#i have a lot of feelings about how serious it is to acknowledge that a community is a sum of individual and unique parts
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tamamita · 2 days ago
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How come so many shias support hezbollah even though it has syrian blood on its hands? Im shia and i never got it. Like i saw a post from a bosnian (who talks a lot about genocide in general and palestine) a while ago saying that its ok to have different feelings over naserallah's death because of different things (i.e. hezbollah helped bosnia during the genocide they were going through, but it also has syrian blood on its hands from interviewing with the revolution). Same thing for the houthis, ive heard for years from feminist spaces over people going in prison in yemen because of the houthis, and its not even anything serious. Is the end goal supporting palestine, and maybe after isreal's death, we start dissecting our own politics and groups in the region?
If Hezbollah wasn't in Syria, then Syria would've been overrun by ISIS and there would have been a genocide of religious and ethnical minorities, this is a fact that can not be denied. After all, don't ever forget what happened in Speicher. The opposition were more than willing to defect over ISIS as they were claiming land, given the overlapping ideology between the various Salafist elements, it was easier for them to adapt to the ideology of ISIS. The only difference between HTS and ISIS were its goals, they otherwise held the same belief. Why do you think Al-Baghdadi (la) and Al-Jolani (la) were negotiating between each other throughout the war? These people were in cahoots with each other, but westerners and libs fully embraced this tyrant just like they did with Osama, because the Syrians are free, I mean, maybe for the Sunnis in Syria, bnut not the rest. The Shi'a Muslims had every right to defend the Lebanese-Syria border and eliminate a threat to religious minorities. Furthermore, had the Axis not intervened, the war would ultimately give leeway for the revisionists Zionists and its imperialist benefector to secure more land and eliminate the Axis.
Materialistically, whether Hezbollah had blood in its hand or not, critical support is always important regardless of what you think. Assad was by no means good, even S Nasrallah (r.a) said that he acknowledged the war crimes that Assad committed, but that the alternative was no better, hence why Hezbollah had to secure the Lebanese border and intervene within Syria to prevent a spillover of Salafist Jihadist into various parts of Southwest Asia.
But now that Assad is gone, we are seeing the persecution of religious minorities, the elimination of secular institutions, the Settler state destroying and taking more of Syria, barbarians and executioners being appointed as ministers and Turkey using the opportunity to send its cannonfodder to attack the Kurds. It's only a matter of time until the consititution is completely rewritten and you'll have yourself a Sunni theocracy. The Syrian people did not win this war, the Turks, the Israelis, the US and the rest of NATO did.
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ghouljams · 10 hours ago
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The Church of the Broken God (chapter 2)
Words: 5k Tags: Eventual John Price x reader, public masturbation, brainwashing, doublespeak, indoctrination, f!reader, passively suicidal ideation, self destructive habits, horrible bosses, depressed!reader, Cult Leader!Price Summary: Your life has been on a downward spiral for months. It's hard to find a real reason to keep going when everything you do seems to backfire. That is, until you get a flier for a meditation seminar that promises to fix all your problems.
<- prev chapter | next chapter ->
These women are… super nice. You don’t know why it puts you on edge. They’re not doing anything wrong. They buy each other drinks, compliment each other, they’re attentive listeners and laugh at every joke you make. You offer to buy a round, the same as they’ve been doing for you, and you’re not met with a rush to stop you. They look pleased, shoot off thanks and smile the same as they did for the other women. You feel like you’re doing the right thing, you don’t know why it makes your stomach squirm. Maybe you’re just not used to people doing nice things for you.
“You ok?” Nina asks, leaning over the table to frown at you, “you’ve gone all quiet.”
“Yeah, uh, I guess I’m just not used to crowds anymore.” You attempt to cover.
“It’s the compliments isn’t it?” Cassie jumps in, Nina waves her off.
“No, no!” You hold up your hands to defend yourself, “Those are really nice, you’re all really nice! I’m just not-”
“Used to it?” Nina finishes with a wince, “I wasn’t either, it was super awkward the first time I came out for drinks, you remember?”
“Oh my God so awkward, you were like a robot.” Cassie laughs, it takes some of the weight off your shoulders.
“But you get what you put out into the world, y’know? You give kindness, you get it in return, that’s what John says.” Nina nods, she crosses her arms and leans back against the booth. She feels serious, her jaw set and her brows drawn. “I was in a really dark place when I first took John’s class, it felt like I was living a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. My friends were drifting away, my fiance was cheating on me-” She shakes her head, you wince at how closely your situation matches, “-I was so bitter and it made me mean, I get why no one wanted to be around me.”
“Nina-” Cassie sighs, her sympathy obvious. Nina waves her off again, sitting forward to grab her drink.
“Whatever, it’s in the past now.” Nina mutters, your heart aches for her. You set a hand on her shoulder, giving it a friendly squeeze. She smiles at you. It feels… good. You can see yourself in her, your pain and suffering. It’s a weight that she carries the same as you. “Kyle really helped me a lot, Christ I owe him a whole bakery.”
“Nina!” Cassie squeals, shoving at her. Nina’s shoulder bumps against you, warm. Camaraderie. Did you forget what it was like to have friends? When was the last time you saw your own? The last time they laughed with each other, with you? “You’re so bad,” Cassie laughs.
“What? He’s hot!” Nina laughs back. You feel a little left out. Your stomach clenches.
“Sorry, who’s Kyle?” You ask, “Your boyfriend?”
“She wishes,” Cassie snorts into her drink. Nina shoves at her.
“He’s a counselor, life coach sort of guy.” Nina explains, “He has a class at the rec center on Wednesdays-” Claire’s phone pings “-honestly it’s worth going just to see him, God I wanna make a sandwich out of that man.”
“I’m gonna hit the bathroom,” Claire announces. You glance at the other women at the table. None of them move. Weird, you would have thought women this close would be biting at the bit to accompany her. You always used the buddy system with your friends. Especially at bars. In fact the other women at the table seem to ignore her, only acknowledging her enough to move out of the way. 
You guess there’s a black sheep in every friend group. You know the feeling. You tap your fingers against the table watching her retreat to the bathroom. You don’t have a good feeling about letting her go alone. Nina’s insistence on “putting kindness into the world” or whatever is running through your head and you just… you can’t let her be on the outskirts of the friend group alone. You’re not even really part of it, but everyone is being so nice- you won’t be the reason this girl is left out.
“Oh um, I’m gonna ask the bartender something,” You tell the girl on your left, shit what was her name “can you-?
“Sure!” She pushes herself out of the booth to let you out, quickly cozying up next to Nina when you vacate the spot. You glance at the table over your shoulder as you make your way towards the bar, then make a hard turn towards the bathrooms. No one’s paying attention to you, that’s good.
You push the bathroom door open, trying to be quiet in case Claire’s shy. You’ll just, uh, wash your hands and pretend you’re fixing your outfit when she comes out. Nothing weird about that. Totally normal thing that people do, and not like you’re waiting for her to come out of the stall so you can- What? Commiserate about being left out? Ugh, you don’t know why you even-
There’s a distinct, wet, noise coming from one of the stalls. A ‘shlick, shlick’ sound that you recognize all too easily. You catch the bathroom door to keep it from slamming and cover your mouth. Fingers sliding against a wet slit, a soft huff of a stifled moan, and the quiet low rumble of a man’s voice. Deep and throaty, she’s on the phone with someone, or listening to something. You can’t tell which, what you can tell is that Claire --the girl who had seemed almost too shy to ask you to join them--  is masturbating in a public bathroom. And you’re standing there listening. You’re not sure which is worse. It squirms like bile in your stomach, you’re intruding, you’re being a creep. Your own cunt clenches. 
A quiet whimper leaves Claire’s mouth and you rush back out of the bathroom. You catch the door a second time to make sure she doesn’t hear it slam, then you press yourself against it. You fan your face, try to get your breathing right, fix your face. Fix your damn face! You press your hands to your cheeks, and squeeze your eyes shut. Oh my God.
You make your way back to the table, doing your best to avoid looking at anyone. The girl who moved for you initially lights up when she sees you, hopping out of the booth and ushering you in. You feel a little awkward sliding into the middle with Nina, but you don’t want to cause a fuss with so many people watching you. Good lord do they all have to look at you? 
“Did the bartender have what you were looking for?” Nina asks. Your eyes dart to her.
“The- oh, uh, no. I was wondering if he had a phone charger.” You cover quickly.
“I have a power bank you can use,” Cassie offers. You open your mouth to turn her down before remembering that would blow your story out of the water.
“Sure.” You relent, forcing a smile onto your face. 
“No problem,” Cassie chirps, digging through her purse to tug a power bank and two different chargers free, “it feels good to do nice things for people, don’t you think?”
“Yeah,” you agree absentmindedly, fussing with the charger and plugging your phone in. An alert for a non-branded charger pops up and you quickly dismiss it. 
The conversation moves on to other topics, but you hardly pay attention. Your eyes are glued to the bathroom door, waiting for Claire. When she does finally exit she looks the same as when she left. No ruddy cheeks, no guilty glances around, no rumpled shirt or anything that would give away what she was doing in the bathroom. You try not to narrow your eyes as they flick over her body. You don’t want to look like you’re checking her out, you just want proof that you heard what you heard.
“Welcome back,” Someone says, and Claire beams at them.
“Who’s buying the next round?” Claire asks.
You drift in and out of conversation. Someone offers to split an uber with you, apparently they live in the same building. You wonder how you never noticed them before, but they hug you before you get off the elevator.
“It was nice to connect with you,” She hums, “it feels nice being part of something, doesn’t it?”
You don’t get a chance to answer before the doors close.
-
Wednesday, you think, flipping through your phone while you brush your teeth. Nina said her life coach guy was on wednesdays right? Curious, you check the rec center’s website.
“For the Whole You!” The site banner reads in friendly font. You scroll down to their calendar. There’s a lot of pictures of people smiling, a pie chart of something, testimonials, blah blah blah. The calendar is easy to read at least. And packed. It looks like meditations happen every three days, you spot John’s name easily. Price, huh, that’s a cool last name. Wednesdays… 
You click on the only Kyle you see, and a page pops up with- Christ- one of the most beautiful men you’ve ever seen. Kyle Garrick, life coach with a masters in psychology. That doesn’t sound too bad. You thought life coaches were just con men in ripped jeans, but this guy seems like he might actually know what he’s talking about. John’s name pops up again, a short anecdote from Kyle about serving with him. Huh. That’s kind of interesting you guess. 
You think back on the meditation lesson you’d attended, the power that John seemed to carry in simple actions, the musculature, the way he’d pinned you in place with a single tilt of his head. Military fits you guess. You click on his class and tap your fingers against the side of your phone as you think. The class has a helpful registration counter at the side, letting you know there’s one spot left for the wednesday evening class. It’s not like you have anything else going on, and it’ll fill your usual therapy slot. It’s twenty for a single class. That’s not too bad, less than therapy co-pays. You make an account on the site, begrudgingly signing up for their email list, and send twenty dollars into the void. 
You get an email from Kyle about an hour later as you’re scrolling through instagram, avoiding looking at the time. It feels pretty standard, welcoming a new person, attaching a survey on what you want to work on. You type out a few quick words promising you’ll get to it in the morning. Your email pings a few minutes later.
“You must be an insomniac, just tackle it now.” You narrow your eyes at the screen, “Might help you sleep to accomplish a task before bed.” 
What sort of weird logic- fine. You squint at the questionnaire, typing out your answers as best you can. Honest enough to get some advice but not honest enough to get sent to the hospital has always been your MO with these things. This one is sort of weird, but you’re exhausted, too sleep-addled to pay proper attention.
Are you lonely? Do you ever feel out of place? Do you have dreams where you act as someone else? Have you heard of the law of attraction? When someone says they feel “connected” to you, how does that make you feel?
Do you ever feel talked over?
Do you ever feel pushed out of conversations? Do you find it hard to accept yourself?
Are you on the path you want to be?
You rub your eyes, typing as best you can. 
Where do you see improvement for yourself?
Describe yourself in one negative word.
You type, and type. It feels never ending. Worse than the insomnia that keeps you up. It’s nearly two hours later when you finish. You send it off to Kyle without another thought, and snuggle down into your blankets. You’re so tired.
Your phone buzzes. You roll over to check it. Another email from Kyle.
“Thanks, this looks great! :)” You sigh. At least your work checks out. That’s good, you’re sure it’s just an auto-response, but you appreciate it nonetheless. Another message pops up. Your email alerting you to a new response in the chain.
“How long have you had trouble sleeping? I know a few good remedies.” You sigh, the screen hurts your eyes. You don’t know what inspires you to reply, why you don’t simply roll over to sleep. The attention is nice, you suppose.
“A few months. What’s your miracle cure?” You stare at your phone, let the blue light laser its way over your eyes. The screen dims, you tap it to keep your phone awake. To keep you awake. 
“Have you heard of sleep restriction therapy?”
-
Your morning has never felt more miserable. You barely slept and you had to upgrade your usual tea to an instant coffee. You’re nursing the brown sludge that you managed to scrape together from the break room’s limited stores when your least favorite manager swings by your cubicle.
“Did you finish the reports I asked for?” Kevin asks. You do your best to keep your face neutral as you sip your scalding caffeine.
“I told you they’d take me until the end of the day.” You remind him, “It’s nine in the morning.” Nevermind that he’s swinging into the office a full hour late, but you know for a fact that you promised the updated numbers by five today. You have the email to prove it.
“Oh,” Kevin makes a face, his teeth grit as he exhales through them, “I was really hoping you’d work on them last night.”
“Outside of work hours.” You confirm, trying not to sound too much like you’re questioning his less than sound judgement.
Kevin sighs your name with a shake of his head, “You know you’re not going to get very far in this company if you don’t care about your work.”
You take a deep breath through your nose, inhaling as much coffee vapor as you can stomach. It does nothing to calm you down. You can’t be expected to deal with this level of bullshit on practically zero sleep. Maybe you should look into that sleep therapy Kyle sent you, you really can’t keep living like this.
“I care about my work Kevin,” You tell him with as much of a smile as you can manage, “I’ll have the reports to you as soon as possible.”
“Atta-girl,” Kevin praises, snapping his finger to hit you with a nauseating pair of finger guns before moseying back to his office.
If you thought reporting him to HR would do anything you might consider it. As it stands you’ve already tried that twice and gotten nowhere. It just made him more dedicated to making your work life hell. Crazy how they always talk about retaliation in the “Hostile work environment” training videos, but no one seems to give a shit about it when it’s happening to you.
You spend the next two hours swearing at the mess of spreadsheets that Kevin emailed you yesterday. If he’d bothered to clean any of the sheets up it would’ve made your life a hell of a lot easier. You don’t even want to think about how many cells could’ve been saved if he knew how to use just one function. You can feel the start of a migraine pressing against the back of your eyes by the time your stomach is starting to growl at you about lunch.
You glance away from your monitor to rub your eyes, try to get some of the blurry tilt out of them. Your bag sits on the desk next to you, deliriously empty. Fuck.
Fuck that’s right, you’d decided to skip packing a lunch this morning because you were running late for your train. 
With a heavy sigh you check your lunch options just as your phone pings.
It’s an unknown number, weird.
You swipe the message open to delete it and pause.
“Hey, it’s Nina! I saw you work near me and was wondering if you’d want to grab lunch?”
You blink at your phone screen. How the hell would she know where you work?
Your sluggish brain clicks away as your stomach churns nervously. You guess Cassie works at the rec center, she’d see applications that come through, membership stuff. Maybe Cassie gave it to her? Nina was the one who suggested you sign up for Kyle’s class, maybe Cassie wanted to, you don’t know, spread the good news of your signing up?
Your head throbs.
You’re not really operating at 100% right now, you’re not sure you want to interact with someone who seems to have their life together.
“My treat?” Nina double texts you.
Alright, you can pretend to be a human being for free lunch.
You’re almost relieved to see Nina has a little darkness under her eyes, purple sleeplessness that she’s tried to hide with concealer. It makes you feel a little better for your own sluggish brain to think that she might be tired too. 
“I know this is probably totally weird,” She laughs when you greet her with a raised hand, “You’re probably like, oh my god this bitch is a stalker, how does she know where I work?”
“I figure Cassie gave it to you, because I signed up for your favorite class.” You yawn, as she nods.
“That’s smart,” She says nothing about your second yawn, “wouldn’t have been my first thought.” You hum, before deciding a verbal answer is friendlier.
“Yeah, I mean it seemed sort of weird, but you don’t strike me as the stalker type.”
“Tell my ex-fiance that,” Nina says with an eye roll, “ask to share your location one time- of course I was right to be a stalker but…”
You snort and she positively beams at you. You have to squint to avoid blinding yourself in the sunshine of it. She links her arm with yours and tugs you along to walk with her. You do your best not to tug your arm out from her hold, not used to being touched so casually.
“So what are you in the mood for?” She asks, leading you down the street.
“I’m not picky,” You tell her, trying to be easy. You could really go for something warm right now, you think you might be coming down with something.
“You look exhausted,” Nina coos sympathetically, “Maybe you should go home instead. Rest.”
You rub your eye with the heel of your hand and shake your head. “I’ve got a lot to get done today.”
“Surely your boss won’t mind you taking some sick time?” She sounds so sincere, you feel bad when you bark out a laugh. Nina frowns, “One of those, huh?” You sigh, letting yourself feel the heaviness in your limbs like a sick indulgence.
“Just a few more hours,” You assure her, “Then I can go home and sleep.”
“Let’s get something good in you before then.” Nina nods to herself.
Nina orders for you and sets a steaming bowl of rice and saucy vegetables in front of you. It smells heavenly, like ginger and coconut, and there’s little crispy bits of something sprinkled on top. She has a salad, and shakes it vigorously in front of her while you mix up the yellow curry and rice. Even just the thought of the food’s warm steam settling in your stomach energizes you. You glance at Nina and she’s got her head bowed. 
You-
Pause. 
A little awkward in the face of what must be prayer. You’re not quite sure if you’re supposed to start without her, or if that’s rude. You don’t know the protocol for this. After a moment she raises her head and blinks at you.
“Oh my gosh, were you waiting for me?” She asks, scandalized. You nod, unsure what to do with your hands. You settle on spooning a heap of curry and rice into your mouth. You figure that’s fine since she’s done. “That’s really sweet of you,” She smiles. She doesn’t give you any indication if this was the right thing to do. You stare at your bowl and chew.
“I was going to invite you to hang at the rec center after work,” Nina starts, waving her fork with a sigh, “but I don’t want you to push yourself if you’re exhausted.”
“Do people hang out at the rec center?” You question, trying to remember if you saw other people there when you went yesterday. It had seemed fairly empty, almost abandoned, but maybe you’d been too focused on getting to your class to notice anything else. The class was full, so there must have been other people hanging around.
“Of course,” Nina gives you a look like you’re crazy for asking, “like all the time. It’s a nice spot just to chill and see people. John doesn’t mind us hanging around.”
John. That was the meditation instructor’s name, wasn’t it? It’s pretty common, you doubt it’s the same guy. Why would an instructor mind if people hung around anyway? Cassie had pointed you towards a lounge area last night so there must be more of those to steal for chatting.
“The meditation instructor?” You ask dumbly. It’s not the question you want to ask, but it’s the only thing that sticks on your tongue. Nina hums her assent.
“He runs the place.” She explains, “he’s super nice, really cares about bringing people together, building community, connections.”
She says the word like it means something: connections. It sticks in your sluggish mind, but doesn’t raise any red flags.
“Sounds like a good guy.” You shove another bite into your mouth.
“He is.” Nina tells you. Tells you, like she’s demanding you try and disagree with her.
You blink. There’s a coldness to her face, there and gone. She smiles, and tucks into her salad.
Maybe she’s got a thing for him. You make a note not to say anything bad about him to her.
He seemed nice, good looking, she could do worse.
You suppress a shiver at the memory of his hands on you, pushing you forward and pulling you back like it was the most natural thing in the world. His touch is the first you’ve had in a long time that didn’t make you cringe and want to squirm away. Actually his class was the most relaxed you’ve been in, well, ever and the short nap you’d taken was probably the best sleep you’d had in months. You’d almost be willing to give up on going straight home after work if you knew John was going to be at the rec center, maybe you could slip in another meditation workshop?
You want to ask Nina about it, but you also don’t want to give her the wrong idea. If she does have a crush on the guy, it’s probably not great to ask too many questions about John if you want to stay in her good graces. 
“Right,” You try, “yeah his class was great, and I’m, uh, looking forward to Kyle’s class too.” Not your best subject change, but Kyle’s name makes Nina light up.
“Oh yeah, you’re going to love it!” She assures you.
“Yeah, I- yeah,” The attitude shift has you a little stunned, your molasses thoughts stick to your tongue as you try to collect them, “He sent me this huge questionnaire last night, it was really, um, in depth?” You try to remember one of the questions but wading through your mind is difficult with so little sleep.
“Well,” Nina stabs her fork into her salad, you flinch at each punctuating crunch of lettuce, “he has to get to know you, silly, so he can help you.” You stir your curry in jerking motions, for something to occupy your hands. “You can’t pull yourself out of a hole,” Nina tells you with a blank smile, “someone has to throw you a rope.”
-
You were almost happy to get back to work. Kevin chewed you out about taking too long a lunch, and you were probably going to get an ulcer from all the tylenol you took, but you were happy getting away from Nina. She’d chatted your ear off about Kyle and somehow didn’t answer a single one of your questions about him. Not that you had any chance to get a word in edgewise. You couldn’t handle the perky tone in her voice by the time your lunch ended. At least you didn’t have to pay for your own food.
You manage to get Kevin his spreadsheets before five. You still leave the office late and thankless.
You doze on the train home, your head tugging at your neck each time the doors opened, and you barely make it into your house before you’re collapsing on the couch. 
Yeah, you couldn’t have made it to the rec center like this.
You startle awake when your ass starts vibrating. You blearily fumble for your phone  and swipe at the screen, turning off your “call Baby” alarm. You should really delete that.
You toss your phone on the coffee table with a sigh and turn onto your back to stare at the ceiling fan. Ten. You slept for a good couple hours. You’re starving.
And you’re not going to be able to sleep tonight because of this nap.
Great.
-
You consider canceling your registration for Kyle’s class as you sit on the train heading to the rec center. You could just go home. You sort of want to go home, but Cassie had called you this afternoon to confirm your registration and she’d sounded so sad when you’d asked about canceling that you just couldn’t. Also you were pretty sure it was too late to get your money back. So here you were.
At least the rec center is busier than Monday. Cassie had told you the Wednesday meditation was full, maybe this is their busy day. You see people coming in and out, and look for a familiar face in the crowd. You’re hoping to see one of the women you met Monday, but instead your eyes lock on slightly less familiar icy blues.
John smiles at you across the street, and glances both ways before jogging across. You paint on a smile for him, and try not to look like you were avoiding going inside.
“Waiting for someone?” He asks in lieu of greeting. You keep your eyes on his, the creases at the corners of his eyes deepen a little as you stare. 
“No, just-” You search for a normal time killing activity, “-people watching.” John hums and steps to stand beside you. The space he takes up feels enormous, like a black hole sucking up your attention, despite the way he crosses his arms over his chest. You peek at the bulge of his bicep against the dark shirt he’s wearing, the stiff fabric stretching to accommodate more man that it was made for. You would’ve expected him in the same comfortable yoga clothes as he was wearing Monday, but this feels more formal. He’s wearing slacks. And oxfords. 
“It’s intimidating,” He tells you out of the blue after a moment of silence. Your eyes dart to his face, and your confusion must be all too clear because he chuckles. The deep throaty noise of it makes your stomach clench. “Letting people help,” He fills in, “choosing peace.”
You make a face.
And John touches you.
His hand slides, big and warm, over your back. His fingers spread wide and he leans into your space like he might pull you closer, except you suddenly feel rooted in place. Fear shoots through you, anxiety punctuating your breaths unnecessarily. You fix your face quickly, tamp down the surge of adrenaline that makes you want to run. John isn’t doing anything but looking at you, his smile the same placid thing even as his brows twitch in concern.
“Sorry,” You find yourself apologizing, trying to unlock some of the stiffness in your shoulders, “I’m not used to people touching me.”
“It’s a natural response,” John doesn’t move his hand, his thumb rubs against your back and you feel the unnatural drag of your shirt against your skin like sandpaper, “You’re trying to protect yourself. Silly little thing that people have gotten into their heads these days, that everyone’s out to get them.” He tips his head, and you’re hit with a wave of claustrophobia, the open air seems to sink into you until you’re a single focus point in a tiny void. “Doesn’t that feel awful?” 
His words feel like they’re sinking into you, echoing every thought that bounces through your tensed musculature. It feels awful, you feel like a cornered gazelle, like a lame wildebeest, like a fly trapped in a spider’s net. 
You feel almost pleading the way you must be looking at him. Humiliated to react like this to something so simple.
He smiles brighter and his hand leaves you, you suck in a breath and feel your lungs ache, “That’s why it’s so important to pick apart that distrust, humans are social creatures, made to be connected to each other. All from the same warm pool, yeah?”
You nod. John nods his head towards the rec center.
“Let me walk you in, you’re here for Gaz’s class right?”
“No, um, Kyle’s.” You correct.
“Ah,” John laughs, his hand reappears on the small of your back, pushing you forward, “old habit, that’s what we called him in the SAS. You’ll like him, not as touchy as me.” He pulls his hand away with a small apologetic smile, “force of habit.”
“It’s fine,” it’s not, “Everyone around here is so friendly, I just have to get used to it.”
John hums, “Already untangling the web, good girl.”
Your stomach clenches pleasantly. You can see why Nina likes him.
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apuff · 5 months ago
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thinking about love in danger days
this is part of my conspiracy theory that that album is aroallo, but i've always gotten the sense that romance and romantic attatchment is much less important to danger days than any other mcr record. with bullets&revenge it's quite obvious as the demolition lovers take up like, everything, and the black parade has a heavy focus on a romantic relationship as well. 
while i do think there are lines in it that are romantically coded, there is a definitive lack of emphasis on it- like it's nowhere in the plot at all. 
i do think danger days represents a very familial type of love though. while other albums visit a sense of "i want you, i need you, i miss you, i hate you,", this is more like…"i love you, i want to protect you, i'm sorry"
i find this especially strongly in s/c/a/r/e/c/r/o/w:
"Nevermind about the shape i'm in, I'll keep you safe tonight"
"love, love, love won't stop this bomb"
"run, run, bunny, run"
and other songs: 
"i'll find you when the sun goes black"
"just save yourself and i'll hold them back tonight"
"how long until we find our way in the dark and out of harm"
relevant things i can't cover with just quotes are planetary go, oft-theorized to be about party poison and kobra kid, as brothers, leaving battery city together; sing, about the killjoys' last message to the girl while saving her; goodnite dr. death, phrased as him saying goodnight to children; and summertime, which i can't discern the meaning of but seems more like a family type of love. 
i think it makes sense that danger days is like this, seeing as it features main characters that take care of a child main character as opposed to main characters that love other main characters of the same age/ability. 
another thing i noticed while re-listening to the more sentimental songs for this essay is that there's just a distinctly different vibe to it. So much of it is focused around wanting to protect people, keep them safe and out of danger (<- ha that's the name of the album) and loved. i think this also makes sense, because the killjoys live a very, well, dangerous life without much security, and they'd want to provide what they lack the most. another semi-related thing i noticed is just how much of an emphasis there is on childhood in this album. i feel like there's a vibe of youth or teen-hood throughout the earlier ones, but this is just VERY strongly about kids. again this makes sense cause not only are the killjoys teenagers (a type of kid!) they also have a proper little kid to watch. 
also, i wonder how much of this stuff was due to gerard becoming a parent. just something to think about 
#mcr#my chemical romance#danger days#ddttlotfk#danger days: the true lives of the fabulous killjoys#barely on topic but i hate how everyone always brings up the different greek words for love whenever they talk about different kinds of lov#I DONT CARE ABOUT EROS AND PHILIOS OR WHATEVER!! its actually okay to use adjectives to describe nouns. its okay. you dont need to use more#at any rate im not USING the damn greek love paradigm i see no reason to be chained to its definitions#ppl will be like errhmmm (nerd emoji) (pointing emoji) did you know that the greeks actually had different words for brotherly godly and ro#erhm yes i did know that.#sometimes i feel like danger days feels more energetic and youthful. less serious than the more emo other albums even though i acknowledge#but in some ways i also think it's a lot more mature#like the black parade is a serious mature story but it feels very young adult/teenager vibes. danger days is so strange because it feels si#i guess that makes sense cause the killjoys are teenagers (apparently) but also sort of parents of the girl#i think they have similar conclusions of acceptance and letting go#they just feel so distinctly different#i feel like this is kinda incoherent but i dont care about the thesis enough to edit it#okay since i wrote that tag i have since edited this the autism won#i have to resist the urge to say “stick that in your skillet and let it simmer” (the thing that stoner otter says in acnh) every time i say#i was writing in my notebook earlier and dropped a metaphorical bomb about the black parade and then i feel like i didnt have anything to s#it was so hard not to write that there😭😭
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kneworder · 1 year ago
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angry at the oscars barbie nominations but in an annoyinger way (i think nominating ryan reynolds makes sense but the best picture and best supporting actress noms are ridiculous)
#sorry but the more i think about it the more i really dislike the movie#ken was funny! he was silly and campy! i really did not care for the rest of the movie!#i just think the more you examine its take on feminism the more it falls apart!#it's inherently about a product! it's inherently personifying a product and making you feel sympathy for and relate to a product!#they are generating hype and engendering sympathy for something they are trying to sell you!#regurgitating second wave feminism without nuance doesn't make it groundbreaking it makes it like. fine i guess?#verilybitchie has a great video that put a lot of my feelings about it into words#idk it did not resonate with me at all and also made me kind of annoyed with how it contributed to the ongoing trend#of gendering things that aren't gendered and focusing on a segregation of gendered perspectives#tired of i'm just a girl! tired of girl dinner! tired of men are always thinking about the roman empire!#sure there are experiences more common to and relevant to women but i get so uncomfy with those kinds of generalizations#even when they're just jokes because after they get repeated enough they stop sounding like ones#just like. when you try to examine it in terms of any kind of intersectionality it falls apart#and i know it's not that serious but like come on. they literally do not once touch on any kind of intersectionality.#you can't be like 'it's a groundbreaking feminist movie!' because they said 'women struggle with misogyny' in 2023#like i know it's barbie but i don't understand why there's this impulse to say that that's something that's never been said before#just because the president is black doesn't mean you've acknowledged like. racism at all.#just because you have two fat barbies with like four lines doesn't mean you've said anything meaningful about body image#and when you take an openly lesbian actress and give her short hair and make her strange and then have all the other characters#essentially socially exile her and still think she's weird after the resolution!!!#i would say that's like!! implicitly a pretty weird way to write gay people!#i don't want to rain on anyone's parade! it's silly! it's not that serious! i just also think it's not that good!#it's fine! it's fun! but i DO think ken is the best part of the barbie movie and for that i apologize
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kitkatcadillac · 2 months ago
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people are 100% allowed to do whatever they want forever, i'm a big advocate, but also sometimes it strikes me as weird when all the fan content for something seems a little more like coping with the media, or milling on the parts they hate rather than touching on it at a base level and really exploring what the story is saying
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ariyadaivaris · 6 months ago
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one day we will unpack race in the swerve vs hangman feud. not right now! but one day
#aew's uneasy relationship with black wrestlers generally but this has been on my mind with swerve's ascent#and also as i'm becoming closer with like. very Normie wrestling fans. and it is very...illuminating#swerve seems to be getting over with Normal wrestling fans who otherwise do not seem to care about black wrestlers#even the exceptional ones beyond an obligatory nod and acknowledgement in passing#and its been on my mind. his portrayal and how it is changing and how his previous actions live on in hangman's anger#like. the genuine fear of having someone break into your home and threaten your family#but also hangman's position (especially as he is Losing His Mind) as Classic (White) American Cowboy#and swerve's position as monstrous (Black) intruder into idealized (white) family life#and of course hangman's position being described as 'main character of aew'. its like. MAN there's a lot of moving pieces#i will be watching how it goes but it is something that i cannot avoid thinking about as we proceed#perhaps it is Not That Serious (not a position i take or believe in but i allow the possibility) but like#ultimately i do feel like perhaps if aew was in a position where it invested in more black wrestlers this would not stand out#oh so blatantly because well. who else is there to compare swerve to?#and of course all of this is taken with a grain of salt ideally because as you know i am a Hater and have not kept up with aew#on my own accord and my knowledge of it is spotty. alas!
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kenzie-ann27 · 1 year ago
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meanwhile my experience with being asexual is just like. constant self hatred and apologizing about it
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seventh-district · 10 months ago
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i’m not like other girls, my “Rest” stats are a heart rate of 110bpm and a HRV of 14 fucking milliseconds. :)
#Seven’s Public Diary#vent#vent post#cw vent#cw vent post#cw health#cw heart#i’m so stressed :) i am soooo fucking stressed and my body is Suffering because of it#i want to just lay here and stare at the ceiling but. maybe a little venting will help#sighhhh wish [N]MbD Sun were here to obsessively fret over me#he can be mean about it idc. at least i’d have someone acknowledging how bad things are for me#sometimes i wonder when the last time was that my body Wasn’t in fight or flight to some degree#have i Ever actually relaxed#hhhhhhh c-ptsd is a bitch#anyways there’s so much to vent about but i’m. doing my best to be vague. i need to be more vague about things#a lot of stuff i can’t vent about anyways. it’s too personal#so instead i’m gonna complain abt how i haven’t been able to play Genshin or Star Rail for nearly a month now#and about how slowly my back is recovering. it’s like every time i re-injure/have a flare up. it heals.. worse. slower and lesser#i dunno how it’s ever gonna get better. truly better. maybe i’ll live with this forever#if being fat is the problem which is definitely partly is. then yeah i’m fucked#all of my problems just make each other worse and i don’t know where the way out of it all is#every time i think i’ve found it i’m wrong and i just make it all worse#anyways as soon as i figure out how to strengthen my core without breaking my back. it’s over for u bitches#‘u bitches’ being uh. all of the shit that needs doing that i cannot physically fucking do right now#i miss being able to sit down. and i’m Regretting de-converting my standing desk back to sitting bc now. i cannot use my PC#which means i can’t fucking do a some of my work or play my silly little gacha games and i’m mad abt it#i’m mad abt a lot more serious things too but again. can’t talk abt it so i’m gonna focus on trivial shit instead#anyways. sorry as always to everyone i haven’t spoken with lately. and in general. i’m so drained from the Everything that i just. can’t.#it shouldn’t be this hard for me to stay in touch w ppl but. it is. guess i’ll add that onto my list of things to be stressed about#i’m so tired of everything man. and i hate being so negative and mean when im stressed & in pain. makes me feel like im becoming my father
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brittlebutch · 1 year ago
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one of the many reasons Aabria is such a good GM is because of the very keen eye she keeps on the social dynamics and interactions that happens at the table and i absolutely Love her for it
#N posts stuff#ppl have been talking about it a lot for the interaction between Thorn and his followers -> the mostly joke the Player was making#about giving Ava advantage on an intimidate check turning into a Serious confrontation about the dynamic Thorn has w/ those followers#which is an Excellent example but i'm watching a court of fae ep and she does it really well here as well; in and After the convo rue & hob#have about the Goblin Court Marriage -> there's an overt Disparity in how Rue views courts and how Hob does that colors a kind of#miscommunication between them; Rue and Hob know each other as kindred spirits in feeling Alienated from their courts#but Rue tends to see themself as wholly Separate from their court (barely part of it at all) whereas Hob still clearly Does take a staunch#Identity as a Member of the Goblin Court -> so when Rue talks about the marriage and Hob's role in it they see it as something Hob is being#manipulated or Commanded into caring about whereas Hob pretty clearly seems to take it as a Personal wound - Rue doesn't care#about the dynamics or standing of their court bc they're Separate but Hob DOES care about those things bc he's still Part Of it#even if he still feels alienated from it at the same time; they take a different approach in how they feel in that alienation#which is why Rue's sentiment of 'take care of yourself' seems to leave Hob on the verge of tears; bc he doesn't Share that approach#and Aabria seemingly takes serious notice of this because the Immediate next convo is between Rue and an NPC who calls Rue out#for that disparity -> saying they're a Fool if they think that Everyone around them doesn't feel the Weight of their court behind them#ie; even though Rue sees themself as Separate they're still reaping a social Privilege in Being a member of their court anyway#a 'you can't have it both ways' kind of call out that is So choice and i love it a lot; rue having to Immediately confront#their own perceptions like that even tho they still wont quite Acknowledge it; tasty i love it <3#btw i've decided to start being SO annoying about my thoughts on subjects; this is bc i take So so many notes on them & i like to share :3#but my Fic Writing words have been screwed to hell lately so. one billion analysis posts upon ye instead
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medicinemane · 2 months ago
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I don't know, those gifs of Andrew Garfield saying how to him the most terrifying thing is certainty... they resonate with me
The way people go around so damn sure that they're right about things, frankly I think there's very few things more dangerous than not even allowing for the possibility that you're wrong
Like you've just decided that you 100% know best, and from now on any evidence to the contrary is just something to be pushed aside because it's clearly wrong. The harm you'll do isn't real because obviously you wouldn't be doing it if there was harm. You're just right. That's the end of it
No, I agree with Andrew Garfield, I'd much rather stop and reassess over and over, as many times as I need to, to make sure that I'm still doing the right thing
I'll never be anything cause it just doesn't interest me, but if I was going to join a religion I know I'd become Jewish
Thought that since I was little with all the Jewish friends I had at school, and what's more it just seems to fit me best, all the elements of questioning. Hell... it even sounds like if I said "you know, I don't really believe in god", that there's a chance the rabbi might say "funny thing, me neither" (I've heard some don't), but if not that at least "eh, that's fine, why don't you come discuss why with us"
It's just funny the number of times I've related to something someone's saying, and then you find out their Jewish and this ties into that sense of questioning things, and that interview is an example
I agree with him, nothing scarier than being 100% sure you're correct... you can do a lot of bad things once you know for a fact you're right to be doing them
#I frankly worry quite a lot seeing some people who I like very much and the things they've been saying lately#worry a lot about extremism... and you might say left or right extremism? and my answer would be... both#you just gotta pick which of the people I worry about for me to tell you which is all; you know?#good people; kind people; you have to understand that the stuff that's worrying me is them coming from a place of caring#seeing harm and cruelty in the world and wanting to do something about it#and I worry... I worry; and I don't think my words mean anything even when I try and offer a nudge with a reason behind it#but then again.. I don't know if they've ever really listened to me about anything ever to be honest... I don't know why they keep me aroun#like I believe them when they say they like me cause I trust them#but... most of the time they don't even acknowledge what I say; so...#not sure if it's a communication miss match; or not being able to think how to respond; or... what...#but... when that's the case; I mean... why would they listen to me about serious stuff if they don't about the little stuff?#very smart; very caring; just an all around wonderful person#but... some of this stuff... like sometimes I worry they'll wind up full on accelertationist#and... I feel like their understanding of geopolitics ends up being too fed by... well... other people on tumblr#like I'm sorry but... I don't think you really grasp quite who those people actually are#and maybe some rando on here... they might just perhaps be... dismissing and ignoring inconvenient and bad stuff#like oy vey; I don't want to say specifics but like... how in the world can someone as smart as you wind up with such heavy blinders on?#...I just see it too much these days; too many people; too sure they're right#some folks it's religion; they have a little too much faith and... are willing to permit a lot of pain#some folks it's social justice; where they're kinda getting a list of acceptable targets#mhh... there's just this stuff building up in bad ways and... I don't know#one of em; I'll be blunt; I like them to much to ever stop following them... not following in the the tumblr sense#following after them like a dog; they're someone I could never quit.. doesn't mean I'd agree or support it.. but I'd never break off contac#right or wrong that's just the truth of it#guess what I'm saying here is don't go some place I can't follow#...it all comes from a place of caring; but man... it's a real bad direction#...it frankly eats at me... if you look through the stuff I say you might pick up a trend of this eating at me#fuck I wish they respected anything I said#or maybe they do and it just doesn't feel like it and they never seem to acknowledge a word I say unless it's a topic they like#but I wish they'd listen to me and just... just course correct such a tiny tiny tiny amount
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miraculouslbcnreactions · 4 months ago
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Since you've mentioned Scarlet Lady in one of your posts, what's your opinion on it?
I've mentioned before that I'm a big Scarlet Lady fan, which is the only reason that I'm comfortable answering asks like this one. I don't publicly criticize the content of hobby creators. That's wildly inappropriate! Punch up, not down.
The linked post was a general discussion of the adaptation process and how @zoe-oneesama did a fantastic job, so for this one, I'm just going to do some general gushing because I do actually like praising and enjoying things!
Scarlet Lady's chosen format (comic) allows it to have this wonderful conversation with canon where it can rely on the framework of canon to tell it's own story while also using canon for jokes and meta commentary. This means that Scarlet Lady is about as close as fan content can get to a direct reboot because it's able to have moments like this one from the comic's first post:
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[Image description: Adrien standing in his room after transforming into Chat Noir for the first time. He is beaming and his eyes are shining with excitement as he exclaims, "This is gonna be awesome!"]
A single picture that communicates everything we need to know about Adrien getting his miraculous. When I've done this same thing in fanfic, I had to write out the full scene because that's how novels work. You have to give the full picture. With a comic, you can just quickly acknowledge this thing that we all already know and then move on to the new stuff. A picture really is worth a thousand words! (Or, in my case, more like two thousand...)
This allows Zoe to keep the same akumas that we get in canon without her story feeling like a boring rehash because she can focus on what's different in her version. A novelization of the same content would have to show both the stuff that stays the same and the stuff that changes for it to be coherent. That's a lot less fun to read and write. It's why I basically never revisit canon akumas in my own stuff. It's just too derivative for the written word.
This is one of the big reasons that I loved Scarlet Lady. Because it was able to have that more directly conversation with canon, it was able to take canon and say, "hey, why don't we embrace the tone that you established in season one and retell the story with that vibe?" That's something that I desperately wanted to see, but that is totally unsuited to my chosen artistic form. It couldn't be a novel. It had to be a comic.
If you want to know what a true formula show version of Miraculous would look like, Scarlet Lady is it. It does everything that Miraculous should have done:
Sticks to a lighthearted tone where nothing is ever super serious
Keeps Gabriel entirely unsympathetic
Has slow character development and background hints at a bigger plot as the only serial elements, allowing the individual episodes to be their own story while never feeling incomplete or rushed
Allows characters other than Marinette to shine while keeping Marinette as the clear main character
Makes Adrien narratively important
MAKES THE LOVE SQUARE CUTE SO I CAN ACTUALLY SHIP IT
Understands that Lila and Chloe can't coexist as antagonists
Reverses the love square, which is the best way to tell their story. Yes, I will die on my "love diamond" hill. It's a good hill. Come join me. I'll bring cookies.
I could keep going, but you hopefully get my point. While Scarlet Lady is certainly not the only way to do a formula version of canon, it's proof that a formula version does work! You don't have to go the serious route for Miraculous to be successful.
I want to take some time to gush about the ending, but I don't want to spoil it, so I'll put that gushing under a "read more" in case anyone hasn't seen it. I'll finish out this less spoilerish section with this:
I feel like some people are surprised when they learn that I love Scarlet Lady because - as some of you have probably picked up - it is quite different from my ideal version of canon. I'm not sure why that would stop me from enjoying a thing, though. It's important to remember that our personal ideals are not the only way to tell a good story. There are lots of ways to take what canon gave us and make something wonderful! It's part of the reason that I enjoy being in a fandom.
If I only wanted to see my ideal take on canon, then I'd stick to writing/imagining my own stories. But I don't want that! I like seeing alternate takes, too. Scarlet Lady is one of my personal favorites. It's completely different from anything that I'd ever think to write and that's why I'm so glad that it exists! I like being entertained just as much as I like creating my own entertainment and I don't want to only read stories that look like something I'd write. That's boring!
Spoilers below:
I've mentioned before that there are many, many ways to properly handle Chloe's character and Zoe did such a good job with her take on that! Chloe isn't absolved of all the things she did wrong, but she's also treated as a young woman with the ability to change.
While the comic bares the name of Chloe's alter ego, she was the never the main character. She never went on a journey. The story kept her to her shallow season-one self: a petty brat who just wanted attention. It did this because that's who Chloe was in canon and who Chloe needed to be for the comic to work.
The first time we see any complexity from Chloe is in the comic's final few episodes, which was absolutely the right call for Zoe to make! In a recent post, I talked about how the end of a formula show is the only time when you can break the formula in catastrophic ways and that's what Zoe did. She kept Chloe static until it was time to end the story and that's when the formula breaks. That's when Chloe gets depth because, once she has depth, the formula doesn't work.
That depth is not used to redeem Chloe, but to show us that there's hope for Chloe. That this petty brat who we've been dealing with has some serious issues and needs help. Help that she's going to get far away from the people that she's hurt because her issues aren't an excuse for what she's done. They don't erase the harm that she caused. At the same time, understanding her issues makes us hope that she can be better now and Scarlet Lady took a moment to give us that hope. To show us the START of Chloe's true story.
That is the kind of ending that I have wanted to see in so many properties!!! It was so wonderful to finally get one that did this right. A story that understood that full redemption to the team and damnation to death/suffering are extremes on a scale of possibilities. You don't have to go to extremes! You can fall in the middle and the middle is a perfect, natural place for Chloe to land in this kind of story. Fully redeeming or even fully damning Chloe simply doesn't work in lighthearted formula content. It's too big a lift as canon has already demonstrated.
I also loved Zoe's take on Emilie. I've mentioned that I don't like evil Emilie in part because it makes her revival feel like the start of a new story. She's back and she'd bad, so we have to take her down now! But I don't want that. I want the story to end when Gabriel is stopped. Zoe does this by giving us an Emilie that is another perfect middle ground. She matches canon's uncomfortable implications without feeling like a true villain who is a threat to society.
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thefirstanomally · 15 days ago
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Sure it's toxic, do it anyway! Why would I be trying so hard not to be toxic towards someone I'm cutting off? As long as I'm not threatening them with it or going to go back and forth jerking them around, there's really no downside for me and I could give a shit less how they feel, obviously. When you're done, you're done. You can be an adult and maturely have a conversation, but you can also just not, ya know? If it sucks, hit the bricks, etc.
Thanks, Anon!
-submit your poll!
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aajxs · 7 months ago
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THE UNNOTICEABLE HAJIME IWAIZUMI
🏐 : ̗̀➛ hajime iwaizumi doesn't expect much when it comes to girls, but he thinks he might've finally found one thats out of his best friends reach.
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CONTENTS // fluff / light angst / jealous iwa / i switch between iwa, hajime, and iwaizumi a lot so i hope that doesn't bother anybody / some cursing?? idk this is mostly fluff // 1.3k
PAIRINGS // hajime iwaizumi x fem!reader
A/N // I watched the haikyuu movie yesterday and it was so good icl... I wanna write for kuroo now he's so sexy. i tried out a different header theme for this one and I honestly like it more than the other one idrk. anyways enjoy this little drabble 🩷.
// MASTERLIST .
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HAJIME IWAIZUMI has always been the less noticeable friend.
It's not like he doesn't get attention. He gets plenty of that. But when it comes to girls, or anything in the dating category at all, most of them flock to Tooru.
He doesn't resent his best friend for his popularity, Hajime just wishes girls didn't come up to him to get closer to his friend.
Him and Tooru are grabbing fast food after practice and a girl approaches him as he sits at the table he chose for him and his teammate. Tooru is in line, probably flirting with the girl across the counter as he orders for him and his best friend.
Iwaizumi feels a little pathetic for hoping that she's going to ask about him. That maybe, just maybe, he might be getting a chance for once. He gets his hopes up, only to be completely shut down when she asks for Tooru's number. He thinks she might notice the light in his face dim, but she doesn't acknowledge it.
"You'll have to ask him. Not sure if he wants me giving out his number to randoms." He says as he turns his attention away from her, a lousy attempt to hide his annoyance.
She nods understandingly, "W-well, thanks anyway." She stammers a bit, her voice small and nervous.
He stops assuming so much when girls approach him after that, always prepared to slide his friends socials and move on with his day.
So, when you approach him, obviously a bit hesitant as you clutch your sides and stare at him nervously, he doesn't even let you speak before he starts spouting his friends socials.
"Huh?" You ask a bit cluelessly, and Iwaizumi looks over at you.
"You're here to ask about Oikawa, right?" He says, staring down at you. He's obviously confused, a thick brow raised as he eyes you.
"N-no..? I wanted to talk to you." You reluctantly say, and he tenses up. You don't even spare a glance at Oikawa, who's entertaining a few girls a few meters away.
"Me..?" He asks, surprised.
"You." You respond, dead serious.
The puny sparks of your attempt at conversation light a wildfire in Hajime's weak heart. The small talk you try to make forms into real, genuine talking.
Although, even when you ask for his number, he can't help but think you might be trying to get close to him just to get with Tooru as he types in his number.
He doesn't tell you that he thinks you're playing him. And even if you were, you would've already had him beat because it's barely been two weeks of talking and he's already wrapped around your finger.
Hajimes lack of need for attention wasn't something you acknowledged at first. You thought it was natural because not only was this his first time talking to a girl, but it's your first time being the one approaching. You don't know what guys like unless they tell you, so you just do what you think is right.
And then you came to the subtle realization that maybe he's not desperate because he doesn't expect much from you. Is he toying with you? Was the first question you asked yourself.
On the other hand, Hajime doesn't expect much because he thinks he knows how this goes (he doesn't).
Hajime respects Tooru. And usually, he wouldn't add a but to that, but... he is willing to go to any lengths possible to keep you as far away from him as he physically can.
He knows how his friend gets with crushes. He'll either do everything in his power to completely embarrass Hajime, or he'll flirt with the girl and make her realize that maybe she doesn't like him as much as she thought.
That's his version of a loyalty test. Take the girl he likes around his best friend and observe her reactions to everything he does. So, that's exactly what he does with you.
Hajime had no idea that you've already met Tooru many times before. You light up when you see him, and Iwa can already feel his heart shattering into a thousand pieces. And then, to put the cherry on top, you go in for a hug. You're even on first name basis, no honorifics or anything. He might aswell lay in his coffin early, because watching you hug Oikawa is the closest to dying he's ever been.
You look over at Iwaizumi to see him glaring daggers at the two of you, a green eyed monster taking over his body as he scowls. Your smile drops, and you wonder what he looks so mad for.
"Are you alright, Iwa?" You ask obliviously, tilting your head and taking a step towards him. His eyes land on you, and they soften ever so slightly.
"I'm fine, don't worry about me." He responds, blinking softly.
And for the rest of the day, all you do is worry about him. The pain on his face and the damp look in his eyes whenever he looks at you interacting with Tooru.
When the two of you go back to his place that afternoon, he asks to talk.
Iwa starts, "Is there something wrong with me?" He asks. You're taken aback, but you can tell he's serious by the look in his eyes. He looks hurt.
"Why would there be something wrong with you?" You ask, reaching over to grab the hand at his side.
"I just-" His voice cracks, and you want to fall to your knees right then and there. Hajime is about to cry and you don't know what to do.
The lump in his throat grows bigger the longer he stares at you. "Why didn't you tell me you already knew Oikawa?" He asks, blinking back the tears that threaten to spill like water from a faucet. He didn't exactly mean to ask that, but he thinks it's much better than 'I thought that maybe for once someone might like me, but as always they go to Tooru.'
"What do you mean? I thought you knew?" You ask, oblivious to the thoughts running rampant through his mind. Your grip on his hand tightens when a tear breaks past the defenses he's put up. You want to ask what you did wrong. You want to ask why he's crying. But the lump in your throat from watching his sadness grow and grow is unbearable, keeping you from asking for some much needed clarification.
"Knew what?" He asks, unable to think of anything rational or any kind of explanation for this other than you're interested in Oikawa.
"Me and Tooru grew up together- He's my cousin." You say, eyeing him confusedly and sadly.
Iwaizumi pauses. A wave of embarrassment washes over him. He was getting jealous over your cousin this entire time?
The night you met Hajime, Tooru invited you, his cousin, to get drinks. He must've forgotten to clear this information with Hajime because now he's standing in front of you, his deep eyes wide and filled with tears of anger.
"What? Did I do something? Are you okay?" You begin asking questions profusely, and Hajime just stares at you.
And then he begins laughing.
You're confused at his sudden change in emotion, the humorous chuckles leaving his mouth catching you completely off guard. "Hajime, what's going on?" You ask as he brings you into a relieved hug.
"For a second there I really thought you and Oikawa had something going on." He responds as he places his head on top of yours comfortably.
You audibly gag. "Are you serious?! This entire time I thought you knew I was his cousin!" You say into his chest. He tightens the hug, a deep laugh leaving his lips.
"Man, this is so fuckin' embarrassing." He laughs, and you can't help but join in.
"Like I'd ever choose his annoying ass over you anyways."
And suddenly, the unnoticeable Hajime Iwaizumi feels seen for the first time in forever.
© AAJXS
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kitkatcadillac · 1 year ago
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i have not gotten all the way through the hbomberguy video yet or anything im just a little more than halfway through but since i dont know how to talk about anything else ill say this is only a microdetail brought to mind by his mentioning of some of somertons plagiarism and using being gay(as a marginalized group) as a selling point and defense
but that it is so fucking twisted to claim to be a queer rights activist and supporter and then steal a trans asians article, written from and about the pov of a trans asian person, to remove so much of the personal trans experience and input so often "lgbtq"
like not to tinfoil hat on you but i think theres this thing thats been going on for years thats had its ups! and its had its downs. but that is ultimately, that "lgbtq" has been pushed into being marketable but in this really fucked up way wherein its like... if its gay, great! if its lgbtq, fantastic! but you get into LITERALLY!!!! any other labels that are considered "othering" (see: less marketable) it gets dicey.
like. look me in the eyes. i know, and you know, that he did that in part because he was trying to hide, well, plagiarism. but he isnt the only one that sees unique queer identities and their experiences and knows if he just packages it up pretty... if he makes himself sound smart, and if he blankets it over to "lgbtq" its more marketable.
listen. im not saying you should not ever love lgbtq or queer as blanket terms. but by referring to every singularly, uniquely queer experience as lgbtq, as queer, when it defines itself as something more specific, it ends up having a smear effect of erasure.
i think unfortunately the nature of marketability is competition, and it just sucks that that makes stupid football teams out of everything. if theres a market for it theyre gonna start a fight about it. dems vs reps, queers vs straights, gays vs trans. its very easy to want to turn everything into a fight, into support this and ditch this, instead of actually taking the time to create like... learning opportunities. a big point in all of this shouldnt be like oh well fuck these people in particular, it should be to be careful about the information youre consuming and to do some research yourself too.
theres also a good point that im seeing so many people that are surprised and shocked about people they respected and trusted turning out to be this way and never realizing so many messed up things about the sort of messages those people have been putting out. i mean like, okay, weve all seen the you are not immune to propaganda garfield, but seriously. the transphobic rhetoric was right there. the misogyny was right there. the BLATANT misinformation about gay history and its relationship with corporate was RIGHT THERE, in a nicely packaged form with clear and agreeable speaking, nice video and audio editing, and (obviously) quotable, sharable information.
👏 be! 👏 fucking! 👏 careful! 👏 about letting someones grab on marketability trick you into making an already bleak situation worse. it is so fucking easy to get caught up in us-and-them rhetoric when that is so much the worst thing to do im begging you. do not discover your mistakes and respond to them by doubling down when you recognize that it is a mistake.
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blackmoonoracle · 4 months ago
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PICK A CARD - Uncomfortable Truths
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P I L E O N E
Quit putting your trust in things you know don't work. I heard showmanship. The way youve been approaching this connection or situation is egotistical at times. You can be someone that tends to put up a front because you're scared of being seen as weak or vulnerable. You're very tactful & can also be highly skilled in deception. I heard something about reality weaving, you weave your reality very powerfully. Be more mindful of your words when you get angry. When it comes to YOU they aren't just words, you influence the essence of the occurrence of life in every word you speak and every tear you cry. Could be Latino or indigenous in heritage, I also heard Slavic! Give up on what doesn't serve you I heard. Your ancestors are very impatient because you keep avoiding this lesson. If you don't relent soon you're going to look back at this eventually and just be like 😬. While you may think you're operating from a higher perspective right now, there are times you don't & there are times you don't actually hear or understand others the way in which you believe you do.
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P I L E T W O
You're actually very lovable. Needing help isn't a reflection of your weakness, it's a reflection of the fact you're wise enough to grasp that sometimes you don't have all the answers. You're veryyyy intelligent & deeply intuitive but you tend to silence yourself for the sake of others. It's like the prospect of standing out really makes you anxious at times. You think about your desire to be seen and acknowledged and then remember what that means for you socially and get the ick 🤣 This pile is giving Taurus energy 🤣 you need to relax more often, youre so serious that sometimes you miss out on the joys of humanity. Even though some things aren't always forever doesn't mean you can't enjoy them for what they are. Learn to indulge without emotional consequences. Also some of y'all would benefit from changing from some kind of diet? Or also from doing some sort of yoga or somatic practice that focuses on clearing anxiety from the stomach.
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P I L E T H R E E
You have an envy & projection issue. I feel like a lot of this group Lowkey compares themselves to others frequently or grew up in a way as a child that never made you feel justified in standing up for yourself. So now, you at tiiiimes perpetuate this pattern in your day to day life on a subconscious level. It's a program in your mind, and it's why you feel upset a lot of the time. You may feel like you hold such grudges because you forget how valuable your own perspective and self validation is. You're very self critical and can get frustrated when others succeed. Like you almost fear being outshone by others. A lot of neglect wounds here too, where some of you expect others to go above and beyond for you but you treat yourself horribly. You are very cruel with yourself pile 3, be more kind and be more loving. You deserve to treat yourself with respect.
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uyuforu · 1 month ago
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Venus Persona Chart Observations I
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Other posts you could like:
જ⁀➴ Your Love Story based on your Juno PC
જ⁀➴ Union Persona Chart I
જ⁀➴ Boda Persona Chart II
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⟡ ݁₊❤ Pisces Rising/ 12°, 24° on Rising︎ can mean you can appear as very charming, cute, innocent, emotional, someone your partners will want to protect, very young at heart. They will think you are too precious for this world, and they'll have to take responsibilities on you.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Virgo Rising/ 6°, 18° on Rising︎ can mean you can be quite cold or detached at first glances from your lovers. You can be reserved, and it can simply show you do not want to open yourself to anyone. You can also appear as someone faithful, practical, serious, and a perfectionist. You are not there to mess around, and your partners can see that.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Scorpio Rising/ 8°, 20° on Rising︎ can mean you'll appear as very mysterious, cold sometimes too, you'll appear as someone who only smile around people you love. You can look intimidating too, but sexy as well. Something about you makes people drawn to you. You look like you have many layers to peel, and little by little, your partners will discover who you are.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Chiron conjunct Rising︎ can mean you can not be confident in how you approach romantic connections. You can also be triggered about romantic connections and you can show yourself as someone who do not want to be hurt. Which in fact show that you have been deeply wounded before.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Groom/ Briede in 10H or conjunct MC︎ can mean everyone will love your spouse. You can also admire them a lot. Your spouse can also make you more popular.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Groom/ Briede in 10H or conjunct MC but for yourself (meaning you are the Groom or Bride)︎ can mean you'll be loved by people after getting married. People can think you are more lovable or popular after marriage.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Moon 12H︎ can mean you can often not like to accept your feelings when you are in love, you can have hard time to even acknowledge you are in love with someone. It may take time.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Jupiter 2H︎ can mean you can often find yourself in relationships where people gift you a lot of things. You can often gain a lot from relationships. You can also find yourself in a relationship with people who have more money from you.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Jupiter 2H︎ can also mean you have a good self esteem, a good fashion sense. You also can pull anyone, in a sense that if you boost your self confidence, you can clearly have anyone you want. It's easy for you to be in a relationship, you attract that a lot.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Sun opposite Rising ︎ can mean you are very different from how your lovers first perceive you.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Saturn 2H︎ can mean you can have hard time with self confidence, and you can have a hard time to also get into relationships. It can also be that you have hard time to let people in.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Jupiter conjunct Saturn 2H ︎means in this case you have a balanced self esteem, and you can have a good confidence sometimes, but Saturn can make you able yo know when to humble yourself. You can also feel like despite attracting many good things in yourself that you do not deserve any of those. You need to be less hard on yourself and accept you deserve those good things.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Juno in 2H︎ can mean your FS can gift you many things, they can also be quite possessive with you. You can also love that your FS is always there for you, you'll feel like you can rely on them. You'll feel very stable with your FS, and you'll love your everyday life with them. It can also mean your FS will make you feel more confident in yourself, you can also glow up thanks to them.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Juno in 8H︎ can mean your FS will share their money with you, you can find yourself have a bigger money income thanks to them. You can also feel like you love your FS the most, and you can also feel the most loved by them. The s3xual tension can also be intense with you two.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Venus in Virgo︎ can mean you love in a very practical and logical way, people around you can have the sensation you are quite cold with them, but in fact you show your love in a very different way. You can love people and show them through act of services, knowing you make the life of your loved one easier is such a good thing to you.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Venus in 6H︎ usually indicates you are very generous. You are the kind to absolutely want your loved one to know you love them very much. You can also be quite strict or perfectionist with your love for others. You can feel like you need to do more for others all the time. You'll never count the money you spend for others, as long as they are happy, you'll be happy.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Venus in Pisces︎ can mean you are extremely romantic, perhaps a little too much because it can mean you tend to romanticize things or people. Though, you want a love as romantic and devoted that you can give. You want someone who wan love you like it's the most romantic movie in your life.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Venus in 7H︎ can mean you want a love that will last forever. You dream of a romantic marriage, a marriage where you and your spouse will love eternally, without cheating and lies, only the good parts. You can also want to have the most romantic love story you'll experience in your life with your spouse.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Venus conjunct Saturn︎ can mean your love for others usually last a very long time. Once you love, it's forever. It can also mean you can have the sensation you are hard to love, or that no one will love you like you truly want to.
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⟡ ݁₊❤ Moon in Cancer︎ can mean you'll want stability in your love life, and you can perhaps also want a family. You'll want children with the one you'll love. You'll dream of being a family too.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Moon in Pisces︎ can mean you'll want romance, you'll want to feel like you make one with your partner. You'll want emotions and feelings. You'll want little attentions everyday that will feel like your romance never ends.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Moon 12H︎ may also mean that you want a lot of emotions connection during steamy times.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Moon 10H︎ can mean people can see you as emotional, or they can think you are very emotional in relationships. You can also tend to show your emotions more when you are dating someone or when you are in a relationship.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Mercury Aquarius︎ can mean you tend to express your romantic feelings in a very unique way but it's very exceptional in a way, because you'll put a lot of thoughts in how to make it the most unique experience for the other person.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Mercury Aquarius 6H︎ makes the native very unique in the way they express their feelings, but mostly they will think hard, put a lot of effort in every details of it, nothing will be a coincidence in what they will say. They will be very smart and will think every words that will go out of their mouth.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Mars conjunct Mercury︎ can mean your way to express yourself to your loved ones, but mostly in relationships can cause a lot of misunderstand, you can lose control on what you say and sometimes it can be problematic. You can say something that can be interpreted in a very different way than what you meant.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Pluto 3H︎ can mean you'll need to change the way you speak, express yourself or, if you have communication issues, you'll need to work on those.
⟡ ݁₊❤ North Node 3H︎ means your lesson in your love life will be mostly about the way you communicate your feelings. You'll work on your communication issues.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Pluto conjunct North Node 3H︎ can mean you'll need to undergo a huge transformation because you'll need to work on your communication issues, and this will be destined in a sense because this is your lesson.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Saturn square North Node︎ can mean you'll take a long time before realizing what you need to work on. You can also learn this lesson around your Saturn return, or this lesson can mostly activate around this return.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Neptune 11H︎ can mean you dream of a love story that is perfect and like in your dream, but it's clearly a sign of impossible to make this dream come true. Your perfect love story will only happen in your mind.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Neptune conjunct Uranus means you dream of a love that will be very unique, something that will change you and your life. You imagine and want love to be exciting, something that will constantly surprise you and keep you on your feet.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Neptune 5H︎ can mean you can dream of a love story with romantic and creative gesture. You'll want your lover to make the most artistic love declarations to you. It can be through music, or like writing love letters, example.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Groom/ Briede 10H︎ also means you'll admire your FS very much and you'll think they are more bold or courageous than you. You will look up to them.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Groom/ Briede conjunct North Node︎ can mean a life lesson about romance and love life will be caused by your FS. It can also mean you are meant to love your FS.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Venus conjunct Mercury ︎means you usually are very good for love declarations and confessions. You make it the most poetic and romantic.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Groom/ Briede 6H︎ means your FS will make you feel like you deserve all the love in the world, you'll feel their love in everyday life, in the routine, you'll feel more confident, you can also have a better mental and physical health thanks to them. They will spoil you too.
⟡ ݁₊❤ Boda 9H︎ can mean you truly believe in marriage and weddings. Big plus if you also have/ or have Venus 7H or 9H Ruler is Venus, or even if 9H ruler is in 7H.
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