gets through their door) is now also targeted harassment towards her

- she told one of my Aunts (I overheard them in the kitchen) that I wanted to change my name because "deadname is what my Dad always called me" so that's the sole reason I want to change it apparently, first of all I did not give her permission to tell others I'm changing my name, and secondly I have NEVER stated or even hinted that that's why I want to change my name, ever, so I guess she is effectively lying to other family members to get them on her side and make my Dad out to be an even bigger villain than he apparently already is? either that or she somehow genuinely thinks that's why I'm changing my name, either way it absolutely sucks lol

- apparently the laptop's camera and built in mic is also hacked so my Dad and my brother and his wife are always listening in to our conversations, despite this laptop being new and literally only me and my mum ever touching it (also when I got a antivirus on it to scan for anything malicious and Surprise Surprise there was literally nothing, she simply stated that that antivirus just "doesn't work")

- she's accused me of being involved based off of nothing, multiple times in the past, this had pushed my mental health to the point of falling back to self harming and suicidal thoughts, and when I finally told her this none of it seemed to actually get through to her and her response to me almost getting close to killing myself because of her accusations towards me was "and who'd you think would get the blame for that"

- and now yeah, apparently the house has spyware in it too, could not be bothered to ask her to elaborate (not that she would have even if I did ask her, because there is nothing to elaborate on other than another accusation)

I can't feel like I can talk to my own family, bc me living with her they'd inevitably ask Me why she's cut them off, and I can't tell them the truth bc if she found out I'd told them then that leaves me in a completely fucked position, and moving out isn't an option bc Money to buy a place, and Money to Keep a roof over my head, and it is apparent, that no matter how many times we might move, or change the internet, or get antivirus software, there will always be Something, bc none of those things will ever stop her from going on her phone, going on those dodgy sites herself, or anything like that, and blaming any of it on anyone other than herself.

[queen-of-meows]

Hi !

I'm glad you two seem to have found a common ground after all 😊.

In the end, I think we're all splitting hair, because we mostly agree on the main lines (I say we as Loki fans).

In the end of the day, who cares if the stairs led to the throne room, the chicken pen or the third floor bathroom ? The point is that he helped a prisoner to escape as a little mischief, and said prisoner ended up killing his mother. It's the cruel irony of the fate, and another tragedy in Loki's life. (Also, in Thor 1, Loki did the exact same thing and blamed Thor for the "death" of Odin to mess with him. I wonder if Mobius lying to Loki was meant to be a throwback or if it's just cheer luck.)

Now I think a lot of the bad meta (or lack of meta ^^) comes from the casual viewers rather than fans. Not to play no-scottsman fallacy, but usually, poeple who ship two character do it because they love both of them an want them to be happy. And beyond shipping, if someone says something highly incorrect, they should rewatch the show and listen to the fans before interacting in fan spaces. That's basic courtesy to avoid spreading misinformation and looking stupid in public.

When it comes to abusive scenario in shipping, you will always have poeple with kinks. I've seen a lot of violent erotica in Frostiron, Thorki or Lokius art too (I can mostly think of m/m ships because those are the most represented ones in fan spaces and I don't really look for dark content on purpose.) I don't think poeple should post those kind of things in public spaces that are not 18+. I'm no one to pass a judgement, it's the Internet and after a while you are a bit jaded. If you've been anywhere near the My Little Pony fandom in 2012 you get what I mean. You can't have a fandom 100% safe from these things, because humans gonna human.

And to give my two cents that nobody asked for, there is definitively a big gossip issue in the Loki fandom ^^. Poeple are jealous of other sections for some reason and will select the worst tweets and Tumblr posts to complain with their friends. I think we're all a bit guilty of that, because sometimes we read things that make us want to smash our head against the wall. But it's important to remember 2 things : 1 it's only one person acting out and not the whole group, and 2, this person is likely an idiot who didn't think of the implication of their words. (they're still accountable for the racist, sexist or any other offensive undertones of their opinion, of course. But in fandom wank, words often go faster than thought and not everyone with a dodgy fandom opinion is a raging bigot irl).

Anyway, it was my useless addition to this very long post. Both of you made great arguments and I don't even think there was any conflict here ?

Have a good day !

It’s funny that, before Sylvie was even properly introduced in the show, she was set up as a Loki variant - you know, Loki, the guy who was a villain of three movies - and somehow people think it’s upsetting that she turns out to have villainous qualities. “Why did she have to kill her fellow variants when she could have tried to free them and join them in a revolution against the TVA?”, I don’t know Becky, why did Loki have to try and commit genocide against his fellow jotunns when he found out he was their stolen prince, instead of joining them against Odin’s imperialism? Why Loki taking out his self esteem issues on a failed attempt to conquer a planet full of innocent people who did nothing to him make him a complex and tormented villain, but Sylvie killing officers who were actively trying to harm her make her a heartless bitch?

It’s literally a theme point that Loki feels connected to Sylvie because her lust for vengeance at all costs reminds him of himself in his villain days (“I’ve been where you are”), but people somehow insist that her anger and cruelty are meant to be seen as positive or heroic, or justified, when the narrative is clearly highlighting them as moral flaws that are weighting her down and that she must put behind her. Not to mention that her arc is not done yet, and we already see the regret creeping onto her when she weeps on the floor after killing He Who Remains.

Loki stans will write walls on meta on how even smallest things about his life, like a brief passage of Heimdall being casually rude to him, or how Volstagg being casually dismissive of him, of even Sif’s brief side eye to him, equals to terrible abuse that explains how he became the bitter villain that he’s turned into. But Sylvie having her reality erased as a child because the equivalent to God Himself has deemed that her very existence was crime against Creation, which forced her to live on the run jumping from one mass death event after the other, seeing everyone she’s ever known being fated to die soon, while she’s hunted down like a dog, is something she should just get over. And that would totally not explain how she became so hardened and angry. Right.

Bottom line: moral ambiguity is for male characters only, women are not allowed to have moral flaws to grow out of, and if Sylvie has a male variant played by Hiddles himself her haters would be fawning over him as their new wobbie villain.

[biofomission]

hey! the op of the ao3 post @shipping-isnt-morality or whatever that you reblogged seems pretty dodgy? i think when you take into consideration the stuff that's on ao3, it isn't just nsfw that young'uns are faking their age to look at. it's harmful and even though it can be said that it's a reader's obligation to know what they're getting themselves into, it can also be extremely triggering stuff that young people don't understand properly. please go look at the op's blog.

I understand where you’re coming from but all media including actual published books have triggering content some mediums just have better warnings and ratings.

In my opinion ao3 warns about this stuff better than books you can pick up at the library. There’s nothing warning anyone if a book has a rape scene in it but ao3 let’s creators tag their work with all the things that might be harmful to certain readers. And if you’re old enough to read warnings and choose to ignore them you’re old enough to not blame a creator for you’re own choice.

Fun fact when I was younger I read a book that involved heavily implied sexual child abuse. I was roughly 10 when I read this. There was no warning on it for me to know it’s contents. And I probably shouldn’t have read it at that age but I did and it was in my SCHOOL LIBRARY.

So yeah you can dislike what ao3 allows but honestly it’s actually safer for people than any system we’ve had before

Also kids can access anything on the internet including adult sites and the best solution for that is either not giving kids access to the Internet or those parental site blockers