#is the moment I’m gonna turn into one of the biggest bullies on this site
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mxtxfanatic · 7 months ago
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I checked out the "canon jiang cheng" in hopes of finding my people and yet all I've found are JC stans saying the weirdest of things were absolutely canon.
I am very tired.
Then I figured that I should just try my hand at the character tag and regretted it even more when I fell on an anti wwx post.
I didn't know those people existed and frankly, I am worried for them.
Seriously tho, this post was unreal, I can't believe I just read that with my own two eyes.
Can I rant with you please?
Yeah there was a whole thing when twitter users fled back to tumblr where twitter jc stans decided to “reclaim” the tag because they’re upset they didn’t successfully bully canon enjoyers out the fandom. They usually either fill it with fanon jc mess, jc thirst edits, or hate for any other character with the intention of antagonizing everyone else like they did in the main novel tag and the main jc character tag. I personally don’t use character tags to know how bad it’s gotten, but I use my mutuals to find new blogs to follow by paying attention to who they reblog from.
I don’t mind ranting, as long as it’s about a fandom trend and not about specific individuals* whose content you can trace back to.
*caveat to the “specific individuals”: sometimes I do talk about identifiable individuals, but usually it’s because they’ve either directly interacted with me or I am pointing out the disproportionate influence they’ve had on fandom in negative ways, so still fandom trend commentary. I don’t care about dissecting every individual jc stan fic or headcanon or “meta,” though, because they all say the same thing and jumping on one person for doing what the whole group is doing feels redundant.
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gayfrenchtoast · 4 years ago
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Okay fine we're doing this. I havent read the books and I'm probably not going to I've only seen the movies so I'm sorry if anything I say is contradictory or has already been stated.
So! Descendants 3 was kinda shit and I dont like it but especially because of the ending because everybody was like "oh yeah island is open and we're all happy with no worries or implications about free villains or people being spiteful about being imprisoned for years!" In fact if anything they joked about those things.
The island is basically its own culture, I can't say how long it's been around, long enough for some almost adult kids to be about and to develop a kind of community.
The Isle is a place of poverty, people are dirty and on the street, eveyone steals from each other and most people don't put much effort into appearance upkeep (personal or of the sourounding area) not because of laziness or being "evil" but because they clearly don't have time or luxury to do such things or possibly even the clean water. Does the Isle have clean water?? How to they get electricity??? Someone tell me!
Another thing that I've noticed is easy to see but is not much explicitly said is the unique style of those on the Isle. As previously stated they don't have much but those who have the most "power" and such on the Isle are the best example of this As they have the most colourful outfits. However these outfits are often made out of patches and ripped things put together, even salvaged things like nets and chains as we can see on thing like Uma and Harry's outfits in D3 they make the best of what they've got and they do fantastic because their outfits are intricate and detailed and just tell you everything you need to know about them. Which is why it's a damn s h a m e when the original VK's ajust their style to be more like Auradon's. That's not an improvement! Be proud of where you came from!! It's like they forgot what it was like being on the Isle in D3!
Moving on, here's something that was touched on in D2 but not enough. Equality. On the Isle there is basically equal opportunity as in saying everything is shit and nome cares what gender and presumably what sexuality you are as long as you can work. Sexism is shown to be almost casual in aurodon from the looks of it, Chad makes sexist comments and litterally none else says anything or seems to see anything wrong with it except Jay who caves to pressure from peers and expectations. He does redeem himself because he's from the isle and he knows you shouldn't give a shit about anyone's gender or anything. If they can do something and ask to be included you give them that opportunity. The sexism is also implied in the way that the rule book has men written specifically in the first place and that it has taken until then for anyone but boys to be allowed on any kind of sports team. We never see it! It seems to be the hetronormative veiw where the boys do sport and girls do cheerleeding and other genders? What other genders? Never heard of that? BAD AURADON!! I bet there's so many trans folk on the island just living their lives, thinking Aurodon is the better place and not knowing that it's a cis het filled nightmare.
Okay no I'm headcannoning now, if their are now a bunch of Isle kids at auradon prep they find it fucking aweful the way all these preppy royals are treating them and make the first LGBT club in Auradon. There is lots of pushback and they get bullied a fuck ton for making themselves the most prominent queer folk in the school until a fight breaks out and the club demand that they should be treated better, taking all the evidence to fairy godmother who is very hesitant because COME ON she's never been that great she is biased to Auradon kids and if putting away those in the Isle is brought up she is all on it, she is jelly spined about doing anything against the royal kids. So the kids are like "Fine, if you won't help us we'll take this to the King himself!" Well mainly the queer mom's of the group (you know the ones I'm talking about) who lead the others and protect the anxious queers as they storm to Ben at his fucking locker and demand an audience because they are being harassed and bullied and none is doing anything. Ben had no idea there was even a LGBT club (too busy ig) and is gassed there is one for a moment before he's like "wait people are harassing you?" So Bisexual King Ben gets his lovely Bi wife and they start coming to club meetings and investing in the pins and stuff the club makes. Most club members are pleased but the queer mom's are apprehensive that this will help until some assholes come to the club to do their usual bullying only to find King and Queen Beast themselves siting there with rainbow bracelets and bi pins and all trying to have a nice old time eating their fucking cupcakes what the fuck are yall doing? The bullying dies down quick once they realise it ain't gonna fly, the other OG VK's that hear about this become members and very protective over their queer children. Did I mention Dizzy and Ceila are a part of the club? They're girlfriend's. Celia is one of the queer moms. Harry becomes one of the biggest protectors over the group as the pan dad. He's been going around snogging everyone and anyone wholl snog him everyone already knew he was queer they just didn't have the balls to try and bully him over it as much as they bullied the lil club members. But now Harry can often be seen in jackets and shit with pan and general queer patches and pins and running around with his gay children yelling "MOVE WE'RE GAY!!" He totally calls them his queer crew. Anyway as a result lots of queer royals start coming out of the woodwork, obvs Lonnie is one of them, and the club eventually serves to bring members of Auradon and the Isle close together.
Where was I? Yada yada auradon expects girls to be pretty princesses and boys to be brave knights or dashing princes. It's shit and should stop being portrayed as good. Moving on!
Food! One of the things we'll established in all movies is that the food of the Isle is shit compared to food of Auradon. The Isle has no fresh fruit which likely means its almost impossible for things to grow there which is fair because again there doesn't seem to be much fresh water and there are always clouds overhead so no sun. Maybe there is some people trying really hard to grow stuff but the general attitude of the Isle seems to be "there is no time for that" and fruits are forgotten so much that the VK's litterally don't knownwhat they are when they come across them. That and anything containing sugar. Actually it's mention by Dizzy and Celia that they enjoy the fact that the cake dosent have dirt or flies so basically food there is terrible. We don't see much food on the Isle but what we do see seems to be beans, eggs, chips and shellfish. Basically protine and carbs that can be easily stored and produced. To be fair beans are kidna good for you but they're likely a sign that if they get any imports from the mainland it is canned stuff. Prison food. There's probably some chef villain that is trying their best to make good food out of the shit but honestly the Isle dwellers should be angry that they've been deprived of good food for so long not happy they're finally been given decency.
Moving on, music! Auradon dosent have nearly as many musical numbers it seems, the Isle songs have a distinct style, to them, the villains that basically "founded" the place were masters of the dramatic songs (with backup or solo) so banging music is basically ingrained in the music's culture, even for battle as we see with the fight between Mal and Uma in D3. Meanwhile Auradon seems to have mainly romance and "I want" songs. Even Audrey's villain song is basically an I want song.
Okay let's talk about the Villains. We've established that the VK's are not inherently bad. However not all of them can be totally good and there are legit OG Villains just kinda chillin on the Isle. They've obviously lost quite a bit of their power, motivation and sanity (isolation will do that to ya as they lost everything and the VKs know no different) but deadass? They were bad guys. You can try to rehabilitate them sure but you've basically just let them free roam, they could make a runner and you wouldn't get the chance. They were also shitty patents which is brushed over/joked about in the interaction between Carlos and...man I feel bad I forgot her name deadass their relationship seemed to come out of nowhere in the second film she didn't seem interested in them at all and friendzoned them multiple times I'm pretty sure Disney did that becaue queer kids were relating to Carlos and headcanoning them as queer (which they deffinatly are) but deadass their mom is an attempted animal murderer and has hurt her child as we can see from how they're afraid of her and her rhetoric and yet it's "haha I'm afraid to meet your ma!" "Me too cus im a dog! Lol!" Fuuuuck offfffff
I think I'm running out of thoughts so here's a last one for now; with the magical barrier down a bunch of magical Villains kids should be coming out for the woodwork. We know Mal has magic basically stored in her so it's is possible, she technically doesn't need the spellbook to do magic it is just inherent to her. So with the diverse range of people from the isle there are deffinatly magic folk in there. Actually if we're following Disney movie law I saw something mentioning Jay being half Genie and yeah! He should be half Genie! Jafar got turned into a Genie he's probably only human because of the barrier! Oh also Ben should be able to go beast on command as long as he had a better beast form than he did in the movies. And give him back the beard and fangs like fuck you he looked so much better
Okay I'm done for now
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piracytheorist · 4 years ago
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I watched and react to Lindsay Ellis' 100 minute long "apology" video so you don't have to
First of all, the word apology is in quotes because she herself on that video mocks the whole concept of an apology video, which is fair cause truly that whole concept is fucked up, but I didn't want to call it excusing either because that's not what she does either... for some parts. Long post ahead.
So into the video, homegirl starts by saying she was recently in a restaurant. Recently. Restaurant. I'm not gonna make a deep research to find out where she lives, she mentions she's from Tennessee but idk if that's where she lives now, so unless she's somewhere in like Australia or New Zealand or any other place with significantly low numbers of covid cases... what is she doing, not only going into a restaurant during a fucking pandemic, but also telling it to her entire 1 million subscribers specifically and the whole world in general? I think it shouldn't be said it's irresponsible as it is, it's also a bit insensitive considering so many of us don't get to have that kind of luxury as it is now, either as customers that don't get to enjoy an evening/night out or as restaurant owners that watch their businesses collapse. Small thing to complain, but still.
That said, personal note, because I know some of my followers live down there in Australia or New Zealand; I'm happy for you, but I'm also jealous, and in a weird way right now being in a country with few covid cases is kind of a privilege. So enjoy that for yourselves.
Ok, second, introducing the concept of cancel culture, she goes on to talk about some cases where two white people made some well-intended but overall insensitive jokes and she talked about how their behaviour was, particularly, white privilege. Ignoring the fact that she's showing her own privilege by saying that she went at a restaurant during a pandemic, she says it all in the whole meaning of how cancel culture focuses on targeting, bullying and verbally lynching a person who acted on their privilege instead of looking out to tell them "Yo what you did was shitty but look out to do better" and how that either originates or is strengthened by nazis who pretend to be cool progressive lesbians of colour on twitter (that latter part is my own description, but similar to what Lindsay said). And the whole point about cancel culture is valid - she the use of the ol' "Listen to voices of POC" and that it is not valid because behind those "Queer progressive POC" accounts hide nazis... but she ignores the fact that another way to see that is "Are you white? Have you considered shutting the fuck up?"
And I say that as a white woman myself. I am very well aware that there are topics I cannot touch upon. Like, I have my thoughts, ok? About all races, religions (at least the major ones), sexualities, gender expressions. I can't help the thoughts... but I try my best to control my actions. There are times that I think something and I go like "Wow, can you realize how much the internet would drag you if you said that on a post?" so I shut the fuck up because a) I recognize my privilege and b) I'm mostly uneducated on most things I may have problematic thoughts on. Lindsay... idk exactly how educated she is, I know she has degrees, but in this case that doesn't seem to matter because she doesn't seem to have the concept of Shutting the Fuck Up White Person. That's what the "Listen to voices of POC" started for. Because historically POC have been the ones to be silenced and ignored by white people. So it doesn't matter if you're a woman, if you're bisexual, if you're educated, whatever whatever. If it's not your area, learn to shut the fuck up. And it's there that the problem begins, that Lindsay doesn't seem to get that idea.
Later on she says that a person on twitter compiled a thread of Lindsay's "sins" aka screenshots of problematic (or not) tweets, and though she (tbh rightfully so) considers making that compilation weird and creepy, she goes on to address every tweet on that thread.
I'm not gonna go down all of them cause from my judgement, some were legitimately very far-fetched to make her look problematic. And look, I don't think she's problematic. It's just that she has a lot to say and sometimes it feels like she has a need to say it all.
At the beginning, she mentions that twitter is garbage. Which, agreed, I've hateposted about that hellsite tons of times. But she's been knew it was. She had people bully her about her tweets before, and she kept at it, white person speaking, and like at some point you're like... is it fucking worth it? You know twitter is garbage. Is the clout you'll make on it worth it? You know people will judge you. You know they will take your sayings out of context. You know there are people obsessively following your page just to spot the tiniest piece of stuff you didn't think three hours on before posting so that they can crucify you over it. You been knew, we been knew. So I'm asking again, is it fucking worth it?
She even said it wasn't the first time she was cancelled, it's just that this last time has been the biggest one (... yet). So... why are people fucking obsessed with that fucking site? I'm a former bully victim, I detest and oppose bullying of any kind, but after a point, when you see a minefield, you gotta know that if you go skipping around without a second thought... ya gonna get hit. I may understand some people staying on twitter out of spite and/or in the hopes of "fixing" it... but again that's kinda hopeless and we all know that. There’s a saying in Greek that translates to “No matter how sugar you pour on it, shit won’t turn into lokum.” And that’s exactly what twitter is. Shit that people try to make functioning. It won’t.
I know the Shut The Fuck Up may be a bit excessive but... we all have opinions, yeah? It's a bit frustrating too considering she makes long videos that clearly have a lot of thought put into them, and then she goes on twitter and posts whatever the fuck comes up in her mind like... you should know better. In a way, Shutting The Fuck Up is also a way to avoid being seen as a bigot when you're not. Let oppressed groups do the talking for you, 'kay?
On another "receipt" she admits she was wrong, quote: "It was insensitive and careless. I definitely should not have said that." At the same time she says that she was influenced by her environment, and she also doesn't actually apologize. In a way she's sincere because a good sociopath would have searched and found that a good apology includes the words "I'm sorry" or some variation, and not trying to explain yourself by the circumstances surrounding you. So, it's sincere, but it feels a bit void. No-one cares what brought you to do this, we only care to see if you’ve changed from that.
I'm also putting the word receipt in quotes because I just think the whole concept of "receipts" is fucking weird, and as I said, some of them are completely pointless and taken out of context to make Lindsay look like the next Hitler. But I don't have another word for it so I'll go with that.
The next "receipt" is about her tweeting about the film The Prince of Egypt and mentioning the scene of killing the Egyptian first-borns, and being accused for anti-semitism because of it. First of all, your problem there ain't the film, it's the Bible, a work that was created by people who thought that a woman is a man's property, and then later on translated and modified by people with similar or worse problematic ideologies. The Prince of Egypt is a film that is inspired by the book of Exodus but at the same time... it doesn't fully excuse the plagues. They're portrayed as a necessarily evil, but whether that bothers you or not depends on whatever your relationship is to God and the fact that he allows covid to be a thing right now. But on the video, Lindsay talks about the portrayal of the plagues and how they're excused so that the Jewish people can be free.
But... it feels a bit... maybe she hasn't watched the full film in some time, and considering she doesn't really like it, I understand why she's making the mistakes on thinking it does. Yes, the film shows the plagues as a necessary evil. But the whole song The Plagues is about Moses being torn in two about the whole thing. "And even now I wish that God had chose another. Serving as your foe on his behalf is the last thing that I wanted." When he warns Rameses about the last plague, the "camera" shows the depiction of the previous massacre of the Jewish children... and Rameses' son is at the bottom of the children being dropped in the water.
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It not only foreshadows the boy's death, it also compares the two massacres. It's like "Your father did that to the Jewish people, so the God of the Jewish people will do the same to your people." The scene where the Egyptian first-borns are being killed is haunting. It's dark, without music, eerie... you're not supposed to be happy about it. So I don't see how all that's excusing. In a way, to a people that at the time was enslaved and even now still faces discrimination, it could feel like vengeance. There's a big talk about morals that can be done there but again; WE'RE WHITE. We should consider shutting the fuck up. At least on our own, if talked about with someone who’s part of Jewish culture, that’s another thing.
Lindsay also says that in the film it looks weird that from the moment we see Rameses lamenting the loss of his son, the film cuts to the Jewish people singing about Miracles. And like... again I guess she hasn't seen the movie in some time, cause that's plain out wrong. At the time Moses sees that the son is dead, he already looks depressed. When he hears the cries of the people crying for their children, he breaks down and cries too. When the Jewish people walk out and sing for not being slaves anymore, that's when he starts smiling a little, and more when they're finally out of Rameses' kingdom. And again, it's about the liberation of an enslaved people whose culture we're not presently a part of. Like, the death of the Egyptian children was a bad thing - in retaliation of the same thing happening to the Jewish babies - but whether it’s being excused or not has context behind it.
I'm also talking a lot about it because she mentions she likes the film Noah from 2014, and she shows a small clip from the flood scene where the people on the Ark are depressed (that's not the right word but I can't find it right now) because they witness the deaths of the people who weren't on. I haven't seen the film, so I don't know how much that impacts the survivors later, but she's completely ignoring the fact that The Prince of Egypt also frames the death of the first-borns as tragic and that also Moses breaks down over it.
On my own opinion; I'm agnostic and anarchist af so while I also disagree with the depictions and the actions that God took to free the Jewish people... it's a fucking fantastic film. Animation, voice acting, music, directing... But at the same time, I've watched a bit of her videos and I may be a bit sarcastic here but I don't trust the taste of anyone who watches Treasure Planet and only refers to it as "Disney's space pirate flop" instead of the underrated masterpiece that it is. But I'm also mentioning it not-so-sarcastically, because underappreciated as it is (because Disney deliberately made it flop by the way), Treasure Planet has not had a widely massive impact. Speaking as someone who adores Treasure Planet, it has had a huge impact... to those few who've watched it. So while I meh'ed at her calling Treasure Planet what she did, it was just that; a meh.
But The Prince of Egypt? It has had an impact on ME, an agnostic anarchist. I cannot even begin to imagine what impact it has had on the millions of Jewish people worldwide. So when someone who has studied Media (or whatever, I'm not gonna search through the "Lindsay Ellis is cancelled" results on gοοgle just to see what she has studied), and decides to make a... while a bit understandable, not so well-studied critique on a film with that kind of impact... Have you considered Shutting the Fuck Up? She says that on twitter, she got responses on said tweet where people talked about how important that film is to them. Is that what she needed, to learn about this film's impact? For her to not know that... it's a bit hard to accidentally be that blind about that aspect, especially with her studies.
It's once again difficult territory to wade through - and she deliberately placed herself in it. And as I said, her problem is with the Bible. Not with the film.
So... yeah. I don't think it was anti-semitism on her part, but definitely not a good, well-thought move to make.
Next is her talking about the time she wore a niqab in a non offensive (I guess) way on an old video. She mentions she addressed it on a stream where they laughed about how... cringe-y of the time the whole concept of the video was. And again, the "Not thinking before acting" as well as White Privilege comes out, both in the video and in the way she presents the circumstances behind it. What inspired her to do it doesn't fucking matter. What matters is that she didn't think. Though she says she regrets it, she seems she only does so because she got responses from Muslim followers that told her "Please don't do that." Again, the fact that she needed someone else to say it... that's uninformed. And honestly, when you have such a following, you have a responsibility to know better. Money from patreon and youtube ads carry that. She does say she regrets it though.
Next, is her being called out for her "Dear Stephenie Meyer" video. In it basically she talks about how a lot of the earlier hate for Twilight was because of the fact that society hates teen girls and hates what they like and consider it inferior, and since a lot of teen girls like Twilight, the society had to hate Twilight. At the end of the video, she even said "I'm sorry" towards Meyer. That's a very quick summary and she had some good points, but this is Stephenie Meyer we’re talking about.
Oof. There's a LOT to unpack here.
For those of you who don't know, Twilight as a whole franchise has a ton of issues with racism, particularly against indigenous people and the very real, existing Quileute tribe. Lindsay says that at the time she made that video (2018), the backlash on Meyer was not so much about said racism. And boy, that's plain out wrong. She just didn't do enough research for it. And again, it's not deliberate. I'm not accusing Lindsay of racism. But Twilight was problematic (and even I as a semi-follower of the Twilight Rennaisance, as well as most of the fellow fans I've seen, admit that openly and we hate Meyer for it), and as I had watched that video, I know she did research on it. I find it outright impossible that a search for "Twilight criticism" wouldn't turn up some mentions about the Quileute racism, especially in 2018 with the fandom’s resurgence. There's an entire page from the Burke Museum in Seattle talking about the misconceptions of the tribe in the books and how little benefit the tribe has seen from having their culture appropriated by a white woman. Saying that it wasn't a common criticism is either a poorly put lie or an open confession that she didn't search much. Maybe she only searched about Stephenie Meyer and misogyny. I don't know.
Look, it is true that at the time of late 2000′s, the criticism was what Lindsay said; all about hating teen girls. I'm sure that there was criticism on the racism, but it was either less promoted or was trumped by the former type. But ignoring it completely, when at the time she made that video the criticism on racism was already getting more and more recognition... just why, Lindsay?
So again, I don't think it's deliberate. But it's poor pre-thought, poor work on it, and again when you have such a big following (and while Lindsay keeps saying how she's not that much famous on youtube, when you have a million subscribers and ten thousand patrons... ya ain't unheard of either) you have a responsibility to know better and research better before you do anything on it. Youtube is Lindsay's job, and she doesn't do a very good job at it when it comes to recognizing her white privilege and working beyond it.
Then she says that she talked with some indigenous (she doesn't mention they're Quileute btw) people about it; some said they hated the depiction, some said they liked that they were represented. Although why you would like to be represented by Jacob in Eclipse and Breaking Dawn, I have no fucking clue. In any case, it feels like because there were indigenous (no mention of Quileute talking with her, again) people who were okay with the inclusion, she felt that it was okay to make the whole Meyer apologia video without a single mention to the racism fact.
She also showed a video of a Quileute woman talking about how after Twilight, they were able to get back land that was taken from them. Given back by Obama, by the way. And... including this clip feels like... an excuse. Saying that Twilight, despite being racist, was somehow okay because it brought attention to the real Quileute tribe, and I hope y'all see why that is messed up. Meyer could have handled the issue better, and included the characters with much more respect and given them credit and some idk money from the millions she made appropriating their culture (though Lindsay mentions that last thing), but Lindsay thought that apologizing to Meyer anyway for being against her due to internalized misogyny in the late 2000's was the right move. It is true that at the late 2000's little of the known criticism was about the racism, but it's still a big fucking problem and purposefully ignoring that to apologize to Meyer... not a good look.
Again, blind due to white privilege, and acting without trying to see the whole picture. She says that Meyer, a white, rich, Mormon woman does not deserve the harassment she got, and again I'm against bullying but like... Meyer fucking sucks, and we ought to at least recognize that. She's not the one who deserves an apology - the Twilight fans *cough*me!me!me!*cough* who just wanted to enjoy the books and films (horrible as they were) in peace are.
By the way, the Quileute tribe has a fundraiser so that they can move their land to a higher ground where they won't be affected by tsunamis (and to her credit, Lindsay mentioned it and shared the link, but she said that another youtuber brought that to her attention, and again, where's the fucking research, Lindsay, pretty much every Twilight Renaissance post I've seen about the anti-indigenous attitude mentions that fundraiser and you're telling me it didn't come up in your searches) so if you can donate you definitely should: mthg.org
I mention around how Lindsay doesn't say "I'm sorry", and while as most people, I'd rather have no apology that a performative apology, it feels a little icky, that while she recognizes some of her screw-ups... I'm not sure if she recognizes that said screw-ups that-veer-towards-but-are-not-exactly-or-intentionally racism, ableism, anti-semitism, and transphobia... that shit is the shit twitter nazis thrive off of - and not to cancel people, but to build their own bigotry and take the attention away from actual hate crimes happening. And as a youtuber with a million subscribers and ten thousand patreon supporters, again, she should recognize her privileges a little more. Am I blaming her for nazis using her poorly thought tweets? Should she be super duper careful and spend a lot of time on her tweets to make sure nothing remotely problematic is on them?
... I mean, why the fuck do y’all think I hate twitter?
Next, she mentions being called out for "saying" that "trans-men are less oppressed than cis women" which she says is not what she said, but instead that "she's spoken to trans men who told her that they experience less misogyny after coming out". She even openly mentions it as "anecdotal" in her original tweet. And while I get that, my question is.... what's your fucking business about it? You're cis, shut the fuck up, let trans people talk about it.
Like, fuck. We haven't reached a time where acceptance of LGBTQ+ people, especially trans people, is at such a high that cis people by themselves can openly discuss about the experiences of trans people. Shut. The. Fuck. Up. Just show your support for trans people, let them do the talk about their lives and experiences, and share their content if you want your followers to know about trans experiences. If trans men experience less misogyny after coming out (and like, I understand why that would happen in some cases), that's not your area to gather twitter clout from. Think before you tweet.
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TW: suicide mention, skip to after the ~ symbols if you want to avoid.
Next one is not problematic, it's just proof that Lindsay has no filter on twitter... which is probably the core of all the issues on this post. So condensing the whole thing; a Zack Snyder fan said "I don't like when people say that Zack Snyder hates his mother". A film critic was discussing with Lindsay about Snyder fans, and Lindsay, having never seen any Snyder fan actually say what the fan above said, responded in an obviously sarcastic way "I have it on good authority that Zack Snyder hates his mother." The next day, Zack Snyder's daughter killed herself, and twitter flooded to hate on Lindsay. Of course by the video, Lindsay seems to be upset by the whole thing and how bad the timing was for the post she made - and it is irrational to blame her on that. But! Zack Snyder's mother died in 2010, btw, from what I saw, and like... I think that some discussions around celebrities should be kept private, and this specific conversation between Lindsay and the film critic should have been private. Again, not problematic, but seems to show how Lindsay doesn't think before tweeting.
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Next, she admits she was wrong about defending yellowface on the film Cloud Atlas and saying that it wasn't as bad as blackface. "My bad", no "I'm sorry". Again I don't know if an apology is what I "wanted", after all I'm also a privileged white woman, but idk some recognition that stuff like what she said are what twitter nazis thrive off of would have been nice. Because again, the good intention is there, especially by acknowledging how bad blackface is.
Anyway, some final thoughts, no I don't think she's problematic, or racist, or transphobic, or anything the twitter nazis like to label her as. I just think she's bad at tweeting (like many many people including yours truly, twitter sucks we've established that), and that as a youtuber with such an audience, she should understand her privileges a little more. Though she said she’ll step off from twitter and only use it to promote her books and other creators, so she did learn something from that.
As I said, we all have problematic thoughts. We all think of stuff that, if given a bit more thought, we’ll go like “why the fuck am I like this”. Our actions, on the other hand, is something fully on our control. And twitter thrives on people not putting too much thought on their actions, and letting their quick thoughts control them.
In conclusion, know your privilege, fuck twitter, and STAY THE FUCK AT HOME (except for you, Aussies and Kiwis, go all out - literally)
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shadyb00ts · 4 years ago
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How 2020 Turned Me Into A Swiftie Again
If you’d told me a few years ago that I’d have not one but two Taylor Swift albums in my year-end favorites list, I would’ve thought you were out of your mind. Then again, stranger things have happened in this hellscape of a year.
I’m really not sure where the first time I heard the phrase “Life is too short to pretend to hate Taylor Swift” was. I have no idea who originated it, but it stuck with me when I started to unpack that about a year ago, during her Lover era. By then, my perception and feelings about Taylor had been very... inconsistent, to say the least. I started out as a full-on stan, then it dwindled from there overtime until I basically became a hater, which then turned into indifference but silent respect. Now, I’m pretty much on the road to becoming a stan again. Revisiting her catalog, analyzing her lyrics, watching interviews, the works. 
I wanted to examine what it was that made my opinions about her go through so many steep rises and falls within this entire decade. Part of it was her shift in musical style that I didn’t quite mesh with, but another part was owning up to the internal biases I had when I was younger and how gullible I was in going along with whatever the media or the popular conscious was saying about her and the kind of person she is. 
I’m somebody who’s incapable of separating art from the artist. I simply don’t listen to artists when I don’t like them as people or don’t agree with their actions. Examples include but are not limited to Kim Petras, Melanie Martinez, Azealia Banks, Grimes, just to name a few. I have my own personal reasons for just not wanting to engage with any of their music, and if you still want to, that’s none of my business.
At some point in my life, I think Taylor got on that list. Looking back on it now, I find that completely ridiculous, because she never really did anything or acted in a way that warranted that reaction out of me. So I wanted to delve into how that even came about in the first place.
With that said, I want to take a trip down memory lane and go back through her eras, and go through the timeline of my strange relationship with Taylor Swift’s body of work as well as her public persona. Fair warning, it’s gonna be really cheesy and emotional at parts, but it is fully my truth. Thank you in advance if you manage to read the whole thing.
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Part 1: The Country Era
It’s 2010 and I’m in eighth grade. I’m in an extremely Muslim country, the only son of an extremely Muslim family that enrolled me in an extremely Muslim school. I’m getting bullied by the boys in my class for being too feminine and being ignored by the girls for being a boy. The last close friend I had from elementary school had just moved away the year prior, and I’d never felt more alone in my life.
I was a closeted gay kid still trying to figure himself out and hating who he was. I escaped to cringey online chat sites like IMVU and catfished as a girl, because at the time I thought the only way to get boys to like me and want to be with me was to pretend to be someone else, someone I actually liked.
When I think back on this era, I mostly remember the girls in my class obsessing over these three albums and singing her songs with each other all the time. I desperately wanted to join them and fangirl with them over her music, though of course they never gave me the time of day. I remember I would memorize so many of her songs and write them all down on a special notebook I kept. When I wasn’t paying attention in classes, that’s what I would do; scribble out a collection of all the songs of hers that I knew by heart.
To me, these three albums represented a certain kind of vivid fantasy. Taylor’s songwriting has obviously grown exponentially over the past decade, but even back then she was always so damn good at storytelling and detail, painting you a very clear picture of a scene and placing you right there. For a miserable, self-hating fourteen-year-old gay boy that was always seeking escapism from a homophobic environment, this was the perfect outlet for me to live out a different kind of life, to play pretend.
I honestly can’t explain what it is about her style of songwriting but she always made me feel like I was genuinely experiencing everything she was talking about. Things like kissing in the rain, riding around in the truck of the boy of my dreams in a tiny one horse town, shedding teardrops on a guitar that I definitely didn’t own, experiencing crushing heartbreak. This was stuff that my sheltered ass couldn’t comprehend.
Taylor perfectly captured that ideal, that small town girl with big dreams and storybook romances. I was in love with her discography at the time, having memorized pretty much the entirety of Fearless because that was my favorite of three. Middle school was hell for me, but her music was definitely something that helped me pull through, because she sent my imagination into overdrive.
This was a time in my life where I didn’t really care yet about an artist’s public image or the media’s portrayal of them, It was purely about the music for me. Of course, when looking at these albums now, there were a few questionable choices she made lyrically, I have to admit. Particularly with songs like “Better Than Revenge” and “Innocent”, both having aged terribly with the former being bafflingly misogynistic and the latter being about Kanye. As of my writing this, Taylor is currently in the process of re-recording her old catalog, and I assume that she would skip these two songs in particular, as well as several others that haven’t exactly aged well.
This era really got me through some tough times and she provided much-needed relief for me within each of these three albums. I’ll always have an attachment to them because of the bittersweet memories they represent.
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Part 2: Red
Red I decided to put in its own category, because this was kind of a weird era for Taylor. Even back when I was an ignorant teenager that barely had any critical thinking skills, I felt the dissonance of this album and its Max Martin produced singles. This album represented Taylor dipping her toe into pop music, which she made abundantly clear when she decided to release We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together as the lead single.
I actually remember this moment quite clearly. She premiered the single at some kind of fan event that I believe was streamed live on YouTube, and either I watched it live or I watched the full recording of it later on. At the time I remember feeling it was kind of bizarre to hear Taylor adopt this style of music, because it was so drastically different from her previous work and it took me a while to adjust. Obviously I enjoyed pop music at the time as much as I do now, but I just hadn’t been expecting it to come from Taylor. 
Fortunately it was just the three singles that were full pop, and the rest of the album still had her signature DNA and also includes some of her best work. All Too Well, for example, is I think one of the best songs she’s ever made, if not the best. I think if I were introducing Taylor to someone that’s totally unfamiliar with her, that would be my first choice, because it’s a masterwork in songwriting and emotionality.
I do think the thing that irked me the most about this album and era, even to this day, was the lack of cohesion. Of course I figured that she would eventually venture into pop music, but the way in which she did it just felt a bit too jarring to me. Perhaps if the album had a more even distribution of pop songs and country songs, it would’ve been slightly more palatable for me. It’s not even that the three pop songs were bad; they were quite good for their time. Though to be completely honest they’re the songs I barely ever return to any time I listen to Red now. They’re the kind of catchy pop songs where it’s difficult not to get sick of them at a certain point in your life. I’ve grown to really dislike the lead single, and even 22.
Her image was also starting to get much more scrutinized by the media around this time. I think this era probably marked the sharp rise of the “Taylor Swift has too many boyfriends!” argument people loved to throw around. I wish I could say I was smart enough to not buy into that shit at the time, but I wasn’t. While it didn’t bother me, it was something that I wondered about, why she dated and broke up with so many guys at such a young age. It was something that I judged her for. Obviously I didn’t yet understand that it was normal for people her age to date around. Plus it gave her some great material.
By this time, Taylor was making the gradual transition of country sweetheart to pop star, and while Red was kind of a rocky start to that, naturally she managed to pull it off. But not quite flawlessly.
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Part 3: The Pop Era
Okay, I have a lot to say about these girls.
I think this era started off strong with 1989. It was a more fully realized version of Taylor’s little pop experiment, and it actually had the cohesion that I needed to be able to fully adapt to this new style she’d cultivated. She wrote yet another one of her best songs with Blank Space, which I like to think was a precursor to Reputation (and dare I say that one song did Reputation’s concept better than that album as a whole?).
However... Shake It Off. I’m sorry, I just hate that song.
WANEGBT, the first single off of Red, isn’t exactly the best song either but it made sense as to why she chose that as the first single. It was to signify her dabbling into pop. Reputation’s first single I also am not the biggest fan of, but again, made perfect sense as an introduction, but I’ll get to that later. Shake It Off, though? For the life of me, I have no idea why this song was the first single. Or to be frank, why it was even on the album at all. 
I’m sorry y’all, I just hate it. Everything about it. The verses, the chorus, the appalling rap bridge. She should’ve kept that song in the drafts and released Blank Space as a first single, and that’s a hill I’m willing to die on. Sorry Shake It Off stans, but I’m sure all three of you will get over it. ❤
That said, 1989 had some excellent songs, and I was finally starting to get used to Taylor doing pop. However, my excitement and enthusiasm for her music started to falter due to my weak mind at the time once again getting swayed by the media. 
This time, I began to see Taylor as someone that seemed to be very calculated and conniving in the way she curated her image. Something that didn’t sit well with me was the “girl squad” stuff, and how all of the women she surrounded herself with were essentially these supermodels with unattainable beauty standards, and also believing the rumors about how certain famous women were given private requests to join Taylor’s “squad”. And then of course, the Kim and Kanye thing happened. #TaylorSwiftIsOverParty trended worldwide, and that was probably my earliest exposure to an instance of a celebrity getting canceled, so I was just happy to join the bandwagon. My opinion of her shifted like that, and it’s crazy to think about it now, how I barely had the capacity to form my own opinions and was easily influenced by everything I heard.
Despite me kind of joining the Taylor hate train, I did like Reputation as a concept. I liked how she disappeared from the public eye and came back being like, “You want me to be the villain? The snake? Fine.” Look What You Made Me Do, as I mentioned before, was the perfect choice for the first single despite the song itself being sonically....not the best. The music video and the line about how the old Taylor couldn’t come to the phone was an iconic moment in pop culture, I have to admit that.
I didn’t listen to the album as a whole until later, though. I was having my own hang-ups about Taylor that I think are silly now, but at the time when I didn’t like an artist I would mostly avoid their work. When I did listen to the album, though, I thought it was... okay. There’s one standout track to me and that is Getaway Car, and it’s the only song from Reputation I can say I fully adore to pieces. The other songs on there I either just like, or I find to be meh at best. (Also I know Ready For It is objectively a bad song but I really enjoy the chorus, don’t @ me, @ god)
A few years later, Lover happened and.... Once again, horrible first single. ME! is a genuinely atrocious song, and I have no idea how esteemed, prolific songwriter Taylor Swift managed to reach a point where she had a song with the phrase “spelling is fun!” in it. I feel the exact same way about this song as I do about Shake It Off. It had no business being in the album whatsoever.
As far as Lover the album goes, this came out around the time where I was kind of feeling indifferent toward Taylor (which is hilarious if you know what the first track on it is). I was much more politically aware and had learned not to put too much faith in white women, and I was focusing on other artists so much that Lover barely even came onto my radar. I listened to it once, thought it was meh, and moved on. I revisited it earlier this year and realized I was a bit too harsh on it the first time around. Sure it was her weakest album overall, but it wasn’t bad by any means. It was perfectly alright, and there were songwriting moments within it that were still quite strong. The title track and also Miss Americana comes to mind as standouts.
She started to become more vocal politically around this time. A lot of people thought it was too little too late, which was a fair point. However to me it made sense that she stayed tight-lipped about politics when she was younger, considering she was operating within the realm of country music. Plus, upon watching her documentary, it was pretty clear she had old white men behind the scenes telling her what she should or shouldn’t say, to make sure she maintained that all-American country girl sweetheart image. Still, I do agree with the people who thought that she should’ve used her platform sooner.
Oh and for the record, I think You Need to Calm Down is a terrible song. The video was cute, and the message behind it is fine, but I just hate it sonically.
At this point my interest in Taylor was probably at an all time low. The era started off strong with 1989, but it progressively got weaker. She just wasn’t really giving me much in terms of lyricism, and her pop productions were starting to blend together to the point where a lot of them were sounding very same-y. Lover to me marked the point of stagnation in her music; it was solid enough, but it just wasn’t going anywhere. We’ve seen Pop Taylor, she was cute for a while, but what else? Where does she go from here?
Well... She went into the woods.
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Part 4: The Cottagecore Sisters
When I heard about Taylor dropping a surprise album, I suppose I was intrigued. She is one of the few artists that are successful enough to be able to make a move like that and cause a lot of buzz and excitement. I didn’t think much about it though, because my 2020 at that time was still inundated with SAWAYAMA and Ungodly Hour on repeat. On a whim, though, I decided to listen to it one day, not expecting much out of it.
Earlier when I was talking about her country era, I mentioned that Taylor’s storytelling and her penchant for detailed descriptions were my favorite parts of her writing. Her innate ability to transport me into other worlds, to provide escapism when my life became too much to deal with. I feel like these aspects were missing in the several years that Taylor focused on pop music. There were flashes of it in some of her later work, sure, but very few. She was becoming a huge mega superstar and her songs started to lose that sense of relatability that had been easy for me to latch on too. These things definitely contributed to my loss of interest for her work in general.
And then Folklore managed to bring me back to that place of fantasy I described before, but heightened. Elevated. Evolved. This is why I think that Folklore is Taylor Swift’s magnum opus.
Storytelling is without a doubt her strongest skill as an artist. To be able to construct not just a narrative but an entire world through songs is not something anyone can pull off. Throughout her pop era, there was always that something missing because I knew that she was capable of more. I couldn’t explain it well back then, but despite her penmanship still being commendable during those years, it still felt oddly lackluster. I knew she could do better, but I didn’t have the proof yet.
This is it. Both Folklore and Evermore showcase exactly what I knew she was capable of. This is Taylor Swift at her most creative, at her full power.
I think in a recent interview I watched (though I can’t remember which one), even she herself acknowledged how it would’ve been a disservice to continue strictly writing autobiographical songs, and so she decided to write from the perspectives of multiple different characters while also occasionally inserting herself and her life experiences into these narratives. She essentially created her own folklore and managed to make me invested in characters that don’t even exist.
I have to talk about the love triangle trilogy: cardigan, august and betty. It’s a testament to her songwriting ability that these fictional characters feel like real people. The story of Betty, James and Augusta/Augustine is just so well done to the point where I forget that it’s Taylor Swift singing. When I listen to these songs, I am fully imagining the characters she conjured up. 
The song that I find the most profound out of the three, and also happens to be my favorite song on the album, is august. To me, it is the most heartbreaking song out of all of them. I relate so much to that girl who’s hopelessly in love with someone that just doesn’t give a shit about them and is merely using her for a summer fling. And it’s not even like I’ve experienced something similar to this in real life, Taylor just somehow made it relatable with the sheer power of her pen game. It’s even more heartbreaking considering we don’t know what happened to this girl, if she ever managed to find happiness, because in the Long Pond Sessions Taylor mentioned that Betty and James eventually got back together. They got their happy ending, but what happened to Augustine?
I can’t believe she’s got me this deep in my feelings over non-existent teenagers, I swear to god.
Just when I thought Folklore was going to be the end of this new side of her for a while, she releases Evermore in December, its sister album. While I don’t think it’s quite as strong as Folklore, it still delivered immensely in terms of lyricism, productions and vocals. Evermore’s release pretty much solidified the realization that I was basically becoming a Swiftie again, a whole decade later.
I was embarrassed by that thought at first, but honestly now I’m at a point where I don’t think there’s anything to be embarrassed about. Taylor is too skilled of a songwriter for me to consider her a guilty pleasure. I just needed something to help me come to that conclusion, and these two albums did just that. She finally gave to me what I was waiting for.
Final Thoughts
I don’t really stan artists the same way I used to now, which I mentioned previously in my review of Chromatica. I don’t deify them or hold them to an impossible moral standard they could never live up to anymore. I see them as flawed human beings that have the capacity to make great art. So when I say I’m becoming a Swiftie, I’m still fully aware that Taylor Swift is a thirty-one year old rich white woman who is bound to have shortcomings and missteps as a person. In my mind, she hasn’t done anything drastic enough or stupid enough for me to become uncomfortable in listening to her work. I had my own ideas about how she could’ve been fake, conniving, manipulative or whatever else the media was trying to convey about her, but there really is no way of knowing who she truly is as a person.
Celebrities and influencers have the power to curate their image however they want. The relationships they have with us, the audience, are entirely parasocial, so of course we base our judgments of them based on very limited knowledge, or just the surface-level view of what they’re like. I don’t know if Taylor is as down to earth and genuine as she appears to be now, and I honestly don’t need to know. If she does things I disagree with or acts a certain way that deserves criticism, of course I’d still call her out, and depending on the severity of what it was she said or did, it might end up with me not wanting to engage with her work anymore.
But the reality is, as a person, I’ve realized that she is just fine. I was holding on to a certain idea of her in my head where I think at one point I dubbed her “the Anne Hathaway of music”, meaning someone that comes across too perfect to the point where it seems calculated and disingenuous. But honestly, I just don’t feel that way about her anymore. I don’t feel particularly attached to her as a person, either. 
But I do feel an attachment to her music. At the end of the day, that’s where I’m standing now when it comes to her. I don’t have any expectations or delusions about her as a human being, and I’m not going to remain devoted to her if she does something dumb, but I believe that she is an insanely gifted artist who has written so many songs that genuinely speak to me and make me feel intensely. She lost me for a while, but now I’m right back in it.
So yeah, like I said in the beginning of the post, life’s too short to pretend to hate Taylor Swift. I’d rather just pretend to live in a mystical small town as a sad gay witch. And I’m at peace with that.
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supertweetycherry · 5 years ago
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THE DECK PRINCESS - [i. The Card]
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🔹Pairings: EXO x BTS X OC
🔹Genre: Fluff, Cardau, Adventure, Powers, Reverseharem, Love, Mates
🔹Ratings: General
🔹Warnings: Very Light swearing
🔹Word Count: 2.7k
Navigation-->| Masterlist --<<FOREWORD | NEXT>>
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Sneaking out was one of the best thing that a person could ever do in their life. The fun in lying to your parents and then the thrill of jumping out of your bedroom window only to be chased out by your own dog because he couldn’t recognise your scent and then nearly getting lost in the dark streets of the city was really a fun experience. Everyone should try it.
No, I’m kidding! Never ever try to sneak out unless you have a very good reason too. Why? The answer is simple.
Karma is a BITCH!
“How could he bite me like this?!” I exclaimed, wincing at the pain. “My own fucking dog bit me!”
Yup, you got it right. My own dog just bit the shit out of me. So much for getting him a new dog house.
“Ya! Stop moving. It’s just a small scratch.” A voice whined.
I looked at the tall chick beside me with my famous death glare. How could she call the two large holes on my leg a scratch? Doesn’t she see the amount of blood pouring out of it?
“Stop giving me that look, Yoonmi.” She scoffed, pressing a small cotton ball onto my wound. “You are being dramatic again.”
I pouted. She’s right. I’m being dramatic. I love being dramatic. She knows me so well. After all shes my best friend. My honey sunny bunny.
“Your being mean, Sunny” I squeaked out in fake hurt. Yes, it’s true. The wound on my leg was just a small scratch. But hey, a girl can dream right?
“You are such a baby, Yoonmi.” She scoffed again before placing a small bunny bux bandaid on my precious wound. “Will you ever grow up?”
I smiled.
“Never.”
Apparently that seemed to set her off and next thing I know, I’m being abandoned. I frowned as she threw me an irritated look over her shoulders before leaving me alone to serve her boyfriend of the week.
“Ya! Sunny! Why are you leaving me?!” I called out in protest but the words were lost in the loud music.
I looked longingly at her retreating figure and stared at my covered up wound. Did I say something wrong? I feel so lonely now.
Sunny has always been my only friend. We met when we were in diapers. We stayed together ever since. But now it felt weird around her. I used to have other friends but they all abandoned me when bullying started. Being a teacher’s pet and a top achiever of the school doesn’t really get you a free pass from the bullies. Only being popular does. And I’m not popular. I may have a slim, athletic body with all the curves and long dark brown hair that framed my face perfectly, it still wasn’t enough for me to earn loyal friends. Sunny was the only one who stuck around. But now, things have been a little strained between us. I wonder why?
I looked around the party hall quietly. Everyone was either dancing or getting their ass drunk.
Tonight’s celebration was dedicated to being a successful high school graduate. The ceremony happened in the morning while a secret party was thrown in the night to celebrate the new faze. Considering the party was held at one of the top clubs in the city of Seoul. It was enough for my lovely parents to ban me from going.
Honestly I don’t blame them. I’m still a year shy from 18 while all my peers have already reached the legal age. I’m still a baby.
“Here. Have this.” I looked up to see the handsome bartender that has been giving me free drinks throughout the night. He held two tequila shots for me to grab. I smiled taking the offered drinks. So what if I’m still underaged. The rules are meant to be broken after all.
“Thanks”. I said sweetly, looking up at his handsome face. Its weird how he just kept giving me free drinks tonight. I came out here tonight with the only intention to let loose some of the build up tension over the last few weeks of high school. Exams are harder to deal with when they have the capability of deciding your future.
“Having guy problems?” I heard his husky voice again, snapping me out of my thoughts.
I looked at him up and down. Seizing his body frame from top to bottom. Black pants, open white shirt and flashy toned abs. Yup, he’s a total eye candy.
“Nope.” He was pretty and handsome. But something tells me to stir clear away from his path. “More like friendship problems.” I continued, gulping the shot in one go. Damn, that burned. I took another Shot of the bitter drink and slammed the glass on the counter.
Why does tequila has to burn so much?
“Let me guess, best friend leaving you alone to mingle with other boys?”
“Someone’s been spying on me.” I teased. It’s not really a secret. The boy was literally standing behind me when Sunny decided to ditch me.
“I guess I’m just too observant.”
“No, you’re a spy.” I said, pointing my finger at his face playfully. “Let me guess, CIA?”
“No. That’s American, sweetheart. We’re in Seoul, South Korea.” He chuckled.
“Ah. It’s NIS then. I knew there was something suspicious about you.”
“You’re funny and... weird.”
“Yeah, I guess I am.” I shrugged. People call me many things. I guess being Funny and weird is just a couple of those things.
“You seemed tensed.” I stared at him in confusion. I’m not tensed.
“Maybe I can help you... ” He whispered, sliding a card towards me with a small wink. I looked at the number on the card and gulped. “Yeah I’m pretty fast.”
Oh boy, please tell me he’s not offering himself.
“Think about it. I’ll be here for the rest of the night.” I coughed lightly as his fingers slowly grazed my hand. I felt my cheeks get warm. No-one has ever touched me in that way before. I don’t even know what to say.
“I like funny girls.” He continued before placing a soft kiss on my hand. I shivered at his touch. Ugh, it was not a good feeling. So much for being handsome.
“Haha... thanks for the drinks.” I quickly said, pulling my hand out of his grasp. “Gotta go.” I laughed before making a bee line for the furthest couch away from the bar. Yup, I’m a total coward when it comes to boys.
“What’s the rush, little Lee?”
“Huh?” I said turning around to my right, only to jump back in surprise. There, right infront of me sat my biggest bully of them all. Song Mina.
She was chewing on a piece of gum while her fingers twirled around her bleached blonde hair. Her crystal blue eyes were trained right on me.
I shivered. They were so blue. Just like the bright blue water in a swimming pool.
“Mina.”
“It’s madam Song Mina to you, little Lee.” She retorted.
I scoffed. Madam Song Mina my foot. She may be my bully, but I never let her get an upper hand on me.
“It’s nice to see you’re still in your happy cloud, Mina.” I said, scooting away from her resting figure. Why did I have to choose the same seat as her?
“What a teacher’s pet like you is doing in such a party like this, sweetheart?” The girl sassed with a curve of her lips. I gritted my teeth in anger. True, it was a graduation party but it was filled with students from all over Seoul. Did I mention the party was actually organised by the Song Family? Meaning only the populars were invited. Too bad the Song family hasn’t seen the wealth and riches of the Lee family yet.
“It’s none of your business.” I said before looking away. I hated her for what she did to me during my high school years. And I will continue to hate her until she gives me a good reason to forgive her.
Just then a shorter boy ran up to our seats and looked at Mina in worry.
“Have you found it yet?” I frowned at her question. Found what?
“Yes.” The boy nodded. That’s when I felt Mina stand up in excitement.
“Where?”
The short boy, who looked a year younger than me, pointed towards the bar. I looked around and noticed a small crowd forming behind the counter.
“But Madam Mina, your friend is about to claim it.” Wait, what? Claim what?
“That bitch.” The moment I heard Mina say those words out loud, I knew something bad was gonna happen.
“Come with me!” Mina ordered before storming to the place of commotion. The boy looked at me before shrugging and following Mina like a small kicked puppy.
I was obviously confused. It’s not always that someone manages to piss off Song Mina. There are some selected individuals who can blow her anger off but they are all from lower class. Considering it’s a high profile party, I can only think of one person.
Smiling to myself, I also stood up and followed the fuming girl and the short boy to the Bar counter. My curiosity has reached its peak. There’s no stopping me now.
“Give it back to me. It’s mine!” A deep voice screamed just as I reached the site of commotion.
There were quite a lot of people here. All gathered around in a circle. I could see pointing of fingers and excitement on their faces.
Apparently, a very tall boy was shouting over his lungs at someone. That someone happens to be a very familiar looking girl. He was making moves to grab whatever the girl held in her hands. The only thing stopping him was the herd of boys who had launched themselves at the poor boy.
“Relax, Wo Bin. I just want to know if it’s worth my time or not.” The female spoke, smirking at the boy who tried to claw her face again.
“Krystal.” I quietly whispered to myself. That’s who the female was. The voice was too familiar for me not to recognise. She was one of those neutral peers who would watch a crime happen but wouldn't help to stop it. Why? Simple. Because it has nothing to do with them.
“I found it first. It appeared to me!” The boy shouted, not caring that he was drawing unwanted attention.
I was utterly confused by this scene. Where were the bouncers? With this much screaming going on, security should have been here by now to separate these two. I could only detect few of the students lining around to see the outcome. But everyone else just ignored it as if it was invisible to them. Even that handsome bartender who was looking the other way is oblivious to the small crowd beside him.
“I know. I just want to check.” My brows furrowed in confusion. Check what?
“This is my last warning to you, Krystal. Give that card back to me!”
Wait, a card?
They’re fighting over a card?
I looked at Krystal’s right hand to find a large playing card being twirled around her fingers. I couldn’t see properly but I can guarantee it was bigger than any normal playing card.
“Krystal”. That was Mina. The sudden warning in the tone and the familiar temperature drop was enough for everyone in the circle to shuffle back a bit, allowing Mina to get a front seat view of the whole fight.
I could see another boy beside Mina, who looked viciously at the two fighting duo. He was scaring everyone off. The way his fingers twitched, and his eyes glowing. There was something unnatural about that boy.
“Mina.” As if on instinct, suddenly two people appeared on Krystal’s either side. An older girl and a young boy. Both with the same identical black hair and twin features. Their posture was defensive. It was as if they were there to protect Krystal.
“Is it same card?” I heard Mina ask. A small wicked smile appeared on Krystal’s lips.
“Exactly the same.”
“No!” The tall boy from earlier looked at both of them in fear. His eyes had grown to the size of a saucer. “You can’t! This isn’t fair.”
“Shut up!” Someone else yelled.
“Take him away, please.” Mina sighed as she moved towards Krystal But was stopped by the two twin looking people. They were glaring at her.
“Sorry Mina. First come first serve.” Krystal smiled, rubbing her long nails over the card’s surface.
I tried to hide my smile. Mina was known to be the biggest bully around here. Her only rule was based on first come first serve basis. It’s funny how Krystal used the same tactics back at her.
I could literally see Mina’s face turning cold. I’m so glad I followed her. Seeing Mina rile up like this completed my night of celebration.
“You don’t want uncle to know about this do you?”
At the mention of Krystal’s father, the dark long-haired beauty stiffened. Mina and Krystal are second cousins from their mother’s side. Although, both are from the same family tree, they are nothing like each other. Except maybe the evilness in both of them. Mina was straight forward where as Krystal was more reserved.
I’m so glad I’m the only child in my family. Might have some cousins but they never kept in contact with me for some reason. Oh well, it’s not like I care.
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Oh but I will. And then you can say bye bye to the academy.” Mina threatened.
Academy? Are they really threatening each other over a simple playing card?
I watched as Krystal’s face lost all the colour. Something is definitely up with these two.
In the midst of this, I noticed the tall boy, Wo Bin, had lunged for the card again, scratching Krystal’s hand in the process.
“Yes! I finally got it. I’m its master.” The boy said loudly in glee as he held up the card in his hands. This time I could see the card more clearly. Like any other playing card, it’s one side had a dark wispy black background to it with a shiny silver diamond placed right in the middle. The other side was blank white. But what shocked me was the multiple tears and creases on the card. It was bent from all sides and looked a bit dirty. As if someone has dragged it across a muddy road for days.
I felt a small stab of pain in my chest. Something about that card made my heart ache. It was in a very bad shape and if these people continued to play pull-pull with it, I’m afraid it might not last very long.
“Stop him!”
And just like that a fight started. Before the boy could lift the card up, someone has already snatched it out of his hands and then another pairs of hands grabbed it. I moved back in fear as the whole crowd jumped at the new owner of the card. Even Song Mina.
There was shouts here and there as everyone tried to get access to the card. I didn’t know what to do. The poor thing must have been shredded into pieces by now.
Seeing as there is nothing else interesting about this issue, I started to move away from the area. It was getting too violent for my taste anyway.
But suddenly I felt a gust of wind hit my face. Something large and pointy flew by my face. It landed somewhere near my feet.
I was shocked and startled all at the same time. What the heck was that?
Holding onto my obvious racing heart, I looked at the stupid object which had dared to take my eye out.
It was the card.
The very same card that those idiots are fighting over. I sighed in relief and picked up the offending object.
“Ya! What was that huh? You nearly blinded me.” I scolded the card, noticing how it was darker than before. Am I going crazy for talking to a card?
“The Card! It’s gone!” Someone yelled over the music. I winced at the loud voice.
“Search the place. Find it!” That was Mina. I’m sure of it.
I gulped. The card was in my hands. And there are about 15 or so of them. It was a loosing situation.
So taking a deep breadth, I did the only thing that most people do in situations like this.
I ran.
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thewhumperinwhite · 5 years ago
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Café: Used Car Lot (1)
OkAY this is two parts AGAIN bc everything I write has to be obnoxiously long.
Previous: Teaser 1, Teaser 2, Hospital/Squad Car, Empty Bar
@whumpitywhumpwhump
TW for: hints at Bad Dad Feelings, trauma-induced low self worth.
“You’re crazy,” Sol says conversationally. Just to make sure they’re clear on this.
The rain has turned into an icy, half-solid sleet, and he’s crouched in the alley beside the bar with his head bent against the cold, cutting mess, but he hears Kent sigh and senses rather than sees him roll his eyes.
“I wish you wouldn’t use that word,” Kent says, kind of prissily, as far as Sol’s concerned.
Sol tips his head, considering. “Sorry, I guess. Do you like ‘insane’ better?”
Kent sighs again, sounding put-upon. “I didn’t ask you to come with me.”
“I didn’t say I was,” Sol says, which is true; he hasn’t decided anything yet. “I’m just following you until you can get a ride, that’s all.” Speaking of which, it’s dark, and goddamn cold out here, and the sooner they get moving, the better. Sol readjusts his hands on his weapon and leans around the corner of the building to peer down the street. He doesn’t see anybody moving around, but it’s hard to be sure in all this damn rain.
“I didn’t ask you to do that, either,” Kent says, although of course he hasn’t exactly told Sol not to come, either. 
Sol turns back to raise an eyebrow at him. “You know how to hotwire a car?”
Kent fidgets, his hands shoved deep in his pockets— there was only one pair of gloves in the lost-and-found. “Of course not.”
“Then you should be grateful I’m doing this much. Now stop whining, before I change my mind.
Kent scowls. It might be more effective if he didn’t look so ridiculous. Despite Kent’s protest that it was stealing, Sol had effectively bullied him into looting the closet in the break room, and was pleased to find a perfectly functional, if slightly moth-eaten, black peacoat, and offered it to Kent on the grounds that he would slow the whole operation down by freezing to death in his torn hospital-issue tee. There was a pair of gloves, too, which Kent absolutely refused to take on the grounds that Sol “needed them more”— whatever that means— and Sol pried one of the thick wooden legs off the shitty handmade coffee table. It isn’t exactly classy, but with a little effort he thinks it’ll make a serviceable club, and it feels good to have its weight in his good hand.
He suggested that Kent should take one too, obviously, and the blonde paled visibly under the bruises on his face.
“I don’t want one,” he said firmly, and from the look on his face you’d have thought Sol had suggested he stove his own grandmother’s head in with it.
“It’s for self defense, dumbass. Don’t you wanna be able to protect yourself?” Sol had said, annoyed, and Kent had actually wrinkled his broken nose at him.
“Not like that,” he said, and at this point Sol had more or less stopped arguing with him.
He’s still— kind of uncomfortable about it, though. A little.
When Kent leans around him to look down the street himself, Sol puts out a hand to stop him, and glares.
“Okay,” he says. “I just wanna make sure we’re clear, here.”
Kent sits back on his heels and waits for him to get to the point, crossing his arms. Sol’s frown deepens.
“I ain’t your babysitter. Okay? You do something stupid, I’m not gonna sweep dramatically to your rescue. I’m only going this far because I can’t think of a single better thing to do at the moment. Understand?”
For a second, Sol can’t really read the look on Kent’s face. Then he relaxes into a slightly confused smile, like Sol’s just explained something really obvious and Kent isn’t sure why he bothered. “Yeah. Got it. Are we just gonna sit here all night, or do you have a plan, Fearless Leader?”
Sol stares at him. Either Kent Graves is the biggest goddamn fool he’s ever met, or Sol just doesn’t understand him at all. Or both, he guesses.
It’s probably both.
“Okay,” Sol says, turning back to squint down the street. “I don’t see anybody movin’ around out there, do you?”
Kent shakes his head. “No, nothing. You, ah— you do have a plan, right?”
Sol shoots him an irritated look. “Of course I have a plan. There’s a place at the end of this street that sells used cars, so there should be plenty to choose from that are still in good shape. And,” he says, heading off Kent’s slightly guilty look before the blonde can whine about stealing, which sounds like the sort of thing he’d do, “they don’t really belong to anybody yet, so it’s not like we’re depriving anybody else of their transportation. Okay, your sainted highness?”
Kent rolls his eyes at that, but he does look somewhat mollified.
Squaring his shoulders— he’s not scared, but there’s nothing wrong with being a little nervous, that’s just basic survival instincts— Sol straightens and slips around the corner of the building, sticking close to the wall. If there is anybody out there, he wants to be sure he sees them before they see him.
“Okay,” he whispers over his shoulder. “I think it’s clear. Let’s go.” He scampers off down the street, ducking into alleys and storefronts to make his path less linear. He doesn’t look behind him to see if Kent is following; if he isn’t he can escort his goddamn self.
He’s focusing on running as quietly as possible, and scanning the street with alert suspicion when he stops— and listening to the splash of Kent’s footsteps behind him; the kid moves with a certain grace, but not a lot of quiet, apparently— when Kent takes the opportunity of one of his momentary stops to pant in a low voice against his ear, “C— Can I ask you a question— Sol?”
Sol pauses his scan of the street to look back over his shoulder. “What— now?” he asks, kind of incredulously. He can tell Kent is out of breath just by standing near him.
“I-if that’s alright,” Kent wheezes uncertainly. “I mean you don’t— have to answer if you don’t— want to. It’s just— “ He gasps, one hand hovering at the level of his chest, “J-just that my— ribs sort of hurt, and I was wondering if you might— ah— distract me?”
With a flash of hastily-repressed guilt, Sol realizes he hasn’t been thinking of Kent��s injuries at all, though god knows he hasn’t been permitted to forget about his own. Unwillingly, he thinks again about the fact that Kent carried him away from the wreck site. He glares straight ahead and wills the momentary shame-flush out of his cheeks. “I guess. What’s your question?”
“Why do you— know how to— hotwire cars?” Kent pants?
Sol winces. “Uh,” he says uncertainly. “Well.”
Sol leads another dash to the next storefront down to give himself time for internal debate. His immediate instinct is to snap that it’s none of Kent’s goddamn business, but he guesses that isn’t exactly— fair. Entirely. And. Well. Kent told him about his— fiancé. Or whatever.
Trying to relax, he focuses on the sound of his feet against the sidewalk, and the sound of Kent’s labored breathing from behind him. And it isn’t that much further until they reach the car lot and he’ll have an excuse to stop talking.
“I, uh, well— I taught myself, a long time ago. So I could, uh, steal my dad’s car.” He almost wishes he was more out of breath, but Sol’s been sure to keep himself in good shape, so he doesn’t even have that excuse. He licks his lips and shakes his dripping bangs out of his eyes, trying to think how to go on. 
“Oh,” Kent puffs, surprising him. “Okay.”
“Okay?” Sol risks a glance over his shoulder, and immediately trips over a bit of uneven sidewalk. “Whaddaya mean, ‘okay’?” 
Kent tries to shrug, winces. “Okay. I— get that. You don’t have to say anything more.”
Sol slows for a second, looking at Kent over his shoulder. He’s torn between annoyance at the very idea that Kent ‘gets’ anything about him— and the sneaking suspicion that he actually might.
He almost runs into the big metal sign outside of the car lot, in other words.
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lgbtloudhouse · 7 years ago
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The fall of Lgbtloudhouse. A Story based on real events. An au of reality.
Depression. It wasn’t as bad as it seemed, for a certain young girl… at least not in their eyes… Celeste B was a normal fangirl. She would laugh and cry over things people called “for kids”.. Well, it was for kids! And she still was a kid, so she enjoyed the things she liked to do. Drawing, editing, watching The Loud House and obsessing over the characters. She loved the show and it was one of her favorite things to watch. She would make connections with them and pick out things about them that she would relate to. “Ok, come on, Luan is gay as hell and y'all know it.” She said to no one in particular, but just thinking out loud. She would just browse tumblr looking at some of her favorite blogs and the ones she makes friends with. They were one of the reasons she lift her head up and smiled. Until one day. Let’s just say to summarize it, she was mentally unstable and ill. She took meds for it, but she still had her moments. Her weaknesses. Her downfalls. It turned dark.
Celeste was scrolling through one day and came across something disturbing. People were calling her out. She looked closer, confused and worried. “Its just a drawing, get over it!” “Wow, I can’t believe some little kid is getting triggered over a simple drawing. Jump only drew an oc!” “Lmao damn sjw’s crying again kys”
“W-what.??” Celeste felt something hit her heart. Was this really happening? /oh.. well, it’s nothing. I’m pretty sure it’s just some trolls…/ But she’ll come soon to know that it was more than just trolls she was dealing with.
-some while later- Celeste was doing well. Drawing random lil things here and there. Going on tumblr was hard, but she still loved it. …..
“Oh.. oh my GOD!!!” Celeste put her hand over her mouth in fear. What is this… this… thing she’s looking at? “Did.. they… they… drew PORN of me???” She was shaking, trying not to cry. She needed to talk to someone about this.
Her friends. The safe squad.
She opened up her messages.
Lgbtloudhouse: Queenie! I.. I found something, it’s very very disturbing.. QB: what is it? *lgbtloudhouse sent a link* QB: oh my lord.. These trashies don’t know when yo stop. I can’t believe they’d stoop to such a low level. I’ll handle it. For now, block aval0nx and report it. Lgbtloudhouse: ok..
Celeste was sitting in her room, just trying to ignore everything. Why would someone so such a thing to a mentally ill teenager who only wanted some peace? She sighed, and went to bed.
-some days later-
Celeste had a huge headache. Dealing with internet creeps was not going well for her. She tried to ignore it, but each time she would make it feel bad about herself. She still couldn’t believe what happened. She just wanted a break, but she couldn’t.. She didn’t know why, or what was holding her back, but she knew it wasn’t good.
/time to see what’s going on again../ she thought.
“You are worse than cancer. You are incurable, never go away, and torments people for the rest of there life’s to the point where you want to kill yourself. I don’t think I need to explain why for both points.”
“Let’s see lgbtloudhouse use those insults later when she isn’t some snobby kid whos parents probably buy her everything she wants, she thinks the whole world has to bow to her just because she thinks we should. Lgbtloudhouse is just a spoiled brat. You can practically smell the friendlessness and bitch from that kid.”
“Lgbtloudhouse is a cunt.”
“She must be a real dumbass cunt if she thought she won. I will use the word strongly. Dumbass cunt.”
“Queenie is just using lgbtloudhouse. Like a tool. She doesnt care about her feelings”
“We may like fictional incest but for the love of God act better than lgbtloudhouse and safehouse!”
“New comic. Page 1/10. Chapter one: a "Celestial” being.“
/NO…/
/OH MY.. GOD…/
Celeste could not believe what she was seeing. Her mind felt like it was crumbling apart trying to stay stable.
/leave. I’m gonna leave./ she thought.
Upon finding more chaos.. she decided to take a break.
Until one day.
A fellow friend of hers decided to message her to inform her on what has happened. Something that she’d never seen before. Let’s call this guy, "Lines”. No shade or anything negative to Lines. But Celeste discovered something horrific that shook her to the core. He sent her some photos in warning to her.
“There’s something I found online.. and i think you need to see this..”
“Sure, what is it?”
*Lines sent a photo*
“Do the world a favor, and do the n— jig off the nearest tree.” One photo showed a Celeste glancing at a rope along with a Clyde dangling on a tree, dead, in the background. Sucide baiting. Something inside of Celeste broke. She couldn’t feel anything anymore.
“Also…”
*Lines sent a photo*
This is when the worst happened.
Celeste. Her being violated, drawn pornography of her and Lincoln was showed on her phone. Uncensored. With Lynn and Lars, loud house canon genderbents, watching and getting off in the front.
Celeste dropped her phone. Her family was out. She began to shake. Cry. Scream. Tear at her skin. Sobbing and crying hysterically, couldn’t take it anymore. She ran to the kitchen. Threw open the drawer. Grabbed the biggest knife she could find.
She tearfully ran back into her room. She turned off the lights and closed her curtains.
But grabbed a pencil and some paper and began writing.
Dear family,
Let me just explain why you are in this unfortunate situation. As you know, I love the loud house and I began to go on a site called tumblr. I found many sweet and lovely friends on there. Let me just give out their names because I really want my beautiful friends to thrive through this horrible time. They are: queenbean03, fangirl20, brighteronthesunnyside, adh2d, vanillafrappelatte, transfairycosmo, loud-siblings-against-loudcest, thebigcrunchone9, asknightvaleandgravityfalls, underratedhero, phandomtrashnumerouno, spectrumbunny, skwhy, sourbetes, thecyancat, summeroverdrive, hadenohade, kirby-universe, doctorgalaxy101, wonderingaboutwander, lifeismarvelous, tamamajasper, animatedtrash4, Adrianacartoonfangirl, and many other beautiful souls and friends. I’m so sorry this happned. I was going through tumblr and I started to get bullied. First it was insults, then name calling, then death and suicide threats, then drawn porn of me. Tell Caleb (my brother, 6), Ariel (sis, 5), grandma, and the family and my friends that I love them. I love you guys so much, but I can’t take this anymore. Love, Celeste.
She raised the knife over herself. And.. *thump*.
“Celeste! We’re home!” Celeste’s mother Jennifer called out. They brought home cheese pizza, which they knew she loved. They also noticed that she hasn’t been coming out of her room lately and looked noticeably sad. They got some pizza to make her happy again.
“Hmmm. Why are all the lights off?”
Celeste’s dad, Rich, shrugged.
“Maybe she wanted some dark.”
“Yeah, but all of them?”
“Yeah that’s weird. Caleb, go wake up your sister.”
“Okay!!!” Caleb was Celeste’s little brother. He can be a handful, but he’s still her brother. He, like his sister, has autism, adhh, ocd, and is in general very hyper but still loving.
He ran to her door and opened it.
She was laying on the floor.
Caleb ran out to tell their mom.
“Mom, Celeste is sleeping on the floor!”
Jennifer laughed. “You’re so silly Caleb. I’ll go get her.”
She walked over to her door. And screamed.
Laying on the floor, was her daughter Celeste. Dead.
“What the???!?!
She looked closer.. and gasped.
A knife was in her head.
She then saw, this was self-inflicted. Suicide.
-month later-
It was a dark and depressing day in South Carolina. Raindrops covered the graveyard like grass covering land. Despite it being summer everyone felt a chill inside their hearts.
"We are gathered here today to mourn the loss of daughter Celeste B. She was a wonderful spirit and lovely girl. But then the harsh pain of evil came over her in despair. May we all come together and this heavenly soul rest in peace. And may the world have peace in future cyberbullying to stop. And for acts of hate against this lady and other victims of cyberbullying to decrease quickly. Amen.”
It was a shame. Love will be found in all the right places. May we come together and figure out that what you say can have a impact on someone’s life. I am glad I never killed myself. I am strong but weak. Beautiful yet fragile. Loving yet fearless. Now what would you react if this actually happned and I did commit sucide? Love yourself and choose your ways carefully. Love eachother and find peace. I am strong for staying. Don’t give up for light or life. You are loved, my love.
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shivanibasran · 8 years ago
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Youtube and the LGBTQ+ Community
In light of recent events, with youtube and LGBTQ+ videos being restricted on youtube, I thought that I should make some comments about it, being a member of the LGBTQ+ community, and being a 16 year old content creator on Youtube. This may be a long read so, if you would like to carry on reading this, then carry on under the cut.
It should come as no shock to you that youtube has been a big part of my life for a while now. When I first got ill back in 2013, I was extremely limited in activities I could participate in, I wasn’t able to play football(soccer), and I wasn’t really allowed to go out a lot, with the fear that, if I push my heart too much, I may collapse and possibly die. It was at this point when I really turned to Youtube. I had been watching youtube videos for years obviously, but I never really explored youtube and looked for content to watch, rather I watched videos that were recommended to me by my friends. This is when I started finding content myself, found creators who I liked watching, and finally made an account to subscribe to these people.
It was the following year that I started to question my sexuality, who I was, what I liked. This was honest to god the most terrifying experience of my life, I’m sure some of you reading this can understand the fear that comes with wondering if you’re not straight or cis-gender. As a 14 year old kid, I was crippled with fear over this discovery, having these thoughts in your mind that you may not be straight, that if it’s true, then your friends may reject you, your peers at school may bully you into submission...that your family may reject you, and possibly disown you....I didn’t really have anyone to talk to about this, I didn’t really know where to go, what to look for, it’s not like this thing is talked in school, or at home, it’s not shown in TV shows much or in movies at all. Here’s where youtube comes in.
I decided to watch youtube to try and forget about all that, to just drown out all of the thoughts in my head. And then I discovered Hannah Hart. At this point, I wasn’t really subscribed to anyone, I just mainly watched a lot of Smosh videos. I stumbled upon one of Hannah’s videos, in which she talks about her clothing choices. I’m someone who wears men’s clothing as I find that i’m much more comfortable wearing mens stuff than women's, and I liked to have my hair shorter rather than long, and I used to get questioned about that a lot from my friends and family, I still do (except I don’t really hang out with those friends anymore), which pisses me off so much. So to find someone on the internet with a large following of people, talking about how it’s ok to wear mens clothing, and have short hair, was honestly a life-changing moment for me. Then to find out that she’s gay as well, it was honestly a moment of hope for me. That if I am what I think I am, i still have a chance to live a normal life, and to be happy.
I watched her coming out series on her secondary channel, and then found all of these other coming out videos through her, I found Tyler Oakley through her, I found Troye Sivan through her, I found this whole community of people who loved and accepted these group of people for being something which society didn’t deem ‘normal’ or ‘right’. And that gave me a whole lot of hope. I came out that year at school, and i have never felt more happier than i do, being able to be myself with my peers. And the best part is that everyone was so supportive, no one bullied me or yelled slurs at me or anything. 
So to hear that Youtube’s restricted mode is blocking any sort of LGBTQ+ content on their site is honestly heartbreaking, and is something which needs to be fixed.
The LGBTQ+ community is one of the biggest communities I have ever witnessed on youtube, a lot of creators are people who identify as part of this community, it’s where kids who are questioning their sexuality/gender turn to to look for help or support. By hiding these sorts of videos in restricted mode, it’s telling these kids that they aren’t normal, that they’re wrong, that they are harmful.
I decided to check it out quickly and see if any of the LGBTQ+ youtubers I follow come up if I search them, and it was honestly shocking.
I searched a few LGBTQ+ youtubers in the search bar in restricted mode, and not only did some of their videos come up, their channels didn’t even come up.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
I thought I’d also show a little comparison. I’m gonna show two pictures from Ally Hills videos page on her channel, who is also openly gay. The first picture is with restricted mode ‘on’, the second picture is with restricted mode ‘off’
Tumblr media Tumblr media
you can see a difference in the amount of videos shown.
I don’t really have the energy to keep writing right now, but I just hope youtube have the brains to realise the problem with their website, and that they actually try to fix this. We just have to keep making enough noise to show them what they’re doing wrong. 
Please youtube, fix this, we need you to turn to, don’t block us out too
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marilynngmesalo · 6 years ago
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Justin Gaethje KOs Edson Barboza in lightweight bout at UFC Philly
Justin Gaethje KOs Edson Barboza in lightweight bout at UFC Philly Justin Gaethje KOs Edson Barboza in lightweight bout at UFC Philly https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
PHILADELPHIA — Justin Gaethje needed one brutal blow to show why he’s called “The Highlight” and stamp himself a championship contender.
Gaethje knocked out Edson Barboza in one of the more electric first-round finishes in recent UFC history to win a pivotal lightweight bout on Saturday night. Gaethje (20-2) was the crowd favourite and had 10,000 fans going wild from the moment he his entrance music hit the Wells Fargo Center. He turned into the biggest Broad Street Bully of the season and had the crowd chanting “Gaethje! Gaethje!” throughout the 155-pound main event bout.
Well, for as long as it lasted.
“You will regret not seeing me fight live,” Gaethje said. “I’m sorry it was so short .”
Gaethje and Barboza exchanged a flurry of blows that brought some life to a listless crowd and had them on their feet. Gaethje ended the brawl when he connected on a stiff right that floored Barboza and was worth the price of admission. Gaethje rushed Barboza but was quickly waved off by the referee and declared the winner. He performed a backflip off the top of the octagon and then draped himself in the American flag and sat on the top of the opposite side of the cage.
Barboza (20-7) pandered to the crowd by walking out to the Rocky theme “Gonna Fly Now” and still had them booing Philly sports’ unofficial anthem.
Gaethje won for the second straight time and said he was ready to fight lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
“I want to be the world champion,” he said. “I want to fight Khabib. I think I’m one of the biggest threats to his title.”
Gaethje added to his reputation as one of UFC’s most exciting fighters after making quick work of Barboza.
“That was well done all the way through. Congratulations Justin ,” former UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor tweeted.
This marked the third time UFC held an event in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center. UFC ran most of its East Coast shows in New Jersey until an MMA ban was lifted in New York in 2016. The promotion now holds its biggest cards at Madison Square Garden or Barclays Center. Philadelphia hadn’t been the site of a card since UFC 133 in August 2011, and the promotion’s only other show was UFC 101 in August 2009 .
Michelle Waterson defeated Karolina Kowalkeiwicz by unanimous decision in a 115-pound fight on the ESPN card.
Waterson had the Philly crowd on her side from the moment she walked to the octagon and delivered a punishing performance in each round. She locked Kowalkeiwicz in an armbar toward the end of the second round that had the crowd going wild and frothing for a potential tapout. The 33-year-old Waterson scored another takedown in the third and connected on a stiff elbow to Kowalkeiwicz’s head with 45 seconds left to seal the decisive 30-27 victory.
“I was really looking to take her down, but she was a lot better than I anticipated,” Waterson said. “She’s ranked top-six in the world for a reason. As the fight went on, I think she was getting frustrated because every time she was coming in, I was catching her.”
Waterson’s young daughter climbed inside the cage to celebrate with mom and the crowd ate it up. Waterson calls herself “The Karate Hottie” and there’s no doubt she’s on fire right now. She reeled off her third straight win to put her back in the thick of the championship hunt.
Kowalkeiwicz had called Waterson her idol and knew she’d have to dig deep to bury her personal feelings to score the win of her career. But the upbeat Waterson, who is one of the more likable fighters in UFC, took another step toward becoming a mother and an MMA champ .
“I don’t know who I want next, but someone in the top five,” she said. “I want someone that’s going to get me closer to the gold.”
The card was loaded with fighters who all made the tourist stop at the Rocky Balboa statue at the base of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. They posted videos on social media of their arms raised in triumph like Rocky or running the steps like Philly’s favourite fictional fighter. A die-hard fan of the inspirational saga, Barboza was struck by emotion in his trip and texted photos to his father in Brazil.
Paul Craig, who defeated Kennedy Nzechukwu via third-round submission on the second fight of the main card, got some laughs when he did his best Rocky impression : “Yo, Adrian, we did it baby!”
UFC 101 in 2009 packed 17,500 fans into the arena for a $3.55 million gate, but interest and ticket sales lagged 10 years later in large part because of a lacklustre card. Philly fans about booed Josh Emmett and Michael Johnson out of the arena in a fight where action stalled until Emmett’s dramatic KO for the win and it was clear the hardest hit of the day in the sports complex came instead from Phillies slugger Bryce Harper’s 465-foot home run . UFC drew 11,123 fans for a $1.1 million gate on Saturday night.
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