#media literacy is so important yall

[fairy-bard]

i’ve been loving watching critical role recently if for no other reason than because i get to watch a decent portion of viewers actively falling for cult tactics lmao

a forbes article describes cult tactics as when cult leaders “censor dissenting viewpoints, promote a distorted narrative and use relentless repetition and peer pressure”

ludinus needing to monologue at everyone he meets. cherry picking what information to let people know (ie the orb). showing popular world leaders (gods?) at their absolute worst as a means to win over the vulnerable. creating dissent between cult prospects and the people who they’re close to outside the cult. doesn’t take no for an answer. repeating his points over and over, in whatever context he thinks will be most persuasive. targeting people who’ve lost everything. convincing people that they’re special

matt is a genius.

[library-fae]

Please read this essay before you decide it is ableist. This person majored in oral history and storytelling, they are also dyslexic and have ADHD. They are not against you.

This essay is about class, colonialism and oppression. It is about how the written word makes you put your own thoughts and feelings into the work - which they are right in the fact that you cannot do that with any other medium.

It is a love letter to reading, not a detriment to you.

"Absolutely no one comes to save us but us."

Ismatu Gwendolyn, "you've been traumatized into hating reading (and it makes you easier to oppress)", from Threadings, on Substack [ID'd]

[booksooks]

i havent even met sylus in game but some of yall seem to have him confused for your own oc because he would Not act Like That

typing using voice to text so I'm sorry if the formatting is weird, but from what my friend who has met sylus has told me: this man would not act the way some of you guys are insisting. like he would not be jealous to the point of being entirely unable to communicate. he would not try to kiss you as a way of making up, or as a way to stop you from being angry with him. that's just not something i see as feasibly anywhere near sylus as a character.

if you want to write a big daddy dom character who completely bulldozes over your feelings in lieu of 'fucking the jealousy out of you', then by all means go for it. but at that point, you are writing for an original character because that is wildly mischaracterizing someone who (again, according to my friend because i havent even come close to meeting sylus in the storyline) specifically makes room for you to be angry, to feel big emotions in a safe space and to be there for you.

the amount of fanfics i've seen that have sylus act in a way that is completely off base is insane. i'm aware that this is fanfiction, that people can write whatever they want and it's not harmful because at the end of the day: it's FAN FICTION and if you can't separate reality from fiction or whatever, you're not mature enough to be reading mature works or you simply don't have the media literacy skills to do so. but i've had a very long and emotionally draining week, and my temper is hanging on by a thread, and i'm allowed to be angry about a completely bullshit take on one of my favorite characters lmfao.

let me be clear, i'm not saying sylus cannot, will not, and has never been domineering, or protective, or that he doesn't have a fucking daddy kink or whatever. what i AM saying, is that the amount of fanfictions of sylus blowing the reader off or ghosting them or just simply not communicating and then expecting the reader to fall back into his arms after a kiss and a few well placed 'kitten's is astounding. even if he made the bad choice of being distant without explanation, he wouldn't expect the reader to instantly forgive him without an ELABORATE apology and an explanation. and honestly, i'm willing to put that bullshit of 'she forgives him because he's hot and he pulled her in close with his strong arms and hes so big daddy alpha dom' into the category of misogyny. because in what world does someone go from angry and hurt to forgiving and pliant just because he's a man and he kissed you. it is blatantly misogynistic to expect that.

i'm aware there is a lot of nuance within relationships, and that not everyone can be expected to be perfect at all times, HOWEVER this is fanfiction, and the authors i'm talking about have either explicitly stated that the reader and sylus have an established romantic relationship, or that they at the very least get along well and enjoy each other's company. so for sylus to then go ghost on the reader and expect them to instantly fall back into his arms at the end of the day then puts me in the position of 'simpering woman with no spine'. again, misogynistic.

at the end of the day, i'm aware this isn't an important issue and i'm aware that the misogyny in fanfiction doesn't necessarily have to transfer over to real life, especially because i do have critical thinking. but i have been ghosted before by an at-the-time boyfriend, and it sucked, so it's more of a personal issue from me.

i'm aware people can write whatever they want, and i have no obligation to read something i don't like. but that then eliminates what seems to be 50% of the fanfiction of sylus. i'm just saying please... consider writing literally anything else for sylus. for a man who has been made to love you specifically... y'all sure don't make him act like it.

if anyone wants me to elaborate or clarify some things, please send me an ask because the comments are not easy to navigate especially with multiple replies.

last but not least: i'm aware these are my personal feelings, and that i can write to make up for it should i so choose. but i hate having to scroll past 5 fics in a row with quite frankly stupid miscommunication issues from a man who is 28 and should damn well know better. thank you.

[moonchild-in-blue]

Massive thank you to you and everyone else who calls out how shitty it is to get mad at peoples interpretations. Sleep tokens music is romantic. Its also toxic. These statements can coexist. Its not your business if someone plays bloodsport or vore or hell even atlantic at their wedding. Youre not them, you dont know what the music means to them. If you see a weird take just roll your eyes and move on, its not a big deal. Absolutely sick and fucking tired of all these "why are you calling this romantic/sexy? Youre stupid and a terrible person!" takes like fucking relax. Media literacy is important yes. Respecting that this music is dark and personal to vessel is also important. Same goes for respecting how people relate to the music in dark ways. But as long as people are not saying things directly to vessel or fans about how their individual trauma is sexy then just chill out and respect peoples different interpretations. It sucks that i cant talk about how i view certain songs without being called horrible things and having really fucked up vitriol aimed at me. Yall need to grow the fuck up and get over yourselves. Im not thinking of your personal shit when i call a certain song romantic/sexy, i dont even know you, sometimes im thinking of my own trauma actually lol. Lets all discuss this music maturely where we respect each other and what each of us as individuals bring to the table for interpretation, stop making this fandom toxic as hell for anyone who doesnt agree 100% with your own interpretation. (Also the whole "youre not allowed to say this song is romantic/sexy" thing is very dismissive of some peoples trauma in itself, it ignores how messy someones feelings toward their abusers/toxic partners can be. Pretty fucked up to call a trauma survivor stupid or a terrible person because a song reminds them of their positive feelings towards someone who hurt them) Anyways yeah, just tired of people being so harsh because they refuse to see other peoples perspectives. I genuinely think one of the most toxic aspects of this fandom is the vitriol over different interpretations, people act like outright children at times with it im ngl, especially with more sexual discussions. It also feels infantilizing towards vessel at times, hes a grown adult who put romantic/sexy elements in his music and he doesnt need people trying to protect him from those themes. Im rambling but this stuff pisses me off so much, this fandom needs to do better

Context post for the clueless ones - regarding my tags/replies

Here's the thing - I've been in fandoms for many, many, MANY years. This type of discussion isn't anything new nor unique to Sleep Token, but it sure does make a comeback quite often. It's tiring to keep repeating the same things over and over, but that's what fandom is all about isn't it?

Someone needs to say something, and I am not one to shy away from uncomfortable conversations like these. Something something, build your own community, be the change you wanna see, etc etc.

I've said pretty much everything I wanna say already under that post, but for the sake of clarity, and because I can't keep my mouth shut apparently -

Under the cut for length - you know the drill:

Music is art. And art is subjective. Meaning, each individual will have their own personal connection and interpretation of a given piece of art, which in this case is Sleep Token's music.

Did Vessel write the songs with a certain intent or meaning? Most likely yes! It's not hard to connect the dots and guess what events/emotions might've transpired and served as inspiration for them (accuracy to personal life is irrelevant and none of our business, but it's also no rocket science to understand what's been said).

Can we establish a base meaning for any given song, or better, can we have a general consensus of what a song is about based on its lyrics and themes? Absolutely! Not every song is like that, but we can all agree there's a lot of recurring themes of past relationships and mental health struggles.

Is it wrong to diminish the songs to one basic element (eg. the sexual undertones) and/or completely disregard the bigger, more important theme? I'd say it is.

Giving Atlantic as an example (which as a lot of you know, is my most favourite song of them and very dear to me): this one has some very blatant references to suicide and depression. Regardless of whether it is based on irl events or not (none of our business!!!), it is extremely heavy and emotionally charged. I find it incredibly disrespectful when people say random stuff during the rituals when he plays this one.

Or for example, how certain people reduce Sleep Token to "baby making metal", instead of acknowledging the insane (insane!) variety of genres and the profound lyricism they present.

Should we limit our views, and by extension, those of others, to surface-level interpretation, without allowing room for different views and interpretations, either fictional lore based or not? ABSOLUTELY NOT.

Vessel himself said to "not restrict ourselves to labels or genres because music transcends it all" (paraphrasing here). It's literally their whole thing. It's very hypocritical to be shouting from the rooftops about "media literacy" and assuming people are stupid or idiots for not understanding the basic, surface-level meaning of a song, when Vessel himself constantly writes in metaphors and half-truths.

I've touched on this a lifetime ago on one of my analysis, but if you *actually* look at the lyrics, you'll realise Vessel hardly ever says what he means. There's always something else behind his words, something he purposefully keeps hidden. It really sneaks upon you sometimes! I'm over a year in and I still find something new everyday on their music. That man has a way to weave in a hundred and one statements under a single sentence, that is just truly beautiful to study.

Is, say, The Love You Want, about a man (Vessel) mourning the fact that his love isn't reciprocated? Yeah! Is it about someone who, despite knowing they can never receive from their lover the attention and affection and care they want, will stay by their side anyways? It is!

Is it about bitterness, spiteful accusations aimed at the one person who should love you fully? Or a reflection of how little self-regard the singer has, so much that they are willingly and actively choosing to stay in a sinking one-sided relationship, because the alternative is too painful to bare? Can you flip the switch and see it as someone who is obsessively pursuing another person, and painting themselves as a victim? All of this, yes!

You can even eliminate the romantic aspect all together and apply it to a relationship with the self (past or future, or an alter ego), or a parental figure. The options are endless. There isn't one universal truth when it comes to music, and as such, all of these takes are 100% correct.

Many statements can be true at the same time - it doesn't make one more true or correct than the other. Simply different. The way we connect with music is very much dictated by our own life experiences, and no two people have lived the exact same life.

Can you prefer a certain way to look at a song, or completely disagree with certain takes? Absolutely! I know I sure as hell do! That's normal and expected and part of the fun in being in a community such as ours. More people means more ways to look at a song - isn't that just wonderful?!

Now, this is very obvious for most of us, but some people, especially in the younger rage, have been taught to look at things in a very black and white way. Not to be that person, but the truth is that the rise in awareness of social issues and "pc-ness", is slowly starting to eliminate the possibility of things being flawed and nuanced.

If you're wrong, you're awful. If you're right, you're obnoxious. Made a mistake? Get cancelled. Grow from your mistakes, but not like that. Learn from your actions, but change your whole personality in a day otherwise you're problematic.

You know what I mean.

Life isn't black and white. Art isn't black and white. Music isn't black and white. What may seem like a toxic, dark, obsessive depiction of a relationship to you, might translate to the deepest and most truest of loves to me. I can acknowledge something is Not Right, while still drawing my own conclusions.

Is Blood Sport a sad af song? Yeah! Definitely not the first thing I'd think of when in a happy relationship. But maybe that's the point. And maybe I do. And that's okay, and none of anyone's business. "Okay but The Apparition isn't a good example of a healthy and romantic-" TO YOU! Maybe that's what love looks like to me! Maybe I just happen to be into it! And what about it?

Maybe to me love comes with all the ugly sides too. The violence, the despair, the self-doubt. Who are you to dictate what I can or can't think? I highly doubt Vessel would go 🗣️ "WRONG! NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! >:::(", so why would you?

You can, and should, discuss the songs with others! Maybe some people do genuinely need a fresh pair of eyes to help them get to the juicy core of the songs - that's why we're here! To discuss, and exchange ideas! You can, and should, call people out when their engagement with the music is being harmful to others (joking and laughing during Missing Limbs? No bueno. Speculating about Vessel's personal life? VERY no bueno. Choosing a potentially weird song to walk down the aisle? None of your business + not your wedding + you weren't even invited + none of your business. Notice how I've been repeating that. Notice again).

You shouldn't, however, shame and ridicule others for having different views from you.

I think, rather than engaging in pointless discussions and start accusing people of being this or that, we should all exercise a little "don't like? scroll past". Is it harming you or others? No? Then scroll past! Is it an awful, truly horrendous take about something you're really passionate about? Okay! Disgusting! Scroll past! Good for them! 👍

Also - keep an open mind. We're all doing this living businesse for the first time, no one holds all the answers to everything. It's okay to change your mind. It's okay to say the wrong thing and backtrack. It's okay to make a mistake and learn and grow.

You know what's not okay? Being a dick to others because the thing you like is being misinterpreted. It's hard, I know!!! You can block people! You can scroll past! You can look at pictures of your favourite vessel and cleanse your brain!!!! I know I do!!!!!

And this is a last afterthought but - you don't get to complain about the fandom you're in if you're doing nothing to change that. I see many, maaaaany of you bitch about this and that, while having 0 engagement aside from the bitching. Like?? Maybe if you spent more time reblogging cool art or gifs and less time whining about literally everything, this would be a much more pleasant space!! And I DO get to be a little petty here because I sure do try my best to make this a fun and nice community. I am allowed a little bitching 😌

Anyways, tl/dr: don't be a dick; don't like - don't engage; keep an open mind; gaze upon the vessels. Peace and love yall 💙💫

[askewhammer]

I'm sorry but it's really fucking weird yall are outing luigi mangione as bi. all yall say that it's important to not put anyone out for their own safety but as soon as it's some guy you've developed a parasocial relationship with its okay?? you all are sick actually. even if he's not actually bi you all are still sick.

as a matter of fact most of the shit everyone is posting about his PERSONAL LIFE is sick. he hasn't even fucking been sentenced yet and yet both the media and everyone else here is leaking every single detail about him?? have we forgotten the phrase "innocent until proven guilty"?? Don't you know you're supporting the cops narrative by doing this?? That you are actively participating in the smear of a man who's just been detained. I mean shit even if he's not innocent don't you think this is like the slightest bit immoral?

call me a sensitive little naive soul all you want but that man is a real living man that has suffered under the cold steel grip of the manipulative practices that American Healthcare upholds, and its really telling about your character and person by saying shit like "ugh I want to suck his cock so bad and eat his ass out like cake<33" stop treating him as if he's a commodity. as if he's a silly little blorbo from your favorite show. like be so fucking for real with me right now. you are a grown ass adult on www dot tumblr dot com.

this isn't me saying that we should halt all jokes and edgy memes about the situation. hell no. "Snitches get stitches and my Healthcare plan probably won't cover that" is funny as shit. The fact that people are saying that his attorney Tom Dickley is a deadringer for columbo/peter falk is funny as shit. What I'm saying is that we should treat this man with dignity. With both empathy and sympathy. With seriousness for his actions. To not treat this full grown man that harbors such calculated hatred as a little funny celebrity from a boyband that you write horny fanfiction about on ao3 and develop a parasocial relationship with. I know this is the piss on the poor media literacy website but be so serious with me.

also saying this for good measure TERFS step the fuck offff I've seen yall try to squeeze your narratives into this situation you are NOT slick

[noteoftheturnabout]

cylinder-l0cked

ok no way im the first person to think about this but hear me out yall... hanma x basil. reblog if you agree

uandisharethesamefate

#before you come at me for the age gap #consider that they're both GROWN ADULTS #srsly whats with this fandom i can NOT believe i cant even find many serious fics about them #theyre literally perfect together HELLO???? can anyone hear me #think about it. everything!! foils. enemies. murder. what more can you want?? #basil and his perfect villain statue. hanma and her death by humanity. urgh I feel sick /pos #we dont get toxic het as good as this

OP HOW CAN YOU LEAVE THIS IN THE TAGS,,,,, omg. your vision...

lemonyguac

oh my god what is WRONG with this fandom. hanma and basil????? of all people???????

uandisharethesamefate

yes??? do you have a problem.

alliedpenguin69

There is something sincerely wrong with you if you think it is okay to ship the traumatized woman with the misogynistic man that killed her for having ~gross womanly feelings~. bbbbut he's the fandom heartthrob woobie (which is only because he is young and apparently tumblr-attractive but nevermind that) so it's obviously moral and OK right

uandisharethesamefate

fandom stop infantalizing grown women challenge

jackieloidlor

OP ships Sherlock and Irene Adler btw

uandisharethesamefate

...OK??? and?

jackieloidlor

Homophobic misogynist with no taste or media literacy.

uandisharethesamefate

did you know you can like a ship from a series written by a dickhead misogynist without being a misogynist yourself

lemonyguac

yeah so are we just going to ignore??? the fucking AGE GAP?????

uandisharethesamefate

yeah so did you even read??? the OP's fucking TAGS?????

ai-the-broccoli

does anyone in this thread smoke weed

jamyamcircus-deactivated

lmao??

"B-BBUT SHE'S OLDER THAN HIM EVEN THOUGH THEY'RE BOTH ADULTS!! WAAAA SO TOXIC!!!" DID YOU PERHAPS FORGET ABOUT SOMETHING MORE IMPORTANT.... PERHAPS..... HMM... THE FACT THAT HE KILLED HER?????

uandisharethesamefate

EXACTLY!!

jackieloidlor

Oh wait, Lawlight fan. That explains so much about you.

uandisharethesamefate

did you know you can like a ship from a series written by a dickhead misogynist without being a misogynist yourself

cylinder-l0cked

hey op here

@alliedpenguin69

- im literally a lesbian what are you TALKING about

- i don't even fucking ship them? i'm an irene fan first and sheriarty shipper second

- what is wrong even if i ship sherlock and irene? thats my roommate's otp she's one of the nicest ppl i know. fuck off

apictureofpenisandballs

... where have you guys been until now? banma is literally one of the most popular ships in this fandom. shipping everyone is all people ever want to talk about. don't even remind me of the horrific discourse and callout posts surrounding it just two months ago. anyway they are both horrible people and this ship sucks and makes no sense can we talk about something else for once PLEASE.

[verdart]

I made the unfortunate decision to comment on a tiktok saying

"Blitz has every right to doubt Stolas' intentions and I will di on this hill defending Blitz"

Which made me actually realize in the context of Stolitz how much the fandom vilifies Blitz.

Upon rewatch I realized that he is actually kinda innocent lmao. So here comes the rant hop on in Verda rants at 4am again train.

The thing is first of all we need to work our media literacy muscles. So Stolas stans who think he is a uwu babygirl that dod nothing wrong repeat after me. "Blitz didn't watch "just look my way", "owl in a cage" or any other Stolas longing scene that we cried over"

Now that thats setteled I don't want to hear any "he is trying" bs because as of now (pre full moon s2e8) he hasn't actually done anything that Blitz is aware.

Lets start from the top my initial comment was about how Stolas treated him for so long before actually catching the feelings and how Blitz has a right to think he is not genuine.

Up top lest start with the condescending pet names and I won't be hearing Blitz cant be mad at that Stolas does it bc he thinks he likes it... jesus okay s2e1 when stolas starts the imp dirty talk what does blitz do a) encourage him b) get naked and dtf bc that was hot, c) shuts him up

Ding ding ding C. Stolas can still take this as bedtime play sure but we have a case for Blitz not liking it from day one. Other than that we all know he views Stolas' (perhaps in his mind endearing) pet names as condescention.

Secondly even if we ignore the power imbalance Stolas is the one to suggest the transactional fucking... s1e1 even tho in the forst time it was Blitz's doing, sorta. So don't at me saying well Blitz just uses him for the grimoire, like girly duh that was the premise. But Stolas also uses Blitz. Imo lending a book vs fucking in payment is a bot excessive but for Blitz's case beggars cant be chosers.

Now to the elephant in the room... Ozzie's. Does Blitz invite him (Stolas) purely out of selfish intentions that has nothing to do with him? Yes. Is he a dick? Yes. But Does Stolas hide his fucking face when he has a reality check? Yes. But then y'all be mad bc Blitz pulled his hand back.

That night Stolas was read once, Blitz was like at least 2 times... if we don't count the stuff for Stolas by proxy. He was having a hard night bro. And after Stolas invites him he is like no and Stolas respects that. Which if the show didn't add s2e2 in between it wouldve been a perfect stepping stool to get the Stolitz on healthy communication territory but that didn't happen.

I cannot for the life of me pin point when Stolas genuinely falls for Blitz. If its from day one damn it took him long enough to understand what he was doing was wrong.

Anyways we as fans can't be mad at Stolas because we know he is starting to understand the absolute power imbalance he created and the position he left Blitz in. He has realized that the thing is lets remember and repeat "Blitz is not watching the show with us". Blitz doesn't know of this sudden change of heart.

Now to adress a few meaningful interactions we have after ozzies. The fucking pixelated phone texts from s2 western energy.

Stolas apologizes but in that way that I look down upon. "Sorry if" like girl own it up anyways Blitz brushes it off and Stolas instead just goes hehe I didnt care either. Yall need relationship therapy my god. Important thing is Stolas was trying to reach out. But instead of going anything I said that made you upset etc he could've actually apologize properly for getting ashamed. Tho Blitz should also apologize for inviting him on a date for his own gain but thats another bag of worms I won't open tonight.

Other than that he has put off seeing him and doing the transactional fucking for a while. During those times. And as we know from all the phones Blitz breaks after talking to Stolas and hearing hus dirty talk he isn't too excited about. We don't exactly know if he comes or not on those nights. But he is also showm to be quite comfortable in s2e2 with the "my dick is good but its not that good" comment so maybe they do continue the arrangement... idk. Either way we know they haven't really talked.

All I am saying is that both parties of this ship are guilty af of hurting eachother and taking advantage of eachother. But as the power house of this power imbalance, Stolas needs to be held accountable. And he is doing that now!! Or will, in s2e8 and I can't wait to see how that goes. Overall, I can see totally why Blitz shuts down any signs that Stolas might actually be into him. He has a good bunch of reasons too. And as far as we've seen from the trailer we will get to hear him say it out loud as he should.

[thegoosetyrant]

Heeeeyyyyyy I’ve never partook in the Sk8 fandom before because a very large amount of you are so deep in this new wave of fandom purity culture that it makes the fandom no fun to be in.

I watched Sk8 as it came out, and it was love at first sight. I loved the animation, the races, how colorful and stylish everything was, and I really related to Reki’s struggle with imposter syndrome and overall in just think it’s a great show that I love very much.

But I also found myself relating to Adam quite a bit. His struggle with his strict family, having to be two faced around your family and among your friends/community, wearing a figurative mask and wanting to be anonymous out of fear that your family will discover something about you that you don’t want them to see. It really struck a cord with me, I saw a major part of my life in him, as a queer person.

But no every single person who finds a shred of humanity in his character is called a p*do apologist. Cool guys, very mature. He’s a villain, everyone knows that, he does some p*do shit. News flash, he’s also not real, he can’t hurt anyone. Nobody who likes his character is a p*do you absolute dinguses. Who are you people? Are you the same people that call Rocky Horror problematic? Cuz Adam shares an incredible amount of similarities with Dr. Frankenfurter and everyone loves him (obviously what an icon). Do you guys just not like complex characters? Does every character have to be a paragon of morality? A villain makes the story. Adam is the reason the story happens, he causes the rift. What do people censor his name in this fandom? Like literally some of yall type shit like “ad*m” not even as a joke. Why do people refuse to acknowledge such an important part of why the story of Sk8 is so good?

Remember that one time that multiple Sk8 fanzines banned any content relating to Adam so a group of fans made an Adam focused zine? And someone reported it for sexual misconduct in and attempted to get it canceled only for PayPal to find no violations upon investigation??? Very mature guys.

I’ve been afraid to post anything about how I related to several aspects of Adam’s character and enjoyed how goofy of a villain he was because I was afraid of the purity culture mob making incredibly horrible accusations. I don’t think people realize how nasty and horrible calling someone a p*do apologist is. You don’t know what you are doing throwing those words around all willy nilly. Yall are the ones that are fucking things up. Literally censoring the existence of a character, what a joke. What are you gonna do next, burn any book with a queer character who just sucks? Yall would hate Anne Rice. No Interview with the Vampire? One of the most important works of vampire fiction that exists?Gonna burn some Rocky Horror DVDs and censor one of the most important queer movies of all time just because the villain was a murderer and sexual deviant??? Go to English class and learn some god damn media literacy. Pull that stick out of your ass and laugh a funny camp villain. See humanity in pieces of shit people because none of you are angels. That’s what’s great about fiction. You can do all that in the safety of unreality.

[the-promise-has-been-made]

conservatives are really out here saying Dune Pt.2 is pro-life because Jessica talks to Alia's fetus. Like... this is literal insanity. Alia literally, in the source material, goes insane and becomes a monstrous tyrant???? Likely because of her exposure to the waters of life in the womb????? She goes completely off the rails? You really want Alia Atreides to be your pro-life icon??? Knock yourself out I guess??? But like... doesn't even Jessica in hindsight go 'would have been better if she died in the womb'? Also how pro-life can it really be if Jessica was like 'okay so this is poison you want me to drink to become the reverend mother? Don't mind if I do!' and glugged that shit down like no thoughts of that baby at ALL. Yall call that 'pro-life'??? Cause looks to me like she was making some choices, huh...? These people really do not give two shits about CONTEXT for their arguments. Guess I should not be surprise given how selectively they interpet the bible...

(They also say they love Dune because it is a refreshing, non-political movie about the importance of family and like... media literacy is dead apparently? Like how spectacularly can you MISS te point of a movie based on a book that is well over 50 years old??? Frank Herbert was NOT SUBTLE ABOUT IT!!!)

[penguicorns-are-cool]

[IMG ID: a series of tweets and replying to the tweet in the first image which is "Domo @DapperDomo" saying "the reason yall be having all these technical degrees and making 300k but keep falling for conspiracy theories is because you thought english classes were stupid in college and now you don't know what a logical fallacy is"

second image: domo replies to themself twice saying "the reason you can't get a date is because all you read are self help books and you have nothing interesting to talk about so you end up mansplaining investment crypto (which is a scam) to a girl who could give less of a fuck then ghosts you after an expensive dinner"

and "somebody, prolly your dumb uncle or older brother, told you that women like men with money so you thought that your investment banker salary and Patagonia vest would fine you love. now you rage about feminism on reddit because you gotta pay for escorts. loser.

third image: two more replies from Domo saying "moral of the story. acquire knoweledge and information outside of your technical specialty and maybe just maybe you'll be a well-rounded human who can interact with society at large"

and "conspiracy theory twitter has found this so let me say this: the american government has done enough horrible things that are public record that you do not need conspiracy theories about the moon landing being fake to validate your distrust. Cointelpro isn't a theory.

fourth image: a retweet of the tweet saying "High school english class: this is an unreliable narrator' STEM Genius: 'when will THAT be applicable to real life"

END ID]

this is why my english teacher believes everyone should take a basic philosophy class about the philosophy of education so everyone understands why we learn what we learn and why it's all so important

like in the end, a good majority of the stuff we learn in school is pretty important. Sometimes it seems like it's not cause we will likely never use it in this specific context again unless it's our job and it ends up getting jumbled up with smaller less significant facts that we don't need to and won't remember unless we pursue a career that requires it. but like, the practices we learn.

sure, I'll probably never use anything I learned in trigonometry again, but learning it has definitely given me practice in general rational-thinking and problem-solving skills. I've already forgotten most of what I learned in bio and chem, but scientific process is important and I know have a very vague understanding of how insulation and dilution works which can be pretty useful. history I think there's plenty of internet posts on why that is important to learn, and english is explained here. and on top of general social awareness and media literacy, both of those classes gave me some experience on giving presentations, writing, and some amount of general conversation skills.

Like, just in general, don't discount any field of learning especially at a high school level. and this isn't an endorsement of our education system cause the way those subjects are generally taught doesn't really encourage you to learn those skills and I got very lucky with the school I go to and who my teachers are, but it's not a bad mix of required core classes and they all have very valid reasons to be there.

[atlafan]

Peaches and Cream - One Shot

a/n: okay yall went crazy for this blurb so I wrote a full one shot for it. lmk if you want to see more from these two! Please reblog, put notes in the tags, send me asks. All feedback is important. It keep me writing! not proofread

warnings: smut, enemies to lovers

words: 8.6K

Masterlist I Patreon

There he was, looking at her with the smuggest look she’s ever seen. He’s tucking his shirt back into his pants, fastening the button and zipper, and looking up at her with rosy cheeks and closed-mouth grin. When all she does is look at him stoically, he chuckles softly, shakes his head, and finishes getting dressed. He leans in to leave a peck to her forehead before departing.

“Harry.” She calls to him, making him turn to look at her. “This was a one-time thing.”

“Whatever you say, Peach.”

And then he’s gone. She frowns at the use of her nickname. The one bestowed upon her by her mother. It was “Peaches” actually, but over the years people have just come to call her “Peach”. It wasn’t something she thought would carry over into her adult life, but she did. Then in bled into her professional life. She doesn’t mind when people call her that…except for him. Whenever Harry calls her Peach or Peaches, he says it in the most condescending tone. Sometimes when he’s feeling especially obnoxious, he likes to call her “Peaches and Cream”.  He turned her sweet nickname into something she almost hates hearing now. But everyone knows her as Peach, and she doesn’t want to rock the boat by making them call her, her actual name. (Which she can’t stand. And her middle name is no good either.)

She hates Harry. He’s been a menace to her for years. So how she allowed him to take her home and fuck her into her mattress…she can’t really recall. As she shuffles into her bathroom and washes her face, she thinks about how the night’s events transpired. They weren’t intoxicated. They weren’t under the influence of any kind. They were simply working late, which was nothing out of the ordinary for either of them.

She and Harry are both account managers at a prestigious PR firm – Harris Public Relations & Media Consultation. Harry is a nepotism baby though. His father worked at Harris for years, was the CFO, that whole thing. So it was easy for Harry to get an internship during undergrad in the marketing department. And it was easy for Harry to get hired on as a copy editor while going for his MBA. And it was easy for Harry to move up the ranks until he was one of the lead account managers.

Peach, on the other hand, well…she worked a little harder. She got a full ride to Columbia thanks to hours upon hours of writing letters and essays for scholarships. She thought she might like to go into journalism, but she only ended up minoring in it. What stole her heart was media relations and literacy. She just found it fascinating! The theory behind what media are, and how to properly learn how to use them interested her more than anything. She took a course on the art of media training, and that was it for her. She knew she wanted to do something in the world of public relations. She also looked up to Samantha from Sex and the City, and how she was able to basically build an empire all on her own. That was Peach’s dream, to someday have her own PR firm.

But she knew it would take time to be able to do that. She had to learn the business and make a name for herself. She found an internship during undergrad, but she had to go through a more rigorous interview process than Harry had. She also got her start in copy editing, but for a small marketing company. Working at a place like Harris would be a huge stepping stone for her career. So when a job opened up on the media relations team a few years back, she applied. And thanks to her networking skills, she had some incredible people to put down as references. It took over a month, but she was hired. She was doing copy editing, working with clients, doing some media training to up and coming artists. All things that were good experience for her to get under belt.

Being an account manager though…that’s where the big buck and the notoriety are. This where are a person can put their money where their mouth is. The CEO, now Harris’ son Jeremy, is the one who assigns the account managers to specific clients. Each manager has a team, that team puts together a pitch, and they all pitch it to the client. The client then picks which pitch they like best, and that manager and their teams gets to work with the client going forward. Everyone gets paid a standard salary, but account managers are given a commission when their pitch is selected. Not to mention the pure bragging rights.

So, she knew if she ever wanted her own PR firm, then she’d start needing experience managing accounts. She requested a one-on-one meeting with Jeremy after working for the company for two years. She did good work. She brought him facts and figures. He was impressed. When he asked what she wanted when she was done selling herself to him, she explained her work goals and aspirations. She didn’t say she wanted to have her own firm, no, she told him she wanted to be an account manager here at Harris and she wanted to be the one to continue getting them in the 21st century. She wanted to bring the company more money and more clients. This is exactly what Jeremy wanted to hear. But since she’s a woman, she had to be a bit more persuasive. She knows how Jeremy is. He looks, but never touches. He’s a married man, after all. So, she gave him various things to look at that day. She wore her tightest pencil skirt that fell about halfway around her thighs, sheer, black tights underneath, a pair of pumps that would help her legs look a little longer, and a blouse that showed off her cleavage beautifully.

It was in the bag. Jeremy’s eyes drifted and wandered as she spoke. She pretended not to care that she was being openly objectified by the CEO of the company. And by the end of the meeting, he told her that one of the other account managers would be retiring at the end of that month, but no one knew yet. So, the open position would go right to her if she wanted it. She accepted, and shook his hand, lingering just a tad to make him feel wanted. Giving a man an ego boost is always the icing on the cake. She got exactly what she wanted.

This tactic may not have been obvious to the other account managers, but it was obvious to Harry. He has no problem working with women. He prefers to work in a diverse space, so that’s not the problem. The problem is he knew exactly how she played it. She used her looks and body to weasel her way into an open position that she didn’t have a formal interview for. Harry was hoping there would be a legitimate search done for a new account manager so one of his friends at another frim could apply. But no…Peach got it.

She was given the office right next to Harrys. Glass all around for easy view of the city and the people working at the desks outside of the offices. There were blinds that could be pulled for privacy, of course. She had her own assistant that would help manager her calendar and meetings. And now she’d be able to put her own teams together for pitches. She knew who she liked in the graphics department, and she knew who she liked in the print shop, and she knew who she liked for writing copy. It was all falling into place.

Harry was convinced that she slept with Jeremy to get the position. To him, it seemed like she had no experience for pitching to clients and making the important things happen. To him, she had more experience in damage control, quality assurance, those types of things.

At her first account managers meeting, Jeremy was there to deliver some new updates. He was a hands on CEO, just as his father was. He didn’t just want to be a figure head for the company. He still took on the occasional client and everything.

“And my last announcement is to welcome our newest account manager, Peach.” He smiled in her direction, and everyone looked at her. She smiled at everyone sheepishly, then they turned their attention back to Jeremy.

After the meeting, Harry saw her refilling her water bottle at the water bottle station near the bathrooms. He was going to refill his bottle as well.

“Congrats on movin’ on up.” He said her. At first she thought he was being sincere. Could the nepotism baby actually be a kind person with a soul?

“Thank you, Harry.”

“Please, just call me H, everyone else does.”

“Alright.” She smiled and stepped aside to let him refill his water.

“So, what kind of a name is Peach? Did your parents have an affinity for the fruit?” He asked her nonchalantly.

“No, it’s just a nickname my mom gave me when I was a kid. She used to call me Peaches, and then that shortened to Peach as I got older. It sort of stuck, and I prefer to use it. It’s shorter than my actual name. Rolls off the tongue easier.”

“Ah.” Harry nodded, screwing the cap back onto his bottle. “I bet Jeremy thought you were just the sweetest thing, then?” He said sweetest thing with a slight country twang. Was he mocking her? Her mother may have been from the south, but she was no bumpkin.

“I don’t know about that, but I know he liked what he saw when I showed him my portfolio.”

“Mm.” He nodded again. “Well, bless your heart, Peaches. Welcome to the team.”

He turned and walked away from her, leaving the foulest taste in her mouth. So what if she was born in Georgia. She wasn’t raised there. Her parents got divorced, and her mother moved them up north to Boston where one of her cousins lived. Her mother met a man that worked in IT, and she got a new step-dad in a matter of a couple of years. She doesn’t even have an accent. Her mother barely has one anymore. What the fuck was Harry’s problem?

The two didn’t see much of each other except for the weekly account managers meeting. They were often working on different projects, and they never used the same people for their teams. Jeremy assigned specific managers to specific pitches because he knew where certain people had expertise. Different clients needed different things. So, really, Peach didn’t have to work with Harry all that much. She hated that her office was next to his, but it’s not like he was a distraction.

He knew how to push her buttons, though. He’d throw in various version of her nickname during meetings to make her look stupid and juvenile. Saying things like, “We haven’t heard from Peaches on this”, or, “Settle down Peach and Cream”, or literally anything that would make her the butt of a joke. She loathed him. Harry knew it was childish to pick on her, but he was pissed. If she could schmooze her way into this position, who’s to say she won’t do that again for an even higher position? No way will she ever be the boss of him. Harry works hard, and he’s good at what he does. He’s one of the top account managers at the firm. If anyone’s going to get a bump up, it should be him.

It went on like this for a year. They made each other crazy. Then came the day when Harry, Chris, John, and Peach were all called into a meeting with Jeremy and his executive assistant. This is usually how he assigned really important pitches to a select number of account managers. What both Harry and Peach couldn’t figure out is why they were being called into the same meeting.

“You all are familiar with the popular hotel chain called RJR, right?” Everyone nods and hums in agreement. “They’re looking to rebrand. They’ve had the same logo, slogan, and branding for over thirty years, and they want to change things up. They want to get more young people using their website to book rooms and events. The majority of their clientele are older people, and they love them, but they want to expand and market to more.” Everyone takes notes as Jeremy explains. “You all have experience when it comes to helping a company work through rebranding. This is going to be an insanely involved project, so I wanted my top managers on this.”

Harry thought he was going to explode. Since when was Peach a top account manager? She’s only been at this for a year! Harry’s been managing accounts for over five! He knows he gets paid more, especially since his pitches are usually the ones chosen by the client, but now he seems to have some real competition. Jeremy’s assistant emails everyone the briefing on what the hotel is looking to do. Now it’s on the account managers to do some market research before pulling their teams together. They have a week and a half before the VP of Marketing from RJR comes to hear the pitches.

She stays late every night to do take notes and put her information together. They all still have other work during the day to get done. It’s not unusual for people to stay late. She wants to be able to articulate what different populations are looking for in terms of hotel service. What’s important to these different age groups? 24-hour front desk service? A proper mini-fridge? Storage space? Free breakfast? It’s a lot to consider. If the nightly rate is high, what are the customers getting for that price?

“Well, look he’s still here.” Harry’s graining, agitating voice rings loud and clear to her as he steps into her office. “It’s Miss Peach Pie.”

“What do you want, H? I’m busy.” She says flatly.

“Nothing.” He shrugs. “I was just finishing up my work for the night. I used one of the conference rooms that has a larger whiteboard so I could brainstorm a little.” He puts his hands in his pockets and smirks at her. “Don’t get too excited though, I erased everything, so you won’t be able to steal any of my ideas.”

“Your ideas are probably just as stupid as you are, so I’m all set.”

“Oof.” He puts his hands over his heart to fake that she’s wounded him. “That was a good one. Calling me stupid is so high level.”

“I apologize, I’m a bit tired from the day. I promise to insult you properly tomorrow morning after a good night’s sleep.”

“You know you’re not going to be selected for this, right? You’re going up against me, John, and Chris. You don’t stand a chance.”

“Sounds like someone’s projecting.” She sing-songs. “You’re that scared of me stealing your thunder?”

“All I’m saying is, you’re running with the big dogs now. Some of us aren’t exactly friendly.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice about that.”

“Just don’t be surprised when one of us bites you on the ass.”

“Hm.” She grins and crosses her arms over her chest, leaning back in her chair. “And what would a bitchless guy like yourself know about biting asses?” Harry’s mouth falls open. “I mean, it’s one thing for a woman to work late. I don’t have kids to get home to, and I pay my neighbor’s kid to feed my dog and take him out. But you, a man of such stature and status, you’d think you’d have some hole to rush home to.” She pouts mockingly at him. “What’s wrong? Your pocket pussy just not doing it for you anymore?”

Harry narrows his eyes at her. “My private life stays separate from work. Pardon me for not talking about what or who I get into on the weekends like some of our other colleagues.”

“It’s okay to admit you’re a virgin, H. Everyone does everything in their own time. I’m sure it’ll happen for you someday.” She smiles ever so sweetly at him. “Life isn’t a race.”

“Go to hell.” He huffs, and leaves her office to go to his, gathering his things and leaving her in their wing all alone.

He hates her. He loathes her. He has to beat her at this, he can’t let her win.

//

After a week and a half of snide comments, and hours upon hours of extra work, the VP of Marketing from RJR is here in the nicest conference room to hear the four different pitches. Jeremy is sitting with her. Her name is Adelaide Benjamin. She looks to be in her late forties, but her eyes are kind. It’s not often the managers get to pitch to a woman. It makes John and Chris a little nervous for their presentations. They’re both guys’ guys. Harry can charm anyone, so he’s not worried one bit. And Peach, well, she’s not stupid enough to relax just because she’s pitching to a woman. Often times in business, women aren’t so quick to support other women.

The four of them get to meet with Adelaide, sharing a delicious breakfast catered by the firm’s dining department. She goes over her plans and what the company over all is looking to do. They all are given time to freshen up and use the bathroom before the presentations start. John goes first, then Harry, then Peach, and then Chris. The four of them are brought back in after Adelaide and Jeremy chat for a while.

“Thank you all so much for your marvelous presentations. I’m going to take back the materials you’ve given me to my team, and talk things over with them. I should have an answer on who I’d like to take this on in a few days.”

Oh, she’s thorough. Today is Thursday, which means they won’t have an answer until Monday. Which means the four of them are going to be on edge until then. It makes it difficult to concentrate on their other projects. Peach’s stomach isn’t feeling too great. She’s not sure if she ate too much or too little earlier. She’s not sure if it’s the nerves. She’s not sure if maybe her skirt is just a little too tight around her stomach as she sits. It’s really a better outfit for standing.

She manages to get through the day unscathed, but around 5:15, she’s rushing to the bathroom. She’s never sure which end is worse for things to come out of, but at work, she’d prefer to throw up. Luckily, that’s all it is. She heaved hard until her stomach was empty, and it was just bile coming out. She stands up slowly, and goes to rinse her mouth out at the sink. She keeps a spare toothbrush in her office, and makeup wipes. She sighs with relief at the thought because looking at herself in the mirror right now…

Her forehead is clammy, her body feels sweaty, and she looks like a raccoon because now her eye makeup has smeared and clumped under her eyes. She’s just happy she had the good sense to put her hair up before coming to the bathroom to throw up. Feeling exhausted, she pushes the bathroom door open only to be met with Harry refilling his water bottle. He looks at her like he’s looking at a ghost. He almost looks concerned? That can’t be.

“Was…was that you in there?” He blinks, and she nods. “Christ, I don’t think I’ve heard someone yak that violently before. Do you always sound like that when you spew?”

“I don’t know, I don’t usually pay attention to the way I vomit while it’s happening.” She wipes under her eyes and sighs when she sees how much makeup comes off on her hands. “I need to go clean myself up.”

“Are you feeling alright?” He asks as he follows her back to her office. He watches as she pops a piece of gum in her mouth, and uses a wipe to clean her face. “Are you sick?”

“My stomach’s been bothering me all day. I think it was something I ate this morning.”

“Well, I feel fine and no one else seemed to get sick from the food.”

“Maybe it’s a stomach bug, then. I don’t know. I plan to take a sleeping aid and knock out when I get home.”

“Could be something else.” He smirks. “Maybe you’re pregnant. What a blessing that would be. You’d go on maternity leave, we’d hire someone on in your place on a temporary basis, they’d excel, and then you’d be fired a month after returning.” He looks off, smiling, as if he can really picture it. “What a world that would be.”

“Just because a woman throws up does not mean she’s pregnant.” She bites. Harry looks at her. He’s never seen her face look so plain and delicate. He’s seen her at the end of the day before. He knows what she looks like when she’s exhausted. This is just the most vulnerable he’s ever seen her. It’s like she’s taken all of her armor off. “I’m packing up so I can go home. Hopefully it was just a one and done.”

“Maybe you should stop by a pharmacy on your way. You know, grab some Nyquil, maybe some O.J., and a pregnancy test, just to be sure.”

“You know, you really shouldn’t be an ass about things like this.” She huffs as she stuffs her bag with her things. “What if I was trying to get pregnant, hm? What if I’ve miscarried? What if I couldn’t have children? Do you know how awful it would be to be questioned like this if I had all that going on? You don’t like being asked about your personal life, well, neither do I. So drop it.”

“You’re right, it was insensitive me to joke about that.” He says genuinely, and it helps her to calm down. “It was stupid for me to even bring it up. I mean, it’s not like you’re fucking anyone. You said it yourself, the only thing you’re going home to is your dog.”

Her bottom lip juts out in a pout. Harry’s about to roll his eyes because she’s famous for using that pout to her advantage, but when he notices her lip start to quiver and tears slipping down her cheeks, well, his entire demeanor changes.

“Shit, I took it too far.” He crosses the room over to her just as she’s grabbing a tissue to dab her eyes with.

“You always do, it’s nothing I can’t handle.” She says through her tears. “Don’t go all soft on me just because I’m tearing up.” She wipes under her eyes and reaches for her coat. “You have no idea what I’ve been through in the last six months because I check my shit at the door. Work is a good distraction. I used to have more to go home to, but I don’t anymore.” She brushes by him over to her door, and she motions for him to leave so she can lock it. “But at least I still have something there that’s happy to see me when I get in. What do you have, huh?” He furrows his eyebrows as he looks at her. “You have absolutely nothing outside of this place.” She zips up her jacket and locks her office door. “See you tomorrow, asswipe.”

//

She doesn’t see him tomorrow. She actually had to call out of work. Turns out she does have a stomach bug. She’s feeling much better by the time Monday comes around. She knows she was really harsh when she last spoke to Harry, but she doesn’t care. He’s been harsh with her time and time again. It’s about time someone gives it back to him.

Her assistant tells her she has a meeting with Jeremy at nine, so she prepares for that. She wonders if he’s letting her down easy for not getting the pitch. She figures Harry probably got it. She stops short at Jeremy’s office when she sees Harry chatting with Jeremy’s assistant.

“Oh, good, you’re both here. Come in.” Jeremy says, and she and Harry both go to sit on the other side of his desk. “I had a video call with Adelaide last night. After looking over all the materials with her team, she feels as though it would be best if the two of you worked on the account together.”

“What?” They say at the same time.

“She enjoyed both of your pitches immensely, and was having a hard time choosing. She said you both bring different and interesting ideas to the table, and she’d like to see them combined cohesively. You each will still get a full commission, so it’s not like you have to split this one.” He looks at Harry, then at her, smiling fondly as his eyes rake over her body. “Peach, I think it would be a good opportunity for you to work with Harry. As you know, he’s one of the top account managers at this firm, he has plenty of experience under his belt, especially a rebrand of this caliber.”

“Yes, sir, that makes sense.” She says, swallowing her pride a bit as she nods.

“And Harry, you could learn a thing or two from Peach. She’s very up to date on what Gen Z is up to online. Adelaide noted that she enjoyed Peach’s ideas for getting the company on Tik Tik. I know social media outside of Facebook and Instagram isn’t your favorite, but it’s a fad that seems to be everlasting.”

“Tik Tok…right.” Harry nods slowly.

“You have a month to get a concise concept together for her review. You’ll be sent some of their own market research that her team has done. It should help you figure out how to best target the audiences they’re looking draw in. Any questions?” They both shake their heads no. “Excellent. Hop to it.”

The two stand up and leave in complete shock. They don’t speak to each other for two days. Neither of them know what to say to the other. But Wednesday rolls around and it hits them that a month really isn’t a ton of time to put everything together, so they need to meet. They block out the whole afternoon to meet in one of the larger conference rooms so they can looks over the other’s materials and use the whiteboards to brainstorm.

“I still don’t understand the need for a Tik Tok account for a hotel chain. Who would want to watch videos about a hotel?” Harry asks her.

“The videos wouldn’t be about the hotel. People like it when brands jump onto weird trends that have absolutely nothing to do with their product. It’s funny and unexpected. It drive those viewers to their account page which is where a link to the hotel site would be.” She smiles smugly. “I didn’t think I’d have to explain something so simple to you, but that’s on me for assuming you have at least one brain cell in that giant head of yours.”

“Making fun of someone’s personal appearance is shallow, rude, and cheap.” He turns his nose up at her. “I didn’t look at the Tik Tok thing in that way. I don’t use the app myself, so I guess I’m not up on all the trends and whatnot.”

“It’s actually pretty fun. There are definitely people on there with brain rot, but you can just block the accounts you don’t want to see. Let me guess…you use reels?”

“No.” Harry says defensively. “But I have friends that send them to me from time to time.”

“Wait a second.” She shakes her head in confusion. “You have friends?”

“Not all of us prefer to only converse with four-legged animals, Peaches.” He sighs. “What did you think of the mock ups my team did for the logo?”

“I actually really liked them. You had Lee do these?”

“Yeah, he’s always my go to.”

“This one’s my favorite, it’s sleek, not too busy, but it still has some pizazz.” She taps her finger on one of the pieces of paper.

“Alright, something we actually agree on.” Harry sets the other logos aside on the other side of the table. “Now, I was thinking we could do some type of mailer for the crowd that doesn’t like digital marketing. A post card with a coupon code could go over very well. They can be directed to the website or call the hotel directly.”

“We can send it as an email as well.”

“Right.” Harry nods. “I was thinking long-time rewards members could get a voucher for one free night, or free breakfast during their stay. Adelaide said the company is fine with spending a little to make a lot.”

“I think giving that to long-time members is a good idea. It costs more to get and retain new people, let’s focus on the people we have.”

“Exactly.” Harry smiles. “So, here’s a binder full of information I had my assistant put together. If you could look through it and take some notes, I can-“

“I’m going to stop you right there.” She slides the binder back over to him. “I’m not your admin, I’m not going to be the only one doing the clerical work. Also, do not assign tasks to me like I’m lesser than you.”

“Jeremy said you could learn from me. I’m just showing you my process. Like me or not, I have a good track record with my clients. I’ve already looked through the binder and put my notes in the margins. I just wanted you to look it over as well so we have the same information.”

“You could have said that in the first place.” She murmurs.

“You’re very hostile when you don’t need to be.”

“If I’m hostile it’s because you make the environment that way. You’re always so combative. You make everything a competition!”

“That’s our job! We compete for clients.”

“But you’re especially competitive with me. I’m a woman in a male dominated field and office, I have to work twice as hard as you. If I show the wrong emotion, I’m a bitch or a pushover or weak or nasty.”

“Are you telling me that I don’t work hard? That I didn’t work hard to get to where I am?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Your father was the CFO! Of course you got one of the best jobs here.”

“I worked my way up same as you.”

“It wasn’t the same, Harry.”

“You’re right, I didn’t sleep my way to top.”

“Excuse me?!”

“Don’t act so surprised that I figured it out, it’s obvious.”

“What’s obvious?” Her eyes and nostrils are flaring.

“You hooked up with Jeremy, that’s how you got the open position without going through the formal interview process. That’s why you dress and act the way you do. You wanted his attention, you got it, and you have him something in return. Now, I don’t know if you blew him under his desk or if you let him fuck you, but-“ Smack! Harry clutches at his cheek, and looks at her in shock. Her chest is heaving and her eyes are watery.

“How fucking dare you.”

“Did you just slap me?! I could report you, I could-“

“And I could report you for sexual harassment and defamation of character! That’s how you think I got this job? By sleeping with the CEO?”

“It had to have been! I see the way he looks at you. I see the way everyone looks at you.”

“I asked for a meeting with him, not even knowing there was going to be a position opening up. I just wanted to sit with him and go over my goals and where’d I’d like to be in the next few years. I showed him my portfolio, he asked me a few questions, and we had a great conversation. He didn’t touch me, I didn’t touch him, it was all professional.”

“Mhm.” Harry rolls his eyes. “So every time we meet with him, I’m just imagining the look he gives you?”

“What look?”

“Like he’s ready to devour you right then and there.”

“Jeremy looks, but he doesn’t touch. He would never cheat on his wife, he needs her, and he knows she’d leave him if he did anything behind his back.”

“How could you possibly even know that?”

“His assistant told me. She wanted to know what the meeting was for, she was excited for me, and she gave me some tips. So, yeah, I wore one of my best outfits and let my cleavage pop a little, but I didn’t sleep with him. And even if I had, shame on you for shaming me for it. We all have to learn to play the game, Harry. Women are dealt a different hand, so we play the game differently. I didn’t do anything wrong.” She starts gathering her things. “I cannot believe that I have to continue to work on this project with you.”

“I can’t believe you slapped me.” He rubs his cheek and starts chuckling. “Got me pretty good.”

“I’m not a particularly violent person, but you said something totally out of line, H.” She looks at him. “It’s not funny.”

With that, she leaves the conference room. They communicate via email and Teams all day Thursday. She couldn’t bare to be in the same space as him. She even worked in a separate area so she wouldn’t have to look over and see him in his office. They agreed to meet late on Friday to get back to the task at hand. They ordered takeout and got to work. Keeping things strictly professional, not getting distracted by petty conversations. Harry ended up ordering some ice cream through Uber Eats. He’s got a sweet tooth, so now they take a break while they soak in the sugar.

“I think this is really starting to come together.” He says as he walks around the conference table, looking over their materials. “I think we could probably start putting our team together next week.”

“Agreed.” She nods. “I have to say, ice cream was a good idea.”

“Much needed.” Harry sets his cup down and stuffs his hands in his pockets. “I…haven’t formally apologized for what happened the other day. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that.”

“It’s not about the way you spoke to me, it’s about you assuming I was fucking around with our boss to move up. And even if I was, it’s none of your business.”

“You’re right, it’s not.” He slowly approaches her. “To be honest, I don’t think it would have bothered me if it were anyone else.”

“Why? Because you already didn’t like me?”

“Yeah.” He smirks, stepping closer until her bum hits the edge of the conference table. He’s never been this close to her before. “But also…” He places his hands on either side of her on the table, their noses nearly brushing. “I hate the way the other guys look at you, especially Jeremy.”

“What do you care how other people look at me? Why do you even notice?”

“Because after I’m done looking at you, I’m looking to see if anyone else is seeing what I’m seeing.”

“What do you see?” She asks carefully, not faltering or backing down even though Harry is extremely intimidating in this position.

“The most frustratingly gorgeous woman.”

“You’re being mean.” Her bottom lip pouts ever so slightly, and Harry’s eyes darken.

“I’m being serious.” He closes his eyes and presses his forehead to hers. “You have no idea what it does to me when you pout like that.”

“H.”

“Tell me to back off if I’m making you uncomfortable.” He looks at her. “We can get right back to work, and I’ll promise to never get this close to you again.”

“You’re trying to get me caught up in something for leverage.” She pushes on his shoulders to get him to back up. “You want me to make a move so you can hold it over me. You’re being an ass and messing around.”

“I’m not messing around. Jesus Christ, not everyone in this world is out to get you.”

“I never said they were! God, you love to put words in my mouth.”

“I actually only have one thing I’d love to put in your mouth, but something tells me you wouldn’t go for it.”

“Oh, please.” She scoffs. “You’d blow your load the second the open air hits your prick. Virgins tend to lose it a little faster, but I’m sure you’ve looked that up before.”

“Why do you think I’m a virgin?” He laughs, exasperated.

“You seem very sexually repressed.” She crosses her arms over her chest, and looks him up and down. “And all this.” She gestures around him. “It doesn’t exactly scream, ‘this guy fucks’.”

“I’ll have you know I get compliments all the time on my clothes.”

“Just because they fit right doesn’t mean they’re appealing.”

“How would you know if they fit right?” He smirks.

“It’s hard not to notice when you’re always wearing pants that are tight around your ass. You’re like a math teacher or something, you love to lean over a table during a meeting and stick your butt out.”

“It’s more comfortable to stand that way.” He shrugs. “And just to circle back, if anyone’s sexually repressed, it’s you.”

“Me?”

“You’re entire aura screams that you need to get dicked down, and you need it bad.”

“Well you’re right about that.” She agrees. “But not from you. I’m not in the mood to explain the female anatomy to someone. Did you know that women can orgasm too? It’s not just something men can do.”

“Is that right.” Harry nods.

“Mhm, and we can get wet as well. Not something I would expect you to know anything about.”

“Are you wet right now?”

“That’s not a question you ask someone.” Her cheeks flush.

“Why not? Our conversation is already so vulgar. Answer the question, are you wet? Are you turned on? Are you hot?”

“Come find out for yourself.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah.” She motions to him to come closer. “I give you full permission to touch me and find out.”

“You’re bluffing.”

“I’m not.”

Harry steps towards her, slinging an arm around her waist to pull her closer. His other hand reaches to unzip the zipper on the side of her skirt. His fingers skim along her sheer stockings before tucking them inside. She takes a deep breath, but continues to hold eye contact with him.

“You’re sure you’re okay with this?” He asks.

“Yes.”

His fingers slide down further, moving between her folds and the cotton cloth covering her. His nostrils flare when he feels how wet she is. He didn’t think he did it for her, he’s pleasantly surprised. She’s not overly drenched or anything, but she’s definitely aroused. They look at each other, both of their hearts  beating rapidly.

In a flash, Harry’s hands are flying to her jaw and he’s taking her bottom lip between his teeth. The surprised gasp she makes gives him access to the inside of her mouth. His tongue molds with hers. He’s aggressive, but not in an inexperienced excited way that would have him slobbering all over her, no, it’s the type of aggressive where if he doesn’t keep kissing her they’ll both die. He moves the various papers behind her on the table and sits her up on it. She’s on her back in seconds with him on top of her, pressing his hard cock into her hip. She tries to shift to get him where she wants him, but her skirt is too tight around her thighs. She moans into his mouth and tugs on his tie. They’re doing a lot of grinding and grabbing, but it’s frustrating.

“I’m about ready to just rip your blouse open.” He growls against her mouth.

“We can’t do this here.” She pants. “C-cameras.”

“They’re only in the halls.”

“Harry.” She pushes on his chest and she sits up. “I don’t feel comfortable doing this here.”

“Right.” He runs a hand through his hair. “It’s late, we both got carried away. We should-“

“Let’s go back to my place.”

“Are you serious?”

“I’m only offering once.”

“Text me your address, I’ll meet you there.”

//

She’s freaking out. She almost tells him not to come, but it’s too late. She can see his headlights through her front windows. She opens the front door before he even has a chance to knock, but he’s not complaining because his lips are back on hers. He pushes her up against the nearest wall, hard, and gets a hand wrapped gently around her throat. He hooks his thumb into her mouth, and she sucks on it, but she doesn’t give him the satisfaction of smiling while doing so. She nips at the pad of his thumb before he takes it out.

“Where’s your bedroom?”

“Upstairs.”

“Lead the way.”

She tugs him up the stairs, and into her room. She starts unbuttoning her blouse, but Harry’s got her on the bed before she can get it off. He kisses on her chest, biting and sucking on the top of her breasts. She weaves her fingers through his curls, pushing him closer to her. He kisses down her sternum and tugs her skirt off of her. He cups her over her stockings, grounding his palm against her. She arches her back slightly and moans. He grips the band of her stockings, curls the material around his fist, and stretches it tight over her pussy. She gasps as he wedges his thigh between hers while keeping the material tight over her. It all provides the perfect amount of friction.

“Go on, work for it.” He says to her.

“Huh?”

“You like working hard for things, right? Show me how you work for your orgasm.” He moves his thigh from side to side against her, and she groans.

She moves along with him, feeling herself get warm all over. He licks into her mouth, and stretches the stockings tighter. She’s breathing heavily against his mouth. She didn’t something like this would be getting her there, but the whole thing is just so hot, and he’s really turning her on. Her back arches as she grinds against him, her head moving from side to side on her pillows, and she comes just as her stockings tear at the crotch.

“Oops.” He says as he looks down.

“Happens more often than you think.” She breathes. “They’re not expens-“

Harry’s tearing them further at the crotch, and moving her panties to the side so he can lick over her. He presses down on her stomach to keep her in place. His mouth is warm, and he’s moaning into her. She’s squirming against him. It’s been a really long time since someone’s made her feel this good. And being fucked by her colleague that she can’t stand is giving her a type of euphoria she’s never experienced before.

Her toes curl when he sucks on her clit. He pushes her thighs further apart, and licks inside of her. He sucks, and licks, and spit, and makes a sloppy mess of her. She’s in complete shock, but she’s not complaining. She’s too busy tugging on Harry’s curls and grinding against his mouth. He told her to work for it, so she’ll continue to do just that.

“Oh, shit. Oh, shit!” She comes unexpectedly, and it knocks the wind out of her.

He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. They start grabbing at each other and rolling around on the bed to get their clothes off. They can’t get naked fast enough. He pins her down again once they’re unclothed, keeping her wrists above her head on the bed. He slips a finger inside of her and her mouth falls open. He sucks on her bottom lip as a second finger joins the first.

“You’re just as sweet as a peach, you know that?” He says hotly into her ear, making her eyes roll back. His thumb starts rubbing around her clit as his fingers work deep inside of her. “Knew you would.”

“You’ve thought about going down on me before?”

“I’ve thought about doing everything to you.” He moves to look at her, wanting to watch her face as he loosens her up. “I don’t have any condoms with me.”

“I have some in my d-drawer.”

“Good. Get one.” He pulls his fingers from her and stands up. She reaches into her side-table drawer for a condom and hands it to him.

“It’s so big.” She says to him as he rolls the condom on.

“Don’t worry, we’ll make it fit.” He knees back onto the bed and knocks her legs back open. He lines himself up with her and pushes inside. “Jesus.” He clutches at the pillow by her head. “Sucked me right in, but you’re still so tight.” He pulls out and pushes right back in. “You good?”

“Yeah, please, just…fuck me.”

He gets a steady rhythm going for them. He wants to get a feel for her body before doing anything fancy. Besides that, he’s really liking the feeling of being chest to chest with her. He sits up slightly to grope at her breasts. He sucks one of her nipples into his mouth and groans. He wants to touch and kiss her all over. He sits up all the way and puts of her legs over his shoulder, moving her slightly so she’s on her side.

“Oh my god!” Her mouth falls open. “S-so deep. Oh my fucking god.” She starts panting, feeling like she can’t even breathe. This position is incredible.

They shift until she’s on her belly, and he’s fully on top of her fucking her from behind. He snakes an arm between her and the mattress. They’re grinding together in perfect sync, moving their hips in slow circles. Her breathing evens out, and he gives her hip a squeeze. He drags his fingers to her ass and rubs her between her cheeks.

“Is this okay?” He asks her. “Can I play with it a little?”

“Yes.” She nods.

He rubs her clit at the same time with his other hand, and she tightens up the second his finger starts to circle around her other hole.

“Need you to relax for me, Peach.” He nibbles on her ear as she tries to calm herself. “That’s good, just breathe.”

She moans out as she starts to feel completely overstimulated. Her clit is throbbing, her pussy is pulsating around his cock, and his other hole is taking his finger in with ease. It’s all too much, and it’s all so good.

“I’m gonna come again.” She shoves her face into her duvet as cries out into it. Harry doesn’t let up one bit, elongating all of the sensations. She can’t stop moaning and crying. He pulls out of her and lays on his back. She immediately shifts to straddle him, sinking down until she’s completely full of him. Her nails rake down his chest. “It’s really annoying that you feel this good.”

“Still think I’m a virgin?” He smirks, gripping her hips to move her along with his thrusts.

“N-no.” She grabs at her own breasts and lets her head roll back. “You can get a lot of experience by just fucking one person.”

“You’re a brat.” He swats at her ass as he chuckles. “Normally I don’t like, but right now it’s really doing something for me.” He sits up and smiles at her. “Keep your wrists behind your back and fuck yourself on me.” She nods and uses her knees to help herself move up and down on him. She switches between that and grinding down on him in circles. His hands come up to grope at her breasts, loving the way they feel in his hands. She tightens around him and starts moving faster. “Fuck, that’s it. Fuck me, god, just fuck me.”

“Oohhh my god.” There’s sweat rolling down her spine, and she can’t help but wrap her arms around him as she comes around him again, kissing him with everything she’s got.

He moves them so he’s back on top of her, hooking an arm under her knee, and fucking into her deeper than he has all night. His free hand wraps around her throat, gently squeezing and applying the perfect amount of pressure.

“Okay?” He asks her, letting up to make sure she can answer.

“Yes.”

Her hand comes down between them to take care of her clit, making him nearly lose it right then and there. He loves it when a woman just takes what she wants to get what she needs.

“I want you to keep your eyes open and on me.” He tells her. “Can you do that?”

“Yes.” She says to the best of her ability.

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful. I wish you could see how you look right now.”

“Harry.”

“Aww, are you gonna come again?” He pouts mockingly at her, and she nods. He nods along with her, still pouting. “You’re gonna come with me, so hold on.”

“Please, I…it feels so good. You feel so good.” Her free hand comes up to his shoulder, sinking her nails into his skin.

“It must piss you off that I’m making you feel this good.”

“You have no idea.” She says through gritted teeth.

Harry grins, and comes down to kiss her. He moans into her mouth as he starts to let go. His orgasm is right at the base of spine, and he’s ready to spill. She moans louder from hearing moan loudly. The room fills with the sounds of their sex, and they both fully submit to each other. He continues with slow thrusts as he drops her legs. His hands cup her jaw as they kiss each other without any precision, they both just need to do something with their mouths. Her hands squeeze at his hips and ass. His skin feels so good on hers.

After a few tender moments, Harry gets up and makes his way into her bathroom to clean himself up. Her head is reeling. What the fuck did she just do?! Did she seriously just sleep with her coworker whose guts she hates?

He comes out of the bathroom, letting the light from that guide him to find his clothes. He glances at her a few times, his chest is flushed and his forehead is damp. She sits up slightly, covering herself with her sheets. She’s overthinking everything. All of this is insane.

And there he was, looking at her with the smuggest look she’s ever seen. He’s tucking his shirt back into his pants, fastening the button and zipper, and looking up at her with rosy cheeks and closed-mouth grin. When all she does is look at him stoically, he chuckles softly, shakes his head, and finishes getting dressed. He leans in to leave a peck to her forehead before departing.

“Harry.” She calls to him, making him turn to look at her. “This was a one-time thing.”

“Whatever you say, Peach.”

And then he’s gone.

[orbitalsockets]

Okay yall get ready for chaos. Before I start, understand that this is not coming from a professional place - I have a B.A in Psych but I'm not a doctor or specialist. I just have a deep and long term interest in the brain and how it works, the inner workings of analytics and have been an avid YouTube fan for 13+ years. Also I'm not dissing anyone here, I'm just sharing things I've observed. All channels mentioned (except Colleen) are channels I've loved for years.

So in order to explain my thoughts, we have to look at two major points of what makes people drawn to specific videos and creators:

1. The business aspects

2. The human aspects

With business aspects, we see things like social psychology, color theory and analytics. No matter what our feelings are as viewers, YouTube and being a creator has grown into as much of a business and realm of marketing as things like fast food or large chain stores. While it may not have the same reach, they all use similar tactics to draw people in, maintain relevance and keep the public's interest.

In large brands and companies we see a lot of repetitive color use in order to invoke specific emotions or mentalities to draw people in, as seen here:

And YouTube is no different. Using Good Mythical Morning as an example, we see a lot of color theory in their thumbnails as well as the use of highly emotionally expressive faces. This method plays on the empathy centers of the brain and make the viewer immediately associate how the video will make them feel with how the person in the thumbnail feels:

While bright colors are often associated with attracting younger audiences, they play a huge role in attracting attention through our associations of colors. Though the associations to colors represented here are largely Westernized, many creators pull viewers from Westernized areas so it largely works in their favor. In addition, shorter and more concise titles tend to draw people in more due to it being a quick and easy assessment of the vibe of the video rather than lengthy titles, which often lose a person's attention and make them scroll past.

Analytically speaking, YouTube has attempted largely to make moves towards being 'family friendly'. So videos with thumbnails appearing bright, colorful and silly with short titles will largely do better than videos with more serious adult themes, longer titling or color palates like here:

Vs

And yes I know their release time is varied, but:

So looking at the business aspect we can conclude:

1. Adult appealing color schemes on average do worse than the opposite

2. Brighter color choices appeal to analytics, both for the sake of 'child friendly' censoring AND to adults as a draw in based on Western social psychology ties to color meaning

3. Shorter titles appeal to the masses due to quicker understanding of the content than longer and more information heavy titles

Moving to the human aspects, we tend to see less about science and more about emotions. Many people are tied to their favorite creators in one for or another of a parasocial relationship. While many do their best and utilize media literacy, it's important to remember that creators are counting on us to feel some type of way towards them in order to keep us coming back. If we feel no emotional tie to them or their content we're less likely to repetitively return.

With that, looking at thumbnails we can tell that association plays a HUGE role in views. When you think of a channel, you largely associate one or two people to the name regardless of how small and tight knit their entire team may be.

We can reuse GMM as an example, as well as The Try Guys:

While Stevie and Trevor (GMM) and Miles (Try Guys) are largely influential members of the team and recurring faces in videos, the videos where they're a main feature of the thumbnail on average do worse than the faces associated with the channel. People are emotionally invested in the founders and "main characters" so to speak of the channel and are therefore more likely to scroll past a video not 100% featuring them.

HOWEVER,

Editing also plays a HUGE role into drawing people in. While the thumbnails shown are obviously edited, they maintain a level of realism - Minimal skin smoothing and changes to the face. With Ethan Nestor for example, we can see the differences in views depending on the level of editing to the person:

Vs

Why? Because despite the fact that we're watching multi millionaires play video games, we want it to feel some level of personable. The average working class citizen can't relate to spending an exorbitant amount to fine tune every detail of life and making their existence and appearance perfect. BUT, the average viewer can relate to hanging out with buddies, trying some new foods or hobbies and being goofy. So while editing plays a role in drawing people in, using TOO MUCH pushes people away because it becomes less of a leisure viewing experience and more of a reminder of unattainable wealth for 99% of people. You can't maintain a relatable image if you regularly appear flawless and unbothered - That's why models are seen as a goal and not a common peer, but content creators are counting on us seeing them parasocially as equals through relatability and humility so we don't stop watching. If a creator is thanking their fan base for where they are, they're seen as loyal and humble. Nobody wants to watch the guy boasting about how you sitting at home after a long day at work and watching him gave him a life that your life's income won't match.

So with the human aspects we can conclude:

1. Faces play a role in whether or not we want to view something

2. Over editing makes imagery too unrealistic and drives people away

3. Humility and relatability goes very far in maintaining a fan base.

But Orbitalsockets, how does this explain why my fave isn't getting as many views as they used to?

I'm glad you asked.

Due to the large use of algorithms today, many creators are fighting for relevance. So while many - Like Markiplier, Jacksepticeye, GMM, etc - started as humble bros chilling in their rooms playing a game, it's grown into a constant advertising competition. While it draws people in, many former or long term viewers become desensitized to the heavy editing, bright colors and silly faces. A large majority of people use social media as a form of escapism, and YouTube is no different. But now you're not escaping, you're just trading fast food ads and sale brochures for thumbnails using the same techniques the car dealership down the street used to fool you into buying a piece of shit beater at a ridiculous price. So while the creators are focused on running a business (which is fine, it IS a business and marketing is crucial to maintaining a business) and actively feeding into an algorithm created with a specific goal in mind, the large majority of viewers are left missing the humanity that drew them in. That's why many apology video thumbnails are just the person in front of the camera - They're trying to appeal to your humanity and have you see them as an equal human on the planet rather than someone in a position of privilege and power who used it inappropriately, and it WORKS.

Despite the algorithm favoring videos around ten minutes long, shorter videos such as these do just well. Why? Because it appeals to our humility.

Overall, the large takeaways from this giant thesis of a Tumblr post are as follows:

1. YouTube and content creation are businesses, just as anything else is

2. Humility goes just as far - if not farther - as flashy edited thumbnails, but one is largely preferred by the algorithm

3. If content creators want to maintain or elevate their views, they HAVE to put as much time and effort into appearing relatable and equal to their fan base as they put into polishing their image and marketing to appeal to large audiences

There are obviously a bunch of other factors that play into this, but I'm focusing solely on the pros and cons of heavy marketing versus humility as a selling factor. But I truly and wholeheartedly believe that relatability drives home marketing better than any jarring and attention grabbing thumbnail will.

So last night I went on an insane tangent about the social psychology and color theory used in YouTube thumbnails to explain to my partner why some YouTubers aren't doing as well as they used to. (I'm obviously not an expert, just my opinions based on what I know about social psych, color theory and analytics and how long I've been on YouTube) and he said he felt that the analysis would "pop off" on Tumblr. However I am lazy and unsure of whether anyone would give a shit since Tumblr is The Place™ for critical analysis of media so none of it would be new to anyone. Nevertheless he is convinced it would "go hard" so I'm curious

[cuhcuhcuhcory]

The Cool Economy- An Analysis of Cosplaying as Poor

I wrote an essay about this concept and it got 100% My teacher gave me the ultimate compliment by asking if she could use it as an example paper in future classes. Sooo I've never posted any of my own lengthier writings on fb before but here goes! I'd love to hear what any of yall think!

TLDR is that these are the new major trends in aesthetics and advertisements. We are a culture that is bombarded with advertisements and this compass presents a sort of new visual shorthand. FFO fashion, pop culture, cultural analysis, media literacy, celebrity culture, etc

I wrote an essay about this concept and it got 100% My teacher gave me the ultimate compliment by asking if she could use it as an example paper in future classes. Sooo I've never posted any of my own lengthier writings on fb before but here goes! I'd love to hear what any of yall think!

TLDR is that these are the new major trends in aesthetics and advertisements. We are a culture that is bombarded with advertisements and this compass presents a sort of new visual shorthand. FFO fashion, pop culture, cultural analysis, media literacy, celebrity culture, etc

When celebrity figures do something noteworthy, not only are there tens of thousands of recreation looks and how-to videos that sweep across social media, but there are also tens of thousands of commentary videos picking apart the content with the kind of scalpel sociologists would approve of. One of my favorite TikTok creators in this genre goes by the name of CozyAkili aka Akili Moree. His videos center around concepts of fashion and design that exist along an axis from high to low cost and discuss where they intersect with the concepts of private pleasure versus public display. Within this framework, he evaluates celebrity culture through social media with a special focus on what facets of the celebrity lifestyle they are selling back to us at any given moment and how that lands on this scale. This is important to understand because since we are integrated and inundated we are with visual messages as a society, having a quick metric to make sense of what we are seeing has never been more crucial. This evaluation system is a tool to dissect the subliminal so that we can continue to maintain a watchful eye on the ever growing discrepancy between the wealthy and the working class, or more specifically, how the wealthy use symbols from the working class to blur the line between performing wealth and performing poverty.

The four quadrants of this evaluation system pull from a variety of sources, both cultural and sociological and are each named to encapsulate the spirit of the intersections. On the low cost side of things, we have the concept of Domestic Cozy, reminiscent of the Danish concept of Hygge. Domestic Cozy rejects discomfort, danger, ceremony and deprivation and embraces things soft, luxurious and effortless. This concept was coined by writer Venkatesh Rao alongside its sister concept of Premium Mediocre in his blog RibbonFarm in 2019. Rao writes that these phrases are stylistic fingerprints of the world that act as a sort of instant classification system– a combination of visual symbols where a simple glance tells you how much something is trying to fit in with or eschew the norm (Rao). Within this dichotomy, Premium Mediocre is like bedazzling the norms, whereas Domestic Cozy is indifferent to the norms altogether. Premium Mediocre is the finest bottle of wine at Olive Garden whereas Domestic Cozy is more like a hot cup of tea in your favorite mug. At its heart, the former style is mediocre with a superfluous touch of premium but not enough to ruin the delicious essential mediocrity (Rao). Because these two concepts are rooted in the medium, the remaining quadrants represent the extremes.

High Peasant and Thrift Store Realness both exemplify the other end of this stylistic spectrum. Thrift Store Realness is at the intersection of public display and low cost, covering the bulk of people living to look hot and get by without pretense of fanciness, just casual and classic at low cost. In terms of larger social themes, Thrift Store Realness makes practicality look good but not so flashy that it takes away from its functionality. Things can even be cluttered and a little grimy aesthetically but not in a way that inhibits its undeniable edge– it's the spirit of finding (or being) a diamond in the rough. Think Macklemore’s 2012 hit– “I wear your GrandDad’s clothes. I look incredible.” High Peasant, on the other hand takes a more direct style over substance approach, but one that intentionally grounds itself by marrying the fantastical to the established in an attempt to blur the lines between wealthy and working people.

High Peasant is maximalist and artistic in a way that appears more original than Premium Mediocre but equally lofty. For instance, if Domestic Cozy is a grocery store bag salad eaten out of the bag and Premium Mediocre is eating salads from the “fresh” menu at fast food place in between side hustles, High Peasant is doing a pop up, high concept, high fashion photoshoot inside a McDonalds and salad is the concept. It visually ties the trappings of the working class with the access and privilege of the wealthy. This puts emphasis on the grunge amidst the pastoral to act as a shared language between class lines. Though I am a fan of fashion, there are things about this aesthetic concept specifically that are worthwhile to examine.

High Peasant presentations are ultimately still a fiction. The artistry of this aesthetic lies in making recognizable symbols feel alien and otherworldly in levels of cool but outside of that constructed reality, it also touches on the bitter truth that an ultra wealthy life for most of us is truly an alien concept. Otherworldly is also apt because the wealthy play with visual cues that don’t exist in their world. By playing with trappings of normalcy, in some cases they actually reinforce their otherworldliness– cementing their celebrity in this extremely visual and social world with almost nostalgia-like bait. This explains why some attempts at High Peasant as an aesthetic fall flat to their audiences because their artistic rendering highlights the differences between us instead of unifying us through intention.

While celebrities use aspects of working class culture to make themselves seem approachable, it is crucial to remember that they are not and do not want to be working class– and though the fiction they construct might look similar to something you lived through, at the end of the day your compassion and recognition of these shared symbols is really a way to make you forget how large the inequality gap has grown– to feel familiar and forget the debt that separates us. There is a supreme irony to me in the idea that the best way for brands and celebrities to see and sell themselves or package products to appeal to the masses is by looking poor or by taking ideas from people who are poor or exist within the Thrift Store Realness category.

The contradiction of new things manufactured to look old and articles of clothing priced out of the range of the people who it's modeled after comes off darkly comedic because as Akili points out, “instead of wealthy people lifting other people out of poverty, wealthy people try to make themselves feel better about being so wealthy by acting like they’re poor” (Moree). For wealthy people, the reality of being poor does not exist and maybe hasn’t existed for generations in your family due to the prevalence of nepotism in celebrity culture. Therefore it is a novelty to eat cup noodles when you’ve never had to wonder where your next meal would come from. It is boundary pushing to pose in a dingy house with a busted couch and 70s brown vertical paneling if you are worth $2.1 Billion dollars (Forbes). Moree calls High Peasant cosplaying as poor– cosplay, as in fantasy characters, comic book conventions or some other halloween-esque costume that one can put on and play or act as the character they're dressed as. In these scenarios, their positive gain is the freedom that comes with donning a costume and the spirit of camaraderie that grows naturally between avid fans of the same thing.

Translating this to wealthy celebrities, the gain is similar but often pointed in the direction of commerce. The end result differs on what the purpose of the post is– as so much marketing happens via brand endorsements on social media. The concepts explored by Akili Moree and Venkatesh Rao and other theorists represent the newest pop culture metric to evaluate how social media is used to evoke responses from its audience and what symbols it uses. This evolving framework of media literacy is an important step in being cognizant of the world around us as we become increasingly digital. The commerce piece of the puzzle is one of our current economy’s most obvious ticking time bombs and social media makes it possible to not only see this happen but also to track how its sold back to us.

We are in an era unlike any before. The interconnectedness of the internet and the growing reliance/addiction to social media has opened up a game of uncertainty. In this world, all interested players take advantage of aesthetics to drive participation and compete for our attention– all tracked and monetized down to the millisecond. Shadow marketing practices have existed since the 1980s, where the creators of the advertisement try to sell you something all while making it a secret that you are being sold something at all (Barbaro). Substantial deregulation of advertising that took place in the Reagan Era, as well as the rise of product placement as an overall film trend, and commercialization of two of the primary social media platforms (facebook adding the marketplace feature in 2016 and instagram replacing the home button with the shop button in 2020) has led us to this moment– the ultimate fusion between being marketed to and being entertained (Barbaro). This is the beauty of the chart at this moment in time and the wisdom in listening to those who are young enough to see the veil as it grows alongside them.

With supreme wealth inequality growing exponentially each year it is important every day, every hour, every flick of the thumb to be aware of what you’re being sold and who is doing the selling. The gen-Z/tiktok generation and creators like Akilli Moree are especially unique and valuable to listen to about matters like these because they are the test generation of interconnectedness in society on the level that we live now. They are the first truly cradle to grave internet generation, as they were coming up after most of the large technological advances had already been made. In addition to the technology, they grew up after all the deregulation of advertising practices in the 80s led to the full commercialization and study of child spending habits as a system to control spending habits of Americans on a larger scale (Barbaro). The children, who grew up in the 24 hr ad cycle have grown into young adults unphased by the prevalence of advertisements and sponsored posts in their hunt for authenticity. They came up in it so they are less fooled by it.

If Premium Mediocre is extended legroom on an airplane and Domestic Cozy is bringing your own pillow and blanket to the flight, High Peasant would be buying out your whole row or section but maybe not your whole flight. Thrift Store Realness represents road tripping or communal transit such as bus or train. These concepts can function bigger theoretically than the world of celebrity culture but they are the easiest examples to see since they tend to range into the cartoonish. Some try for art and land amongst the tacky. Some embrace tacky to the point of camp and it feels effortlessly cool, while others try to be effortlessly cool and it just doesn’t land at all. In all scenarios, this compass of private pleasure to public display vs the money factor helps us evaluate how this game of aesthetics is being used to market people and trends to the masses. This is important to think about because these are the new major trends in aesthetics and advertisements. Being a culture that is bombarded with advertisements has major downsides, so adapting a new shorthand to categorize will help individuals have an easier time navigating authenticity in this new economy of cool.

/////end pls clap//////

Works Cited

Barbaro, Adriana. “Consuming Kids: The Commercialization of Childhood.” Jeremy Earp. 2008. Uploaded to Youtube in 2017. youtube.com/watch?v=tMaRsR7orTk

Facebook Business. “Reach People Where They’re Already Shopping with Ads in Marketplace.” June 4, 2018. facebook.com/business/news/reach-people-where-theyre-already-shopping-with-ads-in-marketplace

Forbes. “Inside the 21 billion dollar Kim Kardashian-Kanye West Divorce.” Stories. 2022. www.forbes.com/stories/billionaires/inside-the-21-billion-kim-kardashiankanye-west-divorce/

Jennings, Rebecca. “Why Are So Many Brands Pivoting To Coziness?” Vox.com. Jan 15, 2020. www.vox.com/the-goods/2020/1/15/21063670/hygge-self-care-domestic-cozy-marketing-brands-haus

Lorenz, Taylor. “The Instagram Aesthetic is Over.” The Atlantic. April 2019. www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/04/influencers-are-abandoning-instagram-look/587803/

Macklemore. “Thrift Shop.” Ryan Lewis. The Heist. 2012. Lyrics accessed via genius.com. /genius.com/Macklemore-and-ryan-lewis-thrift-shop-lyrics

Mahamba, Joy Anelisiwe. “Aesthetics of Today: ‘High Peasant’ Fashion and What it Means.” Bubblegum Club. February 2022. bubblegumclub.co.za/discourse/aesthetics-of-today-high-peasant-fashion-and-what-it-means/

Moree, Akili. “Cosplaying as Poor” Tik Tok. 2/14/2022. www.tiktok.com/t/ZTR53Fm54/

Moree, Akili. “Kim Kardashian’s Sink” Tik Tok. 10/8/2021 tiktok.com/t/ZTR53BtEn/ 

Rao, Venkatesh. “Domestic Cozy.” RibbonFarm Blog. Volumes 1-7. 2019. ribbonfarm.com/series/domestic-cozy/

Rao, Venkatesh. “The Premium Mediocre Life of Maya Millennial.” RibbonFarm Blog. August 2017. ribbonfarm.com/2017/08/17/the-premium-mediocre-life-of-maya-millennial/

Stanton, Liz. “Instagram is phasing out the Shop tab” Hootsuite Blog. September 2022. blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-updates/instagram/instagram-is-phasing-out-the-shop-tab

Stanton, Liz. “Instagram Reels in 2022: A Simple Guide for Businesses” Hootsuite Blog. August 2022.

[catboybatman]

also its very important to me that yall know that an official dutch newspaper (de telegraaf) said that The Batman is a bad and dissapointing movie because it "wasnt funny and thus removed the essence of superheroes" way to fucking expose your media literacy and range my guy. r you sad becwause it doesnt have constant mcu wevel quips?? mhm? is that why you are so pwissed?? wittle bby bwoy cant handle a movie without constant cwomedy?? mhm? lmaooo. imagine having the mcu as "good/best movie" baseline and say it publically on the news. i would literally rather have a violent make out session with a picture of benedict cumberbatch in public than be that embarrassing

[kny111]

I know I haven’t really updated on here. Fatherhood can be really tiring and time consuming as it is a blessing and will change who you are for the better, at least for me. I’ve been away from a lot of the subjects I used to normally post about until recently, that’s because I picked up the energy and interest for science journalism again. To say I went off to have a long waited talk with nature is to minimize greatly the kind of transformations I’ve undergone. The mysteries she’s shown me far greater than any cosmic unknown that I could have ever imagined of. I know a lot of the folks who used to follow this blog might be surprised to know that within that journey I’ve seen, experienced and have been in communion with some really influential spirits of old. Nature’s hidden variables. Whatever you want to call it. Something occurred when I decided to take more seriously the religions and spirituality of my ancestors. Something that only reinvigorated my love for science and the unknown, physics, art, and expression of these things for beneficial communal use. I’m from Quisqueya, the first testing grounds for colonialism and subsequently the evolution of neo-colonialism. Not too long after and we become one of the first pit stop for the trans-Atlantic slave trading markets to proliferate and spin the rest of the world off into the white supremacist capitalist patriarchy hell branch of a reality we know of today. Our little island has undergone so many transformations and inclusion of peoples, cultures, so many I only recently found out of like how Haitians took in Jewish refugees during the time of Hitler’s nazism. Because I still deal with mental health issues and depression being one I’ve had since childhood, I sometimes don’t have near enough energy to convey how have things been going since my last big update here. My spiritual and religious journey, finding comfort in myself and closure in ways I no longer adhere to. That said I found it beyond amazing how earlier today on October the 14th ‘Indigenous Peoples Day‘ I was drumming away to Tainx music without realizing what day today was without looking at my social media feeds yet. Here I was normally thinking I’m so tired, down and out of trying to keep these cultures alive and I was already doing so instinctively in the truest way I know how.

Like I mentioned, I decided to take more seriously my Afro-Indigenous roots and what it meant to be a Black Dominican Haitian Taino American. It took me on the wildest ride with the unlikeliest subject ranging from seeing quantum entanglement examples right before my eyes, seeing living breathing afrofuturism through my Vodun, Catholic, Christian roots and the functionality of Vodun to incorporate so many ancient parts of being Black into what intuitively led me down a road of self and outward knowledge on the cosmos around me. To then blend these epigenetically installed formulas of spirituality embededd in me by history and nature, incorporate them into my expression of art and self which is one has been like achieving a life long dream I didn’t even know I had. I did so much intuitive shit that was so clearly linked to my identity as an Afro-Indigenx American immigrant along the way that I had erected an altar without knowing it was an altar. I would section and compartmentalize this prototype altar so beautifully and had no clue I was paying respects to my ancestors and spirits of the world until more recently a few months back. When I realized this, it was like a Cambrian explosion occurred in me. I don’t want to get into the details of the abilities it brought out that I already had in me due to prying eyes (ahem surveillance capitalist patriarchy is still outchea at large) but to simply meditate and think on my folks has given me such a renewed and strengthened sense of intuition and appreciation for the past and future that I never knew existed. Sometimes I’ll legit write and prophesize shit out the ass like it’s a normal day it’s wild, shit I never believed in but the science seems to check out with quantum physics and what not. That’d be an explanation for another time. The altar has now evolved to a place I can really go to and express but at the same time it’s something I’ve learned to keep within my own self so that it’s not the altar that’s important, rather the changes I’ve gone through to get to such a place. I write, dream, visualize, laugh, act, improvise, predict based on science, meditate, heal, rehabilitate myself there. But conversely the world speaks to me there, the spirits of old, new, those to be. I know it sounds type wild but it’s gotten normal for me to experience something my old science nerd ass self woulda made fun of me for. But when you get into a connection with ya ancestors like I have and reach the conclusions and deductions I have on the systems that control the planet it gets clearer to see that the Indigenous were right all along on colonialism, it’s gotto go. There’s no place for it in the future if we’re to survive a planet seemingly becoming another Venus. I’d like to think we not gone be fighting each other while some catastrophe bop our asses one time like they did the dinos. That’s one of the main messages they keep tellin me and it’s hard to refute. I’ll try and continue this update on another day as there’s so much in between and concepts and ideas I wanna share about how to move forward on activism and using art to get our ideas about those movements across. The above images span from months, just small droplets of the cool ass journey I been on just trying to maintain some normalcy while playing my part in not helping oppressors of any kind continue proliferating their systems of domination and subjugation. So this first image is from the week not too long ago when I had 2 honey bees flying in and checking out the altar. Then I left an old jar of honey that still had some and they’d return and eat some for like a good week or so. At one point, this matrix-like moment happens when one of them goes into the jar and makes this cool sound I never heard before. The bee had gone in there before many times and never made that specific sound, it was like a lower frequency conch shell or something. When I checked the time it was like 1:23pm or 1:11pm one of those. I was like..... get Neo!! shit was so cool. This next image is really a culmination of my search to learn more about my Afro-Indigenousness which led me to learn more about my Haitianness and the spirituality and religion. From painting Papa Legba paintings before I even knew him, to giving respects to all types of 21 division spirits and Vodun loa before ever even knowing of them. It was as if each part of these religions was trying to show me how much of them was in me in how intuitively I’d gravitate towards these religions despite being still very devoted to science and scientific literacy worldwide. Idk it’s just been a really cool blending of a lot of things I never thought could come together. I found this moth around the time I was reading and thinking deeply on the creator entity in Vodun and some African religions, Gran Maitrex. I’ve always had an interest in creator stories and beings so  when this Golden Moth popped up in the altar (right on the mat I have laid in front of it, facing it, as if it came there to spend its last moments) I was like a little kid. To me it reminds me of those mysteries we’ve yet to discover that can help us in our path to heal ourselves and others if we chose to. The following two are from my walking meditating sessions by the river. They have slightly deeper stories to em about relaxation, overcoming obstacles, predictions I made that day about the sky that I wont get into on here cause it’s exhausting lol. The next image with the wooden branch I brought in from a forest walk is of one of the bees I spoke of flying around the Afro-Indigenx/ Ancient Egypt/ West Africa section of the altar. It did this several times enough for me to note that it liked that particular area. Following non repeating image is of the portrait I did a while back for the Heath Gallery in Harlem on Rein-visioning Brown and Black Bodies in Scifi: Story of 4 Tainx sisters calling for their descendants to help them from the demonic wrath of colonialism. This picture I took when I finally got to take my ass out to jog after a whole day of being a dad. I found a neat tree to try and climb at night and found this beautiful bright green grasshopper right by the branch I picked. Grasshoppers always remind me of giant leaps I could be taking forward. The following image I took during another forest walk when I looked up and saw this cool cross shape juxstapositioned among the trees. Last image I took during the Medieval festival they hold at Fort Tryon every year. It’s where I sold my awesome Medieval chicken paintings (which have now taken place at altar where I give em much love) last year dressed as Obi Wan Kenobi. This year I decided to just enjoy it with bae and did so dressed as Jedi Jesus posing as a Dominican Fryer. More pics on that to come. Just wanted to update yall on the spiritual in case anyone could use these words to benefit em. Yall take care. - Ken

[narrative-lover]

Yeah dude that novel called idk. "A Court of Blades and Roses"(made up name) is so fucking cringe. Do you see how cringe and bad that name is? The story is also sooo bad and cringe and wow nowadays women people can't write anymore! Media literacy is dead! If you read those stuff you're obviously dumb and can't have any good Literate(tm) opinions!

^this is the sort of person im talking about.

Get normal about shitty YA. Its not killing anyone. Yes the fact that people aren't using critical thinking nowadays and everything is deemed problematic and many books are tiktokfied with ao3 tags and tropes is alarming. I do think that criticizing and debating those things are important

But also at this point these discussions stopped being discussions and now are excuses to shit on people. Let people fucking enjoy their things.

Those problems dont start and end with YA books being this way nor reading/writing "bad literature" makes one's opnions worthless. "Bad literature" is still literature, even if the books has shallow writing and characters! Those things don't take away its literacy! And also! "Bad art" has its worthy, because it's important to someone, because some teenager outthere who just started reading books will find those stories amazing and will inspire them to read more and even write a book themselves, because there is someone who really needs some escapism and a shitty book might be what they needed. Heck, it doesn't even need a deep reason- these books are entertaining to someone and that already makes it worthwhile.

Ok the tiktoker saying its highest piece of literature might be annoying, but hear me out: the first time you read a book in your life- especially a fantasy book or romance- did you never thought it was the most amazing best thing ever? Did you never felt an entire universe opening to you, did you never felt extremely marveled? Isn't that a canon event to every reader? Maybe you will find out that that book is actually pretty shitty and avarage but that's something everyone goes through and more importantly: without that shitty book you might never actually got to read other better books.

And also- many times those posts aren't even actually critizing certain books- the op might never ever read them. At all. They simply see the generic title and stock image cover, see young girls loving it on tiktok and then just straight deem its bad. Without fucking reading it.

"Oh but of course its not misogyny! After I am queer who reads Actual Literature and also those books are made by white women. So its fine to dunk on them!"

Forgetting that 1. That hey many YA books that fall into the stereotype are also made by WOC and 2. Putting the "white" adjective just to have a justification to dunk on what women like and act like they actually want to be abused for reading those stories isnt a verg feminist thing to do, yes even you're a woman yourself. You arent magically free from internalized misogyny.

Yall r simply being mean, assholeish and acting like those popular high school kids who want to be seen as cool and funny when you simply aren't and is more probably than not an actual adult.

When will people will get normal about shitty YA books?