#slightly traumatized again

[realcleverissues]

Season 2 is out. It's good. Also, a bit less traumatic than the first season. that said, the start of the second game has a scene which has been absolutely haunting me since I saw it - though watching reactions to it online, seems like most people found it funny, which blows my mind.

I think part of the issue is exactly what I wrote about above for season one: the show is a thinly veiled metaphor for capitalism - but most people don't seem to get that. They see people dying playing games and it seems so alien as to be funny.

similarly, season 2 emphasizes the ability of the participants to vote to leave the game. but they don't. they want to keep playing, even as scores of them die. and it seems crazy. how could they vote that way??!! and yet, that is exactly what we Americans are doing. And worse yet, at least in squid game the "party" that votes to end the games is sincere that they want to end; in the US, we have two major parties and both are in favor of more games. e.g. look at the discussion around healthcare, housing, education, and so much more. (and trump winning the presidency bc people hoped to save a few cents on eggs is really the cherry on top.)

but yeah, for most people, they can't seem to connect the dots. the show is just 'a creepy and quirky situation with no relationship to us.'

p.s. it's an amazing phenomenon in general of how people, esp right wing people, consume creative works which criticize their worldview but they don't have a nuanced take on it bc they are just completely oblivious to the hypocrisy in their values. I'd really love to see a study where a group of people watch squid game and then are asked their views on universal healthcare vs the current system. I just really want to see how they frame this in their mind.

“Thank god Squid Game is just a series and not real life.”

I’ve been hearing this a lot from people and it kind of boggles my mind. The analogies to society, and specifically its hyper-capitalist nature, are rife throughout the series. The parallels are so stark and real that the above sentiment almost makes no sense to me - even though I know people mean that we don’t generally have to directly make such life and death decisions. But it seems that they don’t realize that even if it’s not as direct, the system is real. The effects are real. It is life or death.

For instance, healthcare. One of the main reasons that the main character is in the game is to pay for his mom’s healthcare. In the US, thousands of people die young each year because they cannot afford healthcare. In addition, thousands become entirely broke, declaring bankruptcy, due to healthcare bills. This is real life. Every politician and voter who votes against a nationalized health insurance program is playing the squid game. They are choosing an option which they believe will make them slightly better off, even if it will condemn thousands upon thousands of people to suffer and die.

Same thing with housing. For instance, one of the easiest ways to address our housing crisis would be to change city zoning laws. For instance, in Seattle, something like 90% of the residential areas are only zoned for single family homes. That makes it harder to build the multi-family homes needed to address seattle’s growing population. As a result, there’s both a shortage of housing, and incredibly high housing costs since people must compete with eachother for homes, driving up costs. Multifamily zoning helps relieve those issues by providing more homes, and thereby reducing the auction-like nature of the free market. However, most homeowners vote against this change, because they fear it might impact their property values or marginally decrease their quality of life. Some people even complain that it will just ‘mess with the vibe and aesthetic of the neighborhood.’ To them, those issues are of equal importance to people without homes, or struggling to survive, struggling to pay their bills and buy food bc they’re overburdened by housing prices. This system is another squid game, and homeowners consistently vote in what they perceive to be their own favor.

Same thing with our commodities in general. Just look at all the terribly exploitative (and often much worse) conditions that are used to produce chocolate, diamonds, shoes, cotton clothing, and all our groceries. Look at our carbon emissions and plastic waste that’s polluting mountaintops and the ocean depths, as well as our own bodies. These are the decisions that *we* are all making.

For most of us, we are making the decisions we do because we have no alternatives. Most of us literally cannot afford to buy fair-trade products, and so we don’t. We deserve some blame here, but we’re also victims. This is because our system sends money to the top and leaves everyone else scrambling to survive on scraps. Most of us *are* in this squid game, actively playing. We could all get out, if we simply voted to.

But it won’t happen, because most people ignore what’s going on, and when they see art with social commentary, like squid games, hunger games, etc., they just think, “that’s cute, but glad I don’t live in a society like that!”

[blackhholes]

teen wolf meme: [2/2] locations -> the hale house

I've been having dreams. Dreams, or nightmares? Nightmares... About a fire. It's this-this house, and I can hear screaming-

[hogwartslegacypics]

The contrast between MC’s and Sebastian’s reactions to casting the Cruciatus Curse on each other is striking

[wackywatchdotcom]

glad that the ragatha post seems to be resonating w ppl :)

[astros-silly-place]

me when evil masked characters get so mischaractherized in fanon and than in canon they would kill you. Like. so genuinely ☹️

[sillyxaly]

2ha book 5 currently killing my brain cells.

Someone make it make sense! Im missing something I know it. I have too much intel so the current reveal of the antagonist doesnt check out to me, but I dont have ENOUGH TO PROVE THEY ARE NOT.

SOMETHING IS GOING ON HERE AND I DONT KNOW WHAT EXACTLY IT IS!

[quietwingsinthesky]

very funny to me that even is very Not immortal. at best, their current age is fucky-wucky because getting stuck in a dimensional bubble and then unstuck via Shenanigans will do that to you. they don’t know how old they are but it’s probably older than they look, but they do know they aren’t going to live as long as either time lord in their life. and what im saying is that if there are Century Long Plots happening, even has to be dropped off at the end to wait like someone stuck at the bus stop to the apocalypse.

[completely-zoned-out]

I finally got a (temporary) job!! I start on Thursday and I'll be working in a .... library as a library assistant! Child me is genuinely squealing rn

[usagimen]

proper halloween threads with sayuri where nothing goes down that evening except attending massive parties

[red-red-spout]

gonna be honest i'm always voting skitter but I don't think she's morallly grey, really. Taylor Hebert is a shonen protagonist with a brutal streak - I won't say she did no wrong, exactly, but she also didn't do anything wrong - ok that's not exactly true but regardless like... I think I might be biased somewhat because sylvester lambsbridge is fresh in my mind but uh

[gibbearish]

i know it was a joke that is sort of understandable in context so im not gonna say anything on the post itself. but boy seeing someone say "i'm also down with murdering a few actors if it leads to better movies" REALLY rubs me the wrong way

[fairiegardens]

The end of the substance has my jaw on the ground what the holy hell did I just watch

[henrysheavyheart]

I feel at peace for the first time in two weeks so thank you once again for that jannik 🫶🫶🫶

[corkinavoid]

DPxDC "Pick Me Up"

The stream goes live on the first day of the school year. It's the usual song and dance - mad laughing, threats, poor jokes, terror, and about thirty kids huddled together in a classroom behind Joker's back. Tim recognizes it as one of the Gotham Academy classrooms. Dick can't imagine the horror those kids' parents must be feeling right now. Jason jokes about middle school traumatic experiences. Damian is feeling very justified for skipping classes today.

Bruce, all suited up in his Batman garb, is making his way to the Academy as fast as he possibly can. Those are kids.

Gotham is once again anxiously kept on the edge of their seats, watching as Joker decides to interview the kids on their learning experience so far. Something about leaving a good first impression on the new generation or some other bullshit. Most kids stutter over their words - it's true that Gothamites are way more composed when facing life-threatening events, but those kids are only fourteen or fifteen for the most part. They are not old enough to keep their cool in the face of a murder clown.

That is, until Joker points his camera at one of the girls. Black hair in a high ponytail, blue eyes without a trace of fear, a slightly displeased, even bored expression on her face. She looks straight into the camera, not even waiting for the laughing madman to finish his question, and deadpans:

"I don't think I like school. Pick me up, please."

Joker sputters.

"Not so scared, I see," he sneers, and, in the next moment, a comically large gun painted in purples and greens is pointed to the girl's forehead, "How about now?"

The girl scrunches her nose and makes a so-so gesture.

"It's kinda meh," she admits, "Like, yeah, points for style, but you know, size doesn't matter. It's all in the technique."

Dick snorts over the comms. It's a bad time for laughing, sure, but the phrase caught him off-guard. This is not what you'd expect to hear from a teen, and definitely not something you'd expect anyone to say to the Joker. Jason's comms are muted, but Barbara knows he also laughed a little.

"Technique, you say?" Joker hisses, pressing the gun closer to the girl's head, and she winces, leaning away from it, almost as if she is disgusted by the touch.

"Yeah, I mean, guns are not that scary anyway. What are you gonna do with them, blast my brains all over the floor? Been there, done that," the girl shrugs, "Kinda nasty, but overall, it's just like slime, only sticky." She pauses and looks to the side, seemingly lost in thought, "Huh, maybe we should have added Borax to it. Or was it baking soda?.."

"Listen here, you little brat," Joker's fingers catch the girl's chin, and his voice becomes sickeningly menacing. Bruce is almost there, just two more minutes. Tim is already grappling onto the wall.

But none of them get to finish.

"Put your dirty fingers away from my sister," a low, cold, and even in a way that speaks of barely contained fury, voice comes from out of the screen.

The camera spins, like whoever is holding it turned really fast, and everyone watching the stream sees a fairly normal guy standing by the window - a turtleneck and ripped jeans, same black hair as the girl, same blue eyes... Wait, they are not blue.

And that's not a guy.

The camera falls down to the floor, and there are a lot of panicked screams coming from the broadcast now, but none of them sound like children's voices. It's the screams of adults, of grown-ass men, and later, someone even claimed they heard Joker's scream among them, too. The picture on camera glitches a few times, and the angle is awkward, but everyone still gets to see how shadows in the room morph into eyes, wide open and green, and how the darkness grows sharp teeth, countless grinning mouths that don't belong to any faces.

Screams turn into gargling and then to quiet whispers, filling the ears of all those listening with countless words in languages they don't know.

Red Robin turns off the recording and looks to that same guy from the levestream, sitting across him on the couch. The guy - Daniel, or Danny, as he introduced himself - looks him in the eyes and raises an eyebrow.

"Okay, and?"

"How did you do it?" Tim asks for the third time this evening. Danny blinks.

"Did what?" He asks, completely incomprehending. Tim groans. He's been trying to get his answers, any answers at this point, from the guy for thirty fucking minutes already. So far, he's got nothing. Danny, whoever the fuck he is, proves to be the most annoying human being on Earth.

"Seven people in a coma, including Joker himself, with no physical injuries and none of the children remember a thing! How?!" He demands, and a girl's face peeks from around the corner:

"I remember!"

Tim snaps his head at her, "What do you remember?"

The girl pauses, blinks, and looks to Danny. Then shrugs, "My brother picked me up from school."

Tim drops his head down and breathes out in frustration. He can't force the information out of civilians, he is a vigilante, not a mafia.

"Would it make you feel better if I promise not to do it again?" Danny asks, and his voice is way too innocent for Tim to believe him. He raises his head to look the guy in his shameless, amused eyes.

"I hate you."

"Thanks," Danny grins.

[hartlow]

Love being disabled and at the mercy of idiots so this is how I would rate different doctors I've seen <3

Rheumatologist: 10/10 Only saw him once but it only took that appointment to diagnose me with Fibromyalgia and he said I have it "one hundred percent". He was also very kind and sympathetic

Gastroenterologist: 10/10 She listened to me, was very kind and honest, was determined to find out what was wrong, and actually found a solution that worked, at least well enough

Cardiologist: 6/10 Pretty decent experience, not over the top amazing but they did their job and the normalcy was refreshing tbh

Primary care physician: -100/10 He wrote on my severely ill sister's notes that she has Munchausen syndrome so now no doctor will ever believe her until she can get that removed. Also refuses to believe me when I can't do something no matter how many times I hammer in that I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia

Gynecologist: -100/10 She had it called in for me, an AFAB person, to severely overdose estrogen cream for a MONTH. Kept saying the amount of cream and frequency was fine when I was making phone calls insisting the prescription could not reasonably be safe. It was one of the nurses who finally agreed with me and gave me different instructions. Literally could have developed cancer if I hadn't thought to question her 3 days in.

[alltheeya]

Pervert! || s.jk

genre: established relationship, fluff, crack

word count: 0.8k

notes: this one is shorter than usual but i still like it as much as the rest lol. heeseung and sunghoon appears on this one too (sorry i just like including other members in each fic dshckjdhjs)

Jake had fallen asleep surprisingly quickly, his head resting comfortably on your lap. The peaceful look on his face made you hesitate to move, but nature called, and you really, really needed to go to the restroom.

"Heeseung," you whisper-shouted, tilting your head toward him. Heeseung, who was sitting a few feet away scrolling on his phone, looked up in confusion.

"What?" he whispered back.

"Come here," you gestured urgently. Heeseung frowned but shuffled closer.

"What’s going on?" he asked softly, glancing at Jake’s sleeping form.

"I need you to take my place," you whispered. Heeseung blinked at her, his brows furrowing.

"What?"

"Jake’s sleeping. I need to go to the restroom, and I don’t want to wake him up," you explained, eyes darting between Heeseung and the peacefully snoozing Jake.

Heeseung leaned back, shaking his head. "No way. That’s weird."

"Heeseung, please," you whispered, desperation creeping into your tone.

"Why me? Get Sunghoon!"

"You’re closest, and I really have to go," you  said, your whisper intensifying. "It’s just for a minute, Heeseung. He won’t even notice."

Heeseung groaned softly, rubbing his temple. "Fine. But if he wakes up and sees me, I’m blaming you."

You two moved cautiously. You gently slid out from under Jake’s head while Heeseung, with all the grace of someone doing a trust fall, positioned himself in your place. And just like that, the switch was successful. Jake stirred slightly but didn’t wake, letting out a small sigh before settling back down.

"Thanks, Heeseung. I owe you," you  whispered before darting off to the restroom.

A few minutes later, Jake stirred again, this time more awake. He blinked groggily, his head still resting comfortably.

"Y/n?" he mumbled, his voice heavy with sleep.

"Uh, no," Heeseung’s voice answered awkwardly.

Jake’s eyes snapped open, and he shot up like a spring. "What the—" He froze when he saw Heeseung sitting there, looking uncomfortable. "Why are you—? Where’s y/n ?"

"She went to the restroom," Heeseung said, trying not to laugh at Jake’s horrified expression.

Jake ran a hand through his hair, looking deeply betrayed. "Why didn’t you wake me up?"

Heeseung smirked. "She said you looked too peaceful, and I didn’t have a choice. Blame her."

"I—" Jake stammered, glaring at Heeseung. "You let me sleep on your lap?!"

"You looked happy," Heeseung teased, barely holding back his laughter.

Jake groaned, burying his face in his hands. "I can’t believe this."

Just then, you returned, looking much more relaxed. You paused, noticing Jake’s flustered state.

"Oh, you’re awake," you said innocently.

Jake pointed an accusatory finger at her. "You left me. With him."

you shrugged, biting back a laugh. "I had to go. Heeseung did great, didn’t he?"

"Great?!" Jake repeated, voice pitching higher.

Heeseung gave a two-finger salute. "Happy to help."

You sat down, patting your lap. "Well, I’m back now. Do you want your spot back?"

Jake crossed his arms, pouting. "No. I’m traumatized."

But despite his words, he leaned back down on your lap within a few seconds, muttering, "Next time, wake me up."

You chuckled, gently ruffling Jake’s hair. "You’re such a baby."

"What’s the difference between sleeping on my lap and on Heeseung’s anyways?" you teased, raising an eyebrow. "You slept well on both."

Jake sat up abruptly, his expression a mix of disbelief and offense. "Don’t even compare!" He placed a hand over his chest dramatically. "Your lap is warm and soft, and it smells like you. Heeseung hyung’s lap is—" He paused, visibly cringing. "It’s just Heeseung hyung."

Heeseung, still sitting nearby, mildly offended. "Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?"

Jake pointed at him without looking. "You know exactly what it means."

You couldn’t help but laugh, shaking your head. "You’re weird, Sim Jaeyun."

Jake turned back to you, his pout softening into a grin. "Don’t care. You still would let me use your lap. So who’s the real softie here?"

You rolled your eyes but didn’t protest when Jake leaned back down, reclaiming his rightful spot.

You smirked, tilting your head as you playfully poked Jake’s forehead. "I just think you’re a pervert for wanting my lap instead of your friend’s."

Jake barely blinked, instead cozying himself up even more against your lap, adjusting until he was at peak comfort. With a completely straight face, he mumbled, "If ‘pervert’ is what people who love your lap are called, then yes, I am a pervert."

Heeseung, who was still within earshot, made a gagging noise. "What am I listening to?"

Sunghoon, who had just walked in, blinked at the scene. "What did I just walk into?"

You groaned, covering your face with your hands, while Jake is just unbothered. "Don’t worry about it."

Sunghoon made a face. "No, I think I should worry about it."

Jake just hummed, closing his eyes. “No girlfriend, no opinion.”

You rolled your eyes but smiled, fingers absentmindedly running through his hair.

You really should be used to him by now.