#but people finding me attractive is the basis of how i can function as a human being

[elytrafemme]

everyone please manifest that i wake up a normal person tomorrow because i am treacherously close to going on a fucking warpath

[lu-sn]

what do you see as the most likely thing pete does post canon? is he involved in the family business? does he have a job outside the mafia? are he and vegas both retired?

let's assume vegas has recovered as much as he can from the shooting and that he's done whatever he needs to do to get himself and his family out from under korn's thumb. so we're talking deep post-canon.

if vegas is still in the mafia somehow — in any capacity — i have no doubt that pete will function as his right hand. (or left hand. hell, both.) he's definitely got the skill set for it, and i think he would really enjoy it! it's a perfect outlet for his brand of undying loyalty, and he gets to bestow that loyalty upon someone who is equally insane about him and who will let him beat up as many people as he wants ❤️

but i don't want that for them. i think vegas in particular deserves that soft epilogue — a chance at the life he could have had all along without his father hovering behind him. so let's imagine vegas has found something to do with his time that hits that perfect balance of high stakes and high fulfillment and very very high odds of survival. pete is very happy for him, and also the tiniest bit bereft. unlike vegas, pete needs something physical.

so pete is ambling back from the grocery store, idly wondering whether he needs to be trying to do something with all of his free time, when he stumbles upon some sort of scuffle just waiting to break out in a dank alleyway. and pete manages to spot a kid in there, far too young, definitely biting off more he can chew, definitely about to get his ass beat, and — well. pete's been itching for a fight anyway.

pete hikes up his pha khao ma and lays everyone in that alley flat, and once most everyone has scampered away with their tails between their legs, the kid stares at pete, and scowls at him, and sneers out a "didn't think i asked, old man."

here's the thing. i don't think pete has any sort of affinity or good hand with kids. he's probably the type to get walked over by most teenagers (exhibit A: macau during canon). but there's a particular category of kid that i think pete would immediately have the upper hand on; surly, prone to anger, snippy, sad underneath all of that. in short, kids who are a mini-vegas 😂

(somewhere not so far away, vegas is crouched in front of his vegetable patch, suddenly feeling very annoyed, and has no idea why 😌)

so pete smiles pleasantly, says "better work on your stance then," picks up his groceries and starts walking away — only for this kid to catch up to him and go "i guess you're good enough, so you might as well teach me."

this post is already long 😅 basically, this kid will not stop pestering pete, and pete somehow ends up training the kid on a daily basis in their backyard, and happens to unleash a lot of life advice that this kid is very desperately in need of (e.g. "knowing how to fight isn't worth anything if you don't know which fights you shouldn't pick"). and he notices some other kids peeking through the fencing watching them, so he sighs a deep sigh and tells them they might as well come in.

some of these kids remind him too much of vegas — or of himself. he finds himself wanting good things for them, wanting to help them be just a little bit happier — which is the kind of help neither he nor vegas received when they were younger.

he ends up being pretty damn good at it.

so pete is giving a bunch of kids a safe space and a healthy outlet for their anger, totally by accident. to answer your question, anon, i guess that makes him a community youth counselor 😂

vegas finds this all kind of bemusing, and is more than a little tilted that pete seems to be attracting all of the little vegases in a 30km radius, but hey! he gets to shovel his cooking into more mouths now! he's totally in denial about how much he enjoys that.

(much later, pete abruptly sits up from where he's resting his head in vegas's lap, and he exclaims, "did i accidentally start a gang???"

vegas considers this for a long moment, shrugs, goes "maybe we should have stayed in the mafia after all.")

[haileydilmore]

i cant believe we havent talked abt lautity at all....they're like my thing...... i offer you my insane obscure post burnerphone dynamic for them ↓

i have thoughts abt steph being like. can i ever be satisfied with this normal extremely vanilla life. grace is sweet, and steph likes her, but also the total whiplash from her last long term relationship being this fucked awful thing makes it hard to. relax. girl who has forgotten how to be normal. and grace obviously doesnt know what healthy dating is like so there's the constant overarching what if i'm accidentally overstepping + being super fucked up to this girl who has 0 basis to recognize a toxic relationship. again w the ruined for other people, doesn't even know what functional looks like, doesn't know if she'll ever be capable of it again. thanks, lex!

also worried abt eventually having to explain the scars and the rehab and the lex situation in general. it's like. grace is clearly too nervous to do it early on, but one day she Will ask. and once she knows she'll obviously think it's all gross and scary and leave. steph is sort of trying to ride it out. the 'do nothing and hope it never comes up' approach. but she's worried abt it + feels like the end of their relationship is inevitable because of this secret she's keeping + generally just feels really gross about it all. chat does she know (grace is having a completely separate solo crisis over sadistic thoughts she doesn't understand) (girl who has not so much as imagined the concept of bdsm) (0 idea why she's suddenly attracted to scars) (they are extremely compatible but deeply unaware of it/convinced the other is going to think they're a freak)

^ both of them lol. ok. sorry. ive written So Much about this it's actually embarassing. apologies if its wildly ooc. im just a little silly abt them hopefully you can see the vision. totally understandable if not. sighhh

can i be so honest with you i wasn't. Super big on lautity before this. i mean i LOVED them in theory & definitely do think grace has feelings for steph in every possible universe, especially in ac dear god, however. i never really thought grace would be able to let go of her puritan ideals & actually let herself love steph. but fuckkkk holy fuck. Okay

the whole. both of them thinking "oh god she can Never find out i'm a freak or else she'll leave me" is soo delicious. also SADIST grace i'm SORRY yes please. hello. fucking dies???????

lex having "ruined" steph & then this sadistic churchgirl with pigtails & clips in her hair comes along like ohkay this is an entirely new LEVEL of fucked up. jesus

i think steph just needs a little bit of order. not peace. just structure, and honesty. and god can grace help her with that.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Rachel Connolly:

Earlier this year, I had a bout of what my friends and I term “mental health”. I was always tired. I couldn’t concentrate. I felt burnt out by the volume of communication that social media facilitates. I am 31 and, like many people my age, I’m in multiple group chats on WhatsApp and often find myself added to new ones. I use Instagram to post work and selfies, and to chat with people via the DM function. I use X similarly. (I’m too old for TikTok.) I enjoy some of this. I like talking nonsense with my friends. But I’d started to question how deliberate much of it was. I’d find myself posting a picture of a book I was reading and think, why do I need an audience to read? I began to wonder if, in the cycle of curating, recording and publicising our lives on social media, the things we do that are not seen and affirmed by people online feel somehow less “real”. My work as a writer means I probably get more online communication than the average person. Last year I published my first novel, and I have since noticed the slightly strange way that novels are discussed online. I get tagged in Instagram posts saying that my book is about a messy girl, a sad girl, a distant girl or a cold girl. There is an algorithmic basis to this. The easiest way to attract attention on social media is to talk about a trend everyone else is talking about, or to slot whatever you’re talking about into one of these trends.

So everywhere you look it is Brat summers or trad wives, cottage-core or bloke-core, high-functioning anxiety, parentified children or whatever happens to be the latest term for pathologising your life experience. Everything is flattened, simplified. I worried that being immersed in it was making me think this way too. A friend recently got a “dumb” phone, a Nokia 3210, to use when she’s out of the house. She leaves her smartphone at home like a landline. It has made her happier, she says. I needed a break too, but I was drawn to the idea of spending some time cut off from all communication. A reset, of sorts. I found a weekend-long silent retreat, no phones allowed, and booked myself in. My craving for a break is not uncommon. Social media is such a constant background presence in our lives that it’s easy to forget how recent it is. Facebook, which feels impossibly passé, is only 20. Instagram is not yet 15. Researchers first used the term “digital detox”, to refer to a period of abstention from phones and laptops, in 2012, around the same time that social media was really taking off (chat rooms had been around since the turn of the 1990s without the concept surfacing).

Digital detoxes remained unusual for a time. In 2015, Essena O’Neill, an Australian influencer with 612,000 Instagram followers, made news around the world when she released a statement about quitting the platform. Today, similar moves by celebrities are so common they barely make headlines. Billie Eilish deleted all social media apps from her phone. Actress Tavi Gevinson wrote about using an assistant to manage her Instagram. It has been hard to keep track of the number of times Stephen Fry has quit and rejoined Twitter over the years. These dramatic exits can seem amusing, especially when they’re followed by sheepish returns, but mostly they underscore how addictive and overwhelming social media can be. My silent retreat took place in a large house in rural Devon. I arrived on Friday, one of a group of about 50. We were allowed to speak during registration and, because I had gone there determined not to use reductive labels, I could already sense myself reaching for them. A young man told me he had done several silent retreats before. Ah, I thought, so you’re the type of person who does these often. Then I caught myself. What type would that be?

During the first meditation session, our instructors explained that we would sit and try to embody, rather than think about, the question “What is this?” This distinction struck me as confusing to the point of meaninglessness. But they explained that one way of attempting “not to think” about the question was to resist the urge to answer it. They encouraged us to focus instead on how we felt, on the physical sensations in our bodies. If you have never tried this, I will say that it is extremely difficult. We sat cross-legged for 30 minutes. I stared at a wall. Then we walked in a circle for 10 minutes. Then we sat down again, and so on, for about two hours. Then it was bedtime. I enjoyed the communality of me and the other girls silently working through our evening routines together. I realised that I had never decided to bring my phone everywhere, like an appendage to my body

The next two days were structured around meditation and chores. At 6.30am we were woken by a bell. We did two hours of meditation, after which we had breakfast. Then a break, followed by another two hours of meditation and lunch. My chore was washing up after we ate. Then more meditation, dinner, another break, meditation, bed. If sitting in an uncomfortable position and staring at a wall while trying not to think sounds impossibly boring, I would say it is not so different from the way my days would unfold when I worked in offices, traipsing from my desk to the tea station and back. More earnestly, I would say I could not have imagined how much I would enjoy the retreat, or how much I’d get out of it. Over the weekend, one of the instructors spoke about trying to be more conscious of the labels we put on our experiences and interactions. It struck me that a similar fatigue with the overload of digital communication is probably what draws a lot of people to try a silent retreat. We were all the type of person who is fed up with “types of people”.

On my first morning after breakfast, I went outside. The countryside seemed fantastically vivid. The blackbirds looked as beautiful as anything I had seen before. I watched one, like a dash of ink, flickering against the mottled grey sky, then two sailing as a pair, in tune with each other. I watched a cloud of them, pulsing. It reminded me of a jellyfish. Back inside, from my seat in the meditation room, I could see a tree that the birds would visit. When I was frustrated with the way my thoughts rattled around my head, reviewing unsaid rebuttals to months-old arguments, I watched the birds and imagined the paths they were taking in the world. One of my issues with the task “embody but try not to think” is that the semantic distinction between thinking and feeling is hard to grasp. If you notice that you feel happy or sad, is that a thought? Or a feeling? I found animals a useful framework to try to understand the distinction, as they negotiate the world using senses. A bird might fly north because of an environmental cue, but it does not say to itself in words, “I want to fly north.” I came to understand the task not as emptying your head of thoughts, but rather resisting the tendency to narrate things to yourself in words. I noticed that this interior monologuing would lead me along familiar, superficial trains of thought, to recent memories associated with certain feelings, say, and soon enough back to mundane anxieties.

At night, I would sit outside and look at the stars. The clouds, invisible in the darkness, shifted to expose one patch of stars, then another, making it look like the sky itself was swelling and shrinking. Memories and ideas still came to me, but deeper, more interesting ones than before. It was as if I had cleared the way for them. I remembered that I used to look at the stars when I was a teenager. I used to read about how they’re born, how they sustain themselves, why we see only some of them, how they die. On Monday morning at breakfast, we were allowed to speak again. Some participants had found the weekend hard, they said. One person had cried repeatedly. Others said that eating in silence had made them feel as though everyone was being cold towards them. As they talked, I remembered old corporate jobs where I was always the office loser. People could sense the aura of failure emanating from me, so I would eat lunch by myself, in silence. I got used to it. I didn’t feel I was learning anything valuable at the time, but life can surprise you. Sticking out is not so bad, I realised. This is the message of most children’s books, but one it’s easy to lose sight of as an adult. Other people’s perceptions of you, real or imagined, don’t have to influence how you see yourself. Social media is designed to erase this perspective. Much of the anxiety it fosters comes from forcing you to see yourself, constantly, as relative to others.

[pokefossilclub]

Dreepy man!

I have a niece that's just getting into Pokemon caretaking, and just like her big ol business father, she enjoys battling a lil too much.

I think seeing her peer's evolved Pokemon made her overextend herself forcefully? Instead of letting evolution come "naturally", she's trying to force her Pokemon to evolve faster than expected.

What I'm wanting is to get her to stop this method as forced evolution can be seen as a form of betrayal? At least to me, growing up way too fast isn't the healthiest way to perceive the world. But, like most kids, she is stubborn.

So I wanted to ask a professional professor (you) what evolution represents in Pokemon. Whether they represent growing up with age, a new proper body that is fit for their higher echelon of power, or maybe something else. Or is it more of a case by case basis?

Really, I feel like she needs a professional to tell her what's up cause when her family says it, I feel like it for her perspective, it feels like everyone is looking down on her, while in reality all we want is to cherish the moments she has with her Pokemon, not trying to grow up too fast, like how sometimes we as adults kinda had to, for reasons more than one.

Ah! Perhaps naturally, but very unfortunately from an adult's point of view, it is in fact very common for youngsters to want both their Pokemon and their own selves to grow up far too fast!

It most certainly is not worth it, however!

It can be very easy to look at a Pokemon and the way they evolve, and see only a smaller and weaker creature becoming bigger and stronger in one exciting moment! And when you are stuck in your own human body, which grows at its own slow pace and absolutely will not be hurried up no matter how much you would like it to be, this is very attractive! When I was a child I too wished I could simply find a special stone, or meet a particular development criteria, and transform magically into a fully functional adult without having to do stupid things like 'puberty' or 'school'!

But the thing is, even Pokemon grow like humans do! If you look at a Zigzagoon that has been a mature Zigzagoon for years, it will look different than one that is only a few months into its maturity! Not as different as between a Zigzagoon and a Linoone or even an Obstagoon of course, but it will be bigger, with more developed muscles, rougher fur, and longer, harder nails. All these things are things that make it better at being a Zigzagoon! And a Zigzagoon that is good at being a Zigzagoon will, once it has adjusted, be good at being a Linoone!

And why is that? Well, one thing a lot of people forget is that, even in very dramatic evolutions, that is not a whole new body for the evolving Pokemon! It is the same body they had before, just altered! A Pokemon that has had time to grow into its body, to become good at using it in its previous form, will find it much easier to learn to use its altered, evolved body, no matter how many new limbs it has!

After all, imagine a little toddler who has only just learned to walk suddenly being given an adult body to move around! They would have an awful lot of trouble with that!

The thing is, if you wish to battle a Pokemon, they have to learn to do a lot of different things. They have to learn to use different moves in different situations, to dodge other attacks, to recover quickly from being hit by attacks, to know when to hold their ground and when to advance or retreat even if their trainer isn't telling them every little detail. All of these things are much easier to do when they have a good grasp on how their bodies work! Base form Pokemon have less raw power to work with, so they are less likely to hurt themselves or others in the process of learning how to channel their abilities!

And... being young is the time for learning! Pokemon, like humans, have brains that absorb knowledge like little sponges when they are young! You may think this contradicts what I said earlier- after all, wouldn't then it be easier for a young Pokemon to learn to use its new body? - but in actuality that is such a big task that it distracts from learning the other important things, like how to be a good friend to its teammates and trainer, and how to battle effectively! You will have to help a newly evolved Pokemon learn how to battle in new ways in any case; it is a lot easier to do so if they have already learned the basics!

In summary: the way to get a good battling Pokemon, a Pokemon that can help you all the way through the Gym Challenge if you choose to take it on, or through Contest battles, or even with Ranger training, is not to rush straight away to the evolution with the most power that the Pokemon will then struggle greatly to know how to use, but to let them learn and grow in their own time, and learn exactly how battling works for them, before you introduce a different body and more raw power! Less power, wielded effectively, can beat more power wielded without skill any day!

[tobeabatman]

personally i don't really think one is better than the other but as a woc i've felt far more accepted in body neutrality circles than modern body positivity circles- this used to be different but the last couple years have really changed things.

woc specifically, more so than literally any other demographic, are constantly faced with either fetishism or straight up rejection of both our bodies and our features. we're taught from a very early age that we're either sexy or we're disgusting, ugly, or wrong. body positivity, despite being well-intentioned, can sometimes reinforce those views in some poc. we have to love our bodies, we can't look at them negatively, we can't think negatively about how we look, every negative thought has to be challenged, we are hot, we are beautiful. once again, we're placing an emphasis on the way that we look instead of who we are and giving power to the idea that being "beautiful" or "attractive" matters at all.

neutrality does the opposite- maybe we don't like our bodies, maybe we don't like our faces, maybe we don't like our skin, maybe we don't like our weight, our fat distribution, it could be anything. or maybe we love them. maybe we're pretty, maybe we're ugly- either way, it means nothing. bodies are just bodies, nothing more. social attitudes towards my features, weight and appearance hold no relevance to who i am as a person. the way i feel about how i look has no impact on who i am. it doesn't matter how my body looks or how i/anybody else feel about it, because all it is is a body. it's just a vessel and literally every single other thing about me is far more important and interesting than how that vessel looks and how i decorate it. i don't have to love it and i don't have to hate it, i don't have to be positive or negative about it, it's still going to function the same regardless, because that's what it exists to do and the way that it looks doesn't matter.

to be honest, i really do like body positivity as a sentiment but the entire community as of late (not targeted at you, you seem lovely) tends to reek of white woman tears. the amount of times a white body positivity content creator has somehow brought poc experiences that they cannot begin to understand into their arguments is insane. it'll be a video response to a tiktok comment with a white blonde woman on screen and somehow she finds a way to call the commenter racist and start using woc experiences (especially of black women) to argue her own persecution and cement her own victimhood. on an objective level, yes, fat people, especially fat women, are treated unfairly and persecuted. fatphobia exists and it is a massive problem, and yes there are links between fatphobia and racism. but when white body pos creators and advocates are bringing racism into their arguments, almost framing it comparatively or implying that they somehow can connect with the poc experience solely on the basis of experiencing fatphobia, it's nothing more than implicit, insidious racism in my eyes.

i get why they do it, but my experiences do not exist to further a narrative, they do not exist to platform white people and they do not exist to be trivialised in order to prove a point which can be proven without dragging them in.

i think that sometimes (not always) the idea of diversity within a community tends to lean closer to tokenisation than actual inclusion. this isn't a criticism of you as a person, just of the wording of the post, but really often i see people talking about how a community isn't diverse enough and doesn't have enough poc as if we're some kind of quantative measure for a group to say "see! i'm not racist!". at the end of the day, genuine inclusion matters far more than diversity. if a community welcomes poc with open arms but doesn't have much involvement from poc, that is inclusion. we have the option to become involved but we are not forced or pressured to become involved because we aren't seen as special trophies for groups to collect. when a group welcomes poc with open arms and defines themselves by how nice they are to poc and how many of us are involved and how they're so superior to other groups for doing the bare minimum of allowing poc to exist within their space, that's racism. diversity and racism can coexist. a lot of us feel repelled from becoming engaged in body positivity solely because of how white women specifically brand woc experiences as their own and pat themselves on the back for sharing a space with us. our experiences are not theirs, and even if they coexist they are still not the same and not a topic for somebody else to speak on to better their own situation.

ofc other poc will disagree and that's completely okay, i don't expect everybody to feel the same, but just my two cents.

”I think that sometimes (not always) the idea of diversity within a community tends to lean closer to tokenisation than actual inclusion. this isn't a criticism of you as a person, just of the wording of the post, but really often i see people talking about how a community isn't diverse enough and doesn't have enough poc as if we're some kind of quantative measure for a group to say "see! i'm not racist!”

I totally get that lol. Honestly the reason I brought up POC is because I was afraid that (other white) people would blame me for not being diverse enough if I didn’t lmao. You have to mention racism in any discussion about diversity or otherwise you’ll get persecuted by performative white activists (although you guys are the judges of whether I’m one of them as well lmao).

I think we fat and disabled people are generally more critical of body-neutrality compared to other marginalized groups, because our experiences and marginalization does differ from e.g skinny able-bodied POC, despite all of us facing oppression for the ways we look.

(Anyway for everyone who didn’t see my original post: I’m not body-positive or body-neutral. I don’t think one is better than the other, either.)

Everyone have an amazing day! And call me out on any bullshit whenever you guys want to. I could have missed the point of this commenter totally.

Byeee

[the-firebird69]

We do have reports and we're going to give them now.

-- The Pseudo Empire under severe attack. There are large numbers of troops going after them. They were at about 30% last night they got back to 25% and right now we expect them to be down to probably 40 to 45% after tonight and their population is dropped they worried about 7.4 percent For real they did lose about a percent it's a lot and it brings it to 6.4 percent. It's a real hassle talking to you people and he just wants me to wait and see it when I can it makes sense we'll just keep beating you up. OK the Pseudo Empire in the Eastern Hemisphere is at 40% again that's really functioning bases it's not really their intermingled areas that's where people are coming from the general populace. It's hard to include that in formal basis which they're defending and that's percentage of population which are in smaller increments and it's hard to detail here so we're gonna do that later

-- The stashes and caches in the Western Hemisphere of Trump are pretty much at 10% out and they are going to be I would probably 20% total after a few more days the pace is still slow it's about the same overseas it'll take them a little to figure out what trump is up to

-- The nuclear bunkers the status is changing Usually it's similar to the statues and caches right now both of them are cordoned off but the nuclear bunkers are going to be at 30% out in the Western Hemisphere fully out tonight and tomorrow probably 30% in the eastern hemisphere and it is because they recognize it as the threat they're holding to hang onto the ships and the Mac proper are starting to attack. We are completely sick of this moron Trump reminding us of our job we are going to obliterate him and we're going to start picking targets i've had enough of this the cities are drawing a lot of attention and they're finding out that they took a lot of stuff. And they found out from the financial centers and those are dreaming of people of the trumps they are losing people very fast. so far in each center there 10 to 20 million top level people running it and each of those has lost half or 75% of them and they are losing a lot more and the guy is Teflon Donnie says it's so damned annoying that nobody can believe what he's saying and you can see that in all the movies nobody believes him at all he's **** everybody off and he's getting killed. A couple more things we'll take a break.

-- Jason figured it out yeah at the farmers market and he helped our son out and he figured out trump was hearing it somehow and he did see it get released and said this is a relief and it is nobody wants to in charge of anything and it's gonna be great he's a huge irritating **** ohh and he's going to be gone

Shell County is now a mess it's Charlotte County and their bodybuilding thing went off and they did look weird and they're disgusting they did not do well and they did not place well and they're not going to place well in general competition and it's their main characters no so they did on purpose and they're rude and they **** and they wanted to show them how gross they were and sick and gay and dumb and he stayed away from 'cause he doesn't have money to go anyways so their whole act was on each other in the hate each other they're a bunch of retarded faggots. and the afterparty. none. and comcon was slow if anything. empty booths too they left nobody comes here. now or ever. and went home and sobbed. tons of them yes. ahlf out by the end of the day. sunday will be slow. lame.

even our sons presence would not help a ton they said and no your not right. and they said it he alwsy attracts a crowd. and tons of htem. nad they said this we lose but no are ducking and using him. and so the others see it. stay away ad duck and then this oh no. and are terrified. true too.

Now this is the story of what they're doing wrong. They need information and they won't have it and it's too late now and there's cities are isolated and .... and there's cities are isolated and it's dumb and they don't have protection and they have to try and do things to the other cities and they're gonna get their **** beat. And it is the tale of two cities and both cities are pretty much corrupt and it is what happened back in the day and we have war to report but we're gonna print

and we have war to report but we're gonna print

Thor Freya

Zues Hera

Olympus

and slowed down and odd. and suspicious. so we look they are at each other yes. and over money. and a big fight ensues later tonight yes. the rings heat. about four hundred million soon tons more. and the say it we are at it now and mean.

we will pour in no but pour the allchohol and now too shipping it. tons. and the first batch no but first for hard stuff. They have it out there they are not dry it's really not that good and it's hard to dream so don't drink much of it and they put in stuff to kill the germs and taste funny and the tired of doing it and our stuff is coming out and it's good and there's a lot of it coming out I mean it is an enormous amount of alcohol it's enormous. And it is going out of the Midwest and it's going out of the other middle areas wine beer hard alcohol and other spirits and minerals lots of it there's a huge amount of rum being requested and we're going to post something

Thor Freya

things wil go to our son shorlty it is not too bad here no it is but he stiill can get things needs funds and that is low. but is ok. now we iimprove and nail the issue people. and tons ssay they take the mone it is all over the place and true they do from shitty cities and more. to here. and he will use it and attract dufuses. mamcs wil use it and as cover and insulation for their coded messages and will use up the morlock. tons say it starts soon they re ut when it drops and then they have to

true too

Thor Freya

good im ok slow stuff here annoying

Hera

[roomwithavoid]

don’t worry about asking questions! you didn’t understand something and your instinct was to learn more, not just disregard it, so you’re already doing better than most people online!! ll try my best to explain but keep in mind i’m asexual so i’m not 100% on how sexual attraction actually feels

so from my understanding, sexual attraction is when the thought, appearance, or general traits of another person are sexually arousing to you. like in cartoons how when a guy sees a hot woman his jaw will drop and he starts panting, that’s an exaggerated way of communicating that this woman’s appearance is arousing to him.

as an asexual person, we don’t really get that. there is a spectrum to asexuality of course, so there are greysexuals, who only sometimes feel attraction. a trait they would find attractive one day does nothing for them another day. or there are demisexuals, who don’t feel attraction until they’ve bonded very closely with someone. this is a non-exhaustive list of course, just a couple examples.

sexual attraction is distinct from romantic and aesthetic attraction. basically, sexual attraction is when you see someone and want to have sex with them. romantic attraction is when you see someone and want to be romantic with them. aesthetic attraction is when you see someone and think they generally look nice, but don’t necessarily *want* to do anything with them as a result.

when allosexual (non asexual) people have sex, a lot of times the decision to do so is made on the basis of sexual attraction. “i’ve seen you. you are attractive to me. let’s have sex.” but as an asexual person the decision is based on other things. like “i know that sex feels good, so i would like to have sex”

asexual people can also feel arousal, since it is a distinct biological function from attraction. arousal for an ace person can often either be random, or happen as a result of sexual contexts rather than the traits of the person. so an asexual person can choose to engage in sex or masturbation as a result of being aroused as well.

i hope this helps!

a psa from your local sex favorable ace! i just wanted to make this post since i see a lot of people (even aces) saying or insinuating that an asexual person cant want sex. this isn't true at all! it keeps asexual people from realizing they are ace!! asexual people can want sex, have sex, enjoy sex, and get horny! the only requirement for being considered ace is a lack of sexual attraction, and even then theres a whole spectrum of asexual identities including partial attraction. we are such a diverse communtiy and we should celebrate that! allo people please share!

[hj34r35t3535]

How Dreams, Determination and Passion can change the world – Success story of Mr. Harish Jagtani

Meet Mr. Harish Jagtani who as a young boy of just 22 years in 1995 left the comforts of his home, empty handed but with a vision and determination to face any odds in the world, travelled to a country in Africa despite knowing the challenges of food, culture, safety, health, language barrier, etc. leaving behind his family to fulfil his dreams of making it big. His only support was his Uncle.

Today Harish Jagtani is a multi-billionaire business tycoon having an international business that has contributed a lot in the development of D R Congo. His group of companies  provides employment to over 4000 natives and 700-800 Indians or other foreign nationals.

Today he is the biggest Philanthropist in D R Congo region with HJ Hospitals providing healthcare facilities to the natives of Democratic Republic of Congo

HJ Foundations provides sustainable healthcare to all people even to people who do not have the means to pay for it. They also hold a lot of charity camps at villages and small cities.

MTI News – Senior Correspondent got an opportunity to interview Mr. Harish Jagtani the man himself and below is the candid conversation between them :-

 Q: You started business in D R Congo 20 years ago, what were you doing before that and let us know how you started your career?

HJ : I came to D R Congo to work for my uncle Mr. Parmanand Daswani in 1995, as a sales executive. My Uncle runs a chain of supermarkets functioning across Republic of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo. This was how I started my actual career on a serious basis. After working for him for a couple of years, I started my own business.

 Q: How did you think about D R Congo?

I was not aware of D R Congo but as I came to work for my uncle, he was the one who introduced me to the country and once I came here, I came to believe that this was a land of opportunities.

 Q: What were the risks in doing business 20 years ago and how is the situation now? What are the new risks currently and how do you manage them?

When you ask about the risks in business, I do not find much change in the situation. I did not find much risk of business then, nor do I find many now. There are challenges, yes, as are in every place when you want to start something new. The situation has definitely improved, we have much more resources now that are available in ways easier than earlier. Thankfully, we have a strong supply chain management set up that helps us to smooth out the road bumps and things can be managed quite efficiently these days.

 Q: What are the challenges you faced in the beginning, like language, culture food habits, crime etc. and how did you overcome them?

I believe you have quite rightly mentioned the challenges in your question. The culture, the language, the food habits were quite different from back in India. But then, what is life without challenges. I believe these challenges were the one that shaped me. It was difficult, but once I had made up my mind that this is the place where I want to be, these challenges made it more attracting. I used to put in extra hours after tiring days at work to get hold of the language and the culture. Today, I speak Lingala which is the most used language amongst the natives here in D R Congo. This helps me to connect with people of all levels and was one of the important stepping stones in this journey.

 Q: How did you become so successful in just 20 years?

I would rather say it’s not the timeframe but the mindset that helps a person become successful. As I mentioned, once I came here and realised the potential of the country, I made up my mind that this was the place to be. Finding the right kind of work, building the right network, taking the right decisions and implementing those quickly; these, amongst a few other aspects were what helped me make my way to success.  Not only planning but quick and correct implementation I think has what helped me above everything else.

 Q: What initiatives do you want to take for people in India, like providing jobs or bringing entrepreneurs  to D R Congo and suggesting a business?

I would rather take initiatives for the people here in this land. There is a plethora of unexplored opportunities here and the rich resources of the country belong to the natives. Indians can surely work here in tandem with the local populations and contribute to the growth and development of this country.

 Q: How have you contributed to the development of Congo and in which area?

My team here has contributed in more ways than one when it comes to the development of D R Congo. Serve Air Cargo, my flagship company is one of the largest air cargo providers in the country that connects around 28 destinations in the entire D R Congo. Today, with developing roads and travel routes within the country, it is Serve Air Cargo that helps multiple organisations, global NGOs, institutes of the state as well as private businesses transport freight from one location to other. Today we are the pioneers in the field of logistics.

We have stepped into the domain of healthcare in 2016 with Harish Jagtani Hospitals. Today, after 6 years, HJ Hospital is the epitome of quality healthcare in the entire Central- West African Region. A state of the art diagnostic centre, a 200 bedded, multi-super specialty hospital, HJ Hospital today provides services which were a far-fetched dream for many people till almost 5-7 years back. We have cancer surgeries, total joint replacement surgeries, complex neuro and cardiac surgeries, all being performed under the same roof by experts from across the globe. Expert medical staff from multiple nationalities work alongside natives to bring quality healthcare to the people of D R Congo.

Plus, with the formation of HJ Foundations, my team has made sure that sustainable healthcare can be availed by even people who do not have the means to pay for it. My team at HJ Foundations conducts multiple charity healthcare camps ranging from free malaria testing, free cataract surgeries to free prosthetic limbs campaigns wherein not a single cent is charged from any person who walks in to find support.

Apart from these works, we are also developing real estate and state infrastructure and my team has made sure that we touch lives through all our works and contribute to the best of our potential for the development of this country.

 Q: What is the total size of HJ group how many staff ?

My team at the Harish Jagtani group consists of around 100 expatriate staff and over 3000 native staff members

 Q: A few words about your family and how do you divide your time between business and family?

Well, my family stays in India and I do travel at times to meet them. But it does get difficult as I have to be here most of the time with my people, my team members who have contributed immensely to the growth and success that you term as mine. It is the hard work and dedication of my team and they are more than my family and most of my time is usually spent amidst them.

 Q: What are your future plans and do you have any plans to diversify into other countries?

My future plans do involve a lot of expansion but only in D R Congo. I do have plans to build better infrastructure and opportunities and services for the people of this country. My immediate plans in the next 5 years include building a few more centres of the HJ Hospitals, expanding the reach of HJ Foundations, Medical College and also building Harish Jagtani Garment to create 1000’s of employment  across major cities in D R Congo.

[nachoscheesy]

Tumblr Revival

Tl;dr

Tumblr has a large interconnected community of artists and content creators, and should focus on its strengths and what it does right. Instead of trying to compete for space against Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Tumblr should focus on empowering its community and giving that community the tools to develop the site's unparalleled uniqueness.

Tumblr is the crossroads of the internet, with a monthly user traffic of 300 million it is the perfect space for artists, content creators, and small businesses to grow their following without having to fight for a seat at the table against companies with huge budgets.

Hi, I go by Nacho here on tumblr, and I'm sure as many of us on tumblr have noticed, the (hell)site is kinda going downhill. Tumblr was bought by Automattic in fall of 2019, and I am sure they have the best intentions to help tumblr stay afloat. However, I think it's time the community took a more deliberate approach to how tumblr is handled, and hopefully Automattic and @staff will hear us out. I think I have a solid solution to tumblrs money issues, that will help both the site and empower its online communities.

First and foremost, I am not involved with Tumblr or Automattic. I am just a simple blog trying to help out a place that I've been on since 2010, and I would hate to see it die here around 2023.

So, let's get to the root of the problem on tumblr right now. That being money, tumblr is currently costing more money that it produces, as we've seen with its 97% drop in value from 1.1 billion dollar sale to being sold at around 3 million dollars.

So the first thing that must be improved before anything else can be improved on tumblr is how much money they're bringing in a month. I don't think folks on tumblr hate monetization as much as we all collectively say we do, I think the issue is that most advertisers are completely disconnected from the groups they are trying to advertise to on here. Tumblr comprises roughly 65% millennials and 30% gen-z, the two generations that advertisers seem to have the hardest time advertising to for a myriad of reasons. The main one being that they don't fully understand what we want, and sometimes just don't listen to what we are saying.

Lets look at how tumblr makes its money, Tumblr has four main revenue sources,

Ads by sponsored posts

Display ads through video posts

Sponsored Day ads or banner ads

“Premium Themes”

I'll go into depth on all of these and how tumblr could make potential changes to improve their revenue anywhere from three to six months after it implements some or ideally all of these changes.

First tumblr ads and sponsored posts, these changes are going to be contingent on tumblr allowing its users to share, like, and comment on ads much like all other media sites currently allow. Or at least giving advertisers the ability to turn that on or off as a function.

The average tumblr post gets reblogged 14 times, that number increases significantly if the ad is engaging and actually caters to the communities wants and needs. My reasoning for giving users the ability to reblog ads is to increase user engagement while maintaining their current ad vetting process and all of the nonsensical ads that are run on tumblr 90% of the time.

The other reason for allowing tumblr users to share and comment on ads, or have it be an option for advertisers to turn on or off as they'd like, is that the appeal of tumblr is the ability to propagate and obsess over the most niche things (i.e OSHA.)

All the while allowing content that gets shared all over the internet bubble up to the top through the collective hand of the tumblr community. Along with this tumblr has no way for small users to share their own products or services, every single major site has a way for users to advertise their pages or products through the site.

Tumblr is a content machine that creates imagery and memes that get shared all the time across the internet, so the ability to share and curate its own ads is paramount to improving advertising and user engagement on tumblr.

My proposal here is for tumblr to expand its advertising capabilities to all users, while charging a flat rate fee to advertise on tumblr, with additional charges for popular tags or trending tags. Tumblr currently has no self service advertising system much like Facebook does for example. Where facebook charges a daily rate on cost-per-click(CPC) or cost-per-thousand(CPM)

Charging a flat rate fee at a rate of a day, week, month, or quarterly basis with variances in prices based on the lease term and what the advertisers would want to have their ads show up on certain tags. This would open up the doors for small businesses that don't want to advertise on places like facebook, twitter, or google with their complicated CPM and CPC models. Also bringing in more small locally owned businesses with the added value of less competition for ad space on tumblr.

This would also take some of the weight from tumblrs own advertising staff from having to explain a convoluted system to potential advertisers. Creating a simplified model with the the advent of tumblrs own infrastructure able to get a single post to a large variety of users. Where the current ad model uses a “shotgun” method to hit as many people as possible, the tumblr model could encourage advertisers to curate a more personalized and intimate experience that tumblr users would love.

Why not just advertise elsewhere? Tumblr still in fact gets over 300 million views a month as of June 2021 (Statosta), and the added benefit for users to be able to like, share, and interact with ads would allow ads that the community enjoys to be talked about more. Giving advertisers more honest feedback about their ads while increasing their SEO’s.

Also small businesses that can't compete with the vetting processes that are used on other sites, would have a better chance of developing their business and increasing their clientele on tumblr whose core demographics are approximately 60% millennial and 35% gen-z. This core demographic does in fact care about being able to shop at local stores, or even a store across the US that is trying to drum up its own online sales.

These ads could be placed inline on the tumblr dash while moving other sponsored ads to the right of the site on desktop, but making them alternate on mobile between user ads and sponsored ads.

Second, the display ads should be changed to allow tumblr users to share and further interact with ads to generate more user engagement, incentivizing more businesses and companies to build their brand status on tumblr. Tumblr has a good model for creating short diaries or daily vlogs for companies that wish to show off their products on social media. This includes smaller businesses and vlogers that want to post videos or tutorials of themselves on their blog.

Tumblr is a good site for user engagement with a pool of creative potential for anyone wanting to gauge the desire for a particular subject or piece of media, maybe even an upcoming show. Having the ability to share and comment on sponsored ads would also help advertisers by allowing them to get more bang for their buck with a considerable uptick on how users engage with that content.

Third, tumblrs sponsor day ads and banner ads are inexpensive and should be highlighted as a selling point over their competitors. Tumblr 24-hour banner ads are considerably more affordable for businesses when compared to places like twitter with their 200k price point. For the same amount of money on tumblr a business could have their company at the top of the dashboard or app for 8 whole days. Much longer and much better than the competition.

Keeping this price fixed, with a change in the price CPC is still a much more lucrative and attractive selling point than any of the competition on the internet today. I know this might not be exactly what tumblr wants to hear when it is hemorrhaging money right now, but let's look at the cost for these 24 hour daily ads and banner ads. If tumblr hypes up the price point on these ads they could see a significant rise in advertisers considering the lack of competition on tumblr and past success stories of companies who did advertise on tumblr.

At the same time larger advertisers should be encouraged to make engaging ads and blogs on tumblr that will make people want to actually go to their blogs, that then link to an external site or page. Not ads that instantly try to force you to go to some other site, by rewarding or offering special discounts for people who find a special code or something off of the actual blog. Or even for giving the same code to everyone who reblogs a certain post made by the advertiser.

Seems too good to be true? Look at “Asos” back in 2015 when they held a shirt design competition on their tumblr blog. Where they had 900 submissions, four of which were picked, and were sold out of the user generated shirts in 10 hours.

This is not the only case however, but FX ran their own campaign for the show “Man Seeking Woman” where they saw a 2.8% increase in user engagement, 86% increase in their tumblr followers, and they actually saved money through advertising on tumblr.

All this leads me to believe that tumblr actually was and continues to be the best place for brands, small businesses, and artists to develop themselves through genuine user engagement.

Finally, the “premium themes” that are available on tumblr that allow for unparalleled customizations that you hardly find elsewhere on the internet anymore. Tumblrs ability to take a variety of media sources, as well as having an unparalleled level of customization, user interconnectivity, and a vibrant artistic scene shows that it is ripe with potential.

Tumblr could still use its post+ feature, but in the same way that Discord uses its subscription service. For cosmetic changes that can be added modularly to the site or individual blogs for an additional monthly fee. In conjunction with partnering with community artists to bring small cosmetic additions to individual blogs, while paying the content creator and tumblr taking a small portion of the profits over a certain amount.

To be completely honest this is probably the hardest portion of this entire pitch to make changes to in a shorter period of time, considering all the testing and “under the hood” changes that must be made. However, I think that implementing this as well as the other changes I have proposed will bring back more foot traffic to tumblr as well as increase its revenue and profitability.

In closing, I am simply working with whatever information I was able to find online and a good amount of time invested on my part to do this. I think tumblr has a ton of potential still to return as a force for good for the communities that exist and want a change from what the internet has become. Time and time again when any company or public entity dies it was because it did not change and refused to adapt and innovate, oftentimes not at the hands of the people working everyday to keep the site running. Instead at the hands of people who dont see the value in what has fallen in their laps.

If you agree and think this is something that can be done, please reblog this post and follow me for more updates. If I don't hear back or this does not gain any traction by the end of the year, then tumblr can go to its inevitable end. I will be here sinking with the ship.

@support @engineering @music @wip @changes @photomatt

[hanazuma-inactive]

Are you fine with top beta mreader and bottom alpha iwaizumi? Reader is model student in school and rumor tells that he is better than most alpha. Iwai who never interested about that kind of thing suddenly changed his mind when his inner beast screamed out for reader when he saw him in the library. That caught reader attention. So they have sex there, with Iwai trying hard to holding back his voice and he can only knotting at nothing when climax. After they were done, Iwai kinda light headed and Reader bridal carry him outside. I just think it will be cute 🐽

That's all 🛁

out of the ordinary (nsfw) top beta!reader x bottom alpha!iwaizumi

pronouns: he/him (FEMALE ORIENTED DNI!!)

warnings: slight degrading, omegaverse, reverse roles, knotting (not really), public sex (sex in library), slight overstimming

a/n: i can't find any,,,good iwa panels help. but this was an interesting concept especially the last part. i also love iwa with my entire life please 🧎‍♂️ sorry this took so long because it's pretty long around 1.8k words

_____

you were an exception, someone who's out of the ordinary. being born a beta, people didn't expect much from you. they had no reason to believe that someone who was a part of 90% of the world population was capable of doing anything extraordinary. however you were there to prove them wrong. ever since elementary going into highschool your grades were always at the top of the class and in some cases in the district. everyone was surprised to find out that you were only a beta instead of an alpha.

your achievements were spread all of the school board and among your classmates. most people respected you and some wanted to be you. your grades weren't the only thing you had, your looks were at least above average and nearly everyone who saw you wanted to fuck you, or get fucked by you. except for one person, iwaizumi hajime.

the spiky haired boy was never interested in this type of stuff. in fact he is the only alpha in the entire school that hasn't tried to hit on you or asked you out yet. unfortunately this just so happens to be the one person you were somewhat interested in. unlike the other betas and omegas you weren't exactly submissive. sure you were nice and friendly towards other people but in the bedroom? all you wanted was to make an alpha cry out your name and cum from your cock. it was an unrealistic fantasy due to how your society functions but you've seen it happen before and you wanted to experience it yourself.

the more iwa didn't notice you, the more frustrated you became. you tried all sorts of things to grab his attention. "helping" him with homework, which he denied many times. inviting him to hangout afterschool, also denied. and even as far as behaving unlike yourself, none of the above worked and you were quite upset about it.

until one day, when you were just walking to the gym you overheard iwa and his friend oikawa qtalking about something.

"c'mon iwa we all know you were head over heels for him when he was performing that day."

"shut up, it doesn't matter even if i do, he has enough alphas and omegas on his dick, he doesn't need another one. so what if i want to fuck him, who doesn't? you did too at one point but he turned you down almost immediately."

"jeez! calm down you freaking porcupine. all i'm saying is, next time you two are alone, maybe give it a shot instead of avoiding him. he's the first person that ever got you feeling like this and it would be too good of a chance to pass by, don't you think?"

"yah yah whatever i got it."

so the two were… talking about you?. there was no way right?! the one person you wanted attention finally gave it to you. it might not have been directly but he admitted it, and that's all you needed to know. so all the things you were doing did work after all. you were excited but you needed to keep your cool for now, and figure out a way to get you two alone. little did you know he was going to come to you all by himself without you even lifting a finger.

you strolled to the library afterschool to borrow to borrow a book your friend told you to check out that you know you won't be reading. while searching for the novel, you heard someone open the door of the empty library. it was pretty rare for anyone to be in the library except during class time so you wondered who it could've been. you peeked over the bookshelves to find a spiky haired male trying to find a book as well. it was iwa, looking for a book in the dystopia section.

this situation couldn't have been better. you and iwa were alone in a place where nobody usually comes. it was the perfect opportunity to do what you always wanted to do. you walked over to the other section to greet him.

"yo! how's it going iwaizumi?"

"it's going fine… thank you, i'm surprised to see you here though."

"oh yeah haha, just checking out a book."

iwaizumi looked away and directed his attention back to the bookshelf. you were a little upset and while thinking about something to talk about, he spoke again.

"h-hajime, is fine...by the way." iwa said while his face flashed a bright red.

hajime? his first name? we barely talked ever and now you guys are on a first name basis? you didn't mind of course, you a little surprised that's all.

"alright hajime! same goes for you too!"

he looked away again, gripping the book in his hand.

"alright, fuck it." he murmured under his breath. hajime turned around to you and pushed on onto the bookshelf behind you. his hand holding onto yours and his face red as a cherry. you were a little startled but this stuff wasn't exactly new to you so it wasn't as flustering to you as it was to him.

"uhh, hajime? y-you alright there?"

"i wanna fuck you alright?! there i said it. i'm not expecting anything because i'm the last alpha you haven't rejected. but still, i want to try. so…what do you say?"

it was all going better than expected. all the things you've done to attract iwa was finally paying off! you were excited but you needed to keep your cool before completely losing it on him.

"sure! i don't see the reason not to~ but…we are going to switch it up a little bit." you said with a smirk on your face. iwa looked confused about what you meant by switching up, but now that the person he liked agreed to have sex with him, he didn't care about what's about to happen.

you grabbed iwa's arms and pushed them behind his back as you turned him around, reversing the positions of you two.

"w-woah, what are you doing…y/n."

"i've always wanted to do this hehe, fucking an alpha and making him beg to cum as a beta, someone who is supposed to be below him in society standards. what do you say hajime? is this still the sex you were looking forward to? or are you gonna leave me here all by myself?"

there was fear and anticipation in iwa's eyes, eager to find out what happens next. as much as he wished it was the opposite way around he didn't want to lose the opportunity in his hand right now. reluctantly, he nodded and agreed, gesturing to get on with what you wanted to do.

gaining the signal to start, you aggressively pushed your lips onto iwa's, reaching into his mouth and soon intertwining your tongue with his. the other male let out stubborn whimpers as the kiss grew to be more sloppy. soon you broke it, leaving him panting for breath and a dirty smile on your face.

you licked your fingers and reached into the back of iwaizumi's pants. at first he jolted a little, not being used to his ass being touched as an alpha. you then started to move your fingers into his asshole. going deeper inside, hajime struggled with the pain that no alpha in this school will ever experience. hajime's grunts started to become moans, you put in more fingers as you found his pleasure point. massaging it and doing all the tricks you knew on it to make him feel as good as possible.

it didn't take long till a wet spot started to form on his pants and his eyes became hazy. you took out the finger and let hajime catch his breath before preparing him for the real thing.

"w-what's next…" hajime asked

"just close your eyes, i promise i'll make you feel good~"

he trusted you and shut his eyes, latching on to your shoulder. you revealed your cock and lifted iwa up so that his face would be facing you and his plump asshole would be right above cock. iwa was nervous, you could tell and that was the best part about it. gently you put your cock into his ass. it was still rather difficult even with all the preparation from earlier. iwa let out a small cry as you entered him, not used to anything so big inside him, or anything at all really.

"f-fuck that hurts…"

"i know, it'll feel good in a bit, alright? bare with me here a little. i'm gonna start moving."

you didn't even put into consideration that this was iwa's first time. you went at a moderate speed, sometimes slowing down and speeding up. iwa's hard cock leaking with precum and bouncing up and down on yours. it was such a pretty sight seeing the alpha cry pretty tears from all the pain and pleasure. of course you felt amazing too, iwa's virgin hole felt better than your hand or anything your dick had ever fucked.

iwa used one of his hands to cover his mouth. attempting to stop the people outside of the library to hear his moans.

"hajime~ people are gonna hear us if you keep being naughty like this~" you said with a cocky smile on your face.

he didn't say anything in response, barely being able to comprehend anything while getting fucked.

"c'mon...look at you, an alpha? being fucked by a beta in a library. moaning like a slut in heat, i might as well knot you while i'm at it hm?"

speaking of knots, the alpha was getting closed with nothing around his cock. nothing for him to knot. his cock enlarged in size as he reached his climax but a face of disappointment appeared because of the empty area around iwa's dick. he didn't even think it was physically possible until today looking at it right now in front of him.

hajime had his fun but you weren't done yet. right after he came you continued to fuck him and stroke his cock to overstimulate him. after you came inside you noticed that iwaizumi had already passed out from the pleasure. his own cum spilled on his stomach and his ass filled with yours. you stood still for a while, enjoying the view of the sleeping prince in front of you. to make this more fun for the both of you, you decided to carry the alpha in your arms as if he was your bride.

you got a bunch of weird stares and murmurs from the students around you but you didn't care. all the reputation that you built up could fall into shreds but you could not have cared less. now, the only thing that matters is the one person you wanted attention from gave it to you and is sleep soundly in your arms.

[steveharrington]

sorry to be a freak and come here instead of actually commenting on ao3 but i love how tommy functions as this foil/parallel to jonathan in your fic???? like they both have a mentally ill mother and an instinctive distrust of men who attempt to enter her life (maybe reaching but i’m reading that tommy has a good reason for that distrust the same way that jonathan’s wariness stems hugely from his father).

and just like jonathan he’s parentified—going to meetings for her, making sure to keep her meds in order—but i feel like whereas jonathan has will to look after which leads to him turning the resentment he harbours for joyce inwards and having a very “buck-up and stay strong for will” attitude, tommy basically focuses all of his energy towards his mom (okay definitely reaching here i haven’t even seen them interact yet 😭😭) and is a cunt to everyone else ever—besides carol tee-hee—as his way of dealing with the anxiety of a child being forced into a caregiver role for their parent. like jonathan is fundamentally unable to be a kid (which is why i’ll somewhat defend him in s4 cause i think he deserved to get high and be stupid for once) while tommy is unable to be a kid in the area where he should most be able to which is why he acts like one in every other area. and hilariously his resentment is constantly flushed out because carol’s his gf LOL.

like i think jonathan thinking just for a second that it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if joyce’s anxiety drove away any asshole who might be initially attracted to her and then beating himself up for the cruelty of it because how could he think that? meanwhile carol says it for tommy and tommy pats himself on the back for finding a girl so blunt and brutal.

anyway you made me have SO many thoughts about tommy hagan even though my thoughts pre this fic were “man what a dick. he and carol are kind of goals though they genuinely love each other and stick up for each other”.

first of all do NOT apologize this is literally a dream 😭 i appreciate all comments so so much and honestly tumblr is a pretty good platform to get them because i can respond at length (and sometimes i hesitate to respond to comments on ao3 because i don’t want to put a notif in someone’s inbox and get their hopes up for a comment on one of their fics and really it’s just me responding which i know sounds insane but it’s just what i do) but anyways oh my god thank you so much

you’ve made so many good points that i didn’t even think about when i was writing it!!! my main basis for tommy’s background with his parents, specifically his mom, is that from the few crumbs we have of him in the show he is 1. very bitter and resentful of the people around him 2. very unsupervised (having sex in the 6th grade which….jesus) and 3. very unfazed by interpersonal family drama based on the way he was so quick to joke around about steve’s dad’s infidelity in front of nancy and barb. all that combined gave me the idea that his parents are probably divorced, which also gives him and steve this bond that partially helps explain why they’re even friends when we meet them in s1. like…as steve grows more cognizant of what’s right and wrong and starts angling himself to hang out with someone like nancy, a polar opposite from tommy and carol, i think it’s natural for the viewer to be like “okay why is he friends with them in the first place then??” and my explanation is that when you grow up with someone, you become very intertwined with their life and their struggles and that doesn’t all just go away once you get older and develop different personalities

ANYWAYS all of this is to say that writing tommy’s relationship with his mom this specific way was a choice partially based on the little tiny bits we have of him in canon and partially just me trying to flesh him out a bit more and explore why, like you said, he resents people so much and why he comes across so immature compared to steve even at the start of season one. i also like to think that tommy singling out jonathan when he’s putting his poster up is his attempt at consoling himself about his own situation at home by being like “well at least i’m not jonathan byers”

i will say…….jonathan is very important in this fic ;) so getting this ask was very thrilling because i already have plans to bring him into the story in a big way and seeing someone else sense his vibes before he’s even arrived is so so so cool :’) again thank you so much it’s ever fic writers dream to talk about their ideas at length like this!!!

[funkymbtifiction]

Hi, Charity! Sorry to bother but would you give me your thoughts on my type (MBTI), please? Recently I've been really confused about my own understanding of the functions and, for that, about my type.

My main focus through all my life has been myself, my inner landscape and my emotional response. My mind is always on, dissecting my feelings. For instance, if I don't want to meet up with a friend two weekends in a row... Why? What does that say about me? Am I a low-energy person? Or is it because I find this person boring? If so, why? Why I tend to avoid most people or find reasons to do it? Everything adds up. With time and an intense introspection, I have created a little world inside me full of depth and heavily layered. Each question, each answer sculpts it with more detail. <- a really lovely description of Fi-dom / IFP.

I act accordingly to what I believe. Through the years, I built a filter which everything, small and big decisions, must pass through. I don't take anyone word on anything, I must ponder it myself. If I make my mind about not lying, I would not do it even if someone is asking me to, I hurt someone or at expenses of my own life. In a similar manner, if I don't like fried chicken, I won't eat it. <- Fi-dom.

Most of the time, I am not a social person. People drained me and I want to be left alone. However, from time to time, I get really 'on' with a person, or even daily basis with my partner, and I want to chat. My conversation is chaotic, to say the least. My very first question could be your thoughts about cocodriles (it happened), which could progress onto my opinion on how humans would be if we would evolved from them or other animals instead, then to a brainstorms of invented rituals and after the topics change its colour a hundred times ended up talking about social media and its impact. This also happens in my writing. I may want to write about my feelings but I see the possibility of a short-story and it is transformed into a whole new thing. <- strong Ne / INFP.

I see artistic expression as a necessity. I gravitate towards photography (especially symbolic and abstract-esque), poetry and music. I don't want to make a career out of it, because that would pollute my relationship to it. I create for me, to find myself through the process. It is the moment, or one of the moments, where I find more real. <- more Fi-dom.

I respect people's lives and paths, as much as I want others to respect mine. My biggest pet peeve is people asking me to response or do the same that they would do in the same situation. I may critize others, but I don't try to force change on them. <- Fi-dom.

My whole aesthetic, mentioned before, it is build around the things that since I was a child I was inmediately attracted to. Certain places, vibes or experiences bring me comfort such as the places found during road trips, night driving, ... all of that is a major thing for me.

I don't know if this is too long or not enough to tell. Anyway, thank you for your time.

You give more evidence for Fi-dom than your perceiving functions, but I would say a 9w1 INFP. What you said in the last example about being drawn to places that bring you 'comfort' and having a 'complex inner world' indicates the inner workings of a peace-seeking 9. I assume INFP 9w1 over ISFP 9w1, since in the deleted portions you mentioned sensory over-stimulation (it can happen with low S and a sensitive, wrapped up in my thoughts 9).

[fatalism-and-villainy]

Which kind of het quality stuff are you craving??? In the far off possibility I may have a rec for you. Which I doubt bc quality het is difficult to find but hey, if I can help a fellow bi...

Sure thing! I am, as I said, idiosyncratic in my tastes, so I won't necessarily like something that meets these qualifications (and I might end up liking something that doesn't, or that fits tropes that usually annoy me, because we all contain multitudes and whatnot).

Also, I am curious about your rec, so feel free to send it on even if it doesn't perfectly match what I've said here.

But there are really two main frustrations that I can work out with how m/f stuff often pans out onscreen:

Frustration #1: The guy isn't appealing?

Okay, that's pretty vague and subjective, but what I mean here is that a lot of m/f relationships unfold in media in a way that centers the woman's motivations to be in the relationship on her self-worth - it's less that she desires the man than that she's invested in him desiring her. I always just end up thinking, "but are you even physically attracted to this guy??"

I think I posted about this awhile ago, but I honestly primarily associate men being presented as attractive, their bodies being presented to the viewer as something beautiful and sexy to look at, in queer media (i.e. stuff by, for, and/or about gay men). And it's something I really like about danmei! But I would like to transfer some of that energy into het media. The guy doesn't have to be attractive to me, personally (although obviously it hits better if he is) but I would like some indication that the woman really wants to jump his bones. Give us some cross-directional sexual tension.

Frustration #2: Everything needs to move up the relationship escalator

Granted, this is also a frustration I have with a lot of queer media - man, I could (and probably have) go on and on about that - but there's always the expectation with stories with prominent m/f stuff that that relationship is or should be progressing towards marriage, cohabitation, children, etc. Whereas, my first association with m/f stuff that appeals to me is relationship dynamics that don't follow that mold at all.

For some Lore, when I was a teenager, my dream relationship was one in which we would live on separate continents, exchange passionate and intimate letters containing poetry and art, visit each other regularly, and always be very important to each other - like, "~you're the only one who really understands me~" type of importance - but we wouldn't be part of each others' lives on a day-to-day basis, or function socially as a "couple". And that's the sort of thing I'd really like to see - decoupling relationship dynamics from "the couple" as a social unit. I want people who have a very intimate and unique dynamic together, and who have and continue to influence each other in profound ways, but who aren't interested in marrying, or who used to date but aren't officially dating but still sleep together regularly, that sort of thing.

Or, conversely, I want people who do live together or function socially as a couple, but who have no desire to get married or have children, or generally fit their relationship into an acceptable institutional mold. In historical fantasy-ish settings (which is mainly what I'm thinking of in this entire post, because that's where most of my fandom energy is right now, but this could apply to other genres and settings too) I usually imagine couples who hang out in very socially progressive, radical circles, and whose relationships would be considered kind of transgressive and scandalous by wider society due to not being married.

That said, I'm also not against arranged marriages either - I think people who are put together for more strategic and political purposes, but who come to feel some kind of love for each other or develop and enjoyable sexual dynamic, can make for a really interesting type of story. I'd just like more stuff that doesn't follow the typical trajectory of "falling in love --> marriage".

So, those are broadly the kinds of things I'd like to see less of in m/f stuff. In terms of what I'm craving right now, I'd say what I outline here pretty much encompasses most of it - though I will also say that I'd like the two people in question to be more or less equals. Whether it's in intellect or fighting skills or whatnot, I would like them to be able to match each other - they don't have to have exactly the same talents, but I would like them to push and challenge each other in some way. And I'd like there to be a little tension or even antagonism (I do love my rivalmances), rather than purely fluff.

[bookofmirth]

I’m seeing a lot of people dismiss Elucien by claiming Elain doesn’t want him and “shrinks” away from him. I wanted to get your take on this. Cause how I see it is Elain desperately wants to feel in control again which is why she is pushing Lucien away. She has suffered tremendous trauma from being kidnapped by Hybern, turned into a fae against her will, being told she has a mate, her fiancé leaving her, having powers thrust on her she doesn’t understand, being kidnapped again, losing her father, and now having to pretend everything is fine because she sees how her sisters were struggling with their own trauma.

All these things happening to her and she hasn’t dealt with any of them, and that includes the mating bond. She hasn’t rejected it or accepted it. She just ignores it’s existence including Lucien himself. Given she has had over a year and still won’t even discuss the bond makes me think that is her way of taking control back. That she’s telling the Cauldren or the Mother or Fate to fuck off by deciding the bond doesn’t exist.

So seeing some other people claim that she doesn’t want Lucien I have to question that if that was definitively the case why doesn’t she outright reject the bond? Why drag out this feeling of limbo by ignoring Lucien or “shrinking” away from him? I see it as her taking control of her life back. She’s deciding she won’t deal with this thing that was pushed onto her by some divine entity. Same way she has pretended until ACOSF that her powers were gone.

And regarding the other unnamed ship for Elain I think that’s also a control thing. I think she genuinely cares about him. He saved her life many times and made her feel safe in this new crazy world she was pushed into. I just think that connection she has to him is the same as any traumatized person would have to someone who rescued them/experienced that same pain. I think maybe Elain is pushing for more in that connection because she feels this is a choice she made and not Fate. This relationship would be her taking control back. Which is why I could see them sharing intimacy that essentially will leave her feeling unfulfilled, especially considering his POV is more about what he thinks Fate owes him. Basically they would both be using each other.

Sorry I seriously could go on for another few paragraphs talking about how even in ACOTAR Elain was portrayed as the easy going one and that may be further evidence of her not dealing with her feelings… there I go again. This is a lot [insert I just have a lot of feelings gif].

This is really long, and I love you for your thoughts, and I am not one bit sorry that this took me like 45 minutes to write.

This argument is honestly the one that drives me crazy the most because we literally do not know what Elain wants. People keep saying “she’s not interested” or “they never talk” or “there’s no interaction” etc. Are they supposed to discuss the mating bond and their deepest feelings and thoughts about one another at Starfall, or winter solstice, or some other family function in front of literally everyone they know??? 

I’m sorry, but did we get an Elain book that I missed? A Lucien book? No, we’ve gotten Feyre’s story, and Nesta and Cassian and a bit of Rhys. Not once have we gotten a POV in which we could see Elain and/or Lucien discussing how they feel about one another without someone else present and/or interfering, without that information being filtered through someone else’s perception of how they feel.

And tbh? I think that’s telling. To me, that means it’s being saved for a future book.

Regarding the way that Elain supposedly shrinks from Lucien - again, if she really didn’t want to be around him, Feyre and Rhys would make that happen. 

In acowar, their interactions were quite different because she had just been Made, her powers were still unknown, she was still mourning Graysen and her father. Elain had a lot going on. I always like to compare it to feysand, and what Feyre’s reaction would have been if she knew about Rhys being her mate as soon as she met him in acotar. There’s no way in hell should would have just instantly thrown Tamlin over for him. Why would we expect Elain to be able to make that shift in her affections so easily?

In acosf, page 311, there is “tightness” in her face when she makes an excuse for not being around, and this is Cassian’s POV.

Page 602, again Cassian’s POV: “Cassian’s heart strained at the pain etching deep into Lucien’s face as he tried to hide his disappointment and longing. Elain only shrank further into herself, no trace of that new-found boldness to be seen.”

Any conjecture about why she reacted that way is 100% pure speculation. 

She could be feeling what Lucien feels because of the bond, and from what Cassian says it’s not a pleasant feeling. 

She could be unsure of what Lucien expects of her. 

She could be repulsed by him.

She could have such strong feelings that she shrinks because she has a difficult time hiding them (and she’s usually really good at hiding them). 

She could feel such an intense pull towards him that she physically withdraws. 

We literally do not know!!!

To me, it mirrors Wings and Embers when Nesta and Cassian were attracted to one another and he licked her neck, then she kicked him in the balls. I mean we literally have examples of this with the other mated couples where they are drawn together but still turn away from one another. However, we also got to see feysand and nessian one-on-one, from their own POV. We haven’t had that with elucien yet so any argument that says the above (she’s not interested, they never interact, etc.) has no basis in what we know. 

What we do know is that she hasn’t rejected the bond. Whatever those reasons are, Elain could have rejected the bond a thousand times over by now, but she hasn’t. I actually don’t think she runs from her problems, at least not all the time. I know that people keep arguing that, but I’m not convinced. I’ll make a separate post about that. 

Hell, Lucien could have rejected the bond a thousand times over by now!!!! Elain isn’t the only one who can do that, right?! And why would he choose to let it remain, when this pull is having such an effect on him? When Rhys said that it can make people go crazy if it’s not consummated? Like? Lucien has agency in this too, and of the two of them Lucien has a much larger stake in not letting this continue. 

There is a year of potential interactions between them that we have zero evidence of and so claiming that they haven’t happened is like one of the priestesses saying that the sky doesn’t exist because they never see it.

My final point is that I think that we haven’t gotten this information because it’s endgame, because it will get its own book and become fully developed when it’s not filtered through other characters’ perspectives.

Okay my actual actual final point is that idgaf how Az plays into all of this because she can want to kiss him in that one scene, and everything I said would still be true. I think you’re right that they can find comfort in one another because he rescued her (and he also rescued Gwyn) and because he was trying to put her at ease in acomaf (because it was his job), and Az intentionally made himself seem unthreatening. Elain doesn’t feel the same pressure or expectation from Az as there is from Lucien, so yeah, she feels more comfortable around him. She can smile blandly and he can say “no Elain can’t do that” and it doesn’t challenge anything about their lives.

-fin-

[gaeilgeoirgay]

Posadh Eagraithe

This was one of the most popular oneshots of my Pride series so I hope you enjoy it :)

Ao3 Link

Summary- Din's Council want him to get married. Except Din is aromantic and he's not interested. Enter Boba Fett. 

Din sighs as he settles himself in the council chambers. The throne is surprisingly comfortable, which he appreciates when the meetings drag on. The meeting today is about an offer they’ve received from the New Republic- namely, whether or not Mandalore as a whole will join them. He knows that they joined the Old Republic when the dar’manda New Mandalorians were in charge, but he doesn’t personally think it would be a good idea for the new Mandalore they are building. He serves his people though, and it will be their decision.

The Clan and House alor’e file into the room and take their designated places. Din had learned the hard way that seating had to be assigned carefully after the alor’e of Clan Onyo and Rau had started a fist fight with each other. Twice. In ten minutes.

Din straightens and waits for everyone to take their seats. The Armourer is at his right and he bows his head slightly. He may be Mand’alor but she is an Armourer. More importantly, she is the leader of his tribe. “Su cuy. I have given you a week to speak with your aliit about the New Republics offer. Today, we will decide what to do based on their answers. Alor be Skirata. What have you decided?” Din says, wasting no time. “Clan Skirata votes to not join them.” Kal Skirata says. Din nods and moves on to the next clan.

It appears his people share Din’s opinions. They’re overwhelmingly in favour of staying out of the New Republic. “Alright, we’re not joining the New Republic. What do you propose we do about them?”Ketsu Onyo asks and Din sighs again. He likes Ketsu but she has a knack for asking questions he doesn’t have an answer for. “I’m not sure yet, but we definitely shouldn’t slam the door in their faces. I’m open to ideas.” He replies anyways. “Like you said, Mand’alor, we should keep our options open. How about an alliance? As narudar, until the Empire is completely rooted out. Or for things like hyperspace lanes or goods we don’t already have access too.” Sabine Wren suggests. Din definitely likes Sabine. She’s whipsmart and always has good ideas that are actually relevant to the conversation. Unlike some people.

“The Republic is worth nothing to us! We have allies already- the Tattooinian lanes are open to us, Sorgan, Nevarro and Stewjon supply us with food and we can take care of the Empire ourselves.” Bo-Katan snaps. There it is. “Yes, we do, However, the New Republic is currently the largest political alliance in the galaxy. We have our own political alliance but it’s easier if they aren’t our enemies. There’s no point in making them turn against us, when they don’t generally affect us.” Din says patiently. He doesn’t know how he hasn’t started his own fistfight with Bo-Katan Kryze. He admires his self-restraint sometimes.

A gleam enters Bo-Katan’s eyes and Din pales beneath his helmet. She’s stopped trying to challenge him physically for the throne but he knows its only because the rest of the Mando’ade have sworn to him. “Well, how will the Republic trust us? Our Council isn’t elected and we technically live under an oligarchy. The Republic practices democracy and as far as they’re concerned, you’re ruling alone without any other Mando’ade having the same social and political power that you do.” She says smugly. Oh no.

The only person with the same status as the Mand’alor is the Rid’alor. Din is aromantic. He has never planned on finding a riddur, maybe just finding someone who would raise ade with him, but without a romantic relationship. If Bo-Katan suggests herself as rid’alor, then dignified king or not, Din will throw himself out the window.

Fenn Rau picks up on the implications too and traditional bastard that he is, decides it’s a great idea. Sabine and Retsu seem sympathetic but they’re outvoted. “Alor’e, I understand that we must appear balanced to the Republic but I am sol’karta. I have no need for a riddur.” Din says, a final objection. That softens a few alor’e but Bo-Katan remains unremoved. “You’ve got a week to pick someone, Djarin. Then the Council will choose. They have to be Mando’ade- we’re trying to show them we’re united.” She says, voice hard. Din ignores the technical disrespect and finally just agrees. If he can pick, maybe he can ask another sol’karta Mandalorian.

Suddenly he gets an idea and grins. He has the perfect person in mind.

Boba yawns behind his helmet as court finishes up. Ruling Tattooine is exhausting. His comm buzzes and he discreetly checks it. It’s Din so he motions Fennec to take the throne for a few minutes and leaves to answer it. “Hey Din. How’s ruling Manda’yaim going?” He asks. Din also seems exhausted. “Meh. How’s Tattooine?” Din replies in turn. “Same old. What’s the comm for?” Din and him chat often but this wasn’t expected. “You’re aromantic, right? Same as me.” Din asks and Boba blinks, taken aback. First of all, he didn’t know Din was aromantic and second of all, why ask?

“Yeah, I am. Why do you ask?” Boba says, genuinely curious. The smile spreading across Din’s uncovered face is downright wicked. “The Council, more specifically Kryze, want me to marry another Mandalorian to show a united front to the Republic. Pretty sure that Kryze is gunning for Rid’Alor if she can’t get Mand’alor. I’ve got a week to pick someone or else the Council chooses.” Din says, the smile turning slightly maniacal. “And you thought of me?” Boba double checks.

“Yep. You don’t have to agree but I thought it over. They cant disagree on the basis you’re not Mandalorian, because you are and the Republic knows that. You’re also a fellow king/ruler so it strengthens our alliances. Your buir and ba’buir were both Mand’alor at some point so it shows that I have the support of my predecessors allit. You’re also aro so I don’t have to worry about my spouse wanting a romantic relationship. We’re already good friends so it won’t change much and my son loves you. We actually like each other so its not an unhappy arranged marriage.” Din hesitates in his list before he quickly adds his next pro.

“If we want to add sex into it, I think you’re hot and I wouldn’t mind. That part depends on your opinion though. And possibly the best part- Bo-Katan is going to have a heart attack and Han Solo will have to pretend he doesn’t hate you at diplomatic functions because the Republic doesn’t want to make Mandalore mad.” He finishes. Boba’s surprise has turned to genuine mirth. Din has clearly thought this out, and it makes sense. Boba isn’t exactly averse to sleeping with Din either- he can admit that the beroya is very attractive. "I'll set my course for Manda'yaim then. See you soon, cyare.”

Din is completely right. Kryze looks like she's just eaten several lemons at their riddurok and her face lands itself a spot in Boba's cherished memories. Din is also very experienced when it comes to the bedroom and Boba enjoys himself thoroughly. The best part to their marriage, however, is at the Republic's ball to celebrate their new alliance with Mandalore.

Han Solo does a doubletake when he sees Boba and he spits out his drink. Leia Organa comes over to talk to Din and Solo looks like he’s barely restraining himself from shooting Boba in front of half the galaxy’s politicians. Boba makes sure to be a perfect gentleman, the very picture of a Rid’Alor and Solo’s veins nearly explode.

All in all, he thinks he likes this friends-with-benefits things. The benefits just happen to include pissing off Han Solo, pissing off Bo-Katan Kryze and most importantly, his and Din’s respective Court’s will never nag them about spouses again. Manda, Din is a genius. Even if marrying him means Boba occasionally has to coax a toddler off the ceiling.