#social media has made people incredibly stupid

[tuttle-did-it]

I'm a very big fan of when specialists debunk crap online because it's ineffective or dangerous.

[king-ludwig-ii]

T shirt that says I still have social issues and trauma from things that happened over a decade ago

[leidensygdom]

Fighting AI and learning how to speak with your wallet

So, if you're a creative of any kind, chances are that you've been directly affected by the development of AI. If you aren't a creative but engage with art in any way, you may also be plenty aware of the harm caused by AI. And right now, it's more important than ever that you learn how to fight against it.

The situation is this: After a few years of stagnation on relevant stuff to invest to, AI came out. Techbros, people with far too much money trying to find the big next thing to invest in, cryptobros, all these people, flocked to it immediately. A lot of people are putting money in what they think to be the next breakthrough- And AI is, at its core, all about the money. You will get ads shoved in your fave about "invest in AI now!" in every place. You will get ads telling you to try subscription services for AI related stuff. Companies are trying to gauge how much they can depend on AI in order to fire their creatives. AI is opening the gates towards the biggest data laundering scheme there's been in ages. It is also used in order to justify taking all your personal information- Bypassing existing laws.

Many of them are currently bleeding investors' money though. Let it be through servers, through trying to buy the rights to scrape content from social media (incredibly illegal, btw), amidst many other things. A lot of the tech giants have also been investing in AI-related infrastructures (Microsoft, for example), and are desperate to justify these expenses. They're going over their budgets, they're ignoring their emissions plans (because it's very toxic to the environment), and they're trying to make ends meet to justify why they're using it. Surely, it will be worth it.

Now, here's where you can act: Speak with your wallet. They're going through a delicate moment (despite how much they try to pretend they aren't), and it's now your moment to act. A company used AI in any manner? Don't buy their products. Speak against them in social media. Make noise. It doesn't matter how small or how big. A videogame used AI voices? Don't buy the game. Try to get a refund if you did. Social media is scraping content for AI? Don't buy ads, don't buy their stupid blue checks, put adblock on, don't give them a cent. A film generated their poster with AI? Don't watch it. Don't engage with it. Your favourite creator has made AI music for their YT channel? Unsub, bring it up in social media, tell them directly WHY you aren't supporting. Your favourite browser is now integrating AI in your searches? Change browsers.

Let them know that the costs they cut through the use of AI don't justify how many customers they'd lose. Wizards of the Coast has been repeatedly trying to see how away they can get with the use of AI- It's only through consumer boycotting and massive social media noise that they've been forced to go back and hire actual artists to do that work.

The thing with AI- It doesn't benefit the consumer in any way. It's capitalism at its prime: Cut costs, no matter how much it impacts quality, no matter how inhumane it is, no matter how much it pollutes. AI searches are directly feeding you misinformation. ChatGPT is using your input to feed itself. Find a Discord server to talk with others about writing. Try starting art yourself, find other artists, join a community. If you can't, use the money you may be saving from boycotting AI shills to support a fellow creative- They need your help more than ever.

We're in a bit of a nebulous moment. Laws against AI are probably around the corner: A lot of AI companies are completely aware that they're going to crash if they're legally obliged to disclose the content they used to train their machines, because THEY KNOW it is stolen. Copyright is inherent to human created art: You don't need to even register it anywhere for it to be copyrighted. The moment YOU created it, YOU have the copyright to it. They can't just scrape social media because Meta or Twitter or whatever made a deal with OpenAI and others, because these companies DON'T own your work, they DON'T get to bypass your copyright.

And to make sure these laws get passed, it's important to keep the fight against AI. AI isn't offering you anything of use. It's just for the benefit of companies. Let it be known it isn't useful, and that people's work and livelihoods are far more important than letting tech giants save a few cents. Instead, they're trying to gauge how MUCH they can get away with. They know it goes against European GDPR laws, but they're going to try to strech what these mean and steal as much data up until clear ruling comes out.

The wonder about boycotts is that they don't even need you to do anything. In fact, it's about not doing some stuff. You don't need money to boycott- Just to be aware about where you put it. Changing habits is hard- People can't stop eating at Chick-fil-a no matter how much they use the money against the LGBTQ collective, but people NEED to learn how to do it. Now it's the perfect time to cancel a subscription, find an alternate plan to watching that one film and maybe joining a creative community yourself.

[inuyashaluver]

hi hi hi I love your fics. I was wondering if you could more grace clinton. maybe about a new years kiss?? <33 also I love the way you add the social media posts very nice touch!!

happy new year - grace clinton

grace clinton x reader

description: in which you and your best friend don’t have anyone to kiss for new years, a friendly kiss won’t hurt, right?

warnings: long!! a little swearing

a/n: my love! you’re so sweet, thank you so much for the kindness and your request, enjoy ❤️ media posts till i DIEE, also can we tell i get to requests late HAHAHHA

⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆

since the day you and your best friend, grace, met, she has always been your go to person. you and grace had a bond that people could only dream about, radiating love, warmth and respect.

the two of you were truly a dynamic duo, stuck together like glue. unfortunately for the both of you, in a platonic way, something you both unknowingly wanted to progress further into something more.

it’s been that way since you were both 12, the best of friends through thick and thin. the bond between the two of you was very special, everyone could tell.

specifically through the way you both could laugh at anything and everything. the ability to be serious yet silly all at the same time.

sharing your stupid little inside jokes that had you both cackling while everyone shrugged around you because they really didn’t understand the joke. it was soulmate energy, affection begging to be shown between the two of you.

no one really understood you like grace did and vice versa. you truly brought out the best in each other, both on and off the pitch. it was honestly quite concerning how the two of you didn’t realise the amount of mutual infatuation you had for each other.

especially since you lived together, played in all the same clubs, spent each and every minute of everyday with each other, yet the confessions were never verbalised.

the amount of times the two of you had been ‘subtly’ told by your teammates that you both liked each other was unnerving. both of you dismissing it.

in your case, you were terrified to say something, the time didn’t feel right. you and grace had just been called up to the senior england team, both of your seasons at the spurs was going well, you didn’t want to jeopardise anything, you couldn’t afford to lose grace.

in grace’s case, she was also terrified, she could never really confirm whether your affection towards her was strictly platonic or not, you were notorious for being one of the kindest people in the world, you were incredibly affectionate, she truly believed you only viewed her as a friend.

oh how the two of you were just plain wrong. you’re absolutely perfect for each other.

—

grace was scrambling around your shared flat, huffing out in frustration when she couldn’t find her left boot. you both had to leave for training in 5 minutes.

“love, have you seen my boot anywhere?” she yells out, now for some reason throwing all the pillows off the couch.

you come into the room with a concerned expression, holding back a laugh at an annoyed grace laying on her stomach with her phone light shining under the couch.

“gracie” you call out, holding the boot in your hand with a cheeky grin. she whips her head towards you, letting out a sigh of relief and hurrying up towards you.

“you’re a lifesaver” she breathes out, grabbing the back of your head and placing a kiss on the top of it before she rushes back to her room.

your cheeks flush instantly and you have to fan yourself to calm down, moving to grab some pre-made smoothies from your fridge for the car ride, pressing them against your cheeks.

you sling your bag over your shoulder and wait for grace by the door, she was always the late one out of the two of you. she comes out with a smile, a little puffed out from all the hustle and bustle.

she takes one of the cups from you, also taking your bag off your shoulder and putting it on hers, “gracie,” you groan, ready to tell her you can carry your own bag.

she looks over her shoulder at you, winking when she caught your eye, “shh, let gracie help you, love” she mocks and shuts you up, making you shake your head fondly as she walks you out to her car.

when you’re both situated in your seats, grace wordlessly hands you the aux cord, sending you a gentle grin as your fingers brushed hers as you took it.

whatever song you played, grace made an effort to add it to her secret playlist dedicated to you, learning all the songs on there off by heart so she could scream the lyrics with you.

you and grace both entered the spurs training facility with bright grins, laughing loudly with each other as you stumble through the door, unaware the social media team was filming a little project at the moment.

“our dynamic duo, what’s on your lockscreen?” she said, you and grace simmer down your giggles, taking your phones out and showing them to the camera.

“this is a picture of grace being an idiot” you chuckle, saying it while directly looking at her, she sticks her tongue out and puts her phone in front of yours, “here’s a photo of (y/n) being an idiot” she parrots cheekily, making you laugh when you see the photo.

you both wave to the camera and grace slings her arm over your shoulder, still carrying yours and hers bags when you enter the change rooms.

the comments on that video had everyone going insane, there was always the common debate about yours and grace’s relationship, considering how close the two of you were.

—

there were so many instances where you and grace were obviously in love, not uncommon in your day to day life.

you were both walking out to the pitch for training, grace telling you a story that had you laughing brightly, only becoming worse when she would keep adding to it, struggling through the laughs she was producing.

“and then i fucking dropped the drink on the floor and it went everywhere!” she laughed, you join her, stumbling over your feet about to fall to the ground before you felt a warm hand planted firmly on your waist.

grace pulled you up quickly, the force of it having you smashing into her side, “easy” she chuckles, rubbing up and down your waist quickly before she let it linger on your lower back, directing your steps.

your cheeks go pink, your breath quickening a little at the interaction.

grace looks down at you a little worried about your breathing, “you okay?” her thick, northern accent making your stomach lurch, butterflies were an understatement when it came to grace.

“yep, fine” you breathe out, grace narrows her eyes at you but nods, hand still on your back as the group gathers, only leaving your body when you had to train, and of course, you’re partnered up.

clearly the two of you were in a silly mood because you two could not stop giggling. everyone would smile at the two of you, honestly the both of you were big kids stuck in adult bodies and it was incredibly endearing.

you were a striker, grace decided to practise her set piece with you in preparation for an upcoming match. you were known to be a little unstoppable, a rising star in everyone’s eyes, you were relentless when it came to scoring goals.

grace kicked the ball to you and you plant it in the back of the net, grace runs over to you and hoists you up in her waist, running around with you as you scream and laugh. acting as though she’s never seen you score before.

“top bins” she yells, making you laugh brightly as she jumped up and down with you in her arms, you slap her shoulder with a laugh, “gracie we have to practise,” you chuckle, she places you down on the floor with a laugh, waiting for you to run up so she could pass you the ball again.

and when you manage to score again, she just could not ignore the amount of admiration for you, hoisting you up again and running around the pitch while the team laughs at your screams and laughter.

“$5 they confess right now” beth jokes, celin laughs brightly, “no way, i don’t think it will ever happen” she smiles, watching as grace puts you on the ground as you shove her, your smiles infectious for everyone watching. “they’re so stupid” beth coos.

“gracie, don’t do that anymore” you laugh, giving her chest a little shove, “never” she replies cheekily, giving your nose a little squeeze before running off.

you smile as you watch her running off, waiting for you by your water bottles and chucking yours to you when you were near.

“what a save! ever considered being a goal keeper?” she teases, you drink your water with a shake of your head and flip her off, making her giggle before you both chat back and forth, promptly getting yelled at by beth for being distracted.

—

changes were evident when you and grace got called up again for the senior team, only this time, you were both debuting.

you were both starting, grace managing to assist you in two goals and getting her own in turn. you both got subbed off 20 minutes till full time and collapsed on the bench with bright smiles.

“little superstar, two goals” grace smiles down at you, nudging your shoulder with hers, you smile at her, “little superstar, one goal, technically three with your perfect assists” you say cheekily, nudging her like she did to you.

she looked down at your lips for a second before swallowing harshly, suddenly hyper aware of where she was, she faced the front with a nervous expression. you missed it completely.

she quickly begins to feel comfortable when you joke about something, falling into comfortable conversation and giggles.

you both joked as you watched the match, both of you yelling when something bad would happen or when something went well. all grace could really focus on was you, only reacting when you would because you were actually paying attention.

when the match concluded, you jumped on grace’s back and without a second thought, she held you by the underside of your thighs as you went to talk to your teammates.

“are you two dating yet?” ella laughs when she saw you leaning down to whisper something in grace’s ear as she chuckled.

you both froze, alessia winces and slaps her best friend on the shoulder, “tooney!” she exclaims, ella looks at her offendedly, “what?” alessia shakes her head, sending you both an apologetic smile as she dragged ella away, promptly scolding the girl as they walked.

you clear your throat and wriggle out of grace’s embrace, awkwardly chatting while you walked along side each other but returning to normal when you both laughed about a sign someone was holding with both you and grace on it saying ‘bestie goals’. you both wished it said something else on it.

—

though, what really changed everything was a new year’s party the lionesses frequently had. you and grace both got ready at home and when you came out of your room to an awaiting grace on the couch, her breath hitched at seeing you.

you looked drop dead gorgeous, stumbling inside while adjusting your earring. her mouth was slightly agape as she took you in, “do you think this looks okay?” you say with a little uncertainty, giving a little twirl with a nervous smile.

“(y/n) you look so beautiful,” she says earnestly, her eyes staring into yours as you nervously shifted your weight between your feet. your cheeks were pink, and so were grace’s.

“really?” you breathe out, grace nods firmly, “really, love” she smiles, you look at grace up and down, smiling as you took in her appearance. you were unintentionally in matching colours.

“you look beautiful as well, gracie” you smile, “but you copied my colour” you tease, grace rolls her eyes amusingly, “fine, i’ll change” she jokes when she stands up from the couch, you catch her hand before she could move past her.

“you look perfect, no” you scold, pulling her towards the car. she swore she went into cardiac arrest then and there.

you’re still hand in hand by the time your reach the car, grace making an effort to open the door for you with a sheepish grin when you smile at her affectionately, a small, “thank you, gracie” escaping your lips that made her nervous.

when you both get to the party, you’re instantly thrust into different conversations, unfortunately being separated.

that didn’t mean you didn’t stop looking at each other, however, your eyes always managing to connect from the other side of the room before making your way to each other again.

you and grace opted to not drink, she had driven and you didn’t want her to be sober alone, she was incredibly grateful for you.

you both chat and laugh, engaging in other conversations while grace placed her hand on the small of your back again, claiming you needed to stay with her or she’d ‘go insane’.

it was 11:50 and you watched as your teammates and friends all neared their partners, sticking close to them so they could have that new years kiss.

you looked to your side on the small couch, grace. grace was there. like she always was.

you couldn’t help the lingering thoughts of how you wanted grace to be your new years kiss, something you dreamt about every year.

if only you knew about the war going on in her mind at that moment, she fiddled with the rings on her fingers as she watched the surrounding couples get increasingly affectionate as the time neared.

you and grace danced along to the music on the couch before you both got pulled up by ella, “no sitting!” she laughs, pushing you forward and making you stumble into her arms before she walked away with joe.

grace’s hands catch you by the waist, your own holding her shoulders for support as you looked up at her. she swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked at you, your wide eyes and plump lips making her incredibly nervous.

you glance over at the time quickly for good measure, 11:59. “it’s almost midnight” you breathe out, grace nods, humming at your words. “yeah, 1 minute” she points out, her head double checking before focusing back on you.

“should we kiss at midnight?” you blurt out, internally cursing yourself for your forwardness. though, to your surprised grace nods, “why not?” grace shrugs.

a little smile plays at the corner of her lips at the thought of kissing you. you were both incredibly surprised at how forward the whole situation was.

“nothing wrong with kissing your best friend” you stutter, “no, nothing at all” she rushes out, making you both giggle before you hear people counting down from ten.

your pupils were blown out, grace as well, additionally with the two of you so pink in the cheeks, it looked like you were sunburned.

both of your eyes would stare into each other’s before dropping to your lips, both of you were incredibly nervous but overall excited.

by the time it reached two, everything felt in slow motion as grace cradled your cheek in her hand, gently pulling you forward till your lips met hers.

“happy new year!” people yelled.

almost feeling as though you had done it before, you both kissed each other sweetly, expressing everything you felt just with the press against your lips.

she pulled you closer as your arms wrapped around her neck, pressing you against her as your mouths moved together.

grace lets out a happy sigh against you, her hand around you waist moving to give your hip and gentle squeeze.

you hum against her, making her grin against your lips, your own little grin making its way into the kiss before you both pulled away in need of air.

you’re both still incredibly close to each other, everything tuning out around you as your breaths intermingled with each other.

“i love you” she breathes out, you smile at her and without hesitation you reply, “i love you” making her grin and press another tender kiss against your lips.

you hear some faint cheering but you ignore it, only focusing on the girl in front of you. your girl. her girl. finally.

of course when you and grace pull away, you’re teased like no tomorrow, both of you just taking it with bright grins as grace back hugged you, her arms around your middle as she kissed your cheek, your hands holding onto her arms resting on you.

—

you both got home after the party and grace just couldn’t resist you anymore. kissing your neck gently while your shaky hands attempted to open the door.

she places her hand around yours holding the key, helping you open it with a chuckle and closing it behind her when she gently pushes you inside.

as soon as the door closes, you surge forward and kiss her, she hums out surprised against you, walking you backwards until you both reach the couch.

she sits down first, patting her lap and giving you an inviting smile that had you swooning. you straddle her lap and she pulls you into a kiss without missing a beat, your tongues exploring each others mouths before her teeth gently tugging your bottom lip.

you smile when she releases it gently, moving forward to kiss her again. she suddenly giggled against you and you pull away with an amused smile, cocking your head to the side questioning her giggles.

“sorry, i just never thought this would happen” she says adoringly, her hand moving to rub the apple of your cheek gently, “yeah, me too” you smile, carding your hands through her hair and gently scratching the back of her neck with your nails, making her completely melt under your touch.

you both talked and talked all night, interrupted by a few stolen kisses until you both fell asleep on the couch. when you woke up to grace’s head resting on your chest as your legs were tangled, you couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

you smooth down the back of her hair gently and she stirs awake, holding herself above you and smiling down charmingly before tucking her head into the crook of your neck.

she places a gentle kiss there before she straddles your hips, kissing all over your face until you broke out into a fit of giggles, making her giggle along with you just at the sweet sound.

“will you be my girlfriend, baby?” grace breathes out, nudging your nose with hers, you nod instantly, pulling the back of her neck until your lips met with hers gently.

“i’d love to” you whisper against her, another kiss placed on your lips that made you so dizzy, you were both absolutely blissed out.

—

when you both went back to training, let’s just say some money was passed around with groans at seeing your intertwined hands.

⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆ ★ ⋆

you know the drill, just pretend it’s you! ily celin❤️

liked by ellatoone and 44,232 others

graceclinton_x: me looking at her like this even though she stole my food

view all comments

yourname: baby, sharing is caring

↳ graceclinton_x: sharing is caring when it only applies to you, baby girl

↳ yourname: very true xx smart girl!

↳ graceclinton_x: mhm

ellatoone: why don’t you ever look at me like that, clinton?

↳ alessia: ella

↳ graceclinton_x: ella

↳ yourname: ella

↳ ellatoone: what?

[baw-sixteen]

would've could've should've - dr3

pairings: daniel ricciardo x op81 social media manager! reader

they could've been so much more

July 9, 2023

You stared at the picture in the darkness of your hotel room. You should've known. Everyone was talking about it.

Nyck has had a terrible rookie year so far. Knowing Marko, knowing Red Bull they needed more. More points, more perfection.

You couldn't say you weren't happy. You were happy. For him. You were elated.

Daniel loved racing. He had told you that before. You had felt it - every time he got into that Mclaren, every time he had done a better score than before.

He wasn't jobless. No. He could never be. Not till the day Christian Horner was still alive. You knew that.

You see the news yet?

You sat up on the bed. That empty feeling inside you shifted at the text.

The last few weeks were bad. Bad for Oscar. Bad for Mclaren.

Bad for you.

But who cared about that?

Oscar was good. He was very easy to handle. He was less trouble than Daniel.

The few people who cared about the fans' backlash had suddenly dropped to one. You were just a social media manager.

I would've stayed on my knees.

And I damn sure never would've danced with the devil

But he wasn't Daniel.

He could never be what you two were.

Yeah.

You did.

You had seen the news.

___________________________________________

"I'm sorry"

A very tired Michael stared at you.

"What's there to be sorry about, yn?"

You laughed. You actually laughed.

The fans were incredibly intelligent you'd give them that. The theories that you, Michael, Yuki and Lando had read on the internet were crazy.

All this time, both you and Michael had got a lot of backlash from the fans. All because you loved your job more than him. All because Mike wanted to share a bit about him to the fans.

And now that I know, I wish you'd left me wondering

Believable. But crazy.

They said you were draining him off his money. That Michael starved him. Gave him severe training. Just to make him perfect.

There was not a single bone in his body you wanted to change. For the better or for the worse. It's what made you fall in love with him.

How you wished sometimes you could just scream it at the world that he already was perfect.

If clarity's in death, then why won't this die?

His smile. His charm. His stupidity. His laugh.

That scar on his knee. Or that cut on his chin.

You loved all of him.

"I don't know what I'm gonna do when I see him."

You always had.

Years of tearing down our banners, you and I

He was tired too.

"I heard he didnt ask Pyry for training?"

"No. Says he doesn't need it. Doesn't need anyone. A lone wolf."

"Lone wolf, my ass."

A small smile graces both of your faces. No matter what he said. You knew him better.

Memories feel like weapons.

The moment you walked into the hotel your eyes caught him. Head thrown back with a laugh louder than the fans outside. Smile brighter than the Hungarian morning.

"Yn!"

All eyes fell on you as Lando waved you over from where he was sitting among the drivers in the lobby.

The world felt like it stopped as honey coloured irises met yours.

The eyes that once spoke forever to you, were cold, dark - they were trying to drown you in them, choke you with your own guilt.

You heart felt like it shattered into a million pieces as he looked away from you and turned back to where Max was sitting.

And the God's honest truth is that the pain was heaven

You could hear Lando saying something but you felt dizzy. Tears started to blur your eyes as that pounding in your chest grew louder and louder.

"I'll speak to you later Lando."

You forced your shaky voice to speak as your feet carried yourself to the elevator as fast as they could. But what your retreating figure could notice was the way he shivered.

Your voice still had an effect on him.

God rest my soul, I miss who I used to be.

The tomb won't close, stained glass windows in my mind

A sob erupted from your throat the moment the elevator door closed. Hot, steaming tears rolled down your face.

The wound won't close, I keep on waiting for a sign

As long as Daniel Ricciardo was going to be around, you would never be the same.

I regret you all the time

Oh Daniel, we could've been so much more.

Could've, Would've, Should've.

____________________________________________

author's note: hi everyone!! well here it is!! since you wanted a part 2!!

[pinktrashgoblin]

SERIOUS POST.

This may have some uncomfortable topics. But please read this whole thing. It’s important to be transparent, and I don’t want Cin to spread more shit.

my deepest apologies to people who are just here on my blog and reblogging my work for fun.

EDIT: I can’t believe I have to say this but don’t fucking harass anyone mentioned in this post. That just reflects on YOU.

Alright, Cin. Since you want a response so bad, here ya go.

So what is this whole thing about?

User @/cintagonisupset is going around telling people this.

I’m already seeing the impacts, having my friends come to me about this. You’ve got my hands tied, so I’m making my statement.

First and foremost: I‘m not going to pretend that I didn’t make dirty jokes in my server in the past, before my birthday when I was 17, a minor myself, and before I banned such jokes last year. With 100% earnest I know this was a bad idea, and I have taken the time to be more careful about what I say around certain audiences. I am not perfect. But in his haste to fuck me up, he left out some crucial details.

1: I was 17 at the time, a minor myself, and was and still am in high school. I was a high schooler, making high-school-tier jokes in a server of other high schoolers. I am not ACTIVELY MAKING THESE JOKES like he says I am, and I do not condone the idea of doing so.

2: I am autistic. I struggle with social cues, with decision-making and so forth. I am only recently 18, but that does not mean I am mentally or emotionally mature, far from it. Mentally I am still a child. I struggle more than the average person with judgement, and often slip up around those I let my guard down around. I am working on this to avoid things such as this.

3: I am incredibly susceptible to peer pressure. In a place where those jokes were made, I wanted to feel like part of the group. So, as I often do, I mirrored behavior to feel like I fit in. I wasn’t sitting my high-school ass down and going “Let’s make raunchy jokes with kids!”, I was thinking in terms of “Maybe if I talk like them, they’ll like me and I’ll fit in somewhere” without fully realizing what everything meant, and without being able to properly process the social queues associated.

4: This was MONTHS ago. I do not actively do these things, nor condone them, I think it’s fucked up and I’ve done everything I can to be better than that. But to misrepresent the situation as me actively doing so isn’t great either.

So with that out of the way.

Do I think it was a good idea? No, absolutely not, but let’s not pretend that this is unheard of in high school and definitely on the internet. Since the dawn of time kids have made stupid jokes with one another. I was a middle schooler once and a high schooler now, I know exactly what goes on in those places. Let me restate: that doesn’t make it good, but let’s not pretend I’m the only high school kid who’s ever made a joke like that around their peers.

My point is, once this thing has become so normalized all over the place, in school, in media, it becomes difficult, especially for a neurodivergent such as myself, to deduce what to and not to do. I have fundamental principles and rules, but that does not mean I am not susceptible to being pressured into this sort of thing.

As I mentioned: I am not emotionally, or mentally, mature. I don’t know everything. I don’t fully comprehend the nuances of things. I am not always aware of what I am saying. I cannot understand social queues in the same way you do.

Make your conclusions as you will, but this is my stance, and this is the truth.

Also, maybe don’t tell people to kill themselves and that nobody likes them? Just a thought. (BTW: As mentioned I am autistic, it’s not as simple as “grow up”.)

TL;DR: I made raunchy/dirty jokes in my server when I was 17, in high school, with a bunch of other high schoolers, and Cin is telling me to end my life because of it.

Please consider my words. I have worked hard to build what I have, and feel it is important to be transparent. I want nothing but to make a positive impact on this community and the people within it. This does not mean I am perfect, but I am trying my best and my intentions are good.

Feel free to ask me, or leave opinions in the reblogs and replies. This is a conversation, not a preaching.

Also, about the art thief thing: I genuinely have no fuckin clue what he’s going on about there.

Edit: I have deleted the “P.S.” section regarding a suspicion I have to avoid further conflict.

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Everything advertised on social media is overpriced junk

In “Behavioral Advertising and Consumer Welfare: An Empirical Investigation,” a trio of business researchers from Carnegie Mellon and Pamplin College investigate the difference between the goods purchased through highly targeted online ads and just plain web-searches, and conclude social media ads push overpriced junk:

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4398428

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/08/late-stage-sea-monkeys/#jeremys-razors

Specifically, stuff that’s pushed to you via targeted ads costs an average of 10 percent more, and it significantly more likely to come from a vendor with a poor rating from the Better Business Bureau. This may seem trivial and obvious, but it’s got profound implications for media, commercial surveillance, and the future of the internet.

Writing in the New York Times, Julia Angwin — a legendary, muckraking data journalist — breaks down those implications. Angwin builds a case study around Jeremy’s Razors, a business that advertises itself as a “woke-free” shaving solution for manly men:

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/06/opinion/online-advertising-privacy-data-surveillance-consumer-quality.html

Jeremy’s Razors spends a fucking fortune on ads. According to Facebook’s Ad Library, the company spent $800,000 on FB ads in March, targeting fathers of school-age kids who like Hershey’s, ultimate fighting, hunting or Johnny Cash:

https://pluralistic.net/jeremys-targeting

Anti-woke razors are an objectively, hilariously stupid idea, but that’s not the point here. The point is that Jeremy’s has to spend $800K/month to reach its customers, which means that it either has to accept $800K less in profits, or make it up by charging more and/or skimping on quality.

Targeted advertising is incredibly expensive, and incredibly lucrative — for the ad-tech platforms that sit between creative workers and media companies on one side, and audiences on the other. In order to target ads, ad-tech companies have to collect deep, nonconsensual dossiers on every internet user, full of personal, sensitive and potentially compromising information.

The switch to targeted ads was part of the enshittification cycle, whereby companies like Facebook and Google lured in end-users by offering high-quality services — Facebook showed you the things the people you asked to hear from posted, and Google returned the best search results it could find.

Eventually, those users became locked in. Once all our friends were on Facebook, we held each other hostage, each unable to leave because the others were there. Google used its access to the capital markets to snuff out any rival search companies, spending tens of billions every year to be the default on Apple devices, for example.

Once we were locked in, the tech giants made life worse for us in order to make life better for media companies and advertisers. Facebook violated its promise to be the privacy-centric alternative to Myspace, where our data would never be harvested; it switched on mass surveillance and created cheap, accurate ad-targeting:

https://lawcat.berkeley.edu/record/1128876?ln=en

Google fulfilled the prophecy in its founding technical document, the Pagerank paper: “advertising funded search engines will be inherently biased towards the advertisers and away from the needs of the consumers.” They, too, offered cheap, highly targeted ads:

http://infolab.stanford.edu/~backrub/google.html

Facebook and Google weren’t just kind to advertisers — they also gave media companies and creative workers a great deal, funneling vast quantities of traffic to both. Facebook did this by cramming media content into the feeds of people who hadn’t asked to see it, displacing the friends’ posts they had asked to see. Google did it by upranking media posts in search results.

Then we came to the final stage of the enshittification cycle: having hooked both end-users and business customers, Facebook and Google withdrew the surpluses from both groups and handed them to their own shareholders. Advertising costs went up. The share of ad income paid to media companies went down. Users got more ads in their feeds and search results.

Facebook and Google illegally colluded to rig the ad-market with a program called Jedi Blue that let the companies steal from both advertisers and media companies:

https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/11/google-meta-jedi-blue-eu-uk-antitrust-probes/

Apple blocked Facebook’s surveillance on its mobile devices, but increased its own surveillance of Iphone and Ipad users in order to target ads to them, even when those users explicitly opted out of spying:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar

Today, we live in the enshittification end-times, red of tooth and claw, where media companies’ revenues are dwindling and advertisers’ costs are soaring, and the tech giants are raking in hundreds of billions, firing hundreds of thousands of workers, and pissing away tens of billions on stock buybacks:

https://doctorow.medium.com/mass-tech-worker-layoffs-and-the-soft-landing-1ddbb442e608

As Angwin points out, in the era before behavioral advertising, Jeremy’s might have bought an ad in Deer & Deer Hunting or another magazine that caters to he-man types who don’t want woke razors; the same is true for all products and publications. Before mass, non-consensual surveillance, ads were based on content and context, not on the reader’s prior behavior.

There’s no reason that ads today couldn’t return to that regime. Contextual ads operate without surveillance, using the same “real-time bidding” mechanism to place ads based on the content of the article and some basic parameters about the user (rough location based on IP address, time of day, device type):

https://pluralistic.net/2020/08/05/behavioral-v-contextual/#contextual-ads

Context ads perform about as well as behavioral ads — but they have a radically different power-structure. No media company will ever know as much about a given user as an ad-tech giant practicing dragnet surveillance and buying purchase, location and finance data from data-brokers. But no ad-tech giant knows as much about the context and content of an article as the media company that published it.

Context ads are, by definition, centered on the media company or creative worker whose work they appear alongside of. They are much harder for tech giants to enshittify, because enshittification requires lock-in and it’s hard to lock in a publication who knows better than anyone what they’re publishing and what it means.

We should ban surveillance advertising. Period. Companies should not be allowed to collect our data without our meaningful opt-in consent, and if that was the standard, there would be no data-collection:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/03/22/myob/#adtech-considered-harmful

Remember when Apple created an opt out button for tracking, more than 94 percent of users clicked it (the people who clicked “yes” to “can Facebook spy on you?” were either Facebook employees, or confused):

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/02/facebook-says-apple-ios-privacy-change-will-cost-10-billion-this-year.html

Ad-targeting enables a host of evils, like paid political disinformation. It also leads to more expensive, lower-quality goods. “A Raw Deal For Consumers,” Sumit Sharma’s new Consumer Reports paper, catalogs the many other costs imposed on Americans due to the lack of tech regulation:

https://advocacy.consumerreports.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/A-Raw-Deal-for-US-Consumers_March-2023.pdf

Sharma describes the benefits that Europeans will shortly enjoy thanks to the EU’s Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, from lower prices to more privacy to more choice, from cloud gaming on mobile devices to competing app stores.

However, both the EU and the US — as well as Canada and Australia — have focused their news industry legislating on misguided “link taxes,” where tech giants are required to pay license fees to link to and excerpt the news. This is an approach grounded in the mistaken idea that tech giants are stealing media companies’ content — when really, tech giants are stealing their money:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/04/18/news-isnt-secret/#bid-shading

Creating a new pseudocopyright to control who can discuss the news is a terrible idea, one that will make the media companies beholden to the tech giants at a time when we desperately need deep, critical reporting on the tech sector. In Canada, where Bill C-18 is the latest link tax proposal in the running to become law, we’re already seeing that conflict of interest come into play.

As Jesse Brown and Paula Simons — a veteran reporter turned senator — discuss on the latest Canadaland podcast, the Toronto Star’s sharp and well-reported critical series on the tech giants died a swift and unexplained death immediately after the Star began receiving license fees for tech users’ links and excerpts from its reporting:

https://www.canadaland.com/paula-simons-bill-c-18/

Meanwhile, in Australia, the proposed “news bargaining code” stampeded the tech giants into agreeing to enter into “voluntary” negotiations with the media companies, allowing Rupert Murdoch’s Newscorp to claim the lion’s share of the money, and then conduct layoffs across its newsrooms.

While in France, the link tax depends on publishers integrating with Google Showcase, a product that makes Google more money from news content and makes news publishers more dependent on Google:

https://www.politico.eu/article/french-competition-authority-greenlights-google-pledges-over-paying-news-publishers/

A link tax only pays for so long as the tech giants remain dominant and continue to extract the massive profits that make them capable of paying the tax. But legislative action to fix the ad-tech markets, like Senator Mike Lee’s ad-tech breakup bill (cosponsored by both Ted Cruz and Elizabeth Warren!) would shift power to publishers, and with it, money:

https://www.lee.senate.gov/2023/3/the-america-act

With ad-tech intermediaries scooping up 50% or more of every advertising dollar, there is plenty of potential to save news without the need for a link tax. If unrigging the ad-tech market drops the platforms’ share of advertising dollars to a more reasonable 10%, then the advertisers and publishers could split the remainder, with advertisers spending 20% less and publishers netting 20% more.

Passing a federal privacy law would end surveillance advertising at the stroke of a pen, shifting the market to context ads that let publishers, not platforms, call the shots. As an added bonus, the law would stop Tiktok from spying on Americans, and also end Google, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft’s spying to boot:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/30/tik-tok-tow/#good-politics-for-electoral-victories

Mandating competition in app stores — as the Europeans are poised to do — would kill Google and Apple’s 30% “app store tax” — the percentage they rake off of every transaction from every app on Android and Ios. Drop that down to the 2–5% that the credit cards charge, and every media outlet’s revenue-per-subscriber would jump by 25%.

Add to that an end-to-end rule for tech giants requiring them to deliver updates from willing receivers to willing senders, so every newsletter you subscribed to would stay out of your spam folder and every post by every media company or creator you followed would show up in your feed:

https://pluralistic.net/2022/12/10/e2e/#the-censors-pen

That would make it impossible for tech giants to use the sleazy enshittification gambit of forcing creative workers and media companies to pay to “boost” their content (or pay $8/month for a blue tick) just to get it in front of the people who asked to see it:

https://doctorow.medium.com/twiddler-1b5c9690cce6

The point of enshittification is that it’s bad for everyone except the shareholders of tech monopolists. Jeremy’s Razors are bad, winning a 2.7 star rating out of five:

https://www.facebook.com/JeremysRazors/reviews

The company charges more for these substandard razors, and you are more likely to find out about them, because of targeted, behavioral ads. These ads starve media companies and creative workers and make social media and search results terrible.

A link tax is predicated on the idea that we need Big Tech to stay big, and to dribble a few crumbs for media companies, compromising their ability to report on their deep-pocketed beneficiaries, in a way that advantages the biggest media companies and leaves small, local and independent press in the cold.

By contrast, a privacy law, ad-tech breakups, app-store competition and end-to-end delivery would shatter the power of Big Tech and shift power to users, creative workers and media companies. These are solutions that don’t just keep working if Big Tech goes away — they actually hasten that demise! What’s more, they work just as well for big companies as they do for independents.

Whether you’re the New York Times or you’re an ex-Times reporter who’s quit your job and now crowdfunds to cover your local school board and town council meetings, shifting control and the share of income is will benefit you, whether or not Big Tech is still in the picture.

Have you ever wanted to say thank you for these posts? Here’s how you can: I’m kickstarting the audiobook for my next novel, a post-cyberpunk anti-finance finance thriller about Silicon Valley scams called Red Team Blues. Amazon’s Audible refuses to carry my audiobooks because they’re DRM free, but crowdfunding makes them possible.

Image: freeimageslive.co.uk (modified) http://www.freeimageslive.co.uk/free_stock_image/using-mobile-phone-jpg

CC BY 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

[Image ID: A man's hand holds a mobile phone. Its screen displays an Instagram ad. The ad has been replaced with a slice of a vintage comic book 'small ads' page.]

[love-byers]

Hi!! I binge-read some of your byler analysis, along with other users', and I can't help but STILL feel on the fence about hoping for byler endgame. I guess I just don't want to get my hopes super high only for them to be crushed by whatever CGI fest the düff3rs got in store to "go out with a bang" (while, obvs, sticking to the status quo and what they think the GA wants to see). I've seen so many intelligent people write media criticism pieces and analysis in support of the ship, but I still dread that the writers cry plausible deniability on all the clues they DID lay, that the people behind the N*f1ix social media accs confess that they've willingly posted queerbait to boost their engagement and thus get a bigger paycheck (I wouldn't blame them if they did, obvs; besides, it still means that some higher-up approved those misleading posts) and, worst of all, that this whole thing may end up blowing up negatively like the JohnLock conspiracy or the Voltron shenanigans or, y'know, the Supernatural fandom after Castiel's introduction and up until that lame ass final season. In your opinion, what makes byler different? Is there real hope for a satisfying mlm relationship from a show made by het men that capitalizes on 80s nerd culture nostalgia?

Sorry for coming off so jaded: I do wish for a byler ending, but it's been hard to keep my hopes aflame against these worries :c

i think everyone has some amount of doubt, which is totally understandable.

lgbt representation has come a long way, but a lot of us fans who are a bit older grew up consuming media that either had no representation or shitty representation. we sought ourselves in the media we loved and never found it, and corporations exploited that. nowadays there's way more representation that isn't left up to interpretation or censored, but a lot of the time that's in shows that are about romance and drama, high school a lot of the time. which is great, but stranger things is a sci fi show with romantic sub plots. it's easy for queer characters to end up being left out of a show like ST, but they haven't been at all.

one of the big messages of ST is embracing weirdness and being different. loving whatever it is you love, unashamed. when a character strays from being their true self or pushes away the things they love, there are consequences for the character. they become less likable to the audience. the entire theme of s4 is living in the truth, not hiding things, embracing love, being misunderstood simply because you're different. all of that is very queer coded. and it happens to be the season where will's love for mike fully comes into light.

there has been so much thought put into stranger things. the duffers have said there are no coincidences. they put thought into everything, thats why it takes so long to make a season, because they care so much. there are endless details i could point out not related to romance. they've also said they've been set on the ending for a while and will not be changing it to please people. i believe they said some people might not like the ending, but they don't care because they're making the story THEY want. which so far has uplifted queer people and promoted being different. so some antis may call be stupid for trusting them, but im choosing to. i believe they'll do these characters justice.

and my favorite quote from them is "The best plot twists don't make the audience say "wow I never saw that coming!", it makes you say "I should have seen that coming."

as a writer and a creative writing major, i definitely look up to the writers of ST. they are all incredibly talented and i hope one day i can put this much thought and love into a project. and, as a writer, i cannot see them throwing mike and will's relationship down the drain.

so, what makes byler different? there's very few shows where this much thought is put into everything. its not debatable that they do that, they've said it and its evident if you watch the show. so i refuse to believe all of these things between mike and will are just coincidences or accidents. there's just no possible way. i definitely had a klance phase and i can confidently say voltron writing is nowhere near the level of ST, and neither is supernatural. supernatural is one of those shows that has a lot of seasons and has gone all over the place in terms of writing and plot. the duffers have known the ending to this story since season 1. and unlike those shows with lots of seasons, ST only has 5. it won't be dragged on and beaten like a dead horse like some shows.

you don't have to completely eliminate your doubt. even i have doubt even after all i've said and posted. there is simply no way to confirm what'll happen before s5 releases, and they want it that way. just hold on until s5 friend

[bibibbon]

I feel like fan discussion regarding MHA has become so boring for the past months/year or so, at least around some social media platforms (I don’t check Twitter). Criticism is the most interesting thing about MHA discussion right now.

It’s hard to have fun theorizing or speculating about the plot because the story is incredibly shallow and plot points only happen to move the story along. For other series you might think more about the deeper meaning of the story themes and symbolisms and give multiple interpretations of the same scene, but for MHA not only do they poorly attempt to spell out the plot for you but they also have too much plot convenience so that whenever somebody asks “Why did X happen in the story?” there’s no deeper reason behind it besides “Horikoshi just wanted to write it that way regardless of whether it made sense or not.”

And because Horikoshi just pulls shit out of nowhere for any reason, it ruins speculation when anything stupid can happen for any reason. It’s gotten to the point where I know readers are dreading the idea of something stupid out of nowhere happening just because the plot wills it. Some readers despise the idea of Deku ending the series Quirkless so they’re waiting in anticipation for the next chapters not because they are hyped but because they are afraid of what the author is doing to their own series. MHA is just so mid.

As someone who has been in quite a few fandoms and has seen their mangas end there's usually huge uproars and widespread criticism of the story because thats kind of what people move onto. I guess what I mean is that by the lack of content and ability to theorise what would happen fans in general move to looking back over at the story and maybe nitpicking details that the mangaka hasn't addressed. Also don't get me started on the endings because it seems like every time a mangaka ends their manga they will get criticism one way or another. Take for example the attack on titan ending that got so much backlash that isayama literally had to modify the ending by adding half a chapter and that didn't even stop some people from whining. Personally I really enjoyed the aot ending and I have almost no criticism for aot in general.

To me MHAs quite different because we can tell it's rushed and the plot points are somewhat predictable. In all honesty MHA fanfiction can sometimes be better than canon itself which says a lot in my opinion.

I have been on the MHA critical tag since December/November of last year so Iam not surprised to see more posts on that tag since the mangas writing has taken a turn for the worse due to various different factors.

In the end I practically agree with all that you said anon.

[rainybubbles]

How do you meet Haikyuu boys ? part II

Sakusa, Atsumu, Hinata

Part 1 (Kenma, Akaashi, Osamu, Bokuto)

S A K U S A :

-You shot him a ball on the head.

-...yeah, it didn't start well between you two.

-In fact there was a charity event organized by Kenma, that gather different volleyball team in a tournament.

-So you started with your team to warm up.

-The problem was that your teammate, the one supposed to catch the ball you were smashing, was distracted by their huge crush on Hinata.

-The ball rebounded.

-And guess where it ends up?

-On the head of Sakusa who was drinking his water on the bench.

-You apologized a hundred times, explaining the situation.

-But the only thing that Sakusa was thinking was :

-"This is the ball that Atsumu licked."

-The ball was pink and he knew it was the one that Atsumu licked because of a stupid challenge with Bokuto.

-Even if it was two years ago.

-He had Atsumu's DNA on his face.

-He ran to the shower and scrubbed his face as hard as he could, ignoring you.

-When he finished, you proposed buying him some skincare products because his skin was really red.

-He hesitated and just noded.

-Weirdly you both started sending each other some skincare products after that.

-Maybe you had good advices.

-Or maybe he just wouldn't let you feel guilty about this ball when it was Atsumu's fault.

A T S U M U :

-He kneelt down in front of you the first time you met.

-You were one of the last students that didn't have a club.

-And he had a bet with his twin and Suna of who would find a manager first.

-So when he heard that you were free.

-He ran.

-Firstly he tried to convince you with his arguments. ( his thighs and arms)

-Then he showed you the statistics of the team.

-He even made a PowerPoint.

-But you said no.

-So he tried the puppy look.

-Then he fake-cried

-He told you his tragic background with the fact that if you became their manager he could finally make his mom proud and let her rest in peace.

-But you found out she was alive by Osamu.

-So he apologized and asked how he could convince you.

-You joked and said "kneel down and beg."

-...yeah.

-In the corridor in front of anyone, he did that.

-You never felt so embarrassed in your life.

-You accepted so he could quickly stood up.

-A strange first meeting yes.

-But when Atsumu tells the story, he has this smirk and this ambiguous tone which let people think a total different story.

H I N A T A :

-You made edits on social media.

-Some actors, anime characters and so on...

-But what you were known for were your Hinata Shoyo edits.

-You were a fan of his, and your followers loved your edits of him!

-What you didn't expect was him to see them.

-And commenting them.

-And...dm you.

-Complimenting you and thanking you for your hard work.

-You were speechless.

-You started to say "your welcome" and...

-And you two started chatting.

-Firstly about the volleyball, then about some movies or series you watched recently.

-You didn't consider him as a friend because after all he was a star, and he was probably only doing some fan-service.

-But you appreciate it.

-Until he sent you tickets.

-...to see him.

-And talk to him.

-It was VIP ticket.

-...okay maybe it was not only fan-service.

-Maybe he really appreciates talking to you.

-But you stay calm.

-(False you screamed on your pillow and smiled so hard that you felt your zygomatici the next day )

-You hesitated.

-Maybe it was a trick or he was weird or...

-Or you were broke and it was your unique chance to see his match.

-So you went.

-But you texted your friends, let them knowing where you were, with who.

-The match was in fact incredible.

-You were so happy to see that in real life, that at the end you almost forgot you had to meet him with all the VIPs

-But he didn't.

-He even looked after you in the crowd and jumped in front of you.

-He asked if he could hug you.

-You said yes/no.

-He smiled and...

-And that's how you met and slowly became friends and even more...

[no-face-no-shame]

Ok. I said I will write some of my thoughts on Disco Elysium a few days ago, and I'm finally in the mood to do so, so here we go.

First things first - it's one of the most unique, incredible games I've ever played. It just feels different from anything else that I know. The world, the characters. It feels real. The worldbuilding is spectacular. As someone from a post-Soviet country, the atmosphere of the whole game hits too close to home. Even stupid things like architecture - I've seen it all before. I've seen these buildings, those streets. DE is the kind of game that will make you laugh until the full meaning reaches you, and then there is no laughter left.

Staying on the topic - the art style and animation blew my mind. The portraits are beautiful, painted in a very characteristic way. The animation of the game itself perfectly translates the atmosphere of the drawings into 3D. Extremely detailed backgrounds and locations, just a beauty overall.

Great soundtrack. The boat song made me cry. Literally. It just paralysed me. The whole OST is spectacular, but there is something so etheric about this particular track and its placement in the game.

There are no fully good people there. And I love it. I love how complex everyone is. It's one of the aspects that make DE feel so real. Everyone has some shit going on, everyone has some stupid opinions, everyone has fucked something up. Just as in real life. It doesn't make the characters any less sympathetic or likable. Quite the opposite - it makes them feel human in a very touching way.

Harry is a fascinating protagonist. He has so much good in him, and so much evil. It depends on how you play him - from the same background you can obtain such different people. Just like in real life, it's up to you to interpret his past and make a future out of it. Will Harry become bitter and hateful towards everyone? Will he start hating women and pouring his frustrations out on minorities? Or will he see the hope in the future and not give up on himself, letting the world welcome him back? The only chance for him is in love. Yes, you can choose the path of a hateful bigot who scares everyone. But this is how you get the weakest version of Harry. He can't build himself up, create a new himself out of violence and hatred. It only ruins him.

The way DE deals with the topic of addiction is one of the best takes I've seen in any media. The drugs will give you bonuses on checks, so you want to do more of them. Everything seems easier. Before you know, you take something before every check. And we're back at the beginning. I did my playthrough without taking anything, and I'm thankful for that. I like how especially alcoholism isn't shown in a profound, elegant way it is often in media. It's ugly, it's embarrassing, it reeks, it makes you stupid. Nothing elegant about it. Quite the opposite. It's a humiliation. No romanticising.

DE also has one of the best takes on politics I've seen recently. This is a very political game, it's one of the most important mechanics. To cover this topic more fairly, a separate post would be needed, but it's really refreshing to see such a complex portrayal of such a complex topic after being regularly exposed to, well, social media takes on politics. DE seems to be mocking all political fractions equally, however the reality quickly shows that they aren't the same.

Leftist Harry is the only one who has a chance to make some change - not only in his own life, but in the world around him as well. Yes, he's cheesy. Yes, he says stuff that sounds naive. But the thing is - he's right. The naive dreams about justice for the weak are right. It reminds me of that one quote, I can't recall the author, who says that children are naive in their belief that everything should be fair and that life should be good, and they are right in their belief. Things won't change immediately, especially not for Harry. But there is hope.

Centrist Harry never does anything and lets his life remain bad. Just as real life centrists, he sees harm, injustice and suffering, and is indifferent to them. But he's also indifferent to the good of the world. He's stuck in limbo which he will never leave.

Fascist Harry is a miserable rubbish that will probably die soon. He hates everything and everyone, and himself the most. There is no hope. The fascist route is the one where Harry gives up, collapses into the darkest chasms of his own mind. Everything is ugly, everything is violent, and the world will fall apart. Harry takes no pleasure in his views - they literally hurt him (by taking away his morality points), but he can't stop making himself and everyone around miserable.

Now, into the supernatural. I'd classify Disco Elysium as magical realism (one of my favourite literary genre.) Many times it reminded me of South American literature, with its smooth mixture of brutal reality and magic that's just right outside your grasp. There are so many moments in DE when you're wondering if something is actually happening, if this world is magical or not. And you never get the answer. Once again, spectacular worldbuilding and atmosphere.

The Pale is an intriguing, unique concept. A mixture of science and something supernatural. The End, Death, Freedom and Oppressor of the world. There are people who travel through it, yes, but they never come back the same. Some don't come back at all. The whole concept is linked to the side plot with the whole in the universe and the scientist woman. It was one of those parts of the game where I just sat in my chair and thought very deeply about not only the reality of DE, but also about ontology in the context of our world.

Dolores Dei and her becoming one with Dora in Harry's mind. What can I say. The dream was so eerie. I find it interesting that it happened towards the end of the game. "I will see you tomorrow, Harry." He’s not free from her. Will he ever be? The figurines won't win her back. Nothing will, because she's gone. The innocence and war criminal at the same time. The love of his life and his nemesis. With a crown on her forehead and an ugly suitcase in her hand.

I could talk about a million more things, but I think this post is already long enough. My final thought is - if you haven't played Disco Elysium, do it. It's one of those games you won't ever forget. I believe that there is a piece of it that detaches itself from the rest and buries somewhere deep within you, not allowing you to ever forget what you've seen.

[foggyparadisecandy]

On the Dangers of B—-i Sleep

[NOTE: this is NOT an advertisement to search out the files described. Just don’t. Don’t. I’ve listened to hypno files for decades with minimal impact. These files have damaged me. Perhaps permanently.]

Please consider reblogging if you think this can help others facing similar struggles.

**TRIGGER WARNING**

True confession time: I have listened heavily to a series of hypnosis files called Bambi Sleep. Why? I’ll get into that in a future post.

For now I want to discuss the dangers and possible paths out for anyone struggling with the effects - as I very much have been over the last few days.

SAFEGUARDS FIRST

I’m using words which are triggers so let me provide some incredibly useful instructions to all the Bambis and old selfs reading this:

Bambi is always as smart as she needs to be.

Bambi is always just as smart as she needs to be.

Simple instructions that Bambi obeys because Bambi is obedient and takes instructions. Bambi does as she’s told so she now knows:

Bambi is always as smart as she needs to be.

Bambi is always just as smart as she needs to be.

With those instructions, Bambi knows when she’s in hot water with abusers who want to upend and likely ruin the life of her “old self”, the original listener.

And guess what?

THE ENDLESS LINE OF ABUSERS

In the online world or anonymous assholes, there are a TON of abusers looking to play with Bambis and the old self with absolutely zero regard for long-term damage.

In fact, I would say my Bambi found five asshole abusers for every decent human being who just wanted to have some consensual fun playing with Bambi’s powerful triggers.

I had one such “daddy” nearly convince my Bambi to leave my life and my wife and find some anonymous men to take me in, in exchange for living as their sex slave. Yeah. So that’s what we’re dealing with. Not a joke.

These abusers are quick to gaslight and twist logic and paint the picture that they are doing you a favor (“hey, you came to me. I’m just helping you be who you want to be.”) to further convince you to continue being endangered and abused and falling further down the hole.

Yes. I’m a grown adult. I made choices to listen to the files. And yes, I - or my Bambi persona more likely - reached out to a “daddy” to have fun.

Or maybe your Bambi, like mine did, will start dropping messages on social for daddies to come find her and trigger her.

Social media is littered with regretful “old self”s who had to delete their accounts because their Bambis had done just that.

CONSENSUAL PLAY IS SEXY PLAY

The ultimate problem with Bambi is she is designed and trained to be a real dummy who just sits back and waits for orders to follow.

Many of the files are about becoming stupid as a rock and blanking away your old personality and memories and identity and name and replacing it with this new empty shell who just wants to obey and suck cock.

And trust me, I get the appeal of “getting dumb” in trance.

I *soooooooo* get it. The idea of just giving over and submitting to another and letting them take the wheel.

And after connecting with so many peeps here on tumblr, I know I’m not the only one looking to dumb down, turn off my brain, submit, and just follow orders blindly.

Life can be hard and stressful. Blanking out is such a seductive concept.

But here’s the thing:

You can’t have consent with a dumb object that is programmed to blindly accept orders, obey orders, and then forget those new orders were orders at all.

By definition, there cannot be consent with Bambi. There is only abuse.

“BRAINWASHING DOESN’T CHANGE ANYONE AND HEY, *YOU* REACHED OUT TO *ME*”

It’s debatable about the effect brainwashing has on people. I have listened to hypno files for years and never had anything other than short-term effects. No big deal.

But Bambi is something on a different level. It’s pervasive and seductive and is a form of conditioning that erodes your core character.

If you ever have had a friend or relative get addicted to nonsense conspiracy theories, it’s kind of like that. Did they always believe the aliens are controlling the liberal plot to introduce tracking chips by starting a global pandemic? Maybe? But probably, no.

And yeah … maybe I did reach out to you.

Maybe it wasn’t my Bambi and I was in charge.

Did we discuss limits? Did we get a safeword established? Are you there to fucking take care of me as a good dominant should take care of their submissive?

Or did you think it was going to be fun to ruin someone else’s life by twisting them up … just because you had some levers to do so?

BRINGING IT HOME

I reached out to a few folks during my recent difficulties and want to confirm that, yes, by god, thank god, there are some really decent folks out there willing to help a total stranger who got into a nasty jam.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you all. And thank you for your articles on safe ethical hypnosis. Keep it up. The subjects and submissives lining up for fun play need to read those articles and need to play safe or not play at all. Bambi is not safe.

If you are reading this thinking, “oh it can’t be that bad, it sounds fun, where can I find these files,” you have not read a single thing I wrote. I’ve talked with dozens of other Bambis and only found one who had avoided the nasty pitfalls (she is amazing and literally unique).

Those are not good odds. Don’t think you are going to beat them.

If you yourself are struggling with Bambi, feel free to hit my DMs or my Asks and I will support you in finding a path out as best as I can.

But in the meantime, the best thing to remember, the best thing to do is for Bambi to accept and obey these instructions:

Bambi is always as smart as she needs to be.

Bambi is always just as smart as she needs to be.

Bambi loves fun and a good time.

Bambi can smell predatory assholes.

Bambi can run from predatory assholes.

And Bambi can come to me for help.

[heretherebedork]

I agree 100% with your analysis on Jihan and Ahjeong dating in public. You can acknowledge that they thought they wouldn’t get caught dating in public because they didn’t think anyone knew who they were while also acknowledging that they are extremely stupid for thinking that way. They’re perfectly aware that Dohan is being watched but somehow don’t think for a single second that they could also be watched? I understand they didn’t follow that logic but I can also say they are idiots for thinking that. I don’t think either of them are bad people but they are incredibly stupid and reckless and have been since the beginning when they got drunk and were a second away from spilling everything to the grandpa in the taxi. It’s not a crime to acknowledge that like some people seem to think it is. It’s not even saying Dohan has never been selfish while everyone else only thinks of themselves, but it just feels so uneven because Dohan has so much more to lose than anyone else. I look at reactions on multiple social media platforms so I’m not sure what is said where, but seeing people say that Dohan should out himself publicly to save Jihan and Ahjeong’s relationship just makes me feel like I’m going crazy. Seeing everyone act like Jihan has done nothing but give up everything he wants for the sake of Dohan makes me feel crazy. Seeing people act like Ahjeong was forced to marry Dohan against her will makes me feel crazy. I feel like I’m watching a different show than everyone else lol.

I cannot imagine people saying that Ah Jeong is being forced into this marriage. She agreed! She even had time to think it over, originally rejected it and then came back to it after Ji Han pissed her off. This is not something Do Han threatened her into or forced onto her. Ugh. I hope to never see that on my dash here.

But, yeah.

I was annoyed at both of them since the date at the movie festival early on. That was in a hugely public and well photographed place filled with the media and Ji Han just went and took his brother's fiance there and took her back to a hotel room together in front of a famous actress? And nothing ever came of that?! Still annoyed.

It's not that they're bad people, though I might argue they are. But it's more that they are truly being assholes to Do Han. What has Ji Han given up for Do Han?! He chose this path and then he tried to do everything in his power to destroy their marriage when he thought it was real!

Ji Han says he wants Do Han to be happy but what he really wants is for Do Han to be his idea of happy. Ji Han wants Do Han to lead the life Ji Han pictures for him, the life of marrying and working in this business and having a wife and power. That's all. And that's not truly wanting someone to be happy. that's wanting someone else to lead the life you don't lead.

Truthfully, Ji Han is so selfish but because he disguises it as caring about Do Han it doesn't feel selfish. But has he ever truly considered what Do Han wants? Or is just what Ji Han has decided Do Han wants every single time?

He accuses Do Han of being selfish with his choice but all Ji Han has ever done is encourage Do Han to give up his dreams and follow Ji Han's dreams instead.

Ah Jeong is, frankly, just a failure of writing. She is so close to being a good friend and the show could have made her one if it hadn't been so determined to write her in a Certain Way.

(Remember when she made a joke with Ji Han's coworkers about bringing his clothing back to him at work and how she implied they were lovers to, again, all of Ji Han's coworkers after she knew how powerful Do Han's family was and all his secrets? I remember.)

I'm very glad to be avoiding the mainstream discussion on this show. I'll just sit in my little corner and defend Do Han.

[obsessedtomone]

Unravel Yourself Before Me ⛓️ Chapter 6 - The Exposé▸Shigaraki x femReader

Chapter Summary:

◤“Are you serious right now? Me being scared shitless means I’m into him? Did you hit your head on the way here?” you ask, starting to feel actually annoyed.

“But it’s not just that and you know it!” They smack your arm, beautiful eyes boring into yours and peering at your soul. 

Of course it isn’t just that, but you’d never admit you feel anything for this fucked-up asshole to anyone, let alone your own damn self. ◢ Setting: University AU - No quirks (unless degenerate personalities count) Tags: Slow burn, Eventual Smut, Unhealthy/Toxic Relationships, Humiliation, Mentally Ill Reader, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to ??? Warning: Dead Dove – Do Not Eat | Mind the tags TW: Implied Su/Self H, Dubcon, Reader has a super shitty past like actually, Shigaraki Tomura is his own warning.

AO3 Crosspost | Chain Divider by firefly-graphics

Chapters: One • Two • Three • Four • Five • Six • Seven

Chapter 6 - The Exposé

All the noise, the chatter, the people—they drown out the silence as you sit like a loser in the corner of the busy shop, waiting. 

With your leg bouncing—one of your many nervous tics—you cast an anxious look around you, unable to shake the feeling that everyone is watching you, even off campus. You’re hiding behind the safety of your hood, blankly seeing people going about their day, while you were waiting for Taylor to show.

“Girl, if we’re going to discuss fucked-up shit again, I really need something to sweeten it up” is what they told you over the phone, after your little mental breakdown in the hallway. 

So they picked their favorite—and unfortunately a really fucking popular—bubble tea store in the area, for the both of you to have a talk in. 

You’re torn between periodically checking your watch, your phone, or your surroundings, visibly on edge as you alternate doing so.

Conjuring whatever your therapist—or reddit post—told you to do when you’re having a huge panic attack and you’re not home, you begin taking deep breaths. You focus on the things around you first, the different smells, the people. The wallpaper that's slightly torn, in the corner where you’re sitting. 

You look around, try your goddamn best, and unsurprisingly—it doesn’t fucking work.

It doesn’t, because save for your three different types of anxiety medication you take every day, nothing fucking works. You stopped taking heavy meds after you figured the worst of everything had passed, after life finally became somewhat stable, somewhat bearable.

 So instead, you ride that nauseating wave of anxiety pulsating within you, and wait as patiently as you fucking can for it to just stop.

Shigaraki managed to do a number on you today, because you made sure you took off as soon as he’d left, not having the stomach to bump into more horny, borderline assailant creepy jocks anymore. 

It was more than enough that your phone was blowing up with an incredibly stupid amount of assholes, messaging you, harassing you at regular intervals, and sending you enough dick pics to last you a lifetime. All in the span of a single fucking day.

You wanted to turn your phone off, but unfortunately, it was also the only way to contact Taylor outside the comfort of your PC, so you ended up just muting it, turning the notifications off and sucking it the fuck up until you got home today.

Your friend still had classes that they were eager to skip, in order to hurry and meet with you, but you managed to convince them to stay by compromising—hence your sitting down in an overrated bubble tea store, right in the middle of a crisis.

With a sigh, you sip on your plain black coffee, scrolling through social media and passing as much time as you can before you even have to think about dealing with him. Luckily, it didn’t take more than an hour, and the movement you see from the corner of your eye is a familiar one. 

Taylor is dressed up in a slutty black mesh crop-top and a high-waisted pair of black leggings. A few flashy accessories and a pair of sunglasses sitting snug on top of their head, are complementing their skimpy club outfit nicely.

“You do realize winter starts in like a month, slut?” you ask, a knowing smile playing on your lips, pure relief coating your gaze at the sight of them before you. 

You’re not alone, you’re not alone, you’re not alone.

Not this time.

“Oh yeah? Well how about—you shut the fuck up? It’s fucking winter all year ‘round for you, bitch!” They smile back at you, but a thought seems to cross their mind and their expression slips back into one of concern. “Are you doing okay, babe?”

“I’ll manage. Do you wanna order now, or?”

“It’s fiiine, I can always steal from yours and order later.” They wink at you, yoinking your drink before your very eyes, and you watch in horror as a major crime is about to unfold, right in front of you.

“Hold! Dude, it’s—”

“Eeww! Gross! How can you even drink this shit?!” Your friend basically throws the drink back at you, splashing some on the table and immediately getting back up to order. 

You look at them through half-lidded eyes and speak in a bored tone, “If you would’ve asked first, I could have told you what it was.”

Taylor shows you the bird, mouths a ‘fuck yourself’ and makes their way to the counter to order. “Aaand we don’t know what he’s talking about? Like, at all?” they say, sipping on their milk caramel white tea diabetes and asks you.

“Nooo fucking clue. He kept talking like a goddamn psycho about this ‘pReSeNT’—” you reply, doing air quotes and mocking his stupid fucking voice, “—he’s got for me. I don’t know where, or what it is. Half expecting to find a dead body in front of my place today, tbh.”

“Hmm, guess we’ll have to wait and find out. Sucks, but there’s not much we can do, babe.”

Then, your friend starts eyeing you curiously, seemingly weighing something in their mind. You roll your eyes. 

“Shoot. You’re not done.”

As if possessed, Taylor instantly lights up and throws a series of incredibly inadequate questions at you.

“Okay, okay, so—what did he smell like? Everyone says he looks like he doesn’t shower, and wears the same clothes all the time! Is it true? I’ve only seen him from a distance. And, and, oh! Do you think he’s interested in you? There’s no way he’s not, right? I mean he was fucking with you, but I’ve never heard of him interacting with anyone like that—getting all close and personaaal, pinning them to the freaking wall! Two times?! C’mon!” They go off, giggling, as if Shigaraki was truly just a misunderstood guy, a hopeless romantic, and not a rich psychopath who gets off on breaking people's bones and making girls cry.

If your friend notices the blatant shock on your face, they don’t react to it.

“So, I have a theory, okaaay? I think… that he kind of likes you? I mean I heard he’s beaten the shit out of female students before, for literally less than the shit you pulled, so he’s definitely cutting you slack. Oh, right! How come you didn’t pepper spray his ass? You never hesitated before.” A snicker escapes them when they can’t help but imagine it. “Bet it would’ve been so fucking funny to blind Shigaraki Tomura! He’d literally fucking kill you. Gasp! Do you think he’d screech?!”

You sigh, shaking your head and looking out of the window. “I fucking can’t with you.”

“Well?” They cast an expectant glance in your direction, waiting for you to respond until a frustrated exhale escapes your lips.

“Fuck, okay. You’re lucky I’m short on friends,” you say, as if you had any friends at all, and your gaze turns into a playfully irritated one, making them wiggle their perfectly-shaped tattooed eyebrows at you. “First of all, you have to stop humanizing him. He’s literally just a psycho.”

“A psycho you’re into,” they shamelessly add, batting their fake eyelashes innocently. You blink at them, taken aback by their audacity. “C’moon, all these years I’ve known you and this guy is the first who’s doing a number on you? Just look at you! You’re not acting like yourself! Be fucking for real, girl.”

“Are you serious right now? Me being scared shitless means I’m into him? Did you hit your head on the way here?” you ask, starting to feel actually annoyed.

“But it’s not just that and you know it!” They smack your arm, beautiful eyes boring into yours and peering at your soul. 

Of course it isn’t just that, but you’d never admit you feel anything for this fucked-up asshole to anyone, let alone your own damn self.

“Listen, you can lie to yourself as much as you want, babe, but I’ve been around for way too fucking long for you to be able to hide that shit from me. Just sayin’.”

You roll your eyes and click your tongue.

“Whatever, you asshole.” 

Taking a sip of your bitter drink, you start mentally preparing yourself to entertain your crazy bitch of a friend. They nod excitedly, waiting for you to continue. 

It’s like they completely forgot the entire reason you’re here right now, but you brush it off because this is nothing new to you. You’ve known them long enough to know that, despite their perfect popular appearance, they still have flaws. Major flaws. And frankly it didn’t bother you. 

“Dunno. I don’t think he doesn’t shower—and who the fuck cares if he wears the same clothes everyday? I do too? Are people seriously that fucking shallow?” you ask, brow furrowing at the nasty shit that Taylor and their peers seem to talk behind his back. “He smells fine. No B.O, just cigs and uh… cologne, maybe.” 

You leave out the part where you don’t think you’ve smelled any sort of perfume on him before today, looking warily at your friend, who’s toying with the rim of their cup, using the tips of their forty dollar acrylic nails. 

“And how the fuck should I know if he’s into me? He’s fucking weird all the time. His eyes are—when he looks at me… I don’t know. It’s intense. Like that bastard already knows everything about you and still expects you to disappoint him in some way. It’s really fucking weird, I’ve never met anyone like that before, so he is special, alright,” you scoff before continuing, “Also, kind of fucked that you believe some rumors and parrot the same shit your friends say. You literally said you don’t know him personally, and I bet none of your fake ass friends know him either.”

You shouldn’t defend him. You know you shouldn’t defend him, but you can’t fucking help it when you’ve been through the same shit your whole life. People just like to say things, and maybe some of the things they’ve said are true, but—

“What? Bitch I literally know someone who just looked at him wrong, and came back the next day with a broken arm and his dad losing his job. Don’t give me that.”

“Oh? Looked at him wrong, huh? He for sure didn’t say he looked weird, called his outfit shit, or made fun of his scars and skin problems, right? No way he’d said something disrespectful to his face, like the fact that he maybe doesn’t shower. The fuck you on? I’ve seen the way people look at him at school.”

Taylor narrows their eyes at you, scoffs and looks away. 

A pang of anxiety replaces your irritation and you’re about to try to smooth things over, when they finally reply.

“Okay, fine. The guy thought it would be funny to steal his watch and prove he can get away with it. He lied to us too, by the way. But it’s not like he didn’t fuck with you too! He’s literally pushed you and invaded your privacy, threatened you and acted like a creep! And god knows what he was referring to earlier!” They fold their arms defensively.

Your friend is right, he does seem like an unpredictable individual, and you shouldn’t defend him over them. After all, you still haven’t told them about the ugly bruises. 

“Sorry,” they begin, a remorseful look on their face and your eyes widened. “I shouldn’t have said all that. I know people acted like shit around you too in highschool. Still think that you should be careful, though. He’s violent and scary and I know I was messing around earlier, saying he’s interested in you, but I said that because no one has seen him with anyone on campus. Not unless they got into a fight. He’s acting super weird around you.”

You glance at the (now cold) drink in your hands and your shoulders slump forward. “It’s fine. I’m… sensitive because he’s scared me, and it pisses me off how weak I am. I thought I got over most of my mommy and daddy issues, but it only took a bigger asshole to bring them out of me again.” 

Honestly, you wish you had the courage to beat his ass even if it meant he’d be beating yours in return. That way it would at least feel like you’ve tried.

“Honey, no. No, no, no. You’re not weak.” Taylor replies, your eyes becoming wet as they take your hands in theirs and their soft voice melts your heart. “You’re like, the strongest bitch that I know.”

“Shut up.” You look away, frowning with a blurry vision, as your tears threaten to spill over.

They squeeze your hands softly, expression full of understanding. “I’m serious. We’ll figure this whole thing out, okay? Sorry for being nosey, that was really fucked of me.”

“It’s fine, that’s not the issue. I’m just really tired, I think.”

It’s definitely not fine, but you know they mean well.

Your thoughts were running at a hundred miles per hour now, exhaustion catching up with your foggy brain.

─────────

Click —

You unlock the door to your apartment and look around to see if anything’s out of place. Maybe even for a dead body that wasn’t so out of the question anymore.

You double and triple check, going into every room two or three times. Everything’s where it’s supposed to be, and no one seems to have broken into your apartment yet.

If you somehow went back to the version you were this morning, you’d find the way you act right now to be kind of silly.

You were not, though, not anymore, and you know better now. After a well deserved warm shower, you sit down on your cheap thirty-dollar IKEA chair and boot your PC up. You decide that for the next few hours, gaming will be your best coping mechanism for all the stress you’ve gone through today, while you sit around, waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

You only manage to get through a couple of hours though, watching the timer of your League queue go up when your phone goes off. After pushing one side of your headset off of your right ear, you pick up.

“Yeah? I thought I saw you like five minutes ago, did you really miss me that much?” you joke, but it falls super flat when you hear Taylor exhale your name shakily. 

Alarms were suddenly going off in your head.

“What? What’s wrong? Are you okay?!”

Did he do something to them?!

“H-Hey, um. C-Can you check—S-Sorry, it’s really hard to speak right now,” they choke up.

Your own voice starts shaking and you frown at your white walls. “That’s okay, it’s okay. T-Take your time, I’m here. I’m listening. Should I come over?” 

“N-No, hold on. Okay.” They take a deep breath before going on, “Do you remember t-that social media platform for college kids in our city? The popular one. T-The one where I hooked up with that douchebag who asked me to peg him, five minutes into our date?” Taylor took a pause and sniffled. “You didn’t wanna make an account because it was ‘normie shit’ and ‘a waste of time’, r-remember?”

“Yes? Taylor, what the fuck’s happening? Get to the point, please.”

“W-Well, I’ll send you my login info now, and you can c-check it yourself, hold on.”

You hear plastic nails tapping in quick succession on what you assumed was the screen of their phone.

“Can you tell me alread—”

“Hold on! Y-You have to see this, I—I really can’t,” they say, sniffling again and your brows pinching even more.

While waiting, your leg once again starts bouncing anxiously and your phone finally gets pinged. You put your friend on speaker, quickly typing in the address and login on your PC.

“So? What am I supposed to see?”

“J-Just keep scrolling, you’ll find it. I’m so fucking sorry, honey. We’ll go to the dean’s office, or the police… w-we’ll—fuck—we’ll get this sorted out, okay?” your friend attempts to reassure you, but they sounded like they needed it more right now.

You scroll for a while, still having no clue about what you’re supposed to find, listening to Taylor mumble some more and scrolling through random post after random post of annoying frat guys your friend follows, exes, friends, etcetera.

“I still don’t know what I’m supposed to—”

Until your eyes zone in on it, your first and last name displayed at the top of the post. [ Hiiii everyone!!! I’m the hot emo chick in your computer science class at Weston NexTech! ]

* Click Image Attachment

You swallow emptily, clicking on the first attachment.

Dread fills your lungs and suddenly—you’re unable to breathe.

What greets you is your barely legal self. Staring back at you. 

It’s a selfie—your selfie—arm hooked under one of your legs, and pulling it upwards, while you use your other to raise the strap of your thong, teasing the viewer… your ‘boyfriend’ at the time. 

It all clicks at once and you immediately understand what this is—

Revenge porn.

[ So, I bet that got your attention, right? Hehe! You better read closely now! 

I’m making a post here because I’m suuuuper fucking bored, 

and I was hoping you guys could cheer me up! :3 ]

* Click Image Attachment

“Babe? Y-You okay?”

“Hold on,” you reply snappily, feeling the tips of your digits turning painfully cold.

Your bare ass is on display in the second image, bent over the bed and looking back at the camera. Your stomach twists with heavy nausea.

You remember these pictures.

[ I’ve never done this before, but I looove attention <3 and 

since you guys have got nothing to lose, we should all play

a game, okay?! Yaay! 

I’ve always been shy and I thought it 

would be fun to get to know everyone before

I graduate, so this little honor student 

is going to cut you a deal, yeah? ]

* Click Image Attachment

You thought that maybe Taylor hung up on you, but in reality you just stopped being able to hear anything.

With your heart pounding wildly, you glance at the engagement and notice there are about two thousand people who’d liked the fucking thread. 

Two whole thousands, and the thread doesn’t even fucking end there.

[ At the bottom of the thread you can find my email

and phone number! :D

And who knows, if it’s going really well, maybe I’ll even invite you over to my place!!!

Or depending on how this goes, I could share my 

address with everyone! Wouldn’t that be fun? ]

* Click Image Attachment

Suddenly, a lot of today’s events start making sense to you. 

The random phone calls, the spam emails, the people looking at you funny and jocks almost sexually assaulting you on the way to class.

[ You better hurry now, before it’s too late

and I change my mind! Hehe! 

I’ll be posting new clips every Tuesday, at 11 PM, 

make sure to watch them all!

So please, please, please! Text me, call me, or

hit me up IRL! I’d like to get to know as many of you hotties as I can <3

Keep in mind that I’m shy and I like assertive guys, 

so don’t worry if I say no! I really, really like rough roleplay 

as you can see below!

Till next Tuesday and thank you for the likes!!! <3 ] 

* Play video

You must’ve shifted realities, because your body stopped feeling like your own. 

Why were you here again?

Ah, because you decided to cut Shigaraki out of your project.

Or maybe because he’d asked to play with you and you were too stunned to respond to him.

Would you have played with him if the stun wore off that time, if he’d asked again? Probably not.

So then, you’re here because the two of you met at the convenience store, way back.

What had you said to him that day? Couldn’t you have just gotten out of the way like a normal human being? But he wasn’t mad the next day when he’d met you in class.

That means you must have fucked up badly, multiple times, right?

This is your fault. It’s always your fault.

But there’s no time for that, because you partially tune into reality again, and now you can hear Taylor crying softly on the speaker of your phone.

With a shaky grip on your mouse, you press play on the clip and the first noise you hear is your dealer fumbling with the camera, trying to set it up.

It’s been years. 

This was a different time of your life, one that you’d like so desperately to erase from your brain, from your history.

You were high, and not on life, no.

You’re high on something crazy, like heroin. It was one of the first videos too, you remember. You can tell by the amount of scars and bruises you can see on yourself. And you’d let your dealer… your sort-of-ex, take pictures of your body as another form of payment, after sexual favors became too boring for him. 

But it didn’t stop at that. 

No, that was only the start. He’d started recording videos of the two of you fucking—really low quality amateur pornos—and then, as the months passed, he’d realized he could talk you into trying pretty much anything if he dangled the right prizes in front of your eyes. 

You were way younger, really fucking stupid, always under the influence, with no safety-net and constantly daring life over and over to really mess you up. It meant you didn’t give a fuck about your situation, of some insignificant videos or pictures… at least at first.

If anything you used to like the attention from him. 

From anyone.

But that all had changed, once you started cleaning up your act, once you were able to become confident again. You made him delete all of them, you really did, but the bastard must have had backups, something that did cross your mind at the time, but you thought—hoped—that he at least wouldn’t share them with anyone. He was a coward and a criminal after all. One that you had a lot of dirt on, in case he decided to fuck you over. 

It should’ve been fine, you should’ve been safe.

Unless someone like Shigaraki managed to get a hold of him, threatening or paying him off to get what he wanted. Yeah, that must’ve been it.

But you haven’t gotten the slightest clue as to how he put two and two together to find your ex. You’d almost completely changed your identity since. 

However, that must not matter for someone of Shigaraki’s caliber, because you’re now staring at the evidence that more than half of your university has had access to.

“Taylor,” you say in a monotone voice, a quiet tear escaping you.

“Y-Yes? Hun, I’m s-sorry. I’m r-really so-rry.”

Pain thrums through your cells and your chest hurts. You don’t know how to comfort them.

You don’t know how to comfort your fucking self.

“It’s… not the full video. He’s—he’s splitting it into parts. He’s planning to fuck with me by posting them week by week before class, so that he’ll be able to gauge my reaction. Like an actual psychopath.”

Your eyes glide over the thread quickly once more. Then, again. Reading it over and over.

Ah, he’s insane. Completely, utterly, off-his-fucking-medication insane. 

You thought maybe your stupid fucking brain was playing tricks on you but no.

He’d left you a message. In the thread.

He’d actually left you a message.

You open notepad on your PC and write it down, side by side.

[ I bet that got your attention, right?—You better read closely now—I have got nothing to lose—We should play a game—I’m going to cut you a deal—It’s over—Depending on how this goes—I’ll share your address with everyone—You better hurry now, before it’s too late and I change my mind ]

You lose. Game over

Taylor is calling your name. You blink. Twice.

“W-We can go to the dean, right? T-They should understand. W-We’ll go together and—”

“No,” you interrupt, a feeling of numbness washing over you. “I’m not sure they’ll believe me. Plus his dad’s a big shot.”

“Please, we can—we can go to the police! He—He can’t get away with this!”

“It’s fine. I’m hanging up, okay? I’ll try calling him and if that doesn’t work then… I don’t know. I’ll just try calling him.”

“What? No! Don’t! We need the police—please, please, let’s go to the police!”

“You know I can’t do that, Tay. I’ll talk to you later. It’ll be fine,” you lie, cutting them off and hanging up.

Your hands are shaking, as you stare at his name in your contacts list.

‘You lose’ he’d said. ‘Game over’

It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s okay, you chant in your head. You’ll be okay, you’ve been through worse, you’ll be okay.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring.

Ring—

“Yeah?” a hoarse voice replies with a curse under his breath, seemingly distracted, as sounds of a mechanical keyboard bleed through the phone speakers and up against your ear.

“It’s… It’s me.”

Then there was silence.

Until you hear a strange sound. It takes you a good second to realize that he’s fucking giggling.

“Uh-huuuh. What did you want? I’m busy,” he says while your hearing attunes to him mashing his keyboard louder. 

You take a deep breath. “Take it down.”

“Hmmm? Take what down? You should be more specific, I’m not really following.” Shigaraki smiles and you could fucking hear it in his voice.

Your eyes screw shut, anger already bubbling within yourself. “You know what I mean, stop playing dumb. Take. It. Down.”

“Aaah, I don’t have time to play games with you, so either get to the point or—”

“What do you want, Shigaraki? Hm?” you growl, quickly losing your patience. “Do you want me to blow you? Sleep with you? What do you want from me?”

“Whoaaaa, what the hell? Chill! Do I look like some desperate fucking loser to you?” he says it, like he doesn't know. “Only idiots would think to fuck ugly bimbos like you, and it seems like you’re pretty much used goods at this point anyways, haha. Honestly, who’d fuck you at all ever again? I’ve seen all the shit your ex did—” He inhales sharply, key taps becoming frantic on the other side of the line. “Fuck! They’re on B, planting! Spinner, fucking TP there, stop wasting time, FUCK! HEY! Do you want to win, or what? Oh, you do? Then fucking LISTEN to me.”

After a long second of him huffing and puffing in your ear, it finally clicks in your brain. 

Shigaraki is gaming, playing with his buddies, relaxing while you feel like your life is falling apart for the 1000th time this month.

“Okay,” you finally say.

“Okay? Okay, what?” he scoffs. “You know, you should try a little harder, moron. I told you what to do before, if you want me to help you.” Shigaraki pauses, focusing on his game for another moment. You watch your animated wallpaper turn into a dark screen due to your inactivity—until he snorts. “Yeah, maybe you do enjoy this kind of thing, after all. I wouldn’t really put it past you. After seeing those vids, boy, gotta admit.” He whistles and his mic peaks. “Didn’t think you were the type! Ahh, does the faculty even know? I wonder how they’d react, knowing their adorable little honors student was spending her free time fucking low-level druglords, getting high and recording shitty rape-porn!”

“What I do with my life, in private, is none of your fucking business!” you yell into your phone. “Do you even know how old I was in those? What I fucking went through? Did you not fucking see? Yet you still decide you wanna go ahead and dox me?” you ask desperately, voice cracking multiple times. “What kind of monster are you? How low can you fucking stoop, like actually?”

What were you trying to do? Appeal to his humanity? Does a guy like this even feel empathy? The last few ones in your life didn’t, and they were all really fucked up too. What’s the chance he’d listen? Probably none, but what’s the point in holding back anyways?

“Damn, don’t get emotional, man. Not my fuckin’ problem you let your shitty ass boyfriends fuck you up like that—Fuck, shut up! Wasn’t talking to you, idiot. Yeah, I’m in a call, focus on the fucking game!” he yells at his friends before continuing, “Listen, got anything else to say besides bitching and whining at me? Last I recall, I gave you two fucking options, and so far you’ve chosen to ignore both. So explain to me why I should do anything for you, hm? Make it count, too, ‘cos I’m really tired of hearing you cry in my fuckin’ ears.”

Wow—he was just… wow.

“I’m sorry,” you say honestly, breaking that apology record after all.

“Mm? Come again? Couldn’t hear ya.” 

Tomura smiles expectantly.

At last, the breaking point. He’d hoped that ideally, it would’ve happened in class, with you kneeling before him in front of all NPCs to see, but this was okay too. He’s going to cut you a little more slack, you didn’t know who you were dealing with, after all. 

See? He can be merciful as well.

Your jaw tightens, eyes becoming glassy with wet sadness for the nth time today.

“I’m fucking sorry, o-okay?”

The weight comes crashing on you all at once, and you finally break down crying in front of the devil himself. 

You hear him saying ‘BRB’ and after some shuffling, the line becomes completely silent, save for your pathetic sobs. 

Is he just listening to you suffer? Was he that fucking cruel?

“I-I’m sorry for being such a—such a bitch to you in the store—f-for talking to you in class and g-getting you in trouble with the professor. I-I’m really fucking sorry. I didn’t know better,” you sob. “I shouldn’t have—shouldn't have talked out of turn, shouldn’t have upset you—” Your voice cracks and you choke, “I-I wish I’d never talked to you. I was stupid. R-Really, really stupid to cross you. Will you please, please take the thread down? I’ll make sure I’ve learned m-my place. I won't bother you again.”

You sound so pathetic even to your own ears, as you descend into the beginnings of a panic attack. It’s over. It’s all over. Your life is going to be destroyed after this. You’ll lose your scholarship, Taylor will leave you and you’ll finally buy that rope and fucking hang—

He should be feeling thrilled, ecstatic even, now that he’s finally gotten to crush you.

You, with your filthy fucking mouth, always cursing at him, always talking shit and trying to piss him off. You, who are like everyone else in this world, who’ll sneer and think you’re better than him. He’s put you in your place where you belong, like everyone else who tries to fuck with him. 

Held back, even.

That’s right, he’s holding back right now. He’s given you a choice and you finally used that stupid brain of yours to take it.

He should be feeling on top of the world, but instead he feels something twisting within him, hearing the broken desperation in your voice.

Ahhh. Anger. He’s feeling anger.

You wished you’d never talked to him? To never bother him again?

Shouldn’t you wish to be nicer? For him to forgive you? For him to like you?

The fuck kind of apology was this? Why were you so fucking clueless?

“That all?” he replies to your sobs, bored and indifferent.

“What?” you whisper.

“Is that fucking all, I asked. Are you fuckin’ deaf now or something?” He raises his voice at you and you flinch.

“I-I don’t u-understand, I’m being genuinely—”

“I DoN’t unDerStaAanD! Fucking—cry more, bitch,” Shigaraki mocks you. “You’re wasting my fucking time, so if that’s all you have to say, I’m hanging up.” 

Fuck, he’s let himself become defensive. He’s being irrationally angry right now, losing his cool.

This hurt feels new to him, and he’s only ever felt it around you. That’s right, it’s your fault.

It’s your fault you disrespected him when he’d asked to play with you. It’s your fault you thought you could get away with getting him in trouble, it’s your fault he’s feeling this way right now.

It’s your fucking fault, and he’s angry, so very angry that someone like you is able to get to him, to hurt—

You feel your knuckles turning white from the pressure of your fingertips against the plastic case of your phone.

“Can you stop being a fucking child f-for one f-fucking second, and talk to me so I can understand?!”

“There’s nothing for you to understand. You’re fucking retarded, and I’m gonna make sure you can’t set a single fucking foot outside your house, without feeling scared that rapists and stalkers are camping next to your door. Stupid bitch, maybe I’ll post the entire fucking thing today, give ‘em your address and get it over with,” he grunts, voice low and cold. “I lost the game too, ‘cos of your sorry ass.”

“—really fucking hate you, Shigaraki! But you’re used to people feeling like that about you, aren’t you? Fucking with my life—with people’s lives like you’re some—what? Some god?” you spit, abandoning all your reasoning. 

If he’s going to destroy your life too, might as well go down with a fight, right?

“You’re not, though,” you laugh bitterly, million thoughts racing through your head and you feel like your brain is gonna split. “You’re really not. You’re just a… you’re just a pathetic unoriginal asshole, and I can’t fucking believe how stupid I was to let myself—to ever think—to stoop so low and fucking feel like you’re—to fucking like someone like y—” 

There’s silence.

And then you hear Shigaraki inhale softly.

Blood drains from your face. 

Were you just about to… were you confessing to him?

Stupid, stupid, fucking stupid.

Your thumb hovers over the ‘end call’ button. Fuck this.

“What? What did you—what were you saying?”

“Fuck off,” you whisper, shoulders slumping.

“HEY! Repeat? What did you say? You can’t believe you what?” His voice is eager as he presses you, but you’re already checked out of the conversation.

“I said, go fuck yourself asshole. Pray I kill myself before I have to see you again.”

“If you fucking dare to hang up now, I swear to fucking GOD,” he yells, volume peaking again and you just end the call, turning your phone off and slumping in your chair.

Then, you giggle deliriously at the memory of you defending him a few hours ago. 

What were you even saying? Ahh, right! ‘Don’t pick on him because of silly rumors. Don’t say stupid shit if you don’t know him!’ 

You’re so fucking stupid. Why the fuck did you friendly fire at your best friend of all people? They were right. He’s just a piece of shit. You’d even cried in front of him, begging him to stop. You’d fucking apologized.

Pathetic. That’s all you are. Fucking pathetic.

“Fuck this whole world, honestly,” you whisper to yourself. 

Getting up, you grab your phone and use all your force to throw it across the room, hearing it smash against the wall and then fall to the floor. You hope it splintered and broke, the way you feel like your life has.

[jess-moloney]

I’m really scared of how easy Jess made it to find his home. Imagine if those crazy ass parasocial fans pull up to his house? It’s not like he lives in a gated community. I hope she deletes those photos before his address gets leaked just like it did after TMI came out. She probably won’t cause his house is too “insta-worthy” and she has to show everyone how she’s at his house. Sad that she cares about her social media looking aesthetic over her “boyfriend’s” safety. Someone should bring this to Jamie’s attention, imagine what Silvia or Danae would do.. 😬

I wouldn't be surprised if Danae already found out and tried to go there or hang around there to annoy him or Jess. There's no way for us to know if this happened or not because it wouldn't really be public knowledge.

What I do know about Danae is that at some point she said something about going to a convention because Jamie was going to be there. Then she either never went or she wasn't allowed in because she posted no updates about that (or pictures from it) and she notoriously posted dozens of photos/videos at any convention she did attend with him, so I don't think she was allowed in if she actually did show up (or allowed anywhere near Jamie if she got in). I think that whatever she has done there's some level of restraining order against her at this point or else she'd definitely have been to more conventions with him at this point but she's been quiet about that. Which is good that they have her under control. Maybe she'll eventually be forced to get help if she can't stalk Jamie everywhere but who knows?

As for the pictures in question, they were from IG stories that Jess posted years back (but a lot of people saved these photos) so they are still around they just aren't on her Instagram account. Still, from a lot of photos she does post or has posted and continues to post it's easy enough to locate the house. Either she's incredibly stupid and doesn't realize that people can locate them based on those photos or that's exactly what she wants to happen. Jamie is hardly ever there with her anymore, if she even still is there, but the location of his house has been extremely compromised because of what Jess has done. I don't ever hear the stans trying to explain why that's okay either.

[boobsaibot]

my very stupid hc for the turtles (mostly bayverse in mind) ((not srs))

raphael

-that one annoying kevin gates listener (time and place? never heard of it.)

-doesn’t care for celebrity gossip unless it’s superrrr juicy, then he spends hours watching tik toks about it then talks about it with mikey (and leo, but he doesn’t really care then he gets mad when he’s not listening)

-i feel like in his 20s his anger isn’t as bad as it used to be,, that being said i bet when he was younger some shit just made him irrationally angry. he had an epiphany when he broke something and cried about it bc he hated minions so much

donatello

-if he had a girlfriend i can guarantee you his chosen song for them is skrillexs remix of cinema. i was gonna joke that he probably listens to fuckin demondice but that’s just too far so pretend i actually did instead

-i think if most people had to guess who would be the stoner they’d say mikey, but mr mike is already high on life. it’s donnie. he’d probably say some shit like “it helps me focus” ok i know ur not fr watching the movie robots for inspiration

-kind of a keyboard warrior. i can see him getting into random fights with people online bc he knows he’s smart and wants to rub it in people’s face a little. but beware, don’t reply with “actually 🤓☝️” or he’s gonna dox you

mikey

-made a complete fool of himself when he was young and posted a selfie on the internet. he turned into an internet mystery and donnie had to spend several years wiping it completely from the internet, and still keeps an eye on it. he currently has no social media.

-does soundcloud count? not really, right? he uploads raps pretty frequently, he gets a good amount of attention, even more so when he’s bad on purpose. people think it’s funny enough to use as a sound for their tik tok trends. would rap to this beat: https://youtu.be/abph2y2eIdQ?si=84QDlAGPnVTfKllb

-excellent painter. incredibly artistically gifted. tried to paint on pants and basically walk around nude all day for the perfect prank, except everyone found out almost immediately and he got his ass beat for sitting on and ruining the furniture with his paint skid marks

leo

-tries to watch shit like poor things with his brothers and expects them to take it seriously. it’s not that they can’t find it tasteful or artistic, but they’re definitely not missing an opportunity to be immature and piss him off

-used to fall for those boomer ai posts. would genuinely ask donnie if a 4 year old made a sculpture of jesus with washboard abs out of plastic coke bottles. (he still does sometimes)

-since i head canon him as the resident tattoo artist im willing to bet he put a hidden dick in raphs intricate tribal tattoo. it probably only vaguely looks like it up close, but the intent was definitely there