#culture confession

[jttwconfessions]

i'm tired of how the LMK fandom turns every little thing about the show, and continuously forget this is a centuries-old story with literal hundreds of adaptations. i hate how it's slowly tinting other adaptations too, and how some fans can't seem to accept there are different interpretations and dynamics explored in non-lmk jttw media. hell, some can't even understand that Wukong/Macaque isn't even a canon ship, and Macaque is a very minor character in the overall story.

[crying-dollie]

[natalievoncatte]

On Krypton, vows had meaning. Proclamations were not made lightly, and promises were not given casually. Kara’s peers wouldn’t throw one out as a reassurance, or to settle an argument. They were a logical people. They didn’t deceive, didn’t speak words they didn’t know to be true, and didn’t give opinions that were not informed. Society was ordered and regimented, and everyone put the greater good before themselves. So if you made a promise, no matter how great or how small, you would do it.

Kara learned, later in life, that a lot of her birth culture was, to use an English word that had no equivalent in her language, bullshit. Kryptonians would, she thought, claim that they had no use for such a vulgar term for cavalier prevarication because they did not practice it. That would had been a lie.

Her parents bullshitted her. They bullshitted her about the society she was growing up in. Her world wasn’t a real of perfect logic and order, it was a hidebound, decaying ex-empire that put tradition so irrationally high on a pedestal that they let their world be destroyed and all but a handful of their people wiped out because tradition said that her uncle was wrong about the planetary core going unstable.

Nevertheless, when Kara made a promise, she meant it. When she said she’d vowed to protect her adoptive home with her life, she meant it. Those words all but signed her life away in service to the cause. She was this way in everything, from saving the world down to brining Cat Grant a precisely prepared cup of coffee. Her promises meant something.

That was why she filled herself with dread the instant a promise, given unthinkingly in the heat of the moment, tumbled out of her mouth.

I will always be your friend, and I will always protect you.

She’d dishonored herself with the promise, one broken as it was made. She held Lena tight, speaking with conviction, and promised to be a friend even as she lied, swore to protect even as she deceived. It was a promise that couldn’t be kept no matter what she did.

Kara had become human in so many ways, and it gnawed at her. Another English word that had no exact Kryptonian equivalent was freedom. A proper Kryptonian would be horrified at ideas that boiled down to “I can do what I want”; I can choose my career, my partner, my life. I can put fulfillment ahead of the role chosen for me by those who know better. Yet Kara had embraced it full throated, making choices whenever she could.

The one thing she would never give up was the value of an oath.

She was over the Pacific, thinking. She would come out here from time to time to think and clear her head when the city soundscape became overwhelming, and just let herself drift in the air. There were no texts to agonize over, no emails from Snapper, nothing but herself and the lapping of waves and the distant rumble of storms over the open ocean.

She’d been coming out here more and more of late, not to think but to avoid thinking.

Because Lena knew, and Kara knew something was wrong. She could be dense about human behavior sometimes, but she was no fool… and she had super senses. She could read Lena’s pulse and see infrared flush of her skin and spot micro-movements of her eyes. Kara wanted desperately to believe that nothing was wrong but her instincts said otherwise.

When Kara told her, Lena had gone stock still and stared at her with what Kara thought was hatred, bringing tears. She’d tried to tell her how sorry she was, but Lena had just walked right past her and only later returned to her usual self.

Almost.

Kara had thrown herself into it, going on a campaign of what Alex had called ‘peacocking’ for some reason, all but burying Lena with super-stunts like fetching fresh pastries from French patissiers. Lena had smiled and thanked her but there was something flat and distant in it, and Kara ignored it and insisted that all was well.

Out here, with just the storms and her secrets, she knew it wasn’t.

Kara fingered the crest on her chest, worrying her thumb over the crimson fabric of the El rune. This meant something. It meant both ‘hope’ and ‘stronger together’; the two ideas were inextricably linked but her cousin only understood one of the meanings, because Kryptonian pictographic language was complex, and he was not Kryptonian in any way that mattered.

That was another great failing, a promise that Kara made but didn’t keep. By her people’s standards, there was no shame in that; one did not bear the responsibility of a promise made under duress, or a promise that others demanded knowing that it couldn’t be kept.

The only one she’d kept Kryptonian was herself, deep in a secret corner of her soul that meant it if she said she’d be at your birthday party or bring you a donut. The part that treated promises like promises.

There was only one way to cleanse herself, and remove her shame. She knew what it was, but she was afraid. Kara had battled monsters and gods, faced death more than once, lost more than any person should have to lose in a dozen lifetimes, but there was one thing she feared above all others.

She feared that first honest look on Lena’s shocked face more than she feared an eternity without stars. She could live in the void between realities; a void without Lena would kill her more surely than any green poison.

Now. She had to do it now, before she lost her nerve. She flew back to the city, flew hard, slowing only to land on Lena’s balcony, softly. As she raised her hand to knock on the glass of the door, she hesitated, nearly turned back.

Lena opened it, and Kara let out a slow breath. Lena was wearing only a loose, flowing floral robe, with clearly nothing beneath it. Terror made her listen- if Lena had a guest in that state, Kara might just fling herself into the sun and be done with it.

She was alone. Lena shifted on her feet.

“Why are you all wet?”

Kara’s hair was damp with sea spray and she’d flown through a few clouds on her way back.

“I like to fly over the ocean and think.”

“Well, come in here already. Let me get you a towel. Do you want something to change into?”

Kara swallowed hard. No. She wanted the honor of her family on her chest right now. She needed it to make her brave, like her father said it would when he sent her into the void. She did take the towel.

Lena had been enjoying her tea and sad breakfast -toast with jam- before Kara arrived. She left it on the counter and sat on her couch, leaving Kara to pace.

“I can tell you’re upset,” said Lena. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

“Everything,” said Kara. “I have a lot to say and I don’t know how to say it. I haven’t told you the full truth and I have to. I need to. It’s eating me alive inside.”

Lena swallowed hard, her heart racing.

“Please don’t tell me you’re Batman, too.”

“Lena, this is serious.”

Kara swept across the room and knelt in front of her, and Lena’s eyes shot open wide in surprise. Kara looked at the carpet in front of her, unable to look Lena in the eye.

“A long time ago, I promised you I’d always take care of you, and I didn’t. I was lying to you when I said it and I lied to you for years after.”

“Kara…”

“Please,” desperation choked her voice, “let me finish. I owe you the full truth. I promised, and promises are sacred to Kryptonians. My soul will be stained forever unless I fulfill the oath I made.”

“It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

“Yes it was,” said Kara. “It was to me. It was everything to me. Please.”

Lena cleared her throat. “Okay.”

“I told you I lied to you to protect you. That was another lie. That’s not why I did it. I lied because I was weak and I put my own feelings ahead of doing what was right. I was scared. I was scared that if you knew it would change how you saw me and it would change our relationship. You were the only person I could almost be myself with and I didn’t want that to change. You were a safe person I could go to without having to be Supergirl.”

Lena was studying her, a soft hint of skepticism in her expression.

Kara stood up and paced.

“I don’t know how to do this, Lena. I may act human and look human but I’m not. I grew up on another planet with another culture and so many things about this world are just totally different from how I was raised.”

Kara took a deep breath.

“On Krypton we didn’t have queerness. People didn’t value freedom of choice. You did what society told you to do. You joined the guild you were pledge to at birth and married the person you were told to marry and had the offspring you were told to have and raised them to do the same thing. The same fucking thing.”

Lena sat up at Kara’s sudden, vehement profanity.

“I didn’t know the word freedom until I arrived here. I had no concept of it. I had no idea how fragile and precious it is. Sure, I talked about it and wrote essays about it in school, but I didn’t get it. Not until I met you.”

Kara looked at Lena.

“You are my freedom. You’re the first thing I’ve ever chosen, really chosen, in my life, besides being Supergirl. It was you that made me look Cat Grant and Alex both in the eyes and say ‘no, this is what I want, this is how it’s going to be for me and it’s my choice, not yours.’ Back home I never, ever would have even thought what I’m about to say now.”

Kara swallowed, hard.

“I was afraid to tell you because I was afraid it would change our relationship. I was afraid you’d hate me because I kept the secret too long, but I was also afraid of what has to come after confessing my identity to you, Lena. The next part is even harder.”

“Kara,” Lena began.

“I have feelings for you.”

Lena went still, her eyes wide. “What did you say?”

“I want to be myself with you. My whole self, my real self. Not the person I think I have to be to please someone else. I want to tell you everything you want to know about my home and my people and my life and I want to know everything about you. I want to hear you laugh for me and see the look in your eyes when you’re happy to see me. I want to care for you when you’re sick and hold you when you’re sad and be the person that matters to you like you matter to me.”

Kara sucked in a deep breath.

“I used to think I was happy just being Kara with you. Not being Kara Danvers or Kara Zoe-El, just me… but I’m not me without both of those pieces and being without them isn’t good enough. I want you to know the real me. The girl from Krypton who went to high school in California.”

Lena stood up slowly, clearly forcing her breathing even. She adjusted her robe around herself, and looked at Kara for too long a time, silent.

“I hurt you when I promised I’d protect you and I’ll never forgive myself for that.”

“What do you want from me? To tell you it’s okay?” said Lena. “Is that what you want? Because it’s fucking not.”

Kara flinched. She opened her mouth, then closed it.

Lena had given her this courtesy and she’d give it in return.

“It wasn’t just you, Kara. I built my whole life around you and your friends and they became my friends. You gave me a normal world. I got to be a regular girl when I was with you and the others. Do you have any idea what that means to me? What you did to me when you ripped it away? Do you have any idea how you’ve torn me to shreds?”

Kara choked a little, and tried to hold back the tears, and failed.

“I killed Lex. I killed him and I hid his body, myself. I killed my brother for you. And the worst part is I’d do it again. If it was him or you I’d kill him again.”

Cold dread flooded through her.

“That was my fault. That was exactly the kind of thing that I should have protected you from, and I failed you." Kara's breath hitched as she bit back a sob. "I should go."

Lena moved quickly and grabbed her arm tight. "Don't you fucking dare leave. You can't just say those things to me and leave."

Kara's nostrils flared as she sucked in a big breath.

"Lex told me who you were as he was dying. He showed me."

Kara looked at her. "Oh."

"I started to hate you. I started to believe the things he said about you. And what happened then? You told me! You just blurted it out!"

Lena choked down a sob of her own, and something in Kara shattered. Tentatively, carefully, Kara pulled her into a gentle hug, and Lena let her.

"I don't know what to do anymore," Lena whispered into Kara's chest. "I've lost everything."

Kara held her closer, breathing the soft scent of her shower-damp hair.

"I don't know what to do either," Kara admitted. "I just knew I couldn't bear to lie to you again, even by omission. I'll go if you want."

"You're not leaving," said Lena. "I don't want you to go. Promise you won't leave me."

Kara shivered. "Lena…"

"Promise."

"I promise," Kara whispered.

[burry-penguin]

Guys. The shit Jake Weddle went through is fucking haunting. That shit would’ve been on a True Crime Documentary if Mr. Beast hadn’t covered it up so very well with 100k hush money that had 40% stolen in income tax.

THIS IS PURE HORROR. THIS IS SOMETHING DESERVING OF TO PUNISH THE WORST AND ITS STILL NOT ALLOWED ON MASS MURDERERS BUT A CIVILIAN DOING SOME DUMBASS CHALLENGE FOR MONEY CAN BE PUT THROUGH WITHOUT CONSEQUENCE. WHAT THE LIVING FUCK.

Guys. Please go watch Dogpack404’s newest video and support Jake’s story on his channel. Reblog this or someone else saying a similar message. These videos are being shadow banned on youtube and the truth needs to be wide spread.

[adouxrable]

♡⁠˖ lindsay lohan — lola stepp (confessions of a teenage drama queen 2004). icons by © adouxrable, don't repost.

[taxidermycanine]

wolf therian culture is

[whenshesdown]

maybe it's just because i work in one so i'm biased, but thinking heavily about bookstore employee reader & jason todd. reader parked behind the cash register, bored as hell, when jason and stephanie pop up with a large pile of books and a healthy amount of useless knickknacks. (you know jason would collect special edition hardcovers for his most favorite reads). idk why but i feel like they would be unusually helpful when you're bagging the items. like steph grabs the bag out of your hand and starts putting things in herself? then when you bend down to get a larger bag for the other items jason somehow already got a hold of that bag and is already halfway through with putting everything else in. (or they bring their own reusable bags and that kind of nullifies this excerpt a bit lmao.)

steph is definitely the more talkative one of the two, holding conversation and trying to get jason involved since he's the more literary one, asking leading questions and also for recommendations from you. (steph may or may not be playing slight matchmaker. who's to say?)

near the end of the transaction, after them practically doing most of the work(that they're physically able to do), you're putting your hands on your hips like, 'i'm gonna get fired at this rate. why don't you guys just clock in already?' which earns a quiet snort from jason, or if you're lucky & he's feeling more chatty that day you get a snort + a quiet, 'think you'll be fine, sweetheart.' (also later on one of your coworkers is like 'that was kind of weird. do you think they were trying to steal something?') jason keeps coming back after that, and he tells himself it has nothing to do with getting another recommendation from you(god forbid he even broach the topic of maybe liking you just a little at this point) and everything with the excellent selection of special hardcover classics. truthfully, he never was one to go out to a bookstore that often(probably more of a library guy when he did. but in general i think jason doesn't prioritize doing fun things for himself esp depending on his era), but he finds himself passing through yours at least once a week. when he starts organically getting a feel for your schedule it's definitely only ever an accident that he tends to show up at the times you're most likely to be there. obviously, at some point you have to come out of the stock room with a huge pile of books, almost tripping & dropping your whole stack. he takes half of the stack and follows you to where you're going. you're intent on putting them away, and don't notice how he's kind of just awkwardly standing nearby until you catch him in your peripheral & decide to ask him what his latest read was. jason genuinely just loves literature in general. so even though the majority of his catalogue are classics(& almost evenly spread throughout every fictional genre, maybe an occasional nonfiction), he's definitely dipped his toes into some modern works if they pique his interest enough. if there's a display somewhere for employee current reads and/or recommendations, he always takes the time to look at yours, reading the back and skimming through some of the pages. i could genuinely probably yap about this forever but this is getting a little long so i'm gonna stop here. i would love to hear anybody else's thoughts and/or additions!

[splatoon-confession-box]

i don't get "salmonlings". salmonids are already a sapient species with their own entire culture. not every splatoon character needs to be humanoid. (also i really do wish salmonids got more ingame lore, it doesn't help that there's not much background information on them in game)

[popculturebaby]

Confessions Of A Teenage Drama Queen, 2004 ✨

[how-the-feathers-have-fallen]

Just when I think this fucking fandom is getting some fucking peace some mad man driving a gasoline truck rams straight into garbage fire....

Anyway wake up babe new Supernatual actor men rpf dropped!!

[jttwconfessions]

I hate that both the LMK fandom and people who hate LMK will spread misinformation about both JTTW and Chinese culture and people will just accept it at face value instead of researching to see if what is said was right or listening to Chinese people when they try to correct the misinformation (usually because of racism, the Chinese person correcting them likes fiction the wrong way in their opinion, or a person from America spread misinformation first). Nezha is not "forever 12", Sun Wukong and Macaque are not literal brothers, the legal driving and drinking age in China is 18 which means MK literally can't be a minor. Google is free, listen to Chinese fans and do some research.

[todayinhiphophistory]

Today in Hip Hop History:

Cam’ron released his debut album Confessions Of Fire July 21, 1998

[monarch-of-weird-girlboy-nation]

You need to be normal about minors in your fandoms. Yeah, even the cringy ones. Yeah, even the ones who are going to be annoying about ships or fav characters or whatever. Yeah, even though ones who don't look at the work with a very media literacy focused lense and only scream about their slightly misinterpreted blorbos. If the work is appropriate for minors, let them be there. They don't need to have your "deep super intellectual takes on the media which all of these dumb kids are ruining by shipping!" Let them be there. Let them have fun. I bet you got to. They'll be annoying, but isn't being annoying the essence of being a child? You can always block them or cultivate your experience. Idk

[haveyoureadthisfanfic]

Summary: It’s hard to stay cynical in the face of Clark Kent and his relentless optimism. Looking at him there, still in his button up shirt from his business trip, sleeves rolled up, still focused even though it’s pushing midnight, she feels a warm, steady wave of fondness in her chest. She wishes they could do this every night. Not the pulling a furious all-nighter right after someone tried to murder her – that part she could take or leave. But it would be nice to spend every evening with Clark. She’d always told herself she liked her space, but being with Clark was like having space and having company rolled into one. Her highly caffeinated, sleep-deprived brain catches up with the implications of that thought process, and she thinks, shit. After years of pining after an alien demi-god who is, much as she hates to admit it, miles out of her league, Lois realises she's caught feelings for her co-worker. Unsure whether or not to tell him, she seeks advice from the most sensitive guy she knows - Superman. Things don't go as she expected...

Author: @penny-anna

[schizotypalpd-culture-is]

schizotypal culture is being afraid you're going to see things but not actually seeing them, like thinking 'when I open this door there wil be a demon there'

.

[littlefoxgirlhere]

I hope you, girls, understand that when I talk about my tc, I would NEVER try to have something with him at the moment or let him do something out of bounds. I like him. But I'm not an idiot, I know that a relationship between a guy his age and a girl my age wouldn't work out, for a lot of reasons but mostly because it's still considered illegal. I just like to have something to distract me and keep me focused (thus taking me out of the fog of my depression).

Plus: he is a good man and a good teacher. I am absolutely certain that our interactions do not have the same meaning for him, he is not a pedophile or a weirdo.

(Just writing this because lately this blog has basically just been about me talking about my interactions with him, which has caused some people to judge me a lot)