#legitimately every person who actually believes in the way of the worlds is told not to follow anything blindly

[vziii]

I’ve also read a lot of people discuss about, in the same line of colonizers just NOT understanding that people can just do things out of their own free will and innate desires,

Just… are not? Doing something? Because of payment? Or endorsement?

Like, mates, please stop projecting how your nose only likes the smell of money onto everyone else.

I love how a lot of israeli rhetoric from what I’ve seen is like

*suggest extremely dehumanising thing about palestinians*

Other Zionists: “Hamas won’t let them!” or anything about how Hamas is an obstacle to this thing they’ve suggested

like lol maybe palestinians have the free will to make decisions for themselves to not want to engage in this dehumanising thing, not like it was a serious suggestion on the Zionist’s part either but it’s v telling on how they see palestinians

[sprites4ever]

Since I'm A Solution-Oriented Person, Instead Of Crying, Here's What I'll I Advise Every American And Everyone Else, Who Wants To Hear It

GET TOGETHER AND STAY TOGETHER

The Right and Fascists thrive on division of their opposition. Don't preocuppy yourself with infighting.

You never wanted politics to be a fight, but they've made it one. So remember who your enemies are, and what people can achieve when they have a common threat.

If you're in a red state and are fearing for the life and well-being of you and/or people you know, GET OUT NOW. You have a month until inauguration, so, if you can't leave the country, move to a blue state.

While it is, of course, no guarantee for safety against the MAGA cult, the comparatively limited power of the US federal government over citizens and state governments should buy you some time to prepare for a Trump Nazi Regime and/or WWIII or a second US Civil War.

DON'T DENY THE ELECTION RESULT

I know it's comfortable to think that most Americans wouldn't be so insane to re-elect Trump, but that's not true. The race was pretty much 50/50 and winning over the battleground states put Trump over the edge. There's also the fact that, while a ~65% voter turnout is pretty good for a democratic country, that still means that half of eligible American voters did not vote. So, whatever their ideals are, they did not participate in the choice that impacts them, every other American and, due to the US' status, the rest of the world.

Remember, Hitler too was democratically elected. None of the reasons with which Hitler and Trump convinced voters are real things, but still, those voters believed them and made their choice. May they shamefully rot in the worst pages of future history books, but they made their choice.

This is the inherent risk of democracy: That people can always choose to ruin it.

I'M NOT GOING TO MINCE WORDS:

CORRECTION: I previously claimed that the voter turnout was ~50%, when, in reality, it was around 65%. This is strong for a genuine democracy (fake democracies can obviously force people to vote at gunpoint, or just make up voter statistics), but this still means that a third of the country did not vote and that Trump was elected by a third of the country, not even 50% of the population. By that logic, any election with a voter turnout below 100% would not represent the genuine majority, but you get my point. The reality is that both a lot of American non-voters and Trump voters live in rural areas where the rest of the world, outside their community, might as well not exist. So, of course, they can, for example, take Trump's word on the LGBTQ+ community, because they know so little about the world that they can be told anything and also won't vote responsibly, as, if, for example, there's no LGBTQ+ person in their community, they have no way of knowing what these people, their issues and the threats they face actually are like. A lot of voters also don't care about politics and just vote for the guy everyone else is voting for, or the guy who's face they like better. (I'm not making this up, people from multiple countries have legitimately stated that they vote based on politician hotness.) It's strange, because this type of rural unknowingness is usually typical for countries that are undeveloped and autocratic, so one wouldn't expect it from the richest country where the elections define so much. I guess it's the US' federal system and libertarian economy that have led to this extreme compartmentalization of society, where communities are essentially as different from each other as Stone Age-villages.

WITH TRUMP RE-ELECTED, DEPENDING ON HIS CHOICES, THERE WILL BE WORLD WAR III OR A SECOND AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

I'm not paranoid for saying this, as former US Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Mark Milley, who served two years under Trump and Biden, has stated in an interview with The Atlantic that he and others had to stop Trump from launching nuclear missiles at North Korea multiple times in 2018.

ON A POTENTIAL WORLD WAR III

WWIII means a nuclear holocaust, meaning hundreds of millions of deaths around the entire world within half an hour of the war turning nuclear and billions of deaths in the years following, no way around it.

Cities and areas near government and military instalations in nuclear-armed countries (USA, russia, China, Israel, Iran, India, Pakistan, North Korea, United Kingdom and France) will be most affected, but that doesn't mean those will be the only places to be nuked or affected.

Decades of many nations' strategists' deliberations during the Cold War, the period of tension between the US-led NATO and Soviet russian-led Warsaw Pact after the end of WWII in 1945, which in and for itself ended with the collapse of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991, came to the same conclusion - If another World War occurs, it will be nuclear and it will be global. It can't even really be called a war, as the world's nuclear powers have had the capacity to annihilate each other's militaries and economies within half an hour ever since 1950.

Since then, WWIII hasn't happened due to powerful people being aware of this and due to multiple courageous individuals who chose right in close calls. For example, President Kennedy maintained a cool head during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, during which, for the uninitiated, NATO and the USSR got extremely close to a nuclear war, as they both deployed nuclear missiles right at each others' doorsteps. In that crisis, too, Soviet Naval Officer Vasili Arkhipov prevented his submarine from launching nuclear weapons at the US when the submarine lost contact with Moscow and other officers thought a nuclear war had started and Moscow had been destroyed. In 1983, when the Soviet Politburo had become so paranoid that they believed their own propaganda about an impending attack by NATO, their nuclear forces were on such high alert that a malfunctioning Soviet spy satellite sending a false alarm about an American nuclear launch nearly caused them to launch in what they thought would be retaliation. At that time, the Soviet Command Officer Stanislav Petrov however figured that the computer at his base, which displayed the warning and which had been installed just the day before, was malfunctioning and chose not to relay the alarm to the rest of Soviet command.

Now, much misinformation has been spread around atomic energy and nuclear weapons. Here's the reality about nukes:

Almost all of the aforementioned nuclear powers have the capacity to launch a nuke at any target in the world within minutes, as nuclear missiles, especially Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) can reach insane hypersonic speeds, faster than anything that could shoot them down before the nuclear warheads start the detonation sequence.

While we're talking about the US, the aforementioned decades of deliberation have concluded that is impossible for any country to fire a nuke without it soon turning into a war between all nuclear powers with their nukes. Nukes are just too destructive for decision-makers to not panic in that event.

The currently existing nukes are spread as follows:

USA: ~5500 nuclear warheads total, how many of those are ready-to-launch is classified, launch means are silo-launched Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles with Multiple Independent Reentry Vehicle (MIRV) warheads (meaning one missile can drop nukes on multiple targets), Intermediate-Range Ballistic Missiles (IRBMs), Short-Range Ballistic Missiles (SRBMs), Ground-, Air- and Sea-launched Cruise Missiles, Air-dropped bombs, Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missiles (SLBMs) with MIRV warheads

russia: ~6000 nuclear warheads total, readiness same as above, launch means are silo- and truck-launched ICBMs with MIRV warheads, IRBMs, SRBMs, Ground-, Air- and Sea-launched Cruise Missiles, Air-dropped bombs, SLBMs with MIRV warheads

China: ~250 nuclear warheads total, readiness same as above, launch means are ICBMs, cruise missiles and SLBMs

Israel: ~100 nuclear warheads total, readiness same as above, launch means are cruise missiles and SLBMs

India: ~100 nuclear warheads total, readiness same as above, launch means are ICBMs, cruise missiles and SLBMs

Pakistan: ~100 nuclear warheads total, readiness same as above, launch means unknown

United Kingdom: ~200 nuclear warheads total, readiness same as above, launch means are cruise missiles and SLBMs

France: ~100 nuclear warheads total, readiness same as above, launch means are cruise missiles and SLBMs

Iran: Does officially not have nuclear weapons, can factually assemble some nuclear warheads within weeks, launch means unknown

North Korea: Official number of nuclear warheads classified, most likely ~30, readiness unknown, launch means are ICBMs, IRBMs, SRBMs and cruise missiles

Nukes cause unrivaled destruction over tens of kilometers with their explosion, emit a flash of Gamma radiation in the moment of their explosion, cause massive shockwaves and fires, can blind people with the brightness of the flash of Gamma radiation and cause long-lasting contamination with dangerous radiation via fallout.

Gamma radiation caused by the initial nuclear fission of a nuke last extremely short. This radiation is quickly lethal, but so fast that is gone within milliseconds. Anyone too close to the source will, however, be hit by so much of said radiation, that they will get extreme Accute Radiation Syndrome (ARS), also known as radiation poisoning, and die within hours, as Gamma radiation is so strong that, in high enough concentration, it passes through the human body and rips out the electrons from the atoms which cellular tissue is made of, degrading them to Ions. (Hence the term 'Ionizing Radiation')

Ions, unlike atoms, are way less stable, meaning that cellular tissue that has been ionized can't uphold itself and falls apart.

The other type of ionizing radiation from nuclear bombs, Neutron radiation, works the same way, but lasts much longer than Gamma radiation. Unlike Gamma radiation, it sticks to most materials, causing them to give off Neutron radiation for years. This is the radiation hazard that comes from fallout. Fallout is the soot kicked up by the explosion, which originates from everything it pulverized. The immense heat causes it to first be carried upwards, forming the characteristic mushroom cloud, before the air cools and allows the now irradiated soot to fall out (hence the name) and back onto the ground. It is affected by wind and weather.

To avoid both types of radiation, the first factor is distance. Any amount of radiation still consists of individual particles that race through the cosmos, so the further away you are from the source, the less likely for its rays to hit you, as they travel in a straight line.

The second factor is cover. Like everything else, ionizing rays can get through certain things and can't get through others. Gamma rays get through everything with a lower density than multiple centimeters of lead and Neutron rays get through anything with a lower density than multiple meters of concrete. So, being underground or in the center of extremely thick buildings, as well as having resources necessary for survival, is key to surviving radiation after a nuke explodes.

The third factor is time. The human body can withstand different levels of radiation for different amounts of time. The easiest way to figure out how long you can stay exposed to how much, is with a dosimeter.

SO, YES, I AM TELLING YOU TO START DOOMSDAY PREPPING

The essentials, of which you should amass a stock that will last you multiple years in a secure location:

Non-perishable canned food

ABSURD amounts of drinking water

Distilled water for hygiene

Nonperishable Grain-based food

Long-lasting milk

Dried fruit and nuts

Eggs

Flour

Sugar

Honey

Salt

Black pepper (hurts like hell, but can be used as a coagulant to stop wounds from bleeding)

Paper towels

Trash bags

Hygiene gloves

Breathing masks

As much replacement clothing, especially outdoors and warm clothing, as you can get

Water treatment tools

Camping cooking equipment

Easily useable heat sources

Tools (Wrench, File, Screwdriver, Crowbar, Fire extinguisher, Knives, Compass, Hammer, Shovel, Pickaxe)

Physical maps

Hand crank-powered radio

Many spare batteries

Many spare rechargeable batteries

Battery charger

Means of power generation (hand crank, solar)

Flashlight

Radio phone

Backpacks

All the medicines you need

Bandages

Hygiene products

Antibiotics

Medicines against cold

Medicines against diarrhea

Disinfectant

Pastes against insect bites

Pastes against sunburn

Soap

Dosimeter

Geiger counter

Hazardous enviroments clothing

Helmets

Gloves

Cups

Buckets

Canisters for water

History books

Important works

A laptop

A smartphone

A camera (don't need it if you have a smartphone)

Print out important documents on put them in a folder

Analog data storage

Physical data storage (hard drives, flash drives, CDs, SD cards)

Devices to read data storage

Means for self-defense

Emergency plans with people you know

Similarly, a second American Civil War would also need Americans to prepare, in order to survive.

IF YOU LIVE ANYWHERE THAT'S NOT THE US, YOU WILL BE AFFECTED, TOO

Don't think the US are far enough away. Of course, the aforementioned nuclear war would affect you, but a second American Civil War and just Trump being re-elected will, too.

Even without WWIII or a second American Civil War, it's pretty clear that:

In Europe, this will invigorate the similar far-Right movements to bring about similar destructive changes as those Trump wants.

Trump will most likely abandon Ukraine like Afghanistan, meaning russia taking it over and attacking Western European countries afterward. Trump is completely on Putin's side and will also destroy NATO, meaning all of the US' allies, including those in Europe, will be abandoned. I live in Germany, which is seeing a rise in popularity by the far-Right AfD party, and which does not have the military means to defend itself against russian expansionism without the US.

With russia's war against Ukraine, China will feel invigorated to annex Taiwan, and just like with Ukraine, nationalist and authoritarian Trump will not do anything to stop it.

South Korea could be abandoned in the face of North Korea.

Trump will continue to support Israel in the Western Right's extremely hypocritical manner, most likely ordering more US military action in the Middle East.

ULTIMATELY, GIVE THEM THE FIGHT THEY WANT

I know that we liberals, progressives, people who don't care about politics and just want to build their own life and even former conservatives who deemed far-Righters like Trump too radical, never wanted a fight. We never wanted to fight for our values in Western society, against the values of those who demonize us. We were always ready to coexist with them, if only each side kept to themselves with living out its values and didn't impair the other.

But the far-Right fascists and religious zealots, with their leaders who don't mean a word of what they say and say anything they want to get power, have made this a fight. By electing a US President who promised to destroy democracy, eliminate women's and LGBTQ+ rights, oppress non-white ethnicities, censor media, give churches and capitalists unprecedented power and abandon all allied nations, the far-Right has declared war on everyone and everything that's true, moral or even just acceptable. Let's remember that they hate diversity, and that we are from many more groups and walks of life than them. Let's use this to our advantage and show to the fascists what happens when you give different people a common enemy.

[stillness-in-green]

sorry, didn't see the answer until today. thank you for that but I mean proving AFO wrong that Tenko is filled with hatred and destroying and no one can accept him. we know thats a lie now but Tenko still dies?

Hey again, anon. So, I went back and tried to fit this follow-up context into your original ask—answered here for anyone who wants to look over it again.  My initial answer was based on you meaning that AFO should have been “proven wrong” in his assertions about human frailty and how, once someone has been rejected by society and become a Villain, there’s no way for them to come back.  Reconsidering your issue (that Deku killing Shigaraki doesn’t prove AFO wrong) with the knowledge that what you meant was him saying Shigaraki is only capable of hating and destroying things…

I guess in the end I don’t think the story believes AFO is wrong about that either? I mean, obviously he was, back when he first told those words to at-the-time-still-Tenko. But now? Not so much, at least in the author's eyes.

Below, if you want to subject yourself to my reasoning again, you can follow along as I talk myself through getting to that quite jaded conclusion.  My apologies if I misunderstand or misrepresent you again anywhere along the way!  Admittedly, based on my experience with the fandom and what names we choose to use in talking about the characters, I suspect we’re coming at them from radically different positions, but my position is the one I’ve got to offer you. Please know that, to whatever extent we might disagree on how much "Shigaraki Tomura" was ever a legitimate persona, we are united in our opinion that Deku should have done more for him if the story was serious about him being the Greatest Hero.

......

So, okay, the biggest issue with asserting that Shigaraki has any kind of moral core or personality independent of his AFO-instilled hatred/destructiveness is that the best arguments for it all revolve around the League and how Shigaraki wants to be their “Hero,” how that’s contiguous with his personality even from when he was “Tenko” because both fit a pattern of reaching out to the outcasts that everyone else around them ignores or mistreats.

I believed that too!  I still do, in fact!  I want to be clear that I think Shigaraki still has legitimate grievances and that his desire to make a world in which Villains will be happier is still, in its own way, noble and true!

But.

But that glorious spread where Tomura says that even if every bit of his hatred is smashed, he’ll still keep going because he has to be a Hero for the Villains that need him?  That spread comes before the montage showing AFO’s involvement in the Shimuras’ lives from before Tenko was even born.  And part of that montage is the absolutely buffoonish reveal that AFO even influenced Tenko’s sense of heroism by leaning on Tomo and Mikkun (the aforementioned outcasts) to encourage him to be a Hero.  I tend to assume that the two of them were from one of Ujiko’s orphanages—I can’t imagine how else AFO would be in a position to give two random children direct orders!—but whatever the case, it means that even Tenko’s draw towards standing up for outcasts is something influenced by All For One.

If you take that away, what else is left?  I could pick a few little traits here and there, but ultimately, what Shigaraki comes back to in the end, in that very last conversation with Deku in the shared mindspace, is destruction.  He pursued it to the end, his last expressed regret is that he couldn’t carry it out, and his final messages to ally and enemy alike revolve around the destruction he sought—telling Spinner he died fighting for it and telling Deku that it’s up to him and his whether any of what he destroyed actually stays destroyed.

To me, that suggests that the manga does believe that Shigaraki Tomura was, ultimately, an existence that could only destroy, and the fact that some of what he targeted deserved to be destroyed doesn’t negate the fact that he was still ultimately defined by the destructiveness that AFO meticulously crafted him to embody.  Even Deku seems to think that, in the end!

Like, really working through the timeline here?  Deku did want to believe that the Crying Child indicated that Shigaraki had some drive other than destructiveness at his core.  One of the (vanishingly rare) times he actually spoke to Shigaraki during their fight was his refutation of Shigaraki’s claims that he’d successfully devoured The Crying Child and thus transcended his humanity.

Running on the desperate certainty that Shigaraki was wrong/lying, Deku smashes his way into Shigaraki’s core and metaphorically uproots his hatred and psychically holds his hands, and Shigaraki still says that even so, the Villains still need him…  And if it ended there, maybe we could say that AFO was “wrong” in the sense you describe—that while the method Shigaraki uses to Be A Hero For Villains is warped by AFO’s influence, his desire to be that Hero is genuinely his own.  But then we get That Reveal, and even the parts of Tenko that seemed to predate AFO are revealed to be just another aspect of AFO’s machinations—Tenko’s heroism, his sense of injustice, even his very existence, all are indelibly stamped with AFO’s mark.

After that reveal, Deku never again pushes back against claims that Shigaraki can only destroy.  He never pushes back on AFO’s claims of authorship of Shigaraki’s life; he never tries to encourage Shigaraki by insisting that his bonds to the League are real regardless of how AFO raised him.  Heck, he never even suggests Shigaraki still has the chance to figure out who Tenko could be as long as he can break AFO's hold and reject his teaching. No, Deku just…accepts AFO's premise, apparently.

And so I come back to the same conclusion I did before: Deku is angry at All For One, but he does not disagree with All For One.

I genuinely think that, as far as the narrative is concerned, the tragedy of Shigaraki’s ending is thus:

Anyone Shimura Tenko was or could have been was overwritten by All For One’s grooming long ago.  Maybe this could have been prevented if things had gone differently—if Nana had beaten AFO, if someone like Deku had been there to intervene the day of the tragedy, if someone on the street had reached out to him before AFO—but as it stands, Shigaraki Tomura is too far gone to save.[See Note]  Deku can end the monster that was behind it all and try to honor the victims that Shigaraki’s actions brought to light by changing the world that created them for the better, but he cannot save Shimura Tenko because Shimura Tenko was lost long before he and Midoriya Izuku ever met.

(Note: One of those "Maybe If..."s the story dangles is Spinner taking some ill-defined step to help his friend, but my opinions are that disingenuous suggestion are just a long string of profanity. Suffice to say, if Shigaraki could still have been "saved" all the way up to the start of the second war, then the Heroes bear way more responsibility for failing to do so than Spinner ever could, and Deku is even more of a fuckwit for not arguing with AFO's assertions that Tomura is nothing but what AFO made of him.)

Of course we wanted more than that.  Of course we wanted Deku to do more than that!  We spent all that time watching Shigaraki grow and bond with the League—why, if the only reason for that growth and those bonds was to prepare him as a vessel for AFO?  We watched Deku resolve to try to save and/or understand Shigaraki’s heart no matter what—why, if everything in that heart was written in someone else’s hand?

The story told us that the best heroes always manage to both win and save, and that we were reading the story of how Deku becomes the best hero—why, if the story was only going to conclude that Shigaraki’s death at Deku’s hand was inevitable because the harm All For One did was impossible for either of them to overcome?

And to me, at least, that’s why Shigaraki’s death and Deku’s role in it feel so wrong: not for the in-universe reason that Deku and Shigaraki don’t disprove/disavow AFO’s claims, but for the meta reason that My Hero Academia lied to us and wasted our goddamn time.  It spent over two hundred chapters building up Shigaraki Tomura—as a villain, yes, but also as a victim, a friend, an enemy, an ally, someone who existed in the world he was rebelling against—only to then turn around and spend its remaining two hundred chapters tearing him back down to nothing and then telling us that’s all he ever was anyway.

All For One killed that crying child a long time ago, and all Deku can do is wipe away his tears and then wave him goodbye. 

By punching him to death.

It’s hard to imagine a bleaker outcome for the “Tenko” that started Horikoshi’s whole career as a mangaka, but I guess that’s what happens when your chosen career brutalizes you so badly that you come to define a Hero as someone who helps people endure their suffering instead of saving them from it.

...…

...Uh.  So, this got pretty bleak itself in the end.  Sorry, anon, everyone.  I write that way to get my point across, and I’m no little bit bitter about the whole thing myself, but ultimately, I just want to remind everyone that the story is over.  I’m not going to try to turn this whole thing into a positivity post all the way at the end, but just embrace that much: your obligation to care about the things Horikoshi wrote—to the extent that that obligation ever existed—is fulfilled.  If you hate the ending, well, so do I.  But now and forever, we and everyone else can go and do what-the-hell-ever we want to do with the characters and world that Horikoshi left us.

I hope we do.  I’ll be rooting for us!

[moontheoretist]

The issue with what Jedi are doing here is that on the surface it looks like they're respecting the kids autonomy, desires and choices, but on the other hand they're also preying on the child's curiosity and thirst for the outside world to lure them into their Order. Osha wants to be a Jedi but only because they look cool and represent the outside that she craves to see so much. Mae on the other hand is satisfied with what she has in her home, she is not curious about the outside world at all. If the witches weren't hunted, Osha's dream may have come true, but because they were persecuted the isolation was for their own protection as well as children's, not to abuse the kids or isolate them from the outside world on purpose. If the witches were not hunted and still insisted on isolation then it'd be a bad thing to do, but in the circumstances they are now, it's understandable. And it's also what fuels Osha to want to leave them. She knows logically that they're hunted, but she never experienced it, so she doesn't truly understand why she has to hide when there is a vast new world outside that she wants to see. And Jedi are actively preying on this, while playing the good guys at the same time. Osha doesn't know who Jedi truly are and therefore she can't make an informed decision. She doesn't have any knowledge she can compare them against, other than what she was told in the coven. And even what she was told is not enough when not confronted with real life experience. She can't believe them to be bad like Mae does, because she never experienced it, and she refuses to believe the cautionary words of her coven without proof that they're legitimate. Normally that's a good quality not to believe what you are told, but when you have no way to check it and your only source of info are the people themselves who also at the same time have an agenda to recruit you, you will not end up with the objective view on the matter at all. To do so Osha would have to be exposed to far more than the coven or the Jedi alone, and only then she would be able to decide. Meanwhile she is just 8yo girl who is curious about the outside world, awed by the Jedi's novel appearance and beliefs. In this sense Jedi are only an excuse to leave the stuffy place she was suffocating in. They knowingly gave her an out that they knew she wanted. They presented her with a new path that she desperately wants to follow.

We can see that even her mother wants it to be Osha's choice. She doesn't want to force Osha to be someone she doesn't want to be like a good mother. But Mae doesn't understand it. She thinks they're the same and want the same. But they're different, like twins tend to be. They're not the same person, they are distinct and have different wants and desires. Mae doesn't get it and feels betrayed when Osha seeks her own autonomy, because she rejects Mae by doing so. But Mae does the very same. She rejects Osha every time she says they're the same. Both of them can't understand the other and that's the sort of conflict they should have resolved far earlier. And if they couldn't do so on their own, adults around them should have helped them to do so. But instead they were too focused on training them for Ascention to focus on what to them looked like petty squables between children rather than an existential issue that would affect them and the way they can actually work together to use the Thread. Resolving conflict like this should have been a major priority for the coven to ensure that they were on the same page before the Ascention. In this sense you could have said that the coven failed them. In turn their relationship slowly deteriorated. Osha was seeking individuality while constantly pressured by Mae to be the same as her because she believes they are, which in turn made Osha want to get out and seek freedom. And that was enough to a bunch of outsiders to gain a new Jedi initiate.

At the same time Osha's decision was something Mae couldn't take. As far as she was concerned they were one and should stay together, but Osha didn't want to and it hurt Mae. Mae then turned that hurt into anger. She became dominering and imposing, trying to assert dominance over Osha, whom she perceived as part of herself rebelling against her will, and when it didn't work she decided that it's better to have a dead sister than the one who chose to leave her behind. It's a scream for help if anything else. She didn't want to be alone. Couldn't handle to be left alone. But she also was unwilling to understand Osha and see where she was coming from, which lead to a disaster. In the end tho it was neither Mae's or coven's fault. Everything bad can be traced back to the Jedi of that era who trampled over others.

[marsti]

the thing is right, sometimes it's not about "reading comprehension". there are a lot of people who will engage with something that goes "this character's ideology is bad" and come away thinking "well i disagree with the story that character has awesome ideas"

most obviously this is how you get fascist reappropriation of antifascist works, but that also applies to a lot of other emotional ideas. people don't want to be told the way they're feeling is wrong! so you can have people who genuinely believe "XYZ character is totally right distancing yourself emotionally from the people around you is the only way to survive" or whatever, and it doesn't necessarily mean they didn't understand that the story was saying it's bad. it's entirely possible that they do and they simply disagree. in fact, i think it's MOST LIKELY that they do.

and that's just true of most things, i think. whatever we're talking about here, be it a book or a movie or even a random ass post about someone's opinion, you can really make yourself go insane trying to convince that kind of person. you'll say "how can you not get it?" and they'll be very confused, they'll say "of course i get it! do you think i'm stupid?" and then go on to add something completely contradictory to the point. and it's easy to go, ok well they're just stupid and leave it at that.

but there is something dangerous in thinking of the world as People Who Agree With Me (Smart, Understanders Of Things) and People Who Disagree With Me (Dumb, Have Never Read A Book), and not just because intelligence is a flawed and often fascistic concept in itself. even if they're coming from a bad place, even if their opinion is legitimately trash, is it not worth it to actually think about why they think that way? to at least have them explain themself so you can see where they're coming from before dismissing them entirely?

and, look, i'm not saying to treat every opinion with the same weight as everyone else's or to go debate bigots or whatever. but i am saying you have to eventually confront the truth that even the worst takes can, in fact, come from people with the exact same capacity for thought and reasoning as you. not only because there is a legitimate difference between someone who Does Not Get It and someone who Gets It But Has A Wack Take, and knowing how to spot it will make your life far easier, but because it is legitimately necessary to live in a community. and it does in fact start with silly little things that don't matter like arguing about cartoons for 5 year olds on tunglr dot hell.

[hadit93]

Why do you think people still practice Wicca and other so-called Witchcraft branches that obviously influenced by Wicca since all the Murray’s claims are disputed like witch-cult thing? How people see this as a legitimate and real religion or practice? I ask that from a personal faith crisis, not trying to judge people or undermine the practice.

Well Gardner created Wicca from many sources, the bulk of it is some witchcraft lore from spurious sources fleshed out with the teachings of Aleister Crowley and the Golden Dawn. I personally do not believe his story of the new forest coven, there is little evidence, and Cecil Williamson also disputed it.

I genuinely know little about Murray, I know she claimed witchcraft to be an ancient religion which has continued for centuries. This is obviously false. The truth is witchcraft, or magical practices, in the British Isles varied from region to region. There were similarities, but many differences also. The Horned God and the Lady is but one variation, and how old that combo is, I do not know.

What makes a 'real' religion?

Religions are just explanations and aesthetics that people use to connect with the divine. If Wicca works for them, it works for them. I must also point out public Wicca is very different from proper initiatory Wicca. For example the God and Goddess in books are stated to be every god and every goddess- an idea probably stemming from Dion Fortune and the idea of Nuit and Hadit from Crowley. In initiatory Wicca the God and Goddess have specific names and are specific deities- at least that is what I have been told by a Gardnerian initiate.

Gardner derived his religion from many sources that do have established history in magical practice. Some may be a little spurious, but there is definitely a magical thread in his system and thinking. I don't see there being a problem, again, if it works, it works. It isn't for me, but neither are any of the major world religions.

What I do take issue with is when Wiccans begin to speak as authorities on witchcraft. For example 'There is no devil in the craft'. This is inherently false historically. The truth is the majority of British witchcraft traditions we actually have historical evidence for shows evidence of dual observance of local pagan gods, Christian saints, and the devil. As well as the use of grimoires. There is very little to no mention of a horned god and goddess in British witchcraft in comparison.

He made it up. But aren't most religions essentially made up? They are all stories and mechanisms to connect with the divine. I am of the opinion that a person needs to find their own way, form their own religion. Others like someone else to lay the way for them, and that is okay. As long as they develop as a person who are we to judge?

[justsalpals]

https://www.tumblr.com/justsalpals/751271185799675904/hes-an-afterthought-one-by-one-they-are-brought?source=share

ooh, rubbing my little hands together. I didn't think anyone was actually gonna go for this. hell yeah. guessing you just mean the whole post?

So! If I'm recalling correctly, this was written immediately after the finale. Post-episode is when I've always had the most luck getting eyes on a post, so I was in a bit of a hurry to get something out while there were still eyes in the tag. I knew going into the episode that Jace was nearly certainly gonna die and was looking forward to getting a good short angst piece out about it. Because that's how I roll.

The main inspiration was, pretty obviously, how we have no fucking clue what happened to Jace. He was being arrested, but then pushed into the lava? But the death was quick and jokey enough it could be argued to be a non-canon aside. But then again, shortly after all the shatter starred people were brought back to life! Does that include Jace? Why wouldn't it? The Bad Kids straight up do not know enough about this man to judge whether he was irredeemable and genuinely into it or just a brainwashed pawn. (The real answer, of course, is somewhere between.)

One thing is for sure: they don't talk about him ever again. Which I choose to interpret as them just fucking forgetting about him. (To be clear, I find this very funny. And in character for a bunch of teens who just saved the world again. They don't have bandwidth to think through every little person who's gonna be resurrected, okay?!) So, gods left to their own devices were told to bring back everyone who'd been shatter starred. I certainly don't see why Jace would be excluded.

But he is forgotten. His death was tacked onto the end, a joke to wrap up loose ends. And his resurrection is just as careless.

He is an afterthought.

Ooh nice one, Arson. Punchy! Depressing! This is our starting point, the tone setter. We're taking this and running with it.

Jace is brought back to life, and just. Left to his own devices. Not worth the effort. Yeah you helped try to kill a god and force the entire town to become an unwilling divine domain, but we legitimately do not care about you enough to even follow up. He's not a threat. He's not even enough of an annoyance to swing by and heckle with some jeering one liners. He's not worth it.

He's alone. Unmoored. Directionless. For the first time since Porter raised him from the dead, he can't feel that otherworldly anger that drove him.

His chest aches.

Was he not angry anymore? He should probably be angry, right? That's how villains feel after their plans are foiled, yeah? And I do believe that even before being brought back Wrong, Jace had a lot of anger he buried far down as he could. The shatter star didn't invent the anger, just stoked what was there already.

But that anger was the only thing keeping him upright for months. He wants to be angry now, wants to still have that drive and purpose, but he's so damn burnt out.

So where does he go from here? He's probably lost his job, and gets the feeling if he goes to check he'll just remind people of his existence and get thrown in jail after all. What's left? Jace being directionless is something I love to play with, and he's had all that direction and devotion ripped from his chest. What's there to do but grasp at ghosts?

So he goes to the gym. Probably doesn't even know why, just knows it was the last place he saw Porter.

Hey Arson, why the hell does he make a bunch of clones of himself?? That makes no sense. BECAUSE ITS A COOL VISUAL OKAY. The emptiness of the gym is Too Much. Summoning a crowd of yourself, but their eyes judge harsher than any outsider ever would.

He's lost in himself, and after so long he can't even figure out what it is he's feeling. He can't comprehend that he just misses Porter. And what way is there to speak with the man who would be god than to pray?

But Porter's not here anymore. Jace, alone forgotten directionless, has to figure it out on his own.

[the-belle-siblings]

(Ooc) btw S. V. Left a long message for Terra.

Ooc because this is actually serious stuff to talk about:

Pride wasn't the only thing involved in those situations. It was the will of the individual to act. It cannot all be attributed to something as simple as pride. I didn't even take the comment of being called gay as an insult I was simply explaining that it isn't quite a compliment either. Especially how it's typically used in a derogatory way most times. (It obviously wasn't in your situation but the ask I was given sorta made it out that I had taken it as insult. I did not, Terra was upset that she was told her plans all fail not that she was called gay. I thought it was a point that should be mentioned anyways.)

Being queer is tough, it's full of challenges. It's the power of the individual to realize "Hey, I am actually your equal and your not gonna treat me like crap." That's what gets things done, it's more spite and will then actual pride. That's my point.

Being queer is being beaten down and holding onto the most simple things because we are powerful and spiteful and alive, not prideful. We group around each other, spit on our wounds and stand up even though we're outnumbered, because we know that we don't deserve to be treated as lesser. Pride suggests that we deserve to be put onto a pedestal which isn't at all the case.

Everything we've accomplished is queer spite, queer sweat, queer tears, queer blood, queer love, queer community. We aren't prideful gods above all creation we are simple human beings raising banners with our blood for the sake of life. We are survivors of our every day existence. It is a constant battle and yet recently we have been deceived by our foes and told that the war is over.

It is not over. It has simply just begun.

We still continue to lose our rights because they aren't protected by our government. And we don't fight back! Why? Because "you already have pride month" or "it was worse back in my day." We are actively being gaslit! We hardly have any control over our lives and we're being told "grow up you liberal snowflake."

You can be proud of who you are and not change a damn thing about the world around you. However if you love who you and your community are, you will likely feel spiteful towards those who threaten you. Love is more powerful than pride.

If you love your people you're going to help them. That's where everything comes from. It comes from love and spite. "I hate that you hurt the thing I love so I'll take care of it and show it off!" That's us. It's all about the kindness in our hearts and the motivation for change. Love and Spite. In other words, passion.

Queer Passion > Gay Pride

Pride can only get you so far but with passion, you move forwards no matter what. Because you want that change. You need that change. This whole damn world needs to change.

Oppression is prideful. They view themselves as above others for the reasons they find in a delusional man's novel. They view themselves as above others as a desperate cling to power. They are prideful, selfish, idiotic, and greedy.

That's why I believe in passion over pride.

Though Pride month does sound a bit better than Passion month I must admit.

I'm saying this as queer person who struggles with their gender identity and sexuality. I've been called slurs and misgendered and deadnamed. When it comes to myself I get the adrenaline rush and I drop it. However if I hear it about my brother or one of my friends I'm legit ready to lay someone out.

I have legitimately almost fought someone for calling my brother a slur. That isn't pride! That's love for my family and friends and my community! That's spite and rage towards my oppressors! Me shouting as I'm shaking in anger and fear isn't my pride, it is my individual passion to help those I care about!

We are brave passionate individuals and we need to step up and do something about the way our world is. Boycott products run by homophobic people, spread awareness posts, start protests in the streets, give speeches, run for office, ANYTHING OTHER THAN SITTING AROUND DOING NOTHING!!!

Sorry for the very long rant though I'm just very passionate about this kind of topic.

[mogai-sunflowers]

y'know, i've been visiting your account for awhile.. and this isn't limited to your most recent post: if you're struggling that much with your weight and it feeling like a "gut punch" in regards to your transition and how it likely won't be available, try exercising, doing runs, going to the gym and going on a diet? it's not easy at all, it's harder than it should be, especially with your present disorders, which will difficult your path all the way through: but it def will help, even if just a little bit. you've got to try, or atleast attempt yourself doing it. ik it's kinda repetitive knowning that somebody has (probably) already told you this, but believe me— it's worth it. this world also doesn't care for anyone who is genuinely fat, which doesn't necessarily mean you should lose weight for that- it just means that the world is unfair and even the biggest differences affect everything/nothing. promotion in positivity towards individuals of these sizes will be ever so slightly affective, especially towards those whose health is at risk (for their eating methods). i'm just worried abt you, sorry if this seems disrespectful. i genuinely hope you get better, sending my love to you. ❤

hey anon, i'm not particularly upset with you because i can tell how genuine this was and believe me, i do appreciate deeply how you care.

that being said, it's generally pretty disrespectful to tell someone to do those things to lose weight, for whatever reason, especially when they're in the middle of a mental health crisis. i'm not saying this to make you feel bad, just saying that i and many others don't particularly appreciate being told these kinds of things when we already feel bad about our bodies.

for me personally, all of the things you mentioned are not feasible for me for many different reasons. i can't do most, if any, diets, because I have really bad ARFID due to my autism, so most of my diet is literally the only foods i can eat without constantly throwing up. i can't eat most vegetables for that reason, and i also tend to get very anxious with diets because they feel restrictive, which is actually the number one trigger for my binging episodes.

i cannot drive most places because i get too overstimulated on the road that it's legitimately dangerous for me to be doing so, so i can't drive myself to a gym, because the nearest gym to me is only accessible via highway, and i have inner ear issues so i get carsick at highway speeds so wouldn't be able to drive myself there. additionally, my executive dysfunction is so debilitating that many days, it can feel like climbing Mt. Everest just to make myself a bowl of cereal- working out is about 100 times harder than that on my executive dysfunction- and that's not even getting into how workouts make you sweat a lot, and I have really bad sensory issues with getting sweaty (and can't really shower on my own, which would pretty much be required after every work out)

i also very likely have an undiagnosed physical disability, because i cannot stand or walk longer than 10-15 minutes without my entire body hurting like hell, so consistent runs and exercise would be quite difficult for me.

i know there's no way you could have known any of those personal details about me, so i'm not in any way faulting you for that. but they're my reality and i have to live with the reality that almost all conventional modes of weight loss are not an option for me. my best bet is to stick to my current personal eating disorder recovery plan which has actually been a blessing, and work harder than ever on accepting who i am without having to change myself to do so. i won't lie, it's a steep uphill battle. but i actually have many more good days with my body image than i do bad ones, so that keeps my hopes up most of the time.

so yeah, for future reference, it's a bit insensitive to give fat people unsolicited weight loss tips, especially if they're in times of crisis (believe me, i've heard enough of those tips from doctors who never even bothered to ask my opinion /lighthearted). but i do truly appreciate your caring and hope you have a great day /genuine

[saintehigh]

pre relationship 1, 4, 6 for V + love 1, 7, 12 for sam

HI MIKA:D!!! jumps allover the room.

01 — how did they first meet?

my silly younger brother ( <- nick :D ) is rlly into photography.. & i am the awesome supportive older brother that goes to all his events and galleries sooo... personal hc that V visits photo galleries sometimes ( mainly student ones 2 give advice or use his silly little connections in the industry 2 help them progress bcuz he is nice like that . ) && we just...cross paths one day :3 aghhh, he shows up at a few more of the galleries nick happens 2 be in and one day he just comes up 2 me and is like. Hey. Ur sibling is pretty talented actually:) and im like..wow thank u haha, I Know. and then out of nowhere he offers to help my brother get a scholarship 4 visual arts / photography when he's college age and im like girl what. im in love with u I MEAN?! we should kiss. I MEAN ?!? im normal ^_^ woww ure so kind. AND ..idk i turn into one of those guys that uses their younger siblings endearingness into a way 2 get the girl ( or in this case guy💔😭 ) srry thhis is so long, i am fighting the cringe .

04 — who felt romantic feelings first?

me...i am cringefail for pretty boys & V is the prettiest in the world 💔 type of guy to error404 in real life if V even looked at me once i realized 💔💔

06 — if you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?

V would just be...confused, lol. mainly since we meet like a year b4 the whole rika thing goes down so he'd just be uncomfortable with the thought of his supposed soulmate being someone other then her.

⠀

i dont actually believe in soulmates...neither me / my self-insert do actually lol. but assuming its soulmate in the least legitimate way possible i probably would not believe it either..like woag .... THAT GUY? r u sure. be serious. out of my league im telling u.... hopeful though

01 — who said “I love you” first?

sam definitely lol... im normally very like... casual with saying i love you with friends and people that like, i Know my relationship with whether it be platonic or otherwise; but with sam it was T_T... it was kind of confusing? cuz for awhile it felt like we were everything all at once and i did not want to get something wrong and accidentally mess up...and then one day we are walking home from the arcade on a perfectly normal & fine autumn day, sam's walking ahead of me it's fine. it's a comfortable silence; and then he just drops the "i think i love you ^_^." out of nowhere and i fucking die on the spot and never breathe again!!!

07 — what are their favorite things to do together?

umm ...mainly just like, Existing? like that comfortable kind of silence u get with friends when ure both in the same room together doing seperate things but not in an awkward way? idk that kind of Existing is the favorite of all favorites T_T. video games r also fun though lol, after introducing samuel to the world of gaming it's like...all he wants to do. he's rlly into the fucking dancing games its awful anytime we hang out together he makes us play DDR or fuckin' just dance and good lorddd he gets a better score then me every time T_T. which is fine!!! it is very fun 2 do 2gether haha

12 — what kind of nicknames do they call each other?

hmm... sam prefers calling others just by their name or shortened versions of it — actually one of like the only people who regularly calls me jackson & varian instead of just 'jack' / 'var'... makes me thing im getting in trouble every time /hj T_T

⠀

i am kind of awkward abt nicknames & petnames n stuff...cuz i dont want to be cringe. but, interchange between calling him snowy as a reference 2 what i called him when we were kids, and 'angel' bcuz...he is an angel but even if he wasnt he looks & acts like one, AMEN 🙏🙏🙏!!

[teophan]

alright i guess it's time for me to make one of these posts bc i just got one, and i'm only gonna say it once.

Please do not send fundraiser requests/links to my inbox.

i will not post them, i am not a fundraiser-vetting account, i am not going to be the one to crawl through the muck of trying to verify that you're not simply preying on the sympathies of pro-palestinian/anti-zionist users to scam them out of money that could and should be going to children and families suffering in the colonized levant and in sudan and other places facing crisis in the global south and elsewhere.

if you want your fundraiser to get eyes on it that's not gonna happen by sending it to the personal blog of a guy who has absolutely no real influence over others, social media or otherwise, and only ever broken 200 followers on long-defunct rp blogs. and even then most of them are bots.

i am nobody. i am a few dollars at best, from what pennies i can spare, and i can hardly even say i have that right now. even this post might not see much traction, if any at all.

if you are legitimate, you're going to get better results going to someone who actually knows how to vet these things properly and has the following to get the eyes and funds you need. i'm not that person. i'm sorry. there are multiple people i've reblogged gfms and esim links and etc from who are equipped to help vet and spread this way, but it's not me. i hope you get what you need to survive and, someday, thrive. i hope we both live to see palestine's freedom and recovery. i hope we see the olives grow in abundance again and i hope the school bells ring once more. i hope no other child grows up knowing the sound of falling bombs.

if you're not legitimate, i will start believing in Hell again solely in the hope that you burn there for all eternity for taking advantage of people's pain and attempting to scam those who only want to help in the middle of a fucking genocide. i'd call you a vulture but carrion birds actually serve some benefit to the world around them.

i give when i can, where i can be assured that the money is going where i'm told it is, and not to someone catfishing off of people's sense of compassion using the faces of the martyred and dying and dead. you coming into some nobody-ass rando's askbox claiming in your own obviously copy-pasted message that the fund is vetted is not the way to assure that sense of security.

to everyone else reading this:

Gaza Funds highlights vetted fundraisers, prioritizing the sick/injured and those close to their goal, randomizing each time you refresh the page.

eSims for Gaza allows you to pay for those in palestine to remain connected to the internet and their loved ones among the diaspora abroad in the midst of the zionist occupation's destruction of digital infrastructure.

Arab.org allows you to contribute to donations by simply clicking a button every day.

those are the ones i can best remember off the top of my head. others have more. help where you can. don't get scammed.

🏞️↔️🌅🇵🇸✊

[that-is-just-so-typically-me]

We live in a world of illusions and I don’t mean that in some weird online guru cult way or like in a gross puritan way. I just mean it’s honestly unreal how much time has revealed to me that literally almost every adult past their mid-twenties is either aware that they are making all of this up as they go along and has no clue what they’re doing and is hiding it from everyone else because they’re afraid to be the only ones admitting to it, or they are making all of this up as they go along and have no clue what they’re doing but are so terrified to admit it to themselves they only even suspect that’s the case somewhere buried so deep in their subconscious underneath decades of attempts to control themselves and their environments in ways that either have caused them extreme harm or are just a ticking time bomb. And most people are either aware that they are extremely unhappy or afraid to acknowledge that they are despite suspecting it somewhere deep down.

Like we are all so convinced that most people are actually thriving and that we are somehow The Most Fucked Up Person. But the older I get the more I realize I am actually struggling to find a person who has it all and is happy (as happy as a human can be, just in a general baseline level sense). Like at this point I really don’t know if I believe that any couple I know is actually blissfully happy together the way we’re told couples everywhere are and if we can just change and become better and good enough and find our soulmate then we too could be like that~. I mean I believe that about my ex and her partner but if I am actually being objective and honest with myself I know that’s actually more my trauma betting on it and the reality is that there’s about a 50/50 chance of that being actually true. Because I feel like we not only move the goalposts as soon as we get what we think will make us happy, but I think everyone is so desperate to seem like they’ve “made it” they try everything to fit in and seem worthy to their community but inside they are truly miserable and unsatisfied, usually BECAUSE the things they’re doing and settling for to seem like they have their shit together are actually killing them inside. It’s just some emperor’s new clothes tragedy we can’t seem to get out of because the terror of speaking up and finding ourselves alone is annihilating to us. But we are destroying ourselves trying to look good to others all the time and I just don’t know if at this point I can survive that self-destruction any better than I could survive the condescension of others, so I might as well not give a shit and give myself the only shot I have to be happy, which is of course just to be authentic even when it is not the thing that everyone says we need to be happy.

At this point I think I have legitimately done too much introspection and growth that the odds of finding someone who could meet me at that level of having the desire to stay in the shit and do the ~Work~ AND be someone I am compatible with in a cohabitation sense AND be someone I have even a bit of physical chemistry with is so low that I truly just don’t know if it’s worth planning for in my life. I know I’ll go through grief over that again and again but as time goes by I just feel more certain that the whole idea of romantic relationships as we conceive them just aren’t actually in service to anyone’s wellbeing and lifelong growth, either in the sense of how we culturally imagine brief flings or long term commitments. I mean, I still do believe in it, but I think it looks so different as to be deeply misunderstood by others and I just don’t know, even if I were to beat the odds and have it again. If I’m doing it again it’s going to look like the deep commitment to respect someone’s sacred autonomous path in life and help them grow to their full self-actualization and only if it is reciprocated fully, but that looks so unrecognizable or unsatisfying to most people I think because we are obsessed with these toxic ideals of undying fountains of passion and the absence of conflict or distance or fear or separation at any time. It’s about the endurance to find your way back and discover that both of you have grown from it and not maimed yourself for the other.

I’m so so tired again so I know I am definitely saying a ton of bullshit, why do I only have these thoughts at my most inarticulate while fighting to keep my eyes open in bed at night haha. I literally cannot stick to a main topic to save my life

[stephenjaymorrisblog]

Sinead O’Connor Canonized?

7/27/2023

Stephen Jay Morris

©Scientific Morality

Another tormented artist taken by the Grim Reaper, cut down in her middle age. She got a taste of fame, then vanished in the smoke of media banishment and public amnesia. And we ask, “Why?” Why do artists do this to themselves? Are they insane? Vincent van Gogh, the iconic Impressionist artist, cut off his ear and sent it to a woman he was trying to court. Sinead tore up a picture of Pope Paul on coast to coast, live TV. This enraged millions of Roman Catholics. Was this an act of insanity or legitimate protest? It was 1987, way before allegations of child sexual abuse got heated. By this act, Sinead bravely shone a spotlight on what was happening in the Catholic Church: an epidemic of sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church. Paul Revere’s midnight ride was to warn the Colonists of British troops who were invading American villages. Sinead alerted the world about ongoing child abuse in the Church. Sinead was Catholic-damaged. Following a childhood of abuse at her mother’s hands, she expressed herself through her music. But was she insane? Not in a clinical sense, no.

This is not about Sinead O’Connor, the artist. This is about child abuse. Who are the real champions defending children? It’s should be every parent, but it’s not.  This is about the politicization of a real tragedy in society.  Pedophilia is a sickness within the inner sanctums of the family, religion, and school; the world of the child. It is here that they are taught to respect the authority of adults, where they are told that the police are your friends. They trust adults completely. Until betrayal comes, in the form of sexual abuse.

The religious Right, Conservatives, and other Magots don’t really care about children’s innocence. They care only about defending and protecting the Aryan American aristocracy.

In the 50’s and early 60’s, the worst thing you could call an American was a Communist. Over the decades, the epitaph has lost its potency. Now, a lot of Americans don’t even know what that word means! So, now—what is the worst thing you can call someone? A pedophile! Yet, the Chuds in this society couldn’t care less about molested kids. Would they pay higher taxes to create abused children’s shelters? Hell no! The accusation of pedophilia is just a weapon to “take down the Left.” That’s all it is. The authoritarian Right couldn’t care four farts about children! To them, that is the sound of freedom—farts coming out of fascist assholes!

In 1996, Hillary Clinton wrote a book about raising children in a healthy environment titled, “It Takes a Village.” the book illustrates how those outside the family—teachers, librarians, police, religious leaders, etc.— have an impact on a child’s well-being, and advocates for a society that meets all of a child’s needs. But to the Right-wing, religious fanatics, this was communism and satanic, pure and simple. During her 2016 presidential run, Clinton was alleged by Right ring conspirators to have run a pedophile ring in the basement of a pizza parlor. This outrageous conspiracy was known, and is still referred to as “Pizzagate.”

Conservatives are the last people in the world to protect your kids! Much of these allegations of pedophilia, made by the ��woke” mob, are projections of the accusers themselves. Many hate preachers who advocate for the genocide of LGBTQ+ people and repeatedly use hate words, like “faggots” and “queers,” are actually hiding their own, latent homosexuality. I know, I know! You have heard this before! If it stops, though, you will never hear it again.

The Left believes in free and open love. The Right believes in secret perversions while they masquerade as moralists. A story as old as creation. That is why they are fanatical about privacy.

The so-called Left are not perverts. When a person represses their sexuality until marriage, then perversions are manifested in them. The real perverts are the conservatives. Remember, an orgy is collective, and masturbation is individualistic. The so-called Left believes in healthy sexual relationships. Right wing males cheat on their spouses more than Leftist males do. Most of them have sex before they marry their betrothed. The Right believes that male dominance over females is decreed by God. They want to marry a pubescent girl because they think that the younger the wife is, the healthier the white child will be. This is a perversion known as “hebephilia.” Mormons were big on this ages ago.

So, if you think that “the Woke” have a monopoly on pedophiliac perversion, you are either brain damaged, or the biggest enabler in the history of humanity!

I know that Sinead O’Connor will never be canonized, but nobody thought Joan of Arc would be either. Sinead left a treasure of recordings that need to be heard.

[nerdfighterwhatevernumbers]

#Also people kept taking legitimate criticisms and blowing them way out of proportion#Causing other fans to go the opposite direction and deny any problems#Like criticisms of how the show didn't always handle race well (particurly with Sugilite and Bismuth from what I recall)#Some very vocal people took that and extended it to 'therefore RS is a Nazi'#Causing backlash saying that people were imagining things and it had no race issues whatsoever#Which left no room for actual discussion without people demanding you ignore problems or denounce the show entirely This was in fact a major problem. To address the second comment above, Pearl and Garnet making up was actually the final episode of that Steven Bomb so we didn't take months to see that resolution. What DID happen was we only had a week to absorb Pearl's betrayal so a lot of people felt like her being forgiven was rushed and unfair. While the show was cut short due to its queer content, the bomb style scheduling wasn't due to trying to cancel it either, CN believed serialized shows were horrible for ratings so they stopped showing reruns and started showing bombs because they were massive rating boosts for the network. CN has been pulling away from their serialized shows for years, as have other kids' networks since they're convinced the reruns are too confusing for children Hard agree on both the second comment and the tags there. People were convinced the Uncle Andy episode was supposed to be about being nice to Republicans when the show is explicitly For Children and is about Children being put into the middle of family arguments they have no power over. What's a kid like Steven supposed to do at Thanksgiving, call uncle Andy a fascist and get slapped? It's not for adults who need to take adult action in the world of activism it's for kids struggling within family and growing social structures As for the tags, yeah. The fandom was extremely polarized at the sight of any criticism. A lot of it was bad faith by the end, but people FREAKED when Black fans said they were bothered by Sugilite and were basically told to shut up and stop being haters. The fandom was very bad at discussing issues in the show or within the fandom reasonably, lots of death threats happened. The fandom kind of set itself up for All or Nothing perspectives on SU because people kept talk about it as perfect, which can make you angry, defensive, or disappointed. If you complained that a human zoo episode was Absolutely Racist you were just a hater projecting too much on a perfect soft show, and how are you supposed to react to that insult? But if you put the show on a pedestal and it crossed one of your personal lines, well then the show betrayed you and is trash for not portraying Peridot's disabilities how you thought they should have Some of the discourse was people taking flexible metaphors in the show and clinging to specifics they made up. I once saw someone say Lapis was a rapist because she forced Jasper to fuse with her. A thing she did to keep Jasper from murdering a child. Because of the sheer size of the fandom, you'd get a lot of people seeing takes like this and a lot of people reacting very strongly. by the end of the first season, bullying in the fandom had become the norm so it just got worse and worse. Part of the reason bombs weren't great is no one had time to chill out every week between episodes. Instead of getting days to process growing information, we were given a huge spew of info with months to sit in it. This could make things feel both rushed and unexplained because a lot of things were brought up in a very short span of time. People got very heated if they just spent a straight week with an arc they didn't like and they were left with that feeling for months on end The fandom's issues started well before steven bombs, but tbh the size of the fandom made it hard to mitigate toxic behavior and when everyone is screaming that this show is 'perfectly unproblematic' they're setting it up for failure.

people discovering steven universe in 2023 are always like "this show is really good why the hell were yall so weird about it"

[landhoehoehoe]

can't trust you - Dennis Hauger

part 1 , part 2

Here I am with Part 3 to the You series. I legitimately hate this part and am still unsure if it's okay the way it is but please know that Part 4 is so so much better lol, so just bare with me.

warnings: idk, some smut, angst, jealousy, crash, swearing

Dennis Hauger x reader; Your relationship faces hardships when you decide to switch teams

The kiss and confession in Baku kicked off a relationship like no other. 

The rest of Dennis’ season went increasingly well, the media loved your relationship and each of you was never seen without the other. 

You were practically glued to Dennis, in business as well as in real life. 

Playing the role as his personal trainer in the motorsport world, being his girlfriend in every other aspect of life. 

It was wonderful, truly, and you were the happiest you had ever been. 

Just enjoying the time together with Dennis, enjoying the easiness of it all. 

Enjoying how life just went on and you went along with the flow, not having to worry about anything. 

However, at the end of the season, things got serious again: You finally had to decide whether or not to take up the offer at Virtuosi. 

And after long nights of talking things through with Dennis, you decided to move to Virtuosi and leave Dennis behind at Prema. 

You knew it was going to be hard, not being able to see each other that often anymore, working for Dennis’ rival. 

But deep down in your heart, you knew it was the right decision to make for you personally. 

And in that aspect you just had to be selfish for once, couldn’t say no just because Dennis wanted you near. 

Because you knew Dennis and you would handle it somehow. You truly believed your relationship would be strong enough to get through it, so you didn’t worry about the change too much when the next season began.

But you didn’t know how wrong you were. 

Because Dennis’ thoughts went in the completely opposite direction: 

He was worried sick that he’d lose you to Jack. That you’d realize Jack could give you a better life than Dennis ever could.

That you’d leave Dennis and he’d be left with his heart broken into a million pieces. 

However, he could see it in your eyes that you wished to work closer to home, and he knew you’d have better chances at Virtuosi. 

So he agreed to let you go, assured you that he’d be fine, that he’d cope without you. 

But that was a lie. The biggest lie he’d ever told. 

Right then and there he wanted nothing more than to beg you on his knees not to leave him, to tell you all about his fears. 

But alas, he didn’t. 

He comforted you, reassured you, told you he trusted you. 

But he didn’t quite know how much of what he was saying was actually true.

So come the next season he was everything but confident when he walked into the paddock in Bahrain, not with you by his side, but his new personal trainer who he didn’t particularly like. Because it just wasn’t you. 

Instead, Jack was the lucky one to have you next to him, to have you wearing his team’s colors.

It was so weird seeing you dressed in all-blue instead of Prema’s red, and Dennis wished this was all a bad dream. 

That he’d wake up back in Norway, where you’d spent your holidays, with you in his arms. 

In this moment he wanted nothing more than to take back all the words he’d said to you before you’d signed the contract with Virtuosi. 

Why had he been so stupid to think he’d be okay with seeing you next to Jack? 

Because he was absolutely not.

 He could feel himself getting angry, hands making fists, jaw clenching when he saw you laughing at something Jack had said. 

“Are you nervous?”, his new personal trainer, Michael, who had misinterpreted Dennis’ sudden tension, asked. 

Dennis scoffed. He wasn’t nervous. 

At least not about the upcoming race. 

He ignored Michael, walking straight towards where you and Jack were standing. 

“But Prema is that way!”, Michael exclaimed behind Dennis, making Dennis roll his eyes. 

When he reached you and Jack, you sent him the sweetest smile, immediately melting away all the anger. 

“Hey, babe. Did you sleep well?”, you greeted him with a kiss on the lips that was way too short for his liking. 

His arm slipped around your waist, holding you close to him.

“Slept okay…the bed was cold without you in it though.”, he whispered into your ear so that Jack wouldn’t hear it. 

You laughed at his remark, dismissing it as an overly dramatic joke, but Dennis had meant every word of it. 

“Hey, mate. You excited for the new season?”, Jack chimed in, giving Dennis a handshake. 

Dennis really wanted to like Jack, since they’d been friends since they were little, but somehow that wasn’t possible anymore. 

Something just bothered Dennis about Jack’s whole presence. About the way he talked, the way he acted so friendly all the time. 

About the way he hugged you, like you were his. 

“Not really, what about you?”, Dennis responded for the sake of not coming across as rude, but his voice still sounded cold. 

He felt your arm around his waist, gently stroking his side. 

God, he had missed you so much, but it had only been a few days since he’d last seen you and been inside of you. 

“Yeah, kind of. Some big names out there this year. Pourchaire’s supposed to be the favorite this season.”, Jack admitted, making Dennis want to throw up on the spot. 

How could he act so innocent? 

Dennis just knewJack was trying to make you like him more, with his whole nice-guy-attitude. 

You reached out, slapping Jack’s arm in a friendly way. 

“Nonsense! You trained so hard for this, you just have to put it onto the track now.”

Jack smiled at you and Dennis almost rolled his eyes, but refrained from it in the last second. 

He’d promised you not to make things weird and complicated with Jack. 

And that was the only reason he wasn’t strangling Jack right now. 

“Where’s my motivational speech, hm?”, he couldn’t help but sound a bit salty when he squeezed your waist to make you look at him. 

“I doubt you need one because I already know you’ll do great.”, you smiled at him and let your hand wander over his chin to pull him into another kiss. 

This one was longer, but Dennis still wished it could last forever. 

He sighed when your lips left his. 

“I’ll see you after quali?”, he asked, because he saw Michael from the corner of his eye, gesturing for Dennis to come with him. 

“I’ll meet you at the hotel, okay? I have a meeting after quali.”, you replied with an apologetic look on your face.

Dennis sighed again. 

“Okay, you know my room number..”

Quali had not gone great.. neither for Jack nor for Dennis. 

So after you’d consoled Jack and assured him the next day would be better, you sent Dennis a text message before heading into your next meeting. 

"Be there in 30. Post-quali talks went longer."

Dennis’ stomach turned upon reading your words. Post-quali talks? 

As in talks with Jack? Alone? 

Dennis had qualified P14, two positions in front of Jack. Dennis had had a shitty day, too, but all you thought about was Jack? 

"No problem, take your time."

He didn’t want you to think anything was wrong, though, so he hoped his response sounded as normal as possible while really his blood was boiling at the thought of you consoling Jack.

When Dennis opened his hotel door for you, you already knew he wouldn’t be in the best of moods, but you didn’t expect him to be this needy for you.

He quickly pulled you into his room and had you pushed up against the wall in no time.

“Finally.”, he groaned, while his mouth already kissed and sucked at the crook of your neck.

“Dennis.”, you gasped, completely taken by surprise, somewhat overwhelmed by his hands all over your body. 

But he didn’t stop kissing you. Instead his hands went to squeeze your ass, his tongue swirling inside your mouth. 

“Dennis!”, you exclaimed, finally being able to push him away from you. 

Something felt different this time. You saw it in his eyes. 

Something was up with him. 

Something preoccupied his mind. 

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”, you tried to read his face, and felt even more disappointed when his expression didn’t tell you anything. 

A half-smile made its way onto his face. 

“Yeah. I just really really need this. Need you. Now.”, he answered, his head dipping back in the crook of your neck. 

As he kissed and sucked at your skin you still couldn’t shake the feeling that something was bothering him. 

“You know…you can..talk..to me..”, you moaned, having to make pauses in-between talking because the sensation of his lips on your skin made you breathless. 

Dennis groaned against your neck.  

“But I don’t want to talk.”

His kisses went deeper, across your boobs to your stomach, pushing up your shirt. 

“Wanna fuck you.”

You rolled your eyes at his stubbornness, but there wasn’t really much you could do: Force him to talk to you? 

You both knew Dennis wouldn’t open up tonight, so you just let him continue, trying to push everything else to the back of your mind to focus only on him. 

Once you had moved to the bed and lost all your pieces of clothing, Dennis towered over you and took a second to admire you. 

Yes, he was insecure about losing you. 

Yes, he was mad that you spent so much time with Jack. 

But now, tonight, you were his. You were here, underneath him. 

And he’d enjoy every single second of it. 

Before he’d enter you he suddenly wanted to hear it from you, though. 

To hear you say that he had nothing to be worried about. That you were his until the end of time. 

So he let his dick glide through your folds, making you writhe underneath him.

“Stop teasing!”, you pleaded, moving your hips up to get more friction.

He almost gave into you, the need to feel you around him nearly too big to resist. 

“Tell me I’m the only one.”, he whispered, immediately hating how stupid he sounded. 

He just had to know. 

“What?”, you stopped moving against him abruptly, a frown on your face. 

You had known something was wrong.

“Tell me I’m the only one.”, he repeated, a lot less confident now. 

Confused, you tried to fathom where this sudden need for reassurance came from. 

When you didn’t answer, he got increasingly insecure. 

“Tell me I’m the only one you want. The only one who can make you feel this good.”

You began to smile, cupping his face in your hands. 

“Dennis….of course you are. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me.”

He looked at you, wanting to believe the words you said, but still a part of him told him to be careful, that these might just be sweet nothings. “Look at me.”, you forced him to look at you when his eyes avoided you. 

“Believe me when I say you’re the one for me, Dennis.”, you whispered, stroking a hand through his hair. 

He closed his eyes, enjoying your touch. 

Maybe you were his. 

Maybe he could trust you enough to believe your words. 

So he leaned down to kiss you once more before finally pushing into you. 

You moaned, lifting your hips against his own as he filled you completely. 

He looked at you the whole time he was inside of you, feeling a mixture of pleasure and relief. 

But still, a small part of him remained unconvinced that this could be real. 

After Bahrain came Jeddah, the narrow street circuit where one mistake would land you in the wall.

So of course everyone was even more tense than on normal race weekends.

Dennis especially, since Jack was doing a little too well for his taste. 

The circuit somehow suited Jack’s driving style better than Dennis’ which ended up in Jack winning the Sprint Race on Saturday, and Dennis finishing out of the points. 

When he got out of the car after the straining race, he wanted nothing more than to fall into your comforting arms, to hold you close to him and forget about the world around him. 

However, he knew that wouldn’t be possible, since you’d be caught up in celebrating Jack’s win. Ugh.

Why did it have to be him who won the race? It could have been anyone else and Dennis would have been happy for them. But he hated seeing Jack standing on the podium. 

He hated the way Jack smiled and held his trophy in the air. 

He hated the way you cheered him on from beneath the podium. 

He hated how proudly you looked at Jack, how you were so happy for him. 

Dennis didn’t waste much more time in watching the ceremony since it already hurt enough that he hadn’t gotten points, but seeing you standing there really added to the pain. 

So he opted for the Prema garage instead, taking off his racing gear and debriefing with the team. 

He knew you’d find him once you were done with your tasks for Virtuosi. 

At least he hoped you would. 

And you did: Just when Dennis had said goodbye to his team and was about to leave the paddock, you came walking towards him. 

“Heyyy, babe! How are you?”, he could hear that you were still in that post-celebration haze, a huge smile tugging on your lips. 

He tried a half-smile when you pressed your lips onto his. 

It felt incredible, like always, but he just couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that you were wearing the wrong team colors. Fucking ugly blue.

“I’m alright, I guess. I just-“, Dennis got caught off by Jack appearing out of nowhere, running towards you. 

Without even looking at Dennis, Jack crashed into you and hugged you tightly. 

“We fucking did it, y/n!”, he laughed hysterically, and all Dennis could do was watch how your face lit up when you hugged Jack back. 

It hurt. So much. 

Still, Dennis tried to put on a brave smile. 

He knew you deserved to celebrate. This was your moment as much as it was Jack’s. 

“You were amazing out there!”, you exclaimed when Jack let go of you again, patting his shoulder. 

Dennis took the opportunity to wrap his arm around your shoulders possessively so that Jack wouldn’t try hugging you again. 

Automatically your arm wandered around Dennis’ waist, leaning into his touch.

Only then did Jack look at Dennis. 

“Sorry, mate. I saw what happened with your bad pit stop. Tomorrow will be better.”, Jack offered a consoling smile, and Dennis had to resist the urge to slap it off his face. 

He clenched his jaw, trying to act as if Jack’s words actually meant something to him. 

“Yeah….we just fucked up the strategy.”, he answered evasively.

God, he wanted to get out of here and finally be alone with you.

Why did the two of you always have to run into Jack anyways?

There was an awkward silence when Jack didn’t say anything else and it became clear that Dennis didn’t want to talk anymore. 

You smiled at both of them, squeezing Dennis’ waist. 

“Well um…we better get going now. I’ll see you tomorrow?”, you said to Jack, who nodded with a bright smile on his face. “Hope tomorrow goes as well as today!”, he replied with a glance at his trophy before turning around to leave you alone. 

Dennis rolled his eyes. “Hope tomorrow goes as well as today!”, Dennis mimicked Jack’s tone and waved his arms in the air mockingly. 

You couldn’t help but laugh when you nudged him into his side to make him stop. 

“Let him have his fun, love. You’ll get some points tomorrow, too. I’m sure of it.”, with that, you connected your lips again, and Dennis gripped your waist tightly. 

Dennis thought about your words a lot. Because he was nervous as hell when he sat in his car, waiting for the five red lights to go out. He knew the tricky turns of the course, knew he had to be focused 100% all the time if he wanted to get across the finish line and bring home crucial points.

And your words helped calm him down. Because he knew you’d be waiting for him after the race. You’d be there for him. You’d promised it. Dennis got off on a good start, being able to avoid possible collisions and overtake smoothly. 

He forced his mind not to drift off to intrusive thoughts about you and Jack, instead concentrating only on his car. 

However, when his race engineer told him Jack was in the car directly behind him, Dennis’ muscles tensed up. 

Images from yesterday flared up in his mind: Jack’s hands around your waist, Jack’s eyes lingering on you, Jack’s voice calling out for you. 

“Doohan point 2 seconds behind, go defend.”, his race engineer’s voice pulled Dennis back to reality.

This was it: He couldn’t give up this position. 

Not to Jack, not to anyone. 

He checked his mirror and saw Jack trying to attack on the outside. 

Panic filled Dennis. If he didn’t get a good entrance into this next corner, Jack would be able to overtake him. 

Dennis pushed down on the throttle, hoping it would give him the advantage he needed to come out the corner ahead of Jack.

Adrenaline rushed through his body as he kept checking where Jack was behind him. 

Then it happened: Dennis applied too much power than his tires could deal with and he immediately felt the rear end of his car slipping towards the outside line, towards Jack’s car trying to overtake Dennis.

Dennis lost control, frantically tried steering against the oversteer, saw Jack trying to avoid a collision with Dennis. 

Then Dennis regained control over his car. 

But it was too late. 

He saw Jack’s car crash into the barrier, Jack’s head being flung around in an unhealthy way. 

Dennis’ eyes went wide, his heart beat out of his chest and he felt so incredibly scared. 

What had he done? 

Immediately he stopped his car, not caring about his own race anymore. 

What mattered most was that Jack was okay. No matter how jealous Dennis was of Jack off track. 

Dennis’ sight was blurry as all he could focus on was Jack’s car when he ran towards it. 

“Jack! Jack! Jack!”, he shouted, rushing to Jack’s cockpit. There sat Jack, groaning with his eyes closed. 

“Mate I’m so sorry. I…I…I didn’t…I had oversteer and…”, Dennis stumbled upon his own words, his brain not able to form proper sentences. 

Suddenly he got pulled away from marshalls swarming Jack’s car and helping the young driver climb out. 

Thankfully Jack could walk on his own. 

Dennis breathed out a relieved sigh when someone guided him off the track. 

His eyes stayed glued to where Jack was being helped into an ambulance.

He just hoped everything would be okay. 

When Dennis got back to the paddock with shaky legs, you already came rushing towards him. 

“Hey, baby, is Jack ok? I-“, he wanted to pull you into his arms for comfort, but you pushed him away instead.

“How could you force him off the track like that?! You knew he’d end up in the wall!”, you shouted at him and pushed him again. 

Dennis was taken aback. In his post-crash state it took him a second to realize you thought he’d caused the collision on purpose. 

“No, no, y/n, the…the crash..it was never my intention to hurt him!”, he tried to defend himself helplessly, but you were already looking away from him, wiping away tears that had run down your cheeks. 

You were in another world right now: so angry at Dennis and so, so worried for Jack, who was on his way to the hospital now.

You didn’t even listen to what Dennis was saying. 

“You and your stupid fucking jealousy!”, you cried out, throwing your hands in the air in an act of desperation. 

“That’s what this is all about, right?! Because Jack dared to be nice to me!”

“No! I’m telling you: I lost control over my car, I couldn’t do anything!”, he shouted back almost as desperately. 

Why wouldn’t you listen to him? 

He tried approaching you again, but you simultaneously took a few steps back. 

“Listen to me! It was an accident, y/n! I never meant for Jack to get hurt, trust me!”, he pleaded, but you shook your head with a bitter laugh. 

“So I’m supposed to trust you the same way you trust me, huh?”, you scoffed, another tear running down your face. 

“That’s different, y/n….”, Dennis murmured quietly, his eyes avoiding yours. 

“No, it’s not! Why can’t you understand that you don’t have to worry about Jack?!”, you came closer again, some of the anger fleeting your voice.

“Because…”, Dennis couldn’t look at you.

“Because what, Dennis?!”, you were so desperate to know what was going on inside of him.

Dennis’ hand ran through his hair when he sighed. 

“Dennis! Tell me!”, you stepped even closer, making him snap finally.

“Because! Because of the way he fucking looks at you! You might not notice it but I do! I can’t trust him!”

“Okay, then don’t trust him! But you can trust me, your girlfriend!”, you exclaimed, a desperate look on your face.

 Because you could see it in his face that he couldn’t. 

That he was slowly slipping away from you and there was nothing you could do about it. 

You couldn’t do much more than assure him of your loyalty. 

Your hand reached out for his arm now, but he shook it off, scoffing.

“How can I trust you when you’re the one praising him for every. single. fucking. thing he does?!”, he replied angrily, narrowing his eyes at you. 

You couldn’t believe what you were hearing, suddenly not recognizing the person standing in front of you anymore. 

But Dennis wasn’t finished yet.

“You just don’t get it, y/n! It’s cristal fucking clear that I can’t trust you or Jack! I’ve seen the way you act around him, like you want him to fuck you so badly!”, he shouted loudly, distancing himself from you further. 

In that moment something broke inside of you. And he probably didn’t even know how hard his words hit you. 

“Well, thanks for believing me.”, you almost whispered, your voice felt so tired and overused all of a sudden. 

Like you’d been screaming all day. Mentally, you had. 

It genuinely hurt that he could ever think so lowly of you. 

You’d never cheat on him let alone think about the idea of leaving him, but apparently Dennis found that so hard to believe.

You stepped further away from him, not looking into his eyes. 

“I-I have to go. See if Jack’s alright..” 

Only then did Dennis realize he’d overstepped. 

So instead of continuing to shout, his facial expression softened, a remorseful look on his face now. 

“I’m sorry, baby…so, so sorry. I’m just…on edge because of the whole crash..”, he whispered, making a few quick steps towards you. 

However you didn’t move towards him. You stayed where you were, looking at him with all the pain he’d just inflicted.

When he reached out to pull you into his arms, you looked away. 

“Don’t.”

Without looking at him again, you turned around and left him standing there alone. 

He didn’t reach you for the next week. 

No answers to his texts, no calls, no nothing. 

Only your Instagram story let him know that you spent the week in England, working at the Virtuosi headquarters and helping Jack recover.

 Jack had got lucky and didn’t suffer any serious injuries from the crash so that he’d be able to get back in the car after the next race.

Other than that, Dennis didn’t exactly hear from you. 

Not until he ran into you in the paddock the next Friday before the next race.

“Hey.”, he greeted you carefully, unsure of how you’d react.

You only gave him a tight-lipped half-smile and nodded, without saying anything. 

Then you went on to continue your journey to the Virtuosi garage, but Dennis quickly grabbed your arm, making you turn around again. 

“Y/n, I’m so sorry for last weekend. I was such an asshole, I don’t know what got into me.”, he blurted out, suddenly very aware of how closed off you were towards him. 

You shrugged, your whole body tensing up from him touching you.

“It’s okay. Talk to you after quali?”, you tried to smile, but it didn’t reach your eyes. 

“Um…sure. You know where to find me.”

He wanted to touch you so badly, kiss away all the pain he had caused you, but he knew better than to force himself onto you now. 

So he could only anxiously wait until he’d made it through Free Practice and Qualifying. 

Dennis was nervous. So, so nervous.

Once he’d returned to his driver’s room he couldn’t sit down. 

Instead, he paced up and down, hoping he could fix things with you. Because you were all he had, all he wanted. 

And he knew he’d fucked up.

When you finally slipped through his door, he stopped his hectic movements. 

He gulped.

“Come, sit.”, he gestured towards his couch, sitting down on it. 

His voice sounded hoarse, suddenly too dry to speak. 

Hesitantly you took a seat next to him, not looking at him. He had to refrain from taking your hand into his immediately. 

Why wouldn’t you look at him? 

It drove him insane.

“Y/n, I am so sorry. For everything. Please, tell me, how can I make it up to you?”, he burst out when you didn’t say anything. 

The silence was just too loud. 

Only then did you look at him, a blank look on your face. 

Dennis didn’t know what to expect. 

Were you going to yell at him again? Ignore him? Forgive him? 

“Dennis, I-“, you began, but your voice broke. 

He did not like the sadness in your tone at all. 

Automatically he reached his hand out to cup your face, but remembered in the last moment that you didn’t necessarily want him to touch you. 

So his hand froze mid-air, only to land back in his lap. 

You gave him a sad smile, which made him want to scream at you. 

Why wouldn’t you talk to him and why the hell were you so incredibly sad? 

He hated that he was the reason for your misery, and he was ready to do anything to change that. 

“Y/n, talk to me. Please.”

You looked back down at your feet, kneading your hands in your lap. 

“Dennis, I came here because….because I think we need to breakup.”

There, you’d said the one thing you’d thought about this whole past week. 

The thought had begun to form in your mind the moment Dennis had said those awful things.

The moment you’d wondered if you actually knew Dennis as well as you thought you did.

And the past week, away from him, you’d had time to reflect on the jealousy that basically consumed your relationship.

“What?”, he spoke so lowly that you almost didn’t hear him. 

You looked at him, this time with tears in your eyes. 

“We just…we’re not right for each other.”, your heart contracted painfully at your own words. Truly, you did believe Dennis was the one for you, but not with all of this jealousy and hatred,

It broke you, having to look at the raw, unfiltered hurt in his eyes. 

You’d never seen Dennis in such pain and agony before. 

“I…I don’t understand. Y/n!”, in an act of desperation he grabbed your hands in his. 

“I’m so fucking sorry for what I said, you have to believe me! I know it was wrong, please! You can’t do this to me!”, he begged, his heart shattering a little bit more with every word he said. 

This situation had always been his worst nightmare: you telling him you didn’t want him anymore. How could he have fucked up everything so badly?

You took a shaky breath, a tear running down your face.

“But you still meant it: you can’t trust me. We have to breakup, Dennis. It’s the only right thing to do.”, your voice was quiet, but firm, as if you’d made up your mind unalterably. 

It only made Dennis feel even more frustrated. 

“Who said that we can’t work through this?!”, he exclaimed, his voice cracking as he threw his hands up in the air. 

A tear fell from his eye and he wiped it away vigorously. 

He wasn’t going to give you up just like that. 

Not when you were such an important part of his life.

“Don’t you see? We can’t make this work!”, you exclaimed, gesturing between the two of you. 

“You can’t believe me when I tell you that there is nothing between me and Jack. I don’t know why, but you just can’t. You can’t trust me, you said it yourself!”, you stood up, wiping away the tears on your face. 

Dennis stood up, too, hating that you were right with everything you said. 

He didn’t even know it himself why he couldn’t just have a little faith.

Maybe because the effect you had had on his heart had already been scary enough, so now the thought of losing you was fucking terrifying.

“But we can fix this, make things right! Please, y/n! I can change! Please don’t do this to me, I’m begging you…”, he got quieter in the end, making a step towards you. 

His hands found yours, simply holding them in place. 

His fingers caressed the back of your hand and you wanted to believe he was right.

 You wished you could just let yourself fall back into his arms…but something held you back: his own hurtful words.

“No, we can’t.”, you removed your hands from his, looking up at him. 

“You’re crushing me with your jealousy. It’s not healthy anymore, neither for you nor for me!”

“I know, I know, but…there has to be something we can do…I’d do anything for you, y/n..”, Dennis helplessly ran a hand through his hair, frantically forcing his mind to come up with a solution.

“I know, but-“

“Look at me and tell me you don’t feel anything for me anymore.”, he cut you off and took your chin in his hands.

“I…”, you held on to his arms, gripping them tightly as if he was your lifeline. 

You wanted to scream, to yell at him, to hate him… but you couldn’t. 

Because you knew a part of you still loved him and would never stop loving him. 

He was the right person for you, but you’d met at the wrong time: when both your lives where at an uncertain whirlwind stage of your careers. 

The eye contact with Dennis was so intense that you almost melted into him. You tried to let him know how sorry you were for doing this to him. 

But he had to understand that some distance was exactly what you needed.

That you had had enough. That you were tired. 

You couldn’t do this anymore. 

His eyes flickered with panic. 

“Please don’t leave me.”, he looked at you with so much desperation and fear in his eyes that you hated yourself for doing this, made you want to take everything back.

 But the words had been said, the damage had been done. 

“I have to go, Dennis.”, you answered, letting him rest his forehead against yours. 

Why did you have to love him so fucking much that breaking up with him felt like ripping your heart out? 

Why couldn’t he have just stayed the jerk he was in the beginning? 

“I’ll always love you, you know that, right?”, he whispered, causing the tears to run down your face in streams. 

“Me, too. Believe me this time.”, you sent him a sad smile, giving his arms a reassuring squeeze. 

Tears fell from his eyes when he tried to smile.

“Goodbye, Dennis.”

[sweetcloverheart]

Unpopular Opinion Time (With MLB once again)

Adrien and Chloe’s relationship makes no sense to me

Adrien’s backstory is that he has no friends and Gabriel prevents him from interacting with the outside world proper - yet Chloe has known and been friends with him since childhood, despite having told Marinette in “Origins” that he’s never had “real friends” before (Is Chloe not a “real friend” then? Does he only call her one out of courtesy of them knowing each other so long, or because he has no clue what else to call her?). He calls her his friend when everyone gets (rightfully) upset with her bullying and abusing her wealth at their expense, and defends her terrible behavior with the claim she’s always been like that, only putting his foot down when her actions actually negatively effect him personally (“Despair Bear”) or blocks him from a relationship he actually wants (”Derision”). He clearly doesn’t like her touching/clinging to him at every moment, yet never says anything to make her back off. Audrey is apparently responsible for Gabriel’s climb to fame, and Zoe’s intro episode revealed that it was Andre that helped direct Emilie’s movie, yet he never talks about either fact or how it relates to his and Chloe’s relationship (does he not know then? Or has he not taken the effort to learn, even though the latter involves a part of his mother’s life? Did Chloe ever meet Emilie? Does she remember what she looks like? What she was like with Adrien? What Adrien was like when she was still around?). He complains that he never has time for his friends and gets upset when he can’t hang out with them, yet never thinks to call on Chloe, who’s clearly in Gabriel’s good books enough that he allows her near his son and allows association with the family name, to help with the issue (especially since she’s proven full and willing to defy Gabriel’s will for him). He never talks to Chloe unless she initiates the convo, and never hangs out with her unless she crashes the event. I can’t even remember a single episode in the four (and now counting five) seasons we’ve had where Adrien’s ever invited Chloe to an outing involving just the two of them, or brought her along to hang out with the rest of the class willingly (Does Chloe go because Adrien asks, or because Adrien’s there and she decides he wants her there?) .

Chloe supposedly only cares about Adrien’s looks and family status, and is just a gold-digging sycophant vying for the Agreste fortune - yet she went out of her way to try and help Adrien achieve his dream of finally attending school when his prior homeschooling situation benefited her much better. She shows open concern during Akuma attacks when she believes he’s in danger. She expressed condolences out of grief for the loss of his mother when, by the writers own words, she should not have even cared (unless Chloe’s a Lila-level actor that’s talented enough to fake that kind of sympathy). Right before Felix exposes himself as having deceived her in “Gabriel Agreste”, she shows legitimate horror in thinking she insulted Adrien (and all while it being after the episode where their friendship was “ended”, at a point where she shouldn’t even care). It upsets and frightens her when she thinks he no longer wants anything to do with her not because she’s about to lose access to the Agreste fortune, but because she genuinely thinks he hates her and that she’s about to lose his friendship. She’s overly possessive of their relationship to the point that she bullies Marinette even harder than usually when she realizes she’s interested in Adrien too, and teams up with her at one point when Kagami enters the picture, and even went as far as trying to get him locked back up in his house again. When Adrien gets upset at her in “Queen Banana” for trying to have the film Nino made canceled/destroyed over having her parts in it removed (after she forced herself into the project mind you), her anger is less over Adrien daring not approve of her abusing her position and more that her friend won’t take her side.

His one and only friend in a childhood of cold stares and caged windows - yet the show treats their friendship like a bad joke at best and a burden/unwanted bond at it’s most negative view possible

Adrien and Chloe’s relationship makes no sense to me, and the show seems determined to make it as confusing as possible