#social situation: changing bc of everyone issues

[baladric]

my main question is why does every single thing in my life have to be in a terrifying state of flux all at the same time, independently of each other

[woovalin]

i have since been informed that the screenshots of that conversation were fabricated. i apologize, it turns out that an english translator was used and the source was proven to be false. nonetheless, this changes nothing about the situation.

i hope we all have an understanding that this is not a kpop issue, but a women’s rights issue. as previously stated in my original post; men, no matter where they’re from, what family they come from, who their friends are, they are not immune to being misogynistic, vile human beings. the people closest to us could be hiding the worst secret imaginable. men, having mothers, sisters and daughters, does not stop them from committing heinous crimes against women. it doesn’t matter that they have a strong female presence around, they could still turn out to be anti-women and do it all wrong. it only takes another brainwashed woman hater to turn the rest into one of them.

i also would like to point out that this is not the time to start fan wars, because this is not about kpop or us fans, or who you stan or don’t stan. this isn’t a “gotcha” moment, for you to blame fans for supporting him when nobody knew. it’s not the time to promote your faves or post shit with, ‘my faves would never’. that’s what everyone says/thinks until your fave DOES. it’s insulting to the victims, making jokes out of this. and let’s not blame women for supporting bgs, bc saying things like “good thing i only stan ggs” is not making anyone look good, not you, and not your faves. the blaming women for enjoying things is crazy, bc how are we not going to assume that the people we’re supporting are decent human beings at the very least? that’s the bare minimum, for you to expect someone to be a kind, normal human being who treats people with respect, as everyone should. there will always be terrible people in this world, but we can’t blame anyone but the criminal themselves.

i would love to stop posting about this, bc it is getting to be a lot, and is very overwhelming, but i want to keep voicing the issue at hand. korean women have desperately been trying to reach out to international media and gain our attention in the states, so that we can help them spread the word about what has been going on and what they are being subjected to. it’s sickening to look at the evidence of these vile people hurting innocent women and minors of all ages, but if it means we keep this relevant for as long as possible, then i will keep posting on every social media platform to amplify their voices. please continue to share, and spread as much (credible) information for these victims as you can. they are being singled out and targeted for speaking up, and we need to be their voice from across the world.

please please take care of yourselves, take breaks if you need to. just sharing things does a lot, and supporting the people around you who at any point have been in a situation like this, does more than you know.

❗️EDIT: if you would like to learn more about the situation in general on what goes on in sk involving these chat rooms, i recommend watching stephanie soo’s videos on her ‘rotten mango’ youtube channel about this. i will warn you, topics are very heavy and can be triggering, so watch at your own discretion. and listen to her trigger warnings. here is a screenshot of what you can search to find them.

[necrotic-nephilim]

For the ask game

au where brudick happens but they keep it VERY hidden to the point only cass knows but she thinks everyone does cause to her it's so obvious, so one day on their monthly family dinner that no one misses she ask's them why they have different rooms when they always go to eachother during the night. What do you think would happen? Would they deny deny deny? would they ask her what she's talking about? how does everyone else react to this revelation? do the other heroes find out? do they have opinions about it?

for the ask game!

I LOVE THIS SHIT. truly love Cass noticing things she shouldn't and assuming they're common knowledge, it's my fave flavor. this is such a fun idea-

so Cass knows from like, day one. and obviously she never says anything bc she assumes this is normal. in a way, the weird vibes between Bruce and Dick *are* normalized to the Batfam, everyone sort of. tiptoes around their weirdness (even if they don't know it's romantic) so Cass learns to do the same. she doesn't mention it bc no one mentions Bruce and Dick's bond, it's only ever acknowledged with shared looks. it takes years before she has the courage to ask and i think it's fun if she asks for an utterly mundane reason. like, Alfred makes a teasing remark about washing everyone's bedsheets and what a task that is, and Cass just drops it into conversation that Dick's bed is rarely used because he's always in Bruce's, so that must make it easier to handle.

Dick was try to play it off as a joke. just the mention would make Bruce go silent, for once finally not having a contingency plan on how to handle something. he and Dick were never supposed to happen in the first place, it was so accidental he's never considered the possibility of someone finding out bc they're so careful, though in hindsight, of course he should've known Cass would've figured it out. Dick would awkwardly laugh, try to say something to the effect of "very funny, but we're not *that* close haha" just to break the tension. Cass doesn't give in, though. she's not the best at social cues and doesn't understand the desperate look Dick is giving her, trying to get her to drop it. she pushes on and corrects Dick, insisting she doesn't judge them for it. Bruce would finally snap back into reality and give a more serious denial, quickly changing the conversation before anyone else can press.

the issue is, the minute Cass says it out loud, it becomes *so* obvious. especially to Tim, who has the biggest "oh my GOD" lightbulb moment of his life. there is no unseeing it. it takes him a while to process how he feels about it, the same with everyone else. for a week, there's an obvious tension. no one will say anything, but everyone knows and is trying to sit with it to decide how they feel. it's not a simple situation to feel one way or another about. that's when the questions start. Tim asks Dick questions, Alfred asks Bruce questions. how old was Dick, how did it happen, all the things Dick and Bruce have never wanted to have to answer. bc none of the questions have clean answers. it was a slow and gradual relationship. sure, they can say the first time they slept together, but that doesn't *really* count as the start of things. the start goes back to when Dick was still a teenager, probably underage. even if nothing happened, they both knew. and the way they dance around the questions makes that obvious.

most of the Batfamily i think, would begrudgingly accept it. it's too late to convince Bruce and Dick out of it now, and at the end of the day, Bruce and Dick will always choose each other over anyone else. fighting it just increases the chances of getting ostracized and pushed away by the two of them. feelings vary. i think Alfred would be the least happy about it because he was there when Dick was just a 10 yr old. everyone else only has memory of Dick as an adult, but Alfred watched Dick grow up, raised by Bruce, so he just can't shake that image. Tim sees it as one of those things you just have to accept about Batman, and carefully considers his role as Robin and makes sure he focuses on making sure Dick is happy/safe as well as Bruce. if nothing else, Tim will put his feelings aside to be the Emotional Support Child. Barbara would distance herself from the Batfam for a while just to sit on it, because she also saw Dick as a kid and it sits wrong with her. long talks with Dick convince her to let it go, but she does keep a *much* closer eye on Bruce to be sure this doesn't become a pattern. i think she'd enlist Cass to make sure Bruce never shows romantic/sexual attraction toward other Robins. Steph and Jason are equally apathetic toward it, being the ones who are most negative toward Bruce. they just shrug and go "yeah sounds like some shit Bruce would do". Damian's a bit of a toss-up. i think it'd really throw him for a loop and he'd be far more critical of Dick in the beginning, but once he approves of Dick, he'd *really* latch onto him.

i do think the rest of the hero community would find out. not on purpose, but the leak happens. Babs vents her feelings about it to Dinah, Helena, and Zinda. Tim mutters about it to the Titans. and Jason will tell anyone who asks because he doesn't have a rat's ass to give about Bruce's precious reputation. (if anything, he'd purposefully try to ruin Bruce with that info) the hero community... varies. i think Oliver would be the *most* pissed. Oliver is very similar to Bruce, in that he's taken in his share of strays, but he was objectively a lot better at it than Bruce. it causes a minor public scandal when Oliver drinks too much at some gala and just. publically beats the shit out of Bruce Wayne, incoherently talking about something to do with him being a creep. i could see Oliver rallying support from people like Barry and Arthur who also have young sidekicks and would agree it being fucked up. i don't think Bruce would be entirely ejected from the hero community, but he would be quietly removed as a chair member of the Justice League and have most of his power as a team leader stripped. no matter how much damage control Dick does, insisting he was an adult when anything real happened and he consented, no one can look at Bruce the same. sort of a bittersweet ending, Bruce and Dick are together and no one can take that from them, but there's still realistic reaction and blowback to it, which i personally think is a lot of fun.

[withered--s0uls]

Human & Vampire MD AU concept

Tws: childhood trauma, mention (no description of) child abuse, siblings being separated / taken away from parents, parental death

Disclaimer: I'm a System myself, so any talk about DID/OSDD1 here is based off my experiences and adjusted to fit a fantasy setting. This may not match everyone's experience with being a System and I'm sorry if it doesn't match yours or you don't feel it's accurate enough.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, so my Take on a Human/Vampire AU right?

N & Cyn:

N and Cyn are biological siblings. Their birth parents were not good to them. Cyn (not her name at this point) does develop DID because of this as a young child.

A conflict happens in the family and N gets separated from his sister. They lose contact. N has always been her safe person and safe space, so this experience is extremely stressful and traumatizing. This results in the system splitting a factive Introject of him. "N"s job in the system is to take care of the body physically and emotionally when need be and to be a comfort to the other alters (Caretaker/Caregiver/Soother, Emotional Protector). Aside from "N" there already were two other alters before him.

C & Y.

C is a Protector/Avenger and Gatekeeper, she typically deals with conflict and arguments and is more outspoken about things. However, if a situation requires them to seek a hiding spot for safety she will opt for that as well.

Y is a trauma Holder and little who is stuck at the time of the trauma, meaning they don't age up and are forever the age range the body was during the trauma / when the trauma started.

Throughout the next 1-2 years there are two more fully formed alters (the system probably has fragments that aren't as developed too, but I'll only touch on the alters that matter for the AU story).

Cyn & Solver.

Cyn picks her name based on the three alters already existing, She is the new host of the system (prior there wasn't a clear host). Cyns Identity also is what the system uses as their "Singletsona".

Later on the body gets infected with the vampire virus. How I still need to settle on, but I am tempted to make the parents neglect and abuse part of the cause.

The process of turning is painful and traumatic, and Solver splits. In the headspace, Solver takes the form of the body as a vampire.

Solver is a Persecutor (under the definition misguided protector - harming the system and its surroundings as a form of protection).

They and "N" tend to co front for making sure the body feeds, "N" because it's part of his Caretaker job to make sure they eat and drink & Solver bc they're the only alter comfortable with the whole Vampire situation.

Eventually Cyn finally gets taken away from her abusive parents and the system ends up in an orphanage.

Here they socially officially change their name to "Cyn", wanting to separate themselves from their past life and self. The only thing they don't want to forget is N, and they haven't heard from him since they were separated.

Until one day the Elliot Family comes to the Orphanage - or well, the parents and two of their kids. Tessa and their adopted son.

Said Son and Cyn make eye contact and recognize each other as N & his little sister. N pulls his adoptive parents aside and points to Cyn, telling them that he's pretty sure that's his little sister.

After some confirmation, both between the siblings and also with official documents, the family adopts Cyn as well, reuniting the siblings!

It seems fine until the vampire situation becomes an issue. The family doesn't know. The secret and whole vampire thing in general puts stress on the system.

Solver fronts to feed, and ends up feeding off and infecting N and V. Another night it happens again with J. (Harming the body as a form of protection in this case; making the system feel more ashamed and guilty about the vampire situation to be sure they won't tell someone who could actually hurt them.)

N, V and J after turning make sure to keep Cyn fed so Tessa and the parents never get turned.

Also technically Cyn isnt aware of the system beyond thinking the alters are "imaginary friends". Mainly bc many systems dont figure it out until they are much older so I feel making a kid aware of it would be a little inaccurate. Not saying it never happens but still.

N does take note that Cyn sometimes acts "off" but puts it down as not having seen her in 2-3 years and her probably having experienced more trauma since, not to mention the vampire situation once he learns of that.

Uzi:

Uzi lives with her single father Khan. Her mother died when she was really young for reasons Uzi doesn't know of.

Nori was a vampire, however Uzi doesn't know this. Uzi did inherit the virus but it is dormant and inactive.

Uzi is kind of an outcast at school, bullying and all, ever since she can remember. The only person who doesn't really judge her is Thad who hangs out with her sometimes.

This changed when the Elliots adopted N and he switched schools, joining Uzis class. His friendly demeanor causes him to actively try to befriend Uzi, even tho she's more than happy just hanging out with Thad occasionally. Over time however N manages to worm his way into her heart and they become friends and she starts helping him with math homework.

(V, J and Tessa attend the same school but are in parallel classes btw)

They're friends for about 1,5 - 2 years when the whole Cyn reunion and vampire infection happens.

How Uzi finds out about this is still on the table but oh well. Also, Uzis own vampirism becomes active, turning her too. Now here is two ways I can't decide between this could have happened.

N has told her about having turned a vampire, due to suddenly avoiding places with lots of sunlight and preferring evening hangouts and sleepovers over their typical day/afternoon hangouts. Also he stinks of sunscreen lol. --- one time, N desperately needs to feed but they're in a situation where he cannot do it (be it they are at school or on a trip or whatever - he cannot go away to try and find some wild animal to feed off of) so Uzi offers him that he can gave some of her blood. He hesitates, not wanting to hurt her. She insists because he's visibly not okay and she trusts him. He promises he won't turn her (as vampires can choose whether or not to inject the virus into their prey) and they get a quiet corner for him to feed off her. Everything seems fine until the following days Uzi has symptoms of turning. N had kept his promise, but being bitten awakened her own dormant virus. She doesn't know this tho and accuses N of lying to her and purposely turning her. They argue and their friendship takes a huge hit. Uzi turns to V and J instead of him to ask about what to do and how to keep herself fed and relies on V for help on her first few nightly escapes to hunt. Uzi would shut her down whenever she brings up how guilty N feels and how he misses her. She's mad at him until eventually finding out about her mother being a vampire (still deciding how) and then realizing it's not his fault. She feels guilty for blaming him and thinking he would break her trust and she then does everything in her power to make it up to him. He's upset she would think he's lying and genuinely believe that for so long, but he's happy to have her back.

Option 2 is Uzi and one of the vampire siblings both being hurt. They patch each other up and Uzi notices their blood being black (a vamp hc ive had since I was a teen lol) and asks about it, finding out about the situation. However during the patching up of wounds, some of the black blood enters her wound which activates her own vampire virus.

One option for this is that Uzi hurt herself prior to helping N watch Cyn and Cyn gets hurt whilst N isn't in the room. Uzi helps her and in the process Cyns blood gets into Uzis injury.

[ I am open for situation suggestions with N, V and maybe J ]

J & V:

Dont have a lot about them except that J was adopted first, she's a little older than Tessa even. V was adopted alongside N from where they were in the same orphanage.

J doesn't like Uzi when N starts hanging out with her. V does somewhat get along with her tho and helps Uzi when her own Vampirism activates.

Tessa:

Tessa is unaware of her siblings vampirism for the most part. She did notice them seemingly eating less though and is a little worried about that, she makes them snacks she knows they like to try and make sure they eat enough.

I feel if anyone were to tell her, it would be N. And he wouldn't tell that it's all of them. Only him and maybe Cyn, as he can pass that off as "well we ARE biological siblings after all".

Idk that's all I got for now.

Also Nori was either

killed by Khan after he found out she's a vampire

Died due to extended exposure to sunlight

Killed by vampire hunters

Majorly injured by hunters or the sun so Khan had to take her out of her miserly

:(

[studentbyday]

30 days of intentionality

starting this challenge with the goal of taking it one day at a time. i have a hard time doing that these days. i spend more time ruminating on the past or worrying about the future than staying in the present, even if that's when i'm most content. not sure how i'll format my posts and most likely, i'll only do weekly updates bc daily ones are too overwhelming. i'll just go with the flow, trying to trust that everything will end up as it's meant to be and maybe i'll be more productive as focusing primarily on the present moment becomes a habit.

---

1. suo gân (arr. john williams for the ambrosian junior choir): i believe that if everyone lived by the idea of global citizenship and so saw the humanity in every individual from every background, there would be no war. reading the news fills me with fear, sorrow, and anxiety, but i also feel the responsibility to stay informed. did some studying today, more than yesterday, but it was kind of uncomfortable with the state of global politics lurking in the back of my mind. i'm still a little behind on school.

2. souvenir de paganini (chopin): today is not so bad. i'm making progress academically, but i do need to make time for social activities soon or i will get lonely and lose what little motivation i have very quickly.

3. once upon a december (arr. emile pandolfi): sometimes in the face of events and issues much bigger than myself that i have no control over, i feel like my dreams are pointless bc i think there's no way achieving them or trying to achieve them could possibly empower me to make real and important change that can truly benefit many. who knows if the future would even allow me to get that far. there are many things that could change the course of our lives that we don't have control over. but if others in worse situations than me and others much better informed than me can still have hope, then so can i. i didn't do much other than pharmacology and a little bit of philosophy today. i made more progress in pharmacology than expected, but that's only bc i didn't do any psych work. i also earned a few more mastery points on khan academy's integrated math 1 (not a priority, i know, but i wanted an easy win) and started lab tasks. i'm far from done with that, i need to do a little every day... i don't want to let them down! 🥺 (note to self: lying in bed is maybe NOT a good study break activity bc that just makes me not wanna do anything else after that and it's very very very hard to get out of that procrastination rut once i let myself fall into it.) 4. let's stay together (al green): everything should be going well, except i'm easily overwhelmed, and this time, it wasn't in an openly frazzled way, it was in a tired and slightly defeated "what's the point?" way, so i didn't realize it as quickly as i usually do. after some bed rest, cuddles 🧸, listening to steve jobs' commencement speech, and a little yoga, i felt better. "You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future." was something i didn't know i needed to hear today. i modified my to-do list and found that the list of things i "must do" was nearly as long as the list of things i "want to do" 😅

5. kreutzer sonata, movt. 1 (beethoven): pretty sure i've mentioned some of these songs before but...they really fit the mood! sometimes i feel things so strongly that i develop a tightening in my chest that can only be relieved in a scream... since i can't actually scream and i don't actually really like the physical feeling of it, i scream through exercise and music 😅 beethoven is very nice for when i'm feeling very annoyed or angry, especially if it's an anxious kind of angry or if it's anger at injustice/inequality. i can't find a piano solo version that does the fiery spirit of the violin justice. so in the vague future when i actually play this, either i try (and perhaps fail) to replicate that on the piano, or i find a violinist friend who would want to play with me 😅 right now though, imagining how i would physically create that sound on the piano will have to be enough. the prevailing thought/feeling of the day: sometimes i just really wanna believe in the good in people and believe that i can trust (some of) them. i long for that feeling of safety in a broader irl community that i actually belong in. i'm surprised by how often i long for it. but then my negativity is reinforced by news and people's opinions on it.

6. violin sonata no. 1 in g minor, bwv 1001 (j.s. bach): stuff was done. i felt calm/chill throughout the day, but even tho i feel good whenever that happens, it usually means i don't get an extraordinary amount of things done that day (lol since when do i ever). i'm not sure if it's enough, as there is still lots to do and i'm pretty sure that it's just wishful thinking that i'll achieve all my goals for this week by its end. i need to cut down my goals list to the realistic rather than idealistic version as always (school, lab, and basic self-maintenance tasks) 😅 gaawwwdd i hope i can do this...good night.

7. waltz in a minor, b. 150 (chopin): today and yesterday i have been able to keep my phone time under an hour. the days are blissful (if not at least calmer) and focused. 📚

8. only mine (laufey): cuddles in bed while listening to laufey is so soothing 🧸 takes me back to my childhood listening to lullabies in the dark 🥺 motivation to study is hard to find today. i just want to relax 🥺 i'll just do one tiny thing and see where i wanna go from there...

[sp0o0kylights]

why the deep sigh before saying you’re a natural redhead lol

Several reasons!

For context this is in response to my answer in the "rb in the tags what would be the physical feature used to identify you in fanfiction of you if you were a fictional character" post a few days ago and the TL;DR is the redheads get stereotyped in specific ways I hate.

Large ass rant below (hey you asked lol)

For a lot of people, redheaded women are a fetish. ( When I was younger, I had people date me who later stated they just wanted to cross off dating a redhead, they didn't actually want a relationship, and my personal favorite, that they would never date someone who "wasn't skinny" but made an exception bc I'm a redhead. I've been offered a LOT of sex and a LOT of threesomes, because I'm a bucket list item and they will say so, to my face, in person. Like many things in life, there's a line between a preference or appreciation or even a "type" --and a fetish. The later being an issue because you're no longer seen as a person but an object, and people will make that creepily, disgustingly clear.

2. It's a stereotyped personality. Redhead's are crazy/hot tempered/insane (see: that one dude from Fruits Basket and I cant even pick a female character theres so fucking many) crazy in bed (one example among hundreds is We're the Millers "Eh she's a redhead there's a 50/50 chance she'd be into it") Soulless (I actually used that one to get through High School by insisting I was collecting souls to pay for my fire-lake front mansion, shouts out to South Park lmao), and many more. The redheaded step-child, the vixen, the other women, etc.

I have had my hair color come up in job interviews, with teachers, with coaches or trainers and even in situations as a kid where I was essentially asked "Hello kid I just met, you're a redhead, are you going to behave for me?" Related, my parents got a LOT of praise because I was quiet. Throughout my life the most common "praise" I have received is that I am "not a typical redhead" bc I am "calm."

You still see a lot of this bleed into fanfiction, but you used to REALLY see it bleed into fanfiction lol.

Addendum to both points above--the fetish, hot, good in bed thing typically only applies to conventionally attractive women.

Redheaded men are "ugly", and if you don't fit into the current but ever changing Socially Acceptable Hot Chick Look, then you're in for it. This includes weight, skin color/tone, freckles, type of hair, fuckin' eye color sometimes, the list goes on.

I vaguely recall someone who was doing a media study about how the male "problem child" in media is typically portrayed as a redhead. off the top of my head, the kid from Malcom in the Middle and the kid from the magic school bus.)

And that's just the cis shit.

3. People in general get weird about my hair. A lot of strangers enjoy touching it without asking, or otherwise felt ownership over it if I had parts of it dyed, etc. I legitimately had people get super upset the time I dyed it black. Hell I had STRANGERS get upset. People I never met in my life who were making small talk in the check out line, absolutely FURIOUS with me about dying it black, because they asked me what my natural hair color was and I answered honestly.

4. If you're over the age of, ehhhh, 25? 27? You probably remember the age of fanfic where we described EVERYONE by their hair color lmao. Redhead was right up there with bluenette. It was painful and that post reminded me of it.

[stuckinapril]

hi! a post u reblogged keeps coming back to me, (the one that starts: "there really are some people who never take accountability for their actions ... and you cant change that.") and idk i just wonder how you can tell if that's actually the case or if the other person really -does- deserve to devalue you/some part of you (not speaking of you directly here, lol) and pushing back against them makes -you- the manipulative one....

i keep feeling like saying "i am __ (insert whtv, like being trans, or changing how i look) and you can't change that" is something i shouldnt do out of respect/not copying others but idk! u seem way wiser than me people wise, so that's why i ask lol

feel free to ignore this sorry, i usually hate rambling in people's inboxes and won't in the future, but my brain feels like it's on fire a little lol

Hey babe 💕 I understand where you’re coming from. I’m interpreting your words very loosely here, in the sense that by “devaluing a part of you” you just mean someone does deserve to call you out for shitty behavior. Obviously no one actually deserves to devalue you, which is an entirely different concept from calling you out. I’m pretty sure that’s what you meant, but it’s a distinction I felt is necessary anyway bc some wording in this post is giving me people pleaser haha—and I was totally there at several points, so I get the resistance to embracing this idea.

The answer to your question comes down to self-awareness. I’ve been a self-aware person my whole life—and a people-pleasing one at that. I’ve never really had a problem copping to my mistakes; in fact, I did that so excessively that I would even find myself being “the bigger person” in situations I had no business being the bigger person in. I’d literally be walking all over my own self and dignity just to appease somebody else. I guess I’m just a person who started from 0 and had to go up in terms of self-confidence lmao, so my root problem was that I had to stop myself from going “this person deserves to put me down/paint me as the bad person” in situations where I was not the bad person. Obviously if you’re someone who’s starting from 100% and has to go down to 50% to meet someone in the middle, you have the opposite issue to mine. You have too much pride to apologize, you really struggle to hold yourself accountable, you will cut people off rather than just hash things out. I was never that person.

You kind of need to be extremely honest w yourself to discern which one you are, bc I’ve seen people who suffer too much ego and yet hide themselves behind these saccharine affirmations (“I’m just not for everyone” “I’m misunderstood” “I’m just I’m just I’m just”) but it’s a bandaid on the actual problem, which is a problem within themselves they need to address. They can’t admit that they have an “ugly” flaw, so they cope by self-victimizing instead. Self-victimization can also be a form of sanitization (“I wasn’t cruel to this person; they’re just too sensitive and they don’t get my sense of humor”), which is yet another way of making something you did more “socially digestible” as opposed to coming to terms w it for what it is: genuinely shitty behavior. Luckily I don’t think I’ve ever had that flaw. Like I have an ego just like every other human being, but I’d say it takes me way less than other people to get over it and own up.

I don’t wanna paint myself as a saint btw bc my people pleasing isn’t all rooted in selflessness. Obviously it has its own selfish aspects. It can stem from insecurity, it can stem from an inferiority complex, it can stem from wanting desperately to belong, and it can even stem wanting control. For instance, believing you’re the problem in every situation gives you a false sense of control over it (“if I could just fix my behavior, this problem would be fixed too; if the other person is the problem, then I can’t fix this problem, bc it’s harder to control this person than it is to control myself. Therefore it’s easier for me to be the problem so this can be resolved faster”). I’ve had to face the uglier sides of me head on, but it’s okay!! It’s literally okay. It’s okay to quietly work through this stuff. It’s okay not to be born perfect. I know we’re living in an age of extreme sanitization rn, but I assure you it’s okay to learn to live no matter what anyone says. I dislike it when people make it seem like these visceral issues of theirs are all just a byproduct of positive aspects (“I’m just too selfless” “im just too kind!”), bc while that can be partially true, it’s usually not the entire story. And that’s okay. It becomes a problem when you don’t actively work to change for the better.

As for your second paragraph, I’m not sure what the point is? If someone is trans and someone else isn’t respecting that, they’re well within their right to assert it. This is a pretty different scenario from the one I was mentioning in that post. Hope this helps elucidate things a little bit x

[strawberrystepmom]

hiiiiii kendy 💕 I hope you’re having a lovely day! all of the astrology asks are piquing my interest. got any spare thoughts about about a cancer sun, gemini moon, leo rising (with like. an alarming amount of gemini in their chart) ?

I’m always so curious about everyone’s Astro takes and I’m loving reading yours!

WURMY!!!!! I hope you are doing okay right now, I’ve been thinking about you so much. sending lots and lots of sweet vibes and happiness to you. (is today your birthday? I feel like I remembered it being your birthday and if so I’ll come back around with another wish!!!)

so, refresher on basic functions of each placement. sun - life’s motto/goal/mission and your message of This is Who I Am, moon - internal emotion and desires, rising - how you seem to other people!

cancer sun is one of my favorite placements overall. their mission in life is “how can I make your life better?” there is so much good in a cancer that is truly just for the sake of goodness. they’re the true nurturers of the zodiac in every way and while I tend to disagree with most Astro stereotypes bc individuals matter more than the alleged whole, positive cancer stereotypes tend to always be true. the friend who always has tylenol in their purse and will make sure you get home safe and well after a night out. the one who listens and always has a way to gently reassure.

I always call cancers the virgo of the water signs and it confuses people but there are similarities in life’s missions between the signs, the biggest difference is how it’s accomplished. a Virgo will push you to change yourself, perhaps too strongly sometimes, meanwhile a Cancer will cross their arms and raise their eyebrow until you realize you need to change and then they’ll gently guide you through it. both signs are big on intuition at the end of the day, cancer just has a more sensitive approach.

Gemini moon isn’t a difficult placement mostly bc I don’t believe in difficult placements but it can sometimes invalidate the softness of a cancer sun because again, Gemini more than anything wants to just float above it all. your internal world may feel chaotic sometimes because cancer is practical in their approach but it’s more emotional than Gemini likes. “Keep it light” is the Gemini MO and I feel you may have some issues with invalidating your emotions as a whole because Gemini is so “it’s nbd.” but sometimes it is and I would encourage you to ignore that little Gemini shrug it off voice occasionally to really honor your feelings. A water sun is an emotional burden unfortunately because we feel so much and it can’t be ignored forever.

Leo rising suits you so much it truly made me grin to read this. You likely (and do) come off as cutting edge as far as fashion goes, everything you wear gets people talking, you listen to great music and have great parties, you’re a people person even if your temperament occasionally leans more introvert (that’s a water sun trait tbh water suns don’t tend to be terribly socially energetic even if they are liked and good in social situations) and an individual and proud of it. People see Leo’s pride as something to criticize them over, I feel like it’s the thing about them that deserves the most praise. A prominent Leo placement holder is always going to be proud of who they are, sometimes too much to even ask for help, but the independence and self confidence that it lends is just so fkdkdkkdkddk

Overall I think that your big three makes perfect sense but I will once again advise when it comes to all that Gemini to not let it drown out the echoing emotion of cancer. If Gemini is a breeze, cancer is a summer sea and they can work together well if Gemini isn’t allowed to blow wildly.

[qqueenofhades]

there definitely is the lack sympathy and solidarity between the oppressed groups of people around the world.

ethnic russians have been colonizing the central asia, the western asia, the caucasus, the eastern europe and oppressing the natives of these lands for CENTURIES!

russia has established the hegemony of the ethnic russians and hierarchy where the people of the caucasus and central asia are not considered as white thus are discriminated against. even other slavs like ukrainians and poles (who are indeed seen as white in the russian power sphere) are percieved as lesser disposables.

if the westerner leftists understood that the social constructs and power dynamics around the world are constantly changing, have changed throughout history and are different depending on the region and depending on which country/people are the global powerhouses in said region, the discourse would be much easier and more productive.

i'm west asian myself who used to be naively optimistic about the us anti-imperialist leftists, but ever since the war in ukraine, my delusions have shattered beyond repair... the us americans live in their own bubble and want to see the world through that usa-centric bubble's lenses. you see someone try to educate them about the situation and realities of other place and people and said usa americans will accuse those people of horrible stuff bc usa americans hate it when their simplistic worldview ideologically rooted in puritanism is being challenged.

a good example is how the middle easterners are either talked about as "white" or "poc" depending on whether or not the us americans want to sympathize with them and admit that the middle easterners are the victims of oppression/imperialism.

i can't blame the people of africa, latin americans and other people who suffered bc of europe and the us for falling for russian propaganda, but seeing ourselves as the only katniss everdeens of the world won't solve anything.

I mean... yeah. As I've written about a lot, the perspectives of so-called "anti-imperialist" American leftists, both in regard to the Russia-Ukraine war and overall, are generally absolutely fucking dismal. Both because they lack any sense of historicity, nuance, or attempt to deal with complex issues, and also because they are, as you note here, still myopically fixated on the US as the center of the world, the only agent of actual change, and the cause of everything bad ever. They are good at weaponizing the language of social justice and accusing everyone and everything of racism, but they rarely seem to have a sense of what that actually means outside the American context, and frankly for that matter, inside it.

A lot of "anti-imperialist" leftists are only opposed to American empire, which they think is the only empire to ever exist (as if European colonialism and empire didn't create America; as if the Roman Empire didn't create Europe, etc. etc.) Because the Republican right opposed the Soviets during the Cold War, plenty of modern leftists have now decided that that means the USSR/Putinist Russia is actually good after all!!! It's a meme ideology with absolutely no substance or internal coherence, because it's completely based on shallow and distorted mirror-images that they adopted solely out of contrarianism. They borrow the language and symbols of Marxism-Leninism in their fantasy online lives, they decide that this makes them Communist Visionaries, and they trade purposefully-misinterpreted jargon in their Twitter echo chambers without ever attempting to consider either what it really means or how these extremely fraught symbols were interpreted and used in the real world. They want to proclaim that Communism Good!!!, so they do that, and any and all nuance or actual example to the contrary is just Neoliberal Corporate Bootlicking. Or something like that.

What's funny, of course, is that the "anti-imperialist" leftists are still relying completely on a sense of Western exceptionalism and intellectual imperialism, wherein their own interpretations are always to be preferred over anything that the Savages might be saying; the Misguided Natives just need the Wise Western Man to correct them and show them why Tankie Communism is Good! Which, of course, is the exact vernacular of European Christian white-supremacist colonialism from the 16th to 19th centuries, and seriously calls into question any remotely accurate claim to being "anti-imperialist." Like, do you know what those words even MEAN? Or like, ANY words?

As I have said in earlier posts: yes, it's understandable, if disappointing, that people from Africa/India/Latin America, all of which HAVE suffered extensively from actual Western imperialism, have proven susceptible to Russian propaganda about how the current conflict is all the Evil West's Fault. But it's even more disappointing that presumably educated and "enlightened" Western leftists who trumpet their anti-imperialism have become such cheerleaders for a genocidal fascist imperial regime, simply because they think that anything America opposes is morally and/or structurally good. Which is just so facile and stupid on so many levels, not to mention ignores the reality of the Ukrainian war and its root causes on pretty much every front, but for them, that's basically par for the course.

[punkisntdeadandneitherami]

Thought i'd share my experience with suicidal thoughts and self harm so here it goes. A lot of triggers probably so you may wanna step out.

When i was 10 years old, i was really stuck on school stuff. like, they put a lot of pressure on us, and i'm a real procrastinator. i waited till the last moment to do all that stuff, and honestly it's my fault. the thing is, i had to stay up till kinda late, wich i used to NEVER do. plus, on the next day we had to present that stuff to our parents, plus dance for everyone else's parents too, and play a song, and i have social anxiety. This got me so stressed for the longest time, bc it was like a huge thing and it was worth a lot of my grades. to top it all off, that annoying ex friend who kept pressuring us didnt even show up.

The next year, i started hating school for it. It felt useless, and i felt no motivation. The worst part was: that year, i made two friends, but they ended up pretty fake, one in specific. she thouht she was better than me, and made sure i knew it. She made fun of using medicine, was pretty ableist and was a complete narcissist. During that time, i started thinking i was autistic. i related way too much with stuff i read about it, but when i told her i thought that she went "haha aren't we all" and just kept on with her life. She didnt try to underestand me, and i think i felt a need to be validated by her. I started feeling the pressure of school, the dependence i felt towards my friends and my self hate, always being fed by both media i came across and my toxic relationship with my own feelings.

Soon, i started feeling extremely depressed, trying to figure out if i truly was autistic or if there was something wrong with me. To complement all that, i started finding out about my queerness, which was important, but it actually only made me feel more stressed.

I had to go with my parents on their business trip on October, and it felt great to escape for a while. The problem was that, by the time, i already felt incredibly depressed. I wasnt exited about anything, had no motivation, and to be honest the only thing that kept me from killing myself was the thought of how my friends would feel, specially one of my best friends, who nowadays i am proud to call my brother, was also suffering with his own mental health.

On that trip, i had many valuable conversations with my friends, them helping me go through this even with the distance, even if every time i saw a window i begged myself to jump. They helped me figure out my sexuality, which also gave me courage to both come out to my mom and come clean about my depressing thoughts.

After i came back home, i started having to wear an orthopedic vest or whatever, idk how to say that in english. Of course that didnt help much my situation, but at least i started going to therapy. I went back into school and saw my friends, including that one girl i mentioned earlier.

While that happened, i had some serious anger issues. I was pretty rude to her, while she was ableist to me. After I told her and my other friends I'm a lesbian, they all were supportive of me, except for her. It kept on for the whole year, until i finally changed schools together with a friend of mine.

I could see other friends on my new school, but the change was weird. The new school was farther from my house so i had to wake up earlier, but at least i got rid of seeing that girl. The thing is, i kept lying to my therapist, and felt like i couldnt tell anyone my thoughts and feelings. I started having kinda murderous thoughts about me killing my homophobic classmates and then myself. I continued procrastinating my arts project, and i thought i'd get a failing grade. Not long after, i started cutting myself. I liked the pain. Its like I had always felt. By the time, i found out a way of fooling the medicine, kind of stopping it from working. I thought I deserved to feel like this. I started planning on killing myself.

I had the perfect plan of every step i'd take. I'd take a cup of coffee on the middle of the night, wearing my favourite PJ's, steal a bunch of ginger biscuits from the kitchen and go to the little empty house on our yard. I'd grab a knife with me. I was going to send my goodbyes via whatsapp, eat all the biscuits and cut my palm with the knife, to use the blood to write on the walls. After that, i'd slit my throat. But i didnt do any of these. Because of my ex brother-in-law.

I started planning my goodbyes, sending myself the texts i'd send them that night, just so i could copy and paste. Then, i'd send their friends texts for them to comfort my friends. On that, i sent my ex brother-in-law a message asking him to comfort my brother the next day. I thought he wouldnt see it immediatly, but he did. He asked why, and i answered i was going to kill myself. He started lecturing me, and i admit that his speech wasnt what kept me alive, but the fact it lasted 10 minutes and made me forget to drink the coffee to keep me up.

I slept tightly that night, the night i had been planning to be my last.

After that hell of a night, i started using my medicine correctly, which helped a lot on my recovery. Today, a fuck ton of time later, I'm telling you about it, because a few days ago i cut myself again. I dont want anyone to go through that, to think their feelings arent valid because there are people who suffer more, who think life is nothing but the limited time of working of the brain and the heart.

Life means, you get to change. Life means, you get to thrive. Life literally means whatever the fuck you want it to mean. So live. It's your only chance.

[proudfreakmetarusonikku]

time to subject you all to Random Nova AU Facts bc I’ve been sitting on this au for literally over a decade it went from me making my own OP ass sonic OC at like eight but thinking it’d be funny if she was actually someone else’s OP ass sonic OC to whatever the fuck mess of mental health issues and dysphoria it is now. sorry.

(but if you don’t know despite me rambling for weeks- the nova AU is an AU where metal sonic takes on a organic disguise (the aformentioned nova) to try and infiltrate team sonic and steal all their data instead of doing sonic heroes. she instead ends up transing her gender and ending up in the most mutually enthusiastically toxic qpr with sonic known to man. “nova” and “metal” r interchangeable except for when specifically referring to each form they use both of them. they also use all pronouns and r transfem.)

while nova's overall appearance and design were done entirely by metal, to make it as close to realistic as possible she did actually base it off of someone- namely, a random hedgehog girl she kidnapped to reference her life data. she's fine, physically at least, metal let her go after studying her bc she had provided a use but mostly bc he couldn’t be bothered when he has an oc to design, but she’s understandably very traumatised from the experience.

nova considers every piece of machinery created by her father to be her siblings. that’s not me misspeaking, she considers stuff like mechs and literal computers to be her siblings as much as other badniks. as such, they don’t quite get the concept of family people have at first- they see family as simply things her father created, not anything deeper. it does like the concept after learning about it, though (primarily from shadow, bc they’re distant removed cousins)

nova doesn’t have a sense of touch, but he does have systems to alert him to when his body is taking damage, and it’s lead to him having developed some pretty bad self harm habits bc he finds those alerts grounding. it also leads to xem being aggressive towards people xe likes at first, because xe genuinely doesn’t understand the concept of pain and assumes everyone else finds damage a positive grounding thing.

nova's appearance does actually change over time, though that’s an intentional choice from her and not actually her growing. her initial form was designed to be as neotenous and cute as possible, but after people learned who she was she stopped caring about it as much and changed it to suit what she preferred. he's still small and young looking, but has a more defined, feminine looking form, along with gaining some weight. this also includes their clothes, bc those are just another part of their body they’ve shapeshifted, but they normally stick to the same elegant gothic lolita style.

while nova does have genuine friendships, they’re still based on her worldview as a sadistic murder robot. he seeks domination and superiority over people, but bc of his absolute ineptitude in social situations that normally manifests in him being incredibly helpful and nice to “win” at social interactions. they look down on organic life forms, but that primarily also manifests as mom friend behaviour- they’re more likely to be seen as smothering and condescending than downright egotistical. they’re a good liar when it comes to schemes, but they don’t even consider it in normal conversation and are pretty honest and upfront about themselves unless given a reason not to. and while they do kinda inherently see most people as curiosities and pets at best, it’s incredibly easy to be seen in that light by basic kindness and decency towards them and they’re extremely protective over “their” organics, and instead of being controlling they'll generally default into being almost completely (and honestly concerningly) obedient, bc that’s how they’ve learnt to show love and appreciation. obviously all of that would be concerning for a normal person, but metal thinks in a fundamentally different way and is genuinely trying bc she’s grateful for being treated with basic compassion and personhood, so there are people who accept and befriend her in spite of her odd worldview (most notably, amy, who's extremely close to her)

nova generally has no knowledge on stuff he wasn’t already interested in (mostly creative ways of horrific violence, along with programming and the mechanics of time) so he's actually very reliant on his friends for, like, any normal life interaction. she Can just look it up, but she also really struggles to understand things that aren’t objective facts bc she has not had anything resembling a normal life before. she's essentially a severely neglected and emotionally stunted teenager in those regards, and completely relies upon and trusts her friends to help guide her. it found it embarrassing at first, but it also finds listening and obeying natural and normal so it got used to it.

nova and sonic's relationship is entirely based around them having a 4d chess match fight for superiority 24/7 in every interaction. they both 100% know this and are enthusiastic about it. the amount of physical and mental violence would be severely abusive in like literally any other circumstances but they’re both so down for all of it it’s somehow a functioning, loving qpr. outside of their close friends who know nova is metal people genuinely assume they’re outright boyfriend and girlfriend and extremely close ones at that, but while the two of them are absolutely comfortable and fine acting romantic as part of their games they are entirely doing it for the power play. they’ve mutually agreed on fighting to the death once they’ve both reached their peak and they’re stoked for it. they're neurodivergent bored teenagers with an adrenaline addiction they’re Trying.

while nova obviously Can’t have any mental disorder we're familiar with bc she doesn’t think like a person does her behaviour is based on my own experiences with ocd and autism. yes i made a robot girl autistic coded you will not stop me.

while initially he does want to take over the world and become a robot overlord like in heroes, nova eventually realises that he genuinely Prefers just hanging out with his friends and instead wants to find a way to “improve” them (which in his mind means working on what’s essentially a roboticiser to “free” them from being organic and keep them alive forever) and to have a family. she semi forcefully adopts classic sonic in generations after learning he’s Not a fake sonic and in need of slow painful agonising death as punishment. she's teaching him how to murder things and manipulate people she is very bad at parenting bc she’s sixteen and literally does not know what a family is.

[plague-of-insomnia]

Antis: There’s no scientific evidence that writing about traumatic events is healthy (refuse to cite sources)

Five seconds of google searching:

“In writing our stories, we retain authorship over our lives.”

These effects of writing as a tool for healing are well documented. James Pennebaker, a social psychologist at the University of Texas at Austin, studied the impact of a certain kind of writing on mental health in 1986. Since then, over 200 research studies have reported that “emotional writing” can improve people’s physical and emotional health. In classic studies, subjects who wrote about personal upheavals for 15 minutes a day over three or four days visited doctors for health concerns less frequently and reported greater psychological well-being. According to a 2019 study, a six-week writing intervention increases resilience, and decreases depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and rumination among those reporting trauma in the past year. Thirty-five percent of the participants who began the program with indicators of likely clinical depression ended the program no longer meeting this criterion.

Why does a writing intervention work? While it may seem counterintuitive that writing about negative experiences has a positive effect, some have posited that narrating the story of a past negative event or an ongoing anxiety “frees up” cognitive resources. Research suggests that trauma damages brain tissue, but that when people translate their emotional experience into words, they may be changing the way it is organized in the brain.

Some of the language in this article reminds me of how antis continually expose themselves to traumatic things and don’t try and process their trauma:

"People who talk about things over and over in the same ways aren't getting any better," he says. "There has to be growth or change in the way they view their experiences."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3830620/

However, this technique is not for everyone, as this last study discusses:

These findings suggest that for people who already tend to manage emotions through expression, expressive writing may be particularly beneficial in reducing anxiety. However, for those who are less expressive, written expressive disclosure may be contraindicated.

This is why you have to do what’s right for you, listen to tags and warnings, and curate your experience, if you fall into that second category. It doesn’t mean that just bc it doesn’t help you or makes you worse that’s true for everyone.

Writing about traumatic, stressful or emotional events has been found to result in improvements in both physical and psychological health, in non-clinical and clinical populations. In the expressive writing paradigm, participants are asked to write about such events for 15–20 minutes on 3–5 occasions. Those who do so generally have significantly better physical and psychological outcomes compared with those who write about neutral topics.

I could keep going.

The point is, even if antis don’t like it, writing or reading about “bad” things CAN be extremely beneficial to one’s mental and physical health, because you’re taking a situation that you couldn’t control and controlling it.

Maybe it isn’t for YOU, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t helpful for others.

If you’re gonna insist there’s well documented scientific evidence for something and then refuse to include sources, then you’re just talking out of your ass.

[lettucedloophole]

hi apologies if youve alr made a post abt this (if u have, then maybe u can add a link to that specific post?) but i just wanted to ask for ur perspective bc this is smth i keep getting hung up on and i rlly only trust u to answer:

why would abolishing gender be harmful to trans ppl if transphobia stems from emphasis on traditional gender roles, and the abolishment would further their focus on relieving dysphoria thru physical sex change instead of relieving it by having to conform to sociological femininity and masculinity as a means to adapt in this patriarchal society?

thank you for taking the time to read and answer this <3

no worries! i haven't made a post about this before since no one's asked, but i'll answer it right here for you.

the answer is, it wouldn't be harmful. abolishing gender would ultimately be the best for everyone, but especially lgbt people & women. however... the contextualization of this point is what makes or breaks it. let me explain--

trans people have a negative reaction when people discuss abolishing gender not only for the same reason cis people might (a kneejerk reaction to protect the status quo), but also for the very valid reason of wanting to defend transness in a transphobic society. it's the same reason why some gay people will react negatively to the fact that homosexuality is a social construct, and therefore cannot be innate; most people use this argument to justify homophobia & patriarchy.

the thing is, to abolish gender, sex must also be abolished as it's the primary method of naturalizing gender. sex is a social construct-- it's not natural. however, terfs and any garden variety conservative will reify gender through the naturalization of sex. they'll say, "cis women and men are natural, but trans people aren't. therefore, they must be eliminated." similarly, "heterosexual people are natural, but gay and bi people aren't. therefore, they must be eliminated." eliminated can mean killed or, forcibly dissolved into the "natural" categories via bullshit self-loathing propaganda.

a really easy way to understand why this is so upsetting to trans people is just comparing their situation to gay people or women's, really, as they are so similar. if you walked up being like "wow i cant wait for gays to be abolished<3" ofc people will assume you mean it in a homophobic sense rather than a complicated, radical feminist sense, and if you're focusing on the abolition of minority groups in particular, it does likely stem from bigotry. not saying that you've said anything like that lol, but those examples are the best way i can illustrate the point.

also, everyone on the internet hates radical feminism, so regardless of how eloquently you explain your point & how sensible it is, if you associate it with radical feminism people will ignore what you say, misinterpret you so severely that it seems deliberate but could very well be internet stupidity, and also throw tomatos at you. 😭 radfems, matfems & a handful of marxist, anarchist, intersectional fems + womanists are the only ones i trust to not be covert antifeminists.

last p.s.: we don't know what a society outside of patriarchy looks like. assuming people will continue getting sex changes assumes the existence of a natural sex binary, though it's possible people may change "sex" characteristics as they please. trans people's issue is not only being forced into gender roles, but a hatred of transness which puts them into a catch-22 regarding survival under patriarchy-- they're "reifying patriarchy" if they transition, but plagued with dysphoria, martyrs to a post-patriarchal world centuries away from us if they don't. perhaps, a similar scenario would be if you told a gay or straight person to simply see people as gender/sexless and to experience attraction, to give affection as though we lived in a post-patriarchal society-- it just wouldn't be possible, and for the gay person who is particularly vulnerable under patriarchy, it would more likely be traumatizing. dworkin put it so succintly in woman hating...

i hope that wasn't too repetitive or long, i just wanted to be thorough. admittedly, this is kind of a loaded answer if you aren't familiar with sex as a social construct, so if you have anymore questions, feel free to ask!

[rabbitcruiser]

International Tea Day 

While everyone loves a cup of tea, many of the workers and producers of that tea face poor conditions and pay. Help raise awareness and keep tea fair.

The tea industry provides millions of people around the world with cups of tea in the morning. One of the biggest producers of tea, India, recognizes the importance of tea in its communities and as a commodity for commerce.

However, much of the working conditions for those within the tea industry still need much improvement. If you think this holiday was about drinking tea, well think again! International Tea Day is all about the tea workers and bringing civil rights into action. Let’s see how this holiday came to pass.

Do you love a good cup of tea? While International Tea Day can certainly involve paying homage to tea, we should pay homage to those working in the tea industry. The best way to do this is by helping to raise awareness regarding their working conditions so they can be improved.

History of International Tea Day

The International Tea Day campaign was launched in 2005 by the trade unions, small tea growers and civil society organizations in Asia and Africa to address the issues of living wages for workers and fair prices for small tea producers.

The International Tea Conference in New Delhi came out with an International Declaration on the rights of workers and small growers to help regulate uneven competition, land ownership, safety regulations, rights of women, social security and living wages. Another organization, The Tea Board of India, proposed International Tea Day in hopes of it becoming an official holiday to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

This was proposed by chairman Santosh Kumar Sarangi in 2015. According to the chairman, the proposal of India was supported by countries such as Canada, the United States, European Union, Sri Lanka, China, Japan, Kenya, and Malawi. While the holiday doesn’t have official status, the goal of this holiday is to recognize the vulnerable situations that tea producers in India have with current living conditions and worker-related policies.

The day also focuses on deliberating on urgent issues such as residues, climate change, technology and trends on production and consumption in the tea industry. To observe this day, over 150 representatives from tea organizations gather and conduct a seminar to discuss the pervading problems the tea industry has as well as problems faced within their own country.

International Tea Day Timeline

2737 BC Tea is discovered as a beverage

Legend has it that Chinese Emperor Shen Nung is sitting beneath a tea tree while a servant boiled water for drinking. Some leaves fall into the cup and begin  the practice of drinking what is now called “tea”.

1610 Tea comes to Europe

It is believed that the Dutch were the first to bring tea to Europe, just a few years prior to the introduction of coffee by Venetians.

1773 The Boston Tea Party occurs

With the intention of revolting against the high taxes levied by the British government without providing any voice, residents of Massachusetts throw tea into the Boston Harbor. “No taxation without representation” is the major complaint.

2004 International Tea Day is created

At the World Social Forum, International Tea Day is conceived and then celebrated the following years in New Delhi and Sri Lanka, then later in other tea-producing places like Nepal, Viet Nam, Bangladesh and others.

2019 United Nations adopts International Tea Day

After some years of advocating for its observance, International Tea Day is adopted by the United Nations General Assembly at the suggestion of the FAO Intergovernmental Group on Tea.

How to Celebrate International Tea Day

If you’re a lover of tea, then do some research about some of your favorite companies. Try looking up tea brands that support fair trade, and possibly switch to those brands to make a difference in the way you buy products such as tea. Use the hashtag #internationalteaday to help recognize it as an official holiday and educate others about the tea industry if you’re interested.

You could also use International Tea Day to try a variety of tea you have never had before. Matcha, for example, is highly popular as of late. You need to shop with care, though! The first thing you need to take a look at is how the Matcha has been produced and sourced.

You need to ensure that all veins and stalks have been removed so that there is not any bitterness and only the finest leaves should be used. Secondly, the color of the matcha powder is a significant factor. The greener the color is, the better. This is because the leaves are forced to overproduce chlorophyll because Matcha is shade-grown, which causes the vibrant green shade.

If the Matcha is yellow or brown in color, this is a sign that the leaves have not been properly shaded or that branches and stalks have been included. The price is the third factor to consider. Like most things, if you want quality, you can expect to pay a little bit more.

If something seems too good to be true, the chances are that it is. The feel of Matcha is also important. It should be a fine powder that is very silky. Last but not least, the taste is obviously a crucial attribute when it comes to quality. It should have a clean and naturally sweet taste.

Why not make some delicious baked green tea treats on International Tea Day and have a bake sale to raise money and awareness regarding working conditions in the tea industry? Green tea recipes are available in their abundance. People are actively searching for different ways to enjoy green tea. While green tea is delicious when simply mixed with hot water, there is nothing wrong with switching it up from time to time, especially on International Tea Day!

An easy and delicious recipe is Matcha Meringue Kisses. To make this you will need Matcha, sugar, egg whites, and powdered sugar. Begin by sifting together the Matcha and the powder sugar, and then whip the egg whites until they have soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar and whip until stiff peaks. Gently fold the Matcha into this mixture and then transfer to a pastry bag. Pipe the mixture into small kisses onto a baking tray and then bake for around an hour.

Or, why not make Green Tea Donuts? For this, you need green tea, honey, melted butter, milk, egg, salt, baking powder, sugar, and cake flour. You whisk the green tea, salt, baking powder, sugar, and flour. Add the honey, melted butter, milk, and egg, and then whisk. Use a pastry bag to pipe the batter into the mould. Then, simply bake the donuts for eight minutes. You can make your own glaze to go on the top – chocolate goes well!

Other delicious baked treats to try include green tea muffins, brownies and shortbread!

International Tea Day FAQs

What is International Tea Day?

Created to celebrate and pay tribute to the countries that produce tea to supply to the world, starting in India and moving to other places like Sri Lanka, Malawi, Uganda, Bangladesh, Vietnam and more.

When was International Tea Day first celebrated?

International Tea Day first got its start in 2004 when it was celebrated in New Delhi. It grew over the years and by 2019 the day was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.

How to celebrate International Tea Day?

A great way to observe this day is by learning a bit more about the nations who produce tea for the world. Also, don’t forget to order a cup of fair trade tea for one, or take a friend out to enjoy a cuppa together.

What is the theme of International Tea Day?

The theme for this day devoted to tea producers changes each year, but some of the past themes have included themes such as Tea and Fair Trade or Harnessing Benefits for All from Field to Cup.

When is International Tea Day celebrated?

Taking place on May 21 of each year, International Tea Day originally took place on December 15 from 2005 when it was often only celebrated by tea-producing countries. It changed to May 21 when the UN adopted the day.

Source

[vendettavalor]

@tacticalvalor said: 🔥 / unpopular opinion -> shipping

⚔️ Munday Unpopular Opinions // ACCEPTING ⚔️

// Praying to God that this doesn't somehow end up in the main tags-

// Caution in the tags. This got long-

// Shipping 47 and Lucas is weird and gross. Like... there is no way to slice it that makes it plausible or okay. They are brothers. They view each other as brothers. This is not fanon or up to interpretation and I think that the only reason people play with the concept at all is simply because Lucas refers to himself as " 47's childhood friend" in the games rather than his brother- a fact that makes sense given the delicate situation in which simply saying that could be overwhelming for 47 who, you know, remembers nothing except the false memories of 6 Ort-Meyer implanted in his brain after the memory wipe.

// But in the comics, which are canon material and relate to the WoA trilogy, the two of them refer to each other as brothers, interact like brothers, and clearly view each other as very close siblings even well into their early adulthood. Until Ort-Meyer wiped his brain, 47 knew Lucas to be his brother. That alone should be enough dissolve any sort of romantic implication between the two. But if you wanna take the biology route, yes- they share the same DNA from the same five people. It's not an exact match, but even if they were exact clones, that wouldn't make it better. They're still biologically related and very closely at that, in addition to being very close socially in a sibling-type bond. Trying to imply that there's some sort of inherent romantic or sexual connection between them now just because they haven't seen each other in 30 years is... strange and creepy to say the least.

// And sure, you could make the argument that "47 is a completely different person" and yeah. He is. But he's still not the kind of person who would fuck someone he barely remembers and is just beginning to recall sharing traumatizing experiences with, least of all if that person is someone he refers to as his brother. And even still, Lucas clearly hasn't changed all that much and regards 47 as his brother just as much now as he did when they were kids.

// I don't know what it is with people looking at clone characters in media that clearly regard each other as brothers and somehow coming to the conclusion that they'd be they'd be "secretly romantically or sexually involved." Except I do know. It's porn-brain, influenced by the copious amount of content revolving around incestuous relationships between siblings and step-siblings that lead people to distort their perception of familial bonds in such a way that they fetishize any connection between two individuals, regardless of the fact that they share a sibling relation. But knowing that fact does not make it any less disturbing or disgusting.

// And I know that topics like this always draw in the Devil's advocates so lemme just jot down real quick:

"If you don't like it, don't read it" - I don't look for it. But people writing this stuff hardly tag their shit properly so here we are. I worry for people who do have triggers for topics like this and click on fics not knowing what they're about to read.

"It's just fiction" - It always is until it isn't. The amount of times I've heard horror stories of people being intimately abused bc their partner saw something in porn and tried to just apply it IRL without asking/consent bc porn has normalized it in their mind as being hot for everyone is horrifying.

"Just let people have fun" - No one's saying you can't have fun. But maybe you should be asking yourself why you feel attacked when people tell you that fetishizing sibling relationships and perpetuating harmful sexualization of innocent interactions might be a bad idea.

"People are allowed to write dark topics" - I agree. But the issue is not the topic itself, it's how you handle it. Of course you can write and explore topics like incest and trauma and their impacts. The issue is when you fetishize, romanticize, and glamorize them instead of treating it with the tact it deserves. These are not topics to make light of or sexualize for your own gratification/fantasies.

"Some people write this stuff as a coping mechanism" - The term for this is known as Expressive Writing. Expressive writing is using journaling, poetry, or personal storywriting in order to process, express, and work through the feelings left behind by traumatic experiences. It's typically done under the guidance of a therapist and is focused on feelings, not descriptions. This is because writing out vivid descriptions can take you back to that place and force you to relive the trauma before you might be ready to do so. Graphic descriptions can also impact the mental health of those around you if it's not done in tactful way. Putting yourself through that actually hinders your recovery from the trauma. So in short, writing graphic depictions of trauma is an unhealthy coping mechanism that can contribute to retraumatization and exposes others to material that they might not be prepared to engage with.

[starjxsung]

hey star, thank you for being vocal about the collab and palestine and giving us the space to be too.

it’s such an overwhelming situation for most of us from what i’ve seen on here. i also saw skz and stayblr as kind of a safe space to get away from my life problems. and seeing everything in shambles is very hurtful. but necessary nonetheless, im glad that this debacle is sparking important conversations.

i have always had kind of a resistance to getting too into kpop. (shinee,bts and skz have been the groups that i’ve spent most energy in but specially skz). bts and skz content really helped me overcome difficult af times in my life. and seeing this unwind is just crazy. i’ve always been aware of the requirements of moral ambiguity that kpop has. and it’s always been something i criticize but didn’t really feel until these latest skz situations like, cc, tommy hilfiger and then zionists are just too much. skz is also my last hope within stanning kpop groups. i’d love to think they’re just being repressed by jype and can’t speak out on it (and i bet that to certain degree this is the case) but at the end of the day, i think ignorance is mostly it. as you said, they’re just rich men too.

i’m also constantly dreading the fact that i don’t have the platform to spread awareness or be able to get messages through, because with such a passionate fanbase as many celebrities have, i would try to move mountains for social justice. i hate the fact that skz can’t (and/or won’t) speak about the issue, id hope it would be bc of repression but tbh idek anymore.

im really disillusioned with everything too. i’m very vocal of my support for the free palestine movement and protests (and everyone in my life have been very supportive as well) but seeing stays and skz openly prom tic zionists is too intense.

tbh, im not even that excited for skz @ lolla anymore (for the time being at least). i’ll still continue to support then but it’s definitely with a more careful perspective. and in all honesty im just on here to send you asks and read other people voicing their activism. not even looking forward to any skz content rn.

thank you for putting the energy you spent on skz into palestine. using your voice for good is so necessary <33

i love you angel, i hope you’re well despite everything.

-🐈‍⬛

The amount of big accounts I’m seeing who are just retiring their pages altogether or taking an indefinite hiatus is crazy. I just saw one of the biggest skz streaming event accounts announce that they’re halting all streaming parties and won’t be supporting any skz content right now until further notice. Like this is a HUGE deal, I really hope people understand the severity of all of this

10000% agree with you on the resistance for getting into kpop. A huge part of how I feel is like… these companies are trying to hard for expansion into the west, and in the west it’s really expected of people nowadays to take a stance and made their morals transparent to audiences. Times are simply changing, and the same should be applicable to kpop idols. Yeah they’re usually under contracts and whatnot, but that just shouldn’t be the norm anymore. And there are idols taking a stance and making a difference! Suho from EXO is organizing an entire fundraising event for palestine and has openly said it’s for the people of Gaza and he’s still heavily under an SM contract. These idols have more power than they lead us to believe, many of them just want to be comfortably ignorant

Also totally feel you on the lolla part. I’m seeing some people say they’re planning on giving skz a black ocean at all upcoming festivals which is practically unheard of in skz events. I hope people understand that these issues can’t just be swept under the rug with a new album and some tour announcement. It’s really sparked a larger conversation about the obligations of rich and influential people to use their platforms

I love you so much and I’m feeling all the same of what you’re feeling :( it just sucks. What a weird time to be so annoyed with your main form of escapism. I’m sending you all my love and I’m always here for you if you need to vent or talk about any of it. 🫶💓💗💕💘🩷