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crookedkryptonitebeliever · 10 months ago

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Best and Worst of Both Worlds (part 10)

Tw: injury on Yves, mentions of vomit, short chapter

Vote on da poll below ill start writign after 20 voters

Short chaprer today guys and omg i didn't expect the reaction towards the fight between monty n yves, a good number of yall seem to root for monty??

Thanx for the comments, reblogs n asks , even tho i may not reply to all i very appreciate them and i read them

Enjouy

Part 11

You rested your head on his lap as the policemen took his statement. Yves spoke politely and gave them all the necessary facts over what had happened. He stroked your hair and soothingly rubbed your shoulders.

As it turns out, he paid for your consultation as soon as he came in. Said a few words of caution about Montgomery to the receptionist, giving her time to assemble an army of mall security officers.

"All done." He whispered into your ear. You woke up choking on your snore, he patted your back as you coughed over his shoulder.

The policemen were finished, you and him are free to go home.

You and him arrived at your place by 6pm. Your housemates were of course nosy pricks, crowding around Yves to ask him about his recent injury. He dismissed them with impeccable manners, ushering you into your room and locking the door behind him.

You wanted nothing but to flop into your bed. However, Yves urged you to take a shower first and have a change of clothes before doing so. You begrudgingly did what he asked of you, taking a longer time because you're lethargic from today.

But that gave him just enough time to prepare a delicious bowl of clear chicken soup. How lucky you are to have dinner freshly ready as soon as you get out of the bathroom.

He fixed a bowl for himself too, sitting down next to you.

You slurped on the soup as if your life depended on it. Hell, you didn't even need a spoon, you simply began drinking from the rim of your bowl.

"You're going to upset your stomach again. Take slower sips and please use your spoon." He lectures you, paying no mind to the 7 pairs of eyes watching him from the hallway.

You felt like an animal being observed at the zoo. Yves must have sensed your discomfort, as he offered to take the meal back to your room. You nodded and followed him past your housemates' ogling eyes.

In the end, you found peace by having dinner with him on your study desk. He borrowed a chair from outside and brought it inside.

You have caused two of his injuries so far. The burn on his hand and the bruise on his face, the guilt is eating you up because Yves treats you so well, it felt too good to be true. With this much sacrifices he made, he must be expecting something of equal value in return. You know you can never fulfil it no matter how much you tried.

He's too perfect, you can't keep up with him. You feel like a crusty, ugly gremlin next to him.

You're starting to feel uneasy again in this relationship, you want to get out before you're in too deep. So you started to ponder on ways to break the news of your decision, maybe if you tell him over text--

"I want to talk about us." He spoke out of the blue. You feel chills down your spine, you don't fare well with serious, heavy topics. But you can't just run away from your own home.

You gulped and decided to tread carefully, asking him to go ahead. He set his spoon down and looked at you with his good eye. The other one is concealed by his perfect curls.

"I regard you as my romantic partner and you think of me the same way."

That is... true. But you think that Yves saw you as a trial run. He probably is seeing other people in the meantime to find the best fit, something akin to getting a job. You know that's how people in big cities date.

"I'm a monogamous man, (name). I expect you to be monogamous as well." He dabbed the corners of his mouth with a piece of facial tissue.

You remained silent, not knowing what to say as usual.

He lets you squirm for a bit under the uncomfortable pressure of quietness. However, it was this awkwardness that caused the gears in your head to turn.

You think he is implying that he has no one else aside from you, so he isn't... trying out other tasters? You're too shy to ask, so you took your revelation at face value.

You didn't have to. Because he clarified what he said a minute later.

"I am not seeing anyone else. You shouldn't be either."

That's much better. You let your shoulders sag in relief. You might think that went unnoticed, but Yves is also elated that you're also hoping he had no more space in his heart for others.

He thinks that is enough for now, Yves knows you get overwhelmed easily. He will save his other expectations and boundaries when you're a lot more settled into life.

You picked your spoon back up and continued drinking the soup, enjoying chunks of chicken and carrots along with it. You wonder if this simple dish was elevated because it's made by someone you admire. Because you knew on normal days, you would find this excruciatingly bland and even make fun of it.

When you finish, Yves bowl still looks untouched. He is undoubtedly the slowest eater you've ever met, watching him eat was like witnessing a real life posh etiquette class take place. He never fills his spoon to the brim and he scoops his soup using the edge, pushing upwards at 12'o clock on the bowl. He only drinks from the side of the spoon, never the tip nor did he ever put the entire spoon into his mouth.

He wouldn't hunch down, instead having the spoon come to him as he maintains a straight posture. His other hand rests on his lap.

He's so silent when consuming his dinner. Yves never slurped or let his teeth hit the metal spoon.

You're bored but you wouldn't want to talk to him. It will only serve as a delay in finishing his bowl. It would be rude of you to tell him to eat faster, so you don't want to do that.

"(name), could you please prepare me a glass of water?" He requested without looking up from his bowl.

Say less. You're already at the door. Finally, you have something to do.

He smiled as he heard you closing the door.

"Thank you, dear." He took your phone that you carelessly left on the table, in his hands. He removed the cable that's attaching your device to his power bank.

Yves keyed in your password flawlessly, unlocking it for him to access everything.

"Whaat!? That's so badass though!"

"I know, right! You lucky bastard, I wish I had a man like Yves."

"God, he's so dreamy..."

Your housemates hounded you in the kitchen, pestering you for information and actually treating you nice. All you wanted to do was fill two cups with nice, crisp water.

"Well, when's the wedding?"

"Yeah, he's like.... he's like a perfect malewife. You gotta put a ring on it."

"It's too early for them to marry! And don't you mean a husband?"

"No, a malewife."

"That's not a word, it's husband!"

"S-T-F-U CEO of simp, don't try to steal him away from (name). You don't even have a chance!"

"You all are always so mean to me!"

"We wouldn't be if you didn't steal every date that we invited over!"

You quietly slipped away while they were distracted with their bickering.

You entered your room and closed the door behind you, locking it so none will try to barge in. You apologized for taking a while, your housemates were holding you back.

He's still eating his soup! He barely made a dent in it since a while ago.

He thanked you as he took his cup.

"They're childish, aren't they?" He commented, taking small sips of his drink.

You agreed, but you knew they're just not compatible with the likes of you. And you didn't say more because you wanted him to finish his soup as soon as possible.

He took another piece of tissue, folded it and daintily tapped his mouth.

"Would you like to finish the rest of my bowl?" He asked, you said yes because you didn't want it to go to waste and you're still mildly hungry. He stroked your head as he rose up from his seat, collecting your empty dish.

He left your room to clean up.

___

Yves left after dinner and you felt relieved that you didn't need to explicitly tell him you want him out. Regardless of how you feel about him now, you still have a "Yves-interaction" quota daily. And yesterday's events exceeded that far beyond the limit. It's not that you dislike him, you feel yucky if he lingers for too long, you felt suffocated and watched. You're not used to that yet since you're alone for most of your life.

It would be a lie to say that you weren't disappointed that he didn't give you a kiss this time, not a hug either because he said he was filthy. That made sense, despite him running numerous wet wipes over himself and changing into his spare clothes he kept in his car after the fight, he did fought a man who was covered in dust, paint and your own vomit- in a clinic; where germs run amok. Plus, you showered already, you wouldn't want to do it again.

He blew you a kiss instead, which was equally as heart fluttering as an actual kiss to the cheek.

You sat on your bed, kicking your legs into the air. Thought about Yves is keeping you occupied for a while. It's late and you should be going to sleep, but you're too giddy and perhaps mildly nauseous because you end up helping yourself to another serving of the soup after he left.

You were snapped out of your trance when you heard a ping from your phone. You muted the notifications from your group chat so it couldn't possibly come from your housemates. You don't have any friends to speak of, hence it only leaves two possible options: Yves or your phone carrier demanding payment.

You got up and picked your phone up from the desk. It was charging using the outlet there since Yves found the plug next to your bed to be faulty. You wonder how he caught that.

It was a text from Yves. It says:

"Just reached home. I will visit you at noon tomorrow."

Looking at the time, it's been half an hour since he left.

It takes thirty minutes to drive from your place to his, and you know that there's a high-end neighborhood that takes a two hour long bus ride to get to. You managed to get yourself lost there on the day of your move-in.

That checks out. He belongs to the affluent.

What does he see in you? The feelings of insecurity came rushing back and your urge to pull away again is as strong as ever. This isn't right, you're going to have your heart broken to bits!

Acting on impulse, you began drafting up a long paragraph telling him that you're not so sure if this relationship is going to work. But you were interrupted by another text from him.

"Do not stay up too late. You tend to catastrophize at night."

Oh.

You deleted your paragraph. Wait, how does he know that? Look! You're doing it again! He is right, you do see the world as a worse place when the sky is dark. You should go to sleep now.

You sent him a short "good night" message. Yves sent one back.

You went to bed a little jittery.

You couldn't sleep. The adrenaline or stomach butterflies didn't wear off at all. It's now five in the morning and you're still wide awake, as if you took fifteen shots of espresso.

You so badly want to bother Yves, but he's probably asleep and you might seem clingy. And that's cringe to you.

So you grabbed your bag and contemplated going somewhere, you have 7 hours before he comes by.

The mall is closed and Montgomery probably frequents there, so that's a no go. The library in the University is open 24/7, they provide free tea, coffee and snacks before the sun comes up. But you have enough money to get something decent from a convenience store, a 10 minute bus ride away.

You're not necessarily hungry now and the weather is quite nice before dawn. You think you would enjoy sitting at the park, watching joggers of all ages try to get their steps in. However, it's going to take a longer bus ride to get there since it's in the city.

You scratched your head and weighed your options, keeping in mind that your judgement is slightly impaired due to sleep deprivation.

#yandere #yandere x reader #yandere oc #yandere male #yandere concept #tw yandere #yandere x you #yandere oc x reader #male yandere oc x reader #oc yves #oc Montgomery

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kenobster · 7 months ago

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I wrote this for @marvelstars who requested Palpakin after voting for Obikin in that poll five thousand years ago. XD It was meant to be 100-500 wordsish, but unfortunately my obsession with this ship squeezed one THOUSAND words out of me lmao. Anyway I'll eventually post this on AO3 (probably after a bit of editing, too). Until then, I hope you enjoy! ^_^

Also, to anyone who requested one, please note that I am still working on them! I haven't forgotten. I'm just slow. XD

Ships & Warnings: Palpatine/Anakin (CW dubcon); past referenced Miraj/Anakin (CW noncon); referenced Padmé/Anakin

~~~~~

After the mission, Padmé's hands became the raking claws of Zygerrian fingertips, and her mouth became the sweet-tasting lips of Queen Miraj Scintel. At a kiss, at a touch, at a look, Anakin’s limbs would go rigid and stiff, like a bloated corpse, and—no matter his disgust, no matter his shame—heat would vacate the rest of his body to stir just below his waist.

Sometimes, he could swear that the presence of his wife alone carried a distinctly identical scent.

"Purlieu élégante," said Chancellor Palpatine one evening. They were sitting in his office a little too late into the night because Anakin hadn’t yet decided—whether to grace Padmé's apartment with his presence or to simply text her another dubious excuse.

"Excuse me?" Anakin asked. The comment had broken him out of a forlorn stare into his empty glass.

As their gaze met, Chancellor Palpatine's eyes softened, and his thin lips spread into a sympathetic smile. "Lately, I've found its scent to be recognizable upon many of the female senators. Senator Amidala is no exception. Quite possibly, the Queen of Zygerria wore it, too."

Anakin was either far too drunk (or maybe not drunk enough) to be understanding. "Are you—are you talking about perfume, sir?"

In response, the Chancellor slowly drained the last of his wine. When he finished, he set the glass on his desk with a hearty thump, and rose from his chair. "Come here, Anakin."

As if in a trance, Anakin dragged himself to his feet and crept until he was standing before the Chancellor.

The Chancellor hummed. “Closer, dear.”

Holding his breath, Anakin shortened the sparse amount of inches separating them. At this distance, looking elsewhere was impossible. He bounced his gaze between the Chancellor's worry-wrinkled brow and the pattern of stitches on his velvet robe.

Gently, the Chancellor held the base of Anakin's elbow. "You blame yourself for what happened," he said, "because she was attractive to you."

A cold weight settled in the bottom of Anakin's stomach.

"But, you see, you cannot help the seduction of the body." As the Chancellor continued, he drew the pads of his fingers lightly down Anakin's flank until his palm rested low on his hip. "A beautiful woman with a pleasing scent will always catch the attention of a young man like yourself. It is only—"

"I wasn’t attracted to her," Anakin hissed. Panic lanced through his chest at the echo of his sharp tone, but the Chancellor did not seem bothered.

"Not mentally, no," the Chancellor agreed, "but in a physical sense. A primal sense. We may have evolved to be sentient—but we are also animals, my boy. Lust is carved into our very veins."

The Chancellor curled a second hand around Anakin's waist, freezing him—just as her touch had done, just as Padmé's did now—and Anakin already knew that no amount of fighting would allow an escape from his locked muscles and steel bones.

"Sir," he gasped, breathy and hoarse.

The Chancellor's hand on his hip glided to the inside of his thigh—and began to crawl upward.

Anakin grit his teeth, clenched his eyes shut, and failed, repeatedly, to breathe. The distance between them closed, their legs tangled snugly, and the Chancellor's breath fluttered up the edge of Anakin's collarbone, just beneath his robes. The older man smelled of cherry, like the wine, and it wasn't Padmé, it wasn't her, but it was—it was—

The Chancellor's hand cupped the front of his pants.

Trembling, Anakin shrank into this cage of arms and hands and nightmares. The cold weight in his stomach had suddenly begun to boil.

"Are you attracted to me, Anakin?" the Chancellor asked.

No, Anakin wanted to shriek.

"Do you see your wife in me? Do you feel her? Do you smell her?"

Anakin's nostrils burned with a sharp inhale. "I'm," he murmured, "I'm not married."

In response, the Chancellor squeezed.

A keen devoured Anakin's throat. His knees buckled. As he caught himself on the flat of the Chancellor's desk, his hand knocked into the Chancellor's empty wine glass. Its edges thumped and rolled against the polished hardwood surface.

The Chancellor steadied him. "It is clear that you don't want this," he said, "so tell me to stop."

And all Anakin could manage was a broken, throaty please.

The palm at his back pushed him forward. Wine-rich lips latched onto his. A stale-tasting tongue lapped at the front of his teeth.

After a long moment, the Chancellor let him go.

Anakin stumbled backward and dragged knuckles over the residue of saliva on his mouth before he could remember not to be rude. He could not lift his head. He could not meet the Chancellor's stare. He could not expose the sting nipping at the corners of his eyes. Not after his weakness had been laid bare and helpless in the Chancellor's arms.

"Anakin," the Chancellor said. To Anakin's great relief, his voice had lost the charm of a would-be lover and had assumed the familiar stern patience of a mentor. "You must know that it was not your fault."

The threat of tears brimmed and spilled over. Anakin choked on the air—and hated how it sounded like a sob.

"Beauty makes it easy," the Chancellor continued, "but given an effort, anyone can achieve the same. I am not beautiful nor young, and still, your body betrayed you. And still, you could not say no."

Understanding finally dawned. Anakin's blurred gaze lurched toward the Chancellor, who was standing where he'd been left, his hands raised, his palms out, and his smile as kind and as weary as ever.

"Tell Padmé to change her perfume," the Chancellor said. "After your victory on Kadavo, it is the least she can do."

#palpakin #anakin skywalker #palpatine #anakin #anidala #mirajakin #CW noncon #kb post #kenobster wip

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fandomsoda · 2 years ago

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Intro/pinned post!!!

last updated (mm/dd/yy): 11/19/24

Did you find me via a Sonic-related post? You should go to @speedysoda for that stuff now!

Want to read my DNI/a shorter version of this post? Go here!

Current blog status: tired and just. Trying right now, bear with me.

First of all, here’s my pronouns page for those who want to know more about my exact pronouns/word boundaries! (Semi outdated take with a grain of salt)

Call me Soda/Wally/Rivet. We’re fictive-heavy plural. Uses I/me and we/us interchangeably. We do not owe you any information about us.

🥤💫💙⭕️☄️❤️‍🩹📀🛠📍⚫️💟

Here’s my sona!

Their full ref can be found here

Below is more information about my art, the blog, and other things. There are also a lot of userboxes (and blinkies, so flashing gif warning be cautious) that represent me! The post is pretty long though, so bear that in mind.

Art usage rights: My art is fine to be reposted, but strictly with credit. Want to use it as an icon? Make it an edit or add something small for pfp purposes? You’re welcome to, but with permission, credit, clarification that you edited it, and as long as you’re not in my dni/use it for such purposes. Do not feed my artwork into ai software. Also do not directly feed my writing or own general text into an ai.

Requests?: Requests for art are a complicated thing and are simply a matter of what I do and do not want to do. Feel free to ask, but just know I may decline! This goes for moodboards and stimboards as well, but I’m much more likely to accept a mood/stimboard rather than art request!

AU/personal projects!: I have a handful of personal AU’s and projects and OC’s I’d like for people to check out and look at. (Also please please please ask about my characters and ask them stuff I wanna answer!) You are welcome to make fanart for any of them. People in my dni are not permitted to depict my characters in any way, shape, or form. Don’t touch my babies. Also- No, you may not use my characters in tournaments or polls. Please keep your popularity games away from my babies. (Fair warning: we are very bad about updating this it’s very outdated)

Personal projects masterpost

Additionally:

Please @ me in fan/inspired content! I want to see it!

I also know that I can often come off as aggressive and do stupid shit or say stupid shit. I have a lot of growing to do and I make a ton of mistakes. Please be patient and if you desire to call me out on by bullshit (which you absolutely should do) please be constructive and respectful. I struggle a lot with tone and accidentally upset people often. If I upset you, PLEASE let me know. I have no way of realizing if you don’t, please do not lie to me, tell me what’s wrong I promise I care and will try not to take it personally. =m=

Important note: While I may make suggestive jokes from time to time or touch vaguely on mature topics/talk about more mature media, this blog does not welcome nsfw blogs. Any and all interaction with me or my art that is nsfw in nature (inappropriate DM’s, comments, and reblogs) will be instantly blocked. We can joke, we can have fun, but I do not want any concerning behavior towards others or towards myself/my art on this blog. I know that many people who follow/are friends with me are minors and thus I will ensure that this space is not dangerous for them.

I also consume my media critically, even as a Homestuck enjoyer, I do not support Andrew Hussie and recognize the comic’s flaws, but I also love Homestuck for what it is at its core and how it changed my life. I also assume most people consume media critically and thus do not have any fandoms in my dni, but do know there are a good handful of them that I’m apprehensive about, but won’t block on sight.

Also note that due to my nebularomanticism (arospec umbrella), I do not know what the fuck romantic love is supposed to feel like or look like, the lines between strong platonic bonds and romance are so blurry they barely exist for me, and such- all of my ships are queerplatonic in some way. I have never seen any ship as solely romantic and I don’t think I’m capable of that. But I also do not limit the types of intimacy I depict these characters having. If you’re not ok with queerplatonic kissing or holding hands or other forms of “romantic gestures” or if you think they can’t exist, get out. I’m honestly getting tired of the term “ship” and all the baggage it holds. I just want these characters to be happy and get along and be close. I’m tired of exclusively romantic connotations. All of that being said, once again, proshits GET OFF MY LAWN.

Keep in mind that while my art and personal works ARE here, this blog IS a personal blog. I DO vent on here and often talk about personal topics. Be aware. And just because I share an opinion of mine doesn’t mean that I think it’s super important or right, it’s just how I feel. Just saying this because if you follow me you should be prepared to deal with what I post, and if you don’t like me that’s ok just leave.

^ this user box specifically was made by @/ghostfish-stims!

^ this blinkie is made by @/pictionary!

#pinned post

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vergess · 1 year ago

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So there's this poll circulating. A poll for the "most homophobic ship."

And the OP of this poll included Brokeback Mountain, so obviously as aqueer who lived through that 3 year cultural hellscape, I obviously vited for it.

Then I get to the comment below the poll

whoever voted for brokeback mountain I’m gonna hunt u down

What follows is my response, written as its own post becausee OP doesn't seem like the kind of fucker to actually listen to anyone else about this subject, and I'm tired of harassment from young queers who don't know shit from within their own goddamn lifetimes.

Yeah, so, it's me. Come at me! Hunt me down, mate! You won't be the first and that's literally why I voted for it.

They didn't ask which media property was the most homophobic, they asked which ship. Most of these fuckers aren't even in the source media; they're solely ships created by and for queer fans.

Shockingly, when a bunch of queers get together to talk about queering their favourite media, homophobia is a secondary emergent property, not a main goal.

I know! Stunning!

Meanwhile, and if you were not an out and proud queer when Brokeback Mountain arrived on the scene in 2005, you may have missed it, so trust me on this.

Brokeback Mountain was well loved by queer people. We adored it. It was intimate, and heart wrenching, and beautiful.

It was also hypnotic fucking candy to bigots.

This movie highlighted an "acceptable" kind of queer in a way that appealed greatly to the most vicious bastards you've ever met. The kind of queer willing to fucking die as punishment for the sin of being gay. Who die prettily, for the enjoyment of the COGAP audience.

That movie inspired hate crimes the likes of which your Fandom-centric ass cannot conceive of.

Whether it was open homophobia coming to beat the shit out of you so you'd die good and proper like those twinks, or the "love the sinner hate the sin" types who stood around saying if you'd just accept your beatings maybe you'd get better?

I have never experienced homophobia on that level from the other ships. And it was EVERYWHERE.

You can avoid talking about BBC Sherlock by just fucking going to work where people who don't watch it are.

You could not escape the overwhelming crush of straight people abhorred by your refusal to die prettily for their pleasure. It was on news. It was on every TV show. It was at work, at school, at the grocery store. You would hear about it on the radio as you walked to the fucking gas pump.

And again and again, it was all homophobes bemoaning what a beautiful tragedy it was and how this is proof that anyone who chooses to be gay is destined to die horribly and go to Christian Hell forever.

THAT is what the Brokeback Mountain ship represents to me.

Now, that's not the fault of the movie, nor the story before it, nor the characters, the actors, the writing, or any of that.

But the amount of homophobic violence that ship inspired is hard for me to wrap my head around and I was THERE.

So yeah, fuckers, I voted for the one that I have physical scars from.

Hunt me down if you like! Your ass will simply be the latest in a long, long line.

#Automatic OP tag #Brokeback Mountain #Homophobic Ship Poll

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troped-fanfic-challenge · 1 year ago

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We’re back, witches! It’s time to get ready for TROPED’s fourth annual Halloween Fanfic Challenge and the first Horror Trope Exchange! For this dual event of our TROPED: The Fanfic Writing Challenge, you can select the tropes you want to write and create the horror fic of your dreams or you can have someone else create a horror fic for you and you will write one for someone else (or you can do both, if you're feeling particularly daring)!!

How It Works: TROPED Choice Horror!

The first part of the event will be structured the same as previous Choice Events: tropes and theme list will be released, three weeks to write, three (3) days to vote; one quick round, done and done!

It’s a Multifandom Event! Write from any fandom you’d like! All Fandoms are welcome and there is no minimum participation required for this event! And no sign-ups necessary!

Choose a Theme for your fic from our list of Horror-centric themes! Ghost stories, urban legends, slasher fics, or mystery thrillers, you name it, we wanna see it! But, if Horror isn’t your thing, these fics do not have to be scary (“horror” just sounds better than “halloween”)! Any and all Halloween-themed fics are also welcome here! While we are definitely encouraging scary, spooky, horror style fics, any fic with a general Halloween theme that follows our guidelines and tropes would work great, from a slasher flick inspired horror fic to a soft and fluffy trick-o’-treating kid fic!

Choose four (4) Tropes for your fic from our list of tropes! (You can, of course, choose more than four, but only the first four tropes you list will be included for voting). For this challenge, at least one of your four tropes must be a ‘Horror’ trope, which are in a separate list from the other tropes.

Write your fic in 10,000 words or less! You will upload your fic anonymously to the AO3 Collection linked below. Make sure you put what your theme is and what tropes you used in your fic summary, or in the notes at the TOP of your fic, so we can keep our eyes peeled for them as we read them! (If you are worried the tropes/themes will spoil your fic, you may put them in the notes at the bottom, but please let us know at the top if you choose to do so, and be sure that all of your tropes and themes are in the same place!)

This event will be Optionally Anonymous! Because we want this event to be much more chill, and the writing period will be open for the month, we will not require this event to be anonymous! However, if you would like to have your fic be anonymous, we will be sharing a small tutorial on how to make your fics anonymous and how to remove them from being anonymous sometime soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

Read and Review! Once you’ve submitted your own fic, take a look at the others in the competition! Please try to read as many as you can! Take some notes, leave some kudos/comments for the authors, and help us vote on the winners! This is not a requirement for participation, but it is highly encouraged and helps make TROPED build a strong community!

Community Voting! The voting for this event will be pretty simple! We will keep a list of all fics submitted for each event, and then at the end there will be a voting poll! Voting will be based on the use of your chosen theme, your combined use of all four chosen tropes, the combined use of your theme + your tropes, and bonus polls, most unique pairing (which will count for both platonic and romantic pairings), best scary story, and best use of Halloween! The voting will be based on the fics as a whole, and will include all fandoms together! If you do not want your fic included in the voting, you can let us know, or you can simply upload your fic to our non-anon collection instead! We will still share it along with the other fics and it will be included in all masterlists! We will provide a link when voting begins.

How It Works: TROPED Horror Trope Exchange!

The second part of this event, TROPED: Horror Trope Exchange, is a double blind fanfic exchange, meaning you won’t know who you’re writing for, or who is writing for you! Here’s how it works:

It’s a The 100 Fandom Exchange Only!

Take a look at our Horror Trope list and pick four (4) tropes that you’d like to be included in your gift!! Remember, this event is double blind!! This is to help preserve that truly quintessential TROPED experience, where any writer can take the tropes and make something unique and surprising! Because of this, you wont be able to reach out to your recipient for any more info, and that means what you give your writer is all they have to go on, so try to be clear! If there is something you really want, or really don’t want, make sure to tell them during this stage of the exchange!

Sign Up & Keep Your Ask Box Open! After the sign-up period is over, we will match up all the assignments as best we can, and then we will deliver them to your ask box before the writing period begins! Please be sure to have your ask box open, and please be sure not to post the ask you receive, so it can be kept anonymous.

Write your fic! You will have about three weeks to write a fic that includes you given tropes, and fits into our holiday theme. You will upload your fic to the AO3 Collection linked below. Make sure you put what tropes you were assigned in your fic summary, or in the notes at the TOP of your fic, so we can keep our eyes peeled for them as we read them! (If you are worried the tropes will spoil your fic, you may put them in the notes at the bottom, but please let us know at the top if you choose to do so, and be sure that all of your tropes are in the same place!)

Upload your fic to the TROPED Horror Trope Exchange AO3 Collection only! Fics are due on Monday, October 30th at 12:00pm EST!!! Please be sure to have them in on time, because we will be reviewing them to make sure all your tropes are included! This AO3 collection is unrevealed, which means once your fic is submitted, you won’t be able to see it until we reveal them! If you’re worried about whether we received it or not, you can always DM us to ask!

Happy Halloween! Sit back and relax, we will reveal all the fics on Tuesday, October 31st!!!

TIMELINE:

Trope Exchange Sign Ups Begin: NOW!!!!

Trope Exchange Sign Ups End: 11:59 on Sunday, September 24th

Trope Exchange Assignments Released: Between September 28th—30th

Writing Period Officially Begins: Sunday, October 1st at 12:00am

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Writing Period for TROPED Horror Trope Exchange Ends: Monday, October 30th at 12:00pm

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Choice Horror Winners and Fic Exchanges Revealed: Tuesday, October 31st at 12:00pm!

RULES:

If you are a veteran to our TROPED Challenges, the rules for this Challenge are mostly the same as before, but any newbies joining the fun should definitely take a look at our full TROPED RULES!

For TROPED Choice: Horror 4.0, the Word Count is 10k or less, Ratings G through E are allowed, but No Smut, and All Fandoms are welcome to participate!

For TROPED Horror Trope Exchange, there is no maximum Word Count, but your fics must be at least 2,500 words! All Ratings G through E are welcome (We will be asking a question during sign-ups about whether you'd be comfortable writing or receiving smut. If your recipient is not comfortable receiving smut, please keep to M ratings or below). Sign-ups are required in advance! This is for The 100 Fandom only!

This event was created to help get creative and different fics out into the world, and to create a fun, positive fandom experience for everyone! In order to ensure that we achieve that goal of a positive experience, we reserve the right to disqualify anyone if we are reading and we think it violates any of our rules.

If you have any questions or concerns please send an Ask or DM a Mod ( @thelittlefanpire or @dylanobrienisbatman )!

HORROR LINKS:

TROPED Choice: Horror Challenge Info + Guidelines Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aZtaoXMGG4OidZhQkfTb4uHNI9ZXkt7sKWvID1p0m_8/edit

Sign-Up for the Horror Trope Exchange here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfcnMy3r8el0Tk-tZFMURNL2wXaL958_9b0Ml5pHLxxWL2jRw/viewform?usp=sf_link

TROPED: Horror Trope Exchange Info + Tropes + Guidlines Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CzcM3YG0D1xrI98Ga8nB0cd7syu8QlPE2hNZy0jdAo0/edit

#troped: horror #troped choice: horror 4.0 #troped: horror trope exchange #troped: multifandom #troped: t100 #thte2023 #Halloween writing challenge

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dragonagekeeper · 5 months ago

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Disclaimer: Whether Isolde sacrifices herself or not is a separate choice in the keep, but I have included it here as the epilogue talks about them both within the context of Connor's situation.

The Arl of Redcliffe Polls

Dragon Age Origins Polls

See quest and choice descriptions from Dragon Age Wiki/Keep below

Before the arrival of the Warden, Connor began to demonstrate magical abilities. According to the laws of the Chantry, this would result in the child being sent to the Circle Tower for tutoring, as well as forfeiting all rights to lands and titles. Scared of losing her son and ashamed of his magical power, his mother Isolde, the Arlessa of Redcliffe, decided to hire a tutor to teach the boy in secret, the Blood mage Jowan. Her intention was that Jowan would help her son not only control his powers, but also conceal them from others, allowing him to escape the grasp of the Circle and the templars.

However, Jowan was sent to Redcliffe by Teyrn Loghain to poison Arl Eamon, a task in which he succeeded. In an attempt to save his father's life, Connor naively allowed himself to be possessed by a Desire Demon—becoming an abomination. While the desire demon sustained Eamon's life, he still remained comatose. Under the demon's influence, Connor sent hordes of undead to attack Redcliffe Village at night. Connor is first encountered in Castle Redcliffe. He will occasionally have brief moments of lucidity, coming around only to find that he's lost time and has absolutely no clue what is going on.

Connor died

Connor did not survive the ordeal in Redcliffe.

“Lady Isolde bore her husband another child, this time a girl. The birth was difficult, however, and Isolde died in Eamon's arms. He named the child Rowan, after his own sister, and raised her with a loving hand. When she began to exhibit affinity for magic at a young age, he gave her over to the Circle for training--but continued to visit her and loved her no less than before.”

2. Connor alive, but is possessed

Connor was briefly freed from the demon's influence, but it retained a hold on the young mage.

Made deal with demon

“While Eamon planned to send Connor to the Circle of Magi for training, the boy grew strangely ill and the trip was delayed... and then one day Connor simply disappeared entirely. After a frantic search, he was eventually given up for lost. His disappearance remains a mystery to this day.”

If the Inquisitor recruits the mages in Inquisition:

If the Warden allowed Connor to be possessed, however, then he does not appear in either Redcliffe Village or the alternate future and his fate is unknown.

3. Connor is alive and not possessed, but Isolde sacrificed herself

Connor was freed from the demon's possession by the Warden's direct intervention.

Isolde gave up her life to fuel a ritual that could save her son.

No deal made with demon

“Connor was sent off to study at the Circle, and considering his earlier experiences, he excelled in his training and easily passed the Harrowing to become a full mage. At his father's urging, Connor accepted a position in Tevinter to undertake formal study of the Fade.”

According the Dragon Age Wiki: "This will happen if you let his mother, Lady Isolde, sacrifice herself to perform Jowan's blood ritual not using the Circle of Magi's help."

4. Connor is alive and not possessed, and Isolde survived

Both Connor and Isolde survive the events at Redcliffe castle.

If Connor is saved and the Desire Demon killed or scared away, Arl Eamon may merely comment that Connor has been acting strangely. This will happen if his mother, Lady Isolde, also survives the events in Redcliffe.

Regardless of whether Isolde sacrifices herself or not, the following occurs in Inquisition:

If Connor survives the events of the Fifth Blight, and the Warden did not allow the Desire Demon to possess him, he can be encountered at Redcliffe. Connor states that he was a member of the Ferelden Circle when it dissolved, which led to him joining the mage rebellion. He admits that he originally voted against the dissolution of the Circles. Even so, he followed his fellow mages into rebellion and initially thought well of his fellow mages as before they weren't summoning demons or using magic irresponsibly.

#dragon age poll #dragon age #dragon age origins #dao #arl of redcliffe

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nanamismoonchild · 2 years ago

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prev: chapter 2: taking ass and kicking names

→chapter 3: last name

→ pairing: demon! ot7 bts x rebel!poc OC named Afternoon

→ genre/au: science fiction, dystopian au, thriller, smut, fluff, angst, enemieis to lovers, enemies to friends.

→ chapter summary: afternoon tells her team the decision and most of them don’t take too well to it.

→ rating: 18+

→ wc: 6k

→warnings: misuse of authority, fighting, mention of testing, fighting, panic/anxiety attack

→ author’s note: this fic relies heavily on comments and asks! it also doesn’t have a poll at the end. But what do y’all think Aliah did? also, im hoping to get another chapter out this month to make up for october and november. :D

if you would like to be tagged for this fic, please send an ask or comment below! Or tell the ghost that’s behind you to send the message.

She was a little girl, eleven years old now, running through the forest of Disturbia. She could stop if she wanted to but she had one goal. She came to the clearing where the Moon settled on a specific spot, shining its glow on seven boys, who looked no older than she was. But she knew that was a lie.

They huddled close, whispering to themselves. Plotting maybe.

They couldn’t sense her. Couldn’t spot her from her place in the shadows.

If it was one thing the group had taught her, it was how to hide, how to run.

She wanted to creep closer to hear what they were saying; however, the children back at the lodge were waiting for her cue. Waiting for the girl who willingly stayed in Disturbia to save those who wouldn’t have made it to day two.

Her goal of finding her parents was the only thing keeping her here. She had looked to only fail multiple times. Whoever owned this place hid them well. Or had already done what was promised.

Afternoon had seen enough. She turned and prepared herself to make the long run back to the lodge. She halted as umber eyes pierced through her own. She didn’t get to scream as he pushed her into the open clearing, out of the shadows, falling on the soft grass.

She squealed, totally unlike herself, but she had been caught off guard. “Ji-”

“You should know better than to sneak around here, child,” the boy interrupted her. His soft voice hid the malice that laced his words.

Afternoon whimpered as the boy stalked towards her. This one was the smallest of the group, but he was just as menacing and powerful as his brethren.

The others had taken notice of them and were silently making their way over to surround her. She was trapped.

Good.

She kicked out aiming for his privates, but he had anticipated this maneuver–it was what she always did. He grabbed her leg and easily flipped her over onto her stomach.

Grunting, she leapt forward, tucking her legs so that she became a ball and free-rolled. A difficult maneuver that had been perfected with practice. Afternoon rolled until she became dizzy. Releasing herself from the roll, she sprawled on the other side of the clearing. The group of boys stared in shock–one of them was struggling to keep himself from laughing.

It may not have been the prettiest tuck and roll, but now Afternoon was getting exactly what she wanted.

They were distracted for a little while.

Afternoon schooled her ears to listen for the tell-tale signs of running. She could hear them in the distance, not too far from the clearing. Her hearing was getting better it seemed. They could hear them too. Better than she could.

“We have children escaping, Jin.”

The eldest, Afternoon had learned, simply shrugged, never taking his eyes away from Afternoon’s.

“I think our bigger problem is with us. Let them escape. They’ll be back sooner or later. It’s this one we need to worry about now.”

If looks could kill, she’d be dead ten times over now. The scalding looks they were giving her were enough to make her wish she had run this time.

He was handsome. He would have had women and men crawling to lick the dirt off his feet if he wasn’t a brooding asshole. Lips full and red scowled in annoyance as he glared at Afternoon who tried her best not to cower under him.

She understood that because of her actions they were constantly under scrutiny from whoever bossed them around. They were puppets as much as she was a prisoner.

Not that she really gave a damn.

“How many times are we going to go through this?” Jin tried to conceal his anger but was failing terribly.

She didn’t answer. She would never stop so long as they kept bringing innocent children to this place. She didn’t like what they did to her. At all. But it was a sacrifice that she had decided to make only a year ago.

The boy next to him, who Afternoon thought looked more like a vampire than a demon, tsked. His pale skin had a blue tint thanks to the moonlight. Unlike his brothers, his eyes were the most feline. A lion watching his prey’s every move. Out of all the seven, Afternoon thought he was the scariest and paid extra attention to him.

If he caught any of the children…she shivered.

She stayed quiet as she usually did. As long as their focus was on her, the escaping children would be alright.

They just needed a few more minutes.

“Jungkook, grab the girl and take her to the Room.”

Afternoon’s eyes widened. Shit.

The Room meant more tests.

She screamed and scratched at Jungkook’s face. He was the second biggest and strongest of his group. He was also the least demonic of the group. Bionic brown eyes stared lazily ahead while Afternoon was thrown over his titanium shoulder. Afternoon aimed for his jugular but was met with a painful throbbing in her hand. His body on his left side was mostly a mind of titanium. A metal that Afternoon knew from personal experience was enough to knock her out for days.

Whatever tests they ran in the Room made someone less human. And every time she went, she felt herself

Falling…

Every single time.

Waking up was one of Afternoon’s poorest skills. Her dad had called it “ghetto,” and her mom had chastised him for labeling anything as “ghetto.” Then they would argue about what to make for breakfast. Pancakes or waffles? Eggs or sausage? Or maybe eggs and sausage?

She found herself smiling at the memory of her parents before clearing it away in her head.

Thinking about her parents hurt. But sometimes, she couldn’t help wanting to see them smiling and laughing. Memories of the good days.

But as always, she couldn’t change the past. She had to focus on her future.

Aliah was still sound asleep. She could never wake up with the chickens. She snuck a glance out of their peep-hole called a window and saw it was still dark out. Sunrise wouldn’t be for another two hours, unfortunately. But they started their days early and ended them late.

Turning over to stare at her bare wall, she sighed. Aliah had given her a difficult decision. One day that had made her sleep restless.

In the end, though, Afternoon couldn’t take her. Like the chief said, this was her mission and only hers. She believed she knew why the commander had put so much emphasis on Afternoon going alone.

Those eyes flashed in her mind for a brief second. Similar to someone from her past who could control and morph into anyone he pleased. Whenever he controlled someone, he would lose control at times when the person fought for their mind back. They always lost so it happened quickly.

She felt a migraine forming behind her eyes.

What she was thinking was speculation. She didn’t need to dwell on it and cause herself more stress. Neither of the demons couldn’t have crossed the invisible boundary without alerting any of the agents.

She could hear signs of her team waking up. The flush of a toilet, the sound of a sink running (and not turning off), some giggles and whispers. That meant she had to end her thoughts and begin her day.

Yanking the pillow from under her head, she tossed it at her roommate. When she only got a surprised snore back, she grabbed a sandal and threw it at her dangling arm. Finally, Aliah started blinking her eyes open.

“Afternoon,” Aliah moaned. “I swear to fucking gods if you don’t stop throwing shit at me, I’ll walk the dog with you.”

“And if you don’t wake the hell up, I’ll…” she trailed off, trying to come up with something sassy, “make sure the demons bite ya hand.”

“Lame ass.”

“Loud snoring ass. Sounding like Bigfoot. Get the hell up.”

Both of the girls sat up and commenced their daily routine. First Aliah looked in the mirror and fussed over her braids. She was going to need them redone soon. Then, she’d let Afternoon look at her bird’s nest of hair and help her style it into cornrows. Lastly, they gathered their shower supplies and headed into the hallway to meet with their teammates.

Dorm rooms were too small to have showers built into them. So they all used the communal restroom at the end of the hall next to Marigold’s and Lilith’s room. There were enough stalls for them to use, but they were only given a finite amount of hot water to use for morning showers.

“Alright, you all know the rules,” Afternoon started instructing them. “Don’t turn on your hot water to the highest point as soon as you get in. That begins our time. Step in and get used to the coldness. Besides, cold showers have been proven to improve mood.”

“Do we have to?,” Holly said, her Scottish accent pronounced with sleep grogginess.

Holly was wearing Toy Story pajamas and her hair was around

“Yes, Holly.”

The Scottish girl sighed in defeat.

“OK, let’s get showered and then we’ll go down for breakfast. We’ll eat in one of the private rooms so we can discuss some things,” she made a point not to look at Aliah. She was afraid of how she would take her declination. “Aria?”

Aria looked up from her tablet. She enjoyed taking it into the shower for some reason. “Yes, Cap?”

“Book a meeting room before the other floors get to them. And make sure you make it so that they can’t hack it and steal our spot like they did last time.”

“On it.” She began tapping furiously at her tablet.

“Jack and Taylor.”

“Yah,” they both said.

“Jack, use soap that doesn’t smell like you want every boy in here to drop dead. Taylor, don’t use so much perfume, hon.”

Jack simply shrugged, but Taylor’s jaw dropped–appalled that Afternoon didn’t like their perfume. She loved it, but they usually tried to shower in it.

“Aliah, don’t take all damn day. Get the hell in and get the hell out. We might be able to save our hot water if you do that.”

Aliah scoffed and waved her away.

“Let’s go.”

Freshly showered, Afternoon felt her worry about the coming day's release with the steam from her skin. There was still the upcoming breakfast meeting that, if she were honest, she wished she hadn’t suggested.

One by one, her team filed out of the showers and into the hallway. Taylor and Jack had taken her suggestions and toned it down on their soap and perfumes. Taylor had a hint of rose and raspberries, which they had no doubt blended together. Jack’s hair was slicked back and he had applied a little mascara and gloss. Both were fabulous as always.

Aria and Holly came out next. The two girls were hunched over the tablet,murmuring to themselves as they walked in-sync to a spot next to Afternoon.

Finally, Aliah came out after having them wait an extra couple of minutes. Her moisturizer had her skin glistening and her baby hairs were laid.

Afternoon shook her head, “I thought I told you to hop in and hop out.”

“You did,” Aliah giggled. “But I needed my self-care time.”

Afternoon rolled her eyes and motioned for her team to follow her. She would not fuss with Aliah on an empty stomach.

She noticed Holly and Aria wearing matching clothes, their country’s flag and jeans. Aria was South Korean and Holly was Scottish. The two of them had met over a group they love online, and had become best friends during the First Year. They were recruited at the same time by the Facility, and had been so attached to each other’s hips–Chief had asked them both to be a part of the Computer Whizzes.

When Afternoon had met and had been offered the role of a leader, she instantly asked them to be in her group.

Same with Jack and Taylor. The two of them had been siblings from another mother before they had been split from their families in the First Year. Jack was a wide guy with the power of a quarterback. Taylor was lithe and delicate, the epitome of a ballerina. Chief and Afternoon had believed that they could split into different parts of the group. Jack with Action and Taylor with Covert. It fit them to a tee.

Marigold and Lilith were apparently sisters and daughters of Chief, a fact she hadn’t known. Then again, most of her team members didn’t even know who she was. She did know that the girls never put each other down and rarely fought. At least not in front of her.

Aliah and Afternoon were the oddballs. Neither of them had known of each other before being recruited. Aliah was an open-book. Talked about how her mom could use the money she made as an agent. Afternoon was the mystery. No one had known her background until last night. They still didn’t know much. Nonetheless, the way they had fit each other’s molding was as if they were soulmates.

Together, the eight of them created a friendship that provided the backbone for their team. A powerful one the Facility couldn’t help but always take notice of. Even when Afternoon wished they would turn a blindeye.

The smell of crisp bacon, sausage, and sweet biscuits wafted into her nose–it made her stomach rumble. The cafeteria only had a few teams already sitting around. Eating their fill before they commenced the day. To the west of the room were the four private spaces that teams could use for classified meetings. Normally, they were always full but one sat empty.

“Is that private room booked?”

Aria answered. “Yes. We have it until breakfast is done.”

“Good,” she licked her lips as someone passed her with a plate full of syrupy pancakes. “Fill your plates and meet there in four. Jack, save some food please.”

Jack grumbled something incoherent but set his eyes on sausages.

Afternoon grabbed her own plate and started piling it with sweet biscuits, cheesy eggs, and diced potatoes.

It was typical for agents to fill themselves up each mealtime. They had large breaks in between meals and did so much in between. The agenda for Team Ace was: breakfast, sword-fighting, cardio,Afternoon would go to her leadership class while everyone else went to their various classes, lunch, and relax until dinner.

Sounded boring and rough, but it was honestly the best time for Afternoon except for the class.

She unlocked the door and scooted into the chair near the whiteboard. There was a marker and a gently used eraser stuck to it. She dug in while waiting for the rest of her team. The sweet biscuits reminded her of her mom’s. Fluffy, delicious, and a tad bit too sweet. The eggs were cheesed to her consistency and the potatoes could not be wrong.

A heart meal for a stressed-out girl.

Slowly, her team started trickling in with their own plates piled high. She waited for them to sit down before asking: “We eat first or get the news out of the way?” They mulled it over before each person scooped a portion in their mouths.

Eat first it is.

They ate in semi-silence. The occasional burp and sound of chewing filling the air. They couldn’t hear outside of the room, but Afternoon saw more teams stream into the cafeteria and knew that it must have gotten louder.

After a few more minutes of eating, Afternoon was full and slid her empty plate away. The rest of the team followed suit like a game of monkey see, monkey do.

“I hope you guys had a good breakfast, but let’s get this meeting started. Breakfast is almost over.”

All of them nodded and waited for her to continue.

“First, let’s address the big issue: me going to Disturbia.”

She saw everyone lean forward. Aliah raised a perfectly arched eyebrow.

She took a deep breath, “I am going alone. Even though the file said I may take someone, Chief said it plainly. This is my mission and my mission alone.”

The hurt on her teammates' faces pained her. She was sticking to her choice though. A captain should always be confident in their decisions.

Aliah looked as if she wanted to either bolt out of the cafeteria or jump across the table and slap some common sense into Afternoon.

Jack, Taylor, Aria, and Holly appeared as if they would rather be anywhere but in that room.

“Look,” she started. “I know it’s not what you guys want, but I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if you guys came.”

“You wouldn’t have to babysit us, Noon,” Aliah scowled.

“Yes I would.”

The group gasped audibly and shame ran its course through Afternoon. Yet, it was true. She knew Disturbia like she knew her body, and there were still areas she hadn’t explored. Having to watch out for Marigold and Lilith, whoever came with her, and her own back was a recipe for disaster.

She could only take herself to minimize damage which was death in this case.

“Mate, are you sure? We could help you in some way?” Holly questioned. Her voice was shaking a little.

“If I get any help, it will have to be from the safety of the Facility.”

Jack rolled his neck, a sign that he was unhappy. “We can’t help you fight here.”

“No you can’t. But I’ll be fine. I made it through seven years there using my own wits. I can manage a few weeks.”

That didn’t seem to settle any doubts in her team.

Aria quipped, her tongue too sharp, “We only have five minutes left.”

Afternoon sighed and decided to move on. It wasn’t going to help her if they didn’t agree.

She quicked talked about their day’s agenda before dismissing them. Aliah huffed out of the room, while Aria had to carry a trembling Holly.

Taylor was about to follow Jack out before stopping to turn towards her.

“Afternoon, I know you’re a strong independent woman. But,” they slowly smiled, “we’re a team you can lean on. I don't agree with your decision, but it’s one you made. You might be our leader, but you're our friend first and foremost. We're going to stand with you, not behind you."

Somehow, she had landed on the floor with a plastic sword aiming for her face. Aliah was standing over her with irritation written over her face.

She had tried to deflect, but Aliah had parried and quickly swept Afternoon off her feet. Her twin blades were across the room somewhere.

“Yield.”

Afternoon shook her head, flipped the bird, and kicked at Aliah’s shins. Aliah defended her legs, but left the rest of her body open.

Twisting, Afternoon shot out her legs, picking up Aliah, and flipping her over. Aliah yelped, throwing her sword away before she impaled herself. In the end, Afternoon was on top, and Aliah was in the position Afternoon was in a few seconds ago. Afternoon placed her hands on her hips while shaking her head.

“Anger doesn’t do anything in battle, lovebug,” she scolded. “It only weakens you. Give your enemies the upper hand. Something that will get you killed in Disturbia faster than I flipped you.”

Afternoon fell to the floor with a shocked “oof”, hitting her chin on the carpeted floor. A booted foot dung into her back and twisted deep, sending pain signals through Afternoon.

“Talking to the enemy does the same thing, dumbass,” Aliah spat before kicking Afternoon away.

Afternoon grunted but didn’t yield to Aliah. If the girl wanted to be frustrated, then so be it. She had no qualms with taking multiple ass-beatings from her co-captain if it made her feel better.

Afternoon launched into a standing position, finding her balance and getting into a fighting stance. Left leg back, right leg forward and slightly bent, and hands in front of her face with her right arm lower than the left, palms facing outward. A kung-fu pose that Sam had taught her.

She cocked her head at Aliah who merely smirked and roun- about kicked. One of Aliah’s favorite and strongest moves. Her legs may have looked soft and pillowy, but they were actually made of cement and metal. When Afternoon had first met the girl, she had learned that a rookie had been sent to the infirmary for internal and external bleeding. Afternoon had sought her out instantly.

Right now, she was at the opposite end, but thankfully, the position she was in allowed her to swing the killer legs away from her body, and maneuver behind Aliah.

Afternoon pushed her away and heard Aliah curse. Where she had legs of steel, Afternoon had strength in her arms. Not as much as Sarah, who could pick up a heavy set person like Jack, and throw them clean across the room, but enough to defend herself.

“I understand you’re upset with my decisi-Damn,” she had been punched while talking. Afternoon tasted metal in her mouth.

“Shut up and just let me hit you a few more times,” Aliah grumbled.

Afternoon shrugged, spitting out blood and wiping her mouth. “If you can get in some licks.”

She faked a left hook, waiting for Aliah to dodge to the right, and used her right hand to knock Aliah back a couple of steps.

Aliah shook off her shock and again used those legs of hers to land an uppercut, sending Afternoon flying and landing with a grunt on the hard floor. She felt something crack and couldn’t make herself move.

Damn those legs.

She moaned, clutching her back and rolling onto her stomach.

“You already done?”

Afternoon glared at her co-captain, refusing to let the pain squash her stubborness. “Are you done?”

“I don’t know. We’ll see at the next match,” Aliah motioned for a nurse to come and help Afternoon. “See you at lunch, Noon.”

Afternoon grimaced as she was picked up and placed onto a rolling cot to go to the infirmary. Something was definitely broken, so it would take an hour or two for the nurse to work her magic. At least, she could get some more sleep.

As soon as Afternoon was ready, the nurse sent Afternoon on her way. Her hip was healed and it didn’t feel as if someone were sitting on her head.

She headed to her leadership training. A class that all team leaders had to take at the Facility.

The class was housed in the building the university had used for its business majors. Old flyers with people in professional clothing were still on the walls. The rooms were built to resemble conference rooms and she could see a few teams talking in them as she passed to get to her class.

A few team leaders were already seated. She saw Leah in the front row, who gave her a small wave before turning back to her conversation.

Chief was the teacher for her class today.

To her surprise, Chief smiled at her, the usual smile she gives Afternoon. One that doesn’t lift entirely up, but it’s just enough for Afternoon’s day to be brightened. Today, it only confused the hell out of her.

Chief began to saunter over to Afternoon, stopping right in front of her. The closeness was uncomfortable and Afternoon wished she could slink away and to her normal desk in the corner.

“Noon! I’ve been looking for you.”

“Sure you have,” she deadpanned.

“Just wanted to let you know that you have four days left.”

Afternoon failed to stop herself from rolling her eyes. She didn’t need a reminder.

“Disobedience? Out in the open, Afternoon?”

“Last I checked, rolling my eyes wasn’t disobeying anyone, “ she scowled at her commander. “I’d like to sit in my seat now.”

Chief didn’t bother to move–only held Afternoon’s gaze. Afternoon thought she saw a flicker of red again.

“Chief-”

A voice interrupted her, “Chief, if you’re going to stall class trying to intimidate our best agent, then I’m going to have to remove you.”

Afternoon and Chief both turned to who had spoken.

Sangwoo , a commander of a different group of agents, had risen from his seat and was facing the two of them. He was the youngest of them but his visage had the weary lines of someone who has been in the Facility for a long time. His hair was combed into a ponytail and laid at his neck, keeping it away from his eyes. Afternoon shivered as those storm clouds peered into her own. They felt so familiar.

Square jaw, slender nose made for a man who was a work of art. He was slender, but his height and aura made up for it. He was shorter than Chief but taller than Afternoon who stood at five feet eight inches.

Rumor had it that his hips almost made up for his slenderness.

According to Aliah anyway. And that girl would hop on anything if it could get her through a dry spell.

Afternoon turned her back to turn away and find her seat.

Chief cleared her throat and stomped over to the podium where a book was already opened for the day's lesson. She began to talk and Afternoon began to zone out as she usually did in class. There was nothing a lecture could teach her that experience wouldn't.

It was only a few minutes into the lecture that she felt someone’s lingering gaze.

“Afternoon!” Chief yelled.

The girl in question jumped and stuttered out a “yes.”

“What is the allotted time needed to be completely prepared for a mission?”

She knew the answer, but she hated that she had been called on.

“A few days. Maybe less depending on the team.”

“So do you think your mission to Disturbia should take less time? You could be out of here tomorrow, couldn’t you?”

Afternoon bristled at her boldness. Missions were confidential between commander and leader. No one outside of the team was supposed to hear details. She had only told Leah since she was a trusted friend. Otherwise, she had, technically, broken code.

But for her commander to do it?

The room bursted into conversation. Many of the team leaders wanted to know why Afternoon had to go to Disturbia. Some of them gave her nasty looks of jealousy. As if going to Disturbia was a great feat.

“Are you going to answer, Chananne?”

Afternoon stiffened at the use of her last name. Few people, excluding her team members, knew her last name. Chief wasn’t included either. The ones who knew weren’t allowed on this campus.

She heard someone whispering, probably asking a friend about the name. She hoped everyone thought it was just part of Afternoon’s mystery.

“Chief, I believe you’re violating a lot of rules,” Sangwoo stated. “Watch your words carefully.”

“I’m only asking Afternoon–”

“I think I missed how this line of questioning refers to the lesson of Rationing.”

Their argument did nothing to refrain her heart from beating faster and louder. She forced her eyes closed to dispel her growing panic.

Her name. Her name. Her name.

She had gone by Afternoon for so long. She nearly forgot who she truly was.

“Afternoon!”

No, no. Afternoon is her name. Must always remember.

Sangwoo’s eyes were peering into hers. Confusion and worry settled in the gray clouds.

“Are you alright?” “Whaddya mean?” She heard her words slurring.

“You passed out for a while.”

Shock sat her up as she took in her surroundings again. She didn’t remember fainting. She had only closed her eyes. It should have looked like she zoned out.

However, the puddle of slob and the minute throbbing of her head were clear signs that she had been unconscious and had hit her head on the desk.

The class had been dismissed and Chief was nowhere to be seen. It was just her and Sangwoo. Her face warmed as she realized. She could practically feel the drool drying on her face. Thankfully, her hair was cornrowed or it would've been pressed flat against her head.

“Thanks,” she squeaked.

“Thanks for what?” Sangwoo questioned.

“For making sure I didn’t drop dead, I guess.”

To her surprise, Sangwoo let out a breathy laugh. His smile was boxy and made his appearance youthful.

“Funny, Noon.”

He helped her stand and scanned her body again. She squirmed under his gaze, not used to anyone scrutinizing her except for the nurses and doctors.

“Well, you look alright. Just a little banged up,” Sangwoo finally said after looking her over.

“Why did everyone leave?”

Sangwoo shrugged, “I dismissed them. Chief’s behavior was unacceptable. And weird. Almost like she’s become a-”

“Different person?” Afternoon finished for him.

“Yes,” he said slowly. “ Extremely different. Like someone took over her body or is even putting thoughts into her head.”

Afternoon said nothing but her agreement must have been written all over her face.

“I wonder who you know can do that.”

She frowned in confusion. There was only one person she knew could do that and he wasn’t here. But the signs were there. He was most definitely in the Facility. Disguising himself as her former respectable commander.

Sangwoo shouldn’t know that.

“I don’t know what you mean,” she chose to answer. It sounded like a lie.

The man in front of her chuckled, a deadly smile growing on his face.

“Oh, Afternoon. Have you been here for so long that you forget how powerful I am?” Before she could question him, Sangwoo began to morph before her eyes. His back widened while his hips and waist stayed slim and slender. His hair loosened itself from the rubber band holding the pony tail, and straightened to hang near his shoulder. Wisps of hair formed bands and concealed his forehead.

The eyes should have given him away. Hell, his whole persona was a dead giveaway.

“Cat got your tongue, Afternoon?”

“You shouldn’t be here,” was only what she said. Nothing else could come out as her astonishment stilled her. Her mind raced to remember when she had first heard of Sangwoo, the new commander of floor twelve. Only a few weeks ago, right? Surely, he had to go through a rigorous interview and background check. How the hell did the Facility miss him?

“Come on,” he laughed. “You should know that I do as I damn well please.” He leaned forward so that Afternoon was forced to lean into the desk behind her.

Her heart pounded through her chest. She wasn’t sure if she was afraid for herself or for him. Maybe both.

Kim Seokjin, eldest to his brothers, was violating multiple rules and regulations of the Facility. The primary rule being that no entity from Disturbia was allowed to set a foot on campus. Apparently, the Facility was not able to follow up on that nor had they accounted for Seokjin's ability to let him do whatever he wanted with whomever he wanted.

It seemed as if several commanders were unfortunately his new playthings.

She snapped out of her growing alarm and pulled him to the side of the room that was hidden from the door. She silently prayed that a student didn’t forget anything and would come back and see an outsider in their classroom. No one in the Facility had seen Seokjin or his brothers except for Leah and Afternoon. Leah wouldn’t recognize him now though.

It was only Afternoon.

“What are you doing here, Seokjin? Taking control of Chief, causing her to order me to go to Disturbia wasn’t enough? Getting into the Facility as an actual commander wasn’t enough?”

“Nope,” he drawled.

She drew a small breath, her panic turning into unmitigated anger.

“You have three minutes to explain why you are ruining-”

He interrupted her, “Namjoon told me to remind you of why you’re here in the first place. You’re wasting time Afternoon.”

Her anger remodeled itself into anxiety.

Seokjin continued, “I thought the simplest way to do that was by getting you off your ass. Your ‘friends,’” he said ‘friends’ with a sneer, as if Afternoon having friends was an atrocity, “was the perfect reason to get you to come back. Save your friends and we reconvene.”

His voice deepened until it almost sounded like a purr. “Once you’re back, we get to catch up with you. Afternoon has really made a mark on this place. You should hear the things they say about her.” “Noon! We’re missing lunch because of you. Tell Sangwoo that if he wants to stuff you during dinner then he’s more than obliged but right now we’re on a time limit.”

The playful yelling and laughing of her team coming towards the door made Seokjin roll his eyes. It was good they thought she was still with Sangwoo. Kind of bad that they thought she was getting bent over.

“I have to go. Otherwise, someone’s gonna come in here and see us together.”

“I don’t wish to compromise either of us. I’ll change back,” he told her.

Taking her face in between his index and thumb, Seokjin lifted her face so their lips barely graced each other’s.

The small touch didn’t matter to him.

“I do wish I could hold you as Seokjin, but it seems as if I’ll have to be satisfied with Sangwoo. I’ll see you at dinner. Your friend said I'm ‘much obliged to take you’, so I will.”

She barely managed a nod before getting pushed away from him.

Afternoon made her way to the door, smoothing down her clothes and wiping at her face. It would only confirm that she had been making out with the commander Sangwoo.

Taylor was the first to let out something that sounded like a joyous screech. They were always ready to gossip about the masculine agents. Aria and Holly along with Jack were already heading towards the doors that lead outside. Aliah didn’t say anything but walked ahead of her and Taylor, who asked questions like “How big was it?”

Aliah still didn’t understand her decision. And Afternoon wasn’t going to make her understand. She had chosen her action and she was going through with it.

Besides, only Afternoon understood why she was truly being called. Seokjin had told her as much. She was running out of time.

“Are you actually going to go see the Sangwoo during dinner?” Taylor asked, much to Afternoon’s chagrin.

“I dunno,” she pretended to think. “Maybe.”

“I think you should,” they stuck their thumb out pointing to Aliah.

They made it to the doors that lead to outside. Once they opened, the afternoon sun greeted the three of them. Warmth spread through Afternoon’s body and chased away any anxiety she’d had only minutes ago.

“She got a stick up her ass,” Taylor huffed as they glared daggers at the co-captain’s back.

Aliah tongued her cheek and flipped them off. And like that, the anxiety came back. Not even a minute to let her enjoy being stress-free.

“What the hell happened?” “Missy over there decided to go against you and-”

“Shut up Taylor,” Aliah snapped. Apparently, she didn’t want Afternoon to know.

They shrugged, “She’ll find out eventually Aliah. Admit you fucked up now rather than Afternoon finding out on her own.”

Taylor jogged to meet with the rest of the group while Afternoon and Aliah stopped to stare at each other.

“What the hell did you do?” Afternoon demanded to know.

Aliah wasn’t one to step over Afternoon’s toes. They were always in sync with each other. Never going behind each other’s back.

“I’m hungry,” was all she got out of Aliah who took off running towards the cafeteria. Her long legs leaving Afternoon in a dust.

#disturbia #hyunglinenetwork #btswritingcafe #networkbangtan #kwritersworldnet #namjoon #seokjin #yoongi #hoseok #jimin #taehyung #jungkook #bts #bts x oc #bts x black reader

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NEWS ANALYSIS

TOO LATE: Musk throws Ye off Twitter, but the damage has been done

STEPHANIE BAZZLEDECEMBER 2, 2022

Kanye West has been removed from Twitter yet again, following his antisemitic (and in fact, pro-Hitler and pro-Nazi) rant Wednesday, despite new twitlord Elon Musk’s promises about banning.

Ye appeared on Alex Jones’ show to talk about his persecution complex, specifically to complain about Donald Trump and his representatives speaking out against West and Nick Fuentes following a dinner they attended at Mar-a-Lago.

Unfortunately, Jones tried to elevate Ye by comparing him (favorably, in case there’s any question) to Hitler, and West responded by going off on a tangent about all the things he loves about Hitler and Nazis.

It was finally a bridge too far for many, with even House Republicans deciding to pull back some of their recent vocal support for the man who’s said he’ll challenge Trump for the 2024 Presidential nomination.

It may have been one straw too many for Twitter, too.

Ye returned to Twitter, where he posted an image of a Star of David with a swastika inside it, then shared what appeared to be a screenshot of text messages between himself and Musk, with Musk warning he was going too far.

Before his account was suspended, Ye tweeted out a photo of Musk being sprayed with a water hose, captioning it, “Let’s always remember this as my final tweet,” and adding the hashtag, “#ye24.”

Musk responded to the tweet, saying, “That is fine,” but after Ye’s suspension, he followed up with another tweet, insisting that he didn’t suspend West’s account over hurt feelings:

A screenshot of Ye’s final tweet and Musk’s response is below.

Though Ye’s account is gone, an archived copyshows some of these posts, and other Twitter users saved and shared screenshots showing the text messages he shared.

Last Update

Mexican

Children

Text Messages

Classics

The warning from Musk was terse, simply reading, “Sorry, but you have gone too far. This is not love.”

Before going on to post a taunting photo, Ye apparently replied, “Who made you the judge?”

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Politics

NEWS ANALYSISDISNEY VILLAIN: Looks like DeSantis is losing his culture war against the big mouseDecember 2, 2022

Disney villains always lose, Ron.

NEWS ANALYSIS

TOO LATE: Musk throws Ye off Twitter, but the damage has been done

December 2, 2022

NEWS ANALYSIS

UNMUSKED: Bot his E-polls!

December 2, 2022

NEWS ANALYSIS

MASTER BLASTED: Appeals court shoots down Trump's Cannon

December 2, 2022

NEWS ANALYSIS

ILL WILL: 42 Republicans and one Republican acting Democrat are off the rails

December 2, 2022

Economy

With state and local officials facing dwindling tax revenue in the pandemic, the House Speaker told CNN that "They should be impatient."

A "looming" housing crisis is coming and Ocasio-Cortez warns the GOP they won't escape the blame

April 25, 2020

"There'll be a lot of death": Trump says, presses unproven cures in Saturday pandemic press briefing

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New details reveal another Trump coronavirus misstep in early February

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Trump daily virus presser: boasting about his Facebook popularity and talks of "Mexican violence"

April 1, 2020

Human rights

The president didn't want his claims that everyone has all the equipment they need to be contradicted by a medical professional.

Despite a gall bladder infection, the indefatigable Supreme Court justice asked tough questions while fighting for women's rights.

Reporter Gabriel Sherman's latest article shows how insider political considerations, and Jared Kushner, put the country in the condition it's in today.

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April 22, 2020

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NEWS ANALYSIS

DISNEY VILLAIN: Looks like DeSantis is losing his culture war against the big mouse

STEPHANIE BAZZLEDECEMBER 2, 2022

In Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ narrative, Disney was the villain for standing up to his anti-LGBTQ tactics — but his efforts to take down the entertainment giant were laughably unsuccessful, and a new agreement may cancel out his legislative vengeance.

When DeSantis pushed legislation attacking teachers and the LGBTQ community, Disney spoke up, and DeSantis responded by declaring that the company could no longer have the longstanding ability to run Walt Disney World Resort as its own city.

He campaigned on the legislation, declaring Disney “woke” and saying that it didn’t deserve special dispensation in his state.

However, DeSantis won his re-election, and the fight with Disney no longer seems to be at the top of his priority list.

Now Florida lawmakers are working out a deal with the corporation that would essentially restore the resort to its city status.

Meanwhile, DeSantis has moved on to other battles, keeping up with the GOP war on anything and everything that conservatives see as too woke, too progressive, or too inclusive.

His latest corporate enemy is Apple, which he said should have to answer to Congress if they make the business decision to boot Twitter off the appstore over concerns about identity theft and security.

From theNew York Times:

DeSantis did weigh in on returning Disney CEO, Bob Iger’s statements about the company being “dragged into” the debate, seeming to affirm that the legislation removing Disney’s tax status was punitive, as he told Tucker Carlson that it was all Disney’s doing for involving their company in his state’s business.

He insisted that the original legislation, rather than endangering LGBTQ children by removing potential allies, actually protects the rights of parents.

You can see that clip below.

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ivan-fyodorovich-k · 1 year ago

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@la-criatura here's a followup that I think is interesting. It gives a handful of speculative reasons why people are miserable, not all of which I find compelling, but I think the two suggestions offered that best align with my anecdotal experience--and that I'm going to integrate into my personal belief system until I get a good reason otherwise--are that Americans gauge the health of the economy mainly by inflation and housing. The full article is below:

Earlier this month, a Financial Times poll of about 1,000 registered voters found that most Americans believe their financial situation has gotten worse since Joe Biden became president. The economist Claudia Sahm tweeted that the results were “impossible,” adding, “The vast majority of Americans are better off financially. Full stop”—before receiving so much pushback for her statement that she deleted the post. This online drama was part of a larger debate among economists, policy makers, and commentators who have different explanations for why Americans report negative assessments of the economy despite some objective positive measures.

Economists who agree with Sahm are heavily influenced by low unemployment, often considered the standard metric for how the economy is performing. Last month the unemployment rate was down to 3.9 percent. But it’s not just unemployment that’s headed in the right direction. The Consumer Price Index was unchanged. A new paper shows that wage inequality has fallen over the past three years, driven by workers leaving their old jobs for better-paying ones. The U.S. has been adding jobs at a record clip. And wages—adjusted for inflation—may have finally surpassed pre-pandemic levels.

Despite these positive signs, the Financial Times poll was hardly the only survey to find widespread economic gloom. The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index indicated in October that people remain “pessimistic” about the future. And an August CNN poll found that 75 percent of respondents rated economic conditions as very or somewhat poor.

Here are seven possible explanations for what’s going on.

1. People need a second to adjust.

COVID-19 caused an unprecedented social and economic crisis, including job loss for lots of people. In May 2020, roughly 60 million people reported that they had been unable to work in the preceding month because their employer had closed or lost business due to the pandemic. Then inflation kicked in, raising food, energy, rent, and housing prices.

Although price jumps are leveling off, it’s important to appreciate that economic conditions changed really fast in both directions, and people may need time to register what’s going on. One researcher found that although public opinion has “historically followed the business cycle” (it declines during recessions and improves during expansions), the difference now is that pay hasn’t been keeping up with inflation. That’s only just beginning to change. If job growth, wage growth, and low inflation all continue apace, people may well start to feel better about the economy.

Many of these polls, moreover, are not simply asking whether the economy is good; they’re asking whether Joe Biden’s economy is good. Even if respondents think conditions are improving, they’re rating the Joe Biden Economy based on the past two years, not just last month, and their perceptions may be baked in.

2. Inflation is just really that bad.

People seem to be more sensitive to inflation than to unemployment. The Financial Times poll found that 60 percent think avoiding inflation is more important than keeping good-paying jobs; just 30 percent favor the latter. Economists tend to think a good economy is one with a low unemployment rate, but for the public, that’s not enough.

One explanation for inflation sensitivity is that it hits everyone. Whether you’re a billionaire or a minimum-wage worker, you can see that prices have changed over the past few years. Conversely, even in periods of high unemployment, just a fraction of people lose their jobs. And although of course high unemployment has ripple effects beyond those laid off or fired, those effects are, by definition, indirect. Further, people may view raises or new jobs as fruits of their own labor, whereas inflation is out of their control, as the economist J. W. Mason argued last year. If someone has a good-paying job in an inflationary environment, they may tell a pollster that they’re doing well—but the economy is doing poorly.

3. Expectations are high.

During the pandemic, the federal government provided Americans unprecedented support. It stopped evictions; it dropped thousands of dollars into personal bank accounts; it paused student-loan repayments; it gave aid to unemployed workers; it provided tax breaks to parents of young children, and billions in aid to state and local governments. In doing so, the government may have raised expectations for what a “good economy” is supposed to feel like.

Given all of those supports, many people actually are doing worse on some measures than they were a few years ago: Real disposable personal income reached a high in March 2021 and has declined since then. In May, the economics writer Joey Politano noted that Americans had spent nearly all of the money they’d set aside during the pandemic. Put another way: In 2020 and 2021, Americans acquired new sources of income, which have since disappeared. If I found $10,000 on the ground one year, and was not so fortunate the next, I would be correct in telling a pollster that I’m worse off, even if I got a $5,000 raise.

Real wages are above where they were in January 2020, but they are below where they were in mid-2020. An added wrinkle is that most of the wage growth is accruing to low-income workers, which could explain why middle- and high-income workers don’t believe that the economy is doing better.

4. The rent is too damn high.

Housing affordability hit a historic low in August as high interest rates have meant that the typical family cannot afford to buy. Although inflation overall is slowing, shelter inflation is still rising.

If renters who want to own are frustrated, so are some of the so-called winners—those who have already bought their homes—because they feel locked in place by their low mortgage rate. Moving now comes with the high penalty of giving up that rate.

When asked about current conditions for buying a home, survey respondents are utterly despondent, and that could be coloring their overall perception of the economy. And of course, the main federal response to inflation has been to raise interest rates, which actually increases housing prices as mortgages and the cost of construction rise.

5. The biggest winners are at the bottom.

A new study showing declining inequality found that Americans whose incomes rank in the bottom 10 percent have seen their inflation-adjusted wages rise to new heights since the pandemic. Neither the 50th nor 90th percentile has seen similar real-wage growth. Perhaps that’s why a long-running index out of the University of Michigan found that those in the top third of the income distribution have seen the largest decline in consumer confidence, down 24 points in 2023 versus the 2000-to-2020 average. Consumer confidence among the bottom third has declined only 15 points.

Although in absolute terms, high-income people are doing better than low-income people, they may be more sensitive to the “costs” of a tight labor market.

Low unemployment—which is obviously good—does come with side effects. In a tight labor market, employers have a hard time finding workers for low pay, and a hard time retaining trained employees; customers experience worse service because of understaffed restaurants and retail establishments. These downsides may be felt more broadly than the benefits: Almost everyone with disposable income goes to restaurants or orders items online and interacts with customer-service representatives; not everyone has a new, better-paying job.

6. The media loves bad news.

When asked last month why “most people still don’t feel positive or feel good news about the economy,” Biden responded in part:

You all are not the happiest people in the world—what you report …You get more legs when you’re reporting something that’s negative. I don’t mean, I don’t mean you’re picking on me or I’m—just the nature of things. You turn on the television, and there’s not a whole lot about “boy saves dog as he swims in the lake.” You know?

Those who blame the media tend to emphasize the apparent gap between how people discuss their own financial situation and how they describe their feelings about the broader economy. According to the progressive economist Dean Baker, this gap “must be attributable to things that [people] are hearing about the economy from places like Fox News and the New York Times.” The media does have a negativity bias, which has some effect on how Americans perceive the state of the world. But when people are asked about the amount of negative or positive news they’ve heard about the economy, survey responses look relatively stable since 2020.

7. Democrats are bad cheerleaders.

A recent paper on partisanship and the economy finds that, going back to the Reagan administration, “individuals who affiliate with the party that controls the White House have systematically more optimistic economic expectations” than those who affiliate with the other party. That is, Democrats think the economy is good under Democratic presidents, Republicans under Republican presidents.

But Democrats may benefit less and suffer more from partisan cheerleading than Republicans, suggest two former Biden-administration economists. “When a Republican is in the White House, Republican survey respondents feel about 15 index points better than predicted about the economy, whereas Democrats feel around 6 index points worse,” they wrote recently. But when a Democrat is in the White House? Republicans feel 15 points worse and Democrats feel only six points better.

Beyond the question of why Americans’ feelings about the economy may have diverged from the actual economy is another, perhaps equally important question: Why are policy makers and commentators so eager to explain it—or explain it away?

I attribute all of this energy to a mad dash to set the narrative following the pandemic recession. Some believe that the government’s robust response to the crisis proves that we could stabilize working- and middle-class family finances in perpetuity. Others believe that ensuing inflation was too high a price to pay for those social supports. Yet others wish that policy makers would focus more on how their ideas and victories are translated through a fragmented media ecosystem.

Narrowly, this debate is about whether voters think the economy is good or bad, and why; the bigger issue is what lesson future politicians will draw about how to respond to recessions. Will they cower at the potential inflationary effects of fiscal stimulus? Will they require that any new social supports remain permanent rather than risk voters’ wrath when they are removed? Policy makers tend to overlearn the lessons from the last war, and every side is fighting to say what, exactly, those lessons are.

I will be curious to read the vituperative denials of the validity of this article's analysis, which is pasted below the cutoff:

“Are you better off today than you were four years ago?” That question, first posed by Ronald Reagan in a 1980 presidential-campaign debate with Jimmy Carter, has become the quintessential political question about the economy. And most Americans today, it seems, would say their answer is no. In a new survey by Bankrate published on Wednesday, only 21 percent of those surveyed said their financial situation had improved since Joe Biden was elected president in 2020, against 50 percent who said it had gotten worse. That echoed the results of an ABC News/Washington Post poll from September, in which 44 percent of those surveyed said they were worse off financially since Biden’s election. And in a New York Times/Siena College poll released last week, 53 percent of registered voters said that Biden’s policies had hurt them personally.

As has been much commented on (including by me), this gloom is striking when contrasted with the actual performance of the U.S. economy, which grew at an annual rate of 4.9 percent in the most recent quarter, and which has seen unemployment holding below 4 percent for more than 18 months. But the downbeat mood is perhaps even more striking when contrasted with the picture offered by the Federal Reserve’s recently released Survey of Consumer

The survey provides an in-depth analysis of the financial condition of American households, conducted for the Fed by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. Published every three years, it’s the proverbial gold standard of household research. The latest survey looked at Americans’ net worth as of mid-to-late 2022 and Americans’ income in 2021, comparing them with equivalent data from three years earlier. It found that despite the severe disruption to the economy caused by the pandemic and the recovery from it, Americans across the spectrum saw their incomes and wealth rise over the survey period.

The rise in median household net worth was the most notable improvement: It jumped by 37 percent from 2019 to 2022, rising to $192,000. (All numbers are adjusted for inflation.) Americans in every income bracket saw substantial gains, with the biggest gains registered by people in the middle and upper-middle brackets, which suggests that a slight narrowing of wealth inequality occurred during this time. In particular, Black and Latino households saw their median net worth rise faster than white households did—though the racial wealth gap is so wide that it narrowed only slightly as a result of this change.

A big driver of this increase was the rising value of people’s homes—and a higher percentage of Americans owned homes in 2022 than did in 2019. But households’ financial position improved in other ways too. The amount of money that the median household had in bank accounts and retirement accounts rose substantially. The percentage of Americans owning stocks directly (that is, not in retirement accounts) jumped by more than a third, from about 15 to 21 percent. The percentage of Americans with retirement accounts went from 50.5 to 54.3 percent, a notable improvement. And a fifth of Americans reported owning a business, the highest proportion since the survey began in its current form (in 1989).

Americans also reduced their debt loads during the pandemic. The median credit-card balance dropped by 14 percent, and the share of people with car loans fell. More significantly still, Americans’ median debt-to-asset, debt-to-income, and debt-payment-to-income ratios all fell, meaning that U.S. households had lower debt burdens, on average, in 2022 than they’d had three years earlier.

The gains in real income (in this case, measured from 2018 to 2021) were small—median household income rose 3 percent, with every income bracket seeing gains. But that was better than one might have expected, given that this period included a pandemic-induced recession and only a single year of recovery.

The picture the survey paints, then, is one of American households not only weathering the pandemic in surprisingly good shape, but ultimately also emerging from it in better financial shape than they were going in. And that, in turn, points to the effect of the U.S. policy response to the crisis: Stimulus payments, enhanced unemployment benefits, the child-care tax credit, and the moratorium on student-loan payments boosted household income and balance sheets, helping people pay down debt and increase their savings. In the process, these policies mildly narrowed inequality.

The U.S. government’s aggressive response to the pandemic, including Biden’s stimulus spending, also helped the job market recover all its pandemic-related losses—and add millions of jobs on top. The resulting tight labor market has been a huge boon to lower-wage workers. In fact, because the Fed survey’s income data end in 2021, it understates the income gains for the bottom half of the workforce, and the shrinking income inequality they’ve produced.

Hourly wages for production and nonsupervisory workers (who make up about 80 percent of the American workforce) rose 4.4 percent year-on-year in the third quarter of 2023, for instance, ahead of the pace of inflation. And this was not anomalous: Arindrajit Dube, an economist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, crunched the numbers and found that real wages for that same sector of workers are not just higher than they were in 2019, but are now roughly where they would have been if we’d continued on the upward pre-pandemic trend.

The reason for this is simple: Low unemployment has translated into higher wages. As a recent working paper by Dube, David Autor, and Annie McGrew shows, the tight labor markets of the past few years have given lower-wage workers more bargaining power than in the past, leading to a compression in the wage gap between higher-paid and lower-paid workers. Of course, that gap is still immense, but the three scholars found that the wage gains for lower-paid workers have rolled back about a quarter of the rise in inequality that has occurred since the 1980s.

So what should we take away from the Survey of Consumer Finances data, and from Dube, Autor, and McGrew’s work? Not that everything is fine, but that public policy and macroeconomic management matter a lot. Enhanced unemployment benefits, the child-care tax credit, the stimulus payments—these things materially improved the lives of Americans and helped set the economy up for a strong recovery. If the policy response had been less aggressive, the U.S. economy would be in worse shape now. This is something you can see by looking at Europe, where economies are growing far more slowly and unemployment is higher, while inflation is no lower.

Key to this story is the fact that lower-wage workers in particular would be worse off, because they have been among the chief beneficiaries of the low unemployment created by the robust recovery. It’s a useful reminder that stagnant wages are not an inevitable result of American capitalism: When labor markets are tight, and employers have to compete with one another for employees, workers get paid more.

So, even allowing for the high inflation we saw in 2022, no one could really look at the U.S. economy today and say that the policy choices of the past three years made us poorer. Yet that, of course, is precisely how many Americans feel.

Although that pessimism does not bode well for Biden’s reelection prospects, the real problem with it is even more far-reaching: If voters think that policies that helped them actually hurt them, that makes it much less likely that politicians will embrace similar policies in the future. The U.S. got a lot right in its macroeconomic approach over the past three years. Too bad that voters think it got so much wrong.

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yokohamabeans · 2 years ago

Note

https://www.vivi.tv/post244835/

So tr popularity poll came out and I was wondering if you can translate what’s written under it (at least the haitanis) if it’s not gonna trouble you ofc. I tried using google and it’s not making a lot of sense😭

(Sorry if I came across as rude this is my first time requesting and I’m nervous and english isn’t my first language 😭)

Hey anon don’t worry this doesn’t sound rude at all!! ❤️❤️ Btw, this isn’t the official TR character popularity poll. It’s conducted by Vivi (a fashion magazine)—though, Vivi shares the same publisher as TR (Kodansha). This may also give us some idea of what to expect in the upcoming official one!

I’ll do the Haitani’s and Izana’s only if you don’t mind! The comments below each profile are selected fan comments, btw!

3rd Place: Haitani Ran (2,062 votes)

“His face is gorgeous! A beauty and an ikemen, a great guy! Like Paris Fashion Week.”

“His mysterious sex appeal is leaking profusely.”

“He thinks for his brother. He may go overboard in some ways, but it seems that he’ll stake his life for his brother Rindou!”

8th Place: Haitani Rindou (1,023 votes)

“His droopy eyes and angled brows are hot! Joint-locking techniques are his specialty and that’s super strong!”

“It’s cute that he calls his brother ‘aniki’ when they’re outside, but ‘nii-chan’ when it’s just them.”

11th Place: Kurokawa Izana (762 votes)

“I’m curious about his mother! Anyway, I want him to be happy!!”

“His strength as Tenjiku’s top is also attractive, but some way or another, he holds Kakucho dear to him, so he’s really kind at heart.”

Translation Notes:

Yeah, the comments are quite slangy so I can see why Google translate doesn’t make sense!

Some of them, when translated literally, sounds awkward so I took the liberty in the translation to make it flow nicer (while retaining the essence) as much as I can!

(Ran) Ikemen = good-looking guy, but there’s some nuance to this and it’s such a staple term, so I didn’t translate this.

…and to all these comments I say: SAME!!!

It’s hilarious and yet no surprise that the Haitani’s, especially Ran, are beating substantial plot-relevant characters simply because they’re hot 😂

#I am surprised that Mikey isn’t higher up #but then again I think Vivi’s reader demographic would be narrower than WSJ’s #so the official poll will be different #WSM I mean not WSJ #tokyo revengers #my translations #Haitani Ran #Haitani Rindou #Kurokawa Izana #TR Braindumps #asks #anon

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jjheejz · 3 years ago

Text

About Internet Water Army in the case

This is an ongoing update about the case from start to development. List of all related posts can be found on this blog's pinned post (link provided at bottom of each post as well).

19 August 2021 update: Added the scale of his success for reference, before bonus below

18 August 2021 update: Added timeline of events, orange title in post, found out the official English term for Immoral Media = Internet Water Army)

Major updates since first draft: Added bonus, added disclaimer, certain info details

Originally posted on 16 August 2021

[The purpose of this post is to provide a perspective as to why the Media is raised/blamed regarding the issue. Especially for international fans, as all the encounters happened on Weibo. Also, those who were on weibo, do read through if you will. So although it's lengthy, do try to read all, at least if not the last two parts].

The Media referred by most, is not the common perception of the Entertainment Industry (celebrities, directors, shows, channels, staff etc), but the dark side of the Entertainment industry: Antis, toxic fans, toxic marketing accounts. They are called Internet Water Army💧.

Toxic Marketing Accounts is one of the things they do, these accounts on Weibo has millions of followers, each of their post likes are in the hundred thousands (buyable) to give credibility to passer-bys. Some use similar names to Official accounts, some use similar logos. Their posts are usually subjective or aims to steer view points of a certain celebrity/movie/show. Before the latest update of this post (18.08.21), I just group them all together and term them as Immoral Media*.

*Below is my original post using my original term because at point of first draft, I did not know the official term (so have changed/added the term from Immoral Media to Internet Water Army in content below but retain the content based off first draft).

If you have chased before celebrities, or just simply passed by an article about certain celebrities, recall how some title that caught your attentions were like. Clickbaits is one of the many things they do. If GZ is your first and you do not have Weibo, then this read(link) is good enough.

Just as the term Immoral Media (Internet Water Army), it’s immoral and unethical, but they exists because they are paid to do so. Who pays them? Entertainment Companies, and maybe other Organisations

Normal Media/Marketing vs Immoral Media/Toxic Marketing/Internet Water Army

When a show or movie comes out, the normal Marketing department will generate outreach and buzz so that people know a show is airing soon/know the show exists etc. Official announcements are not enough, because there isn’t much context (limited content to put up as well) so having some other Marketing accounts do the buzz in a planned period to gain awareness through posts, some articles about the casts, the plot summary, the production details etc is normal. This is Marketing, bigger companies will probably have stronger Marketing departments (aka influence) and can hire more Marketing accounts to generate buzz. Celebrities (aka casts) themselves, are also Marketing point.

Then we have the Internet Water Army/Immoral Media, these are what they mainly do:

Create Fanfiction-rumors: Creating rumors about celebrities to shift audience perception of them. [eg. XX was seen with XX leaving a hotel, XX was drunk on Event Y and did ZZZ to AA, XX is dating BB and has been in a relationship for N years etc]

Honing their brain degrading skills: Come up with titled clickbait headings/ trending topics with negative written contents. For articles, exceptionally out of heading content related to the celebrity. [Refer to Baidu, it’s a winner of these, feel free to Google Translate]

Regressing their common sense and understanding skills: Take everything a celebrity does completely out of context in a negative way and create a topic out of it [eg. XX said AA is a ---, “XX raised his finger, a sign of ---?”, XX pushed BB aggressively on Variety Show Y - A competition variety show, XX is in beef with CC because XX was caught giving CC the eye]

Using their fingers to stir shit and bathe each other in it: Escalate all smallest form of possible tension created by fans/themselves into a huge thing by acting as the fandom's fans/lurk in fandom chat groups, and voicing their disguised opinion to spread tension/exaggerate severity of the issue [eg. XX fans mocked AA - in groupchats: tbh I've never liked AA before, AA just gives off a vibe that I dont like and now this? It just disgusts me even more > Yea, i feel this way too. AA has problems / XX Lurkers expressing views on XX about NN, slowly to NNMHFXW - XX did NNMHGT - I cannot accept NNmHfHw, I'm leaving = multiply by 1000++]

Epitome of a self-deteriorate: Creating something out of nothing and react to that something negatively to gain massive attention/reaction [eg. “XX raised his hand on show Y” - dk what XX fans are thinking, are they literally blind? XX fans are tasteless just like XX hahaha / “XX did community service” - they are acting / “XX breathed” - From the start, i thought XX was NN, but I am so ZZZ that XX breathed. Goodbye fandom, i’m leaving. Those who still want to stay I urge you to rethink your life choices] - if I may add, Xiao Zhan’s fanfiction case as well.

Metaphor - Ability to use bare hands to collect paychecks from the urinal/toilet bowl where their boss/client peed in: Doing all of the above.

Apologies for any term offense, but not apologetic of the term context. This is what they do for a living. Any normal human being who do not like anything, will generally not be interested at anything about it in the first place, so to have some antis/toxic fans knowing certain things and inside jokes/references in their posts questions their goal.

On involved in Internet Water Army/Immoral Media 💧

Fans on weibo during these few months witnessed many of the above on GZ. From rumored girlfriend (spammed with articles) to mean and nasty comments on trending topics, to bouts of insults and fake emotional cryouts by certain fan accounts that GZ's office has to release a number of Lawyer’s letter to them.

Aside from WOH there were also a few other BL adaptation films that were actually released this year but they did not reach exponential success like WOH. BL adaptations are so highly followed by because this is the key to wealth. Literally. Successful BLs like The Untamed and Dao Mu Bi Ji saw the amount of wealth fans are willing to spend on the celebrity as compared to say BG or idols (younger fan groups). This is why when WOH shot up exponentially, Immoral Media start to sweat.

Major anticipated adaptations were supposed to air this year eg. Hao Yi Xing(HYX), Sha Po Lang(SPL) etc but was severely held back due to the stricter change in BL adaptations submitting their scripts for approval regulations (WOH manage to submit earlier before the change). Because of this, most final films were rejected and they have to keep re-editing, by then WOH was already months into reaping tonnes of major brand endorsements, shows/movie casting, variety show appearances etc, something that is seen as too successful in the Immoral Media’s eyes, because they have to create buzz for other celebrities, some are specific celebrity oriented and thus circulate rumors about having endorsement opportunities shifted from celebrity X to GZ (think fanfiction-rumors and shit stirrer) causes tension in celebrity fandoms. - A real event just in July:

The Untamed’s cp fandom is called BJYX which had always been in the Top 1 of Cps for 2 years dropped for awhile to Top 2, over taken by LLD. Both of them had a war and hated each fandom, one fandom is somehow not allowed to like the other fandom even casually after everything broke out because it started out with some BJYX toxics photoshopped GZ on of portraits .

Also another case of which he wore the same costume as WYB did in a previous photoshoot and it became a useless comparison of who wore better, who looks better, degrading the other. (Finger stirring shit).

Now apply all of the above things the Internet Water Army do and we have them earning money, while both fandom reacts and hate each other.

In LLD, our own fans started suspecting each other on who is a spy from BJYX and what not.

The first few months of Internet Water Army saw LLDs mostly mocking them because the average age is 30-40s, they know and see through all of their intentions so nothing was big. They were trumpeting and LLDs didn’t even care, what with all the doing tedious stats was not even important to them.

Over time, as the issues they create became more and more serious LLDs did start to care, reporting Toxic Marketing accounts/toxic fans became a daily task, go vote for GZ at certain polls etc, solo fans, and LLD fans also split apart. Solo fans think cp fans use GZ to furnish their fantasies, and cp fans thinks they are the ones furnishing their dreaming-girls fantasy with (aka my boyfriend).

There was also a period where LLD had a habit of continuously mentioning “we are in the 30-40s so we can see through everything about the media, we are all fans for the first time, we are good at spending money (because of purchase power compared to other fandoms)” it was prevalent for so long it felt odd, ‘chasing celebrities the first time’ in particular sounds more vulnerable as a weakness than a strength / sth to be proud of.

Gradually, more secretive/insider confirmed ‘sweets’ were flying around. Fans advised each other to not circulate, and the mindset of “if you know, you know, dont tell.” (This is a problematic mentality, of which fans will still be curious to know and search for it themselves, but this secretive hook is unhealthy. Over the long term, it becomes hard for existing fans to know a lot of things properly to judge for themselves, especially those who knew and publicly reacted, but blasting those who ask and telling those who know to keep quiet, this did not help some to understand why on certain things, even so for international fans, dont know and dont understand, causing misunderstandings. Yes, certain information should not be shared, so why should you react about it publicly in the first place? - Internet Water Army effect)

The last few months (for example the July fan war) created a tonne of seriousness and anger. A period even broke out with a tonne of ‘insider confirmed sweets’ (which is LLD’s daily dose of happiness), it was hard to tell what was real and what was fake. Trending topics became negative and everyone warned each other not to enter because it will give the trends ‘views’ and trend statistics, in reality entering there is to enter an exhibition by the self-deteriorates, collecting the fandom's traffic data (it's a sure lose for fans each time they enter the topic). Everyone even starts thinking that the trend’s popularity was caused by each other (it's true but it can be bought daily and not caused by fans). There was a raise in the number of fans who were getting emotional because they want to protect but Internet Water Army kept coming and got worse, because fans, tbh, not just GZ fans, every other celebrity’s fans are always fighting with an Army, getting played and plotted in that Army's calendar.

Even so, despite all of these, LLD is actually a fandom Internet Water Army may find the hardest to break because they understand GZ so much, they could tell what are fake news regarding GZ, because among everything above, there are still plenty of logical fans to stop many fans from drifting too far and debunking them. Why? 30-40s are grown up adults.

Why 13.8.21 and the Japan issue is plotted?

First of all, in the political climate of China, there are many political dates in a month that is NO-Entertainment news. Because it’s the honoring of certain important political events. It’s like Remembrance Day, thus the sensitivity is higher. On these days, there are usually no news and even the Internet Water Army zip their pants. This year also marks the 100th year of the Chinese Communist Party(link)

Secondly, he had no work schedule on 13 August 2021. A great full day to focus on any other news (because if he had schedules, everyone will turn their attention to his events, what trumpeting outside is just bird chirps).

Thirdly, when the news broke out, especially about the shrine, the reception was actually quite serious within the fandom so the scale of this might be big but to what extent in reality?

Lastly, 15.8.21 marks the 76th anniversary of the announcement of surrender of Japanese in World War 2(link). Also a day of NO-Entertainment news.

Timeline of events:

13.8.21 - [His rest day, Eve of Chinese Valentine's Day, Japan News broke out] His rest day, no schedules = increased attention about him online. Lowered guard among fans because they are getting ready for tomorrow's Chinese Valentine's sweets = Caught off guard = Huge break out of fans' reactions

14.8.21 - [Chinese Valentine's Day, Eve of the 75th Anniversary of the announcement of Japanese surrender] Keep a wishful and happy demenaor to not destroy the mood, suppressed thoughts about ZZH's Japan news

15.8.21 - [75th Anniversary of the announcement of Japanese surrender, Official announcement of ZZH's boycott and all China social media account ban] NO-Entertainment news day, Solemn day, not allowed to voice anything so the fandom can only wait for tomorrow to start voicing out/debunking but before they can wait out, the boycott and social media ban happened, every official accounts about him was gone overnight, fans had no time to react

17.8.21 - [All official fandom accounts related to ZZH and JunZhe were locked/removed]

Forced to be silent since the day his matter broke out, over the course of official news release with everything taken down in a day because of the Japan correspondence, his accounts banned overnight across the Chinese media and the overnight cancellation, fans could not speak anything about it. Overnight cancellation like this scale happened for the first time in China, leaving no time to react by the fandom, by the time they can, they are silenced.

When the period of events occured within a set of special dates, it’s not coincidence.

Conclusion

Because he was too successful and had many actually honorable past things, and a hard to influence fandom, Internet Water Army view him as a huge threat enough to want to destroy him, because it’s hard to defeat. With a chance they have, they will hold it till the end, bringing up this issue to the Government during this period also shows a sign of how scared they were of him and perhaps his fandom to plot something like this.

Updated on 19 August: Here's a screenshot of assumed calculation on the scale of GZ success for reference while chatting with a fellow fan, assuming GJ also has 27 brands, and there are 1000 brands. Rationale of numbers used: Only big brands can hire big celebrities.

Bonus

Mentioned in the first post, will mention again in case. After the news broke out within 2 days, there was a drop on his weibo followers from 18.9mil to 18.7mil. 200k+ drops, if the politics was such a big national issue, there should at least be a huge drop, even at least a million right? Because weibo is a China-Chinese majority right? Nope, we get a puny 200k drop.

What's funny? The self-deteroriates:

Translation: "Are his fans bought? Why didnt he drop fans? Those people got brainwashed to this point?" / "I've never entered his weibo and today i feel like having a look yet it showed I've followed him. All his fans were bought right? It disgusts me, i immediately unfollowed. This kind of process is worse than WYF..." / "i dropped fans because of him...no...I just reposted 2 posts and I've dropped 4 fans?"

Isn't the tone and regressing brain cells, all too familiar and same?

Added above, will remind again to read this link. It has an even more in-depth knowledge on who are paying them.

So what should we do? Link here