#but we NEED to stop hating on kids and gen alpha

[babeclownart]

Skibidi toilet and gacha life are not that bad.

OKAY HEAR ME OUT First: skibidi toilet is literally just gm /sfm machinimas. Yes, the are loud and annoying, but its literally not that bad. Kids need to be stimulated, and any hl fans, who say "oh but they are ruining hl characters" are just stupid, G-mans head poking out of the toilet and singing stupid song not going to ruin years of in-game lore. Second: gacha life is a game, that brings out creativity in kids. I've seen countless genuinely good creations, characters and animations made by kids in this game. I know people whos art journey started from gacha life. While yes, unfortunately there are a lot of ranchy content created in gacha life, its just something that always happens, young teenagers may be drawn to such content because of their curiosity. I think a lot of people just want to hate on kids for their interests because we think that its too stupid and cringe and annoying, but I think we need to let kids enjoy they life until they will unavoidably fall into being self-conscious about everything they do and like. THE PROBLEM is, however, stars then ADULTS start to make inappropriate contend targeted at kids with things kids love, and I think we don`t talk about it enough.

[selfmedblves]

I hate when people act like ableism is a thing of the past. Ableism is still, unfortunately, very common. My sister is in middle school and she tells me about all the horrid, ableist shit other kids do.

The hand to the chest, mocking stims, calling people autistic as an insult, and even the r-slur. I hate this idea that the past was inherently more bigoted cause I swear right before covid, i was hearing more about autism acceptance than ever.

When I was a kid, I remember ableism, mostly directed towards me, but never at the level my sister describes happening at her school. I never got someone putting their hand to their chest or "acting" like a disabled person.

I feel like many neurotypical kids are now not only taught, but encouraged to be ableist by their peers. Gen Alpha in general seems like it's gonna be as conservative as the Baby Boomers and that thought fucking scares me.

There are now many young kids who are normalizing ableism and it needs to stop. We need to teach young people to have solidarity for disabled people. We need to teach kids that disabled people, no matter what their support needs are, are deserving of dignity and respect. We cannot allow ableism to thrive in the younger generation. We have to do better.

[xo-adeline]

hello i have a bllk request!

can i request isagi, bachira, chigiri, nagi, reo, kuni, the itoshi brothers and barou with a socially awkward gf/crush who (kinda) hates kids?

like reader doesn’t HATE hate kids, but is like scared of them. kids are actually scary especially gen alpha 💀. how tf are these little gremlins watching skibidi toilet with a straight face just a short clip of it literally made me and my friends so uncomfortable we couldn’t continue 💀.

so more like she can watch kids from afar, and if she saw one in public, she wouldn’t throw a rock at it or call animal control. but talking to them? interacting with them?? HELL NO SHE CANT DO THAT.

it’s kinda like how we see zoo animals. best admired from afar, and if she ever gets stuck in an empty room with them, she’s screwed. as if talking to adults and teenagers wasn’t scary enough, their school just had to pick an orphanage/children’s hospital to volunteer at. she’s hiding in the corner watching her bf/crush deal with the like 7-year olds (maybe younger, who btw, were most likely bullying her just now.) wondering why and how people could stand those little gremlins.

(better still, if they go back to his place after the school volunteering activity and his parent(s)/sister jokingly mention grandkids/nieces/nephews and she’s like “ew i hate kids” or smth like that, but maybe more discreet idk how to tell even my own parents i hate children, let alone my (nonexistent) bf’s parents 💀)

once again it’s not that she actually hates kids, but sees them as a different species and can’t deal with them because they scare her, and sometimes bully her. 💀

ik you probably have a lot of requests but i kinda need SOME way to overcome my crippling fear of children.

i hope you like this idea tho and i really love your writing 🫶🫶🫶

Ngl this is actually so me, I love this idea so much- But the best part is the fact that I actually worked with kids for almost 2 years, and my friends club has us interacting with kids too... (I tried to do most of the characters but I had no ideas for some of them, but you can always re-request with the ones that I missed and the second I think of some ideas I'll def write it!!)

Isagi Yoichi -> Do we not remember when that one kid stopped him after the u-20 match.. Bro is good with kids, so luckily he can save you

-> He will slightly chuckle at you when you show up to this place where the children (gremlins) are at you slightly freak out, and he will laugh at you even more when your awkwardly standing in the corner because your way to freaked out to actually go talk to any of these kids

-> Has to keep reminding the kids not to laugh at you, and that your just not the best socially

-> Eventually tries to find you one of those kids who are also standing away from everybody else for you to interact with, both of y’all have something in common, you hate the other kids!

-> He will very much get confused on this skibidi toilet bullshit (who isn’t, tbh-) but he’ll sit through it so they can be entertained while he tries to make sure that your still alive in the corner

-> If you actually started talking to the kid that he sent your way he’ll be kinda proud, I mean obviously it’s not the other 10 kids he has with him, but it’s a step in the right direction!

-> If not he gets it, I mean what he’s watching with them right now is downright terrifying, so why wouldn’t the minds who consume it also be terrifying

-> Later on when you two finally end up heading back to his house he tells his parents about how you two were volunteering with children and when they offhandedly mention that it would be nice to have grandchildren in the future he can only laugh.

“Yeah.. Unless I can get (Name) to stop hiding in a corner when they see a child then maybe..”

Reo Mikage

-> He grew up as an only child and I’m assuming he didn’t have a bunch of friends when he was growing up so I don’t think he would be the absolute best with kids, but still better than others

-> The kids will be a little confused when he starts trying to teach them about business and economics saying that this was the age he started learning about running a business

-> They might end up gravitating towards you since you’re just kinda confused along with them, trying to explain to him not every kid grew up with their future of running a family company.

-> Will totally laugh when he sees how freaked out you are with these little (gremlins) kids trying to get your attention and asking if your any more fun than Mr.Business (Which they had nicknamed Reo) -> Will eventually learn and get them to leave you alone, after almost 10 minutes of you trying to hide behind him or anywhere else in this room so they can’t talk to you

-> Ends up helping them instead with other things like reading and math stuff, not the brain rot of skibidi toilet (thank god)

-> That night you two had ended up going out to dinner with his parents as they wanted to have a nice sit down meal while they talked about what was possibly coming up in the future, including your future with Reo, and kids. He smiled and took your hand in his.

“After today, I don’t think we’ll have to worry about an heir to the Mikage Corp for quite a while of time”

Kunigami Rensuke

-> BRO HAS TWO SISTERS, One older and one younger, Man knows his way around kids, for sure. I take no criticism on this.

-> Is actually so good with kids, you now are speculating that he’s actually a single teen dad with like 2 kids or something that he just hasn’t told you about. He’s that good (it’s actually scary)

-> He will not let them watch skibidi toilet, another man who is respectable and makes sure they are doing educational stuff

-> Also makes sure they stay away from you for the most part, just because he knows that you don’t like having all those kids near you, but he may or may not send one over your way that he thinks that you’ll actually get along with

-> He wants to see what you would be like if you actually interacted with a kid, it’s his future brain thinking

-> That also brings up to the day that his parents (and his sisters) have asked you both about having children in the future, he would just chuckle and ruffle your hair a little

“Unless I would be the only one communicating with the little one then I don’t see us having kids for quite a bit of time.”

Sae Itoshi

-> Worst person to have around kids. I mean did you see how he treated his own little brother, smh. (DROP WHAT HAPPENED IN SPAIN, AND MY LIFE IS YOURS)

-> Does not know how to act around kids, just basically lets them do whatever as long as they aren’t bothering the two of you

-> To bad kids don’t listen all that well and he basically has to keep glaring at them from where he is sat at the only bigger table in the room with you, because these kids keep trying to get your attention since they know Sae isn’t gonna give them anything, which sucks for you

-> Attempts to try something once he realizes that you're actually pretty horrible with kids, let's just say the soccer he tried to play with them didn’t go all that well.. And you may or may not have had to get over your fear a little since a bunch of crying kids kept coming over to you

-> To which he figured that this wasn’t the way to go about it so he just put on some random movie he remembers from when he was a kid, too bad it was one of the ones from his flight to Spain when he was younger and it was all in Spanish. (It’s okay, they had fun trying to figure out what the hell it said, and it kept them entertained for quite a bit of time.)

-> Once the whole future and children conversation came up with his parents, he could only roll his eyes.

“Yeah, no thanks. (Name) and I couldn’t handle one of those gremlins, even if it looked or acted like us.”

[hackedmotionsensors]

lol i've complained about this a fair amount on twitter but I got a comment last night? that made me think about this again.

And its ...getting weird comments that I cannot tell if they're being RUDE or there's a language barrier or some combination of both.

I finished a standee art last night and posted it and this morning I get a reply from someone who's replied very confusingly before...."You're tired and need to go to sleep"

Which LMAO wasn't entirely untrue but that was the whole comment on the art.

Not to put this person on blast and obviously do not go bother them if you know where the comment is at.....

But like what the hell does that mean? I F E E L like this is a translation error or a miscommunication. But thats the ENTIRE problem. THAT IS THE ENTIRE PROBLEM. I'm tired of getting comments that are CONFUSING to me AT BEST...and more often just fucking rude.

Like....its weird. Bc i've been on the internet for close to 3 decades now??? Lol I'm so old. But.....I've been more confused in the past year or so with how people talk to perfect strangers on the internet. I think it might be a generational thing but like LMAO ARE THE "KIDS THESE DAYS" just ......fucking RUDE??? Like I've heard pre-teens and teens talk to each other and its pretty mean but so were a lot of kids when I was a teen. So maybe its a language barrier there.

But I feel like....because everyone is so comfortable talking to perfect strangers on the internet, and getting EXTREMELY overly close? or thinking they have the right to speak to people as if we're super besties (which in turn means saying a rude backhanded compliment thats intended to be nice but just sounds mean??)...its just....so common lately for me to just be like "Why the fuck would you say this to me?"

I'm not your friend. I'm just a random artist online that draws from a fandom you probably like (or hate? Idk your life lol)

I think this whole thing STARTED with Japanese and Korean artists (and probably lots of other languages that aren't English) begging people to stop leaving horrible reaction images or people saying "I'M GONNA K*LL YOU!!!!! THIS IS DEVASTATING!!!! I'M DEAD!!!!" and the poor artist being like...okay well this is a thing I have to live with now.

And I thought we DID move past that but I feel like its back just without the reaction images bc Gen Alpha and Z thinks reaction images are cringe LMAO (small blessings)

But ....I forget which drawing I did.....It was something sad. I think it was a sad zosan?? And this person LITERALLY said they were going to hunt me down. And that wasn't the initial comment. They said something equally as rude and when I asked for clarification for what they meant they were like " I'M GONNA FIND OUT WHERE YOU LIVE"

GIRL ITS FANART OF ZORO AND SANJI!?!?!?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN

Again. I've talked about this til I'm blue in the face (fingers?? since its typing??) about this on twitter. And I've been sitting on this comment for nearly 24 hrs just....fucking confused. And I hate this ....confusion. Bc In My Day(tm) .....lol I didn't like mean comments then either but it was usually some asshole in my tumblr mail being like "YOU FUCKIN SUCK!!" lol

I might just be too stupid to interpret these quirky little comments but like

guys please if you like something. Just be normal and say "omg I love this" or like a cute reaction that is APPROPRIATE to the situation lol Don't demand things from me when I'm already giving you something that I'm doing in my free time for fun. Lol And stop asking me if there's a fic for comics or art that i TELL you came from me asdfasdfa I don't know where the fic is. I'd like to know too. (but also if I draw from a fic I link to the fic but I've decided to stop that for the time being. Any comics coming from me will be mine wholecloth for the foreseeable future)

[ibeblizzard12]

…….……🐾🦴🖤🎀🖤🦴🐾………….

Haiii I’m Nyx!! I’m an edblr!! She/they(anything workz but they/them is preferred but idc tbh), intp/intj, in high school(my age is one of these: 14, 15, or 16),pro recovery, not pro ana, caffeine addicted virgin, aroace but idm flirting for funz, MINOR!!!, very mentally ell, not much trauma tbh, hello kitty/sanrio obsession, junkorexic, cutecore/cutegore/2020 e kid, minor aspirin addiction, insomniac, biological girl(I identify as one as well), cat person, sh, multiple mental illnesses, luvz video games like dti omori ddlc yanderesimulator sims4, usually stayz up untilz 2-5am, probably anemic, likes 2 drawz, likes 2 smoke and do drugs(usually snorts em), been in mental hospitals before, I’ve tried to kms once or twice lol, needz 24/7 distraction so I don’t think about kms, ed is a copping mechanism for meh, on antidepressants, tried therapy before doesn’t work for for meh tho cuz imz a minor, very few safe foodz, very picky, multiple personalities, brunette, youngest child, can never tell if I’m a victim(like it’s not my fault I’m this way I just have a bunch of mental problems) or the absuser(I deserve to be miserable cuz i manipulate people and I think of them as entertainment I would kill them without a second thought if I could get away with it and I wouldn’t feel guilty for it and I literally can’t feel empathy ect), underweight, hates physical touch, always eepy, hates myself :P

I AM NOT PRO ANA IM AM FUCKING PRO RECOVERY SO DONT FUCKING REPORT MEH THIS IS MY DAMN SAFE PLACE AND MY ONLINE DIARY I AM NOT TRYING TRIGGER ANYONE U ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR UR OWN TRIGGERS JUST LET ME HAVE THIS BLOG I AM VERY MENTALLY UNSTABLE AND THIS BLOG IS A WAY TO DISTRACT ME FROM MY SUI IDEATION MY MOOTS ARE ONE OF THE REASONS I HAVENT KMS YET PLZ JUST LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE AND JUST BLOCK ME NO REPORTING IS NOT GOING MAKE ME RECOVER THE MORE I GET REPORTED THE MORE DEPRESSED I GET MY ED IS MY COOPING MECHANISM I KNOW ITS NOT A GOOD ONE I AM FULLY AWARE THE DANGERS OF AN ED BUT IM JUST GONNA KMS IF U KEEP REPORTING ME SO YOULL BE THE REASON I FUCKING DIE🖕

DNI-

homophobics/transphobics, misogynists, people who have mdni in their bio, under 13, 27+, creeps, pro ana people(but if ur not gonna comment anything pro ana on my posts then idm), pedifles, people in recovery(but if we’re already mootz then can still interact just not on my blog or just block the tags that ur recovering fromz), non mentally ell blogs, men if their over 21, gen alphas(I don’t count 13/14ys), people w fat or skinny or sh fetishes, people who want report meh or my mootz

(Keep reading if u wannaz know more about meh)

DIAGNOSED W-

anorexia, depression, adhd, anxiety, minor autism, minor ocd, sui ideation, arfid 

NOT DIAGNOSED BUT I MIGHT/PROBABLY HAVE-

bulimia(100% sure I have it(kinda trying to recover fromz it tho), aspd(psychopath), bipolar, DID

RANDOM MENTALLY ILLNESS SHIT ABOUT MEH-

convinced that their are multiple eyes always watching me idm why and I always draw them for some reason I feel that always watching me especially at nightz their in the wallz and in the my bl00d and my tears, since I was 9 would pretend to have an audience(like I was a YouTuber or smt) and I would talk to the audience but eventually the audience became an imaginary person/personality that I talk/think to(probably cuz I’m lonely) when ever I do something I think smt like, “we need to do blah blah blah.” I can’t stop myself from thinking we instead of I and idk if it’s normal, my eds are cooping mechanism except arfid I’ve that since was two after I choked on a certain food I would always(unintentionally) puke if my parents would try to make me eat a food I didn’t like even at the sight or smell of it so know I always think of certain foodz and meat/eggs/seafood especially w the fear that I’m just gonna puke it so I’m naturally VERY picky for the longest time I would literally only eat angle hair pasta w ketchup idc if u think itz gross it was my safe food rn my main safe food is energy drinks but I can’t have that all the timez, I have social anxiety and used to get panic attacks when I was in crowds it’s a bit better now tho, ive tried to kms before(was gonna hang myselfz) but I managed to stopz myself(it was really hard),  I’m actually quite manipulative when I want 2 be lmao, moody teenager, I have to be awake at night and keep myself distracted so thatz that thoughtz(sui stuff the eyes ect) can’t torment me so I try to stay awake until I’m too tired 2 keepz thinking

I’m am pro recovery I am not pro ana plz just leave me alone on this I’m not fat phobic I try not 2 be but keep in mind I don’t have a conscience, I really don’t care if ur fat I just have bad experiences w them cuz when I first lost weight I would constantly get skinny shamed even tho I was a perfectly healthy weight and it really got to me and contributed to meh ed cuz eventually I started seeing it as praise when people would comment on meh losing weight and now I get really anxious and sui if some doesn’t say I’m skinny tho if they say it in a mean way than I’ll get offended I get that it was out of concern and jealousy but it no one had commented on my body I would probably not have an ed rn and I would’ve watched wut I ate but not in an obsessive way. But seriously I really don’t mind if ur fat just don’t be mean to be about it just cuz I’m skinnier than u. 

Things I really likez-

video games, sleeping, watching YouTube and anime, chainsaw man, solo leveling, insatiable, arcane, death note, future diaries(tho the ending sucked), maduca magica pullea smt(I’m not gonna bother trying to write or even remember the whole name💀u get the jist of it if ya know the anime that I’m talking aboutz), I like cute things w a creepy twist(cutegore), I like cutecore and 2020 e kid fashion(I also like other alternative styles but those are the ones I likez most(pretty sure cutecore isn’t alt but wut ever), drawing, creepy eyes that are alwayz watchingz meh, hello kitty/sanrio, those alt spiky collar/bracelet thingyz, plushies, catz, dress to impress, makeup, dressing up, anime hair, knifes, bl00dz, aspirin, melatonin, bupropion, getting high, cigarettez, ultra monsters(my current fav flavor is the sugar free peach one), my room, cutecore rooms, decorating my room, going to da mall!!, waterrrr, Diet Coke, cucumbers, st4rving myselfz dont ask.

[angry-teacher-says-fuck]

A foul-mouthed teacher's take on Gen Alpha

Can we stop saying that gen alpha is DOOMED?! They just fucking got here!

fucksake, they just hit sixth grade. We are registering the warning signs right now; the lack of respect or empathy, the inability to read , the need for instant gratification OR ELSE, and don't get me started on this Sephora bullshit. Yeah, it's looking pretty bad.

The fact is though, we are their skibidi gyatdamn parents! This is our wakeup call to do better. So here's a list of a few things that might improve the situation.

If you've got a younger child, please do not get them on an i-pad until they are at least 4. Even as an educational tool, they are no replacement for the hands-on and interpersonal learning that their developing brain needs. Talk to them, give them blocks and balls and plenty of things that they can safely place in their mouths. These things help them build a deeper understanding of the world that later social skills and academic stuff can anchor to. At pre-school a little supervised and directed exposure to educational programs can be a good supplement, but do not leave them to use screens feely. As they get into middle school, you should still be aware. There are a lot of dangers on there that tweens don't have the experience yet to recognize and it's a lot wierder than you think.

2. On that note, If you must put them in front of the TV (no shame, it has to happen from time to time in this late-stage capitalist hellscape) for the love of fuck, please pay attention to what they are watching! I cannot begin to tell you, as a teacher, what a difference this can make. Don't trust that everything on Nick jr or Disney is your friend no matter how colorful or silly it looks. Watch a couple episodes either on your own or with them to determine if it has substance or if its values are ones you are ready to expose your children to (I was shocked when I sat down to watch the original Thomas the Tank Engine).

I'll do another post on shows I recommend sometime but as a teacher, PLEASE let most of their TV time be PBS Kids. I shit you not, I can tell the difference between the kids that primarily watched Paw Patrol and the kids that watched Dinosaur Train.

For younger kids, violence is a no, for sure; their brains are still developing and no matter how smart they are, a toddler is not prepared to process whatever nuance you as an adult may have the context for. You don't want to normalize it.

The same goes for adult humor. I have had to send too many kids to the office because of a racial slur or sexist comment that they pulled straight from Southpark or Family Guy. That shit should not be happening!

3. From obscure, seemingly cutesie philosophies that turn out to be cults, to the fucking manosphere and any number of hate-groups that have perfected the art of planting-the-seed with kids, you need to keep them off social media, including Tik-tok and Youtube. There are parenting aps that can block these and limit screen time, but even they cannot be used as a "set it and forget it" solution.

4. Failing all of this, the most important thing you can do for your kids may be to actually converse with them. Sit and watch some shows with them, listen to their interests, let them talk your ear off about their favorite game. Normalize them sharing with you and do this as early as possible. The benefits are numerouse

A. It opens up the lines of communication. You can identify trouble a lot faster and support their goals a lot easier when you have this going for you.

B. It establishes early that you are a safe person to share things with. This is invaluable as they get older, and for keeping them safe at any age.

C. It gives them a chance to utilize RECALL PRACTICE. this is an often overlooked brain booster, but recalling information so they can share it with you, actively helps gear their developing brain for future learning by making it easier for them to call on and access information at will.

D. It builds confidence When you take time to listen to them, you are showing them that their input is valuable; that the things that interest them are worth sharing. There may be times when it is not appropriate, and you can guide them on that, but giving them the respect of listening when you can will help them recognize their worth when future "friends", colleagues, and partners consistently dismiss them or shame them for it.

E. It builds socio/emotional intelligence and models respectful dialogue.

5. Read to them and with them. Even if you aren't a reader, listen to audio-books. Give them a chance to practice their reading skills and comprehension. Normalize the idea that reading is enjoyable.

5. Finally, understand this: you are not being an authoritarian when you set rules and enforce them. They are going to test boundaries, not because they are bad, not because they crave a lack of restriction, but because they need to know that they are there in order to feel secure. There are as many new fads for parenting as there are diets, but whatever parenting style you choose, be firm and consistent with your core rules and principles. your kids, and the people who have to interact with them, will be better off for it.

And cut yourself a bit of slack too. Parenting is tricky, and there are new challenges we are having to learn quickly as we go. It doesn't help that our generation caught so much shit, but we cannot simultaneously be parents AND continue to be victims. Seek out support, and give it whenever you can. We have to recognize our worth and our importance to this generation and take a stand now for their well being.

You are their parent and you play a very needed, active role in their lives.

[penumbralwoods]

it's so hard to talk about this without sounding like a stereotypical conspiracy theorist but it is increasingly blatantly obvious to me that social media apps and sites are DESIGNED to show you things you don't want to see.

i have a twitter account that is unused. it has never interacted with a post, has never followed anyone, and has never been followed. granted, i do not use twitter. obviously. that account exists so i don't have to deal with the pop-ups and can actually see posts chronologically. yet every single time i have opened twitter.com, at least one of the 3 posts i see at the top of whatever they call the for you tab is a callout post, vaguepost, or apology following a callout post. every. single. time. because that's what that tab's for. that tab is there to show you shit you hate so you engage and stay longer.

tiktok and tumblr aren't immune to this, obviously. i've run several lil experiments and tumblr actually increases the amount of posts with certain tags it shows me when i hit "not interested" enough times. that happening today is what triggered this rant.

and like yeah whatever curate your experience. but i think we also need to acknowledge that the entire system is designed to prey on you and make you angry so you make the advertisers more money.

actually i dont know why im making this post will wood already has the entire thing in better words:

"I think that we as a culture spend so much time admonishing ourselves for our bad habit or one another for being jerks online; and not enough time putting the blame on the companies who make such insidious efforts to put us in these psychological positions.

I think it’s sort of like smoking. We’re still in the stage of saying “this is a filthy habit and I need to quit” and have yet to start saying “the tobacco companies are knowingly killing us and need to be removed from their positions of power.” Yeah, we picked up the first cigarette, and it’s our job to quit if we start getting short of breath and grouchy and want to feel better, but the death, disease, and act of knowingly chemically manipulating us is on R.J. Reynolds." source

but yeah idk man i'm just thinking about things. like how i know jack shit about any of the extracurriculars at my school i'm not currently involved in because they all post info on their own instagram pages and nowhere else. and how when a well-known person stops using twitter or social media in general people panic and think something happened to them.

people say "gen alpha is gonna grow up with this" but like.... i knew what twitter, reddit, and tumblr were as a kid. i even got an idea of the kind of culture each one had going, since i watched a few of those content-farming voiceover youtubers. and i'm still really fucking confused as to how we got here. what do you even do with more than one social media account?? if you have a tumblr and a twitter and an instagram are you like. checking all of them? how do you make time for anything else when you have multiple spheres of the entire internet you're trying to be active in and be in the loop on everything?

this got so fucking long whatever you all liked the gabriel post so you enabled me into posting more rants i take no responsibility.

[kitttttchaos]

I’d like to explore the idea of this new generation of stories. A lot of people are bringing up the fact that stories nowadays don’t feel like they used to, in the sense that so many are not well developed, especially with the influence of social media. So what does this mean for the next generation of readers, writers, and filmmakers?

I’ve noticed that a lot of the new things coming out are written as if for children, but executed as if for adults. Mean Girls 2024 is like the Gen Alpha remix. The dialogue and the costuming is catered as if towards middle school girls, but it seems like writers are forgetting just how young middle schoolers are. I’m willing to bet that high schoolers would find the new mean girls very cringe, but middle schoolers wouldn’t. But the trailer makes it seem so sexual that it can’t possibly be written for an audience of twelve-year-olds. The same goes for the live action Avatar remake. The plot and dialogue is written like it’s for kids who can’t fully comprehend personal growth, but there’s so much violence that it can’t possibly be for kids. (To be fair, I haven’t watched either of these for myself, so take it with a grain of salt, but I think the people who have would agree; also no hate to the people involved in either production) But then you remember that some twelve year olds are full blown media influencers, who dress and speak about things inappropriate for their age, and in turn encourage their young viewers to do the same (ie. Sephora kids)

Eight graders are like armies for the media. Think about how One Direction exploded due to its audience. How the Sephora kids thing has been started by social media influencers. So, are filmmakers and writers trying to cater to the next generation of oddly mature consumers? If so, it seems like they’ve hit the mark. It’s a little too early to see how examples like Avatar will do in terms of money, but Mean Girls has grossed over $100mil in comparison with a $36mil budget, and if more things written like it do similarly in the box office, I can’t say I’d be surprised.

But even if art imitates life, life will also imitate art. The newer books and movies of today (when I say books I mean the mish mosh of tropes that get pushed around on TikTok, but that’s a whole other thing. Even so, they cater to a generation of readers who doesn’t seem to have grown up on reading) get the idea of kids that are so immature, even though they discuss and dress like they aren’t. But what those movies don’t get, in their haste to mirror Gen Alpha, is that kids are also complex human beings. The original Avatar got that, and so did the original Mean Girls. The reason I keep bringing up books is bc I was thinking about the Spirit Animals series, which is criminally underrated for its brilliant portrayal of character growth and redemption arcs, that I read when I was a kid. As Gen Z, do we want the next generation to grow up with horribly flat, oversexualized stories? We critique Gen Alpha’s inappropriate maturity, but we’re also the ones who are going to be writing for Gen Alpha in the future.

This idea is a little thrown together, and probably someone else has said it, but I think that we need to stop writing what sells. Stop the consumerist take on reading, of buying thousands of trashy romance novels to never pick up again. Stop writing cash grabs like Wish. Stop trying to mirror something about a generation that is not fully developed. I want Gen Alpha to have the feeling of being completely immersed in a story as a kid, and then growing up and thinking it was a story just for kids, but reading/watching it again and realizing just how good it was. But they won’t have that with this fast take on stories. What kid is going to enjoy the hell out of Wish, come back at 22, and think, “Wow, this is brilliant.”? But people do that all the time with the original ATLA.

I kinda hate myself writing this, but does anybody get what I mean? Why are stories getting so bad? Why are the things that make the most money absolute trash???

Anyway lol. Grain of salt, just my thoughts, yada yada yada. Lmk if u agree.

[impossiblepeacehideout]

HI ,adults of tumblur ...we need to talk. have a seat. a bit long BUT I REALLLLLLY NEED YOU TO READ THIS. need to get of my chest. iF dont wann read all, SCROLL TO END AND READ THE MAIN POINT.

i want to start this by stating ,i myself am a minor, (almost 16 in few days), and in recent years ihave seen a rise in....hate towards children onlie specificly gen alpha. stating they cant read so in future humans wll just get dumber and dumber, how they are not rough and tough and attiude and gentle parenting isnt working. how they have doomed the world by thier existence.

now of corse its an over exageration of whats hapening but i digreess.

people are saying how children are worse these days and how social media has ruined them..and i agree on the social media is harmfull for them , specially thier brain devlopment , social understanding , mental helath and saftey.

however i dont understand why thier existence seen as soo anoying ? like i mean yeah they are kids,kids are annoying but they are seen as inheranlty bad ...people?

like helooo ,thats like at max is a 12 year old.

now i agree whole haertdly that children should not have social media acoounts, a phone is not needed until high school.

but the conversation is not about how we as a socitey need to create better ways to protect children from online danger but more about how these kids are cringe....which they are....they are at max in middle school and below...

and i realised gen z was treated the same way...

annoying , bratty, dommed.

and in my theory its cuz adults specaily young adults start to realise they are growing older and they are not in touch with presnt genations or atleast wwhatever pop culutre is as much as they were and be use they are older now they have a better undersaanding of whtas cringe

and they treat kids like they invented the word" RIZZ" even though its made by adults and kids picked it up , and i see more adults use it online tha n children.

now another thing is , what some would US defaultism.people from us and the west in genarl assume a thing has to be from the west or genarlised perception of the world. and the whole "CHILDREN CANT READ ANYOMRE THEY ARE DUMBER THAN THEY WERE 5 YERAS AGO WERE DOOOOOOOOOOOMEEEED !" is a genralised staement even taking in the us population but in genarl of th world and real life.

i have seen children that read better than some adults i know.

and even in india people say kids are more " bratty" now, and to which ..... welllllllllll

they are and not. both

they are more confident now. (pros and cons) and /or thier parents dont check thier behvaiour.

let me tell you something, GENTLE PARENTING, is NOT the problem, NEGLECTFULL PARENTING IS.

look i dont have the words right now and i am bad at explaing things but i hope u all got the gist of what i mean.

MAIN POINT: STOP, being MEAN PLEASE stop being mean to KIDS. they ARE crige but they are KIDS. we need to find ways to protect them online and if you interact which children in real life youll find the kids are just fine. they are kids.

[shadowbrightshine]

Gen alpha? You kids are ok our stuff was just as weird in many ways. I just can't really bear to listen to it. I refuse to ever interact with that toilet. I hate the song, I hate rizz, and I hate gyatt.

I'm not gonna hate on the kids. I'm not going to say gen alpha is doomed or their brains are rotted away or they're stupid. They're children. Half of gen z are still young. We need to stop. They're little kids. They can be held accountable for some things but people keep putting adult thought processes onto kids. (Some people covering some of it don't blame the kids and I appreciate that)

What I am "hating" on is the high schoolers I had to spend years with who used it all the time. My own story is here but past it is other stuff.

Mostly because whenever I hung out with my ex, who has been my ex for over a year, and we are just friends now: there would be a guy laughing and claiming he was "rizzing me up".

I would get angry. So would he, he hates being reminded by others about our break up. He initiated it but I was going to as well. He's a wonderful guy, it just didn't feel right.

Anyways another time I was incredibly hyped up for the horror thing I'd been writing. So happy I was jumping in the lunch room, tapping my feet, cheering, all of it. My friend was blown away by my work and that made me even happier. Cue the table next to us, full of a mix of freshman and senior boys who called.

"You two rizzing each other? Or are you already dating him?"

We both informed the whole table that no. To both accounts. Also they're not a boy and I'm heteroromantic.

I've been accused of "being rizzed" half of every interaction I had with guys where I showed a modicum of excitement.

It's "ooohhh is that your boyfriend?" "Smoochy sounds" "he's got you bad!" But shorted to two words.

I hate that. Also it was always I was the one being, which like. Never mind.

Kids? You kids are shaped by the internet like we were, and with all the platforms combining and pushing you into spaces without an alternative, you're getting concentrated amounts. Kids are online more than ever. It's content farms and algorithm lucky stars. I don't blame the kids for singing things like that, usually not understanding what it means.

I don't blame the little kids for going nuts at makeup stores. They shouldn't be watching beauty or anti aging content in single or early double digits. It's getting harder for parents to moderate what their kids watch, but it is up to them to help. It's up to the parents to teach the kids that their screen is not always telling the truth, and that they're young. That they don't need expensive makeup or moisturizers. It's up to the parents or who is in charge to not cave about 70 dollar makeup when the kid is 12. It's up to parents to disallow the kind of behavior they were seeing. And to stop them from ruining displays.

I don't blame kids for copying what they see online. I missed vine but I watched clean comps growing up (came to the internet a little late) and would copy them constantly. My cousins and I still quote videos we watched as little kids at each other. We also, reenacted Garfield comic strips and referenced those because everyone had Garfield comic 3 book compilations, I had 4, our grandma had a bunch of small books and Sunday editions, ect.

Kids copy. What is a problem is that they're watching things that are not meant to be repeated out loud. And that was a problem for us too. My little sister is gen alpha, though we don't call her or any of us our gens. When she 3 she kept repeating "somebody kill me!" From muffin time asdf movie. We had to stop watching asdf around her so she would find something else. Not everyone has the space to, but we tried to avoid letting her see stuff we knew she'd repeat or copy.

They're kids, young teens at the oldest.

They're going through their cringy and silly and figuring out themselves parts of their lives. But now instead of it being in physical diaries as often, or on now long deleted dead platforms where plenty of our "cringe" or bad stuff we thought or did was lost to time, they're visible. They're being filmed too. If we aren't supposed to be filming strangers (without a good reason) that applies to children.

Especially to kids! Remember when old internet guides told kids not to show their faces online? The internet has changed but now with all the platforms combining and the loss of places for kids only, we should be careful. Kids are gullible! Like yes children are much smarter than we think but there's also a studied threshold age before kids learn to separate media from reality. That's why kids advertising had to be regulated. That's why companies also target kids.

These are small human, living, thinking, emotional children. We mourn the loss of "good media" in terms of old youtube or whatever. The kids can still watch it. Show them those old things. Vine died a few years before I joined the online world and I still watch and quote vines. People quote movies decades older than them. It being old never stopped people before. If it hasn't been lost to the void, try showing them that instead.

Read to them. Maybe kids nowadays really just don't want to read. That's been said for other gens, but hey I read way less than I used to after getting my phone. So use audio books. Find something with their hands they can do and play an audio book. Or read to them if you have time. There's also lots of audio dramas! Not like soap dramas though if you like them I'm happy! Like audio books with sound effects and multiple voice actors. Or fully original ones. (Think things we call podcasts like camp here and there, or night vale, or the Mourgue files. But you know, not horror focused)

And remember that many of the kids just aren't online anyways. Plenty of parents don't let their kids post online, they don't post about them much, they're literally just in places without internet or they're busy. Remember that the online world doesn't reflect reality as well as some think it does.

I've been thinking about this for a while. I'll never hate the kids. I might hate some of the media, but I'll never hate those kids.

[mymessyexpressions]

There has always been a lot of discourse around generational differences. Every year, especially this year, with everything happening in Palestine and in the US market, is this internet beef between the older generation and Gen Z that, at least to me, makes no sense.It is the ongoing cycle of older generations judging the younger and thinking themselves as superior.

The specific format that I am talking about comes in 2 forms.

1. Back in my day we did things like this and it worked out just fine. Why can't you pull yourself up by the boot straps and make it work like we did?

2. Fashion cycles/trends/"hacks" that older generations used and they are upset that they are being shared as "new" because they have been doing it for years. Another variation of this would be "fashion that was trendy when I was a kid is now something I am being made fun of for".

To address number 1, this mindset that we are the ones that need to stop making excuses and it's all within our realm of influence isn't very applicable anymore. The US ranks #23 in happiness, but if only the votes cast by people under 40 were used, the US would rank in the 60s. The reason for that is that life is extremely difficult for us right now.

Life for the older generations at our current age was very different. Start homes were accessible and not majority owned by corporation that's are renting them out. Salaries/pay covered their needs and had enough for savings. Minimum wage used to mean the lowest amount of money someone could make an hour that would let them live comfortably and safely; not the lowest amount a company deigns to give.

The only way to change these things is through the government. Which at the momment is focused on all the wrong things. They are focused on making sure they are profiting ad much as they can while securing future generational workers.

Now number 2, is just this hateful attitude towards younger people. Why are you hating on someone that is learning something new? We weren't around when you were a teenager and curling your hair with a straightener! We weren't born when you already knew all the tips and tricks to do your makeup! We weren't born when you had already learned and mastered these skills at our current age! Congratulations, you are experiencing the passage of time!

For the variation of this was inspired by a specific tiktok I watched ( ofc no hate to the creator ) where they were complaining about how when they were kids wearing tall/crew socks was "out" and ankle/socks that wouldn't peek over your shoes were "in". Nowadays, they are being judged by the younger generation for wearing ankle socks. The funniest part of this was that the comments were filled with "nobody says this to you" or "literally no one cares what you wear".

I have noticed the differences in generations in observing trends. Older generations will see the one trend and take it at face value; that's all there is, and that is all that the young people are into. ( for the sake of the argument, we aren't looking into sub cultures) Fashionable styles used to last centuries, and then decades. There was one staple mainstream style throughout the decade. Now we are seeing very short trend cycles as well as multiple mainstream fashion styles. Gen Z, if anything, is all about self expression however you see fit.

It makes no sense to me why we should be regarding the younger generation for struggling to thrive in a world that was destroyed by earlier generations. We are living in a place not made for us but for our capitalistic overlords. Even with Gen Alpha; it's not their fault. Parents, school, their environment, the government, and the world have failed them. They are a product of the earlier generations' bad influence or inaction. We need to step up to help those kids grow up into capable adults with critical thinking skills so they don't make the mistakes of the past. We need to stand up for ourselves so that the actions of those older than us do not destroy everything we hold of value.

[theres-whump-in-that-nebula]

CW: Existential crisis, mentions of children doing VERY age-inappropriate things, venting, becoming radicalized by the state of the world, and so on and so forth

DEAD DOVE DO NOT EAT

(unfortunately this isn’t a work of fiction; nor is it a poem. It’s just… ick ick and more ick. The world is ick. Or maybe I’m just sleep-deprived. I’m fine by the way. Just very pissed off.)

DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY EXISTENTIAL ISSUES RELATING TO CHILDREN

Watched some videos about Gen Alpha… Apparently the defiance and aggression I’ve seen in children in the classroom environment is widespread and not limited to the special education program?! I just chalked it up to being symptoms of disability… which definitely accounts for a lot of the behavior… but from all the information I’ve taken in so far; much of it is a symptom of impending societal collapse.

Here’s what I mean by that:

It is expected for a kid with ADHD and a mood disorder to be emotionally dysfunctional, and occasionally have outbursts in which they throw objects and hit people. It is also expected that this child will be defiant at times by refusing to complete tasks necessary for education.

It is not typical, however, for said child to 1.) make blatantly-sexual moaning sounds as a joke, 2.) know that this act is called “moaning” (without quite understanding the severity of what they’re doing), and 3.) repeatedly call an adult a “pussy-ass bitch” and tell them “suck my dick” for asking them to Stop Doing That.

I definitely agree with teaching kids to question and defy authority when it conflicts with their morals; but some of these kids do not listen to anyone at all in the most basic and harmless of circumstances… to the point where, on one occasion, I’ve had to — after exhausting about ten other nicer methods — threaten to press the “push to call button” with a very stern ten-second countdown to get two kids to leave the sensory room to go to lunch and outdoor recess. Mind you, these were kids who earned a break in there for fun; they were not in there to lessen sensory pain. I love them, but good grief! I hate having to do that. What is going on with them at home; you know? I genuinely fear that some of them are going to end up in prison later in life. I purposefully didn’t go into everything I’ve seen and experienced for reasons of common human decency; but I can tell you, much of it is deeply, profoundly disturbing and horrifying.

Furthermore, many children get to go home, and play computer games for hours on end. I know they do because they’re infuriated when it’s time to put the chromebooks away. So far I’ve noticed the most continually hostile, defiant, and off-task students are the ones who constantly speak of engaging with digital media, or owning devices which play digital media. It has to be withdrawal. We all get it too. But the difference between myself and a little kid is that I wasn’t raised on mobile devices; I was raised on sketchbooks, clay, story time, and good old-fashioned adult-level cult propaganda (which, to be fair, did its own special type of damage). As far as digital media goes: I had access to two old tube TVs and a Dell laptop. These never left the house. When I turned eight, we got iPads which only led the house for use as Bibles and Watchtowers; or to travel on vacation with us. In that instance, they always remained in the hotel room.

Generation Alpha, on the other hand, were born with iPads and smartphones already in existence; these leave the house all the time SPECIFICALLY for the purpose of entertaining the kids — and in some cases, infants — while their parents remain engaged in other activities. It’s natural for adults to need to hold their children at arm’s length sometimes (“Go outside and play!”); but the methods being used nowadays are damaging to the young mind in ways science hasn’t even figured out yet. CoCoMelon, for instance has been shown to hinder proper mental growth in children due to the frequency of cuts in the film; no camera angle lasts longer than five seconds(?) I believe that’s what I read… fact check for yourselves. CoCoMelon is not the only offender, however; everything is more fast-paced than it was ten years ago, even adult media like action movies and sci-fi shows. Ive noticed a continual, monotonous use of things which used to be considered special events in film: quick cuts, shaky cam, lens flares, CGI, pyrotechnics, and so forth. All the exciting things in the world, likewise, have become a sort of interesting background noise, often used to help focus on other, concurrently-running types of background noise.

Anyway, I’ve heard the teachers say that the two classes I’ve helped out with are completely different than anything they’ve experienced. That didn’t mean much to me; because these are the only two classes of children I’ve ever really interacted with professionally; and this year’s are ten times easier than last year’s, despite the same remarks being made about them. I have no frame of reference for a “normal” SPED classroom other than my own years of schooling; and I was homeschooled when I was the age of these kids… so that also means nothing. Only now have I found out why I thought, for almost a full year, I’m such a failure at my job:

I’m not a failure; I’ve actually been doing a great job for what little experience I have. There is a global, systemic failure in all fields which affects everyone; because the world is caving in on itself.

I’m scared for these kids, man. What use is there in preparing them to be adults if there isn’t going to be a world for them to grow up in? Winter isn’t winter anymore, summer is hell on earth, and spring and summer are merely extensions of not-winter and hell on earth. Pregnant mothers are drinking microplastics to share with their fetuses. Children in other areas of the world are toiling away in factories to produce plastic for the consumption of first-world countries so that their children can focus in class with one-dollar fidget spinners purchased from motherfucking Temu, while their impoverished and overworked parents’ data gets sold to companies behind their backs, for God — if it exists — only knows what reason.

The worst part is, it may become impossible for a great deal of the up-and-coming population to focus or care long enough to brainstorm solutions to the problems which imminently affect them because unimportant things are more interesting.

We’ve gotta do something. Reading programs… maybe I’ll go up to the library and ask to start a kids’ club or something… I don’t know. The problem with that is it’ll probably only reach the ones whose parents already recognize their kids need to do things with their hands and brains other than hold a gaming console and won’t reach the ones most affected by the horrible world climate; because why take them to the library when they have one in the palm of their hand? But it’s a start, I guess. Hmngh. slee🅱️y

[organic-guacamole]

episode 209 spoilers below

I'm so late today but here it is

I love EJ, he's finally learning to be happy. I'm so proud.

Ms Jenn = every boomer during zoom calls, like jeez yes we can hear you stop shouting at me.

LOVE THE SUBTLE JOKE ABOUT QUARANTINE "these dark times" "you mean spring break?"

ah yes, remember when we thought covid was just gonna give us a longer spring break? good times

SEBLOS

damn the passive aggressiveness from Carlos and the absolutely over it tone from seb✋

CASWELL COUSINS!!!!! THEY'RE THE BEST!!!!

we needed more if this kind of goofiness for the first part of season 2 that only such an iconic duo can provide.

old old movies-

is it even that old, or is Nini being a gen alpha rn-

i choose to imagine EJ being scared of the movie and hiding in Ashlyn's shoulder while she keeps a straight face and then EJ pretending to be tough afterwards

aww redlyn are soulmates.... yknow, if gingers had souls

(please ignore me)

y'all saw how EJ's face *lit up* when Gina logged on? how dare you tell me he doesn't like her

ofc she's no damsel in distress, she's Gina porter, she's amazing.

so do we think she'd be the type to just glare at suspicious people? or bark at them

do they not know that Rini broke up? or is Ms Jenn just wanting Nini to suffer through her heartbreak to make her a better actress....

speaking of, why is Nini in the call? she's not in the show anymore. Unless she is, even after the rose and the song got cut, which would be so unfair to all those that auditioned properly before she even came back but whatever, she's the main character I get it 🙄

big red is a hero honestly, Nini better thank him for changing the subject like that

I can't-

i won't work you over the break-

this woman would 100% work her kids 24/7 if it was legal and idk how to feel about it.

YES GINA USE THAT CHARM

QUEEN

FRENCH QUEEN

SHE LEARNT FROM THE BEST (antoine obvi)

smh the airport lady, eavesdropping on Gina's call.

The way she was so happy to answer EJ's call, "eej"

I love them your honour.

EJ WITH PAINTED NAILS YES PLEASE

great now we need to see Gina, Ashlyn and EJ having a complete spa day and EJ getting really into it and Gina and Ashlyn take pictures of him when he's laying down in a robe with a mask and cucumbers on his eyes.

finally we get to see Gina's side of portwell

the way she considered it as flirting, this is the sign she asked for in episode 6 come onnnnn

no is Asher/jack really doing tiktok dances in an airport-

Ricky is me. I am burrito.

oh Lynne, sweetie, I'm sorry but the blonde hair is not it

is that even the same lady or-

THE BEAN

THE CHICAGO BEAN

THE BIG OLD METAL BEAN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CITY 😭

jetlag is my go to excuse for anything... I haven't travelled in 2 years.

"welcome to the Lynne and Mike gossip show. where we talk about our depressed son that we both neglect in certain ways! And now a word from our sponsor, Nord VPN..."

SO MANY CANDLES

WHAT DEMON IS LYNNE TRYING TO SUMMON IN HIS ROOM-

is Nina becoming social media obsessed EJ from season 1? AND SHE LIED ABOUT HAVING SONGS TOO PLEASE WHY ARW THEY RECYCLING THE SAME PLOT-

Gina smiling at the picture of her family on Instagram makes me so happy, idek why.

EJ's nails are so pretty, we needed to see it more (unless he had it on for the rest of the episode and I just.... didn't notice🧍🏽‍♀️)

oh not the tiktok kid✋

yes ma'am end this strange mans whole tiktok career

sir take a hint and leave

GINA NO DONT SAY YOUR LAST NAME HE COULD BE A HUMAN TRAFFICKER

Ricky, walking in style✨

weird kid, ok then Lynne, can't you see he's this close to the edge?

not all your fault baby Ricky, Nini sucks a bit more

RICKY YOU DIDN'T COME DOWN HARD ON THE SONG-

YOU ASKED WHAT IT WAS ABOUT AND SHE SHUT YOU DOWN-

PLEASE DO NOT BLAME YOURSELF

ok but the deleting comment thing was very bad

still don't know if I like Jack honestly

hmmm so Nini's calling herself Nini instead of Nina in her little egg seat, while trying to write a song without inspiration.... Nini, honey, Ricky was your muse, he inspired you to write all those songs, even if it wasn't good for the relationship.

that doesn't mean you gotta get back with him, or that you can't write a song that not about him butttt it'll take some time

the rainbow sticker in her box and her rainbow shirt-

anyways wbk she's not totally straight

Jack are you a criminal?

quick, Gina, check his ankle for a tracker

THE YES AND PRACTICE STRIKES AGAIN

the way Gina wasn't into it in episode 6 but she's used the technique twice now

stole her grandma's Pomeranian-

Jack where the hell did you pull that out from-

the fake crying killed me, that looks like so much fun though

anyone wanna raid a first class lounge with me?

wait so is jack not gonna go in with her?

wouldn't he go in too? help look for the credit card? SO CONFUSED

the first class lounge guy was so into the drama though, watch his face when they start arguing 😭

sorry to break this to you Kourtney, but you haven't even blocked the second act yet soooo...

take that as you will

I love how all of them are totally dissing the dance off

that's the most realistic part of this show tbh

shouldn't Nini have asked how she knew....since the start? why is the fact that her best friend has knowledge of a North high secret now dawning on her...

Howie is sweet honestly, at least he's trying to help. but I stand with Kourtney, don't take him back just because he sang an amazing song, and is giving you a heads up on what's gonna happen...

KOURTNEY IS ME TRYING TO LEAVE AN ONLINE CLASS

I hate school

ooo Nini's writing a song about bad internet connection 🤩🤩🤩

I never lie, except when I do-

son that is the creepiest thing you could say to a stranger that you've been "helping"

2 truths and a lie👀

he's an Ariana fan 100%

called it.

OLDER BROTHER-

WHAT-

free spirit? damn so brother porter was in that horse movie

so has she been kissed or not?????????

I feel like she's moved more than 15 times though so possibly

but then if she's moved so much, and before east high she never opened up to anyone, she's never been kissed then?? damn

same though Gina so let's be besties please

heartbreak president is a great song title idea, give Nini a call rn

but wait

is the no strings attached feeling thing about her telling Ricky she liked him? she thought she was moving away so she thought it'd be no strings attached???

guys I think I figured it out insert the "I've connected two dots" meme

THE DUKE SWEATSHIRT

IS THAT YOUR BOYFRIEND'S

OMG I LOVE I LOVE

NOT THAT I KNOW OF???

ma'am did you just kill me

yes you did

Lynne and Ricky have such a weird relationship

YES IT DID SUCK

TODD SUCKS

LYNNE SUCKS

yeah I get that you wanted Ricky to like Todd BUT THAT WASN'T THE TIME

right so we already know that Ricky was so desperate to keep Nini cuz he didn't want to be like his parents, and now Lynne's talking about this-

Richard needs a long hug

yes Lynne, it is your fault. thank you for finally admitting it.

YES DYE YOUR HAIR

BLOND HIGHLIGHTS RICKY WILL RISE AGAIN

"sometimes the best, last thing you can do for someone you love, is let them go."

gotta admit I teared up at that point

not me thinking big red was calling ms Jenn cupcake for a hot second-

Carlos please omg, you're at the "beach" and they're leaving for the pool?

also, why not just do the call from the hotel room please omg

"don't ask me"

"Carlos"

OMG WHAT HAPPENED

big red wants the tea

O M G

SEB IS JEALOUS

JEALOUS SEBBY IS MY FAVOURITE THING IDC

I'm surprised ms Jenn knew how to give Nini permission to screenshare tbh

So lily's been stalking the East high kids and spending time editing this video while she's supposedly in an immersion trip.... right

EJ and Ashlyn's picture is so chaotic, what even is happening there

"slacking off" bestie its spring break, obviously they're confident enough that they'll get it done in time so why not focus on your own musical.

jealous seb = sassy seb

please what if those guys Carlos is posing with are his cousins or something and that's why he's so confused about Seb

6 YEAR OLD EJ I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIM I LOVE HIM

Nini saying she's obsessed with her ex, that's not weird at all 👍

I can just tell Matt had a blast harassing Julia with those puppets.

Jack please dont be like that, "yet"

chances are you'll never see eachother again 🥰

(honestly sometimes I really miss those friends I made on trips and stuff when we'd spend the day or week together, only to never see them again....those were the good days though)

Ashlyn and Nini should write more songs..... something better than this one at least

Nini: "im good"

cue the Tia Mowry (please I can't spell) crying gif

oh I forgot Ricky was in the show for a hot second

1. where did Gina get to film this without people being around

2. did she just... randomly change her clothes???

ok but the transition between Carlos and EJ

*chefs kiss*

now everyone shut up, EJ's singing

oh i think I'm pregnant

HIS MUSCLES

YES KOURTNEY

I love how big red and Kourtney went from being "the best friends™" to the couple in season 1, to kinda close themselves and having their own plots

sebby makes me so happy

props to biggies editing skills honestly

PORTWELL BEING SIDE TO SIDE I CANT

AND SEBLOS OMG

big red lives for the drama

"wow" so true Ricky

no he is not cute, stop it

"holding" ok that's kinda cute

yeah EJ's a lucky guy����

jokes aside, it's not that hard to exchange numbers-

keep in touch if you want

ok I really like Jack now

if he comes back in season 3, maybe have him be LGBTQ+ ?

like the only out characters they have rn are Seb and Carlos and they're like the sterotypes, yk?

I'd love to see jack kinda break the mold

Ricky's breaking my heart

that song just hurts

the only thing

now I don't hate Lynne????????

HOW DARE THEY WRITE IN A PROPER REDEMPTION ARC FOR HER

UGH IM SUPPOSED TO HATE HER FOREVER

I mean I don't live her now but she's good

but honestly

"mom can I show you something"

IT WAS SO BEAUTIFUL

THE PICTURE AND EVERYTHING OMG

I'm sobbing please help

Gina saying she's just waiting for the right guy and then EJ coming to the airport to pick her up late at night without her asking, offering to bring her back in the morning so she won't have to Uber, bringing her a granola bar (WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT SHE FORGOT TO PACK) and without expecting anything in return???

ms ma'am you've got a keeper right there

her smile at the end was so heartwarming I really can't.

this episode was great.

it felt really short but I liked it, great character development for Ricky, Lynne and Gina.

Cant wait for next episode to see more of EJ being the ideal boyfriend /hj

[lastoneout]

Like I need y'all to realize that "a laptop costs as much as a new iphone" isn't a valid argument because people do not drop $900 all at once on a phone. The phone company gives you the phone for like one fourth the price or less upfront and then you pay it off for a few years alongside your phone bill. Also, most people, if forced to chose between a smart phone and a computer are going to pick the smart phone. That's just the world we live in now.

But you can't really do the whole pay it off slowly with a laptop(unless you go through like Rent a Center or something similar and you really shouldn't do that, or go into credit card debt which is also not great). And yes there are cheap laptops(and most of them suck ass and break after a year), but if someone genuinely doesn't need one(bcs capitalism has pushed us away from needing computers to instead doing everything through apps on phones and tablets which is a massive problem but is also still HAPPENING and growing up like that isn't gen z and alpha's fault) and maybe only thinks about computers in terms of like custom built gaming towers used by big twitch streamers or the pc their dad bought to work from home on then yeah a computer is out of their budget and they are probably going to think people who own one are rich even tho the VAST MAJORITY of people save up to buy their computers or slowly over a long period purchase all the parts they need to build one or got it gifted to them by a family member who actually does have a lot of disposable income or literally had it handed to them by their job or bought it with a credit card.

This isn't a "haha zoomers are out of touch idiots" post. This is a "owning anything nice, be it a computer or designer clothes or a car or whatever does not mean you're rich" post. Because "anyone who owns even one nice thing must not actually be poor" is an old as dirt conservative talking point used to deny impoverished people the aid they so desperately need, and I HATE seeing leftists use it because no one ever fucking explained to them that owning a PS5 doesn't make you on par with fucking Elon Musk or Taylor Swift.

People saying only rich people own computers are wrong, but not because computers are cheap, it's because computers aren't always prohibitively expensive and often times are gifts or were bought before the person fell into poverty or with their stimulus check or whatever. People shouting eat the rich at the average poor person who managed to scrape together a few hundred bucks for a shitty laptop or got half a computer gifted to them by friends and only had to buy a few parts aren't the rich we should be eating.

And those of you saying "computers aren't even that expensive good lord these out of touch gen z idiots need to go back to school" are fucking wrong bcs computers ARE expensive and in a world pivoting so hard to tablets and phones a lot of people straight up don't need one and will thus probably assume it's a worthless, frivolous purchase made only by people who have disposable income, and while I can very much understand being exasperated by that argument(I am currently very exasperated if you couldn't tell) acting like kids are stupid and need to shut up isn't actually solving the problem.

The only people who are actually out of touch are the ones who are mad that I didn't include people who don't own computers in my post about owning computers. The bean soup types. Make fun of them, I won't stop you. But this is like the clearest example of the generational divide and how older leftists have failed to explain to the younger folks amongst us that we have legit had to spend years listening to conservatives critiquing poor people for using their food stamps to buy a bag of gummy bears or owning a fucking refrigerator and saying every poor person should sell all of their belongings before even considering signing up for government aid, and that's NOT a valid argument. Y'all sound like the assholes who get mad at homeless people for owning cell phones, you can't doctor that argument until it's progressive, it's INHERENTLY flawed.

Poor people own nice things sometimes, that doesn't make them rich. And in this day and age a lot of people don't need computers and thus will naturally think owning one means you clearly have disposable income because they don't know that having some disposable income isn't the same thing as being a billionaire. And the first group being so condescending to second group(because yeah nothing changes people's minds like blatant condescension) isn't solving any fucking problems. Explain why it's wrong. Don't just assume gen z is stupid for not being taught how to view class and poverty.

Okay everyone shut the fuck up now, I'm done.

This website is too mobile focused these days. Reblog and tell me what your desktop/laptop background is.

[imaginariaextraordinaire]

Episode 8 is one hella packed episode and it is an absolute joy to unpack it, beginning with this:

Clever, clever idea to have Ji-Woo repeat the line that Mi-Joo just said to indicate Ji-Woo is taking charge of things as far as Assemblyman Ki is concerned. It's also a good reminder of how tone and intent can change the meaning of a sentence even if the words are exactly the same (which is why we need good translators).

Seeing Mi-Joo stride across the screen with Seon-Gyeom behind her, it struck me that we've seen a variation of this many times before, beginning with the credit titles. While Seon-Gyeom is the sprinter, the one we see constantly trying to up the pace and charge ahead is Mi-Joo. She's always intent on moving ahead faster — perhaps to outrun the past that she finally makes peace with during the marathon? — while Seon-Gyeom moves at a slower pace, disentangling himself from the constraints of his troubled past and troubling father. The only one time we see him race ahead (in episode 2), we also see him come back and slow down.

What I particularly love about Park Shi-Hyun's writing is that in addition to all the layers and complexity she's written into the scenes and characters, she's also written a very, very funny show.

Both Shin Se-Kyung and Kang Tae-Oh do such a fantastic job with both the physical humour (without being over-the-top) and the timing that's needed to play up the wit in the dialogues. Not that Siwan and Soo-Young do a bad job — the scene in which Dan-Ah proposes to Seon-Gyeom is hilarious. My favourite is still May, who is very funny throughout this episode (the shot in which we learn she sleeps with her eyes open! GOLD).

The transitions in this episode are so well written. The insights from one scene ricochet off the next. For example, Dan-Ah in the scene at the bar — where she tells the bartender she can't risk keeping the book in her own study because she can't risk people guessing she has anxieties — gives us a look at the problems of the privileged. This is followed by a scene in which Yeong-Hwa and Mi-Joo discuss student debts, which is a relatable middle-class problem. This in turn is followed by Tae-Woong saying that he takes selfies because he's addicted to the validation he gets from the likes each of those photos gets him — a Gen Z problem. And so it is that we get a spectrum of problems that people face and hide behind performative façades.

The likes that Tae-Woong talks about pop up with manic frenzy at the end of the heartbreaking scene with Dan-Ah in the parking lot, presenting the viewer with a terrible contrast — driving away from him is the love and acceptance that he yearns for from a sister who (he hopes) knows him. All he has to hold on to is the superficial attention of the love professed by a fandom that doesn't really know him at all. Soo-Young's performance is fantastic in this scene, especially when she asks in a voice tinged with desperation why Tae-Woong keeps coming back to her despite her treating him so badly. For the first time, you realise how much it takes out of her to lash out at this desperately-sad boy. "It takes effort to hate someone," Tae-Woong tells her. My heart!

Another fantastic set of transitions comes later on in the episode, when Mi-Joo and May are unwinding at the end of a long day at the film shoot.

This is such a great example of writing inter-generational female friendships. When May remembers not being paid for working overtime, it's an acknowledgement that things are better for working women (especially in film) than it was before, but as Mi-Joo's experiences show, there's still a lot to be done because women are still driven by a certain insecurity and anxiety to push themselves way too hard (as we see a sick Mi-Joo do later in the episode).

Of course a man tries to break this gathering up — because he wants to go to bed. Superb excuse, particularly because these women are talking how much they have to work — and it is deeply satisfying to watch all three of them shut him down and establish their right to unwind.

This scene of female friendship is followed by one that shows the friendship between the three runners. Then we get to see a fight scene full of male actors. The machismo of that performance is a sharp contrast to the awkward tenderness of Woo-Sik and Yeong-Il's conversation.

While on the subject of toxic masculinity, this is the episode in which we find out Dan-Ah's father forged Myeong-Min's birth certificate to make him legally older than Dan-Ah even though he's actually 10 months younger than her. All to ensure he has a male heir. It's a nice detail that Myeong-Min's mother is the one laying out the memorial service for Dan-Ah's mother because it hints at a sense of solidarity.

Also dismantling traditional notions of masculinity is Seon-Gyeom, whom we see at his most domestic as he cooks and packs meals for May and Mi-Joo, and does chores around the house once they're gone. It's very much an inversion of the standard male-female gender roles with the woman going out to work and the man as the homemaker. To underscore this point, we see Seon-Gyeom consider the leopard-print shirt (that May and Mi-Joo hang to give strangers the impression they've got an alpha in the house) for a second before putting it away.

Speaking of alphas, Mi-Joo's really got a thing for wild cats. In addition to that shirt, her blanket is also a leopard-print and when we see her calling Seon-Gyeom, she's standing in front of a painting of a tiger. All these seem to be digs at her posturing that she's strong and invulnerable and I burst out laughing when Seon-Gyeom folds the leopard-print blanket while muttering, "I'd have guessed this is hers even if she hadn't told me."

As disinterested as Seon-Gyeom may be in films, they play a big role in sustaining him emotionally. In this episode, it's the film set that helps Mi-Joo and him come together after their stupid disagreement. Equally importantly, the film set is where he gets the time and space to reconnect with his mother.

Run On has so much fun being meta with the film bits. The film shoot within a drama is indeed an old fake.

There are two film sets we see in this episode — one with Ji-Woo and the other with Mi-Joo. While Ji-Woo's set feels relaxed, the one Mi-Joo's working in is chaotic and taxing. The two women are also at different ends of the professional spectrum. Ji-Woo is a star while Mi-Joo is not just working behind the scenes, but she's come to fill in for the person who was the juniormost member of the crew.

When pointing out the main players of their film crew to Mi-Joo and May, Hui-Jin describes the cinematographer as "a bit racist, but still a gentleman". (Mi-Joo's response is superb: "Weird.") It's an interesting choice to make the cinematographer racist because that's the crew member who decides how subjects and scenes will be framed. "Racist but a gentleman" feels like a precise summary of the orientalist perspective which (aside from being overwhelmingly masculine) shows the East through stereotypes that are often superficially beautiful, but also reductive and damaging. Not surprisingly, this cinematographer is the reason Mi-Joo flounders while translating on set.

The film set is also the first time that Seon-Gyeom sees Mi-Joo's vulnerable side when she falls ill. It's such a clever choice to have Mi-Joo stop performing in a setting that's all about performances. Not only does Mi-Joo give up the alpha act when she's sick, she admits to Seon-Gyeom that when she's feeling helpless, her instinct is to resort to a performative lie — calling out for mom because that's what she saw other kids do as a child in a sick ward (imagine how isolated and neglected she must have felt to do this. Also, she's felt this way so many times that this performance has become second nature to her).

The anecdote suggests Mi-Joo's mulish championing of her self has its roots in past incidents when she tried to fit and either failed or was rejected. And yet, for all her strength and confidence, she's chasing phantoms and has been doing so since she was a little girl. All because she was alone and didn't have anyone she could reach out to for help. Which is why what Seon-Gyeom tells her at the end of the episode is so relevant. He helps her to reorient.

To which Mi-Joo, bless her leopard-print-loving heart, responds with

But my favourite part of this episode is the conversation that Ji-Woo has with Seon-Gyeom when he visits her set. First of all, Ji-Woo is playing a "vegan murderer", which is brilliant as ideas go and it's adorable how delighted she is about her violent roles.

I love how Run On doesn't punish Ji-Woo for sacrificing her family life for her work. Instead, it holds out the possibility that it is ok if you have that imbalance. In this scene, we see Ji-Woo's family reforming at the film set with Eun-Bi sending the coffee truck and Seon-Gyeom showing up just because Ji-Woo asked him to be there.

The mother-son conversation gives us a glimpse of Seon-Gyeom's bleak childhood and we learn that everything Seon-Gyeom did for his father was actually him doing what his mother had asked him to do. It comes as a surprise to Seon-Gyeom that his mother has noticed what he's suffered and that she understands how he'd hoped silently suffering would keep the family together. It's almost as though he's feeling seen for the first time.

Much like Dan-Ah, Ji-Woo may seem self-centred because of her ambitiousness, but she does notice what's happening beyond the obvious, especially when it comes to people she cares about. Both women are up against the worst of patriarchy. Also, I love that when she's talking about motherhood, Ji-Woo is blood-spattered — after all, being a working woman and a mother in a patriarchal is nothing short of fighting a war.

In previous episodes, it seemed as though Ji-Woo was the 'bad' (or at least not ideal) mother while Director Dong was the ideal, modern mother. Yet in comparison to how Director Dong later reacts to her son coming out, you can't help but feel Ji-Woo, with her unconditional support for her kids, might just be the better parent. What is great about Run On though is that that the script doesn't pit the two older women against each other as competing examples of motherhood or femininity. The point is that everyone's struggling, making mistakes and trying to learn from them. Ji-Woo is doing that and so will Director Dong eventually.

Love that the scene ends with Seon-Gyeom effectively declaring himself his mother's son. Take that, patriarchy.

[afewmarvelousthoughts]

The Call Pt. 1

Summary: Marie is not crazy. She isn’t. Or she hopes she’s not. But the happenings that follow a mysterious phone call begin to make her hope otherwise. 

Warnings: Suicidal ideation, maybe mildly creepy

A/N: Well, if you’re tagged it’s because you said you were interested in taking a peek at my original content. This is the first half of a short story I’ve been using as kind of a warm up/playground for a few weeks. Kinda hate the title (so if you’ve got suggestions hit me with them) and am open to literally all feedback!  (If you want to know when I share original content lmk!)

“I’m not crazy. I know how this sounds but I am not fucking crazy!” 

Funny enough, I’m also not an idiot. I know that screaming I’m not crazy at 4am after tearing my room apart to find a picture that apparently doesn’t exist implies otherwise. But still-

“I’m not crazy, Alex.”

“Ok. You’re not crazy.” 

The way he’s looking at me really makes me wish I was. 

“But Marie, what you’re asking me to believe-“

“Is crazy,” I say, collapsing on the edge of the bed. 

I stare down at my hands. There used to be a scar on the left one, thick and rope-like carving a path straight through the center. The original wound had cut to the bone. 

I know it was there. 

I know because I remember how it didn’t hurt at first. It was like a dull warm sting, too many nerve endings cut to make my brain register what happened. I remember how I was fascinated by the blood welling, dark and thick and so different from any time I’d seen my own blood in my short 13 years. I remembered the drip, drip, drip. 

And then I remember screaming. 

“Marie…” He takes a deep breath, pacing away from the bed. 

I don’t move, don’t respond. Just run my fingers over where the scar should be. 

Another thing I remember is the choice I made that resulted in the scar disappearing. I remember that conversation, both sides of it like two images superimposed on one another. 

Somehow, remembering those disparate, impossible, things so clearly only makes me more certain that I am not insane. Which may actually make the whole insanity argument stronger…

The first phone call happened on a random night in December. I was baking, trying to recreate those Levaine Bakery cookies and, honestly, not sucking at it. 

I was not drinking. 

I was not on drugs. None that I wasn’t supposed to be on anyway. 

Everything was normal. 

My phone rang with a number I didn’t recognize. Usually, I would have just ignored it but the area code was from my home town and I know far too many messy people back home to ignore an unknown call on a Friday night. 

If someone was dead, I didn’t want to find out through a voicemail. 

“Hello?” A muffled voice responded, warped by a shoddy Bluetooth connection. “Wait, sorry hold on.”

Fucking useless $100 earbuds. 

“Hello?” 

“H-hi… Hello.” The voice on the other end was clearly a kid, a little girl. I didn’t know any kids save for my nephew and he was eight months old so children should not be calling me. 

“Yes?”

“Hi, ma’am,” the girl paused, clearly restraining a giggle. The line crackled in a way that sounded odd but I assumed she was just muffling the mic. “Did you order a pizza? This… This is Pizza Hut.” 

I stifled a laugh of my own. Who knew kids still did prank calls. I thought those died off with the landline. Amused, I played along. 

“No, I didn’t order a pizza.”

“Oh, well, I guess we called the wrong person. Sorry!” The kid hung up. 

I shook my head and reconnected my earbuds. As far as prank calls went, I had my criticisms on their form but hoped they enjoyed themselves. 

Quickly, I fell back into my baking rhythm, my audiobook of the week keeping any further exploration as to why kids would bother with prank calls when the internet existed at bay. At least until the book paused, accompanied by an off-putting crackle in one earbud.

“Motherf-“ My phone ringing interrupted my expletive. 

I looked over, it was the same number. 

I don’t know why I answered. Maybe I was getting soft after 30 years of being, by default, a cold bitch—I had been crying at far more commercials recently. Or maybe the novelty of a prank call was too good to pass up. 

“Hello.”

For a moment there was silence. Then, someone breathing. Something about it made me feel uncomfortable. Not in the whole, I’m calling from inside the house, kind of way. More like the feeling you get when you almost fall asleep at the wheel, the adrenaline rush of waking up just in time. 

“Hello?” The breathing quickened. “Look, kid-“

She started speaking. Rather, she started making sounds, gibberish with the inflection of words. After a string of them, she paused. 

“Uh-huh, well then,” I said choosing to humor them. 

This was followed by another string of gibberish. Only this sounded more frantic, there wasn’t the undertone of laughter. They stopped. 

“Kid, are you ok?” I began to worry. 

“Em raeh uoy nac?” She said with the inflection of a question. I realized suddenly that this may not be the same person. There was something similar about the voice but it didn’t sound as young as my pizza prankster from earlier. 

“Look, this is just getting weird. Don’t-“

“On!” The person yelled into the phone. “On! On! Esaelp!” The voice cracked, a stifled cry sending chills up my spine. 

On… On… On… Something clicked. 

No. This person was saying no. 

Maybe I am crazy. Because the moment I realized the words were coming to me backward they righted themselves and the person began speaking in the proper direction. 

“Please, don’t hang up.” She took a ragged breath, “Please.” 

Sitting on the edge of my bed now, staring at my scarless palm, I could still feel her desperation. 

“Marie,” Alex knelt in front of me, eyes wide and pleading. “I have known you since we were 15. You’re my sister and I love you.” He takes my hands in his own, sighing, “You’ve been under a lot of stress recently and that-“

“Jesus,” I pull my hands back getting to my feet, and push past him. In the doorway to my bathroom, I pause, turning back to face him. He now sat on the floor with his back against my bed. 

“I’m just saying, maybe it’s all been too much. That’s all. There isn’t any shame in that.” 

“I know there isn’t. Don’t you think I, of all people, fucking know that?!” 

I mean for fucks sake, I was the head of HR at my company. I had a bachelor’s in counseling and a master’s in communications. Not to mention years of therapy under my belt. I understood what stress could do to someone’s mind and I understood that this wasn’t that. 

“Ok,” he holds his hands up in surrender. “Ok. Sorry. I know you know. But you want me to believe you’re really ok when you-“

“I don’t want you to believe shit. You asked me what was happening. I’m just telling you.” 

He studied me, trying to find something to hold on to, some way to believe me. 

For a moment I studied him too. Burning this image of him into my mind. 

This was real. He was real. Just like everything else was real. 

On that first night, the shock the voice on the other end of the line sent through my whole body was unlike anything I’d ever felt before. 

“Please be there,” she begged. 

Our own voices always sound weird when we hear them played back. Something to do with the way sound travels through the body. The way it resonates in our bones. It’s easy to not even recognize our own voices when we hear them. 

“I called this-“

“You called this number 10 minutes ago,” I cut her off, my unease giving way to anger. “What do you want? If you’re in trouble-“

“I called this number when I was eight,” that edge to her tone was too familiar. “I’m 15.” 

“Hilarious, kid. Find something better to-“

“0606.”

“Yup, that’s the last four digits of the number you just called. Owned by a woman who is very-“

“Those are the last four numbers of the cell phone I got when I was 13.” 

“Very funny.” I had no idea who had put her up to this but I was over it. “I’ve had this number for 17 years.” 

“I always thought it was funny because I remembered those numbers ever since I made that prank call. Funny that they’d be the last four of my own number.” Her voice had a disconnected quality to it. I rubbed my finger over the scar on my palm, a nervous habit. 

“Kid-“

“Wait,” she cut me off, something which was starting to wear on me. “You said 17 years. How… how old are you.” 

“Thirty,” I answered automatically. 

“Wow.”

“Yeah. Ancient to you I’m sure.” The timer went off for my cookies. “Look. If you’ve sated your gen alpha need to dip your toes into the nostalgia pool-“

“So, I don’t do it.” 

“Do what?”

“On April 13th, 2006 you decided you would kill yourself you your 16th birthday.” My heart stopped. “Maybe you don’t remember that…” 

I remembered it. 

If I tried I could remember the way my room smelled. I could remember how my hands didn’t even shake as I wrote those words in my journal. I could remember sitting on my bed, picking up my phone…

And calling my own number. 

I looked down at my phone. I’d only paid attention to the area code before, nothing more than a passing glance. Now I realized, it was my grandparent’s old landline number.  

She continued, “Anyway, I just called my own number to-“

“Leave a voice mail,” I said finishing her thought. It was my substitute for a note, something that if they found they found but if not then fuck them. 

“Yeah. But instead of it going to voicemail, you answered. My phone is sitting in my lap but you answered. And I remembered your voice from when I was eight and…” 

“What the fuck,” I breathed. 

“I don’t know…”

My head was spinning. I had never spoken to anyone save for my therapist about my intention to end my life when I turned 16, so it seemed unlikely someone was playing a cruel joke. But it was even more unlikely, or rather completely fucking impossible, that I was currently speaking to my 15-year-old self.  

“Look,” I sank to the floor of my kitchen, sliding my glasses up so I could massage away the tension headache building between my eyes. “Clearly, you’re not me. But it’s pretty obvious that you’re in a bad way.” There was silence. 

“Kid?” 

“I’m here,” the voice was so small. 

“I don’t know what you’re going through, but the best advice I can give you is the same advice that my best friend gave me when we were your age. ‘If you can’t find any other reason to keep going, just do it out of spite.’” 

To this day, do it out of spite, was the motto we lived by. I embroidered pillows for us with it, we signed off letters to one another with it when he took a year to wander Europe with his ex, hell we got the word ’Spite’ tattooed on our wrists in the other’s handwriting when we were 19—thanks to Alex’s terrible handwriting people always asked me why I had ‘Sprite’ tattooed on my wrist. 

She snorted. 

“I know it sounds oversimplified but-“

“No. I’m just not into listening to people who don’t take their own advice,” the anger in her voice was searing. 

“What do you-“

“Alex Cameron, said the same thing to me yesterday.” My ears started ringing, my whole body tingled like a limb when you’ve sat on it for too long. 

“Then,” she took a shaky breath, “he killed himself.” 

My smoke alarm began to scream, the smell of burnt sugar seeping from my oven. 

tags

@wonderlandmind4 @coffeebeforewater @empty-fromthestart​ @this-kitten-is-smitten @saundrasays​