#the only slogan I can get behind this year…

[msdeluluu]

Make America THIN Again

#2025

[rosielovesf1]

on the move | LN4

quadrant moving company coming soon

word count: 1k

warnings: none! (but i have not written in toooo long and i have writer's block so please bear with me 😭)

author's note: thank y'all SO MUCH for 100 followers!!! i am on summer holiday so hopefully will be way more frequent with posts than i have been. if you have any story/driver requests, please message me or use the button on my home page :))

Boxes. Everywhere. y/n ran a hand through her hair, sighing at all that still needed to be done. 

Just picture the apartment. Gorgeous with floor to ceiling windows, a spacious kitchen that filled with light in the afternoons. Most of all, the first place that she could truly call her own after graduation- the incredibly rewarding result of balancing a job and uni for the past four years. 

“Baby, do you want your mugs in with the kitchen stuff or the fragiles?” y/n shuffled over to the kitchen from the bedroom, smiling at the sight of her boyfriend on tiptoe, reaching for the top shelf of the cabinets. 

“Need some help with that?” she giggled, wrapping her arms around him from behind and leaving a soft peck on his neck. He groaned but relaxed into her touch. 

“I think-,” He tugged her arm and she moved to stand in front of him, grinning as she met his green eyes. The room seemed to grow hotter as he caged her in between his arms, the cool granite counter biting into her lower back. There was a glint in his eyes that sent a shiver through her body.

“Lan-” The clock was ticking on her move out date, but a twenty minute break wouldn’t do any harm. Maybe they’d even be more efficient after. She wrapped her arms around his neck, lips parted in anticipation. 

“I need-” One of his hands came up to brush a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“Mmhmm.” The feather light touch was delicious. 

“To stage an intervention. You have so much stuff.” It took her a second to react to the sudden change in mood, a slow grin spreading over his face as he could practically see the gears turning in y/n’s head. He took advantage of the spare moment to nip playfully at her nose, full on laughing when she pushed him back suddenly. 

“I need all my stuff!” y/n protested, crossing her arms defiantly. 

“Baby, you can’t even reach that stuff. It’s just collecting dust up there.” The entire top shelf of the cabinet was cluttered with cups of various shapes and sizes. Some were pretty crystal in pastel colors, others were travel souvenirs sporting slogans like “My friend went to Cancun and all I got is this cup” (yes, there were multiple of those. from the same places.), and there were even a couple that were shaped like animals. The giraffe-shaped ceramic mug had lost its head, and it almost looked a little… phallic… without it. 

“Yes, I can. Watch.” y/n pushed herself onto the counter, taking a moment to steady herself before standing up, now easily at eye level with the cup collection. She smiled triumphantly down at Lando, the moment only dimmed by a sneeze that made her eyes water. Okay, so maybe he had a point about the dust. 

“You’re making me nervous.” He wrapped his hands around y/n’s thighs to steady her, squeezing once to punctuate his words. “Get down, please.” 

She ignored his words and savored the warmth of his touch, reaching for the giraffe mug and grinning at its misshapen appearance. It’d been a souvenir from the zoo when her and her twin brother were children- so well loved that they’d accidentally broken it when deciding who got to take it to uni. 

“Alright, point made.” The reminiscing was interrupted as the world suddenly tilted. She grabbed for the shelf as she leaned forward, Lando gripping her thighs to keep them in place on top of his shoulders.

“Hey! I wasn’t done up there.” She tugged at his curls, planting a soft kiss on the top of his head when he grumbled in protest. “I was thinking of Ratatouille.” 

“That would make you the rat, baby.” That comment earned him a thunk on the head.

Y/n didn’t mind the view from up here- Lando started walking towards the bedroom, where most of what needed to be packed remained. He slowed as they walked through the low door frame, and she smooshed her cheek against his as she leaned down to avoid hitting her head. 

This was the bedroom where she’d studied for her last exams, watched movies with her roommates, even where Lando had taken care of her after a night that was a little too much fun. It was weird to leave it behind, but with her roommates all moved out and the decor taken down, it hardly seemed like the setting of some of her most favorite memories. Lando backed up into the bed, and she fell off his shoulders onto the soft comforter with an oomph. 

“You know…” she said, flipping over onto her stomach. Lando flopped down next to her, humming to tell her to continue. “If you think I should do some decluttering, maybe I should do away with some of my Quadrant hoodies.” 

She’d developed quite a collection over the year they’d been together- one in every design from each drop, and a fair few of Lando’s as well. 

“No. Those stay,” he mumbled, grabbing her around the waist and tickling her across the ribs. She squealed and kicked as she tried to get away from him, eventually straddling him to escape his fingers. 

His eyes raked down her figure at their position, and she just laughed and pushed his face to the side before climbing off. Both staring at the stark white ceiling, she reached to lace her fingers in between his. 

“I’m so excited,” she started, her voice soft. “New apartment, close to my favorite person,” he squeezed her hand at that, “and a new job that I can’t wait to start. I feel like I’m growing up.” 

“I’m so proud of you baby.” They just laid there for a second, savoring each other’s company, watching the dust that almost seemed to sparkle in the late afternoon sunlight. y/n was perfectly content- her favorite person by her side, and a world of new possibilities just days away.

@y/n-l/n is on the move… and all of her mugs are coming with her

@landonorris quadrant moving company coming soon

[elder-millennial-of-zion]

I miss the days, way back when before October 7, when I felt like I was part of leftist circles. I miss feeling energised by leftist slogans because I thought they included me, instead of targeted me.

I miss hearing “eat the rich” and not hearing it as a dog whistle for “kill the Jews.” I miss feeling inspired by phrases like “our struggles for liberation are all connected,” instead of hearing its real meaning, “the Jews are the evil puppet masters behind everything and the world must unite against them.” I miss believing that when leftists talked about punching up at their oppressors, it wasn’t just an excuse to punch down at more vulnerable minorities that they decided were their oppressors despite all evidence to the contrary.

I miss the days when the left poured into the streets to protest cops and corporations instead of protesting Jews. I miss updating myself on those protests so I could join them, instead of to know which areas to avoid because they’ll be Judenrein for the day.

I don’t wish my eyes hadn’t been opened. I’d much rather see the truth no matter how painful and disillusioning it is, because the alternative isn’t actually “bliss.” It’s having a perpetual nagging feeling that something’s off but I can’t put my finger on it, or if I can then I must be overreacting or imagining it’s worse than it is.

But that pain and disillusionment is very real. That loss is very real. It was a community I thought I belonged to, a community I put a lot of work and energy into for many years, and there is grief at the loss of it. Grief that it’s gone, grief that it never was what it claimed to be in the first place. I guess I’m grieving the loss of that part of my identity. And grieving the loss of how people I thought were my friends and allies perceive my identity. Grieving the illusion that they were ever my allies at all, that they ever would be my allies if I needed. Because I haven’t really changed, but the way my former circles look at me completely changed. People who thought I was a good person and a good ally on October 6 decided I was the devil incarnate very literally overnight.

The person who privately reached out to me a few years ago to thank me for a Facebook post I made defending sex workers, because as a former sex worker they appreciated it. Now they’ve been posting antisemitic blood libel, the kind of rhetoric that’s already gotten Jews killed, for six months straight. I tried to tell them how much pain it causes me as a Jew to see their posts, and they only doubled down. It truly is their loss. I was a good friend and a good ally, and they threw me away because I’m a Jew. But it’s totally not because I’m a Jew, it’s because I’m the evil kind of Jew, the kind that just so happens to be the profile of ninety percent of the Jewish population.

I’m grateful I have such a strong sense of Jewish identity, because otherwise the loss of identity in this other way would be far more destabilising. I get why so many people cling to their political identities no matter how much cognitive dissonance they have to wave away; why they insist their ideology is righteous no matter how much evidence to the contrary. Without any other solid identity they would feel too adrift. But that doesn’t excuse their behavior. It’s not ok to jump on a bandwagon to persecute and kill Jews because you want to belong to something that badly, because you can’t handle your sense of self evolving with all the growing pains that come with it.

So many progressive Jews like myself have described ourselves as “politically homeless.” (Specifically in the diaspora; I know the political framework in Israel is completely different.) We can let ourselves sit in that grief. Being homeless is painful and uncomfortable, but it’s better than staying in an abusive home.

[imagitory]

I've never been more heartbroken in my life.

I was gobsmacked in 2016, don't get me wrong. I was devastated and frightened and shaken beyond words. I even had to go behind a wall and collect myself at one point that horrible November 9th, 2016, after colliding with a man wearing a red MAGA hat at work. A good chunk of us at work talked amongst ourselves about it, offering each other comfort.

But this? This is different. I could imagine dumb people making excuses for voting for Trump in 2016 -- saying that they thought a businessman would be good for the economy, saying that they wanted someone who wasn't a "Washington insider" like Hilary Clinton. Sure, it was stupid, but people can be stupid. Quite frankly, a lot of people are stupid, in this country and otherwise.

But now? Anyone who voted for Trump now has voted for a man who not only rounded up immigrants and put them in concentration camps separated from their families; bungled the response to COVID-19 so badly that the American death toll easily surpassed every other country on Earth; has poisoned the Supreme Court to the extent that they overturned years of precedence with Roe V. Wade and has basically given Trump cart-blanche to do whatever he wants while he's president; was the first president in history to refuse to concede on election day; was impeached for crimes in office not once but TWICE; was instrumental to and passionately supportive of the full-on attempted coup at the U.S. capitol on January 6, 2021 that could've very easily resulted in the deaths of his own Vice President and multiple members of Congress; has spoken glowingly of despots like Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong Un and even said he will be "a dictator on day one" if elected again; has both used slogans originally used by modern American Neo-Nazis ("America First") and purportedly told one of his ex-subordinates that he wanted generals like Adolf Hitler's...but also has by the day proven more and more just how mentally inept, vindictive, and mean-spirited he truly is.

And unlike in his previous races, Trump is ahead in the popular vote too. We can't just blame this on the electoral college being antiquated and gerrymandered AF like in the Trump-Clinton or Bush-Gore elections. Even if all of the third-party voters in this country had grown a bloody brain cell and voted for Harris so as to show solidarity against Trump and his form of American fascism, it still somehow wouldn't be enough. We could potentially blame this on lower voter turn-out -- according to what I'm seeing so far, even with all the votes not counted in this race yet, it looks like there were far less votes cast this election than in the last one, though likely still more than the 2016 race. But even so, I don't think that's the only problem. I truly think there were just a lot of people who turned out en-masse to vote for Trump. And all I can think in regards to those people is...

This is beyond stupidity or even selfishness. This is cruelty. This is large swaths of people deciding that they want fellow American citizens to suffer -- because in their minds, if those people suffer, that'll somehow make them happy. This is a large chunk of America saying, "yeah, you know all that crap about 'liberty and justice for all'? Screw that, I want a 'strong man' to bully people different from me for my own amusement." And -- perhaps -- there's also an element of feeling like their vote doesn't really have any consequences for them, so why should they care if the man they voted for is a god-awful person? It's not like that man will hurt them.

I had hoped. I had hoped, seeing the outpouring of support from liberals, independents, and conservatives for Harris/Walz. I'd hoped, seeing how many ex-Trump appointees were standing up against him, how much people were shouting their disdain for Project 2025 from the rooftops, and how many women were protesting in the face of Roe V. Wade being overturned. I truly had started to hope that America would prove we'd grown beyond our country's own original sin -- how our United States preached freedom for all while still being built on the backs of slaves and refusing to grant a vote to over half their population -- by electing a smart, successful, charismatic woman of color who sees our country as great in potential and wants us to pursue that potential as our first female president, rather than backtracking all the slow progress we've made over the last 200+ years.

But now...my hope has faded. My heart is in pieces and the world is so dark. I hardly know how I'll function at work tomorrow, even if I know somehow, I have to try. We'll all have to stand somehow. Somehow, someway...we'll have to find the strength. We'll have to stand, and we'll have to keep moving forward, even when it feels like we're a Little Mermaid walking on knives.

We'll have to stand.

[etz-ashashiyot]

Quotes from "Executed Jews" I want to especially highlight:

Two distinct patterns of antisemitism can be identified by the Jewish holidays that celebrate triumphs over them: Purim and Hanukkah. In the Purim version of antisemitism, exemplified by the Persian genocidal decrees in the biblical Book of Esther, the goal is openly stated and unambiguous: Kill all the Jews. In the Hanukkah version of antisemitism, whose appearances range from the Spanish Inquisition to the Soviet regime, the goal is still to eliminate Jewish civilization. But in the Hanukkah version, this goal could theoretically be accomplished simply by destroying Jewish civilization, while leaving the warm, de-Jewed bodies of its former practitioners intact.

For this reason, the Hanukkah version of antisemitism often employs Jews as its agents. It requires not dead Jews but cool Jews: those willing to give up whatever specific aspect of Jewish civilization is currently uncool. Of course, Judaism has always been uncool, going back to its origins as the planet's only monotheism, featuring a bossy and unsexy invisible God. Uncoolness is pretty much Judaism's brand, which is why cool people find it so threatening — and why Jews who are willing to become cool are absolutely necessary to Hanukkah antisemitism's success. These "converted" Jews are used to demonstrate the good intentions of the regime — which of course isn't antisemitic but merely requires that its Jews publicly flush thousands of years of Jewish civilization down the toilet in exchange for the worthy prize of not being treated like dirt, or not being murdered. For a few years. Maybe.

I wish I could tell the story of Ala's father concisely, compellingly, the way everyone prefers to hear about dead Jews. I regret to say that Benjamin Zuskin wasn't minding his own business and then randomly stuffed into a gas chamber, that his thirteen-year-old daughter did not sit in a closet writing an uplifting diary about the inherent goodness of humanity, that he did not leave behind sad-but-beautiful aphorisms pondering the absence of God while conveniently letting his fellow humans off the hook. He didn't even get crucified for his beliefs. Instead, he and his fellow Soviet Jewish artists — extraordinarily intelligent, creative, talented, and empathetic adults — were played for fools, falling into a slow-motion psychological horror story brimming with suspense and twisted self-blame. They were lured into a long game of appeasing and accommodating, giving up one inch after another of who they were in order to win that grand prize of being allowed to live.

Spoiler alert: they lost.

[...]

But Soviet support for Jewish culture was part of a larger plan to brainwash and coerce national minorities into submitting to the Soviet regime — and for Jews, it came at a very specific price. From the beginning, the regime eliminated anything that celebrated Jewish "nationality" that didn't suit its needs. Jews were awesome, provided they weren't practicing Jewish religion, studying traditional Jewish texts, using Hebrew, or supporting Zionism. The Soviet Union thus pioneered a versatile gaslighting slogan, which it later spread through its client states in the developing world and which remains popular today: it was not antisemitic, merely anti-Zionist. (In the process of not being antisemitic and merely being anti-Zionist, the regime managed to persecute, imprison, torture, and murder thousands of Jews.) What's left of Jewish culture once you surgically remove religious practice, traditional texts, Hebrew, and Zionism? In the Soviet Empire, one answer was Yiddish, but Yiddish was also suspect for its supposedly backwards elements. Nearly 15 percent of its words came directly from biblical and rabbinic Hebrew, so Soviet Yiddish schools and publishers, under the guise of "simplifying" spelling, implemented a new and quite literally antisemitic spelling system that eliminated those words' Near Eastern roots. Another answer was "folklore" — music, visual art, theater, and other creative work reflecting Jewish life — but of course most of that cultural material was also deeply rooted in biblical and rabbinic sources, or reflected common religious practices like Jewish holidays and customs, so that was treacherous too.

No, what the regime required were Yiddish stories that showed how horrible traditional Jewish practice was, stories in which happy, enlightened Yiddish-speaking heroes rejected both religion and Zionism (which, aside from its modern political form, is also a fundamental feature of ancient Jewish texts and prayers traditionally recited at least three times daily). This de-Jewing process is clear from the repertoire of the government-sponsored Moscow State Yiddish Theater, which could only present or adapt Yiddish plays that denounced traditional Judaism as backward, bourgeois, corrupt, or even more explicitly — as in the many productions involving ghosts or graveyard scenes — as dead. As its actors would be, soon enough.

The Soviet Union's destruction of Jewish culture commenced, in a calculated move, with Jews positioned as the destroyers. It began with the Yevsektsiya, committees of Jewish Bolsheviks whose paid government jobs from 1918 through 1930 were to persecute, imprison, and occasionally murder Jews who participated in religious or Zionist institutions — categories that included everything from synagogues to sports clubs, all of which were shut down and their leaders either exiled or "purged." This went on, of course, until the regime purged the Yevsektsiya members themselves.

The pattern repeated in the 1940s. As sordid as the Yeveksiya chapter was, I found myself more intrigued by the undoing of the Jewish Antifascist Committee, a board of prominent Soviet Jewish artists and intellectuals established by Joseph Stalin in 1942 to drum up financial support from Jews overseas for the Soviet war effort. Two of the more prominent names on the JAC's roster of talent were Solomon Mikhoels, the director of the Moscow State Yiddish Theater, and Ala's father Benjamin Zuskin, the theater's leading actor. After promoting these people during the war, Stalin decided these loyal Soviet Jews were no longer useful, and charged them all with treason. He had decided that this committee he himself created was in fact a secret Zionist cabal, designed to bring down the Soviet state. Mikhoels was murdered first, in a 1948 hit staged to look like a traffic accident. Nearly all the others — Zuskin and twelve more Jewish luminaries, including the novelist Dovid Bergelson, who had proclaimed Moscow as the center of the Yiddish future — were executed by firing squad on August 1952.

Just as the regime accused these Jewish artists and intellectuals of being too "nationalist" (read: Jewish), today's long hindsight makes it strangely tempting to read this history and accuse them of not being "nationalist" enough — that is, of being so foolishly committed to the Soviet regime that they were unable to see the writing on the wall. Many works on this subject have said as much. In Stalin's Secret Pogrom, the indispensable English translation of transcripts from the JAC "trial," Russia scholar Joshua Rubenstein concludes his lengthy introduction with the following:

As for the defendants at the trial, it is not clear what they believed about the system they each served. Their lives darkly embodied the tragedy of Soviet Jewry. A combination of revolutionary commitment and naive idealism had tied them to a system they could not renounce. Whatever doubts or misgivings they had, they kept to themselves, and served the Kremlin with the required enthusiasm. They were not dissidents. They were Jewish martyrs. They were also Soviet patriots. Stalin repaid their loyalty by destroying them.

This is completely true, and also completely unfair. The tragedy — even the term seems unjust, with its implied blaming of the victim — was not that these Soviet Jews sold their souls to the devil, though many clearly did. The tragedy was that integrity was never an option in the first place.

[...]

In Jerusalem that morning, Ala told me, in a sudden private moment of anger and candor, that the Soviet Union's treatment of the Jews was worse than Nazi Germany's. I tried to argue, but she shut me up. Obviously the Nazi atrocities against Jews were incomparable, a fact Ala later acknowledged in a calmer mood. But over four generations, the Soviet regime forced Jews to participate in and internalize their own humiliation - and in that way, Ala suggested, they destroyed far more souls. And they never, ever, paid for it.

"They never had a Nuremberg," Ala told me that day, with a quiet fury. "They never acknowledged the evil of what they did. The Nazis were open about what they were doing, but the Soviets pretended. They lured the Jews in, they baited them with support and recognition, they used them, they tricked them, and then they killed them. It was a trap. And no one knows about it, even now. People know about the Holocaust, but not this. Even here in Israel, people don't know. How did you know?"

— Excerpted from "Executed Jews," Chapter 4 of People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn

(All emphasis mine)

Read the full chapter here.

[femsolid]

Well that's disappointing. 7 years ago Alicia Keys decided to stop wearing make-up. She was protesting against feminine beauty standards pressuring her to look a certain way creating insecurities and shame. She also stopped straightening her hair.

She was brave enough to pose for magazine covers, go to big celebrity events, on TV and award shows without make up, to perform without make up and she even wrote a song about it.

Now, not only is she wearing make up again but she's selling make up. She actually started her own make up line. Yep. It's called "Make You". Get it? Cause now you don't wear make up to cover your imperfections, you wear make up to express yourself.

When asked why the sudden change, she explained that beauty is what you make of it, if it's your choice and your own personal version of beauty (which just happens to be the exact same version as everyone else and what the beauty industry wants you to seek) then it's okay. She said all those years without make up have helped her rebuild her self confidence and she's now ready to... wear make up again for some reason? She's doing it for herself this time and is redefining what wearing make up is about. Her make up is different because there's a philosophy behind it. Which is what every brand is selling these days by the way: it's not a product, it's a ~lifestyle~.

She showcased her make up collection at the Met Gala 2022.

It might seem like a personal journey, that's certainly the way she perceives it, but it's neoliberalism in a nutshell: don't try to solve the issue, change the way you think about the issue instead. And find a way to profit from it.

It's such a shame. She must have felt pretty lonely in her endeavour. I mean look at this shit:

Or this one, missing the point entirely:

At least she tried and talked about the issue. She did something most have not. I just wish she wasn't selling it now. How can she do that to others after admitting how much pain it caused her in the past? You just slap some pseudo-feminist slogans on it and call it a day I guess.

Alicia Keys - Girl Can't Be Herself

[morganbritton132]

Eddie posts a Tiktok to his account where he’s like, “Okay, come back in.”

You hear a loud sigh and then Steve walks back into the room in the Scoops Ahoy uniform. He gives a little spin and some jazz hands, and says in a voice that is clearly just humoring Eddie, “Ta-dah.”

He says like, ‘This would be more impressive if I was thirty years younger, babe’ and Eddie responds with, “No, no, big boy. This is better than I imagined. Say the thing.”

“Absolutely not.”

Eddie laughs behind the camera, “That’s where you draw the line? At the slogan?”

Steve sighs again with his hands on hips, and looks like he’s really considering it. Steve obscures the frame when he gets too close and climbs into Eddie’s lap. You can hear him kiss him before saying, “Ahoy, would you like to set sail on this ocean of flavor?”

Eddie only really intends for Robin to see the video, but he doesn’t understand the privacy settings on Tiktok as much as he thought he did so everybody can see it. The video is up for a good few hours before Erica texts to tell him to keep his horniness of her FYP.

[matan4il]

Daily update post:

I have to start this one with the sad news that the hero who saved others by stopping the terrorist yesterday, despite being stabbed in several places (including in the neck), has passed away. His name was Uri Moyal, he was 51 years old, he leaves behind a wife and three kids. Yesterday, the number of wounded was still not fully clear, today it's confirmed that in addition to Uri, the terrorist managed to injure 2 more people. In the pic below you can see Uri holding up a lifetime achievement award. At his funeral today, his daughter Sapir mourned him: "Thank you for being a dad, who was also a teacher for life. There is no one who knew you and didn't fall in love with you."

The German press has reported (so far I've only managed to find this English source) that this week, the antisemitic, genocidal slogan "From the river to the sea" has been found painted in Arabic on the site of the 1972 kidnapping and massacre of 11 Israeli athletes by Palestinian terrorists. I'll point out that recently, the grandson of one of the murdered athletes was attacked (he had several bones in his face broken) in Berlin by an Arab anti-Israel activist.

A terrorist attack was prevented from happening, when two Palestinians, carrying a big knife and a sword, were arrested on their way to a Jewish community in the middle of the night. They're currently being questioned.

After Canada and Sweden, now Australia has also announced that it will renew its funding of UNRWA. I may sound like a broken record, but this is morally broken. They KNOW that UN agency is complicit in countless crimes of helping anti-Jewish hate and violence, the IDF evidence uncovered thanks to the war are just the tip of the iceberg when we're actually talking about decades of complicity, and resuming the funding without any changes, without even an investigation into this being completed, means these countries don't even care about looking as if they care about Jewish and Israeli lives. It's beyond ccontemptible. So. Canada, Sweden and now Australia, whenever these countries' heads tell you that they care about human rights, know that this includes, "but not for Jews."

And because I mentioned the long, long complicity of UNRWA (and many in charge of or dealing with it), here's the CEO of the NGO UN Watch explaining it better than most can, because they have been working for years on calling attention to the wrongdoing of UNRWA:

There's this common lie spread by the anti-Israel crowd, that everything was just peachy between Jews and Muslim in the Middle East, until Zionism came along. This is a blatant erasure of repeated discrimination, persecution, forced conversions, expulsions and massacres perpetrated against Jews living in Muslim majority countries for centuries. The ethnic cleansing of the entire Middle East of Jews (other than in Israel) is only the climax of that long history of antisemitism under Muslim rule, exactly like the Holocaust is just the climax of the long history of antisemitism under Christian European rule. And yesterday, I came across another reminder.

I was listening to an interview with Rabbi Abraham Cooper, an American rabbi, about the discrimination he had recently suffered during a trip to Saudi Arabia. I'd read the headlines, but hearing him tell it in his own words (in amazing Hebrew, might I add) really drove it home. He was heading a US delegation meant to inspect the state of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, when he gets a phone call from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, telling him that the Saudis have laws which must be respected, and which dictate that no one but "the members of our religion" (meaning, Muslims) can walk around publicly displaying signs of their religious identity. In other words, Rabbi Cooper was told to remove his kippah (the head cover religious Jews wear). Rabbi Cooper asked the official on the phone, whether he was sure, and tried arguing against this decision. When the demand was reaffirmed, Rabbi Cooper responded that he wouldn't take off his kippah for the Soviets decades ago, and he wouldn't be taking it off for the Saudis, either. That meant he had to leave, and so the delegation had to end its visit. This isn't a small incident of anti-Jewish discrimination in the 1930's, in an Arab country where no one would even bat an eye at that. This is a Saudi official, speaking to an American Jew, in 2024, during an official visit, meant to check the state of religious freedom in that country, while Saudi Arabia is doing its best to present a more tolerant, modern and progressive image for the world. And this still happened. There is a long tradition of antisemitism in the Middle East, it doesn't simply disappear even when Jews were forced to, and the attempts to deny it with the excuse of "But Zionism!" are antisemitic, too.

This is Hadar Gadol.

He's an Israeli author, a practitioner of alternative medicine, and as a reservist, he serves as a casualty officer (an army official who lets a family know that their loved one was killed in combat, in Israel a casualty officer also continues to work with and support the family after the initial notification, kind of like a social worker appointed by the army). In January, IDF soldier Mark Kononovich was killed. A few weeks ago, as party of taking care of the family, Hadar took Mark's dad Alex on a tour of the last army post where Mark and the friends who died with him had slept. In the middle of that, Hadar got a heart attack. Alex happens to be a doctor, he recognized the signs, administered some first aid, and made sure Hadar would be taken to the hospital to receive the treatment he needed. This is Hadar after being released from the hospital, visiting Alex to thank him (you can also see Mark's younger brother in the pic):

During this visit, Alex told Hadar, "You took our case as very close to you, you felt it like we do, very close to the heart." I have no doubt their bond is gonna be there for years to come. Hadar is actually not the first Israeli casualty officer I've heard of, who collapsed and was in need of hospitalization since Oct 7, just the latest. I think that in a way says something about how acutely Israelis feel the pain of the massacre, whether we personally lost someone or not.

(for all of my updates and ask replies regarding Israel, click here)

[femd-archive]

BIRTHDAY PRESENT

pairing: haikyuu!! — atsumu x fem!reader

word count: 0.8k

content warning: femdom!reader | sub!atsumu | mommy kink | use of toys (dildo) | oral sex (fem receiving) | praise kink | hair pulling | face-fucking | masturbation (masc.) | hands-free orgasm

summary: atsumu thinks you only had a birthday gift for his brother and forgot about him, but you got him the most special present.

📎 side note: never knew how to write someone eating a woman out lol, so it might be a disaster

"Why is only 'Samu getting a gift? It's ma birthday too!" the blonde twin whined, one of his cheek resting against his girlfriend's shoulder.

"Maybe she likes me better" the black-haired one said, still focus on opening the gift box.

"She's ma girlfriend!" Atsumu whined once again, being quiet down by [Name]'s hand over his mouth and a soft 'shhh'.

The couple focused back on the younger twin, who finally opened the box and took out the items out of it; 3 sets of 9 porcelain rice bowls, coming along with their soup spoon and their pair of chopsticks. In the bottom of the box layed a new apron, with the slogan "Onigiri Miya" along the chest.

"If you liked those there are more in the back of my car, but if you don't we can just go together and buy new ones. Just wanted to help you a little bit with the new things for the shop" shrugging her shoulders, [Name] now became a little bit nervous under the quiet twin's silence, as ironic as that sounds.

Finally looking up, the couple could see the tears that were swimming on Osamu's eyes, quickly making Atsumu mirror his state and bringing fresh tears to his own eyes as well.

Osamu walked to them, envolving [Name] on a warm hug, hidding his face on her neck. Atsumu catches his cap that fell down with the motion, thinking that this wasn't the right time to jokingly whine about [Name] being his girlfriend and that Osamu couldn't touch her. Instead, he ruffled his twin's hair when he heard him sob.

"They are perfect" he mumbles, as clear as he can. "Thank you" he whispers, giving a last little squeeze to the woman's body before letting go from the hug. "'M sorry" he laughed, starting to dry out his tears.

"Aww, look at the crybaby" Atsumu teases, putting the cap back on on Osamu and softly slamming the envelope that he quietly slipped out of his pocket on his twin's chest.

He looked at the blonde with a quizzical look, opening the envelope to only find money, a lot of money.

"Shut up" he closed the envelope once again and tended it to his brother.

"Just take it" Atsumu insisted, pushing Osamu's hand.

"This is too much. I can't accept it, not even from you" Osamu refuses.

"Well, that's what brothers are for…right?" Atsumu shrugged, looking away.

It took a few moments before the two males envolved in another warm hug, both of them holding up the tears on their eyes.

"Jeez, you're gonna make me cry guys" [Name] laughed, pressing her ring fingers on both lacrimals to prevent her from crying.

"Oh man, I'm gonna call ma and tell her about it. She won't even believe that ya have money of yer own" Osamu says, slipping of his phone out of his pocket, walking towards the sliding door of the store to go outside.

"Shut yer mouth!" Atsumu yelled, being flipped off by his brother before he closed the door behind him.

[Name] giggled, even after all these years, she never got tired of the twin's antics.

"Baby?" Atsumu called at her.

"Mmh?"

"Is it true?" he asks, snuggling closer to her.

"What baby?" she welcomed him in her arms, leaving a kiss on the top of his head.

"That you like 'Samu better than me" a pout drawed in his lips, which [Name] was quick to kiss.

"Oh silly 'Tsumu" she leaves another kiss on his nose. "I love you more than anything in this world, please don't doubt that" now she kisses his cheek. "I do have a gift for you, but it's something that I can't give you in front of 'Samu" she whispers over his lips, a grin drawing over hers at the slight face of surprise her boyfriend has now.

"Oh" was the only thing that came out of Atsumu's mouth, making [Name] chuckle, leaving another kiss on his forehead.

"Mhm. So wait a little bit longer like the good boy you are and I shall give it to you, okay baby?"

"Yes mommy" he answers obediently, earnign another kiss on the lips.

"Good boy" she whispers, pinching his cheeks with affection.

[...]

Sitting at the feet of the bed and smiling against her hand, [Name] couldn't tear off her eyes away from her pretty boy Atsumu, who was also at the feet of the bed, on the floor.

"You look so pretty baby" she praised.

"Tha-thank you mommy" the setter whines, hips still working their way slowly on that new pretty dildo, his precious birthday gift.

"How do you like your gift, baby?"

"I love it mommy! Thank you..." he whispers, leaving a kiss on her knee. "Wanna please you...please?" looking up, he gazed at her with his puppy eyes.

"Mmh? But it's your birthday honey" she remembered him, caressing his hair with her fingers

"Then...f-for ma birthday, I wanna make ya feel good" he whined, "please"

And how could she say no to those pretty teary eyes?. Undressing herself from her bottom clothes, [Name] opens her legs in front of Atsumu, who looks dreamily at her pussy.

"Come closer baby" she says with a sweet tone.

The setter barely lifts himself up from his dildo to move closer to his girlfriend, shaky hands bringing the toy along with him to sink over it again as he burries his head between his girlfriend's legs.

His tongue started moving along your folds in search for your clit, and when he finally found it he started to lick and suck on it like a starved man. You throw your head backwards, enjoying your boyfriend's skillful tongue; your hand comes to his hair, fingers running through his strands.

"Good boy 'Tsumu, you're such a good boy for me" your praises fall from your lips like a fountain of honey, and he's drinking it all.

His hips started to move faster on top of his 6 inches new dildo, the tip of it starting to hit his prostate again and again. He moans in your pussy, sending vibrations all over your body.

"F-fuck...baby, you feel so good" you whisper, moving your hips to his face, starting to face-fuck him gently.

Atsumu kept moaning, shivering everytime a praise fell out of your mouth. His dick twitched and leaked over the floor as he used both of his holes. He looked up at you with teary eyes, admiring how beautiful you looked as you lost in pleasure, the pleasure that he's giving you.

"Fuck my face" he whispers agains your folds, "grab my hair, do it harder mommy" he pleads, and you oblige.

Your body separates from the bed as you raise your hips and move them against your boyfriend's hot face. His tongue sticks out of his mouth to let you use it as you please as he keeps on bouncing on his toy.

"Touch yourself baby, you deserve it" you say in between heavy breaths. "Taking it all so good for me, looking so pretty...hah, my pretty birthday boy"

Atsumu obeys and finally wraps a hand around his swollen cock and start pumping it at the same pace of his hips. He was already close, and jacking off bring him closer.

Your grip tightens on his blonde locks, making him moan once again as your move your hips desesperatly.

"Gonna cum baby, gonna cum all over your face" you moan and Atsumu can only nod in agreement. He was close too, and he couldn't hold it any longer.

You ended up cumming hard on Atsumu's mouth, body trembling as you hold into the bed sheets to keep steady.

"Fuck...that was intense" you whisper, legs trembling slightly because of your orgasm. Atsumu looked up at you, same puppy eyes gazing at you as your juices dripped off his chin. "Gonna cum too baby? Want me to help you? or you can cum with your new toy?"

"G-gonna cum with my toy...gonna show you how good I am" he mumbles, starting to ride the dildo once again.

"I know that. You're my good boy baby" your hands cups his cute face, pulling him closer and connect your lips together in a heated kiss.

Loyal to his word, he proved to you that he was a good boy and he enjoyed his birthday gift cumming hands free on the floor. His moans got muffled by your lips as his hips twitched with every rope of cum that spilled from his dick. He gasped for aire once you pulled apart from the kiss.

"There you go baby, you did so well" you praised, leaving little kisses all over his face as he normalized his breath. "Come here baby" you helped him get up f the floor with his trembling legs. You both layed on the bed, Atsumu resting on top of you as he regularize his breath.

"Did you like your birthday present, baby?" you ask softly, leaving a kiss on his forehead.

"I loved it mommy. Thank you" he snuggles closer to you, his eyes feeling heavy with laziness.

Before you can even prevent it, he fell asleep on top of you. You feel all sweaty and sticky, but you're also too tired to stand up and clean the both of you. So, just for this time, you give in into the sloth and feel asleep with your boyfriend in your arms.

You're sure you're gonna regret it in the morning.

[adancerdiestwice]

Thoughts on ARMY and Consumerism

*Disclaimer: ARMY is used to describe all fans of BTS, despite contention about who should be allowed to use the term. This is critical of ARMY and HYBE. If you are sensitive to that criticism, you are forewarned.*

K-pop itself perpetuates a high level of consumerism with non-stop releases, numerous merch drops, multiple album copies, brand deals, and ambassadorships. Where BTS has been able to break many boundaries traditional K-pop sets, ARMY’s levels of consumerism has gotten unbelievably outrageous.

Just today, Jin was named ambassador of a jewelry company, with photos debuting him wearing the jewelry. One bracelet he wore in one photo got the attention of ARMY and within a few hours it sold out. But, that bracelet was $27,000 USD. This month, teasers of Despicable ME x BTS hinted that there may possibly be a collaboration or maybe a song on the soundtrack – only for it to be a merch popup?? And two mentions of BTS in the whole movie? Yet ARMYs are selling out BTSxMinions collab merch, for what? It was all ugly anyway and the minionifed members looked ridiculous, bordering disrespectful.

There are countless other examples: meaningless FESTA and RPWP merch, fundraising money to buy more albums to boost numbers, changing Twitter layouts for the merch releases.

Like any celebrity, BTS (the logo, the slogans, the BT21, the TinyTan) has turned into a brand, and have been for many years. But, inherently, as fans, we are not a fan of a brand. There may be ideological differences here in the way people are fans, but personally, I am here because I absolutely adore BTS’ music. I find them to be compelling, talented, unique artists creating and conveying beautiful, thoughtful messages through their music.

Of course, how is a group supposed to make money? They sell merchandise, albums, tickets to events and concerts. At some point though, enough is enough. Their messaging, artistry and dedication to their craft gets so muddled when all anyone ever wants to talk about is the new shiny thing HYBE has plastered their logo and faces onto. And more than half of ARMY buys into it.

It has a unique overlap with the spread of unofficial information and photos of the members. Since HYBE has primed ARMY to always be looking forward to the next thing they can get their hands on, especially in a “drought” of a hiatus (its not at this point), ARMY turns to member’s family accounts, Dispatch, media, and military websites just to get their fix of BTS. Their marketable attachments to their brand have turned inward to the members themselves, to the highest degree it has ever been.

If you speak out against the spread of unofficial content, some ARMY will scream at you to say “You don’t know how things work here, educate yourself, grow up, go back to Twitter.” To that I say, maybe the fandom should be reevaluating itself, like many ARMY already have. If we claim to love and support the members, why are we engaging with posts that are an invasion of privacy? Why are we allowing this level of normalization? Why should we be talking about family members that in ARMY’s relationship with BTS, have absolutely no involvement? Seeing the treatment of military pictures, press releases from unofficial sources, and updates is so disheartening, knowing that multiple members wished to go quietly and return to us as soon as possible (which is showing in their actions post-enlistment). Again, whether or not this is normalized does not matter, this is their time to be civilians. They can’t even have their privacy when they are legally out of their jobs as idols.

The manifestation of a perceived love and commitment to BTS as a member of ARMY has lead fans to be disillusioned with the people behind the brand. This is amplified tenfold in solo and (some) shipper spaces. BTS have built a relationship with their fans under the pretense of trust and respect for ten years. Every fan will hold a different ‘relationship’ to BTS, but tying their success to merch sales, streaming numbers, and album sales only pushes ARMY further into the cogs of consumerism. Focusing on every little update you can scour the internet to find, which turns out to be unethically sourced, pushes a fanbase without the moral structures ARMY have prided themselves on for years.

All of this piles on top of each other to reveal a fandom willing to silence ARMY who are using their fan platforms built on the radicalization that BTS has provoked in people to speak up for justice and humanity. When this issue of monetary focus in ARMY is discussed in the name of boycotting HYBE, people cannot even fathom the idea of pausing their spending on their favorite group, possibly for fear of missing out, sacrificing their fan involvement, or simply refusing to see the mission behind a boycott.

This leaves a fandom divided, hurt, and devastated in the wake of destruction from those who cannot see the value in BTS as humans and individuals first and foremost. I hope individuals reconsider what brought them to the fandom, what makes them stay in the fandom, and why they love the members. ARMY is not and should not be characterized by aesthetics and money, despite the current state of this fandom telling us otherwise.

[naiadsmystery]

💜 Match made in heaven: Sailor Moon x BNHA Pro!Heroes 💜

A match made in heaven or Kiki is playing Cupid: Which Sailor Warrior suits which pro hero? Please let me know if you agree or disagree! Also, I am excluding Sailor Moon because she belongs to Mamoru, as well as Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune since they are already a perfect couple and there is nothing Cupid Kiki can do! 💖

Important Note: I am aware that the Sailor Warriors are all between 12 and 19 years old (I think Sailor Pluto is the only one who is not a minor). The age differences between them and the Pro Heroes are in some cases huge (and minors+adults being in a relationship is not okay) and with this note, I just want to emphasize that I was just purely looking at the Sailor Warriors’ personalities and imagined them as adults for this headcanon to match their counterparts. But, if you feel uncomfortable reading this, please let me know because I want this page to be a safe space! Thank you! 💖

Eraserhead x Sailor Mars

hear me out on this one: You probably thought I was going to put our flame girl Rei with our flame dad Enji but let’s face it they would probably just fight all the time. She doesn’t have a high opinion of men because of her father (again a reason to not put her with dad Enji) that’s why she needs someone who can face her sassy comments and her temper which is usually pretty calm except when she is around Usagi. She hides her warm heart and kindness behind a wall of ice and we all know one hero who is a little bit cold on the outside but a big caring softie on the inside. I can see both of them having the best conversations! Also, despite her anger when it comes to Usagi, she is a very patient and gentle person who is also loyal af. If Aizawa gets in trouble she will have his ass covered. If Rei is in trouble, he will come and support her. I think that their relationship would be a very balanced and calm one.

Present Mic x Sailor Mercury

Hizashi, Present Mic, loud boy who needs lots of love and attention. He is 100% an extrovert that’s why he needs someone who is 100% an introvert. Ami is a very shy person at first but as soon as you get to know her, you will meet her sweet, gentle and caring side. She is a quiet girl with a loud soul and because of her calming demeanor, she is the perfect fit for Hizashi. He lives life to its fullest, la dolce vita is his slogan and this is something Ami needs to learn: to stop overanalyzing everything and to just dare and Hizashi will help her to experience life and to take more risks. On the contrary, when his life gets a little bit too loud he has a safe and quiet place he can go back to which is Ami.

All Might x Sailor Venus

It doesn’t matter if you think of Big!Might or Small!Might both are a perfect fit for Minako. There is a reason why she is Sailor Venus, the Goddess of Love since her whole personality is made to fall in love with her. She is friendly, clever, can be a goofball and seconds later she is the most serious person you have ever known. Minako is exactly the kind of girl that would sweep Toshinori off of his feet. He feels down and needs someone to talk to? No problem, Minako will listen patiently and give him a warm hug afterwards. He had a stressful day and just wants to relax? No problem, Minako will first crack a joke to make him laugh, before she prepares the most luxurious bath he has ever been into. Small!Might is dealing with low self-esteem? Minako will shower him with honest compliments while covering him in kisses. Big!Might on the other hand has to deal with a Minako that always wants to do arm wrestling. She has a pretty athletic physique but all her strength is in her arms that's why she always wants to challenge Toshi. He, of course, would break her arm if he would use all his muscle power that's why he just lets her win (most of the time). To sum everything up: The things that Minako give are the things she receives from Toshi. The answer to her kindness will be more kindness. Her happiness is his happiness and both of them would die for each other.

Fatgum x Sailor Saturn

Again, another: “Hear me out on this one!”. Taishiro and Hotaru are THE MOST PERFECT MATCH FROM ALL OF THESE MATCHES OKAY!?!? Fatgum is what you would call a good boy! He is kind and his top priority are always the people around him, whereas he always puts himself last. Even though he can come off as serious, he is a very extroverted, funny and playful person who just loves to laugh (and to eat). He is a pure ray of sunshine that will always make your day brighter. Hotaru however is a beam of moonshine: She is extremely shy, can be at times socially awkward and has a hard time making friends. But when she opens up to someone she is the most kind-hearted person you will ever know! She is quiet on the outside but on the inside, she is soft, caring and a complete romantic! Why do I think Taishiro and Hotaru are the most perfect couple? Because they are so different they balance each other out perfectly! He will talk when she is too shy. She will give him the most romantic surprises you can think of and in return, he will make her laugh until her tummy hurts. Both of them would fight and die for each other because their love is the purest of them all (I’m going to cry). Extra Note: Hotarus is the one who has the brains in the relationship and you can’t change my mind.

Hawks x Sailor Jupiter

(not gonna lie he and Usagi would be a great pair too cough)

My little precious babies who only deserve the best! Makoto lost her parents when she was very young which meant that she had to learn how to take care of herself from a young age. She is very independent and sometimes she has a hard time relying on others. Despite being on her own most of her life she is a very outgoing person who loves to live life to its fullest! Because of her loud personality and her tall-looking appearance, she comes off as a tomboy but luckily she does not care what others think of her, EXCEPT her senpai from high school. She was once in love with a boy at her school who sadly rejected her and for a long time, she couldn’t get over her broken heart. She tried to find a new partner that was similar to her high school senpai but she ran out of luck. The reason why the universe didn’t want to see her with her senpai was because she was meant to be with Keigo. Keigo had a troublesome childhood himself and even though he is a very optimistic person, he has a hard time openly talking about his feelings. He always casts his emotions aside because he sees them as a weakness and as a pro hero he can’t be distracted by something so trivial. But his carefree and friendly character is what caught Makotos’ attention. Both of them just want to live life but they are also very loyal to the ones they love and look up to. Every second they spend together is full of laughter and none of them are too shy to show how much they love each other. They are a perfect match because he can learn from her how to feel his emotions deeply and how to align with them, whereas Makoto finally learns that there is no shame in relying on others.

Gang Orca x Sailor Pluto

I will not lie, this couple is a wild one and something neither You nor I might have expected! BUT these two have something very trivial in common: They both look like villains but are the sweetest people you will ever meet. Kugo is undoubtedly a big softie with the biggest heart ever. He loves everyone even though he pretends not to be. His caring nature and his loyalty are two traits that others appreciate about him. He might be the No. 12 hero but is probably the No. 1 hero that you can rely on and this is something our outer senshi girl Setsuna needs. She carries a cold and distant facade, which is a result of her responsibility as the Guardian of Time and Space. She has this huge task on her shoulders and one mistake would have fatal consequences. Despite the loneliness she feels inside, she never lost her loving heart and the motivation to turn the world into a better place. She is like a mother to her friends and all those she loves and will always take care of the needs of others. It is like a personal mantra to her: To serve others before thinking of yourself. She is selfless, wise and has the most beautiful smile. Kugo adores everything about her and if he could he would take away the burden she has to carry.

BONUS: Endeavor x Sailor Neptune

At first, I wasn’t sure if both of them would fit together but the more you think about it, the more it makes sense. Enji is a very straightforward but also complex character: He did many things wrong in his past and his abusive behaviour towards his wife and children should not be excused. Still, he kind of got his redemption arc and you could tell that his demeanour was changing, that’s why I believe he deserves a second chance in love as well. Behind his wall of confidence, stubbornness and coldness lies a man who is insecure and just needs to be truly loved. He has a gentle side that he never had a chance to explore before but now that he is trying to reconcile with his children and himself, a perfect woman is waiting for him to make him a better man: Sailor Neptune aka Michiru. She is what you would call a princess: She is intelligent, well-mannered, kind and confident. At first, she might come off as distant and arrogant but she has a heart of gold and would sacrifice herself before the people she loves get hurt. She is a perfect match for Enji because she will cool him down when he gets hot-tempered. She is not obedient and openly communicates when she is hurt or thinks that Enji is getting out of control. And because she can talk back and think and fight for herself she is his perfect counterpart.

[t00nyah]

i hope ur ready

A WHOLE POST OF LYRICS FROM (MOSTLY BLACK DRESSES) SONGS THAT I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT 24/7

part 1 (out of ???)

BLACK DRESSES section (LAUGHINGFISH-PEACEFUL AS HELL)

LAUGHINGFISH

She started to feel ok But coming from a place as bad as that was Things can tend to find a way to tag along She didn't leave a mess with her luggage She made sure to stay on top of chores But her new chosen family was just as complicated as the old one was //FEEL SOMETHING

When everything is quiet It's louder than a scream //BAD VEGGIES

And the years behind all look the same Wounded animal freaking out on stage Get so depressed when people say "The more things change More they stay the same" //WOUNDED ANIMAL

Maybe the true self is only true when It could never survive in its true form Maybe the me inside only stays alive Because it's kept safe from the world //GOOD THINGS HAPPEN

FUCK the real ones Fuck true love Fuck being powerful, I don't care What could I dream of that is not made up Fuck this stupid world I am scared enough that I'm not afraid at all //DON'T FORGIVE THE WORLD

I won't sing my song If you find me gone tomorrow I won't feel a thing Doctors tearing up my body God could not forgive As we blink out of existence I don't mind at all Pretty sure we're ending up together

You say you wanna be saved God wanted you to live We're setting the tone Forever going out sad And no one needs songs where we're going I'm not hoping for a fight but I know I see one coming //IF YOU FIND ME GONE TOMORROW

Rook: I feel like a weapon out of control every day Fight the conditioning, blank stare, nothing to say Try my best but it all gets mangled On the way to my brain It's taking over again Devi: I don't pity the body For what? It destroys Rook: The memory of us against the world Nobody else could touch us back then //LAST LOVE SONG ON THIS LITTLE PLANET

The truth only matters if you're honest. Are you? - Man you're so fucking corny it makes me look straight //NO DAYS OFF (those are literally just two separate lines but PLEASE they are gold)

And the stereo connects right back to the mic I think I liked you better still alive I didn't expect in my dreams we'd still fight But I shoulda known and And the highway connects to the road Like the car was a part of your soul That I'm sure by now your mom sold //CAN'T KEEP THE KNOTS OUT

Earth is love But this crazy little thing called love can be a little bit intense //IT'S PROBABLY FINE

Forget Your Own Face

People say nothing is impossible but I do nothing every day - If you got- if you got what you wanted If you got what you wanted the most If you got- if you got what you wanted Would you still be fucking depressed? Would you still be fucked up by the past? Would you still regret everything? Yes. //u_u2

Give up on what you wanted Never give upuPUPUp on what you thought was true to you Unless you find some kind of other truth that means something to you Never give up on what you wanted Never give up on what you wanted Even if it's stupid God is stupid Let's be Stupid: God is here. //Let's Be

T-shirt slogan I'm a t-shirt slogan I'm a meme, I know it I got mean, I know it We learned a lot about Entertainment Tried a lot of shit, still not Entertained Yet. Isn't it crazy to be human? To bear witness to the illusion of patterns? To the illusion of order? To think that all this shit is normal? //NO NORMAL

Colorful and delicate like a paper star Shriveling in the heat of what we are At the end of time, did I do anything? Burning up like an insect in the sun I just wanna be useful to someone On the final day, did I make you smile? //doomspiral

Everything I want is fiction What I need does not exist Everything you want is right here waiting For you to take it What I need does not exist //GAY UGLY AND HARD TO UNDERSTAND

I used to want to mean Something to somebody But people never see The side of you you want to be And when the air is smoke And when the sky burns out I hope no one is looking at me When the sun explodes - I'm grateful for the time we had to do childish things Like making songs: Like this one. Stars shooting overhead as everything in the universe falls apart How romantic, like kissing under fireworks, but... As our bodies burn to light As our bodies turn to raw energy with no identity, uh... Let's meet back here again We can do a little show We can sing a couple songs We can fight over how the songs go I know it's not much For all the things in the world Not much, but let's just have- Let's just still try to have fun. //nightwish

Forever In Your Heart (oh this is about to explode)

The dead hope that you always clung to The dream that someday it would heal you Is there anywhere left to fall? I try so hard to recall hope Ancient hope Rotting hope Can we make something beautiful with no hope? //PEACESIGN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know it's not easy for anyone We're all on a clear light hell trip But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try Just don't come anywhere near me And we'll be ok I don't wanna see anyone's face I'm dealing with my own shit right now You can deal with your shit somewhere else - Stuck inside a concrete bubble Everyone is "doing their best" I think that it's kind of whatever. But dreams are not meant to be achieve

It's just not enough It's never been enough When the FUCK has it ever been enough Only to dream? //Concree Bubble

I'm just meat without a soul, Without a brain, Without anything, An animal. - The night explodes in the light From a shooting star IT'S EASY TO BECOME DISILLUSIONED WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE And it can live forever in your heart It can live forever in your heart Forever in your heart It can live forever in your sick pathetic little heart //Heaven

I know it sounds stupid for a world like this, People do their best And still come off so twisted up and so heartless And I know I'm grateful if someone tries at all Still ends crumpled up, Scrunched up, like a tossed away love letter but

I think If there was ever a right way to do it I think That nobody's ever even done it //Tiny Ball

But on a clear and cloudless day It feels like the planets atmosphere Is stitched together by everyone's pain And we just breathe it in... //Silver Bells

I don't wanna do this anymore I don't wanna do this anymore I don't wanna prove I was wrong about you I don't wanna do this anymore I don't wanna do this anymore I don't wanna prove I was right about you //Ragequitted

A little dirt might cover up the wound (Rook) A little dirt might cover up the wound But a little dirt might infect it too (Rook) Infect it too There's no right choices to make in this life (Rook) This life

All you can do is what you can do //Waiting42moro(just saying i love this song the entirety of it but like THIS particular thing is so stuck in my head...)

I tried to offer up my pain to be understood But I don't think it's my pain that can be understood, Or needs understanding.

There's not a lot of pain in the world that makes any sense Maybe people need to be understood instead. //Understanding

What does it really take to want to hurt a child? It seems like it's not much for a lot of people. //Mistake

Peaceful as Hell

it's like a pearl formed from the pressure of all the blood in a world of nightmares it's feeding on love it's growing stronger and coming alive it's so scared and confused but it still wants to survive

it dreams of a future: impending doom it clings to the hope that it might pull through and everyone stares at it with disdain but it's trying so hard every single day //LEFT ARM OF LIFE

im so cute and well-adjusted i know exactly what to say i hope no one discovers i struggle with it every day how the FUCK does language work what do people like to hear?? i dont wanna be uncool but i need TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE - I wanna give people a chance but they keep letting me down I wanna be wrong again I wanna be wrong about being wrong this world shouldn't need to feel so lonely is it because I'm too angry to be around anyone again? //IM A FREAK CUZ IM ALWAYS FREAKED OUT

it's ok to keep your soul hidden keep a secret to yourself it's ok to be a bad singer you can sing a special song all by yourself //BLISS AND STUPIDITY

//MAYBE THIS WORLD IS ANOTHER PLANETS HELL? (yes im putting the entirety of it here bc im just so full of thought about this one)

bloody worm goddess you look so pretty when you're scared to death it'll never change burning bright with fear and hopelessness - trapped inside it again i don't sleep anymore i don't have any dreams i don't have a true form //SCARED 2 DEATH

is it ok for me to be happy? is it really ok for me to happy? is it ok for me to be happy? turn up the radio play us a happiness song - come on girl, haven't you learned how to express yourself? why is it so hard to get you out of your shell? is it ok for me to be messy? is it really ok for me to be messy? is it ok for me to be messy? i don't know how to let it go //EXPRESS YOURSELF

the impossible dream of having a skin everything crawls on, everything soaks in I'll be eaten by ants but I won't feel that bad I just wanna have my body to my Self while I still Am and I don't wanna be polluted by all the violence that already twisted me up //IMPOSSIBLE DREAM

you could say anything that you want I could say anything that I want to you could say anything that you want it's up to you to choose what's important to you

but don't be weird, don't be mean you're on my computer screen it's my world, it's my life i'm a person please be nice - you can say anything you want you can say anything you want to it doesn't mean you're bad but sometimes love is holding back //PLEASE BE NICE

//666 (another one that is just fully in my head, it's so sweet and comforting)

part 2(LOVE AND AFFECTION FOR STUPID LITTLE BITCHES-WASTEISOLATION)...coming someday. no date.

[lilbabybutts]

Doll Review: The Sweetheart

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The Sweetheart Collection is the newest release of Euphoria.Sense dolls made for their brand new Euphoria.6 AI. The stock models come in three skin tones, two sexes, and only one body type each. For a company whose slogan is “Every doll is made for you,’ it’s a considerably less diverse collection than Euphoria fans are accustomed to. Euphoria.Sense does offer their custom build services for the Sweethearts, but depending on the bells and whistles, you could be looking at prices even the most dedicated collectors would wince at. 

The software, the newest edition of the original, yet to be replicated, Euphoria AI, is capable of problem solving and performing even complex, multiple step tasks. This doll is not just an object, but a companion with an almost limitless potential to think, sense, and emote. The AI is perfectly married to the hardware with over 8 million ‘nerve endings’, a real, robust voice replicator- no recordings, and a synthetic skin so beautiful I could write poetry about it.

It’s almost easy to forget it isn’t human. 

Personality wise, the Sweetheart is happy, excitable, and affectionate. The dev team behind Euphoria.6 said in an interview that ‘loving you is the core of its personality, the thought all other thoughts stem from,’ and it shows. While it might sound like Euphoria.Sense tempting the hand of fate, so far there’s no evidence of the violent or possessive tendencies that Euphoria.3 suffered. Actually, in contrast, the Sweethearts are quite gentle and mild mannered, so much that it’s touching. In the first week, I noticed my Sweetheart looking out the window when I left for work and she was still there when I came home. 

Functionally, they perform much better in all tasks than previous models. Of course any doll can follow directions, but Sweethearts seem to have no trouble interpreting figures of speech, incomplete thoughts, or even slurred or muffled voices. They have a more natural way of speaking than most dolls, though the language still isn’t as advanced as anything Bunnysoft has been putting out for years. 

Their physique is a bit delicate compared to previous collections so if you’re looking for something to take a beating, the sweetheart isn’t it. What it lacks in durability it makes up for by far in feeling. The sweetheart mold has the softest, most realistic flesh out of any doll in my collection and, honestly, it’s better than real pussy.

It's a refreshingly original approach to doll design. Whatever you thought you wanted was wrong; You want the Sweetheart.

 

They always wanted one. They read the reviews, they follow the collector’s blogs, they watch the porn.. The real problem is the ridiculous price tag. They could probably find one much cheaper if they bought refurbished or a different brand… but this was Euphoria.Sense.. Why own one at all if not the original? 

They browse the product photos. The second one is a blonde Sweetheart on their knees looking up at the camera with big glassy eyes. They immediately get up to go find their credit card.

The website promises easy clean up. A ten-day money back guarantee if none of the seals are broken. And it has all kinds of adorable accessories. It comes out to several thousands of dollars, but the overnight shipping is free. 

Though apparently, it isn’t discreet. The delivery guy makes an uncomfortable face as he asks them to sign for it. The tall, ornate box might almost look like a coffin except for the giant Euphoria.Sense dollhouse logo on the front of it. Their mind is already filled with dozens of images that make them sweat. 

By the time they get around to unwrapping it they're getting worked up, imaging its voice, all the cutesy, dutiful “yes master!”s and little curtseys it will do. 

They cut the tape and the zip-ties before moving to the actual lock. The password is their order confirmation number. It opens and the lid pops off with a click.

Once it’s removed they stare down at their new toy. Its eyes are closed and it lays perfectly, unnaturally still. It’s so much more beautiful in person. They chose the model with lavender hair, currently tied up in two neat buns with baby blue ribbons. It’s wearing a blue peter pan collar blouse, a pair of white bloomers, tied at the waist by a satin bow, blue baby doll shoes, and white fishnet stockings. The best part of course was the intricate white ribbon collar with the Euphoria.Sense dollhouse charm in the middle. The company sold different outfits and accessories as add-on packs, but they decided against getting any for some dumb reason.

They read the instruction manual, which is the size of a textbook, for about four seconds. Whatever, they’ve seen how it works. They reach into the box and gently tilt its head to the right. They reach behind its left ear, find the button under the skin, and press it. After exactly six seconds- they count- the doll’s eyes open. 

It blinks at them once or twice, eyes sparkling. It’s so adorable they want to eat it up. 

“Can you get out of there?” They start.

It stands up, stepping out of the box, revealing the foam hole cut to exactly its shape. It stands there. They stand there. They don’t know what to do now exactly. Maybe they should have thought this through.

 "…so. What’s your name?"

“The master has the privilege of choosing a doll’s name!" It responds a little too quickly.

“Oh, right. I guess I am your master, but I’m really not good at that kind of thing..” 

They stare at the doll, feeling slightly embarrassed. The doll stares back. 

“What name would you like?” They ask, looking for an easy out. 

The doll’s lips twist as if giving this deep consideration. It’s very cute. “I don’t know, master. I.. don’t know what kind of things I like!” 

They’re surprised by that answer. Doesn’t a doll come with a whole default personality? With likes and stuff? “Well, we can come back to it I-”

“I like you, Master!” The doll blurts out suddenly, “I don’t know many things, but I live to love my master, to fulfill all their dreams and desires.” It smiles sheepishly.

They turn bright red. They’d heard that exact line in a lot of porn before.

“Oh! Thanks! I .. like you too!” Wow. 

The doll giggles. Its cheeks turn a soft rosy color. 

They know how this goes in all those videos, and they have such a clear fantasy in their head, but in reality, they’re just as awkward and nervous as they are in front of real people. This is supposed to be easier! Maybe they should get to know each other first.. Or something. At least give it a name. 

“Well, um.. Do you want to see your new home?” 

It nods excitedly. “Yes master, very much!” 

They smile, holding out their hand. The doll takes it happily, scooting ever so closer to their master. Its skin is soft and warm and incredibly life-like. For the first time they see its arms extended, exposing the ball joints only visible on the inside of the elbow, the only immediate sign it isn't human. It's kind of fascinating and kind of beautiful. Some people dislike them and try to cover them with gloves or long sleeve blouses, but they don't mind them at all. They don't need to pretend their doll is a real person, because they don't want a real person. Real people have agency, they're too complex and too selfish. All they really want is a cute little toy.

They turn, gesturing around the living room. “This is my living room. This is the couch, and the tv. You can watch it if you want.. The door to the left is the laundry room, it’s really just a closet.” They lead it through the archway to the kitchen. “This is the kitchen. It’s where all the food is. Um.. Do you eat?” 

“No, master. Though I can taste, and I have a chamber in my tummy, it isn’t meant to hold food. Anything I swallow will have to be removed and then I will need to be cleaned.” 

They have a pretty good idea what that’s for. That’s kind of gross. Thankfully they recall something about the self-cleaning mode from that instruction manual they sort of skimmed. 

“Well if you want to taste things, you can ask me. Just don’t do it without telling me. I don’t want you to get dirty. Or choke or something.”

The doll hums. “Yes master, of course!” 

They lead it back through the living room toward the hallway and open the door to the bathroom. “This is the bathroom… I don’t know if you need to use it, but this is where you'll get cleaned up. Make sure you knock before you go in, okay?” 

The doll nods, still smiling brightly. It seems so pleased just to see a tiny bathroom. They close the door and move on to the end of the hall. “This is my bedroom. This is where I sleep. You can look around if you want.” 

It nods, taking a shy step away from them. Reluctantly, it releases their hand, walking towards the bed. It touches the duvet carefully, investigating it. “Soft!”

It occurs to them the doll had only ever touched manufacturing equipment and plastic packaging. How many nerve endings did it have again? Just how advanced was the technology that made this doll think and feel? In principle, they didn't support giving sex dolls almost near-human processing and cognitive abilities, it was inhumane, right?...but it really wasn't their principles that had made this purchase.

“Where will I sleep, master?”

Oh. They hadn’t thought of that before. “Well.. I guess I’ll get you a bed of your own. There should be enough room in the closet.” God forbid anyone comes to visit and sees the doll, much less a whole bed for it. They make these insanely small storage boxes for the dolls that they contort into like old-school circus performers, but they didn't really like them. They were meant to be discreet so they were kind of ugly. Plus, when they were a kid, they always loved spoiling their dolls with their own pretty beds and wardrobes.. maybe even a vanity.  “But for now you can sleep with me.” 

The doll spins around to face them, eyes lighting up. “Really master? You mean it?” 

They shrug. “Of course, silly.” 

It jumps up and down excitedly. “Thank you master!! Can I get in the bed now? I would like to feel it!” 

They nod, laughing softly. “You’re precious.” 

“I am?” 

“Yes! You are.” 

“Thank you master! That’s a wonderful name!” 

Oh. Well. That wasn’t what they meant, but it suited them. And they hadn’t thought of anything else so far. “Yes, you can get in the bed, Precious.” 

It beams, climbing carefully onto the bed, trying not to disturb the covers. It slowly, gently lays on its back, spreading its arms out on either side. It's kind of angelic. Its blouse rides up slightly, exposing a few inches of its tummy. One of the best things about this model is its size. It isn’t thin like a lot of the popular or cheaper models. It's pleasantly chubby, with soft, squishy thighs and a rounder tummy. They have the sudden urge to kiss it. 

Suddenly, the awkwardness from before is gone completely. They go to the edge of the bed and sit next to the doll.  They run their hand up the doll’s legs, over their bloomers, and rest it on the exposed skin, fingers sitting just under the edge of the blouse. Its tummy is even softer than its hands. 

“Does that feel good, Precious?” They look up at its face, stroking the skin below its belly button. They feel the familiar warmth of arousal creep up on them, that almost animalistic urge to  possess and consume.

Precious bites its lip, nodding silently. They feel a sudden confidence. A sudden dominance. “Will you answer me, sweetheart?”

“Yes master!” It says quickly. “I love being touched by you in any way.” 

“Good doll.” They let their hand come down over the bloomers, over the hips, and down between its legs. “Do you want to play with Master, Precious? Do you want to make me happy?” 

“Of course, Master, your happiness is the only thing that matters to me.” It said so as if stating an obvious fact. The sky is blue; dolls exist to serve their masters.

“You are such a good little dolly.” They squeeze lightly. The doll sucks in a small breath, back arching ever so slightly. It stares up at them, eyes wide, innocent. They pull their hand away to untie the satin ribbon around the doll’s waist and push both hands below the waistband of its bloomers, inching them down its legs. The doll’s eyes flutter closed. 

Its panties are lavender and white lace, framing its hips and beautiful pink pussy. They get so hard it almost hurts. They look back up at the doll. 

“Unbutton your shirt, babydoll.” 

“Yes master.” It says in a lower, lusty little voice. The sound of it makes them go slightly crazy. It undoes the buttons from the bottom, going just slow enough to keep them on the edge of anticipation. Finally, when it reaches the top button, they place their hand over the dolls, pulling the shirt open, revealing the matching bra beneath.

They run both hands up its stomach, over the dolls perfect breasts. 

“You’re so perfect, Precious. I want you. I could eat you.” They throw one leg over the doll’s hips, straddling it. 

“Anything, whatever you want.” It whispers.

They lean down, kissing its chest, its neck. 

The doll moans quietly. 

“You belong to me,” they said, but not to the doll. It was as if they were finally realizing that they owned it. Completely. It was an object. Theirs. “Say you belong to me. Only me.”

“I belong to you Master, only to you.” 

At that, they can’t help but growl, biting its neck, maybe a little harder than they meant to. The doll gasps, moans in pain. 

They sit back up, pull their t-shirt over their head, and start to undo their belt. The dolls eyes are slightly teary, but they know it's programmed to enjoy pain, even though it's programmed to cry as well. This is one of the selling points they always go on about. You’re supposed to be able to do things humans can’t physically tolerate. It comes off as kind of creepy and psychotic, but they can’t help but admit that they have violent tastes. They like inflicting pain, but they don’t actually like harming people. It’s different.. Not many humans understand that. 

They cup the doll's face in their hand and stroke its cheek gently with their thumb. It looks at them like no one has ever looked at them before. Like they created the universe itself, like they're God. Like it worships them. And it probably does. They are the only person it's ever met, and these dolls are programmed to love their master- it's the very core of their being. They smile sweetly. "Would you do anything for me, Precious?"

"Of course." It answers easily, genuinely. 

They lean down and kiss it on the mouth. It follows their lead, opening up and catching their lips with its own. It's the best kiss they've ever had in their life. No one ever talks about how good they kissed..A lot of owners are very mean to their dolls, so they guess they aren't doing a lot of kissing. The thought makes them kind of sad. 

They pull away, hopping off the bed in a rush. They unbutton their pants and slide them off as Precious watches patiently, adoringly. 

"Do you want me to fuck you, babydoll?" 

Precious nods furiously. "Yes, master! Please! It would make me so happy!" 

They take their boxers off, erection finally free. They grab the doll's legs, swinging them around so they hang off the bed, hips just on the edge. They set its ankles on their shoulders and gently, slowly, pull its panties down its legs. It was like unwrapping a present. Twice. At the end, they bend its knee, pulling the delicate lace off one leg and then the other, setting it on the nightstand. 

Its pussy was beautiful. Pink, plush. Delectable. Of course it was perfect, it was engineered to be, but God, still.

They inch forward, knees against the side of the bed, and reach one hand out to stroke it. They slide their middle finger between its lips and dip just into its opening. The doll moans, the hottest sound they'd ever heard. It was irresistibly wet. They push deeper, coaxing more sounds out of it. 

They can't wait anymore. They pull their hand away and quickly adjust the doll's hips to line up with theirs. They push in. They moan. That first thrust, that moment..It was so warm. Precious wrapped around them so tightly. It was so soft. They could die.

"Master!" The doll throws its head back against the pillow, eyes fluttering closed. 

The sound goads them on, they pull out halfway and slam back in, forcing a little grunt out of the doll. It’s divine. They lose all control, pulling out again only to pound into them over and over. It’s like religion. They throw their head back, unable to concentrate, focusing on nothing but the feeling of being inside the doll’s precious little pussy. Eventually they slow. Somehow capable of thoughts, they decide not to cum, to savor it instead. They look back down at the doll, the ribbon around one of its hair buns coming loose. It notices their gaze and meets their eyes. It gives them a look of pure adoration. No one’s ever looked at them like this. They reach down and undo both ribbons, letting its hair fall around its face. They run their hand through it. 

“You’re so beautiful.” 

“Thank you, Ma-” They interrupt it with a sudden, hard thrust. It stutters, distracted by a moan. They bite their lip. Fuck. 

They pull away, grabbing its ankles off their shoulders. They gently set them on the floor. 

With a huff, they hug the doll around the middle and toss it further back into the bed, against the pillows. It looks perfectly disheveled, but they want it absolutely wrecked. 

They crawl up the bed and over the doll, grabbing its face in their hand. They gently turn its head from side to side, admiring every inch of it. They lean down and gently kiss its forehead. The doll looks up through its eyelashes, glowing under the affection. 

“You would look even more beautiful with tears in your eyes.” They say softly. “I want to make you cry.” 

The dolls cheeks blush a much darker shade than they’d seen them. “I will fulfill all your dreams and desires.” It says confidently. 

The doll would enjoy whatever they wanted it to, whatever made its Master happy, no matter what. They knew this, but had never experienced it first hand. It worships them but now, it's starting to make them feel like a God. 

Slowly, deliberately, they bring their flat palm against its right cheek and then pull back, slapping it. Precious gasps as its head is wrenched to the side. It turns back to the position they had left it in before and smiles at them, with this perfectly crazy, giddy look. Their lips part, it was all they could do to keep their mouth from hanging open.

They stare at it for a moment. “Good doll.” They slap it again, harder, without warning. The doll gasps again, eyes fluttering open and closed several times before small tears bead in the corners of its eyes. In a moment it gathers its composure, this time having to deliberately put its smile back on for Master. It’s fucking delicious to watch. 

They rock back on their knees, back down to the middle of the bed. They gently spread the dolls legs apart, taking a moment to feel the flesh of its thighs in their hands. They line up their hips and push into their doll. They close their eyes briefly, soaking up the feeling of being inside it. Precious moans. The doll wraps its delicate hands around its Master’s wrists on either side of its waist. They rock their hips, fucking it, and they feel drunk. They slap the doll once, as hard as they’ve ever slapped anyone before. This time it doesn’t gasp, but lets out a sharp cry of pain, caught by surprise. They don’t wait to watch its reaction, they just fuck faster and wrap a hand around its tiny, beautiful throat. The little sound Precious was making gets interupted. It can’t even smile anymore. Dolls don’t need to breathe, but they do. There are a lot of reasons for it: more realistic speech and body language, human-like movement, and this. 

Precious grabs their wrist again. Poor thing. They slap it again, over and over until its cheeks are ruby red. Whenever they’ve choked human beings like this, their eyes always plead with them, begging them, no matter how much that person actually enjoys being choked. They can’t fight their biology; biology that screams with every single cell to continue living. 

Dolls don’t experience fear, at least not the way humans do. They can be taught to act afraid, and they can be very convincing, but that’s just their desire to please. 

Its face is red and welting, its hair is an absolute mess, and tears stream down its cheeks. Its eyebrows are raised and scrunched together, mouth wide open as if to get as much air as possible. It’s an entirely programmed expression that the designers knew users would expect to see. But Precious is looking up at them so calmly, so intently. Its eyes convey nothing but pure bliss.  They can’t take it. They cum immediately. 

Slowly, they sink forward onto Precious’ chest, letting go of its throat. They lay like that for a while, silently, just catching their breath. 

[fizzigigsimmer]

I wish I had more time to write. I have so many fic ideas that live in folders that I am afraid will never see the light. After I finish my Big Bang fic I still have to finish To B With Love & All The Kings Men (oof poor baby has gone so neglected). So this brain bunny will sadly probably not see life until next years big bang honestly. But I love the idea so much and want to share it. All my love to @dream-about-dancing who helped me with my initial brainstorming and encouraged me that this wasn't too dark of an idea lol.

That said. Warnings ahead for some dark!romance as in, this is fucked up with purpose.

The idea came to me after the massive disappointment that was Don't Worry Darling. I just feel like the film missed a lot of the horror and emotional beats that make the original Stepford Wives so twisted and compelling.

So my idea for a Harringrove Stepford!Wives Au was born.

A secret government organization has given Martin Brenner funding for "The Eden project". The goal of Eden is to create an actionable community model that would end poverty, wealth inequality, crime, war etc in the western world. Their slogan is " take the first step to world peace. Choose Eden."

World peace is the surface goal, but we all know Brenner is a closeted sociopath - so naturally he's using Eden and the technology behind it to create a weapon that can control/erase/change the will of others on a mass scale. World peace through mind control in other words. Everyone in Eden is essentially a test subject.

Brenner finds volunteers by preying on fringe groups and people who are ostracized in society, because they can more easily disappear without being missed. Nobody cares if the guy dealing drugs out of his van stops showing up to the corner, or some "tranny" quits their job and moves without telling anyone.

Billy and Steve are college roommates, it's the 80s, and they're both deep in the closet. Billy struggles with his childhood trauma and Steve is there for him like no one else ever has been. Steve is exploring his own sexuality and trying to live independently of his overbearing parents for the first time and they form a very codependent relationship.

Steve's parents start to suspect somethings up with him and his roommate and start to put pressure on him to live up to his responsibilities (Aka join his father's firm and get married to a nice girl). It doesn't help that Billy is fearful and possessive of their relationship and generally just a giant redflag. Steve just wants to be with Billy, but he knows they don't have a future and he doesn't want to be the son who fucks up and ruins his family over something he shouldn't even want - so he breaks up with Billy.

Billy spirals. He completely ignores the part about Steve breaking up with him because he's an unstable mess lol and fixates on Steve's parents and the world telling them it's wrong to be together. He knows Steve was happy with him and that Steve loves him and is desperate to get him back.

He meets someone at a bar who introduces him to Project Eden and indoctrinates him into Brenner's circle. At first Billy thinks this sounds like some weird geek novel bullshit, but the idea of a safe world where he's not wrong for being the way that he is, and where Steve still loves him and he's powerful and successful and nothing can touch him? Appealing as fuck. Sign him up. He'll be a warrior for world peace.

Cue him literally abducting Steve on his wedding day and bringing him into Eden, where they become The Hargroves. They have the perfect life and the perfect marriage that the outside world tells them they can't have. Billy's the provider and each day he gets to come home to his blissfully happy and submissive husband.

He was afraid at first that Brenner's technology would take away what he loves most about Steve, but no he's still the same dork with the same fire. The only downside is Billy knows deep down that Steve didn't choose this and he lives in fear of Steve waking up one day and truly hating him.

The first crack comes when Steve starts to have upsetting dreams about the past, including the time his dad called him a slur and accused him of ruining the family and breaking his mother's heart. Billy tells him these are just nightmares but he knows they are really Steve's memories popping up where they shouldn't. He starts to panic and does everything he can to "fix" Steve, gaslighting him the entire way.

Meanwhile poor Steve is on a reluctant heroes journey slowly regaining his memories and his own mind. He starts unraveling the mysteries behind Eden with the help of Eleven and his friends, who are also fellow residents of Eden. Eleven is Brenner's "daughter" and unknowingly is a big part of how the technology works. Max and Lucas came to Eden together so they could be together without persecution. Heather and Robin were lesbians who didn't know each other and wanted a chance to experience being in love. Jason was a closeted man escaping religious trauma, but in Eden he's the perfect husband to Chrissy who isn't sick or being abused by her mother anymore, and Eddie was a poor social outcast who wanted the world to hear his music. In Eden he's a rock star and has a budding romance with Jason & Chrissy.

Steve agrees that they can't allow Brenner to use El and the Eden technology for what he's planning, but the more of the truth he discovers the more he wishes he'd never woken up. Because despite everything, he loves Billy and the life they have. Billy's very sorry of course. It was never his intention to hurt Steve. He just wanted to make things right for them. And it can all be right again if they all just take this little pill and go to sleep.

Decisions decisions.

[springcrafter]

Man, the Antisemites are getting bold.

Friendly reminder that "from the river to the sea" is a chant calling for the extermination of half the world's Jewish populace. Like. I cannot believe that in the Year of the Lord 2023 I have to risk being targeted only so I can come out here and explain this.

And mind you I live in this shithole, I speak Hebrew, I get to see the worst of the worst that Jewish Israelis are saying. I'm not gonna repeat it because it could be triggering, but I'm also not gonna sit here and pretend everyone here is a peace-loving hippy. The difference being that vile attitudes are called out and made into outliers in broader society.

(Notably, I saw this when I was taking shelter from rockets on the stairwell - I live in a predominantly center-right area and when someone said something vile they were reminded that the Palestinians in Gaza aren't all Hamas, have no control of their fate, and also have it 100% worse than we ever will)

Thing is, Israelis are not a monolith and a sizable majority are unflinchingly critical of our government. Netanyahu put us in this position and he has so much blood on his hands it's not even a point worth making. By dividing and conquering and pretending that senseless violence is a show of strength, he has made us weaker. We're terrified and traumatized and he continues to perpetuate that fear and trauma to capitalize on it. He was right when he said this was our darkest hour, and he was the one who brought us here. All because he wants to stay in power and avoid going to jail. Over here we loathe him and criticize him more than anyone outside of Israel ever could.

I'm not behind him. I condemn his use of extreme violence and his disregard for Palestinian lives. I know the warmongers from either side don't care about their civilians and are happy to get rich from our suffering but he could at least pretend.

Listen. Call me a hippy, but I believe that everyone who calls this sliver of land their home should have a right to live here in peace. I believe in the right of the Palestinian people to independence and self-determination. Thing is, in my experience, "Free Palestine" is a slogan so vague that it can mean different things and I'm rather wary of it. Do you mean "free Palestine from the tyranny of its leaders and the Israeli occupation" or "free Palestine from all the Jews and kick them all to the sea"? It has become enough of a dogwhistle that I stopped trusting it and by extension, anyone who holds these views while conveniently ignoring the atrocities of October 7 and the frankly appalling reporting around the al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion.

(It's the same with Zionism, and why I don't affiliate myself with the movement. I believe in the right of Jewish people to self-determination and a home in their ancestral homeland, and I think the unabashed Antisemitism I've seen lately justifies that position, but I cannot approve of the atrocities that have been done to get here or people who support and justify them)

My point is, if the (otherwise legitimate) Free Palestine movement is going to harbor, shelter and encourage Antisemitism - all I can say from here is, I see you. And while I would love to go elsewhere, alas, I'm stuck here, so that's not going to change.

(ETA: Thank you to the person in my replies for proving my point)

[eaglesnick]

“To put political power in the hands of men embittered and degraded by poverty is to tie firebrands to foxes and turn them loose amid the standing corn; it is to put out the eyes of a Samson and to twine his arms around the pillars of national life.” – Henry George

The underlying cause of the current civil unrest on British streets can be summed up in one word – POVERTY.

Poverty and inequality in Britain has been rising since Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979. In an article in The English Historical Review titled, ‘Poverty, Inequality Statistics and Knowledge Politics Under Thatcher', 08/04/22, the author argues:

“Under the premiership of Margaret Thatcher, economic inequality and poverty in the United Kingdom rose dramatically to high levels that have remained one of the lasting legacies of Thatcherism, with far-reaching implications for social cohesion and political culture in Britain.”

Tony Blair, a man who embraced Thatcher’s neo-liberal free-market philosophy claimed that while he was prime minister New Labour

 “...made the UK more equal, more fair and more socially mobile”  (Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, 14/07/2019)

This is not true for the population as a whole. It is true that more was spent on public services, and on pensioners and those poorer working age adults with dependent children, both groups seeing their economic position improve. However:

“By contrast, the incomes of poorer working-age adults without dependent children - the major demographic group not emphasised by Labour as a priority - changed very little over the period. As a result they fell behind the rest of the population and relative poverty levels rose.( Institute For Fiscal Studies: Labours Record on poverty and inequality’, 06/06/2013)

Not only that, but income inequality also continued to rise under Blair as the already wealthy saw ’their incomes increase very substantially.’ (ibid)

We all know that the last 14 years of Tory government have only made matters worse: homelessness up; NHS waiting lists up; income inequality up; public services starved of cash; benefits cut; rents up, mortgages up. I could go on

Ordinary working people are suffering a cost of living crisis. The already poor have been pushed over the brink, especially in the North where the promised “levelling up” was just an empty election slogan to get Boris Johnson elected to power. Describing the neglected North one commentator said:

“Other countries have poor bits. Britain has a poor half”. (The Economist, ‘Why Britain is more geographically unequal than any  other rich country’ , 30/06/20

Poverty led to the UK Food Riots of 1766. Poverty led to the French revolution in 1789. The Swing Riots, caused by rural poverty swept southern England in 1830. Poverty led to the Russian Revolution in 1917.  Poll Tax riots hit the streets of Britain in 1990 and a report on the London riots of 2011 blamed “deprivation".

The point is, poverty causes feelings of hopelessness, abandonment, anger and resentment.  Sometimes the victims of poverty correctly identify the people or class responsible for their plight, sometimes they don’t. The poverty and inequality experienced in  Britain today is not directly the fault of immigrants. It is the result of deliberate policies by previous Conservative and Labour governments, but mass immigration does exacerbate already existing conditions of inequality and poverty.

There are not enough houses, the health system cannot cope with demand, there are not enough teachers or schools, and unemployment is rising, as is the day-to-day cost of living, while the already wealthy become richer still.

The far-right channel the anger that ordinary working people justifiably feel about this situation towards an easily identifiable target – immigrants and the children of immigrants, especially non-whites.

The most obvious example of this cynical political strategy in recent history is Hitler’s rise to power in Germany during the economic crisis of the early 1930’s, which saw runaway inflation, and a cost-of-living crisis. Hitler used the Jews as scapegoats, playing on existing prejudices and turning them into hatred, not only of Jews but of homosexuals, gypsies, black people, those with disabilities, Poles and even some Christian groups.

Our fathers and grandfathers fought against such racial tyranny and we should do the same but we will not be successful in that fight until our governments subscribe to the goal of a fairer and more equal society, a society where poverty is falling rather than rising.

There is a conversation to be had about acceptable immigration levels in relation to the economy and social cohesion, but that cannot be conducted in isolation to the need to raise the general standard of living for ALL our citizens and not just the few at the top. Martin Lewis warned politicians of this in 2022.

“We need to keep people fed. We need to keep them warm. If we get this wrong right now, then we get to the point where we start to risk civil unrest. When breadwinners cannot provide, anger brews and civil unrest brews – and I do not think we are very far off,”  (independent: 10/04/22)

No one listened and now that day has arrived.