#this is not the same as blaming a middle class or poor person for their choices because the ultra rich have so much more resources.

[contentvortex]

Not only do I not care if the vast majority of the submarine fuckos make it I'm actually getting more and more pissed off the more I read.

They chose to step into a tiny metal tube piloted by an off brand ps2 controller, and then descend to levels that would make rescue nearly impossible if not objectively impossible. Now that the "this shit is going to fuck up" machine has fucked up they're scrambling governments and likely spending millions of dollars of tax payer money to rescue them, when a fraction of that would have stopped the incident from happening in the first place. When the regulations that were ignored could have prevented this.

I do not have sympathy for a Mt. Everest climber that dresses in shorts, a t-shirt, and bought his climbing gear off wish who (who could have seen this coming?!) needs rescuing. Not only do I not have sympathy but I'm pissed off at their recklessness and the immense impacts that their dumb actions are having on others.

My only sympathy for any of the 5 is with the 19 year old, because at that age you're gonna trust your dad wouldn't put you in an inescapable deathtrap.

[pastlight]

i'd truly love to read if there's some sort of like. sociology study on not just de decline of the middle class, but what people are willing to consider middle class. and i don't mean just in the USA.

i just watched a clip of a newscaster/commentator from my country talking about all the "small" sacrifices people will have to make in the upcoming crisis, and she told the anecdote of a middle class family considering doing "one big meal a day" for the kids. and like, even if that anecdote is real, even leaving aside the pure evil of that segment equating cancelling your netflix subscription to eating once a day, trying to normalize this... in what universe is that middle class. how do you say that and not immediately implode.

and worse of all, im sure there were people watching and nodding along.

idk Marx probably predicted it or smth but there's something fascinating about how people will cling to the label of "middle class" in the modern economic climate when upwards mobility feels progressively less attainable. how do we redefine a luxury year after year. how much are you willing to give up for your pride, to the point when your only hope month after month is "not starve and pay rent" but you have a big tv bought with your hard earned cash! so you still believe you're a step away from living comfortably like your parents did.

[cryobabyy]

Cooper Adams x Fem!Reader

Part (1/5)

oops my hand slipped and now I'm writing unhinged fanfiction for an M. Night Shyamalan movie.

He was peculiarly clean— too clean to be at a hardware store past midnight. No dirt on his jeans, or janitor's name patch, or construction vest. He smelt like most men— Irish spring, sandalwood, musk, bergamot, etc. In daylight hours, you wouldn't have thought anything about his tight and fawning smile, the gallon of industrial cleaning solution, and the seven yards of vinyl tarp he slides across the counter at the end of the month. He always smiles when he pays. You smile back despite your intuition advising against it. Something about the interaction feels cold. God, you sound like your fucking father.

OR

You work the graveyard shift at a hardware store with extended hours to put you through pre-med. You meet a DILF who is definitely not The Butcher.

Part 1/5

Glib (adjective)

1: Marked by ease and fluency in speaking or writing often to the point of being insincere or deceitful; superficial, smooth, slippery.

Working the graveyard shift at an extended-hour hardware store wasn't your first choice, but the pay was decent, and it was the only option that wouldn't clash with your med school classes. It wasn't so bad after pounding 2 iced coffees and a shot of espresso. Customers were few and far between— mostly construction workers, hotel maintenance guys, and the occasional emergency plumber looking for the perfect thingamajig to help undo the 1 am explosion of some poor soul's toilet. It was quiet enough to study; you only had to sit there and ring up the same crowd of blue-collar night owls until 3 am. 

And then there was him.

The odd one out.

A handsome man, 40's, tall, neat looking, dark brown eyes, with a picture of his kids in his wallet. He was friendly. Aggressively friendly. If he was your neighbor, you would tell your friends about the 6'3 Dilf with 90's heartthrob hair next door. The type to smile and wave if you catch him mowing the lawn when you grab the morning mail.

He was peculiarly clean— too clean to be at a hardware store past midnight. No dirt on his jeans, or janitor's name patch, or construction vest. He smelt like most men— Irish spring, sandalwood, musk, bergamot, etc. In daylight hours, you wouldn't have thought anything about his tight and fawning smile, the gallon of industrial cleaning solution, and the seven yards of vinyl tarp he slides across the counter at the end of the month. He always smiles when he pays. You smile back despite your intuition advising against it. Something about the interaction feels cold. God, you sound like your fucking father.

There's a voice in the back of your head that sounds just like him, declaring the stranger to be a 'white picket fence bastard' and a 'smarmy wasp motherfucker’ in his thick Philly accent. If he were still alive, he would tell you to watch out for him– that he was a deep state operative, a gang member, a lizard person, and other paranoid schizophrenic-fueled delusions. Toward the end, when he blocked out the windows with newspaper and craft glue, and covered all the carbon monoxide detectors with tin foil and duct tape, he insisted you should be afraid of everyone. You were only afraid of him. 

Sure, you held your keys between your knuckles when you walked to your car after night classes, and covered your laptop webcam with a sticky note, but you weren't your father.

No one was following you. No one was watching you. No one was preying on you. And the middle-aged man with a picture of his freckle-faced, blonde, blue-eyed children in his wallet was not a serial killer. 

He even told you himself.

"Hell of a lineup, am I right?" He quips, offering a sheepish laugh. "I mean... a staple gun, drain cleaner, and tarp. I won't blame 'ya if you call the cops, but I promise it's not what it looks like."

You look up from the register to find a warm smile and upturned eyebrows– an almost embarrassed expression. An uncomfortable silence hangs in the air, the only sound between you two being a 24-hour soft rock radio station crackling through the ancient speakers. The stranger sighs, seemingly aware of his social misstep.

"My wife- I'm building her a Gardening shed. I'm putting up the insulation and drywall this week. And the Drano is for my kitchen sink. Keeps getting clogged. My son is fascinated by the garbage disposal for some odd reason. I don't even want to know what kind of shit he's been pouring down there." He rambles awkwardly. Guilt twists your heartstrings at the mention of the stranger's family. You may have inherited your father's suspicion, but you wouldn't let it control you.

"I've seen weirder." You lie with a smile. The stranger chuckles, broad shoulders relaxing a bit.

"Really? I could always go back and grab some bleach, duct tape, rubber gloves, the works." 

You can't help but laugh at his corny effort to diffuse the tension. It's surprisingly effective.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to freak you out, sweetheart. I'm sure you meet some weirdos working a night shift like this."

"Not really. Just you…" You trail off, squinting to read the embroidered name on his windbreaker. You notice the emblem right above it– Ardmore Fire Department. He's a firefighter.

"Cooper Adams. " He holds out a hand for you to shake. Your father's paranoia creeps into your mind. You freeze, meeting his dark brown gaze. Dad's gruff voice echoes in your head.

His smile doesn't reach his eyes.

He's plotting something.

Smarmy wasp motherfucker.

White picket fence bastard.

You swallow hard, shake his hand, smile back, and tell him your name– but only your first. You're not your father, but you're not a fucking idiot either.

"See? We're not strangers anymore. "  

"I guess not."

Cooper carts out his selection of items and waves goodbye, receipt caught between his two index fingers.

"Nice meeting you, sweetheart. Oh, and tell them to hire another cashier! You shouldn't be by yourself this late. God knows what kind of trouble is lurking around. Stay Safe!" He smiles again, his voice coated with the candor of a concerned neighbor. This time it reaches the glint of his eyes.

AO3

NEXT CHAPTER

[scara-writes]

change of heart

Sugar Mommy Reader X Y! Gold digger Male

Let's make a story about the reader falling in love first :>

Yes, this yandere is an asshole.

Might make a part two?

CW: yandere, manipulation, consensual-smut, gold digger yandere

No proof read. Will edit it later on.

cerise=cherry🍒

(THIS IS REPOST BECAUSE I REALIZED THAT SIDE BLOGS HAS LIMITED ACCESS ;-;)

MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

Sheon wasn't rich nor poor but he wanted an easy money to make his life easier.

He knows he was becoming addicted on spending money. He can't blame himself, he was getting picked on for not having enough money to buy what he wants unlike his rich classmates that will flaunt their items at each other. He even sneak out of his way to take his father's credit card to buy him useless things that would entertain himself for a little bit like games and toys, Sheon would also flaunt them that his parents has the money when in actuality he is in the middle class. Although his arrogance did not last long after his father finds out about it, grounded him for a whole year for that. He still kept on spending money, he was pretty good at accounting which pretty weird coming from someone who spends a lot.

Now that he became a college student, with his major being aligned in accounting. His parents literally forced him to move out and gave him a right amount of allowance every month for him to study from his dream university but it wasn't enough. He just wants more money to spend, either to indulge himself or to avoid being picked on by his peers.

Not until he met you.

A kind person who introduced yourself to him, your cheeks were bright red as you told him that you fell inlove at first sight.

Sheon do look good. He was popular among women around the campus but those said girls can only glance at him as they feel bad that he was only a middle class. So don't blame him when he was surprised at your sudden confession, and he wanted to reject you right away, the red haired doesn't have the time to find a love, he wants money not a freeloader. But when you told him your last name when you introduce yourself to him, it caught him off guard.

"what was...your last name again?"

"(l-l/n)!" You exclaimed as you bashfully waited for his response about your confesion.

There are three siblings that is going to inherit three companies. If he remembered correctly, he saw an article of on one of them inheriting the biggest company once they graduated. Your face is somewhat coincidentally look the same as it is in the article.

A dark idea pop up to his mind. His greed was whispering at him.

If he can be with you. He can get what he wants right?

Easy money is easy life!

"…so… C-can I court you?" Your hands fiddling as you wait for his response. He looked at you up and down. You looked pretty average for his taste. The only thing that is pretty about you is the money you will inherit, but hey that will do if he wants to get what he wants.

The greedy man grinned and traps you between his arms and lean down to meet your face. Not even caring at the other student passing by looking at the both of you by either cringing or looking weirdly.

He boldly gave your left cheek a quick peck before answering your question with another question.

"… If I say yes, what's in it for me love?"

Not long after, the two of you became official. Your courting lasted around two weeks and that's about it. He always request for you to buy him this and that and you gave it him the very next day as you love him very much and trusted him wholeheartedly. He would taunt the said gifts he received from you to his old peers that he got himself the items that is much worth than their brand. Their frown look satisfies him.

Some of them asked where did he got the money to buy, but he will answer one word. cerise.

No one knows about his plan except for his ex friend, Tyr.

The ex friend of his cut ties off with him immediately after knowing he was using an innocent person like you for his greed.

Oh well his lost! He was about to share his dimes and gold with him.

Sheon thought about what will he give you something back for all the items you gave him. Well, His exchange for everything was himself of course!

His body is probably enough to make you feel something close to heaven. It made you whine out in satisfaction whenever he hit the right spot. Sheon could tell you never experienced this, a virgin at that. The way you moan out his name make his heart swell with pride.

"…is.. this what it..nghh… f-feels..uuhhmm..l-like?" You whimpered when he hit the same spot that made you cried out it on pleasure. Your hands were trembling around his sweaty shoulder, eyes rolling when he hits it again. He leaned to down to peck your parted lips. "… Do you like it?"

He fastened his pace up to chase down the ecstasy that you were feeling. He felt the walls grip of yours tightened around him feeling that you are getting close.

"I… I love…i-it..p-please don't s-stop!" You moaned out, unconsciously digging your nails to his skin. Sheon smirked at your reaction, wiping off your sweaty temple before giving it a soft kiss, then giving what you asked for.

You must be missing out from parties, seeing you had never experience like this before and that's okay. So long as this is a payment to get what he wants.

"Your wish is my command, cerise." He whispered his pet name to you.

"I-I love Sheon." You whimpered as you feel him pulled out when he gave you released. Sheon sighs, his load went through your stomach, giving you one last kiss before cleaning you up. Dabbing the towel around your body, cleaning you gently, asking you if he hurt you too badly. You answered meekly, telling him that you are fine, he was a sweet for giving you an aftercare.

He scoffs at you, teasing you. "It's a bare minimum, cerise. It's normal to take care of their partner after their love making." He carried you at the bathroom of your own apartment. Putting you down at the bathtub as he twist the faucet open.

Sheon joined you in the bath, he gently massage your scalp, making you shudder in relaxation, "do you like it?"

"I love it." You meekly replied leaning your back between his thighs. He wash down the foam around your hair, he rinse the shampoo out after he was done. He took a soap and was about to clean your body too but you insist that you will do it yourself. Sheon stopped and heed your words and starts washing himself up, the male was the first one to finish, he dried himself off by his own towel and starts to wear the pajamas that was already prepared besides the lavatory. After he was done, he told you that he will prepare you a snacks and turn on the tv for the movie you requested yesterday.

The red haired male's relationship with you went pretty well. Of course his body and his face shouldn't be the only thing he could do for you. He needed to act like a good boyfriend, being the fast learner that he is. He found himself, he was rather good at cooking and baking.

He would lie if he say he doesn't enjoy it when he cooks for you.

He would give you your favorites, something you cannot eat in your household. You told him you were on a strict diet ordered by your very own parents. They didn't know your relationship with him, Sheon was a secret affair and you revealed you were in arrange marriage during the time you courted him. It worried him seeing that his source of money will leave him for the arrange marriage.

You held his hand and you promised him that it will never happen, that you will fight for the "love" the two of you had.

The greedy male stared at you for a minute, realizing you are too naïve to think that he actually loves you. Were you that oblivious?

He wanted to laugh at your face but…

Why does his heart starts hammering when you told him that you will fight for him against your parents?

A little guilt went up to his throat before swallowing it by his pride.

The two of you lasted for three years as a couple, graduated and help him out to hire him to your company. His colleagues at his work respected him quickly seeing that he is the boyfriend of their soon-to-be boss, Sheon enjoyed the power he had over them, no more people looking down on him.

It didn't last long because your parents immediately confronted you about him and you had enough of it. It was the first time you neglected your parents orders and Sheon was there to witness it.

"I don't care about the agreement! The arrange marriage, I didn't agree on that! Mother, Father! I've been nothing but a good child since the day I was born! I have never ever went against you and I am obedient child who never goes against your will just so the two of you can be happy! But this is the only time I asked for you to let me have something I want in my life!" He felt the grip of your hands on him. The red haired male stares at your quivering form but he saw how determined you are about him.

He felt guilty knowing he was the cause of why you arguing with your parents right now.

Wait… He's feeling guilty?

"He's using you for your money! Look at your ridiculous amount you spent! From the moment you had a relationship with him!" Your father shouted at you, before glaring at him.

Truthfully, your father wasn't wrong. He used you for your money.

"And so what? I am willing to give everything he wants because I love him!"

Do you love him that much?

"The least I could do for him is to give what he likes because he is the only person who showed me what it feels like to be loved!"

Throughout the heated argument with your parents. He was silent for the whole time until you broke down to tears. Just a droplet from your tears made himself go blank. Sheon didn't know what happened to himself, all he knows that his body act on its own and went to cover your vulnerability from your parents.

You were surprised at his action before letting yourself be buried in his chest.

"I think it's time for us to leave." He told your parents before guiding you out to leave the mansion, not looking back.

He hop you on the passenger seat of his car before closing the doorway after he heard your parents trailing behind him, yelling. He doesn't want you to hear what he was about to say.

His blue eyes glared at them.

"I have never throughout in our relationship witness (Y/n) weep and broken down until this day, I always ensure her happiness on everything I'd done. If we have disagreements we will let each other agree to separate for a little bit until we are calm enough to discuss it again."

His mouth continued to flow out the next words he didn't think he would find himself struggling with his words. Thankfully, he didn't stutter.

"...I love her more than you could ever know. I won't let her cry and force her to do the things she doesn't want to. If she doesn't want something, she will let me know and I will stop because I don't want her to feel sad, bothered and suffocate. Truthfully, your daughter is the most sincere person that I've known in my entire life. She always gives out her best to make everyone happy."

He let out a deep breath. "I cannot believe she went through all her years of her life of enduring your demands and pressures the day she was born. It's no wonder your children are starting to neglect you. Most people might have called an authority because of your abuse if it weren't for the money you have. Every child deserve a parents but not every parents deserve a child." He paused before continuing again.

"If I see her cry again because of the both of you.No matter how much money you used to separate us. I will make sure you will regret it." With that he walk around his car before opening the doorway of the driver seat and drive away from your wrecked family. The whole ride was silent. Sheon never felt his heart rate beating this fast.

What happened to him?

Why did he do that?

What if his job from your company is going to make him terminated from his internship?

You were still on your way to become boss but your parents still owns it as long as they are alive.

"… I-I'm sorry.. you witnessed that." You sniffed as you tried to wipe off your tears trying your best to minimize your hiccups.

"… Don't mention it." He grunted before tossing you a box of tissue carelessly, eyes trained at the road not caring if you catch it or not.

You blew away your snots, as his thoughts were clouded of doubt.

"Stop crying." He said before parking the car after reaching his home. You nodded, trying to minimize your tears.

He exited the car and you did too before following him behind. A small squeak was heard from the car indicating that his car is locked.

Sheon didn't bother on walking beside you as he went to unlock the door of his home.

He went himself in, he doesn't care to tell you to follow because you will.

You sat on the couch and collect your thoughts for bit, staring the tiled floor of the living room. He look at your form and rolled his eyes before changing his clothes. What's next? Are you going to be stuck with him, onwards?

He went to the kitchen and starts to cook. Trying his best figure out something but nothing comes up in his mind.

He put the food in to two plates before serving you a lasagna. "Eat, cerise."

You thanked him and starts to eat your food slowly, your appetite isn't in good shape after your burst of emotion to your parents.

Sheon just picked his food but not eating as he stared at you.

What is he going to do with you now? He can't have you here! You… You need to come back and apologize! What if your parents cut off your card? Most of your money were from your parents! Then what about his money? What about the items you promised him to buy it for him?!

what about your feelings?

…what about her..?..

Stop... Stop making him feel guilty.

He quietly sigh and starts to eat. This mixed feelings are eating him up.

"Does it taste good?" He asked. You nod, sniffing.

"Leave the plate, I'll wash them up later. You can have my bed. I'll sleep on the couch."

You tried to reason him that you can sleep on the couch but he insisted.

You were stuck with him for three months. Your card was indeed cut off and you and him were evicted temporarily at your company by your mother. At that time he was conflicted whether or not he should just ditch you…. Since you don't have money anymore. You just stay at home.

Seeing you apologize for being inconvenient at his home he felt guilty for thinking about it. But for some reason... he can't bare the thought of you wandering around depending on no one.

Sheon went outside to get a hose to water the outdoor the plants until he saw a man who looks similar to you.

"Hey." The said stranger called for him. He must be one of your sibling, seeing almost all of your resemblance to him, except his demeanor. People would feel intimidated when they look at him but not him, Sheon wasn't scared of him. He is one of the siblings who neglect his parents.

The red haired male raised his eyebrow before walking up to him.

"Yes? Do you need something?"

"… My older sister, (Y/n)? Are you perhaps her boyfriend..?" The way he spoke the word boyfriend. Sheon can feel the distaste from him.

"What about it?"

His (e/c) eyes was staring at his soul. They both of knew they are never gonna be in good terms.

"(Y/n) can go back to the company. Our parents needs her."

"And what? Are they gonna invalidate her again?"

Your brother scoff. "If that were to happen, she can call me right away. They can't complain when it comes to me. They know I don't act like my soft hearted older sister." He tossed an atm card at him. Sheon catches it confused.

"What's this for?"

"Give that to my sister. It's her new card."

Your brother pulled the handle of his own car before going in. "What about (Y/n)? Do you not want to look at her?"

"No need… I'm sure she will be fine."

After that, He left without a bid of farewell.

Sheon looked at the card in his hand. Greed went on his mind to keep the card and hide it from you. Just telling you the details that you can go back to the company. He should get back the payment he used to buy the items he wasted on you for the past few months—

"Sheon?"

You called to him. Snapping out of his thoughts when he realized he was already in the kitchen, cooking food for the both of you.

"You almost burned the eggs… Is there something wrong?"

Sheon blinked before smiling at you.

"Your brother went to see you but he was in a hurry so… He told me that you can go back. Your parents need you back to the company."

Your eyes lit up."really?"

"Really."

He went silent. Deciding that he should just give your atm card. It was stupid idea to think of him hiding your card, that will result of him being arrested and making you abandon him. He can't ruin his hardwork for making you his bank.

You blinked when you stiffly take the card from his hand. "What's this?"

"Your new card. Your… Umm.. brother wants to give it to you."

You look at him in the eyes for a second before leaning in to kiss him.

"I love you." You smiled, your eyes were brightened. As if something cleared up your mind and he noticed it.

He gave you a tight grin. "I'll put this on the plate before it actually burns."

Just like his first week on a relationship with you. His life went back smoothly. Everything went back to normal. The next three weeks, the two of you went on a date, suggested by you of course.

The both of you enjoyed the rides at carnival. He laughed when you didn't like the taste of the sweet corn of the nearby shop, telling him you preferred the street food sweet corn he brought on your first date with him. After having a snack,Sheon went to take a picture of the two of you capturing every moment he can find.

You told him that you book a private resort nearby the beach. So he drove there. Enjoying the night ride with him.

His heart fluttered when he hear you humming happily while you were scrolling on the phone, probably buying an item that he request yesterday, you ask him what color he liked on the item. Right now, the red haired doesn't care about it and tells you to keep humming the tune and forget about the item he wanted.

He just found himself, liking the sound of your voice.

The first thing he did when the both of you went inside the resort was to pop out a wine and serve you one before quickly kissing your lips. The both of you enjoyed gazing the night at cozy fireplace lit on the modern table. You cuddled with him and he held you, warming you up. As he sighed, relaxing himself.

"Sheon…."

You let yourself go on his hold before toying his hands with yours until you let it go."What's wrong?" You look down, staring through his shirt.

"I have… Been meaning to tell you this.. I don't know if it's the right time but…"

Sheon held his breath. Did you find out that he was using you?

He looked at your right hand that is tapping something from behind of your pocket before showing it to him.

A small black box was given to him.

He looked at you confused before he assessed your new gift to him. The box looked liked it could store a jewel.

His world stops when he opened it.

"I know… you went all the trouble of taking care of me when… when I was kicked out from the house but… I never felt so indebt to you after all the love you showered m-me… I-I'm not good with this kind of things… and might even call it corny so….W-would-you-like-to-spend-the-rest-of-your-time-together-with-me?" You fiddle your hand nervously as you look up to him, rushing the last sentence. Awaiting for his response, whether he will reject you or not.

Before you could call his name again. His lips had already met yours, arms wrapped around your torso, pulling you closer.

You were shocked by your boyfriend's action before returning your kiss. Slowly wrapping your arms around his neck.

He pushed tongue inside your mouth, caressing your caverns and sucking your tongue, drinking the sound of your whimpers and moans. He loves the whimpers that you make, it makes him want to keep going.

You tap him by the shoulder, signalling him to halt his actions but he continued to assault your lips until the thirst in him quenched. It was the first time he ignore your orders, but he just can't help himself.

He felt euphoric.

Sheon was grinning, widely. One of his hands went to your buttoned shirt. Slowly unclasping them, one by one.

His cheeks matches the color of his hair. His voice laced with love and affection."I'm officially yours, cerise."

For the first time, he felt genuine towards you. He felt everything was clear. He doesn't know when, where and why he didn't realize it sooner but…

He actually like you more than the money itself..

No...

He loves you that no money can replace you.

Fuck all the items, he got. You're much more valuable, the most treasured thing he wants.

He went to kiss your collarbone before softly gazing on you.

For the first time, your relationship with him. Sheon uttered the words that are genuine and meaningful from the bottom of his heart.

"…I love you."

This might be a mistake in your part.

He will never let you go now.

========================

Part 2?

[onnahu]

Why Bruce and Jason can't have a relationship we all want them to have

Disclaimer: I mostly ignore things that new-52 changed about their backstories bc new-52 is dumb when it comes to it

The thing about relationship between Jason and Bruce is that their upbringings were so different, and they both are so stubborn, they never could've agreed on some things.

Bc let's be real. Bruce went through a traumatic even as a child, and that was terrible. But before, he had two loving parents, and even after, he is a white, rich man. He is the definition of privilage and that's what made him Batman. I assure you, if he was poor, or even in middle class or whatever, he would never become Batman. Not only for a lack of funds.

On the other hand, we have Jason. From comics, even if fandom kinda streches it, his parents did everything they could. Jason for sure loved them, taking from his reaction at Willis's death, and everything about Catherine. We know he loved them, and they loved him. There is no hint for abuse in his early life (beside new-52 but new-52 is dumb), even if classist beliefs make us assume that. They had many problems, not much money, and Catherine was sick, and later an addict. So even in their poor financial status we can assume Jason's childhood was as good as it could be. He never complained about it, at least. Also, I personally headcanoned it earlier, and in the Hill it was pretty much confirmed, that Jason's latino.

That leaves us with two differences between them already, that gives them opposed perspectives on life. Bruce could never understand Jason's life no matter how he tried. Then, we have Catherine's death. It's a similiarity. Traumatic even where they lost their parent/s. But it's also very different. Even in their reactions we can see how they're not the same. Because as Dick's and Bruce's were similiar, Jason was complitely different.

Jason knew he doesn't have time for grief. He did what he had to keep himself alive, and took care for himself, that he in some way did already. He even menaged to do well for himself. We know that he survived on the streets alone for at least few years, and didn't really need Bruce's help for that. Although survival is not the same as life.

The other, propably more important thing: there was noone to blame for Catherine's death. He could blame her dealer, but he didn't really murder her. Dick and Bruce had the person that murdered their parents. They wanted revenge and they worked for it. Jason hadn't had anyone to take revenge on. He had no one to avenge.

Then, Jason got adopted, and could taste Bruce's life in some way. He learned how it is to have money to throw everywhere, and be priviliged for high quality education, food and entertainment. His poin of wiev on it was of course screwed up, but he got to expirienced it. Also saving people. Because saving people is a privilage.

If you struggle to keep yourself alive, you can't keep the others alive, unless you have a martyr complex. We, as animals, are programmed to keep ourselfs going no matter what. We have to be our own priorities, and if you can prioritiez others it's because you no longer need it for yourself.

Anyway, Jason saw how it is to be Bruce. To be a hero. But Bruce bever knew how it is to be Jason. How to be anyone that's not him. He can have empathy, he can try everything, but he could never understand. Some things you can know only if you expirienced. The same way I know I, however I want to, I will never really understand some things.

Also the whole thing with dying. That's important to. Jason knows how it is to die. He knows how it is to kill. Bruce doesn't know either.

Anyway, it's all kinda messy, but the point is - they could never see eye to eye in some matters. They can try, but especially after Jay's ressurection, they can never have a relationship we wants them to have, not in canon, at least.

Thanks for coming to my TED talk.

[skamenglishsubs]

Subtext and Culture, Young Royals, Season 2, Episode 6

Final episode, and we're picking up the morning right after last episode. The curtains are still closed though, good for them!

Subtext: The something Simon needs to take care of is of course the situationship with Marcus.

Subtext: Real subtle music choice there, show. This is where August decides to solve the problem of Simon going to the police in his own twisted ways.

Lost in translation: August meekly asked for some changes to the speech last episode, whereas Wilhelm just changed it without asking for permission. Here's what it says, with his changes: Hillerska 120 years Your Majesty, dear mom. And dear Hillis. It's an honour to be standing here today speaking to you - not only as Crown Prince, but as your classmate. Hillerska welcomed me during a very difficult but meaningful time in my life. (He's scratched out "Eders" at the top, which is an archaic way of saying and spelling "ers", which in turn is a special version of the plural second person possessive pronoun "er", which is only used in a formal address like this.)

Lost in translation: The second cue card has more changes: Hillerska isn't just the place where we are taught to be good citizens so that in the future we can shoulder the responsibilities that has been imposed on us. It is also a home. Hillerska became a home to me, just like it was for my dear mother, and my brother before me... and for many of you. You have become family. The school motto is "take responsibility for your legacy" "feel your responsibility for the legacy", be proud of your history, pass on the traditions to the next generation.

Cinematography: The show normally only uses these fourth wall breaks to bookend each season, but all occasions have been when Wilhelm has been making a public speech or felt observed. Here he's practising a public speech, and the show uses the fourth wall break to really bring home this point.

Culture: The show says that this scene takes place just a couple of days after the Valentine's ball, which puts us in the middle of February. But we can tell by the blooming cherry tree in the background that this scene was actually shot in mid April. This is absolutely not what February looks like in the Stockholm area in Sweden, which made me super confused about the timeline.

Subtext: It absolutely is about Wilhelm, but Marcus got it completely wrong anyway, Simon doesn't like Wilhelm because he is a prince, he likes him despite him being a prince. Oh, and it's a nice touch to separate them physically with an electric fence, to really show their distance.

Subtext: No, the person who feels like a victim here is actually Marcus. He doesn't fit in with the rich kids at the school, and now he thinks that they "stole" Simon away from him. Whatever, who cares, he has served his narrative purpose, byyyeeeeee!

Subtext: Loyalty is a huge theme in this episode, so we start this cursed subplot with a nice long opening shot of the motto of the Forest Ridge house, to remind us of how important loyalty is to the upper classes.

Subtext: Everyone tries to manipulate Wilhelm by invoking his dead brother, of course August does the same.

Subtext: So why does Alexander side with August? Wilhelm actually treated Alexander like shit, he threw him under the bus to protect Simon last season, and he feigned ignorance in the first episode of this season when Alexander came back to school, which means the Forest Ridge oath doesn't mean much to him. Alexander feels completely betrayed, because Wilhelm should have been loyal to his house brothers. August on the other hand promises him loyalty. If Alexander takes the blame, then the future king of Sweden, August, will owe him a huge personal favour, and that's just worth a lot more to him and his family than the minor inconvenience of a criminal trial. He's got money, and the full backing of the royal court, he's never gonna go to jail, jail is for poor people!

Subtext: ...like Simon, and his unemployed substance-abusing dad. Simon would not be treated gently by the justice system for dealing drugs, Wilhelm can't really intervene on his behalf, and the royal court wants Simon gone, so they won't help out either, which is why August's threat is very, very real.

Subtext: August has constantly been trying to impose upper-class values on Wilhelm, all the way since season 1, and that includes all the lies and secrets and cover-ups. He truly believes rug-sweeping is the best way of handling the situation, and can't really understand why Wilhelm won't play the game like the rest of them do.

Subtext: We know that Wilhelm's love language is touch, so August touching him is a violation that he reacts very strongly to, punching his arm away.

Culture: Clay pigeon shooting or trap shooting started evolving as a sport over 150 years ago, when upper class shooting clubs realized what a bother it was having to collect a ton of live pigeons when a gentleman simply wanted to practice hunting for a bit, so they developed cheaper clay targets instead. The birds are made out of an easily breakable hard clay, and the launcher is controlled with a foot pedal. The shotgun is loaded with birdshot, which is pretty harmless for humans at long range.

Subtext: A nice little throwback to S1E1, when August told Wilhelm that they could get away with anything, including murder.

Blink and you miss it: August glances at Sara, so Detective Felice quickly figures out that it was her before she admits it.

Blink and you miss it: Simon is actually smiling and enjoying seeing August humiliated by Wilhelm.

Subtext: Also a throwback to season 1, when Sara gave Simon shit for "always wanting to give people a second chance". Now she's doing the exact same thing, and August is ironically just as unworthy of it as Sara and Simon's dad was.

Subtext: Another theme this season has been about people protecting themselves, while claiming to protect others, so here's Sara accusing August of doing exactly that.

Lost in translation: Simon says "Snälla, jag orkar inte", which can't be directly translated, because English is missing the incredibly useful Scandinavian verb orka. It means having the physical or mental strength or stamina or energy to do something. When it's negated like here, it can range in meaning from not having enough stamina to run a long race, or not having enough strength to lift something heavy, or not being able to eat more food, or not wanting to deal with a person, or not having the energy to handle a stressful situation. If you no longer orkar something, you're done, you're finished, you're too tired, you're too weak, you've had enough.

Subtext: Again, Wilhelm's love language is touch, so he's trying to comfort Simon the only way he knows.

Culture: Kaggeholms Slott, the main shooting location for the show was built in the early 1700's, so this is some kind of detail from the earliest years of the main building.

Blink and you miss it: Simon hasn't eaten a single clementine this season because Rosh has been hogging all of them!!!

Culture: Linda's tag says "Sjuksköterska" - nurse, so she obviously works in healthcare. She's also wearing scrubs, so she must have taken off directly from work to accompany Simon to the police. Also note that being a regular nurse in Sweden is a pretty low status job because you'll just be a grunt worker at some hospital or care home, so this fits the social class of the Eriksson family.

Cinematography: I think this is the last amount of colour Simon has ever worn, signalling that he's not feeling himself, he's completely defeated.

Subtext: Damn, I got hungry just looking at this food. What's going on here is that the school is hosting the royal family and treating them to a nice private fancy dinner, and they've even got their own china monogrammed with the school logo. By the bottle we can also tell that Wilhelm is being served alcohol, it's a cider from Danish Somersby. And from the background dialogue, we also learn that both his parents went to Hillerska at the same time, where they presumably met.

Subtext: If it's so important to be able to talk about your emotions, why is your son so bad at it? It couldn't be the case that he learned to suppress his feelings instead from his parents, right?

Subtext: Oh look, it's the theme of the episode yet again! In Forest Ridge the loyalty is explicit in the house motto, and it's of course a big part of the girls' house as well.

Subtext: Well that's a big fat lie, the most obvious secret is the one Stella is harbouring, but they're all keeping lots of little secrets from each other. Good thing Sara learned to keep her mouth shut at least so as not to out Stella.

Subtext: Colour theory for the show tells us that red symbolizes the love between Wilhelm and Simon, and here Wilhelm is deciding between his love for Simon, or fulfilling his royal duty. Since he's currently facing away from the red light, and looking at Erik's old cigarette case, he's leaning towards duty.

Subtext: Colour theory is in full swing over at Simon's place as well, him and Ayub are having a late night videochat about Simon having to decide between his love for Wilhelm or his principles. However, his lava lamp turns red just as the scene ends, showing us what his final decision is.

Blink and you miss it: Sara cleaned out her room and left the Manor House, but she left behind the riding pants the other girls gave her for her birthday.

Culture: If you've read my post on royal names and titles, you know that Ludvig ought to be a prince, and ought to be styled "His Royal Highness", so I'm not sure why he's consistently being referred to as Duke Ludvig in this season. Oh, and if the reigning monarch is a king, he and his queen are styled "Your Majesties" together. But if the reigning monarch is a queen, only she is styled "Your Majesty", while her husband is styled "Your Royal Highness", because blatant sexism.

Subtext: August really thought he'd be their equal for this event, but he's always being put in place and shown he is less than.

Cinematography: Spot the character who really doesn't want to be in this photo shoot!

Subtext: Back in season 1 when August said he knew everyone's name, he wasn't joking, he actually does remember people's names!

Oh, and there's a little lost in translation here as well. August says "Tack för senast", which is a ubiquitous Scandinavian politeness phrase which means "Thanks for last time". You're supposed to use this every time you talk to someone after having gone to some event together, and especially if it was something that the other person hosted and invited you to.

Blink and you miss it: Nils and Vincent are hilariously taking the absolute piss out of August for enjoying standing in the receiving line for the jubilee.

Subtext: Easy there, Don Corleone! August simply overpaid for the horse, thinking Sara would love him for yet another material thing, but what she really wanted him to do was to change and come clean about the sex tape. The horse isn't gonna sway her from leaving him.

Cinematography: As I was taking screencaps for this post, I stumbled on this scene showing Sara leaving Hillerska, but my only question is who the hell that dude is? Why is he in the shot? Why is he there? Is he an extra who is supposed to be there, or is he a random person who was just happening to wait for the real world bus right here right now? It doesn't make any sense in universe, because every goddamn adult in the vicinity is busy with the jubilee thing. Why is this guy not attending? WHO IS HE? I NEED ANSWERS!

Subtext: Through the magic of literary analysis our couple grew closer and came to understand one another better, so Simon chose to compromise his principles out of love for Wilhelm. Oh, and there totally is another way, but it requires Wilhelm to compromise his duty...

Culture: I've already gushed about how good the costuming is on this show, because Wilhelm is wearing an impeccably tailored school uniform that fits him perfectly, while Simon is wearing an ill-fitting second hand uniform. You can tell because Wilhelm's uniform is showing the correct amount of shirt sleeve outside his jacket, between one and two centimetres, while Simon's jacket is completely covering his shirt sleeves.

Subtext: This piece of perfect poetic cinema is of course a mirror to the ending of season 1 when Wilhelm tells Simon that he loves him. This time, Simon says it back for the first time.

Cinematography: I know it's a coat room and not a closet, but close enough, and when Jan-Olof tries to hurry Wilhelm along and get him to stop talking to Simon, Wilhelm responds by literally coming out of the closetcoat room, foreshadowing the end of the episode.

Subtext: Literally as the next speaker, figuratively as the next crown prince.

Subtext: Oh no. Oh no. Oh no no no no! Sara hasn't talked to Simon since the shooting range scene, so she doesn't know why Simon never reported August, or that August threatened to take revenge by reporting where the drugs originally came from. I guess we need to setup some season 3 drama?

Blink and you miss it: Wilhelm appears to change his mind at the exact moment the principal says "replace".

Subtext: We've seen Wilhelm struggle all season with his duty, and not being able to put on a public persona, but in this moment it's on full blast, and a look that tells August to sit the fuck down again, because this is his job, he's not gonna be replaced any time soon.

Subtext: This is one of the lines that Wilhelm added to his speech, and it's the complete opposite of what he thought of Hillerska in the very first episode, where he saw it as some kind of punishment to have to live there for three years.

Subtext: Oh look, the tradition theme™! Let's just kick it, stab it, and drown it, while the cameras are rolling!

Cinematography: Cue the camera panning to the people experiencing said mass panic.

Subtext: The MVP of the season, Boris my man, enjoying the fruits of his labour. The unsung hero we all deserved! I bet though he's been secretly plotting the downfall of the monarchy this entire time!

Subtext: Just like this song played at the end of episode 4, showing what Wilhelm was feeling, this time it shows what Simon is feeling for Wilhelm. It's also a nice parallel to season 1, where the Revolution song was used in both episode 4 and 6.

Subtext: The lyrics are a bit on the nose like most of this season, but Simon said the he loved Wilhelm, and in return Wilhelm shows Simon that he loves him, by coming out, and not keeping their relationship a secret any longer, which was the main conflict of the entire season.

Blink and you miss it: Wilhelm is always comparing himself to his brother and trying to live up to his memory, so after making this choice, he quickly glances skywards as if to check in with him. Yeah, you're alright kid. Erik would be so very proud of you. I'm not crying, you're crying! Damn allergies! I swear, this goddamn show. 😭😭😭

Cinematography: Finally we book-end this season as well with Wilhelm breaking the fourth wall and staring at us. But this time we see a hint of a smile as he's doing it, because this time is the first time he's really in control of his life, doing what he wants, and not just doing what he's told or what he's expected to do.

[alphyser]

Akaashi Keiji in my DR things 🌕 because I have plenty

His coffee order is a flat white with an extra shot of espresso or an iced americano with an extra shot of espresso and a splash of milk. He likes his coffee in a very particular way. It needs to be strong and packs a punch, not too bitter but not overtly sweet, and it needs to be smooth and light.

He loves astronomy. Despises astrology though. He always gets irritated when people say that the two are the same thing. "Of course they're not the same. One is a science that studies the universe as a whole and the other is something that people made up because they're not satisfied with their life so they find a way to take the blame off themselves instead. It's like you're saying Chai Tea on opposite day." He says not even taking a breath in between those sentences with the most deadpan voice ever.

His favorite song is F • L • Y by Spectrum. He listens to 90's city pop because that's what his mom listens to. His favorite artist is Taeko Onuki. This man blasts 4:00A.M. and 空をとべたら/Sora Wo Tobetara on his NW-S230F Sony Walkman MP3 player with his ATH-EM700 Koss headphones. (P3R reference 🦋)

Akaashi's seen as a "rich" person. He's not, by the way. He's just in middle class but he saves his money and rarely splurges. His parents give him an allowance and he still brings a packed lunch and packed snacks so he saves a lot actually, especially since he bikes to school.

College Akaashi on the other hand is the definition of a poor college kid. He has enough to pay dorm rent, tuition, and to not starve. Which is good enough for him. But sometimes he actually needs extra so he does work as a paid intern in a publishing company. (He makes bad financial/health decisions sometimes by buying A LOT of coffee instead of buying his lunch which usually consists of bento boxes from your local 7/11.)

You know of back handed compliments. But have you heard of front handed insults? Well, neither have I until Akaashi Keiji. A girl once walked up to him and Bokuto trying to fish for compliments or attention going all, "Wow, I'm really just so unathletic compared to you senpai. I can't even catch a volleyball." and Akaashi responds with "Yeah. You look like it." GAGGED. WHEN I TELL YOU I WAS GAGGED. I was watching from the sidelines with Konoha and this man kept going. "Your arms look like they would break if they even just brush against a volleyball." SIR. THAT IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.

[gadawg-404]

The cartoon about Trump being picked on at the debate is funny. I equate that theme as juvenile. Trump does not have the ability to be an adult when someone is baiting him. Kamala got him hook, line, and sinker and you all, including Trump, think it was 3 on 1 because she won. The debate with CNN moderating was a Biden failure and the moderators asked hard questions of Biden also but Biden didn't say it was 3 on 1. He knew he didn't do well and didn't blame it on anyone.

First, I’m am not a “conservative”.

I am a pragmatic constitutionalist. The debate should have been an offense to any thinking person. The moderators were obviously biased. Incorrectly “fact checked” Trump more than once. Never fact checked Harris or called her out for not really answering any questions or saying outright lies. So Trump didn’t simply reply with talking points every supporter of his wanted him to. So what?

Not one question on an assignation attempt a few weeks earlier? Seriously? Really?

Bottom line? In spite of his many faults Trump in his first term delivered:

An economy that saw more gains for blacks, Latinos, Asians, the poor, the working middle class and women than any other administration in the last sixty plus years. He had a border under control and passed justice reform that was working to set wrongs right. He also delivered on no new wars, the lowest death rates in the military in decades and a world where there was stability. Iran was kept in check and had about 8 billion in total to work with (his sanctions were working, but the Harris Biden admin turned them off and now Iran has over 10 times that amount to spread terror through the world. Because of b Harris Biden were have the highest public antisemitism raging in the USA since WWII.

Under Trump we were were energy independent and gas costs were stable and cheap. Housing, food, and everything was affordable.

Trump has a fantastic record of success for America! Harris has a record of disasters and wants to increase the policies that brought disasters.

Early voting started this week. It’s not about party, making history, personal preference or any other thing save this:

Who has a record that has worked for ALL AMERICANS? Everybody did better under Trump. Under Harris Biden we can’t afford food, housing,or gas. The world is on the edge of war. She says the Harris Biden administration has done great while set the same time saying she will fix things. I guess she is unburdened by what has been, by what she’s done.

There is only one person running who has actually delivered great things for every American. His name is Donald Trump.

Early voting is here.

VOTE WISELY

[solarwoniii]

OUR SPRING, OUR BLOSSOM !? na kamden written fanfiction

chapter one ; i think he's fine

your opinion on na kamden?

he was fine. you barely knew him anyways.

he was just the quiet boy who sat at the back of class by himself, who you occasionally saw at the cafe you worked at.

sometimes you would try to shoot him a smile whenever he glanced in your direction. he would almost immediately divert his gaze from yours whenever it happened.

which you had no issue with. he was clearly an introvert. you understood him. you were once there. all by yourself. and it wasn't easy.

sometimes you still felt like you were all by yourself.

which was dumb. because you were anything but all by yourself. you were loved and cherished and envied by almost every single person in the school.

your family was filthy rich. and you were grateful for all of it. you had strived to be here. you weren't always here.

you used to be just like na kamden. just a normal middle-class student trying to get through high school. surrounded by no one a lot of the time and constantly sitting at the back of the class so you weren't disturbed. bullied for the things that were out of your control. the punching bag for all the popular kids for no apparent reason.

sometimes you really wanted to be his friend.

clearly the stars had aligned to grant you your little wish.

you set your things down on the table space beside him.

"looks like we're partners!" you smiled, sitting down. kamden looked awkwardly at you.

"yeah."

the silence was defeaning.

you gulped.

in all of your life, english had always been your favourite subject because it was the easiest to you.

so, it surprised you when for the first time, you were finding yourself worrying that this wasn't going to be an easy project.



DAYS LATER . . .



progress had started.

although it wasn't a lot.

you had done work during class, at least.

but your extroverted senses craved more. you didn't like not talking.

and you wanted to talk to kamden. you wanted to be his friend.

clearly he didn't feel the same.

you didn't blame him. the poor boy was probably traumatised from the relentless bullying he received from all the popular people like you. if you were him, you wouldn't want to be friends with yourself either.

what could you do that could possibly show him that you didn't have the same intentions as the rest?

in the midst of your deep thought, your pencil slipped out of the grip of your fingers.

you watched as it rolled across the desk to kamden's side. as his fingers reached to grab it, your own flew on top of his out of instinct.

oh.

his pupils dilated as you quickly retracted your hand. he put the pencil back on top of your notebook.

you were one of the most popular girl in school. you'd talked to plenty boys before.

crushed on them.

hugged them.

kissed them.

gotten heartbroken by them.

forgotten them.

repeat cycle.

but there was something about this tiny interaction that made your heart soar.

stop it, y/n. you don't even know him.

but now you wished you did.

you found yourself staring as the sun shone in from the window, illuminating him and his pretty face. his eyelids heavy as he read. his lips just slightly agape as he wrote. his cheeks a warm shade of peach from the interaction prior.

you could get used to this.

the bell rang soon after. it was lunch now. you had probably five minutes to get your things together, buy yourself food and then run to your student council meeting.

you stopped by the bathroom on your way to your locker bay, probably losing you a whole minute before you finally arrived.

as you started to put your books away, some commotion from the hallway made you draw yourself back.

a large crowd had formed around two people.

you recognised one of the voice yelling instantly.

it was chulsoo. you'd known her for your whole life, way before your family's business had received all the traction it now got today. she had been your enemy since you were both just little kids in taekwondo class.

she was constantly getting into arguments and fights with everyone and their mother. this was nothing new. she seemed to have an issue with every person she knew. you included.

you ignored it. she wasn't worth anyone's time. someone with status would come along to break this up at any point and she would be shaking in her boots and apologising like she meant none of it. which was always entirely untrue. but all that mattered to the people like her in your school was status.

your attention went back to your locker.

"who even is that guy? what did he do to chulsoo?" you heard someone ask.

you really could care less.

"he's na kamden from class a." someone else replied.

your head shot around so fast you almost hit your face on your locker door.

you quickly ran over, pushing yourself through the crowd of students with their phones out, recording the whole thing.

there he was. kamden was on the floor, his entire backpack with all of his belongings being emptied out on top of his head, in front of everyone by chulsoo.

"hey." you spoke up, standing in front of kamden before she could touch him again.

"y/n." chulsoo wasn't surprised that you would ever go against her like this. it had happened many times now.

your eyes found a pair of smashed glasses on the floor. you gritted your teeth, kneeling down and picking them up.

"were you the cause of this?" you questioned, inspecting the cracked lens and the broken off arm of the glasses.

"yeah, i was. so what?"

"what the hell is wrong with you?"

"wrong with me?" she scoffed, "this idiot can't even watch where he's going." she pointed to kamden behind you, who was clearly willing to do anything to get out of that hallway, quickly taking all of his things and stuffing them back into his backpack. you felt so horrible for him. nobody deserved to have to deal with chulsoo.

"are you really so entitled? you of all people should know that people make mistakes. you're making them all the time!"

she looked behind her, to one of her friends who were recording.

"miyeon, are you hearing this? i think y/n likes this loser!" she laughed.

the urge to kick her was strong.

but you were better than that. you were an advanced matrial artist only for good. you would never stoop down to chulsoo's level like that.

"listen, chulsoo. if i see you anywhere near kamden again, i will get my father to make the heftiest donation this school has ever seen and get you out of this damn place in the blink of an eye. do i make myself clear?" you threatened, feeling the rage burn in your eyes.

chulsoo rolled her eyes and laughed.

"i broke his glasses because they clearly don't work. he bumped into me, and i taught him a lesson, simple as that. he's a pathetic loser with no friends, y/n."

"don't call him that."

"or what? are you gonna call daddy to come and fix your mess because you cant fend for yourself?"

you didn't know what to say that would fully convey the anger you were feeling at this moment.

but actions speak louder than words, right?

sometimes you wished your brain thought faster than your taekwondo trained hands.

you slapped her across the face, chulsoo's eyes widening from shock.

you quickly brought your own quivering hand back.

what had you done?

you had broken your one rule.

you had stooped down to her level.

her fisted hand raised, intention clear as they zoomed to your face at the speed of light. normally you would defend yourself. but you felt you deserved it this time. you squinted your eyes, preparing to get beat up on front of everyone, before her punch was stopped by a hand from behind you.

your eyes shot to your best friend, park hanbin, who was now stood beside you, holding chulsoo's punch just before your face. if he was any later you would have definitely broken your nose. thankfully today you didn't have to wish farewell to your sense of smell.

"what the fuck?" chulsoo yelled, as hanbin put her hand down, holding the back of your collar and dragging you behind so you wouldn't get yourself into anymore trouble.

"god, y/n. you need to stop getting into fights." he sighed, "chulsoo, why can't you just leave people alone?"

finally.

someone with status to break this up. clearly you weren't smart enough to do that. that the lord for hanbin.

"h-hanbin, i-"

"leave it. and leave these two alone, okay? we don't want what happened last time to reoccur, do we?"

the audience around you gasped, and then 'oohed' at the tension. chulsoo hung her head and bowed.

"i'm sorry!"

"i'm not the one you should be apologising to." he said, "just get going, okay?"

you had never seen chulsoo and her friends run away so fast.

your best friend, park hanbin was just intimidating when he was mad.

he looked to the crowd of people still watching.

"alright everyone, fight's over. let's go." he smiled passively. the students quickly dispersed through the hallway. it was moments like these which reminded everyone of the reason why hanbin was the perfect student body president.

hanbin looked back at you.

"are you alright? she didn't do anything to you guys, right?"

you held up the broken glasses to him.

"god. i can't believe her." he looked down at kamden, "y/n and i are on the student council. we can get this reported if you want?"

"yeah! i've known chulsoo my whole life, her dad is strict as hell. he'll probably get her to buy you a new pair! it's a win-win, you get brand new glasses and chulsoo learns not to mess with you again." you smiled. hanbin scoffed.

"never put 'chulsoo' and 'learns' in the same sentence again. she doesn't learn, she never will."

"hm, that's true. what else can we do, then?"

kamden rose to his feet, taking the glasses.

"it's okay, i have a spare pair in my locker."

"really?" your eyebrows knitted together from confusion, "b-but glasses aren't cheap! she completely destroyed yours, you can't just let her get away with that."

"it's fine. really. i need to get to my locker now." he muttered.

he started to walk away, and you wanted nothing more than to run after him to convince him otherwise. he couldn't just let her off the hook like this.

hanbin put his hands on your shoulders and pulled you back.

"let him. c'mon, we have a meeting to get to."

"but- !"

"no buts." he sighed, dragging you as he walked, "you know it's not possible to help every single person in the world, right y/n? sometimes it's okay to let things go."

you grumbled, "what kind of student body vice president would i be if i did that?"

"a normal one. who doesn't let every single person around them affect them."

"chulsoo was being a bitch! i'm not going to just stand by and watch my classmate getting completely harassed and humiliated in front of everyone." you argued, "i was there once. i of all people know how difficult it is to be bullied. i wanna help where i can."

hanbin smiled.

"you're amazing, y/n."

of course everything you had said was true. nobody deserved to be treated that way because of a harmless mistake that could've been easily resolved with a simple 'sorry'.

but deep down, you knew there was another reason why you had been so bold to do that.

after all, you never really cared for chulsoo and her constant cravings to hurt other people. she never changed. no matter how many times you lectured her about the importance of being kind to everyone, no matter how many times her father would scold and punish her for doing the wrong thing, no matter how many times she got suspended from school because of the way she treated people, she always went back to the same chulsoo.

and you had come to terms with this a while ago.

of course, if you saw a student being bullied by her, you would step in and protect them just the same way you had done so today.

but there was something else about today's incident which lurked in your head. a want. no, this was a need. a need to be there for him. a need to protect him.

whatever this need was, it was quickly growing.

you had work after school today. you hoped that you'd see kamden there again.

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[caterjunes]

I think I see what ur saying but 100k a year is in fact a lot of money and $50+/hr is a crazy luxury that most of us will never experience, like you don't have to be a one percenter to be rich. Its not private jet rich but that kind of money still affords opportunities that are simply not available to most of the population.

I promise I'm not trying to be a dick, but it is also very much a rich person thing to be talking down to working class people about money. Coming from someone whose family made 10k on a good year, I do see your basic point (like, rich people are not all on the same level and the richest rich people are the most to blame) but if you start talking like that around lifelong poor people we're all gonna be side-eyeing you I'm sorry

i absolutely understand and i appreciate you reaching out to me, i don't think you're being a dick at all. i guess i was trying to say that like. the world isn't divided into The Rich and The Poor, the middle class does still exist & it felt reductive of so many commenters on that poll to be like "oh yr highest earning parent makes at least 100k? you're Rich." rather than acknowledging the complexity & breadth of income/wealth inequality, or talking about like performative poverty on tumblr? which is ya know. something i've been guilty of when trying to ~make it on my own~ or whatever.

but i am talking from a very limited us-ian raised-upper-middle-class perspective, and i have safety nets (and yes, luxuries) that many or most people don't. which definitely affects how i look at & react to this sort of thing. so.

[buzzdixonwriter]

Why Do People Take Drugs?

To feel better.

Duh.

It doesn’t matter what the drug is, we take it to feel better,

Have an infection?  Take penicillin, feel better.

Headache?  Take aspirin, feel better.

Cancer?  Chemotherapy.

Stress?  Nicotine.

Loneliness?  Alcohol.

Name the problem, there’s a drug for it.

The hypocrisy we spew is that some ailments are entitled tp use some drugs, but other ailments are blamed on the sufferer, who ios either expected to endure their suffering with stoic silence or seek relief through socially approved health care providers.

Gawd help the poor schmuck who opts to self-medicate.

When we talk about “the drug problem” we never mean it in the sense of big phrama charging too damn much.

Rather, we talk about it in the sense of denying that we as a society have failed many of our citizens by ignoring the myriad root causes of their psychic pain and instead demonize their efforts to seek relief.

Healthy people -- physically / emotionally / mentally -- do not need drugs to feel better; they’re already feeling good and / or at peace with themselves.

Only when something hurts do we seek relief.

A person sound of heart and mind may suffer some illness or injury that requires strong pain relievers, but once the cause of the pain is successfully treated the desire / need for pain relief vanishes.

But we see far too many people suffering psychic pain / illness / injury / trauma who hide it from public view, who succumb to drug addiction when treated for physical pain.* 

The prescribed drug does its assigned job well, it numbs the physical pain, but in many cases it also numbs the invisible pain, the emotional pain, the eternal internal pain.

And that’s when people get hooked.

Hanks to pious self-righteous blue-nosed progs (looking at you, my fellow Christians), people with internal damage are denied pain relief.

“If you feel bad, it’s because you sinned.  Pray the sin away.”

Yeah, calling shenanigans on that.  “Sin” means falling short of the mark.  It means not giving a damn about others or their pain, just relieving in self-preening pride over our own lack or fecal odor.

There is a sinner in most sermons, typically the one casting stones from behind the pulpit.

This is not to say people with addiction issues can’t be hurtful or harmful to others,

I don’t care how much you need to drink to forget whatever-their-name-in, DON’T GET BEHIND THE WHEEL OF A CAR!

Addiction related problems arise by forcing users to seek expensive black market drugs which often propels them to commit crimes to finance their drug use.

Many sex workers are classic examples of this.  They feel guilt or shame over their profession, turning to drugs to assuage those feelings, requiring more sex work to buy more drugs to numb more feelings, etc., etc., and of course, etc.

Even in supposedly nice middle class Norman Rockwell homes the same issues arise.  Homemakers need “mother’s little helper” to get through the day which makes them less likely to meet their obligations be they self-imposed or even worse, imposed by whatever group the homemaker identifies with.

Which of course leads to more drugs to soothe the pain which only causes more pain requiring more drugs…

You get the picture?

The first step towards helping people with addiction issues is for society to stop being so damn moralistic and judgmental.

Stop laying imaginary sins on them from the pulpit, accept them for what they are where they are.

The next step is to accept responsible drug use.  There are people who are alcoholics and drug addicts who know how to keep their consumption under control.  People like that are to be encouraged.

Drug addiction is not a moral issue but a health problem,

Cure it, don’t punish it.

  © Buzz Dixon

 * Because gawd forbid we show we are vulnerable on the inside.  Whack off our arms and legs, gouge out our eyes, rip out our tongues, but never reveal any mental or emotional weakness.

[impossiblescissorspeachpaper]

Last Christmas

Just some fluffy trash

December 3rd.

Elain smirked down at her phone, opening the group chat she shared with her siblings and friends.

There was near constant chatter in the family group chat, but it had been a while since they’d played her favourite game.

The name of the thread had changed multiple times over the years. For a while it had been known as The Inner Circle, then The Court of Dreams. Cassian had gone in and changed it to The I Hate Eris Vanserra Club once when he had been feeling particularly pissy about something the redhead had done, and previously it had been the very unimaginative Cool People Only. However, currently it was being updated daily by Mor as a live countdown to Christmas Day.

Elain’s fingers flew across her screen as she typed out a brief message in 21 Days To Go❄️ and hit send. 

Elain 11:23am LAST

To anyone else, they wouldn’t have a clue what was going on. To anyone outside of their intimate little circle, they would look at this random, one worded text, all caps, and think it a strange mistake. But Elain knew the remaining seven members of that group chat would know exactly how to respond. They’d been doing it for years.

Sure enough, a few minutes later a response came through.

Rhys 11:26am CHRISTMAS

Elain chuckled. She couldn’t remember how this little tradition had started, but it was something they did every December in the lead up to Christmas.

Nesta 11:31am I

Anyone could start it. At any time. The only rules were that you could only type out one word and you couldn’t send two consecutive texts.

Azriel 11:33am GAVE

Amren 11:34am YOU

Amren was visiting Varian at his beach house; he must be out for a run if she had her phone nearby and was available to text them all.

Feyre 11:37am MY

Rhys 11:40am HEART

The texts were coming in a few minutes apart, and the trick to it was to make sure you didn’t hit send on the same word someone else may already be typing. Because if you happened to be the person that ruined the song? Well, everyone would have to start all over again and you’d be fair game until the next round.

Their family was nothing if not competitive, clutching at any excuse with both hands and using it to relentlessly dump on the others. It was chaos and she loved it.

Elain 11:42am BUT

Feyre 11:43am THE

Nesta 11:44am VERY

Cassian and Mor, absent until now, could both be seen typing…

Mor 11:48am NEXT

Cassian 11:48am NEXT

Cassian 11:48am Ah fuck

Elain’s lip tilted up at the corner, bracing herself for the onslaught about to rain down on poor Cassian in 3..2..1..

Feyre 11:50am Nooooooo

Azriel 11:51am Oh ffs Cass

Nesta 11:51am Of course it was you...

Rhys 11:55am We’d barely gotten in!

Cassian 11:57am Mor jumped in, the sneaky rat!

Mor 11:59am Bit slow off the mark there, Cass? Funny, I’ve heard the opposite.

Elain 12:00pm 🤭

Cassian 12:03pm WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT ELLIE?!

Azriel 12:04pm The truth…

Rhys 12:06pm BURN

Nesta 12:10pm Are you all being mean to my boyfriend?

Amren 12:14pm Yes

Nesta 12:16pm Ok, just checking. Carry on.

Cassian 12:18pm Gee thanks babe… 😒

Feyre 12:22pm Aww Cass, I still love you! Come over tonight I’ll make you dinner

Cassian 12:35pm Ahhhh, I’m not sure if I’m free Fey

Lie. She knew for a fact Cassian was free, Nesta taught dance classes every second Saturday evening and Cassian usually hounded his brothers to hang out with him whilst she was busy. He just didn’t trust Feyre’s cooking. She couldn’t blame him.

Even though she had been trying, the last time Feyre had made them all a meal her pasta bake somehow had turned out burnt on the top whilst simultaneously still ice cold in the middle. Elain wasn’t sure how she’d managed it.

Elain 12:41pm I’ll help her cook

Cassian 12:42pm I’ll be there!

Rhys 12:45pm LOL

Feyre 12:48pm 🖕

Elain chuckled again. They would be at it for hours yet. Closing out of the group chat, letting the rest of them fight it out for a while, she opened her Spotify app.

Clicking a few buttons to find what she was looking for, she pressed play on one of her favourite Christmas songs. George Michael’s voice rang out over her speakers as Last Christmas played, a happy little smile creeping across her face.

*******

tagging: @offtorivendell @fawnandshadows @the-laughing-bubble @swankii-art-teacher @pagemasters @sakurakittypeach @tswaney17 @thefangirlofhp @wingedblooms @alwayssara @ultadverb

[vermillioncourt-if]

Kutuo reactions to mc naming their child after her please

Hello! ❤️ This question actually unlocks some REALLY in depth lore about Nian (and real life info!) that I, honestly, wouldn't blame you for skipping since it's long and a lil complicated and all under the cut! So I'll answer your question first!

Kutuo would be pretty confused, but flattered. She doesn't see what would cause MC to do that, but she's honored they think of her like that.

Now for lore, it's not a Thing to name children directly after family members/ancestors/etc in Nian! A name is supposed to be unique to a child within a family and naming a child after ancestors/another person is generally seen as disrespectful and an insult, as well as saddling the child with the burdens and expectations expected of the person they're named after. It's just all around considered bad. This is culturally across all of the continent and through all classes, from the poor to royalty.

Of course, this doesn't stop people who wish to name their children after family members/ancestors/role models/etc, so a common way they move around this taboo it is by using the same first or second character of that person's name and then coming up with the other half. Let me explain.

Naming conventions in Nian follow real-life Chinese naming conventions and language. So middle names aren't a Thing and all names follow a Monosyllabic Surname and a Disyllabic Given name. Names are also not gendered, although some reoccurring trends are seen in boys vs girls.

I'm about to give a very rough and quick explanation of the Chinese language, if you know this already, feel free to skip ahead!

Let me give a quick rough run down for those new to this! Chinese (umbrella term) is a character-based tonal language. What that means is that depending on the tone inflection of your voice, it can change the meaning. You know how when we ask questions, our voices rise slightly at the end vs when we're speaking normally? Tones work like that but there are 4 of them and it's for the whole language.

What this means is that you can have two people who use, let's say... Shen (we'll use my name) in their names, but it can mean two different things because of the tones. For Shen Sandong, her Shen means "monkey" and it's spoken using a flat even tone. The Shen in my name is spoken with a rising tone (like you're asking a question) and means "lively"!

All Chinese (and Nian!) first/given names are disyllabic, except MC's since I'm not about to make you guys come up with a disyllabic name, although I will provide options for you to pick, if you want one. Disyllabic means that the name, in this case, is made up of two monosyllabic characters. Monosyllabic means one syllable.

In the case of MC wanting to name their child after Kutuo, they would most likely take a monosyllabic part ('ku' or 'tuo') and use the same character for it Kutuo does. Then they would find another monosyllabic that's either 1. Completely different, 2. Uses the same tones but means something else, or 3. Means the same but uses different tones. Putting the new combination together will make a unique name for the child that also honors Kutuo in a non-insulting way.

I can expand SO much on this, but I fear it has gone on long enough! If you guys are curious for more, please let me know and I'll make a post about it!

[lheautontimoroumenos]

cops + govt are absolutely bastards and i wish the one who killed nahel would get more than whats (probably) going to be given to him, and i support the riots going on for justice and to bring this issue to the forefront. but honestly how hard is it to not attack schools and places where people live? there were families in danger with the car on fire releasing fumes into the building. little kids aren't going to be able to go to school or will have to have counseling to understand whats going on

hi anon! I'm glad you're asking this and I'll try to be careful and kind in my answer. If my tone comes off kind of angry I apologize, I just meant to avoid this kind of reaction with my post.

I'm gonna try to answer this in two big parts where it seems we disagree : first the "how hard is it not to attack schools" side of the problem.

Then I'll go more widely on the questioned necessity of destruction and its nature.

(also I apologize if not everything is clear, the French to English brain on this topic is kinda weird, I'm open to more asks if you want something more precise).

Alright, PART UNO, Why Burn Down Schools

Okay, so absolutely no offense, but I'm gonna guess you were a good or at least okay student and therefore had a good relationship to school. I'm also gonna assume you didn't go to school in the banlieue or in establishments on the REP/ZEP list (Network or Zone of Priority Education), this classification is done based on the IPS or Social Position Indicator. Etablishments in REP in Paris today are around 90; the one I went to as a kid around 74; in Nanterre, where Nahel was killed, high schools are around 90 and middle schools between 80 and 90. By comparison Henri IV and Louis Le Grand, two very prestigious high school in downtown Paris have an IPS of around 140. The point being that in those spaces, even if you personally do well as a student, most of your peers have a very different relationship to the institution that is "school".

It has been widely accepted since Bourdieu's Les Héritiers (1964) that school is a machine that reproduces and legitimizes inequalities. We know children of workers, little employees, and people working low wage jobs do worse in school than children of teachers, or state workers, or people working high paying jobs, or that have already done high level studies. We also know these kids get to school at the same time but with a different baggage, and that the baggage from relatively rich (in economic or cultural capital) kids coming from relatively rich families is favored over the baggage from kids from poor families. That is because the first one belongs to what Bourdieu calls "legitimate culture", which is not legitimate in and of itself but legitimized by the dominant class to keep itself where it is. I'm not gonna talk about Les Héritiers the whole time, but in addition to the class difference and struggle in legitimate culture is a struggle especially present in banlieues of foreign culture being considered illegitimate.

The point is not that poor kids or kids of color are bad at school and that's just how it is, but that school as an institution is already a violence to them. It is traumatizing, built to make them fail, all the while telling them it's their fault because school is fair and based on merit. But it's not, because it values things and abilities as if all students start off from the same point (which is false) and make them believe the run was fair (which is false as well). Sometimes the blame is on the teachers, but most often it is the institution that inherently fails them and lowers their self-esteem. (Also, fun fact, I think it was a study done by IPSOS that showed that if they had the same grade, let's say an average of 9/20, in CE1, kids of workers were more likely to be made to redo their year, whereas rich kids would go to the next level anyway).

So you're right, it's easy to think that you shouldn't burn down a school when your rapport to it is: "what a great place, even if it pisses me off sometimes, I learn things and I can see my friends and have fun, burning it down would not help". But when school is a) a violence to you, and b) a lot of the time already breaking down because regardless of what they say on TV the State does not allocate enough resources to banlieues, well it's easier to burn it to the ground (this way maybe they'll actually rebuild it and be careful about abestos/amiante).

That doesn't mean it's good or right or forgivable and therefore forgiven (that's to your own discretion), but what it is, is understandable. These kids are fighting against a whole system, the police, its support by the State, and more widely the State itself and its shitty handling of banlieues and their inhabitants.

Okay, PART DOS, Is Violence Necessary, If So Which Kind

I'm gonna assume and hope you're not one of the people jerking off to theoretical revolution and praising the black block but getting scared when things actually get serious.

You're saying you wish they would be capable of keeping the riots to actual figures of police violence, I guess, or at least try not to harm innocents or do too much collateral damage (thinking about libraries, etc. I hope you can understand how schools also stand as violence to the rioters now).

My gut reaction is to say that's just not possible. If you really want the revolution and the change that comes with it (not just repealing the 2017 law), you have to be prepared to make sacrifices and for collateral damage (again, not saying it's good or right, or that you should thrive for it, just that it's virtually impossible to do without it).

I know some people have been saying they should go to actual places of power, go shake Darmanin out of his fascist bubble, but I also think people don't realize what this means. In the banlieues, they are in known and mostly friendly territory, which makes it easy for them to use the "be water" strategy (scatter when cops arrive). They know these streets and where to run, where to climb, where to hide. If they were to go to downtown Paris? they wouldn't have any of these advantages, plus they would be faced with the anti-riot plan built into the very architecture of the city streets (Haussman and Napoleon III I hate you). Just like the Parisians demonstrated against the pension reform in Paris, the place they know, the banlieusards are doing the same in the banlieues.

Now endangering kids is not the way to go, there we agree. The point of disagreement is that you think the rioters are going to be the ones making victims whereas I think the cops will, and already have (see the guy killed in Marseille by a flash ball impact, or the one from Mont-Saint-Martin in a coma).

(If you want to read something about the price of revolution, I'd recommend Les Justes by Camus, it's pretty short and you can come to different conclusions when you're done.)

You wrote "people need to have consideration for other kids in France". That sounds a tad condescending to me but I don't think you meant it that way. The problem is that they are not considered by other kids in France! as was showed in 2005 and as is showed today by the reactions on social media. You are asking the oppressed to make the first act of love here, and in a way you're right, Paulo Freire would say that next to violence, a revolution is only successful if it contains radical love, and that cannot come from the oppressor, but it is also a hard thing to ask of people. Especially when they know they will be ignored if they don't shake the political landscape a little.

I think you would enjoy reading Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed, it's not too long and it's very interesting regarding this topic.

Now I'd be careful with how you talk about the kids needing to "control themselves" because it sounds condescending here as well (though again I don't think that is how you mean it) and can be understood quite badly. I think what you may be alluding to however is the crowd effect that the riots can have. Once you start, breaking things with your friends, it does feel good, you release energy, you laugh, it's a good time really. The risk is to take the euphoria too far and not realize what you're doing, which of course happens but is really magnified by the media and is actually pretty marginal in the actual riots. But you're right that being in a group makes you forget about yourself (see: demonstrations, sport fans, etc.) and the rioters are not exempt from that.

I think, if anything, what one could fault the rioters for is that they are alienating themselves sometimes from their own communities. That is really going the same as in 2005 I feel like, with some worried moms, or people who agreed at the beginning but think it's lasting too long now. The problem is that politically, the people saying they will stop the riots are the National Rally (fascists) and at a smaller scale Rebirth (Macron's party, right wing). But Macron won't be able to run again next time (we wouldn't want him to) and I doubt his party is gonna hold without him. That leaves us with the fascist RN. So the kids could be building up to their own destruction.

(It is still important to say that even if the RN is elected next time, it will NOT be the rioters fault but the fault of the people who voted for a fascist party to lead the country.)

I don't think I have anything left to say right now, if you have other questions/need precision my ask box is open!

If you want to read more about school as a very imperfect institution I would recommend reading stuff from François Bégaudeau, Entre les murs (it's fiction inspired by his reality as a teacher, there was also a movie), he also mentions it regularly in talks that you van find on YouTube. I'll recommend again Paulo Freire's The Pedagogy of the Oppressed because it really is an amazing book.

P.S. I wrote this with less than 5 hours of sleep so I might be repeating myself and/or forgetting things

[betterbemeta]

A huge component of injustice in the modern world is flattening image and reality.

That has always been sort of timeless, and it's sort of part of how societies that skew heavily towards hierarchies use aesthetics as the means to clock the 'place' of a person, environment, or object. But given that many more people see... stuff, every day, thanks to the internet and advertisements the effect is not local to what you personally witness, it's extremely widespread.

Don't get me wrong-- the power to spread imagery has also had positive impacts. Modern anti-war protests wouldn't be the same without photojournalism that spread witness of war realities to the greater world. Images that depict ordinary people, and especially marginalized people in daily life are self-evident proofs of humanity and existence when art can be skewed by wealth towards being a self-portrait of the rich and powerful. Stuff like that.

But the structure of our world and how it thinks and breathes now is still very powerful and all tools will reinforce that first unless purposefully turned against that structure. The power to assert reality is also the power to create alternate reality and you can see it every day today. Entertainment and news are blended together in new ways. "Lifestyle" content depicts curated imagery as a form of reality, often imagery that reinforces what a successful person looks like, what a rich person looks like. Or the ideals people with that wealth would prefer others hold.

I challenge anyone to find an 'aesthetic' or 'curated imagery', 'a look that invokes emotions or a sense of intuition' that 1) isn't just a form of discrimination like racism or sexism or ageism, or bias against fat or disabled bodies, and 2) can't be achieved by borrowing items, cooperation, paying artists as you have ability to, collecting secondhand things, travel to another location, and a time investment (something that our modern world blames working-class and poor people for having if they don't have money, tries to eliminate.)

'You actually CAN'T tell anything from the image' is the core of many seemingly baseless freakouts by hierarchical conservative mindsets. In fact, it's the most effective way to sell those mindsets to people who don't have any wealth at stake: fear that they can't discern actual reality, a need to control the images around them instead. Transphobia and also control of gender expression in all people. Bias against those who don't have or don't publicly display markers of hitting certain life goals like marriage or householding. The need for poor people to 'look poor,' the insecurity of the middle class in physical space and the resulting surveillance culture in many neighborhoods, the hatred of any marginalized classes enjoying luxuries as 'tacky', or even just seeing them in public. Hatred of seeing children they do not control in public. Thin people of the majority race in plain clothes as 'a fit' but fat people and people who aren't the majority race in plain clothes as 'not caring enough,' and more.

Hell, even the whole 'hatred of piercings dyed hair tattoos' thing plays in. It wraps 'the bliss of the Other being easily identified by Shibboleths, even when they're my same race' and 'I need others to look the same around me, I don't want to stick out as living incorrectly,' in a neat little burrito. Both of which easily are gateways to, 'Support for Austerity: Poors Don't Get Nice Things, 'How To Clock Queers,' and finally 'Nazi Phrenology.'

Caring so much about imagery seems like a vanity thing. But the anxiety is actually about 'reality' and seeing conflicting images that 'compromise it.' Flattening complex reality into imagery that can be sorted without fail onto a hierarchy has always been a part of top-down, oppressive structures. Think like, feudal systems where the only art or imagery that has power 'belongs' to the church, to magistrates, or to nobility. But now with the ability to broadcast images to the entire world, hierarchy's alternate reality can feel like it envelops the globe.

[gothicprep]

i read a guest essay written by a couples therapist in the new york times a few days ago and its pricked at my brain pretty much nonstop since then. the person who wrote it seems utterly incompetent.

it opens up with a man (med student) and a woman (essayist and slam poet) arguing because he wouldn't buy her a slushy. his position is "i want to keep our budget tight until i get my MD and we're more financially stable". she's like "wah wah wah. i grew up poor. i don't trust plans because the plans always fail. my family was always on the verge of bankruptcy. you grew up middle class." and the therapist's reaction to this is "this is very good. due to #metoo and black lives matter, people are getting better at realizing how their identities inform conflict".

and frankly, this is kind of appalling. how the hell do you not immediately clock that as her being manipulative? like, not to say i'm the universal arbiter of relationships or anything, but i'm in the same situation with my wife where my upbringing was economically comfortable, while she was a high school oops baby with the financial background you'd expect from a situation like that. riddle me how we've never had a blowout argument like this. we've had conversations about impulse spending in the past, so i guess it's something like "she isn't projecting some weird victimhood complex onto me".

tangentially – coming by it well aware that this isn't the fault of the therapist – i think a lot of people seek out couples therapy as a way of litigating blame. the "who should wash the dishes" iasip episode encapsulates what i mean here. every report i've heard of it seems more ego driven than coming from a genuine place of wanting to understand your partner better. but that's just my anecdotal review.

anyway, matthew, please leave this woman for the sake of your own sanity. i promise there are women out there who won't make your life a living hell.